The Heritage Foundation offers a detailed plan to redesign entitlement programs, guarantee assistance to those who need it, and save the American dream for future generations. Read More.
Entitlements—Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid—threaten to bankrupt the nation. The unsustainable tsunami of spending on these programs will accelerate as 77 million baby boomers flood into them. Read More.
See the web’s best visual presentation of federal spending, taxes, debt, and entitlements. Read More.
Abstract: The great and calamitous fiscal trends of our time—dependence on government by an increasing portion of the American population, and soaring debt that threatens the financial integrity of the economy—worsened yet again in 2010 and 2011. The United States has long reached the… Read more
After a year of unproductive brinksmanship, Congress and the President enter 2012 facing the same intractable budget problems as before: a fourth consecutive deficit expected to be $1 trillion or higher, spending that consumes nearly one-fourth of the economy’s total output, and an entitlement-driven fiscal disaster that has drawn… Read more
The defense budget is currently underfunded to compensate the professional all-volunteer U.S. force adequately and modernize the inventory of all the services. Military benefits and entitlements must be addressed to strengthen the force and ensure that those in uniform are not given fewer benefits in the future. Like the rising… Read more
It’s quite unusual to open an envelope from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and find two $1 dollar bills, especially when it’s addressed to you (or “current occupant”). But this year, thousands of Americans are sharing this experience with me. The National Institutes of… Read more
It is time to deal with Social Security's realities and to create a program that will provide our kids and grandkids with the same type of retirement security that our grandparents had. First off, Social Security did not spring fully formed from President Franklin Roosevelt's head in 1935: The original… Read more
America must get its fiscal house in order. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that, absent action from Washington, our national debt will be nearly as big as our entire economic output in just 10 years. By 2035, debt will be up to nearly double what we produce. No economy can… Read more
The debate is over. Social Security is running out of money and time. This month’s report from the Social Security trustees notes that “[p]rojected long-run program costs for both Medicare and Social Security are not sustainable” and legislative action is necessary to avoid “disruptive consequences.”How bad is it? Social Security… Read more
Most everyone agrees the federal budget is out of control. Annual budget deficits that averaged $300 billion under President George W. Bush have risen to $1.4 trillion under President Obama. This is not merely a short-term effect of the recession. Continuing today’s spending and tax policies would likely produce annual… Read more
Runaway spending and deficits continue to grow unabated in part because any attempts to rein them in are relentlessly demagogued by defenders of big government. The latest example is the budget recently authored by House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R–WI) and passed by the House of Representatives. … Read more
A federal agency wants to dictate exactly where businesses can create jobs. Last month, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a complaint against Boeing’s decision to open a new aircraft plant in South Carolina. The agency charges that the manufacturer’s expansion plans constitute “retaliation” against unions, including the International… Read more
Abstract: The number of Americans who pay taxes continues to shrink—and the United States is close to the point at which half of the population will not pay taxes for government benefits… Read more
Abstract: Since 1996, Congress after Congress has voted to lighten the tax burden on Americans. The current Congress will decide this fall whether to continue this policy or to significantly raise personal income taxes. President Obama has advanced a plan that reverses the long-standing… Read more
The U.S. is headed for a fiscal meltdown. Even before Congress began calling for a hugely expensive overhaul of health care, the federal government was a staggering $56 trillion in the hole, in terms of unfunded obligations. That's $184,000 of debt for every American. Even after its tax increases, the House health bill… Read more
Updated as of April 6, 2011. Read the statement on the update. Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI), chairman of the Committee on the Budget of the U.S. House of Representatives, requested by letter that… Read more
Impact of Child Care Tax Credit Increase on Families and Economy Curtis S. Dubay and Chuck Donovan … Read more
"There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long-range risks of comfortable inaction." --John F. Kennedy "We are increasingly concerned about inaction on the financial challenges facing the Social Security and Medicare programs. The longer we wait to address these challenges, the more limited will be the options available, the… Read more
Abstract: Medicare is the government health insurance program on which the vast majority of America’s senior and disabled citizens rely. The program has no spending limits—despite its price controls and central planning— and, as currently designed, is simply unsustainable. All future taxpayers and retirees… Read more
Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, co-chairs for the President’s bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, released a co-chairs’ report today. Since it is a preliminary report from the chairs, it should be viewed as a model for discussion and seeding ideas for the final commission report. As such,… Read more
Revised and updated July 06, 2011. Washington’s reckless spending spree of the past several years and unwillingness to confront the mountains of debt coming soon from unreformed federal entitlement programs threaten the economic and social… Read more
Families and businesses have budgets, yet Washington doesn't -- and it hasn't for the last three years. Senate Majority...… Read more
When John F. Kennedy was President, just over a quarter of federal spending went to fund programs paying for some 21.7...… Read more
As someone who grew up in inner-city Atlanta, I understand there are times when people need whatever help they can...… Read more
Dark clouds hover over the nation’s finances and threaten a perfect storm of massive debt and crushing taxation unless...… Read more
Earlier this week in New Hampshire, Republican presidential candidates touted the benefits of a Medicare premium...… Read more
As one of the 12 members of Congress on the Super Committee, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) had a front row seat for all the...… Read more
The Super Committee failed to meet its Thanksgiving to cut $1.2 Trillion from the federal budget. Now what? Click here...… Read more
Tax hikes were the focal point of the contentious, failed supercommittee negotiations designed to reduce the national...… Read more
With its November 23 deadline fast approaching, the "super committee" created by the Budget Control Act is back in the...… Read more
Medicare—on its current path—cannot be sustained. At a recent hearing held by the Senate Special Committee on Aging,...… Read more
Distinguished Fellow and Director, Center for Policy Innovation
Director, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies
Norman B. Ture Senior Fellow in the Economics of Fiscal Policy
Senior Research Fellow in Retirement Security and Financial Institutions
Grover M. Hermann Senior Fellow in Federal Budgetary Affairs