Issue Briefs

As two new bipartisan plans make clear, serious deficit reduction will require highly controversial changes in the federal budget. But if elected officials reject solid recommendations just because they are unpopular, warns Robert L. Bixby, executive director of The…

With lawmakers returning to Washington this week, Republicans face an extremely difficult task: Living up to the campaign rhetoric that helped them gain dozens of congressional seats in the Nov. 2 elections.Republicans campaigned on a pledge to move towards a…

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently released projections showing that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could require between $73 billion and $215 billion in additional help from the U.S. Treasury through 2013.The FHFA oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,…

Although today’s election will change the political landscape in Washington, unpleasant fiscal realities will remain: Rapidly rising medical costs, a Social Security system headed for insolvency, a deeply flawed tax system and federal debt that is on an unsustainable track.Will…

Reforming entitlement programs, improving health care, revamping the tax system and reducing defense spending were all up for discussion and debate last week as hundreds of people attended two Fiscal Solutions Tour programs in California.The tour, conducted by The Concord…

While this year’s high federal deficit is worrisome, far more troubling are the projections of large, unsustainable deficits even after the economy has fully recovered and U.S. military commitments abroad have been scaled back.But in a guest column in The…

How Congress reacts to the recommendations later this year from President Obama’s bipartisan fiscal commission will be important for the credit standing of the United States, according to John Chambers, an official with Standard & Poor’s.“It is very important for…

Good news comes and goes rather quickly in the 2010 Medicare Trustees’ Report, says Concord Executive Director Bob Bixby. The report begins by saying that this year’s health reform bill substantially improved Medicare’s finances. But it also warns that future…