Budget Matters Blog


Now or Never: Congress Struggles to Beat its Do-Nothing Rep

This Congress is on track to be one of the least productive ever, with a full slate of immediate problems still unaddressed. 


Corporate Tax Inversions and Our Ailing Tax Code

What corporate tax inversions mean for U.S. taxpayers.


Highlights From This Year's Social Security and Medicare Trustees Reports

Yesterday the trustees of two key social insurance programs - Social Security and Medicare - released their annual reports projecting the future of the programs’ finances.


What You Need to Know about CBO’s Recent Long-Term Budget Outlook

Last week, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its 2014 Long-Term Budget Outlook, projecting that the nation’s fiscal future is stable for the next few years and then begins to worsen gradually with an increase in the federal debt.


What Do the Recent Supreme Court Cases (“Hobby Lobby” and “Harris v Quinn”) Have to Do with the Federal Budget?

Doug Hall explains the budgetary implications of the controversial Hobby Lobby and Harris v Quinn Supreme Court rulings.


The F-35: The Pentagon’s Most Expensive Weapon Can’t Even Fly

The Pentagon’s most expensive weapons system in history, the infamous F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, was recently grounded. 


The United States Of America: Going Once, Twice, Sold!

Throughout our history we’ve found confidence in the belief that the people’s voices, united, are stronger than any sum of wealth. Sadly, it appears that this is no longer the case.


Give Peace a Chance: What the Federal Budget Tells Us About the U.S. Response to ISIS and Iraq

How will the United States choose to respond to instability in Iraq, where ISIS is at the center of renewed conflict?


Planning a Fourth of July Road Trip? Not so fast: Our Highway Trust Fund is Going Broke

As the flags wave, the fireworks fly, and AAA forecasts that 41 million Americans will travel more than 50 miles from home this Independence Day weekend, a transportation crisis is in the works. The Highway Trust Fund – the federal fund that’s used to repair our highways and bridges – is about to run out of money by the end of the summer.

 


What’s More Patriotic – Investing at Home or Overseas?

With Independence Day this week, Americans are celebrating all the things that make our country great. A patriotic mindset begs the question of how our involvement in conflicts overseas – like responding to crisis in Iraq – defines our country’s priorities.