The Government Accountability Office released an updated report on the nation's long-term fiscal outlook last week. The outlook is still bleak, but the GAO is getting on the same page as the CBO in pointing toward rapidly rising health care costs as the prime cause of the gargantuan fiscal gap.

Earmarks -- House Cmte. Chair to Ignore Bush Order: Earlier this year, the president issued an Executive Order barring government agencies from using funds for earmarks added in House and Senate committee or conference report instead of the original bill's language. Per House Armed Services chair Ike Skelton (D-MO)'s spokeswoman: the "committee does not believe and does not acknowledge the president's assertion that report language should have no weight.

Housing -- Senate Banking Compromise Mark-Up Today: The Senate Banking Committee's compromise housing package, the Federal Housing Finance Regulatory Reform Act, will be marked up by the committee this morning. The bill, which provides $300 billion in mortgage guarantees, includes "major efforts to help prevent the rising number of foreclosures, to create more affordable housing for Americans and to reform the regulation of government-sponsored [housing finance] enterprises in order to improve their role in the housing finance system." Committee Release.

The lead editorials in the New York Times and Washington Post today both focus on the principal legislative solution to the nation's housing crisis -- the House-passed $1.7 billion plan to provide $300 billion in mortgage refinance guarantees, designed by Financial Services Committee chair Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA). The Senate Banking Committee is scheduled to mark up a similar bill tomorrow.