Glenn Hubbard, former head of the President's Counicl of Economic Advisors, said some ridiculous things on NPR's marketplace yesterday about long-term fiscal problems and the President's budget. Among the many opinions passed as facts, this one merits the most attention: The president's budget poses a challenging question: Can we restore fiscal discipline without damaging economic growth with higher taxes?...The answer is yes.

A comment on testimony given to the Senate Budget Committee by Jason Furman, the leader of the center-left Hamilton Project and a scholar at the CBPP. The testimony concerns the "fiscal gap," the hot new phrase for what's typically called the long-term structural imbalance in the federal budget. His testimony is interesting and largely constructive. But it's more notable for its demonstration of budget wonkery's biggest blind spot: health care economics. Furman says rising health care costs are primarily responsible for the "fiscal gap." Yet all he says on the overall issue is this:

OMB Watch will be releasing an updated version of our popular website FedSpending.org later today. FedSpending.org allows users to search and download extensive information about government spending going back to FY 2000, from contracts to grants, loans, insurance payments, and direct spending. Below are some preview screenshots of the new look and features of the website. The new site will go live later this afternoon. Be sure to check it out and explore the new features. New FedSpending.org Homepage with Features(click to englarge) Added Summary Outputs with Trend Chart(click to englarge)

At a press conference last week, White House press secretary Tony Snow applies the administration's familiar "let's you and him fight" strategy (that's worked so well to paralyze the entitlement reform discussion) to AMT reform: