May 2009

  • The Congress is currently considering various approaches for instituting major changes in the nations system of health insurance. Some of those proposals would significantly expand the federal governments role in that system, thus raising the question of how such changes might be reflected in the federal budget. CBO has just released a brief describing the approach that CBO will take in judging the appropriate budgetary treatment.

  • I testified yesterday before the House Budget Committee regarding the state of the U.S. economy.I emphasized the following points:

  • I am delighted to announce that this morning CBO was recognized bythe Partnership for Public Serviceasone of the "Best Places to Work in the Federal Government.CBO ranked third overall in the small agency category.

  • Long viewed as an integral component of higher education, athletic programs in many universities have become highly commercialized and, in some cases, are very rewarding financially: The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) mens basketball tournament alone garnered about $143 million in revenue for athletic departments in 2008, and college football bowl games generated a similar amount.

  • The President recently requested that the Congress provide an increase of about $8 billion in the U.S. quota for participation in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and an increase of additional line of credit for the IMF of approximately $100 billion.

  • Last weekCBO's Deputy Director Robert Sunshinetestified about the financing of the federal governments aviation programs (basicallyoperations of theFederal Aviation Administration) before the House Ways and Means Committee.Reauthorization of the aviation programs raises a number of significant policy questions:

  • The United States Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps are in the process of replacing most of todays fighter aircraft with new F/A-18E/F, F-22, and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft. Although procurement plans call for purchasing about 2,500 aircraft over the next 25 years, the services are projecting that those purchases will be unable to keep pace with the need to retire todays aircraft as they reach the limit of their service life.

  • Policymakers focus on climate change has shaped one of CBOs principal areas of work. Last week, I testified on the distribution of the costsof reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions through a cap-and-trade system, and CBO issued a report on the potential impacts of climate change.

  • Yesterday CBO released its Monthly Budget Review for May. The federal government incurred a deficit of close to $800 billion for the first seven months of fiscal year 2009, CBO estimates$646 billion more than the deficit recorded through April 2008. Notably, receipts in April were about $140 billion (or 35 percent) lower than receipts in April 2008, CBO estimates.

  • I testified this morning before the Senate Finance Committee on the distribution of revenues from a cap-and-trade program for carbon dioxide emissions. My comments emphasized these points: