Taking the Budget Off Autopilot

One of the most daunting things about the long-term federal budget problem is that the programs that are in the most trouble -- Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security -- are also running on autopilot. Unlike the rest of the budget, Congress doesn't vote on these programs every year. They're driven by formulas, not by conscious decisions by policymakers.


Medicare and Social Security: No Change, No Good News, No Outrage

The good news from the Social Security and Medicare trustees is that things haven't gotten any worse. The bad news is that the situation was bad anyway.


Will the Media Notice Medicare?

The Social Security and Medicare trustees' report is due today, and my first question is: will Medicare be the lead of anyone's news story today?


A Month of Medicare?

In the world of federal budget politics, February may end up being the month of Medicare. And not a moment too soon.


The First Baby Boomer, Second Blog Carnival

There are a lot of elements to the nation's fiscal problems -- rising health care costs, the government's willingness to accept deficits as "normal," the fact that the government spends more in interest on the national debt than it does on Iraq. But most of these budget problems are slow-boiling worries.


What Iowans May Not Know

It's all Iowa, all the time, on cable news today as the first real voting of the presidential primary season begins. Iowans will have survived months of listening to presidential candidates talk about what they'll do if elected.


CBO Director on the Long-Term Budget Problem

Peter Orszag, the director of the Congressional Budget Office, has an op-ed on the long-term fiscal situation in the Wall Street Journal today -- it's today's must-read budget article, although unfortunately it's behind the Journal's subscription wall.


So This is Hysteria

According to the New Republic's


'The Entitlement People' Vs Mardi Gras

David Brooks may not have been specifically thinking of Facing Up to the Nation's Finances when he referred to "Entitlement People" in today's column, but he was certainly talking about people we know.


Breaking the Logjam

The buzzworthy budget-related news this week comes from Alan Greenspan taking President Bush to task in his new book. But you don't need me to write about Alan Greenspan's book.


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