Last week I spoke at the 35th annual Forum on Science and Technology Policy held by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. My presentation on the economic and budget outlook was part of a session on the “budgetary and policy context for research and development.”
May 2010
Two days ago CBO provided some additional information about the potential effects of H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA, Public Law 111-148), on discretionary spending (that is, spending that is funded through the annual appropriation process). In response to questions from Congressional staff members, CBO released a further explanation of those figures yesterday.
Today CBO provided some additional information about the potential effects of H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA, Public Law 111-148), on discretionary spending (that is, spending that is funded through the annual appropriation process). This information updates and expands upon the analysis of potential discretionary spending under PPACA that CBO issued on March 15, 2010.
In the first seven months of fiscal year 2010, the federal government incurred a budget deficit of about $800 billion, the same as the shortfall at the same point in 2009, CBO estimates in its latest monthly budget review. Outlays and revenues alike are lower than they were last year at this time, by 3 percent and 4 percent, respectively. At the end of the spring tax-filing season, receipts of individual income taxes were less than CBO anticipated, but receipts of corporate taxes were greater.
Human activities around the world are producing increasingly larger quantities of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide resulting from the use of fossil fuels and from deforestation. Adopting policies aimed at reducing emissions of green house gases would shift the demand for goods and services away from fossil fuels and products that require substantial amounts of those fuels to make or to use and toward alternative forms of energy and products that require lesser amounts of fossil fuels. Employment patterns would shift to mirror those changes in demand.
Last week CBO joined other Congressional offices to kick off the annual Global Race forthe Cure in DC to raise funds for and awareness about the worldwide movement dedicated to the treatment and prevention of breast cancer. At the "State of Pink" Rally on Capitol Hill, CBO webmaster and breast cancer survivor Simone Thomas joined Ambassador Nancy Brinker, the founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and several Members of Congress, including fellow survivors Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Sue Myrick (R-NC), to talk about the importance of breast cancer education and detection.