Here's an interesting study of Sen. Ron Wyden's plan to provide health care insurance for all Americans. It estimates that the plan would slow the growth of health care costs by nearly 1 percent, a reduction in total health care spending (public and private) of about $1.5 trillion over ten years. You can agree or disagree with Wyden's plan (I think it relies too much on private insurers and doesn't go far enough to control costs). What's inarguable is that providing more health insurance would control costs in a moral and effective way.

The fiscal gap is an awful way to measure and think about the budget's long-term fiscal imbalance. I don't know why, but GAO likes it. They gave a rundown of what the fiscal gap is in a report released on Friday. The fiscal gap is the amount of spending reduction or tax increases needed to keep debt as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) at or below today's ratio. Another way to say this is that the fiscal gap is the amount of change needed to prevent the kind of debt explosion implicit in figure 3.

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)