Blog: The Fine Print / Revenue & Spending

A Health Care Cost-Containment Plan

May 1, 2007 by Matt Lewis

I've been wondering for some time who had a plan to reduce the costs but not the quality of health care. Of course somebody does- it's such a big issue that everyone can't be ignoring it- but who? Well, it turns out that MedPAC, a government advisory board on Medicare, and probably the first place I should have looked, already has a plan. Check out this article for a quick summary of MedPAC's latest report.

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1Q07 GDP Growth Estimate 1.3%; Revenue Implications?

Apr 27, 2007 by Dana Chasin

Returning to our long-standing concern about the 5-7 percent, five-year projections of federal revenue growth, we hereby put down a marker, in light of BEA's GDP growth estimate of 1.3 percent for the first quarter of 2007, released today. We will return to the question of the plausibility of the 5-7 percent revenue growth figures offered by the president, Congress, and even the CBO in about three weeks' time, when the CBO issues its next Monthly Budget Review.

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CAP's Strategy for Cutting Poverty in Half over 10 Years

Apr 27, 2007 by Dana Chasin

A report released on April 25 by the Center for American Progress (CAP) Task Force on Poverty examines the problem and consequences of poverty in America. According to the report:

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House to Investigate Security Breaches at USDA

Apr 27, 2007 by Adam Hughes*

In response to the disclosure of personal information and other security problems at the United States Department of Agriculture recently, the House Agriculture Committee is holding a hearing next week to review the USDA's release of program beneficiaries' Social Security numbers and other problems with the agencies information systems. The hearing will be on Wednesday, May 3, at 1:00 pm in the Longworth House Office Building, room 1300.

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Congress Passes Troops' Funding; Now, the Veto Watch

Apr 26, 2007 by Dana Chasin

The Senate has now voted, 51-46, to approve the $142.2 billion conference report (H.R. 1591; H Rept 110-107) fully funding the president's record-sized emergency supplemental war-funding request -- but with timetable goals for American soldiers' withdrawal from Iraq and billions of dollars in spending beyond his initial request. The House passed the conference report last night, and now it goes on to the president, who has promised repeatedly to veto it.

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Winners and Losers in Earmark Dollar Distribution

Apr 26, 2007 by Dana Chasin

Top Five Over- and Under "Earmarked" States (Rank of Earmarked Dollars Received/Population, 2005) Over-Earmarked
  • 1 Alaska (6/47)
  • 2 Hawaii (14/42)
  • 3 West Virginia (10/37)
  • 4 Alabama (9/23)
  • 5 Maryland (8/19)
Under-Earmarked
  • 1 Georgia (24/9)
  • 2 Indiana (30/15)
  • 3 Colorado (36/22)
  • 4 North Carolina (21/10)
  • 5 New Jersey (22/11)
Earmark Rankings: USA Today, 4/26/07

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Baucus Sees Small Business Tax Package in Supp. 2.0

Apr 25, 2007 by Dana Chasin

After Congress adopts the minimum wage small business tax package -- Small Business and Work Opportunity Tax Act of 2007 -- as part of the war spending supplemental conference report, and the president vetoes it, what will become of it? Will it be part of a post-veto "Supp. 2.0"?

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Attention, Deficit

Apr 25, 2007 by Matt Lewis

An interesting debate on deficits has sprung up...
  • Jared Bernstein argues against a narrow focus on balanced budgets.
  • Greg Anrig's response
  • For more on this critical debate, see the materials from this recent EPI event, our summary of it in The Watcher, and Dana's reaction.
UPDATE: Brad Plumer has a good take on the EPI event, and Ezra Klein responds. OK, that's enough.

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Treasury Secretary Tired of Social Security 'Solitaire'

Apr 24, 2007 by Dana Chasin

We've sung the sad song of Secretary Paulson before. At a Washington press briefing yesterday, he confessed, referring to Social Security reform:

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Supplemental 2.0 -- Short-Term War Funding?

Apr 24, 2007 by Dana Chasin

What does Congress do for a yes-able encore, once Bush vetoes its full-funding of his record-sized war request? On the House side, senior Democrats are warming to the idea of passing a set of smaller war funding packages, akin to a sequence of CRs, providing money for as little as two months at a time. Yesterday, House Defense Appropriations chair John Murtha (D-PA) said it is likely the next step will be a two-month supplemental bill... but Senate leaders have yet to signal support for such an approach.

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