Papers

View our recurring reports, which summarize and analyze the most important regular federal budget releases and reports.

Nov 6, 2019 | Budget Process

Letter to Senate Budget Committee: Advance Bipartisan Budget Improvements

Below is a letter sent today from Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget president Maya MacGuineas to Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike...

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Oct 28, 2019 | Health Care| Taxes

Choices for Financing Medicare for All: A Preliminary Analysis

Proposals to adopt single-payer health care in the United States have grown in popularity in recent years, as numerous lawmakers and presidential...

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Oct 16, 2019 | Budgets & Projections

Introducing the Budget Offsets Bank

The federal debt is at a post-war record high, deficits are set to exceed the trillion-dollar mark this year, and new initiatives are being proposed...

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Sep 24, 2019 | Social Security

Chartbook: Promoting Economic Growth through Social Security Reform

Below is a Chartbook that corresponds to the paper "Promoting Economic Growth through Social Security Reform":

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Sep 19, 2019 | Social Security

Promoting Economic Growth through Social Security Reform

By Marc Goldwein, Maya MacGuineas, and Chris Towner Executive Summary As the population ages and an increasing share of Americans exit the...

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Most popular choices in the CRFB Debt Fixer federal budget tool

Sep 18, 2019 | Budgets & Projections

Americans Show They Can Make Tough Federal Budget Decisions and Reduce National Debt

The national debt currently is the highest it has been as a share of the economy since just after World War II, and it is rising rapidly. This high...

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Sep 12, 2019 | Budgets & Projections

After the 2020 Election, Fiscal Challenges Await

The winner of the 2020 presidential election will begin his or her term facing a daunting fiscal situation. High deficits and debt, depleting trust...

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Aug 27, 2019 | Economics

Break Glass Here: A Responsible Plan to Combat the Next Recession

The United States is in the midst of one of the longest periods of sustained economic growth in its history, but there are signs that this prolonged...

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Aug 21, 2019 | Budgets & Projections

Analysis of CBO’s Updated Budget and Economic Outlook (August 2019)

Today, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its updated Budget and Economic Outlook, showing that the national debt is on an unsustainable...

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Aug 9, 2019 | Health Care

Letter to Finance Committee: Thank You For Working to Reduce Health Costs

Below is a letter sent today from Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget president Maya MacGuineas to leaders of the Senate Finance...

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Jul 29, 2019 | Health Care| Taxes

Letter: Nearly 100 Experts Warn Against Cadillac Tax Repeal

A group of nearly 100 distinguished health and economic policy experts from across the ideological spectrum joined together to warn the Senate...

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Jun 25, 2019 | Budgets & Projections

CBO's 2019 Long-Term Budget Outlook

Today, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its Long-Term Budget Outlook, again confirming the budget’s unsustainable long-term trajectory...

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Jun 20, 2019 | Other Spending

A Plan to Raise the Caps Without Breaking the Bank

Due to the large temporary increase in discretionary spending levels for Fiscal Years 2018 and 2019 in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, spending is...

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Jun 7, 2019 | Budget Process

Appropriations 101

What are appropriations? How does Congress determine the total level of appropriations? How does Congress allocate appropriations? How are...

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May 14, 2019 | Budget Process

Kent Conrad's Testimony on the Broken Budget Process

On May 14, 2019, former Senate Budget Committee Chairman and Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget board member Kent Conrad (D-ND) testified...

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May 13, 2019 | Health Care

Analysis of the 2019 Medicare Trustees' Report

The Medicare Trustees have released their 2019 report, which makes projections for Medicare spending and revenue for the next 75 years. The Trustees...

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May 9, 2019 | Budgets & Projections

CBO's Analysis of the President's FY 2020 Budget

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its estimate of the President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 budget using its own assumptions to evaluate the...

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May 6, 2019 | Taxes