Podcasts about congressional budget office cbo

This week on Facing the Future we focused on the One Big Beautiful Bill that has now passed the House and is headed to the Senate. Our guest was Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President of the American Action Forum and former Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). We also discussed interest rates, tariffs and budget scoring.

For review:1. Iranian MP Blames Israel for Port Explosion. MP Mohammad Siraj: “Israel was involved in the explosion. It was not accidental. Clear evidence points to Israeli involvement.”  Israel's leadership has not commented on the blast. 2. IDF strikes missile warehouse in Beirut suburbs.  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement that missiles stored in the Lebanese capital “posed a significant threat to Israel.” 3. US continues to facilitate peace negotiations to end the Russia - Ukraine War. President Trump meets Ukraine President Zelenskyy in Vatican City.4. Car Bomb Kills Russian Senior Officer in charge of Army Operations (General Lieutenant Yaroslav Moskalik) in the town of Balashikha, east of Moscow. 5.  Car Bomb Kills Russian Electromagnetic Warfare Expert (Yevgeny Rytikov) in Bryansk- 100 kilometers north of the Russia-Ukraine Border. Mr. Rytikov headed the design bureau at the Bryansk Electromechanical Plant and was responsible for upgrading the Krasukha EW system, which Russian forces use to counter drones and airborne weapons. 6. North Korea reveals that it deployed troops to fight in Kursk Region.7.  Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports that sustaining and modernizing the US Nuclear arsenal will cost $946 billion between 2025-2034. 8. US Army officially names the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon- "Dark Eagle". 

Watch The X22 Report On Video No videos found Click On Picture To See Larger Picture The [CB] has started the narrative that the tax cuts are going to the wealthy and his policies will bring the country into a recession. The country is already in a recession. Trump has now added more tariffs to the mix. Canada and Mexico will fold and give in to his demands. Tariffs will create jobs over the long run. The economic transition has begun. The [DS] is feeling the pain, they were put on display during Trumps congressional speech. The people saw how the Ds hate our country and how they were protecting their money laundering operation. The pain they are feeling will increase as their crimes are released to the public. In the end the D party will cease to exist once it's all exposed.   (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:13499335648425062,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-7164-1323"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="//cdn2.customads.co/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs"); Economy Trump's lies on tax cuts are another gut punch to America's working-class  You know the old expression, numbers don't lie?   Well, they do when the numbers come out of President Trump's mouth.  Trump's numbers don't add up. If he were getting a math grade for his speech to the joint session of Congress, he'd fail miserably.  Trump is worse than a student who hasn't done his homework. He's a president who routinely lies to mislead the public, justify his wrongdoing and distract us from the real harm he's doing to Americans and the lasting damage he's doing to America.  Trump made a lot of promises about a new “golden age” for America. But in reality, he and congressional Republicans are getting ready to sell out Americans and our future so he can deliver massive tax cuts to billionaires like Elon Musk.  Source: thehill.com Yes, the $4.5 trillion in tax cuts you're referring to is largely tied to the continuation of the Trump tax cuts, specifically those enacted under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). Many of the TCJA's provisions, particularly the individual income tax cuts, are set to expire at the end of 2025. Extending these expiring provisions is a significant part of what's being discussed in current budget proposals. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and other analyses estimate that permanently extending the TCJA's individual, estate, and certain business tax provisions would cost around $4.6 trillion over a 10-year period (2025–2034), including debt service costs. This figure aligns closely with the $4.5 trillion often cited in recent Republican budget resolutions, such as the House Budget Committee's plan released in February 2025. That proposal explicitly allocates $4.5 trillion to the Ways and Means Committee to "lock in tax cuts," which is widely understood to mean extending the TCJA provisions that would otherwise expire.   The TCJA lowered rates across all brackets. For example, the 15% bracket dropped to 12%, and the 25% bracket became 22%. If it expires, rates revert to pre-2017 levels (10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33%, 35%, 39.6%). A single filer earning $50,000 in 2025, for instance, would see their marginal rate jump from 22% to 25%, increasing their tax bill by a few hundred dollars annually. Standard Deduction: The TCJA nearly doubled it—$13,850 for singles and $27,700 for married couples in 2023 (adjusted yearly for inflation). Post-expiration, it drops back to around $6,350 and $12,700 (pre-2017 levels, plus inflation). This means more income gets taxed, especially for those who don't itemize, which is most working people. A couple taking the $27,700 deduction now could owe taxes on an extra $15,000 or so, adding roughly $3,000 to their bill at a 22% rate. Child Tax Credit: The TCJA bumped it to $2,000 per kid (with $1,

Last week, Senate Republicans passed a $340 billion budget resolution that could pave the way for legislation to extend tax cuts implemented during President Donald Trump's first term and add billions of dollars in Pentagon and border security spending. However, House Republicans have yet to pass their budget resolution, which is the 'big beautiful bill' that the President prefers, igniting a rivalry between the GOP members in both chambers. FOX News Senior Congressional Correspondent Chad Pergram joins to break it all down. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) was established in 1974, and since then, it has become one of the go-to sources for policy analysis considered by Congress. Although the office is supposed to be nonpartisan, Republicans have grown skeptical of its scoring. Now, some GOP members are pushing to use outside data to analyze the impacts their agenda could have on the national debt. Georgia Congressman Austin Scott (R-GA) joins to argue why using outside organizations in addition to the CBO's baseline could be beneficial and why the CBO needs to be reformed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last week, Senate Republicans passed a $340 billion budget resolution that could pave the way for legislation to extend tax cuts implemented during President Donald Trump's first term and add billions of dollars in Pentagon and border security spending. However, House Republicans have yet to pass their budget resolution, which is the 'big beautiful bill' that the President prefers, igniting a rivalry between the GOP members in both chambers. FOX News Senior Congressional Correspondent Chad Pergram joins to break it all down. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) was established in 1974, and since then, it has become one of the go-to sources for policy analysis considered by Congress. Although the office is supposed to be nonpartisan, Republicans have grown skeptical of its scoring. Now, some GOP members are pushing to use outside data to analyze the impacts their agenda could have on the national debt. Georgia Congressman Austin Scott (R-GA) joins to argue why using outside organizations in addition to the CBO's baseline could be beneficial and why the CBO needs to be reformed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last week, Senate Republicans passed a $340 billion budget resolution that could pave the way for legislation to extend tax cuts implemented during President Donald Trump's first term and add billions of dollars in Pentagon and border security spending. However, House Republicans have yet to pass their budget resolution, which is the 'big beautiful bill' that the President prefers, igniting a rivalry between the GOP members in both chambers. FOX News Senior Congressional Correspondent Chad Pergram joins to break it all down. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) was established in 1974, and since then, it has become one of the go-to sources for policy analysis considered by Congress. Although the office is supposed to be nonpartisan, Republicans have grown skeptical of its scoring. Now, some GOP members are pushing to use outside data to analyze the impacts their agenda could have on the national debt. Georgia Congressman Austin Scott (R-GA) joins to argue why using outside organizations in addition to the CBO's baseline could be beneficial and why the CBO needs to be reformed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At the height of last year's Presidential Campaign, then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) asking them to estimate the effects of the Trump Tariffs. At the time, Candidate Trump promised to impose tariffs on many of our nation's most significant trading partners, especially China.

At the height of last year's Presidential Campaign, then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) asking them to estimate the effects of the Trump Tariffs. At the time, Candidate Trump promised to impose tariffs on many of our nation's most significant trading partners, especially China.

This week on Facing the Future, we talked about the nation's budget challenges with Barry Anderson, former Deputy Director for Budget Review at the White House Office of Management and Budget. He also served as Deputy Director and then Acting Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Beyond his work on the U.S. budget, Anderson headed the Budgeting and Public Expenditures Division in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Anderson sees some similarities between the early days of the Clinton Administration in the 1990's and the current situation.

In this Vital Health Podcast, John Stanford, Executive Director of Incubate, discusses the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) on venture capital investments in life sciences. Stanford emphasizes that the IRA's price control mechanisms have led to significant shifts in funding, particularly away from small-molecule drug development, creating what is described as the "small molecule penalty." Key points include: Venture Capital's Role and Challenges: Venture capital is critical in translating basic research into medicines. The Inflation Reduction Act has disrupted this ecosystem, discouraging investment in certain drugs due to anticipated lower returns under price control regimes. Data from the Life Science Tracker: Stanford highlights the Life Science Tracker findings, showing 36 research programs and 21 specific drug developments discontinued since the IRA's passage. Notably, investments are markedly shifted from small molecules to biologics. Economic and Patient Impact: The IRA has led to reduced innovation in critical areas like oncology and rare diseases. Treatments for diseases like ovarian cancer and blindness have been deprioritized. Stanford argues that the act inadvertently penalizes older patients, the demographic it was designed to benefit, by disincentivizing drugs for age-related diseases. Proposed Solutions: The EPIC Act, a bipartisan effort supported by Incubate, aims to address the disparities by giving small molecules the same 13-year exclusivity period as biologics. Fixing the incentives for drug development, including addressing multiple indication penalties, is crucial to fostering innovation. Critique of Government Assessments: Stanford critiques the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) for its reliance on limited data sources and narrow time horizons, which fail to capture the long-term impacts of the IRA. In conclusion, Stanford stresses the need for legislative adjustments to mitigate the IRA's unintended consequences on drug innovation and patient care. For more insights, listeners are directed to the Life Science Tracker at lifesciencetracker.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Politicians from both parties long ago learned that fiscal prudence leads to electoral oblivion. Therefore, the absence of the deficit as a topic of conversation should surprise no-one. Publicly owned Federal debt is 99% of GDP and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is forecasting that this will reach 166% over the next three decades. Trump […]

In this conversation, Joe Grogan and Ge Bai discuss the complexities of healthcare finance, focusing on the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and its implications for drug pricing and Medicare. They delve into the role of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in estimating the financial impacts of healthcare policies, highlighting the discrepancies between projected savings and actual costs. The discussion also touches on the challenges faced by seniors under Medicare Part D, the potential consequences for drug innovation, and the need for bipartisan solutions in healthcare reform. Additionally, they explore the implications of proposed long-term care policies and the financial burdens they may impose.

This week on Facing the Future former U.S Representative Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-GA) discussed key differences between state and federal budgeting and whether there are lessons for federal policymakers. We also got some timely insights from University of Maryland professor of public policy Phil Joyce on whether the 50-year old federal budget process is up to dealing with the nation's fiscal challenges. Later in the show, Concord Coalition Chief Economist Steve Robinson joined me to assess the Fiscal Year 2024 year-end numbers as reported by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and a new CBO report on trends in the distribution of family wealth.

Join Jim and Greg as they discuss more good polling for incumbent GOP senators and two key challengers, the sobering facts and projections about our massive debt and deficits, and the no good, very bad week for CBS News.First, they break down promising polling for incumbent GOP senators like Florida's Rick Scott and Texas' Ted Cruz, as well as key challenger Tim Sheehy's growing lead over Democrat Sen. Jon Tester in Montana. The outlook for a Republican Senate majority in 2025 is improving.Next, they groan as new numbers and projections from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) show a $1.8 trillion deficit for this past fiscal year and an even bigger one expected for the year to come. The figures also show that just paying the interest on the debt cost taxpayers $892 billion in Fiscal Year 2024 and will be more than a trillion dollars next year. It's unsustainable and neither party cares.Finally, they chronicle the horrible week for CBS News. This includes network management chastising "CBS This Morning" Co-Host Tony Dokoupil for asking some tough questions of Ta-Nehisi Coates about his new book that's very hostile towards Israel,  "60 Minutes" egregiously editing the interview with Kamala Harris, and network brass telling reporters not to say that Jerusalem is in Israel.Please visit our great sponsors:BetterHelphttps://betterhelp.com/3MLVisit the 3ML website for 10% of your first month.  Zbioticshttps://zbiotics.com/3MLUse code 3ML at checkout to save 15% off your first order.  

This week on Facing the Future we focused on the economy and previewed the 2025 tax debate when key provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) are scheduled to expire at the end of the year. We also discussed some new tax proposals that have been floated on the campaign trail.    Our guest was Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President of the American Action Forum and former Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Concord Coalition chief economist Steve Robinson joined the conversation.

This Day in Legal History: American Bar Association FoundedOn August 21, 1878, the American Bar Association (ABA) was founded in Saratoga Springs, New York, by a group of 75 lawyers committed to advancing the legal profession in the United States. The ABA quickly became the nation's premier organization for attorneys, setting standards for legal education, ethics, and professional conduct. It played a crucial role in shaping American jurisprudence, advocating for legal reforms, and providing resources for continuing legal education. Over the decades, the ABA influenced significant legal developments, including the establishment of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, which guide attorney ethics nationwide.However, from 2009 to 2019, the ABA saw a substantial decline in membership, reflecting broader challenges within the legal profession, such as the rising cost of legal education, the changing dynamics of legal practice, and competition from other professional organizations. Despite these challenges, the ABA remains a key player in the legal field, continuing to influence policy and uphold the standards of the profession. Its founding marks a pivotal moment in U.S. legal history, representing the formalization of efforts to unify and elevate the practice of law across the country.George Santos, a former U.S. congressman representing Queens and Long Island, has pleaded guilty to fraud and identity theft charges, agreeing to serve a minimum of two years in prison. U.S. Attorney Breon Peace highlighted that Santos' acceptance of mandatory prison time was a critical factor in finalizing the recent plea agreement. Originally charged with fabricating fundraising figures and falsifying extensive parts of his biography during his congressional campaign, Santos was expelled from Congress in 2023. The 36-year-old now faces a potential maximum sentence of 22 years, with sentencing set for February 7 by Judge Joanna Seybert. Despite pleading guilty to only two counts, Santos admitted wrongdoing in all 23 original charges, which may influence the severity of his sentence. Peace emphasized the significance of holding corrupt public officials accountable to maintain public trust in governmental institutions.Recent Supreme Court rulings have narrowed the scope of what constitutes bribery under federal law, impacting how prosecutors approach corruption cases. In June, the Court decided that accepting gratuities after performing an official act does not violate federal bribery statutes for state and local officials. Another ruling limited the application of honest services fraud charges to non-government individuals, further restricting prosecutorial avenues. These decisions present challenges for federal prosecutors, who must now navigate a more constrained legal framework when pursuing corruption charges. Despite these obstacles, prosecutors like Peace remain committed to holding public officials accountable by adapting their strategies within the revised legal boundaries. Understanding these Supreme Court decisions is crucial for comprehending the current landscape of political corruption prosecutions and the efforts required to secure convictions.Mandatory prison was key to George Santos deal, US prosecutor says | ReutersAnthropic PBC is facing a copyright lawsuit from authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson, who allege that the company used pirated versions of their works to train its AI model, "Claude." The authors claim that Anthropic used an open-source dataset called The Pile, which included a subset known as "Books3" containing nearly 200,000 pirated books, including their own. Although Books3 was removed from The Pile in August 2023, older versions with the pirated content remain available. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accuses Anthropic of training its AI on this illegally obtained content instead of properly licensing it, likening the situation to a "modern-day Napster."The authors argue that Anthropic's actions harm their ability to earn a living by enabling users to generate text that would otherwise be paid for, thereby undermining the licensing market for copyrighted material. They pointed out that other AI companies, such as OpenAI, Google, and Meta, have struck licensing deals with content owners, highlighting a growing market for legally licensed training data. In a related issue, Anthropic is also being sued by eight music publishers for allegedly using its AI to reproduce song lyrics scraped from the internet. The authors' complaint criticizes Anthropic for claiming to be a public benefit company while allegedly causing significant harm to copyright owners.Anthropic Hit With Copyright Suit From Authors Over Flagship AIA bill passed by the U.S. Senate to add 66 new judges to federal district courts is projected to increase government spending by $349 million over the next decade, according to a report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The bill, known as the JUDGES Act, represents the first significant expansion of the judiciary since 1990 and aims to alleviate the increasing caseloads and staffing shortages in several states, including California, Texas, and Delaware. The bill plans to gradually create these judicial positions, including 63 permanent and three temporary ones, starting in January 2025.The CBO estimates that $98 million of the total cost will cover the salaries and benefits of the new judges, which are constitutionally protected and not subject to congressional appropriation. The remaining $250 million will cover administrative costs, including court staff, facilities, security, and technology. Additionally, the bill mandates that the Government Accountability Office report on judges' caseloads and federal detention space needs, which would cost $1 million over the same period.Despite the projected costs, supporters of the bill, including lead sponsor Senator Todd Young, argue that the cost of inaction would be higher, as delays in the judicial system could deny citizens timely access to justice. The bill now awaits consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives.Bill to add 66 US judges would cost $349 mln over a decade, CBO says | ReutersA federal judge in Dallas has blocked the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from enforcing its near-total ban on noncompete agreements, which was set to take effect in September. U.S. District Judge Ada Brown ruled that the FTC lacked the authority to implement the ban, describing it as "unreasonably overbroad without a reasonable explanation." This ruling, favoring the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a Texas tax firm that challenged the ban, is a significant setback for the FTC. The decision contrasts with a prior ruling by a Pennsylvania judge who supported the FTC's authority.The FTC argued that noncompete agreements harm workers by restricting economic freedom, depressing wages, and limiting innovation, while employers claim they protect investments in employees. Currently, about 20% of U.S. workers are subject to these agreements. Although the FTC planned to use its authority to ban noncompetes as part of its mission to prevent unfair competition, Judge Brown's ruling could lead to an appeal, potentially to the conservative-leaning 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. The case is one of three ongoing lawsuits against the FTC's rule, with other cases pending in Florida and Pennsylvania.FTC Ban on Worker Noncompete Deals Blocked by Federal Judge (2)US judge strikes down Biden administration ban on worker 'noncompete' agreements | Reuters This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

Last week the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released their latest ten year budget projection. It invariably makes for depressing, if unsurprising reading. Significant deterioration in our fiscal outlook is visible with every release. For example, in February we noted that one particular milestone, the year in which interest on the Federal debt exceeds $1TN, keeps […]

An action by the Biden administration that allows Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients access to Obamacare, as found in a study by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), might potentially result in billions added to the national deficit. The CBO, after a comprehensive review, has come up with an estimate that approximately 110,000 unauthorized immigrants, who are part of DACA, may opt for Obamacare coverage, thereby increasing the federal deficit by nearly $7 billion over a timeframe of 2025 to 2034. This estimation was brought forth following President Biden's recent declaration that he intends to modify the regulatory structure of Obamacare, thus making DACA recipients eligible for its benefits for the first time. The report by the CBO, along with the Joint Committee on Taxation, indicates that a yearly average of about 110,000 DACA recipients will likely enroll for marketplace coverage due to this change. As a result, it's anticipated the deficit will rise by a projected $7 billion over the decade from 2025 to 2034. While there may be some offset to additional marketplace enrollment costs in terms of decreased emergency Medicaid spending, this won't fully mitigate against the higher costs, as per the agencies' estimates.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Facing the Future, Bob Bixby was joined by Concord Coalition Policy Director Tori Gorman and Chief Economist Steve Robinson to discuss the latest 10-year Budget and Economic Outlook from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The CBO report projects that the federal budget deficit will grow from $2 trillion this year to $2.8 trillion by 2034 (adjusted to exclude timing shifts that occur when the first day of the fiscal year falls on a weekend). Bob, Tori, and Steve broke down the key projections from the report and what each could mean for interest rates, jobs, and economic growth going forward.

Today's Post - https://bahnsen.co/3TX5X1I What started off as a positive trading morning, slid negative as the day progressed. Powell's comments yesterday were debated as to whether he took his ‘Pivot' from October back. Not to worry, because first, I don't think he did take it back and two rate cuts are still priced in to Fed futures, and second, as I mentioned yesterday there is enough in the economy that is good at this time to withstand a delayed move lower in rates by a few months. The Fed's beige book out today supported that general positive undertone in the economy which helped us off the lows of the day a few hours before closing as well. Seeing as we all made our tax payments this week, yesterday we saw the US Government take in the most it ever has in tax collections from corporations and non withheld amounts at $155B. The previous high water mark was back in 2022 following a big year prior and reopening after the pandemic when the same April figure was $121B. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is expecting total tax receipts for the full year 2024 to come in right near that record level in 2022 at roughly $4.93T. This is good news for the budget deficit and the growth rate of Treasury bill issuance which is set to decline for the first time in two years, although still won't put us any where near an actual budget surplus when we are talking about chipping away at a $2T deficit. Links mentioned in this episode: TheDCToday.com DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com

[This blog will always be free to read, but it's also how I pay my bills. If you have suggestions or feedback on how I can earn your paid subscription, shoot me an email: cmclymer@gmail.com. And yes, I am available for speaking engagements.]Yesterday was a bit of high political drama as President Biden and Donald Trump simultaneously paid visits to the southern border in Texas, 266 miles away from each other, Biden in Brownsville and Trump in Eagle Pass. Their leadership approaches couldn't have been any different, of course.Trump and the GOP are once again seizing on immigration as their tip-of-the-spear campaign message, claiming that our nation is under threat from undocumented migrants (it is not), and President Biden is doing his damnedest to fight disinformation on the issue while projecting strength in the face of the GOP's bumpersticker philosophy jousting.In Brownsville, the President talked up the bipartisan border deal that got pretty obviously scuttled by Senate Republicans in deference to Trump, whose racist immigration rants have become his signature song. He also encouraged Trump to join him in calling on Congress to act. Some on the left are angry at President Biden for this perceived olive branch, and respectfully, that makes no sense to me. It's a smart political move. He knows Trump isn't going to engage in good faith on this issue, and he knows there are moderates who will be won over that someone in this debate is attempting to meet the other halfway.We've arrived at a predictable cycle in the immigration debate: the Republican Party spreads lies and half-truths about undocumented migrants, political media pretends to kinda sorta push back against the disinformation (but not really), and most Democrats weakly fumble in attempting to mollify concerned moderates who don't understand that this is a contrived issue.Anyone old enough to remember the 2018 midterms—approximately 20 years ago, it feels like—will recall the conservative media panic over “migrant caravans” that were about to invade the United States. The day after the midterms, that issue quickly faded away and the next clown cause took its place to stoke outrage.See, the Republican Party doesn't really have any good ideas on how to “protect the border” for the simple reason that the border is too big to protect.The U.S-Mexico border is nearly 2,000 miles long. Barring some unforeseen advancement in extraordinary technology, it is impossible to “protect” the border. Even assuming a wall that long could be built—for several reasons, notably cost, it cannot be built—the entire stretch of border would still need to be actively monitored. You can scale these walls and cut through them. Seriously. Someone's gotta be there to prevent that from happening, right?Let's be generous for a second and pretend there'd only be need for a skeleton crew (say, five personnel) for every two miles along this hypothetical wall. That works out to about 5,000 personnel being actively deployed at any given moment, but these folks need sleep. So, at about a standard 40 hours a week, we're actually looking at 20,000 personnel, at least, being actively deployed to monitor the border.So, presumably, after we've built this giant wall, which, in itself, is quite expensive, there will be the far more complicated task of comprehensively guarding the wall and repairing it over time. Forever.No one should understand this better than Trump. Remember his famous campaign pledge? He would get the wall built, and Mexico would pay for it.Trump came into office in 2017 with a federal trifecta: the presidency, the House, and the Senate were all under GOP control. In fact, the Republican majorities in Congress were more than enough to get done whatever the hell needed to be done in order to build the wall.Everything was in place to act on his main campaign pledge. Four years later, the Trump administration had built just 52 miles of new primary border barriers, although he often takes credit for “500 miles” because about 90% of that were repairs to existing primary and secondary border barriers.Basically, this man talked so much s**t about the border and the non-existent “migrant crime wave” and how only he could take care of it, and yet, after voters gave him every lever of power he needed to do just that, only an additional 2.7 percent of the U.S.-Mexico border had new barriers by the end of his term.(Oh, and Mexico didn't pay a dime, of course.)I mean, really, think about that. Trump could have singlehandedly ensured the wall got built in those first two years of his presidency, but he didn't. Far from it. Why? I think it's pretty obvious: * Donald Trump and the Republican Party know that it's an impossible task to comprehensively “protect the border” and stop the immigration of undocumented migrants. It ain't gonna happen. There's just too much border for it to be feasible.* Trump and the GOP partly don't want to solve this issue because it's an incredibly potent vehicle for racist propaganda and electoral strategy. Part of the allure of this topic is that it's very easy to message on in bad faith, replete with blatant disinformation, because it can't actually be “solved” and thus, it's the gift that keeps on giving.* And they partly don't want to “solve” it, which would mean mass deportations and asylum refusals, among other things, because they know that the American economy would collapse without undocumented migrants. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated the influx of new immigrants, documented and undocumented, will strengthen the U.S. economy by $7 trillion more over the next decade than without this labor force otherwise.* Fear is a primary motivator for the Republican base, and the foolish moral panic over the non-existent “migrant crime wave” makes for excellent propaganda, which draws considerably more fundraising and electoral sting in much of the country.I don't think all conservatives or all Republicans are included in the above. There are reasonable adults on the right who simply want common sense measures in place to prevent the rare demonstrably dangerous immigrant from entering the country. That is entirely reasonable, and I agree with it.We should have sensible border security policies in place, but folks, I gotta tell you: when I think of national security or the economy, undocumented migrants aren't among the first ten concerns that come to mind for either. I grew up in Texas, as did generations of my family before me. I grew up around undocumented migrants. I had classmates and friends and neighbors who were undocumented.And I'll tell you something that I think is especially weird about many Republicans in Texas: they'll say “illegal immigration” is a problem, except when it comes to the undocumented migrants they personally know. Oh, that guy? He's good people. Leave him and his family alone. They're not bothering nobody.They are aware of this paradox, and they don't seem to care that it's hypocritical. I grew up around a lot of these kind of conservative folks, and I don't find this complicated stance of theirs especially heartwarming. I think it's ridiculous and frustrating. There is no “border security crisis” to our south. If anything, there is a humanitarian crisis that should be all-too-easy to address with the kind of supposed “Christian values” that are consistently shoved down our throat by Republican politicians.Somehow, “pro-life” means forcing 11 year-old rape victims to give birth but not welcoming desperate and hungry migrants with open arms, recognizing that our Savior, too, was a migrant on this earth. Selective Christianity is a hell of a thing. These folks seem to (inaccurately) deploy the Bible as a weapon for their own misguided judgment but never seem to read what Christ said constantly about our collective duty to the poor and the otherwise vulnerable.Christ never said: “For you shall welcome migrants with love, provided they properly navigate the needlessly and insufferably byzantine process of U.S. customs and immigration, often via repeated attempts, often without success and offered a dubious and illogical explanation as to why.”No, Christ was very clear about being kind and generous to the most vulnerable among us, regardless of nationality. Sure, this is all very easy for me to say because I'm not running for president. My job is to fight disinformation and highlight the hypocrisy of bigots and offer you, my readers, a reasonable top line analysis of all this.President Biden is fighting a far different battle. He knows how quickly clumsy messaging can escalate into calamity and sabotage what might be the last ever fair presidential election we'll have in the event that Trump should prevail.The mass communications in all this are a minefield, and I think there are a lot of well-meaning progressives who are losing sight of the big picture: we have to make it through November and this discourse is extremely delicate and taking an aggressively progressive approach on this issue, especially without Congress, is very foolish.The President, the wise man that he is, looks for every opportunity to win over moderates. Yesterday's statement directed at Donald Trump was not an olive branch; it was an incredibly smart way of getting a lot of moderate voters to ask: wait, what is Trump's plan on this issue and why didn't he get it done the first time around? Where is his legislative proposal? Where are his ideas?And also, it gets some moderates to recognize that the President is at least trying to work with his opponents while Trump just keeps insulting his.All of this is frustrating, no doubt about that. It's enraging and exasperating and heartbreaking. We should be welcoming undocumented migrants as a boon to our society and economy. We should be prioritizing human rights, especially in the echoes of a hundred thousand church sermons every week on Christ's love.We are a better country because of our undocumented siblings. We're also stuck in a discourse that is held hostage by zero-sum pronouncements rooted entirely in racist views and completely detached from the data.In taking the basic adult responsibility of acknowledging that our current politics are chaotic and often unpredictable, it should be much easier for those of us who are reasonable adults, regardless of where we fall on the political spectrum, to have more grace with each other on this issue.We should be educating each other and contextualizing what the next eight months mean for the future of our democracy.Let's just get to November. Let's beat Trump. Let's beat this goddamn guy first and then turn our attention to fixing the mess he created. Because if we don't do that, what happens next on this issue will be far worse than any of us can imagine, and undocumented migrants deserve a hell of a lot better than performative arguing that ultimately leads nowhere. Charlotte's Web Thoughts is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Charlotte's Web Thoughts at charlotteclymer.substack.com/subscribe

There are two ways in which our looming fiscal catastrophe draws closer. One is through the passage of time, as entitlements grow with more aging Medicare recipients. The other is through worsening projections from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Both are happening. Start with interest expense. In the CBO's May 2022 ten year Budget and […]

This week on Facing the Future, our guest was Dr. Phillip Swagel, Director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The CBO just released its Budget and Economic Outlook for 2024-2034. Spoiler alert: It's not great news.

This week on Facing the Future, our guest was Dr. Phillip Swagel, Director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The CBO just released its Budget and Economic Outlook for 2024-2034. Spoiler alert: It's not great news.

In the news this week – Chris Boyd and Jeff Perry start off the segment with a review of the record high level of stock market prices.  Chris and Jeff next talk about the upcoming Superbowl pitting the Kanas City Chiefs against the San Franciso 49ers.  The conversation transitions to the finances of the Superbowl, including the over $1B of economic stimulus to Las Vegas (site of the Superbowl) and the $26B projected to be wagered on the game.  The segment ends with commentary on reports from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimating that this year's federal budget deficit will be $1.6T, and without changes to revenue or expenditures, the annual budget deficit in 2034 will rise to over $2.6T.  Chris and Jeff discuss at what level the growing national debt will be an issue to the financial markets.  

The Rich Zeoli Show- Hour 3: On Wednesday, Manhattan Federal Judge Loretta Pleska ordered the release of documents related to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein—revealing the names of people with connections to Epstein. Listeners weigh-in on New York City Mayor Eric Adams' absurd lawsuit targeting bus companies who provide transportation to illegal migrants. Matt Walsh of The Daily Wire writes: “The CIA has a term called “limited hangout.” This is a tactic where some small portion of the truth is made public while the most important details—the stuff that really matters—is kept hidden. Intelligence agencies do this in hopes that the stuff they release will satisfy everyone's curiosity and they'll stop asking questions. These Epstein files appear to be exactly that. This is a limited hangout. A diversion meant to satisfy you without actually telling you what you need to know. They want you to stop asking questions. Don't fall for it.” You can read the full article here: https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-epstein-files-are-released-but-the-cover-up-continues Dr. E.J. Antoni—Research Fellow in The Heritage Foundation's Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to discuss the U.S. National debt topping $34 Trillion. In 2020, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the U.S. would not reach $34 trillion of debt until 2029.

The Rich Zeoli Show- Full Episode (01/04/2024): 3:05pm- Kathryn Watson of CBS News writes: “The Justice Department filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Texas over the state's implementation of a new immigration law allowing state and local law enforcement officials to arrest, jail and prosecute migrants who may have entered the U.S. illegally. The Biden administration warned Texas that it would file a suit if Texas didn't assure federal officials by Wednesday that they wouldn't enforce the new state law, SB4. The state law also allows judges in Texas to issue de facto deportation orders. The Biden administration insists that immigration-related offenses are matters for the federal government, not states.” You can read the full article here: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/justice-department-sues-texas-border-security-law/ 3:10pm- How does the Biden Administration politically benefit by ignoring the immigration problems at the U.S. Southern border? Rich notes that from a strategic perspective, it makes no sense for Democrats to forgo aid to Ukraine while concurrently allowing Republicans to win the debate on unlawful immigration. 3:20pm- While speaking with the press, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said of migrants who enter the U.S. unlawfully: "we don't need to be disrespectful. We don't need to talk about them as criminals. They're not—they're families that want a better life." 3:35pm- Chicago Alderman Brian Hopkins, a Democrat, conceded that his city would likely not be classified as a “Sanctuary City” if elected officials were asked to vote on the categorization today. He also said “the federal government has dropped the ball” on securing the U.S. Southern border. 3:40pm- Mayor of Eagle Pass, Texas Rolando Salina, a Democrat, said that migrants who unlawfully cross the U.S. Southern border and do not qualify for asylum should be deported immediately. Even CNN host Anderson Cooper agreed, stating: “The asylum system is completely off the rails. It's completely broken.” 3:55pm- While speaking with Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer on Fox News, Texas Governor Greg Abbott noted that Democrats had been fine with uncontrolled, unlawful migration until the issue began to impact their cities and states. 4:05pm- Jennifer Stefano—Executive Vice President of the Commonwealth Foundation & Columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to discuss the three things Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker must do immediately. On Tuesday, Parker was sworn in as the 100th Mayor of Philadelphia. On her first day, she signed an executive order declaring a public safety emergency—calling for the development of a strategy that will reduce the unmitigated violence and open drug use currently plaguing the city. But can Mayor Parker's plan be effective while Larry Krasner remains the city's District Attorney? 4:30pm- Armando Garcia of ABC News writes: “New York City Mayor Eric Adams has announced a lawsuit against 17 bus and transportation companies helping to send asylum-seekers to the city as it deals with major budget issues surrounding the crisis. The city is seeking $708 million in the lawsuit to cover costs for caring for migrants.” You can read the full report: https://abcnews.go.com/US/new-york-city-announces-lawsuit-bus-companies-sending/story?id=106110357 4:35pm- Listeners weigh-in on New York City Mayor Eric Adams' absurd lawsuit targeting bus companies who provide transportation to illegal migrants. 4:55pm- Mairead Elordi of The Daily Wire writes: “New York City Democratic Mayor Eric Adams admitted this week that some of the illegal migrants who have shown up in the city recently are engaging in a ‘robbery pattern.'” You can read the full article here: https://www.dailywire.com/news/nyc-mayor-says-some-migrants-participated-in-a-robbery-pattern 5:05pm- On Wednesday, Manhattan Federal Judge Loretta Pleska ordered the release of documents related to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein—revealing the names of people with connections to Epstein. 5:10pm- Listeners weigh-in on New York City Mayor Eric Adams' absurd lawsuit targeting bus companies who provide transportation to illegal migrants. 5:30pm- Matt Walsh of The Daily Wire writes: “The CIA has a term called “limited hangout.” This is a tactic where some small portion of the truth is made public while the most important details—the stuff that really matters—is kept hidden. Intelligence agencies do this in hopes that the stuff they release will satisfy everyone's curiosity and they'll stop asking questions. These Epstein files appear to be exactly that. This is a limited hangout. A diversion meant to satisfy you without actually telling you what you need to know. They want you to stop asking questions. Don't fall for it.” You can read the full article here: https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-epstein-files-are-released-but-the-cover-up-continues 5:40pm- Dr. E.J. Antoni—Research Fellow in The Heritage Foundation's Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to discuss the U.S. National debt topping $34 Trillion. In 2020, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the U.S. would not reach $34 trillion of debt until 2029. 6:05pm- While speaking with Jake Tapper on CNN, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) commented on a Biden Administration proposal to spend more money on processing illegal migrants. Quoting a Border Patrol agent he spoke with in Eagle Pass, Texas, Speaker Johnson explained: It's as if I'm at an open fire hydrant. I don't need more buckets to dump the water. I need to turn the flow off."  6:10pm- While speaking with Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer on Fox News, Texas Governor Greg Abbott noted that Democrats had been fine with uncontrolled, unlawful migration until the issue began to impact their cities and states. 6:15pm- Mayor of Eagle Pass, Texas Rolando Salina, a Democrat, said that migrants who unlawfully cross the U.S. Southern border and do not qualify for asylum should be deported immediately. Even CNN host Anderson Cooper agreed, stating: “The asylum system is completely off the rails. It's completely broken.” 6:20pm- Rich teases a big event announcement coming next week. 6:30pm- An abbreviated hour of The Rich Zeoli Show due to college basketball— the Temple Owls take on the South Florida Bulls.

This week on Facing the Future we got an update on the latest inflation and economic growth numbers from Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President of the American Action Forum and former Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Despite some encouraging short-term numbers, Holtz-Eakin sees a few warning signs for 2024. We also discussed his new issue brief on employment-based immigration.

This week on Facing the Future we got an update on the latest inflation and economic growth numbers from Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President of the American Action Forum and former Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Despite some encouraging short-term numbers, Holtz-Eakin sees a few warning signs for 2024. We also discussed his new issue brief on employment-based immigration.

 Expect Interest Rates Higher for Longer! Why? The Debt Spiral is Accelerating   Due to higher interest rates, the interest on the debt is increasing faster than expected. The interest on the debt now exceeds $1 trillion annually. The cost of interest has doubled in the past 19 months.    According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the deficit will be about $3 trillion for fiscal year 2024. This is 50% higher than the CBO estimates recently. This is known as a debt spiral. The interest increases at an increasing rate.   The current level of government spending and increased interest cost is unsustainable.    Interest rates are likely to remain high for longer.    As the government continues to spend more than they receive, bond buyers will demand higher interest rates due to the higher risk. This will push interest rates higher for longer. The Federal Reserve also has stated interest rates will have to remain higher for longer to tame inflation.    If bond buyers start balking at buying bonds because the debt and interest payments are too high, the government will be forced to stop spending more than it receives. If the government is then unable to print money to spend more, increasing taxes will be more likely to increase revenues. Therefore, the risk of future higher tax rates has increased.    Interest rate sensitive assets will thrive while asset values on most stocks and real estate will suffer.    Your Personal Bank dividends are interest rate sensitive and will thrive in a higher interest rate environment. Dividends are likely to increase for the next several years due to higher interest rates.    Your Personal Bank funds grow income tax-free and you can access tax-free. This shields you from likely higher future tax rates. You can grow your money safely, with guarantees, tax-free, and highly liquid.   Contact Ferenc at 866-268-4422 or yourpersonalbank.com for more info.

More Americans over the age of 65 are now selecting Medicare Advantage over traditional Medicare for their health insurance coverage, according to the U.S. Congressional Budget Office (CBO). What's more, ... The post MTT #75: Original Medicare or Medicare Advantage? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

More Americans over the age of 65 are now selecting Medicare Advantage over traditional Medicare for their health insurance coverage, according to the U.S. Congressional Budget Office (CBO). What's more, ... The post MTT #75: Original Medicare or Medicare Advantage? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Overnighters, Episode 550: Turkey's Crypto Future Debt Limit Raises Concerns NoKo Missiles Funded by Crypto And More Collect this Cover at:  https://awrd.gg/4754 The TL;DL -  UAE: A Crypto-Friendly Destination-Saqr Ereiqat, co-founder of Crypto Oasis, believes that the UAE is a suitable destination for crypto businesses. He cited the country's proactive regulatory framework, streamlined digital infrastructure, and access to global talent as reasons for this.  Turkey's Crypto Future-The upcoming presidential elections in Turkey could have a significant impact on the country's financial condition and cryptocurrency industry.  The two leading candidates, Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu, have opposite views on cryptocurrencies. Erdogan has declared "war" on bitcoin and supports the central bank's digital lira. Kilicdaroglu is a proponent of cryptocurrencies and Web3.  If Erdogan is re-elected, it is unlikely that Turkey's cryptocurrency industry will see much growth. However, if Kilicdaroglu is elected, it is possible that Turkey could become a more crypto-friendly country. NoKo Missles Funded by Crypto-North Korea has been using cryptocurrency theft and cyberattacks to fund its missile program. The White House estimates that 50% of North Korea's missile program is funded by these means. The Lazarus Group, a North Korean hacking group, is believed to be responsible for some of the most high-profile cryptocurrency hacks in recent years. The United Nations has also accused North Korea of using cryptocurrency to finance its nuclear weapons program. US, Ukraine to Stop Russian Crypto Use-The IRS is collaborating with Ukrainian law enforcement to stop Russians from using cryptocurrencies to bypass sanctions. The US is providing Ukrainian agents with Chainalysis tools for tracking on-chain transactions. Debt Limit Raises Concerns-The US government is at risk of defaulting on its debt. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicts that the federal budget deficit will be $1.5 trillion in 2023, and that annual deficits will nearly double over the next decade. If the debt limit is not raised, the government may not be able to pay all its obligations. This could have a significant impact on the US economy. Jump Trading Sued Over TerraUSD-Jump Trading is being sued for allegedly helping Terraform Labs manipulate the price of TerraUSD. The lawsuit alleges that Jump bought millions of UST tokens in 2021 to try and raise the price to $1. Plaintiff Taewoo Kim has accused Jump and its CEO Kanav Kariya of breaking the law and seeking unjust enrichment. MetaMask Adds PayPal for ETH Purchases-MetaMask, a popular Ethereum wallet, has added PayPal as a payment option for buying Ethereum. This integration is only available to U.S. users and allows for ETH transfers from PayPal to MetaMask, increasing self-custody adoption. (5/14/2023)-Welcome back to the Crypto Overnighter. My name is Nikodemus, I'll be your host as we take a nightly look at the crypto, NFT, and metaverse space and the industry surrounding it. And keep in mind, nothing in this show should ever be considered financial advice.  Email: nick@cryptoovernighter.com Salem Friends of Felines: https://sfof.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/CryptoCorvus1 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=67416221

Welcome back to another episode of the Your Good News Podcast, where Katherine gives you the scoop on the good news coming out of Washington, and how you can get involved with this thing called democracy.The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a little-known entity in Washington with a whole lot of sway. When Members of Congress seek to understand the financial impact of legislation, the CBO steps in. They provide a myriad of budgetary and economic outcomes. It's amazing in a town known for partisanship that CBO remains nonpartisan and focused on the facts and figures. Tune in for a primer on the CBO!--Links & Resources:Transcript: https://otter.ai/u/1gY2aHlQlyCiDO9BUrQfgR2KjE4?utm_source=copy_urlMighty Meals Ad:eatmightymeals.com/order/r/YourGoodNews Special Offer of $25 off 4 purchases of $75 or more Let's Connect!To engage with the host, visit her Instagram via @KatherineGettyCheck out our website at yourgoodnewspodcast.com

Such a fundamental transformation of America's economy deserves a closer lookThe Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act) is a massive rewrite of American labor law that, if signed into law, would fundamentally transform and potentially derail the overall American economy and effectively destroy the franchise model, as well as gig economy.In light of this—or because of this—its proponents have not (or will not or cannot) put a cost to its impact.In fact, according to a 2019 Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis, the CBO could not even provide an estimate of the PRO Act's overall costs to the economy, stating:For the private sector, CBO cannot anticipate the number of businesses likely to be affected by the bill or the extent of changes in their labor practices resulting from it; therefore, CBO cannot estimate the cost to comply with many of those requirements. [Emphasis added.]On this episode of Labor Relations Radio, American Action Forum's labor policy analyst, Isabella Hindley, discusses her research into the economic costs of the PRO Act, including its negative economic impact on the franchise model and independent contracting models.Isabella Hindley's Work on the PRO Act:Recent Labor Regulations Will Disincentivize the Franchise ModelEconomic Costs of the PRO Act: UpdateDOL's Independent Contractor Classification Proposed Rule Will Disrupt the Labor MarketView Ms. Hindley's other research here.For all prior episodes of Labor Relations Radio, go here.__________________________LaborUnionNews.com's Labor Relations Radio is a subscriber-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a subscriber here.

Share this episode of LaborUnionNews.com's Labor Relations Radio with your colleagues.The Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act) is a massive rewrite of American labor law that, if signed into law, would fundamentally transform and potentially derail the overall American economy and effectively destroy the franchise model, as well as gig economy.In light of this—or, perhaps, because of this—its proponents have not (or will not or cannot) put a cost to its impact. In fact, according to a 2019 Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis, the CBO could not even provide an estimate of the PRO Act's overall costs to the economy, stating: For the private sector, CBO cannot anticipate the number of businesses likely to be affected by the bill or the extent of changes in their labor practices resulting from it; therefore, CBO cannot estimate the cost to comply with many of those requirements. [Emphasis added.]On this episode of Labor Relations Radio, American Action Forum's labor policy analyst, Isabella Hindley, discusses her research into the economic costs of the PRO Act, including its negative economic impact on the franchise model and independent contracting models.Isabella Hindley's Work on the PRO Act:* Recent Labor Regulations Will Disincentivize the Franchise Model* Economic Costs of the PRO Act: Update* DOL's Independent Contractor Classification Proposed Rule Will Disrupt the Labor MarketView Ms. Hindley's other research here.For all prior episodes of Labor Relations Radio, go here.LaborUnionNews.com and Labor Relations Radio are subscriber-supported publications. To receive new podcasts, posts and support our work, become a subscriber. Get full access to LaborUnionNews.com's News Digest at laborunionnews.substack.com/subscribe

Join America's Roundtable (https://americasrt.com/) Radio co-hosts Natasha Srdoc and Joel Anand Samy with former U.S. Congressman David Brat, dean, School of Business at Liberty University. Dr. Brat served in the United States Congress for Virginia's 7th District. He served on the Budget, Education and Small Business Committees, and Chaired the subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access. His knowledge base comes from years of experience in business, as an economic consultant with Arthur Andersen and the World Bank and 20+ years of work in higher education teaching economics and ethics. He worked with the Senate side of the Virginia General Assembly for seven years. He also served as the president of the Virginia Association of Economists and was a member of the Virginia Board of Accountancy. Dr. David Brat is a distinguished member of the Executive Advisory Board of International Leaders Summit. Visit: https://gettr.com/user/brateconomics The discussion will focus on the following key topics: — The state of America's economy and an update on the real economic issues facing Americans and the next generation | The Hill: "The nation's annual budget deficits are projected to average $2 trillion over roughly the next decade, according to figures released by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on Wednesday." — At this rate, the U.S. national debt at over $31 trillion in 2022 will grow to $51 trillion in just 10 years. — Public education failing smart students. — The two forthcoming U.S. Supreme Court cases focusing on Section 230 and the future of tech and social media companies. — The European Union will now apply stricter rules known as the — "Digital Services Act." Reuters: "The new rules known as the Digital Services Act (DSA) label companies with more than 45 million users as very large online platforms and subject to obligations such as risk management and external and independent auditing." — Red states—those leaning Republican—are seeing more people moving in when comparing to Democratic-leaning blue states. Post-pandemic, some 14% of Americans have now moved from blue to red states governed by Republicans. WSJ Report: "Forty-six million people moved to a different ZIP Code in the year through February 2022, the most in any 12-month period in records going back to 2010, according to a Moody's analysis of Equifax Inc. consumer-credit reports. The states that gained the most, led by Florida, Texas and North Carolina, are almost all red, as defined by the Cook Political Report based on how states voted in the past two presidential elections. The states that lost the most residents are almost all blue, led by California, New York and Illinois." Visit: https://gettr.com/user/brateconomics @brateconomics americasrt.com (https://americasrt.com/) https://ileaderssummit.org/ | https://jerusalemleaderssummit.com/ America's Roundtable on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-roundtable/id1518878472 Twitter: @DaveBratVA7th @ileaderssummit @AmericasRT @NatashaSrdoc @JoelAnandUSA @supertalk America's Roundtable is co-hosted by Natasha Srdoc and Joel Anand Samy, co-founders of International Leaders Summit and the Jerusalem Leaders Summit. America's Roundtable (https://americasrt.com/) radio program - a strategic initiative of International Leaders Summit, focuses on America's economy, healthcare reform, rule of law, security and trade, and its strategic partnership with rule of law nations around the world. The radio program features high-ranking US administration officials, cabinet members, members of Congress, state government officials, distinguished diplomats, business and media leaders and influential thinkers from around the world. Tune into America's Roundtable Radio program from Washington, DC via live streaming on Saturday mornings via 65 radio stations at 7:30 A.M. (ET) on Lanser Broadcasting Corporation covering the Michigan and the Midwest market, and at 7:30 A.M. (CT) on SuperTalk Mississippi — SuperTalk.FM reaching listeners in every county within the State of Mississippi, and neighboring states in the South including Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee. Listen to America's Roundtable on digital platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, Google and other key online platforms. Listen live, Saturdays at 7:30 A.M. (CT) on SuperTalk | https://www.supertalk.fm

Hour 1 -  Good Tuesday morning! Here's what Nick Reed covers this hour: The State of the Union will take place this evening at 8 pm. We will have a live stream up at ksgf.com, and our social media. President Joe Biden will use his State of the Union address to call for a new tax on billionaires. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) tore into President Biden and congressional Democrats in a speech Monday night over raising the debt limit. Twitter flagged a Sunday tweet from President Biden that claimed Republicans are threatening to cut Social Security and Medicare – a message the White House has pushed amid debt ceiling negotiations, but one that several Twitter users said needs more "context." A new report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) proves that, on top of the tax cuts contributing to one of the strongest economies in half a century pre-pandemic, the package didn't compromise the federal budget.

As the 117th Congress comes to an end in the next couple of weeks, we are once again facing a looming government shutdown. Congress has until midnight on Friday to reach a deal to avoid a partial government closure.  This comes as Democrats and Republicans debate over a $1.5 trillion dollar omnibus bill that would fund the government through the end of September 2023. Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer asked for members to be prepared to pass a short-term continuing resolution that would give Congress an extra week to hash out the funding bill before the holidays. But this isn't the first time we've faced a potential government shutdown this year. On September 30th, Congress narrowly avoided a shutdown by 12 hours, by passing a stopgap measure that kicked the shutdown can down the road to where we are today. And if it feels like the threat of a looming shutdown happens on an annual basis, that's because it does. Just last December, Congress punted their spending deadline into the new year, and didn't pass a government funding bill until March of THIS year. The government has shut down 21 times since 1976.  And while it might seem like shutting things down saves a little money – it turns out that turning off the federal government is expensive! The 35 day shutdown during the Trump administration was the  longest in history and according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) it reduced Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by a total of $11 billion dollars. A Senate report estimated the last three shutdowns cost taxpayers about $4 billion. We speak more about the looming government shutdown with Roben Farzad, host of Full Disclosure on NPR's member station station Virginia Public Radio.

As the 117th Congress comes to an end in the next couple of weeks, we are once again facing a looming government shutdown. Congress has until midnight on Friday to reach a deal to avoid a partial government closure.  This comes as Democrats and Republicans debate over a $1.5 trillion dollar omnibus bill that would fund the government through the end of September 2023. Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer asked for members to be prepared to pass a short-term continuing resolution that would give Congress an extra week to hash out the funding bill before the holidays. But this isn't the first time we've faced a potential government shutdown this year. On September 30th, Congress narrowly avoided a shutdown by 12 hours, by passing a stopgap measure that kicked the shutdown can down the road to where we are today. And if it feels like the threat of a looming shutdown happens on an annual basis, that's because it does. Just last December, Congress punted their spending deadline into the new year, and didn't pass a government funding bill until March of THIS year. The government has shut down 21 times since 1976.  And while it might seem like shutting things down saves a little money – it turns out that turning off the federal government is expensive! The 35 day shutdown during the Trump administration was the  longest in history and according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) it reduced Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by a total of $11 billion dollars. A Senate report estimated the last three shutdowns cost taxpayers about $4 billion. We speak more about the looming government shutdown with Roben Farzad, host of Full Disclosure on NPR's member station station Virginia Public Radio.

During an insightful discussion with the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), J.P. Morgan Research contemplated the implications for the fiscal and debt trajectory from the CBO's recently released long-term budget projections that extend through 2052. The current size of the primary deficit in the US is 2.3% of GDP and projected to rise to 3.9% in 2052, mainly due to demographics and mandatory outlays for healthcare and social security, raising concerns that the fiscal trajectory is unsustainable. Joyce Chang, Chair of Global Research, is joined by Michael Feroli, Chief US Economist and Jan Loeys, Head of Long-term Strategy, to discuss the fiscal outlook. Speakers: Joyce Chang, Chair of Global Research Jan Loeys, Head of Long-term Strategy Michael Feroli, Chief US Economist   This podcast was recorded on August 9, 2022. This communication is provided for information purposes only. Institutional clients can view the related report at www.jpmm.com/research/content/GPS-4167923-0 for more information; please visit www.jpmm.com/research/disclosures for important disclosures. © 2022 JPMorgan Chase & Co. All rights reserved.  

The one glimmer of good news in the report is more than offset by the negatives, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report on budgetary and economic projections. CBO is a nonpartisan federal agency that provides budget and economic information to Congress. This year's report, encompassing the next 10 years, describes a future characterized by increased federal spending and overwhelming debt. The positive is rising federal revenue. Revenue is projected to grow by 19.6 percent this year and average 18.1 over the next decade. Much of this will be generated by inflation.Economic growth is projected to be anemic. It...Article Link

(0:28) - Mike and Paul kickoff Friday's show with a discussion about the positive week that markets are having. Is the volatility finally coming to an end?(12:24) - Talking about the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)'s projection that both inflation and economic growth will slow later this year and into 2023. (24:53) - Touching on Costco's earnings for Q1 in which they beat sales estimates by $1 billion, but missed on same-store sales expectations.(34:08) - Touching on Microsoft's decision to follow other big tech companies and slow hiring amid economic uncertainty.

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla had a dialogue with Elizabeth Popp Berman about the economic style and how it has permeated American economics over the 20th Century. They start the conversation by giving an example of the economic style limiting the Obama Administration. They define and explain what the economic style is and how it will emphasize efficiency. They discuss the history of the economic style, how it became institutionalized, along with an overview of Macro and Micro economics. They also talk about the shift to public policy and how we got things like the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). They discuss how the economic style was used in the Reagan and Clinton administrations and what are other alternatives besides the economic style.  Elizabeth Popp Berman is a sociologist and Associate Professor of Organizational Studies at the University of Michigan. She has her PhD from the University of California, Berkeley and studies economic sociology and the sociology of science and knowledge. She is the author of the most recent book, Thinking Like An Economist. You can find her work here and here. Twitter: @epopppp

In this episode of Debugged, Medha Gupta sits down with Christopher Adams, a drug policy analyst with the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), current professor at Dartmouth College, and former antitrust and competition specialist at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Adams discusses the effects of the capabilities of new technology like machine learning on the CBO's forecasts regarding key U.S legislative decisions and in fields like economics and data analysis. Adams gives his take on why he joined the CBO and his inspiration for working in econometrics and statistics, and his most memorable moments working thus far in both the CBO and FTC. Furthermore, Adams elaborates on the skills needed for students to join the next generation of econometricians at the CBO and his inspiration for learning programming - an important skill in his field. Finally, Adams notes the most impactful research papers in the field of econometrics. With an all new Pop Culture Byte with host Michael Batavia, this is a must-listen episode of the Debugged podcast!

In this episode of Debugged, Medha Gupta sits down with Christopher Adams, a drug policy analyst with the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), current professor at Dartmouth College, and former antitrust and competition specialist at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Adams discusses the effects of the capabilities of new technology like machine learning on the CBO's forecasts regarding key U.S legislative decisions and in fields like economics and data analysis. Adams gives his take on why he joined the CBO and his inspiration for working in econometrics and statistics, and his most memorable moments working thus far in both the CBO and FTC. Furthermore, Adams elaborates on the skills needed for students to join the next generation of econometricians at the CBO and his inspiration for learning programming - an important skill in his field. Finally, Adams notes the most impactful research papers in the field of econometrics. With an all new Pop Culture Byte with host Michael Batavia, this is a must-listen episode of the Debugged podcast!

This is episode 72, "Well-Known and Lesser-Known Problems With Our Healthcare System." In this episode, I discuss some of the well-known and lesser-known problems with the United States healthcare system.  I start by discussing that federal law requires the states to seek reimbursement from Medicaid beneficiaries' estates upon their deaths. While this usually applied to Medicaid beneficiaries who were 55 or older when they received benefits, it can also apply to beneficiaries of any age under certain circumstances.  I also discuss the unnecessary deaths caused by our healthcare system, the high costs of our healthcare system, other economic effects of our healthcare system, how insurance companies deny care, and how doctors often need to fight the insurance companies to get patients the treatments and medications they need.  I end with a discussion of a new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report that documents some of the benefits that Medicare for All would provide.  Do not miss this episode as I discuss information you need to know about the United States healthcare system and Medicare for All. More information on the topics discussed in this episode can be found at these links: Information about Medicaid recovering costs can be at these two links: Medicaid Estate Recovery: Long-Term Care Benefits Aren't Necessarily ‘Free' and How Medicaid Recovers the Cost of Long-Term Care From Your Estate After You Die. The referenced Families USA report can be found here: Catastrophic Cost of Uninsurance: COVID-19 Cases and Deaths Closely Tied to America's Health Coverage Gaps. The referenced Commonwealth Fund report can be found here: U.S. Health Insurance Coverage in 2020: A Looming Crisis in Affordability. The referenced CBO report can be found here: Economic Effects of Five Illustrative Single-Payer Health Care Systems.

CBO Ranks Social Infastructure Bill at $3T. The host for this show is Tim Apicella. The guests are Jay Fidell, Winston Welch and Cynthia Lee Sinclair. Senator Joe Manchin thought the Build Back Better Bill was not reflecting the true cost of the multiple provisions contained and the impact on the national debt. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) just issued its report to vindicate his suspicions. The cost to fund the Bill stands at three Trillion dollars, not the two Trillion as initially estimated. Senator Manchin stated months ago he has no appetite to vote for any infrastructure bill beyond his stated ceiling of $1.75T. In addition, Senator Manchin has concerns that inflation has hit a 35 year high of 6.8%, and the bills distribution of funds will further increase inflation. President Biden argues that just the opposite will occur. The bill is in serious trouble of not passing. President Biden needs this victory in order to have House Representatives go back to their districts and describe their 2021 accomplishments in time for the 2022 mid-term elections. The ThinkTech YouTube Playlist for this show is https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQpkwcNJny6mVXxNV6CR6JM87PhD82eU1

Ahead of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) releasing its cost estimate on the Build Back Better (BBB) Act, Adam Kobos, a partner in the tax practice of Troutman Pepper joins NPM Managing Editor Jon Berke on the NPM Interconnections Podcast.The two discuss how developers of solar, wind and storage will benefit from extensions and expansions of the ITC and PTC tax credits in the revised framework for the BBB Act, the ramifications of including direct pay as an option over tax equity and finally how carbon capture will play into this. Kobos also shares his thoughts on some immediate impacts of the already-passed federal infrastructure bill in the power sector.New Project Media (NPM) is a growing actionable data & proprietary intelligence platform dedicated to coverage of the North American renewable energy market. NPM helps leading developers, capital providers, investors, advisors, utilities and corporate subscribers enhance their deal flow, peer tracking, market research, and origination efforts by leveraging its content to inform business decisions.www.newprojectmedia.com

Earlier this month the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a new report, “Illustrative Options for National Defense Under a Smaller Defense Budget,” that outlines three different options for cutting funding for the Department of Defense by $1 trillion, or 14 percent of the proposed $7.5 trillion budget, over the next ten years. This provides a […] The post CBO opens the door to cut $1T from the defense budget appeared first on WORT 89.9 FM.

As a nation, we have become addicted to budget deficits. Each year, we have to borrow to fund government operations. And most people, including our legislators, do not seem to care or take notice. As readers realize, a budget deficit occurs when expenses exceed revenue. Accrued deficits form the national debt. Thus, the national debt is nothing more than an accumulation of budget deficits. A new study by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects the budget deficit for the current fiscal year ending Sept. 30 to be trillion, or ,932 per person. The CBO is a nonpartisan federal agency...Article Link

Day 383 of 15 days to flatten the curve. Biden urged Congress to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act as part of the infrastructure plan. You remember the PRO act. That is the bill that would cancel the right-to-work laws in 27 states. Not coincidentally, the 27 states that recover from economic downturns the fastest. Biden wants to pay for his $2 trillion infrastructure plan with corporate tax hikes. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) shows that raising taxes would lead to less investment, less productivity, fewer jobs, and lower wages. That is just what we need coming out of a pandemic. There are now 13 states suing the Biden administration over their use of federal stimulus money. These states wanted to lower taxes but Biden says the stimulus can not be used for that because God forbid a state be independent and sovereign. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/libertylighthouse/message

:: podcast :: 101 One-On-One Ep.153 : “New Deal - New Debt : นโยบายการคลังหลัง COVID-19” - อธิภัทร มุทิตาเจริญ เมื่อเผชิญหน้าปัญหาเศรษฐกิจตกต่ำ เครื่องมือสำคัญในการฟื้นฟูและกระตุ้นเศรษฐกิจก็คือ “นโยบายการคลัง” โดยเฉพาะการใช้จ่ายของรัฐบาล และมาตรการทางภาษีต่างๆ นโยบายการคลังสู้วิกฤตเศรษฐกิจรอบนี้มีอะไรต่างจากที่แล้วมา เราต้อง 'คิดใหม่' เรื่องหนี้สาธารณะ การใช้จ่ายของรัฐบาล ภาษี และวินัยการคลังอย่างไร ประเด็นน่าห่วงในระยะสั้นและระยะยาวของการบริหารการคลังคืออะไร และต้องทำอย่างไรให้หมดห่วง 101 สนทนากับ ผศ.ดร.อธิภัทร มุทิตาเจริญ อาจารย์คณะเศรษฐศาสตร์ จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย อดีตนักเศรษฐศาสตร์ประจำ Congressional Budget Office (CBO) สหรัฐอเมริกา ดำเนินรายการโดย ปกป้อง จันวิทย์ บรรณาธิการบริหาร The101.world

According to projections by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)the drag on the US economy from the virus pandemic will last almost a decade. It forecasts the outbreak will cut US economic output by 3% between this year and 2030, a loss of $7.9tn (£6.3tn). The warning comes as tens of millions of people are out of work due to lockdown measures. America's historic downturn comes even after trillions of dollars have been pumped into the economy. The nonpartisan CBO said the majority of the loss was caused by the sharp contraction in economic activity this year, which it had not predicted in its last 10-year report, published in January. --- This episode is sponsored by · Afrolit Podcast: Hosted by Ekua PM, Afrolit shares the stories of multi-faceted Africans one episode at a time. https://open.spotify.com/show/2nJxiiYRyfMQlDEXXpzlZS?si=mmgODX3NQ-yfQvR0JRH-WA Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/newscast-africa/support

Welcome to Finance and Fury Today – want to run through Coronavirus – Is it market noise or is it going to be an economic doomsday? First - It is too early to quantify the potential impact of the coronavirus on China. Much will depend on the attack and case fatality rates of the virus Coronavirus first emerged in the city of Wuhan, China - based on media reports - could affect growth in China and the rest of Asia-Pacific – spreading to the rest of the world – The severity of the impact of the coronavirus will depend upon the attack rate (the proportion of the population that falls ill) and the case fatality rate (the proportion of deaths) At this point, uncertainty about the nature of the virus is so high that it renders quantitative assessments pretty meaningless – but it may be helpful to think through how the virus could affect the economy – to do this – let’s have a look back on the impact of previous episodes of pandemics But the Impact of Past Pandemics Has Been Mixed - most commonly cited are the Spanish flu of 1918-1920, the Asian flu of 1957-1958, the Hong Kong flu of 1968-1969, the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) of 2003, and the avian flu of 2004-2006. The attack and fatality rates, measured at the global level, vary widely across these episodes reflecting the nature of the condition and the speed with which vaccines can be produced. The Spanish flu was the most severe - health experts generally agree that most events have seen attack rates of 25%-30% and case fatality rates of less than 0.2% - but more recently for SARS, the avian flu - attack rates have been much lower, well below 0.1% For the coronavirus - Health authorities indicate it may be too early to assess these statistics for the new coronavirus. Nobody really knows how many are affected or what the death rates are - there are reports – but guess - What is reported – Less than 500 people have died from this – Before we go through the potential market effects - Time for some perspective – 1,700 people per day die from the flu – around 600k p.a. – why are people so afraid? The media 1.2m people drown every year – so should we be more afraid of swimming than the flu? You might be if the media told you to be There are two elements to the coronavirus which are being balanced - Humanitarian. The bigger the shutdowns, the greater the preventative measures, the fewer people get infected and potentially die. Economic. The bigger the shutdowns, the greater the preventative measures, the more significant the economic impact will be. The focus is not on minimising the economic impact – focus is about preventing the spread of the disease. Or, for politicians, at least been seen to be trying. The economy is no longer the issue – which is why markets are responding with volatility - This being said - I’m not a virologist, and I’m not pretending to be – have no expert knowledge if the measures in what works to prevent the virus from spreading But the economic measures to date are significant and the world is not well-positioned for an external economic shock Again - looking historically SARS killed fewer than 800 people and had been attributed to decrease China’s GDP growth by about 2%. The rest of the world was fine. The issue - The containment measures already in place are far greater than the measures for SARS. They may have a significantly greater economic impact. China is more than 4x larger than it was at the time of SARS. At the time the effect on the world economy was relatively negligible Retail, restaurants and tourism are a significantly larger part of the Chinese economy now, and these are more likely to be affected. Also - SARS was basically at the bottom of the global economic cycle. Debts were low. China still had productive investment. The world was about to launch into the mother of all housing booms. Economic circumstances in 2019 are very different - Central banks have exhausted conventional measures and Corporate debt is at cycle highs. Economic effects will come from Government policies of quarantine and limited trade – Any economic hit will be felt most by industries exposed to household spending, especially activities that take place outside the home. Risk aversion and tighter financial conditions could amplify the impact, including on investment. The Uncertainty around the coronavirus Adds to Economic Uncertainty – last thing financial markets need right now is panic and uncertainty Past events – economic outcomes from the assessment of the avian flu pandemic of 2006 – from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) assessment - potential hit to the U.S. economy – they looked at two scenarios One mild and one severe with U.S.-specific attack rates of 25% and 30% and case fatality rates of 0.1% and 2.5%, respectively - estimated the overall short-term hit to U.S. GDP to be 1% and 2.3% percentage points respectively – but these estimates turned out to be too pessimistic With Coronavirus - these are just guessing – no way to truly tell - best that can be done for now is to identify the potential channels through which the virus could affect the economy. Potential channels that the economy may be impacted – Household consumption - Consumers are likely to avoid public spaces to lower the probability of infection. These effects could be compounded by travel restrictions – so catering, entertainment, and travel services are likely to be most affected if this is the case These segments are typically regarded as luxuries rather than necessities, consumers are unlikely to compensate by spending more elsewhere – especially in Australia – more likely to continue mortgage repayments - would dampen overall consumption Company capital expenditure - Capital expenditure plans of companies are meant to be highly sensitive to expectations for demand – so if there is a prolonged slump in consumption - could, therefore, affect investment (impacting GDP growth) But - firms are unlikely to react quickly unless the virus is confirmed to be substantially more potent than recent episodes when the effect on demand was relatively short-lived – likely to be brushed off by markets if this is the case Government consumption - Higher spending on the response to the outbreak, including health personnel, emergency services, and vaccines, could moderately offset the hit to consumption – but likely to have little effect on the overall economy Trade - Travel, and tourism would be the most heavily affected as individuals seek to reduce the probability of infection. This could be compounded by Wuhan's strategic role in China’s country's transport network. Supply disruptions - Restricted movement of people and, in a worst-case, a high infection could curtail output in some industries. This would affect both manufacturing and service industries and could trigger temporary production outages or a drop in activity. Finally – the Potential Economic Impact On China - The coronavirus is hitting China during Lunar New Year, a period when households tend to spend more on travel, entertainment, and gifts - Even if the virus is contained fairly quickly, the initial stages of high uncertainty are likely to affect spending. While centered in Wuhan, other large population centers including major tier-one cities have begun reporting cases – been spreading to the rest of the world - To give a sense of how big the effects could be on China’s demand - consider that consumption contributed about 3.5% to China's overall real GDP growth rate of 6.1% in 2019 The supply-side impact, stemming from fewer people going to work, may be limited to the Wuhan area so long as the recorded cases remain concentrated in the city's immediate vicinity. Recent estimates indicate that Wuhan is China's sixth-largest city, with a population of about 11 million – so accounts for about 1.6% of national GDP While this suggests any macro-level impact would be small, there are complicating factors if it is taken out of proportion – Wuhan is an important national transport hub, given its central location and that the city is a stop on the two major north-south and east-west high speed rail lines Also, a key player in China's auto industry - Wuhan hosts production facilities for seven major domestic and foreign manufacturers, and for hundreds of auto parts suppliers – is some potential for spillover effects – As we stand today - impact on financial markets has been mostly limited to equities – seeing it bouncing around between losses to gains – Economically – the short-term funding rates in China, including the repo rate, remain well within recent ranges and one-year swap rates have been edging lower The renminbi exchange rate has depreciated somewhat since the news broke, but this also be due to some retracing of the strengthening seen after the U.S.-China trade deal was signed – which is the more likely culprit = Implied renminbi volatility remains steady based around the market expectations Overall - too early to start thinking about revising GDP growth estimate for 2020 due to the coronavirus   What about the potential spillover Effect On the rest of the world? Of course, much will depend on the extent to which the virus spreads outside China - again between the media and the high uncertainty – better to concentrate on the economic spillovers from China - The most important short-term impact will be felt on travel and tourism In Australia - Tourism receipts in the region could fall as people curtail their travel plans in response to heightened health risks – other countries in the region that have large tourism sectors and would, therefore, have a relatively larger impact include Thailand and Vietnam – Thailand- tourism exports are about 11% of GDP. Tourists from China also represent a large proportion of arrivals for these economies, particularly for Thailand and Vietnam, where more than 25% of arrivals are from China – But these tourism numbers effects the local economy – if anyone has been to these countries – how many listed companies benefit from this in Thailand or Vietnam – think the local street vendors are listed on a market? Airlines may be impacted and large hotel chains – but that is it when it comes to the share market directly Largest spillover will probably come from uncertainty – resulting in equity market volatility across the region At least currency and bond markets have been calm While prolonged volatility in equity markets could lead to broader risk aversion, there are few signs yet that financial conditions have tightened   This is a bit of a side note – but where is the real money going to be made from this? – in the WHO and the media Media – fear creates more clicks – which drives more traffic for advertisers WHO – The medical marshal law – pharmaceutical companies that sit on the pandemic council of the WHO – get to declare pandemics – such as swine flu – when they get billions of dollars out of vaccines for a virus – Even the European council – year after swine flu in 2010 said it was a scare tactic that was a false pandemic to get billions out of the population   If you are worried about the economic effects - Where to avoid Exposure to Chinese demand Reliant on Chinese and global tourism More importantly – longer term – Companies with too much debt Countries with consumers carrying with too much debt Countries with too much debt not denominated in their local currency Cyclical companies, like resources or capital equipment which tend to rise more quickly in booms but fall more rapidly in busts Exposure to Chinese students - Banks exposed to the above Australia ticks almost every box above. Europe ticks a lot. Canada has a decent spread. But like most pandemics of the past – think it will blow over and be more market noise This does depend on government responses If markets do crash in response to this – will be yet another convenient scape goat to the underlying structural problems that markets face  

The US debt is still climbing, at an accelerated rate. I'll give you 18 facts on the debt. What's in the News with stories on Catalonia secession update, a journalist held at a customs checkpoint, a cop kills a woman for nothing, toy gun shuts down schools, cannabis jury nullification, and civil disobedience. Finally, an Ask Me Anything where I answer your questions on wedding advice, government dietary recommendations, and legalizing sex work in New Hampshire. This episode is brought to you by Health Excellence Plus, a health share that has saved my family thousands of dollars, and can save you money too. Also, brought to you by ForkFest, the annual decentralized libertarian camping event that happens around PorcFest, with no tickets and no one in charge. Also, brought to you by all of my dozens of supporters. WHAT'S RUSTLING MY JIMMIES The federal budget deficit for 2019 is estimated at $984 billion, a hefty 4.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and the highest since 2012, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said on Monday. That's a trillion dollars folks. One Trillion Dollars that the government has overspent. That is not what they spent, that is only what they OVER spent. Essentially, what they put on their credit cards for the year. A single year.  "18 Facts on the US National Debt That Are Almost Too Hard to Believe"  WHAT'S IN THE NEWS In secession update news, Spain's Supreme Court has sentenced former Cataloniain vice presidet, Oriol Junqueras,  to 13 years in prison for sedition. In unfit to exist news, a U.S. passport screening official held a Defense One journalist's passport until he received an affirmative answer to this repeated question: “You write propaganda, right?”    In bad boys news, a Fort Worth police officer shot and killed a woman inside a home early Saturday after a neighbor reported the front door was open, police said.   In I can't make this up news, a security alert which resulted in three college campuses in Florida going on lockdown was later revealed to be a false alarm involving a brightly colored toy gun.  In nullification news, a New Orleans man faced a felony marijuana charge, but too many potential jurors wouldn't consider it.  In f the police news, three local women committed an act of civil disobedience under the Brooks Bridge in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.  ASK ME ANYTHING  I answer your questions on wedding advice, government dietary recommendations, and legalizing sex work in New Hampshire.   

Edward Keating joined me on the Acquisition Talk podcast to talk about a wide range of issues. He is the Deputy Assistant Director for National Security at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and before that, he was a longtime RAND analyst researching a number of areas including sustainment, shipbuilding, and compensation. Edward provides us insights into the Navy’s 30 year shipbuilding plan, how preventative maintenance can create lasting impacts, whether cost escalation can persistently outpace economy-wide inflation, if defense planning should focus on inputs or outputs, how modern ships are floating computers, why acquisition history is important, and much more. In the episode, we discuss Edward’s excellent article in the Acquisition Review Journal, “Approaches to F-35 Depot-Level Maintenance: Insights from Other Systems.” It showed readiness and cost-per-flying-hour data for a variety of fighter aircraft. We discuss the data, and how there is a great deal of heterogeneity depending on the aircraft model or even the tail number. Edward sets me straight about my characterization of the F-35. Neither is cost-per-flying hour the sole determinate of sustainment costs, nor is the $1 trillion lifecycle figure cited useful for thinking about the opportunity cost. For example, the $1 trillion lifecycle estimate of the sustainment cost includes anticipated inflation, which over many decades amounts to a sizeable proportion of the figure.

Just a week before the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives is due to vote on its Raise the Wage Act, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) calculated its possible impact on the economy. The bill, if enacted into law (highly unlikely), would gradually raise the minimum wage in the country from its present level of $7.25 an hour to $15 an hour by 2024. Read the article here!

Continuing discussion of single-payer system proposals, Suzanne Spradley and Chase Cannon review the recent report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on a single-payer system in the US. Suzanne starts off by describing the purpose of the report and some high-level takeaways, including that the report does not specifically address funding of a single-payer system (one of the major challenges in establishing a single-payer system). Suzanne and Chase discuss the report’s findings on the administration of a single-payer system (state- versus federally-run), the types of benefits and cost-sharing, eligibility for single-payer plans, and the potential roles of private insurance (including employer-sponsored coverage) alongside a single payer (in a multi-payer system). Suzanne wraps things up by discussing the report’s take on approaches to setting provider rates, and some of the conclusions reached by the report.

On this episode, the Trade Guys and Andrew cover a lot of ground as the US wraps up trade talks with China. Plus, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)’s 2019 Budget and Economic Outlook report reveals that the administration’s trade wars are hurting the US economy. How is Congress reacting? Will the administration take action? Hosted by H. Andrew Schwartz and produced by Yumi Araki and Jack Caporal at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Download full transcript here.

Listen NowWhile coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Medicare and Medicaid enjoy, deservedly, a great deal of discussion and debate, employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) insures approximately 55% of the non-Medicare eligible population, or approximately 152 million Americans.  (Medicaid insures 19.5% of the population and Medicare 16%).  Larger employers, or those with over 500 employees, are moreover (82%) self insured, 26% of smaller employers are as well.  What we know about ESI and what further we can learn is therefore of substantial importance.   During this 25 minute conversation among other comments Mr. Brennan outlines HCCI's research, he explains what drives ESI spending growth, what employers are doing to control prices, he provides an overview of his recent testimony before the Senate HELP Committee and makes comment on data transparency and the employer health insurance tax exclusion. Mr. Niall Brennen is the President and Executive Director of the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI) since June 2017.  Immediately previously, he served as the Chief Data Officer at CMS.  He has also worked at the Brookings Institution, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the Urban Institute and Price WaterhouseCoopers.  He has published widely in leading academic journals including The New England Journal of Medicine and Health Affairs.  Mr. Brennan received his MPP from Georgetown University and his BA from the University College Dublin, Ireland.   For more on HCCI go to: http://www.healthcostinstitute.org/.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thehealthcarepolicypodcast.com

John shares our take on the second half of April highlighting the health of ACA under the current administration and Humana’s statement to acquire and merge Curo Health with Kindred Healthcare. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services provided enrollment statistics for Healthcare.gov and the state-run exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In its last tax package, the Republican-led Congress zeroed out the individual mandate penalty—a cornerstone of the ACA. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that 13 million people will lose or drop coverage as a result of this move over the next decade. Reuters reported that Humana, along with two private equity firms, will acquire Mooresville, N.C.-based Curo Health Services for $1.4 billion. Humana will merge Curo Health with the hospice business of Kindred Healthcare, which Humana agreed to acquire in December 2017. Of Note: Our Take Narrations will be twice monthly after these inaugural episodes. About Darwin Research Group Darwin Research Group Inc. provides advanced market intelligence and in-depth customer insights to health care executives, with a strategic focus on health care delivery systems and the global shift toward value-based care. Darwin’s client list includes forward-thinking biopharmaceutical and medical device companies, as well as health care providers, private equity, and venture capital firms. The company was founded in 2010 as Darwin Advisory Partners, LLC and is headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz. with a satellite office in Princeton, N.J.

This week on "Off The Cuff," the team discusses whether House Speaker Paul Ryan's resignation means the end of his political career and what his final moves may be, and analyzes Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg's recent testimony before Congress. Justin, Stephen, and Allie delve into what the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected regarding student loans over the next decade, and Allie breaks down a new report on raising the income threshold for calculating the automatic zero EFC. The team also talks about the much anticipated release of the Pell Grant schedules and a letter that Democratic senators sent to the Department of Education (ED) related to implementing changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. Plus, the team discusses some of the swag to be given out at the NASFAA National Conference.

Economist Paul Krugman is well-known for his pro-Democrat stances. Recently, he's claimed that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has said that if the Individual Mandate portion of the Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare, is repealed, 22 million Americans will "lose" their health insurance. What he doesn't say is that the vast majority of those 22 million people are simply opting out. They are _choosing_ not to have health insurance. But here's the problem with CBO forecasts: they're usually wrong. And they're wrong in almost the exact same way. Why are the CBO forecasts so bad? Why do they consistently get it wrong in such a consistent way? And what does this mean for our economy? James Harrigan and Antony Davies discuss this and more in this week's episode of Words and Numbers. Quick hits Emirates’ new 777 https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericrosen/2017/11/13/new-emirates-first-class-suites-on-777-300er-revealed-at-the-dubai-air-show/#13ce46a256b8   Curing disease by rewriting our DNA https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/first-scientists-try-edit-faulty-dna-inside-patients-body-cure-genetic-disease/   iHeart Radio:https://www.wsj.com/articles/iheart-creditors-reject-another-offer-from-company-as-they-push-for-chapter-11-1512090362 Jeff Sessions on marijuana:http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/11/sessions-hints-at-a-coming-crackdown-on-recreational-weed.html http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/29/politics/sessions-opioid-news-conference-marijuana/index.html http://reason.com/blog/2017/10/26/sessions-continues-to-push-gateway-drug Foolishness of the weekhttps://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/30/us/politics/republican-tax-bill-moves-closer-to-senate-passage.html   The CBO https://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2017/07/22/cbo-three-fourths-of-coverage-difference-between-obamacare-gop-bills-driven-by-individual-mandate/#327a3b9e3627   Follow us on Twitterhttps://twitter.com/JamesRHarrigan https://twitter.com/AntonyDavies Join the Words and Numbers Backstage FB group, where the conversation continueshttps://www.facebook.com/groups/130029457649243/

Here's a quick look at the most important news of the last 24 hours. * U.S. Senator John McCain has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. The tumor was discovered after the 80-year-old senator underwent surgery to remove a blood clot near his left eye. His doctors are reviewing treatment options, which may include a combination of chemotherapy and radiation. * President Donald Trump says he would not have nominated U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions if he knew he would recuse himself from the Russia investigation. "It's extremely unfair - and that's a mild word - to the president," he told the New York Times. There was no immediate response from Sessions. * The number of Americans without health insurance would increase by 17 million in 2018 or 27 million by 2020 if Republicans approve a bill to repeal Obamacare, according to the U.S. Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Average premiums for individuals would increase by 25% in 2018 or 50% by 2020. * President Trump has decided to end the CIA's covert program to arm and train Syrian rebels in their fight against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, the Washington Post reports. * A Saudi woman who was arrested for wearing a miniskirt in public has been released without charge and the case has been closed, officials say. The young woman told police that a video which showed her walking on an empty street had been posted online without her knowledge. * Uruguay has become the first country in the world to legalize the production and sale of marijuana for recreational use. Customers will be required to sign up to a national registry and provide fingerprints, which allows them to buy up to 40 grams (1.41 ounces) a month. Other countries such as the Netherlands already tolerate small quantities of marijuana, but Uruguay is the first to formally legalize the production, sale and possession.

Republican Healthcare Act 2017 for Seniors? Amazon Fashion! ATT Charges you to PROTECT YOU! The Senate bill that guts the Affordable Care Act would increase the number of uninsured Americans by 22 million by 2026, according to the analysis of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released Monday. Fifteen million more people would be uninsured next year, and the total number of uninsured would swell to 49 million in a decade, the CBO found. Some of the worst effects of the bill, the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (BCRA), would fall upon older, low-income individuals. This is the part that should concern older Americans. “The increase would be disproportionately larger among older people with lower income,” the 49-page CBO analysis said, “particularly people betweenYak On!

Congressional Budget Office (CBO) er ute med sin gjennomgang av republikanerens oppdaterte helsereformpakke. Mitch McConnells hestehandel for å sikre stemmene fra 49 partifeller går dermed inn i en avgjørende fase. Vi tar i tillegg for oss Washingtons Posts lange artikkel om Obama-administrasjonens svar på Russlands innblanding i fjorårets presidentvalg, så vel som Trumps Twitter-tirader om Obamas håndtering av Putin og hackingen. I ukas tilbakeblikk skrur vi tiden tilbake til 1984 og valgkampen mellom Ronald Regan og Walter Mondale. Med AmerikanskPolitikk.nos Henrik Østensen Heldahl og Are Tågvold Flaten. Produsert av sistnevnte for AmerikanskPolitikk.no.

Shortly before the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its score for the Senate healthcare bill, Patricia Salber, MD, MBA, of The Doctor Weighs In, and Nathan Bays, managing director at Cain Brothers, a healthcare investment bank, and policy advisor to The Health Management Academy, discussed how the Senate bill stands up to the House bill and speculation about how the CBO might score the bill.

Earlier this month, Republicans in the House of Representatives celebrated the passage of a bill that would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act or "Obamacare" in a press conference with President Trump on the White House lawn. Yet, in their haste to fulfill years of campaign promises from Republicans in Congress and Trump himself, Speaker Paul Ryan decided to hold a vote on the bill before the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) had been able to estimate the cost. When the CBO's analysis was released on Wednesday, it found that an estimated 23 million Americans would lose their healthcare over the next 10 years, only 1 million less people left uninsured than the original House bill which Ryan pulled back in March after he reportedly didn't have the votes. In this episode of "TrumpWatch," host Jesse Lent discusses the politics and the substance of the Republican plan to overhaul medical policy in the U.S. with Adam Cancyn, a healthcare reporter for POLITICO.

Earlier this month, Republicans in the House of Representatives celebrated the passage of a bill that would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act in a press conference with President Trump on the White House lawn. Yet, in their haste to fulfill years of campaign promises from Republicans in Congress and Trump himself, Speaker Paul Ryan decided to hold the vote on the bill before the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) had been able to estimate the cost. When the CBO's analysis was released on Wednesday, it found an estimated 23 million Americans will lose their healthcare over the next 10 years, only 1 million less people left uninsured than the original House bill which Ryan pulled back in March after he reportedly didn't have the votes. In this episode of TrumpWatch, host Jesse Lent discusses the politics and the substance of the Republican plan to overhaul medical policy in the U.S. with Adam Cancyn, a healthcare reporter for POLITICO.

Earlier this month, Republicans in the House of Representatives celebrated the passage of a bill that would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act in a press conference with President Trump on the White House lawn. Yet, in their haste to fulfill years of campaign promises from Republicans in Congress and Trump himself, Speaker Paul Ryan decided to hold the vote on the bill before the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) had been able to estimate the cost. When the CBO's analysis was released on Wednesday, it found an estimated 23 million Americans will lose their healthcare over the next 10 years, only 1 million less people left uninsured than the original House bill which Ryan pulled back in March after he reportedly didn't have the votes. In this episode of TrumpWatch, host Jesse Lent discusses the politics and the substance of the Republican plan to overhaul medical policy in the U.S. with Adam Cancyn, a healthcare reporter for POLITICO.

Doug Elmendorf, Dean of Harvard Kennedy School and former director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) from 2009-2015, discussed why the CBO exists, how it works, and how the media reports on its findings, in a conversation at the Shorenstein Center. Dean Elmendorf also discussed how the CBO makes its forecasts compared to those of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the dynamic scoring process, and other topics. This Shorenstein Center Speaker Series event was recorded March 22, 2017, at Harvard Kennedy School.   

Introduced on March 6, 2017, if passed the American Health Care Act of 2017 (AHCA) is expected to have an enormous impact on Pharma. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on March 13 released its estimate of the budgetary effects of the AHCA, stating that under the new law, we could see 14 million more uninsured by 2018 than would have been under the current law – rising to 24 million more uninsured by 2026. Our host Jeff Stewart sat down with inVentiv Health Consulting Pricing & Market Access Director Nicolle Hamilton, PhD and Meg Alexander, Head of the Reputation and Risk Management Practice for inVentiv Health Communications, to discuss key components of the AHCA, their potential implications and what it means for pharmaceutical companies. *As documented in this podcast, the effects are both direct and perceptual. Financially, $592B in revenues will no longer be spent on healthcare over the next 10 years, according to the CBO. Of that, an estimated $59B would have been spent on pharma. Perceptually, there is the potential that the public and politicians will blame the pharmaceutical industry and high drug prices for erosion of healthcare coverage. The information, data, and other content contained in this podcast and any associated articles, sponsorships, advertisements, announcements, or other communications are provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice of any kind, on any subject matter. The content of the podcast contains general information and may not reflect current legal developments, verdicts or settlements. Moreover, the content is not guaranteed to be complete, correct, timely, current or otherwise up-to-date. inVentiv Health reserves the right to make alterations or deletions to the content at any time without notice to you. inVentiv Health and its subsidiaries expressly disclaim all liability in respect to actions taken or not taken based on any or all of the podcast content. The information, data, and other content contained in this podcast is not a reflection of, endorsed by or otherwise affiliated with, nor should it be attributed to, any of inVentiv Health's clients, customers or other contacts.

In this special edition of the Townhall Review, we take a closer look at the American Health Care Act--the Republican bill that will repeal significant portions of the failing Obamacare law and replace it with free market solutions. First up, the Hoover Institution's Lanhee Chen speaks with Michael Medved about the strengths of the bill. Chair of the House Budget Committee Diane Black joins the Hugh Hewitt Show to discuss the difficult task of crafting a bill that will survive the reconciliation process. Dennis Prager brings cool and sedate reason to the Democratic fury over the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report. Mike Gallagher continues the conversation on the CBO outlook with Rep. Kevin Brady, chairman of House Ways and Means Committee. Dennis Prager talks with the Wall Street Journal's Kimberly Strassel about why it's so important the Republicans pass this bill. Hugh Hewitt interviews House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy about the process of making this bill a law. Larry Elder wraps up the program by looking at why the costs of health care have risen so dramatically.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Exactly how many people are expected to lose their health coverage with the repeal and replacement of Obamacare? The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has issued a statement that steep coverage losses are on the horizon, and Republicans have since replied that they "don't trust the CBO." Unfortunately for the GOP, Politico published a series of leaked White House projections that show coverage losses even worse than those expected by the CBO. How are such leaks constantly happening with Donald Trump a.k.a. "Mr. Competent Businessman" in the White House? And how did Politico get this latest leak?Pat & Stu with Pat Gray, Stu Burguiere and Jeff Fisher, Weekdays 5pm-7pm ET on TheBlaze Radio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen NowLate today, or within a few hours after this interview was completed, the House Republicans proposed ACA repeal or reconciliation legislation.  The legislation includes repealing Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  More specifically, House Republicans propose repealing the  federal enhanced match rate for eligible beneficiaries on December 31, 2019 though states can keep the enhanced match rate for those Medicaid eligible before January 1, 2020 but only for those that do not have a break in Medicaid eligibility for more than one month after that January 1, 2020..  Moreover, the proposed legislation would reform federal Medicaid funding by creating a per capita cap model starting in 2020.  This means federal funding would be benchmarked to 2016 for the five Medicaid enrollee categories: the elderly; blind and disabled; children; non-expansion adults; and, expansion adults.  Year- over-year federal spending increases would be pegged to the medical care component of the Consumer Price Index (CPI).   While there is not yet a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score for the proposed legislation, that's schedule for mark up on Wednesday, estimates by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) project that if the 32 states that expanded Medicaid coverage under the ACA wanted to keep it, the cost to these states would be approximately $280 billion over the next decade.  CBPP also estimates that per capita caps will  increase the state's share of Medicaid costs, excluding expanded coverage, by another $280 billion also over 10 year budget window.   During this 25-minute interview, Executive Director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD), Matt Salo, discusses the mission of NAMD, his understanding of House Republican legislation to fundamentally reform the Medicaid program, the challenges with either Medicaid block grants or per capita caps, and other related policy issues the NAMD is working to resolve.  Mr. Matt Salo has served as Executive Director of NAMD since 2011.  NAMD is a non-partisan association representing all 56 of the nation's state and territorial Medicaid Directors.    Prior to NAMD, Mr. Salo spend 12 years at the National Governors Association where he  worked to forward the Association's health and human services policy agenda.   Prior still Mr. Salo worked for five years as a health policy analyst at the American Public Human Services Association.   Mr. Salo also spent two years as a substitute teacher in the Alexandria, VA public school system. Mr. Salo holds a BA in Eastern Religious Studies from the University of Virginia.For more on the NAMD go to: http://medicaiddirectors.org/For more on House ACA repeal or reconciliation legislation go to: https://energycommerce.house.gov/hearings-and-votes/markups/markup-committee-print-and-h-res-154https://waysandmeans.house.gov/event/markup-budget-reconciliation-recommendations-repeal-replace-obamacare/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thehealthcarepolicypodcast.com

Listen NowExcluding from taxable income the moneys employers spend in providing employees with health insurance dates back to WWII-era wage and price controls.  Today, this tax policy, that amounts to over $250 billion in lost federal tax revenue, effectively constitutes the third largest federal government expenditure on health care after Medicare and Medicaid.  Few tax experts would disagree that the tax exclusion constitutes bad policy.  Beyond lost tax revenues, the policy is, among other things, highly regressive, causes lower or stagnant wage growth, reduces health plan competition, contributes to excessive health care spending, incents the over-utilization of health care services, limits job mobility and negatively influences retirement decisions.   During this 25 minute conversation Dr. Antos discusses the extent to which the tax exclusion is responsible for employers providing employees with health care insurance coverage, what effect would capping or phasing out the exclusion have on coverage, how best can the policy can be reformed via a Cadillac tax or otherwise, what might be done to reform the tax exclusion under a Secretary Clinton administration and how the exclusion may play into future tax reform may legislation.   Dr. Joe Antos is the Wilson H. Taylor Scholar in Health Care and Retirement Policy at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).  Before joining AEI,  Dr. Antos served as the Assistant Director for Health and Human Resources at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).  Dr. Antos has also held senior positions in the US Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of Management and Budget and the President's Council on Economic Advisers.  He recently completed a seven year term as Health Adviser to CBO and two terms as a Commissioner of the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission.  In 2013 he was named Adjunct Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at George Washington University.   Dr. Antos earned his Ph.D. and MA in economics at the University of Rochester and his BA in mathematics from Cornell University.   For more background information about the exclusion and micro-simulation data on reforming the exclusion, see Jonathan Gruber's 2011 article in the National Tax Journal, at: http://www.ntanet.org/NTJ/64/2/ntj-v64n02p511-30-tax-exclusion-for-employer.pdf.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thehealthcarepolicypodcast.com

Medicare, cybersecurity, favors for banks, mortgages, IRS bullying, a tax cut for the rich, and a couple of good ideas are highlighted from the law and bills that passed Congress in April. Please support Congressional Dish: Click here to contribute with PayPal or Bitcoin; click the PayPal "Make it Monthly" checkbox to create a monthly subscription Click here to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Mail Contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North #4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Laws H.R. 2: Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR): Enacted in 1997, the SGR paid doctors for Medicare patients based on the growth in gross domestic product (GDP). If Medicare costs increased more than GDP, doctors payments were cut across the board. According to the American College of Physicians, this formula for payment has meant that the Medicare payment rate to doctors is essentially the same as it was in 2001 and cuts have been postponed so many times that doctors' payments would have been cut by 21% if this bill was not signed into law by April 1. This new law: Repeals the Sustainable Growth Rate formula for Medicare payments to doctors. Increases payments to doctors by 0.5% through 2019 while the payment rate transitions away from a pay-per-service model. The new system will be based on scores assessed by a "Merit-based Incentive Payment System" which will be created by the Secretary of Health and Human Services which will go into effect on January 1, 2019. A list of "quality measures" will be posted every November and doctors can choose which one's will be used in their performance assessments. Doctors will be rated and paid based on a performance score from 0 to 100, which will take improvement into account starting in the second year of the program. The GAO will report on the effectiveness of the system by October 1, 2021. An advisory committee will be created to propose alternative payment models, which will be lump sum payments to group practices and medical homes. Sets a goal for Medicare records to be electronic nation-wide by December 31, 2018. Extends a bunch of existing Medicare programs, including the Children's Health Insurance Program (which covers low income kids whose parents make too much for Medicaid) for two years. Doubles the length of Medicare administrator contracts from five to ten years. Expands nationally a prior authorization requirement for "repetitive scheduled non-emergent ambulance transport" Prohibits the printing of social security numbers on Medicare cards Pays for the new system by... Denying access to policies with no out of pocket costs to people who enter Medicare after January 1, 2020. For all future beneficiaries, they will have to pay at least $147 per year (the cost of the Medicare Part B deductible). Increasing the premiums for relatively high income individuals. People who have a gross income between $133,501 and $160,000 ($267,000 and $320,000 for a couple) will pay a 65% premium instead of 50%, and people above that will pay an 80% premium rate. This would increase with inflation beginning in 2020. Has a huge increase in the levy that the Treasury Department can impose on tax delinquent service providers, increasing it from 30% to 100%, effective on October 16, 2015. Will have auditors distribute information about improper payments to help reduce the number of them. Creates a paper-free option for Medicare notices, saving mail fees. The effect this bill will have on the budget will not be counted. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates this bill will increase the budget deficit by $141 billion. Passed 392-37 in the House and 92-8 in the Senate Sponsored by Rep. Michael Burgess of Texas 95 pages Bills H.R. 1731: National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act of 2015 For reference, here's the text as of March 2015 of the Homeland Security Act, which is amended by this bill. This bill: Adds "private entities" to the list of groups that will be part of the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, which coordinates information sharing between the Federal government and other entities. Adds new groups to the list of who will be included in the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center who will coordinate with all sizes of businesses. Expands the type of information that the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center will share between the Federal government, local governments, and private sector. Authorizes the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center to share information internationally. Requires the government and businesses to use existing technology to "rapidly advance" implementation of "automated mechanisms" for sharing between the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center and Federal agencies. Participation by non-Federal entities will be voluntary. Agreements that exist before this bill is signed into law will be deemed compliant with this law. All participating entities need to take "reasonable efforts to remove information that can be used to identity specific persons". There's no listed punishments if they don't. The Under Secretary for Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection will create policies for governing the use of information shared with the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center 180 days AFTER the bill becomes law. He/she will also be responsible for creating "sanctions" for government employees who disregard his/her privacy policies. Private entities that share information will have immunity from lawsuits, if they share information according to this law. If the Federal government breaks this law, it will have to pay the person actual damages or $1,000, whichever is higher, plus attorneys fees. There is a two year statute of limitations. This law will trump state laws that limit information sharing. The law would sunset 7 years after enactment. Passed 355-63 in the House Sponsored by Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas 60 pages H.R. 1560: Protecting Cyber Networks Act Contains the text of H.R. 1731: National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act Within 90 days of enactment, the Director of National Intelligence must develop procedures for sharing classified "cyber threat indicators" with "non-Federal entities" Allows cybersecurity monitoring of government systems to be privatized Allows "non-Federal entities" to share information to with anyone other than the Defense Department. The entity sharing information must "take reasonable efforts" to remove personally identifiable information on people "not directly related" to the cybersecurity threat. The President will develop polices governing what happens to information received by the Federal Government, within 90 days of the bill becoming law. The Attorney General will create policies relating to privacy and civil liberties, within 90 days of the bill becoming law. A new branch, with 50 or less employees, will be created within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence called the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center, which will "serve as the primary organization within the Federal Government for analyzing and integrating all intelligence possessed or acquired by the United States pertaining to cyber threats." Information shared with the government is exempt from public disclosure. Information given to the government "shall not be subject to a rule of any Federal department or agency or any judicial doctrine regarding ex parte communications with a decision-making official." The government can keep and use information given to it to investigate, prosecute, prevent or mitigate a threat of "death or serious bodily harm or an offense arising out of such a threat" and to investigate, prosecute, prevent or mitigate a threat to a minor. The information can also be used to prevent, investigation, disrupt, or prosecute fraud, unauthorized access to computers and transmission of information taken from it, "serious violent felonies" including murder, manslaughter, assault, sexual abuse, kidnapping, robbery, carjacking, extortion, firearms use, firearms possession, or attempt to commit any of these crimes, espionage including photographing or sketching defense installations, and theft of trade secrets. Passed 307-116 in the House Sponsored by Rep. Devin Nunes of California 121 pages H.R. 650: Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act of 2015 Changes the definition of "Mortgage originator" to exclude mobile home retailers who take mortgage loan applications, negotiate loans, or advise consumers on loan terms (including rates, fees, and other costs) This exempts mobile home dealers from licensing, registry, a law prohibiting payment based on the terms of the loan, regulations prohibiting steering customers towards loans they can't repay or with excessive fees, regulations prohibiting mischaracterizing a customer's credit history, regulations prohibiting the mischaracterization of the appraised value of the home, or steering a customer towards a loan that's more expensive than others that they qualify for. Increases the interest banks can charge people buying a home for under $75,000 without the loan being labeled as "high-cost", which subjects the loans to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regulations. The regulations this would exempt the loans from: Ban balloon payments, which is an oversized payment due at the end of a mortgage Prohibit banks from charging prepayment penalties and fees Restrict late fees to four percent of the payment that is past due Bans fees for loan modification Require banks make sure the loan can be repaid before offering it Prohibit banks from recommending that a customer default on a loan Require that banks receive a confirmation that the customer has received homeownership counseling before they accept a high-cost mortgage. Would allow banks to charge $3,000 or 5% in fees for loans under $75,000, whichever is greater. Current law says banks can charge 5% for loans over $20,000, so the $3,000 fee option would hit the smaller loans the hardest. Passed the House 263-162. Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina was the only Republican no vote. The bill would be vetoed by President Obama. Sponsored by Rep. Stephen Fincher of Tennessee He took $15,150 from Clayton Homes for the 2014 election, his #4 donor and Clayton Home's #1 recipient of funds. Jeb Hensarling, the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee was Clayton Homes #2 recipient in 2014, giving him $8,750. 4 pages H.R. 685: Mortgage Choice Act of 2015 By changing the definition of what charges count as "points and fees", this bill... Reverses a Dodd-Frank requirement that charges for title insurance be counted as points and fees if they're paid to an affiliate of the bank/creditor that issued the loan. Currently, points and fees can not be greater than 3% of the loan amount, which include fees charged by affiliated settlement providers. Every thing that gets exempted from counting as "points and fees" therefore becomes additional charges the lender is allowed to tack on to a mortgage. Exempts money held in escrow for insurance from being considered points and fees, which exempt insurance charges from the fee caps. The change in definition allows more fees to be charged to mortgages, while keeping those mortgages from being classified as "high-cost" and being subject to greater restrictions. This is a zombie bill from the 113th Congress; it passed by voice vote on June 9, 2014. Passed the House 286-140. Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina was the only Republican no vote. Sponsored by Rep. Bill Huizenga of Michigan His top three contributing industries are - in this order - Insurance ($273,265), Real Estate ($218,175), and Commercial Banks ($193,000). 4 pages H.R. 299: Capital Access for Small Community Financial Institutions Act of 2015 Federal Home Loan Banks are privately owned cooperatives, funded by the global credit market, which provide money to local banks. There are twelve of them around the country and they are owned by the member banks. Most local banks are members of least one Federal Home Loan Bank. Allows privately insured credit unions to become members of Federal Home Loan Banks if they are FDIC eligible or are certified by the State. If the State doesn't get to it in under 6 months, the application is deemed approved. Zombie bill from the 113th Congress Passed the House by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Steve Stivers of Ohio His top three contributing industries over the course of his four year Congressional career have been Insurance ($898,858), Commercial Banks ($534,622), and Securities and Investment ($502,098). 6 pages H.R. 1259: Helping Expand Lending Practices in Rural Communities Act Orders the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to create an application process for people or companies to have their location designated as "rural" This would allow residents to become eligible for certain mortgages and exempt lenders from regulations intended for urban areas, according to Phil Hall of National Mortgage Professional Magazine Sunsets after 2 years. Zombie bill from the 113th Congress Passed the House 401-1. Nydia Valazquez of New York was the only no vote. Sponsored by Rep. Andy Barr of Kentucky He has taken $333,800 from the Securities & Investment industry during his 3 years in Congress. 4 pages H.R. 1195: Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Advisory Boards Act Creates paid advisory boards for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made up of bankers Places limits on funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Passed the House 235-183, with 4 Democrat Ayes and 5 Republican Nays President Obama would veto the bill Sponsored by Rep. Robert Pittenger of North Carolina His #4 and #5 contributing industries are Securities & Investment and Commercial Banks; he's taken a combined $189,450 during his 3 years in Congress 7 pages H.R. 1314: Ensuring Tax Exempt Organizations the Right to Appeal Act Became the vehicle for Trade Promotion Authority in the Senate Creates an appeal process for organizations that are denied tax-exempt status Would apply to decisions made on or after May 19, 2014. Passed the House by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Patrick Meehan of Pennsylvania 4 pages H.R. 1026: Taxpayer Knowledge of IRS Investigations Act Gives the Treasury Secretary the option of telling organizations if they are investigating a claim of unauthorized information disclosure by a government, if the investigation substantiated their claim, and if any action, including prosecution, is planned. Passed the House by a voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania 3 pages H.R. 709: Prevent Targeting at the IRS Act Allows the IRS to fire employees who steer and audit for a political purpose or for personal gain. Passed the House by a voice vote Sponsored by Rep. James Renacci of Ohio 2 pages H.R. 1104: Fair Treatment for All Gifts Act Makes gifts made to 501(c)4 "social welfare" groups, 501(c)5 labor and agricultural groups, and 501(c)6 business groups (including chambers of commerce, real-estate boards, and professional football leagues) tax exempt. Passed the House by voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Peter Roskam of Illinois 3 pages H.R. 1058: Taxpayer Bill of Rights Act Tells the IRS Commissioner to "ensure" that IRS employees are "familiar with and act in accord" with a list of "taxpayer rights" including The right to be informed The right to quality service The right to pay no more than the correct amount of tax The right to challenge the position of the Internal Revenue Service and be heard The right to appeal a decision of the Internal Revenue Service in an independent forum The right to finality The right to privacy The right to confidentiality The right to retain representation The right to a fair and just tax system Passed the House by a voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Peter Roskam of Illinois 3 pages H.R. 1152: IRS Email Transparency Act Prohibits IRS employees from using personal email accounts for official business Passed the House by a voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Kenny Marchant of Texas 2 pages H.R. 1105: Death Tax Repeal Act Repeals the estate tax for anyone who dies after the bill is signed Repeals the generation-skipping transfer tax, which is a tax on gifts and transfers of wealth to unrelated people who are more than 37.5 years younger than the donor, or to related people who are one generation younger. Would lower the top gift tax rate from 40 to 35 percent. The effects of this on the budget would not be counted. The CBO says this would increase the deficit by $269 billion over the next 10 years President Obama would veto the bill. Passed by 240-179 Sponsored by Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas 7 pages H.R. 622: State and Local Sales Tax Deduction Fairness Act Permanently extends the law that allows taxpayers who itemize their claims to deduct their state's sales taxes instead of getting a deduction for their state's income taxes. The effect of this bill on the budget would not be counted. CBO says this would increase the Federal deficit by $42 billion over the next ten years. President Obama would veto the bill. Passed the House 272-152. Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina was the only Republican no vote Sponsored by Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas 2 pages H.R. 1562: Contracting and Tax Accountability Act of 2015 Stops Federal agencies from contracting with companies that are tax delinquent A waiver can be issued and the contract granted if a report is submitted to Congress saying that the contract "significantly affects the interests of the United States" Passed the House 424-0 Sponsored by Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah 9 pages H.R. 471: Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act Makes the Attorney General list specific laws and regulations that a drug company is accused of violating in their notices to the companies regarding the possible suspension of their drug's registration. Allows drug companies to submit a "corrective action plan" when their drug registration may be suspended Passed the House by a voice vote Sponsored by Rep. Tom Marino of Pennsylvania His top contributing industry for the last election was the pharmaceutical industry; they gave him $55,250. 6 pages S. 971: Medicare Independence at Home Medical Practice Demonstration Improvement Act Increases the length of Medicare contracts for at-home care from 3 years to 5 years Passed the Senate by a voice vote Sponsored by Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon 2 pages H.R. 373: Good Samaritan Search and Recovery Act Clarifies that search and rescue volunteers are not Federal volunteers and are not entitled to Federal compensation. Releases the government from liability for allowing search and rescue teams onto Federal land so that they won't have to get insurance. The government as to approve or deny a request for a search and rescue mission within 48 hours. Passed the House 413-0 Sponsored by Rep. Joe Heck of Nevada Rep. Heck introduced the bill in response to the murder of Keith Goldberg; the search for his body in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area was delayed because the search team needed a special use permit and a $1 million insurance policy. It took 10 months to get the insurance; his body was found 3 hours after their search began. The National Association for Search and Rescue and the National Park Service, however, don't think access is a problem. 6 pages S. 304: Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Act Protects the identity of whistleblowers who provide information relating to motor vehicle defects or other dangerous safety problems. Allows the government to give up to 30% of the fine collected from a car company that breaks the law to the whistleblower whose information lead to the conviction. The whistleblower is not allowed to be represented by a lawyer. Passed the Senate by a voice vote Sponsored by Senator John Thune of South Dakota Senator Thune has taken over $380,000 from the automotive industry 11 pages S. 984: Steve Gleason Act of 2015 Starting in 2016, Medicare would cover speech generating devices. Allows people to own their speech generating devices (as opposed to renting them) if purchased between October 1, 2015 and October 1, 2018. Named after former NFL football player Steve Gleason, who played for the New Orleans Saints before being diagnosed with ALS Passed the Senate of a voice vote Sponsored by Senator David Vitter of Louisiana 3 pages Hearings Rules Committee: April 13 on HR 650 and HR 685, about housing bills. Rules Committee: April 21 on HR 1731 and HR 1560 on Cybersecurity House Committee on Financial Services: March 18 hearing on deregulation for banks titled "Preserving Consumer Choice and Financial Independence" Information Presented in This Episode Article: 'Doc fix' headed to president's desk after easily clearing Senate by Paul Demko, Modern Healthcare, April 14, 2015. Article: The mobile-home trap: How a Warren Buffett empire preys on the poor by Mike Baker and Daniel Wagner, The Seattle Times, April 2, 2015. Article: MBA's Mortgage Action Alliance: A Message from MAA Chairman Fowler Williams by Fowler Williams, National Mortgage Professional Magazine, June 11, 2015. Article: U.S. Bank Profits Near Record Levels by Robin Sidel and Saabira Chaudhuri, Wall Street Journal, August 11, 2014 Article: Bureaucracy hindered search for slain brother by Anjeanette Damon, USA Today, March 8, 2014. Webpage: About the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, Department of Homeland Security. Webpage: Team Gleason Press Release: Rep. Kelly Introduces Taxpayer Knowledge of IRS Investigations Act Additional Information Kickstarter: Explore Campaign Finance App by Soloman Kahn. Jen's Podcast Appearances Episode 66: Talk Nerdy with Cara Santa Maria Episode 42: Podcast Junkies with Harry Duran Music Presented in This Episode Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio) Ask Your Doctor by Neal Fox (found on Music Alley by mevio) Thank you by Ben Willmott (found on Music Alley by mevio)

In this bonus episode, a quick overview of Congressional basics. We also examine the priorities of the 114th Congress by reviewing the bills that were passed during its first week. Please Support Congressional Dish: Click here to contribute with PayPal or Bitcoin; click the PayPal "Make it Monthly" checkbox to create a monthly subscription Click here to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Mail Contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North #4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Thank you for supporting truly independent media! 114th Rules of the House The 114th Congress passed the new rules, which amended the rules passed by the 113th Congress. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) will have to estimate the budgetary effects of major bills on businesses by requiring estimates of "economic output, employment, and capital stock" that would result if the bill became law. Allows the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to continue the lawsuit against Attorney General Eric Holder and the investigations into the "Fast and Furious""scandal". Continues a lawsuit that aims to stop the Obama Administration from paying for subsidies to health insurance companies to offset the cost of low-income health insurance plans. Prohibits a bill that would shift funds out of the Social Security trust fund. Continues the Benghazi investigation. Bills Passed in the First Week House of Representatives HR 26: Terrorism Risk Insurance Program ReAuthorization Act of 2015 The bill reauthorizes and changes the terms of the program that provides Federal insurance to businesses damaged in a terrorist attack. A rollback of the Dodd Frank financial reform bill was attached. The bill passed both chambers of Congress and is expected to be signed into law by President Obama. HR 22: The Hire More Heroes Act of 2015 The Affordable Care Act requires employees with over 50 workers to provide their workers with health insurance benefits. If this bill becomes laws, workers who are military veterans will not count towards the 50 employee threshold. The bill passed the House unanimously. HR 30: Save American Workers Act of 2015 The Affordable Care Act requires that an employee that works over 30 hours per week is considered full time and, if the employer is required to provide health insurance to full time staff, is eligible for employer-paid health insurance benefits. This bill would change the threshold for health insurance eligibility to 40 hours per week. HR 3: Keystone XL Pipeline Act Allows TransCanada to "construct, connect, operate, and maintain" the Keystone XL pipeline. Only the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals for Washington DC can hear civil cases against the pipeline. The bill passed with the entire Republican Party and 28 Democrats voting Yes. Sponsored by Rep. Kevin Cramer, North Dakota's only Representative. His top contributing industry is Oil & Gas; he's taken over $400,000. Defeated... For Now HR 37: Promoting Job Creation and Reducing Small Business Burdens Act A package of 11 bills from the 113th Congress that would have rolled back Dodd Frank financial reform even further. Was defeated as an uncontroversial suspension bill, which required 2/3 of the House for passage. Expect to see this bill come up for a vote under regular order in the near future. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, who is retiring from Congress at the end of this term. His #1 contributing industry is leadership PACs but his #4 is the finance industry. He's taken almost half a million dollars. Music Presented in This Episode Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio) Be Heard Have something to say? Leave a message on the Congressional Dish voicemail line and it might be featured on the show! Call (339) 707-0307 Help Congressional Dish Rate Congressional Dish with 5 stars on iTunes and leave a rave review. Download and share the FREE Congressional Dish app for iPhones & iPads and all Android devices. Submit your favorite episodes to Reddit. Musicians: Share your music with Congressional Dish (and the world) - email the mp3 to Jen at Congressioanldish dot com. Share your favorite episodes with other podcasters, share with your Facebook friends, share with your Tweeps, share, share, share! Thank you for supporting Congressional Dish

Listen NowIn 2009, or the year before the Affordable Care Act passed, the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (used by the FTC and the DoJ) defined hospital ownership as "highly concentrated" in over 80% of the 380 MSAs (Metropolitan Statistical Areas).  Since passage of the ACA, a law that among other things strongly encourages care continuity and coordination between/among providers, hospital mergers and acquisitions continued unabated with over 100 in the past year alone (and over 500 between 2007 and 2012).  This matters because studies commissioned by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and others show hospital market consolidation generally results in higher prices. During this 27-minute podcast, Dr. Ginsburg discusses the current state of hospital market concentration and what effect this has on hospital pricing and quality.   He describes the impetus for the ACA encouraging care integration, what effect this has on hospital as well as physician group practice consolidation (both horizontally and vertically), what upsides there are to a less silo-ed industry, effects of similar consolidation within the payer/insurance industry and what are or should be appropriate federal efforts to best regulate mergers and acquisitions within the healthcare industry.   Dr. Paul Ginsburg is President (and Founder) of the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC).  The HSC conducts research to inform policymakers and other audiences about changes inorganization, financing and the delivery of health care.  Prior to HSC Dr. Ginsburg served as the founding Executive Director of the Physician Payment Review Commission (now the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission).  Dr. Ginsburg was a Senior Economist at RAND and served as Deputy Assistant Director at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Before that he served on the faculties of Duke and Michigan State universities.   He has been named to Modern Healthcare's “100 Most Influential Persons in Health Care” eight times.  He is founding member of the National Academy of Social Insurance, a Public Trustee of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and serves on Health Affairs' editorial board.  He earned his doctorate in economics from Harvard University. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thehealthcarepolicypodcast.com

Peter R. Orszag is Vice Chairman of Global Banking at Citigroup, Inc., and a member of the Senior Strategic Advisory Group there. He is also a Contributing Columnist at Bloomberg View and an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Prior to joining Citigroup in January 2011, he served as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a Contributing Columnist at The New York Times. Dr. Orszag previously served as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Obama Administration from January 2009 until July 2010. In that Cabinet-level role, he oversaw the Administration's budget policy, coordinated the implementation of major policy initiatives throughout the federal government, and reviewed federal regulatory action, among other responsibilities. From January 2007 to December 2008, Dr. Orszag was the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), supervising the agency's work in providing objective, nonpartisan, and timely analyses of economic and budgetary issues. Under his leadership, the agency significantly expanded its focus on areas such as health care and climate change. Prior to CBO, Dr. Orszag was the Joseph A. Pechman Senior Fellow and Deputy Director of Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, where he also served as Director of The Hamilton Project, Director of the Retirement Security Project, and Co-Director of the Tax Policy Center. During the Clinton Administration, he was a Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and, before that, a staff economist and then Senior Advisor and Senior Economist at the President's Council of Economic Advisers. Orszag has also founded and subsequently sold an economics consulting firm.

Robert Reischauer's Fathauer Lecture in Political Economy lecture was presented on January 29, 2008. Robert D. Reischauer, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and nationally known expert on the federal budget, Medicare, and Social Security, began his tenure as the second president of the Urban Institute in February 2000. He had been a senior fellow of economic studies at the Brookings Institution since 1995. From 1989 to 1995, he was the director of the nonpartisan CBO. Mr. Reischauer served as the Urban Institute's senior vice president from 1981 to 1986. He was the CBO's assistant director for human resources and its deputy director between 1977 and 1981. Mr. Reischauer serves on the boards of several educational and nonprofit organizations. He is Vice Chair of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. He frequently contributes to the opinion pages of the nation's major newspapers, comments on public policy developments on radio and television, and testifies before congressional committees. Mr. Reischauer holds an A.B. in political science from Harvard University and an M.I.A. and Ph.D. in economics from Columbia University.