Take a look at the articles on fiscal policy from the latest edition of our e-newsletter, The Watcher. White House Attempts To Entrench PART At Federal Agencies The White House issued an executive order (E.O. 13450) on Nov. 13 that would attempt to entrench the administration's controversial Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) within federal agencies long after President Bush leaves the White House. The order would create a point person within agencies responsible for program performance, allow the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) more leverage over specific aspects of program implementation and solidify the PART program review process as the evaluator of government programs. Republicans Keep Obstructing Common-Sense Investment Initiatives Over the past few months, an intransigent president and a conservative coalition in Congress have waylaid a host of common-sense, progressive spending initiatives, including the reauthorization of the nutrition section of the Farm Bill, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and funding for domestic priorities in the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education. The Real Long-Term Health Challenge Recently, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has been issuing reports challenging the conventional thinking about the long-term fiscal problem facing the nation, which was once believed to be primarily related to the influence of demographic changes on Social Security and Medicare. These reports draw on the results of other researchers and writers who found that long-term fiscal challenge is almost entirely unrelated to demographics and Social Security, and it is mostly confined to inefficiencies in the private and public health care system. Estate Tax Repeal No Longer On The Table On Nov. 14, the Senate Finance Committee dedicated time to a hearing to investigate uncertainty in estate tax law, despite a plethora of more pressing fiscal issues facing the current Congress.