Budget Matters Blog


Hot Summer Budget Battle #4: Social Security and Medicare

There aren’t many things that 90 percent of Americans agree on, but there are at least two.


Summer Interns Tackle Big Budget Issues

Over the coming weeks, we'll be highlighting NPP's amazing summer interns. The stellar efforts of talented student interns throughout the year allows NPP to expand and deepen what we do across all aspects of our work. Welcome to the first of our Summer Intern Profiles.


Hot Summer Budget Battle #3: Tax Breaks

It’s sexier than you think. Tax breaks might not be your first thought for hot summer beach reading, but what we’re really talking about are big piles of cash.


Hot Summer Budget Battle #2: The 2014 Budget

They don't agree on much, but in at least one way the House and Senate are on the same page: They both want to increase military funding next year.


Immigration Reform Would Save Uncle Sam $197 Billion Over Next 10 Years

According to a report just released by the Congressional Budget Office, the Senate’s comprehensive immigration reform bill would reduce federal budget deficits by $197 billion over the next decade.


Faces of the Budget: Student Aid and Student Debt

When Richard, a retired Air Force officer, went to college in 1960, student debt was not something people worried about. Fifty years later, everything has changed.


Hot Summer Budget Battle #1: Sequestration

The 2011 Budget Control Act set the stage for the harsh automatic budget cuts known as sequestration to take place on January 1, 2013. These cuts will go on for a decade unless Congress agrees to stop them. Some initiatives, like the WIC Farmers' Market Nutrition Program, have been cut by more than 20 percent.


Recent impacts on grant funding to state-level programs

The sequester not only cut money allocated to federal programs, but also meant reductions for federal spending at the state and local level.


Social Security and Medicare: Ties that bind

Nearly every American is intimately connected with the earned benefits Social Security and Medicare – first as a contributor then as a recipient. Nearly 90% of us indicated that we’re in favor of taking strong measures to preserve the long-term stability of both programs.


DATA Act Gets Another Shot in the New Congress

Kaitlin Devine from the Sunlight Foundations guest posts with an update on the 2013 version of the DATA Act, intended to improve federal spending transparency.