| The Obama administration's newly released budget, its proposal for a freeze on non-security discretionary spending, and the planned commission on the federal debt have raised widespread alarm about federal deficits. But the much more urgent and severe problems relate to the poor condition of the U.S. economy, which is responsible for the spike in the deficit. See the articles below for perspective and clarity on this often confusing subject.
The Fiscal High Road Project
Demos and The Century Foundation have partnered together to help strengthen social insurance programs and develop a roadmap for a fair and responsible federal budget. Visit the web site for wealth of information on budget deficits.
Our Nation's Fiscal Future: Today's Reality and Future Challenges
This document from The Fiscal High Road Project
debunks some of the most commonly repeated claims intended to advance the country down the low-road approach to fiscal responsibility.
The Social Security Fix-It Book
By Steven Sass, Alicia Munnell and Andrew Eschtruth
A citizen's guide to the Social Security financing shortfall and the leading proposals for addressing the problem. Everything the earnest but over-burdened citizen needs to know. Cheerfully narrated and handsomely presented in 28 pages. Download the e-book for online viewing and the PDF for printing.
Social Security Claiming Guide
By Steven Sass, Alicia Munnell and Andrew Eschtruth
If you’re approaching retirement, when you claim benefits is the most important financial decision you’ll likely make. The Social Security Claiming Guide sorts through all the options, spells out how much you can get, and answers frequently asked questions - all in a clear, easy-to-read, and colorful format.
In Defense of Deficits
By James K. Galbraith
The Simpson-Bowles Commission, just established by the president, will no doubt deliver an attack on Social Security and Medicare dressed up in the sanctimonious rhetoric of deficit reduction, writes James K. Galbraith in The Nation.
Fiscal Folly
By Robert Kuttner
In American Prospect, Robert Kuttner writes that we need more deficit spending on public investment and jobs now, then deficit reduction once recovery comes.
"Strategic Deficit" Redux
By Greg Anrig
Republicans create deficits to foil progressivism. In the American Prospect, TCF Vice President of Programs, Greg Anrig asks, do we have to learn that lesson again?
A First Look at the Budget Freeze
By John S. Irons
Soon after the Obama administration released their budget, the Economic Policy Institute released this report. John S. Irons says contrary to rhetoric that portrays discretionary spending as “out-of-control,” projected spending on these programs is well within historical norms.
Recovery And Debt: Squaring The Circle
By Robert Kuttner
The stimulus enacted by President Obama is neither large enough nor being spent as quickly as needed to revive the U.S. economy, Kuttner writes in this Huffington Post piece. While the prospect of a rising national debt is something the President needs a long-term plan to solve, it is “no reason to give up on recovery” now.
There is No Entitlement Crisis
By Henry J. Aaron
In this Brookings commentary, Aaron writes that all of the talk about an “entitlement crisis” distracts from the real choices which need to be made about paying for rising healthcare costs. Guaranteeing universal coverage will not be easy, but it will be the surest way to ensure long-term financial stability for the nation and personal security for its citizens.
A Vision for the U.S. Pension System at 100
By Henry J. Aaron
Aaron defends the U.S. pension system against those who label it anachronistic or harmful to America’s bottom line. If fiscal conservatives really want to prevent an “entitlement crisis” they should work towards arresting accelerating health care spending, among other policy fixes he details in this report from the Fiscal High Road—not by slashing the social safety net.
The Deficit Hawks' Attack on Our Entitlements
By Robert Kuttner
In this Washington Post editorial, Kuttner debunks the myth that entitlement programs, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, should be sacrificed in the name of fiscal stability. Rather, Washington should focus more attention on repairing the economy in order to endow entitlements for the future, while expanding the idea of the safety net by adopting comprehensive health care reform.
When to Take Social Security: Questions to Consider
By Virginia P. Reno and Joni I. Lavery
In this report from the National Academy of Social Insurance, the authors write that retirees can claim Social Security benefits at any age between 62 and 70, but there are sound financial reasons to work beyond the earliest age and to delay claiming Social Security benefits if you can.
Tough Times Require Strong Social Security Benefits
By Maya Rockeymoore and Melissa Maitin-Shepard
Views on Social Security among African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and White Americans are examined in this report from the National Academy of Social Insurance.
Smart debt, dumb debt—there is a difference
By E.J. Dionne Jr.
E.J. Dionne Jr. writes that because we never face up to how much we need government to do, there is a pathetic quality to our discussion of big deficits, in the Washington Post.
| 
Taking Note
