The Debt

Deficit Owls Say You Shouldn’t Give a Hoot About $1 Trillion Budget Shortfall

By Yuval Rosenberg

As warnings rise about the Congressional Budget Office’s projection that the federal budget deficit is on pace to top $1 trillion in 2020, The Washington Post’s Jeff Stein on Friday highlighted a...
How Congress Cheats with Our Money — and How We Can Stop It

By Marc Goldwein and Zach Moller

The U.S. is on course to top its record debt levels set after World War II, and permanent trillion-dollar deficits — meaning, forever — are likely to return within two years . And unlike after World...
April Is Financial Literacy Month. Someone Tell Congress.

By Joseph J. Minarik and Caroline L. Ferguson

February is Black History Month, March is National Women’s Month, and April? Well, it’s Financial Literacy Month, of course! The U.S. government gave financial literacy its own month in 2003. April...
Why All the Warnings About Unsustainable National Debt Could Be Wrong

By Michael Rainey

International economists are warning about rising global debt levels and deficit hawks in Washington are increasingly worried about what they see as unsustainable debt levels in the U.S., but a new...
The US Has an Exceptional Debt Outlook – and Not in a Good Way

By Michael Rainey

The International Money Fund’s latest global fiscal survey warns that in five years, the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio will be higher than Italy’s, a nation not generally known for its exemplary fiscal...

When the Budget Won’t Balance, Just Get Rid of the Budget Committee?

By Michael Rainey

It may sound like a joke — Erik Sherman of Forbes said it seemed like something “from The Onion or Andy Borowitz at the New Yorker, only with less humor and pith” — but Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), chair...
With Recent Laws, Congress Has Added $540 Billion to the 2019 Deficit

By Yuval Rosenberg

Spending hikes and tax cuts passed since 2015 under the Trump and Obama administrations account for $540 billion of next year’s projected $981 billion budget deficit, or 55 percent, according to...
Extending the Individual Tax Cuts Would Reduce Economic Growth: Penn Wharton Budget Model

By Michael Rainey

Most of the individual tax cuts in the GOP tax overhaul that became law in December are scheduled to expire after 2025, but Republican lawmakers are expected to try to make them permanent well before...
Why Trillion-Dollar Deficits Matter

By Yuval Rosenberg

The Congressional Budget Office confirmed this week that the deficit is on pace to surpass $1 trillion in 2020 and climb higher from there barring action by leaders in Washington, potentially...
Paul Ryan's Fiscal Legacy: Lots of Red Ink

By Yuval Rosenberg

House Speaker Paul Ryan announced Wednesday that he won’t seek re-election this year and will retire at the end of his term in January, becoming the most prominent in a wave of Republican lawmakers...

Sarah Sanders Says 'Of Course' Trump Still Cares About the Deficit

By Yuval Rosenberg

The national debt has now grown by more than $1 trillion since President Trump took office, climbing from $19.947 trillion to $20.958 trillion . Asked about that increase in the debt and whether...
US Could Spend More on Interest Than Defense by 2024, Budget Watchdog Warns

By Yuval Rosenberg

The U.S. government could spend more paying interest on its debt than it does on Medicaid by 2021 and the cost of debt service could surpass defense spending by 2024, according to a newly published...
Tax Cuts, Part 2: Trump Wants Another Crack at the Code

By Michael Rainey

The tax overhaul may not be generating the kind of political momentum Republicans were hoping for, but that’s not stopping them from talking about another round of tax cuts. President Trump has been...
New Budget Projections Show a Rising Tide of Red Ink Ahead

By Michael Rainey

The Congressional Budget Office won’t release new budget projections that include the effects of the President Trump’s tax overhaul until April, but on Friday the deficit hawks at the Committee for a...
Why the GOP Tax Cuts Could Cost Even More Than Expected

By Yuval Rosenberg

The Republican tax overhaul will decrease government revenue and increase the deficit by nearly $1.5 trillion over 10 years before accounting for any offsetting growth effects, according to estimates...