Congressional Quarterly Today

Department of Education officials say the direct lending program is better at preventing default and provides a higher level of customer service to students. At a New America Foundation discussion Tuesday, Bob Shireman, an advisor to Education Secretary Arne Duncan, said the direct lending program would be a better deal for taxpayers. Original article (subsription required)

"I think any sort of Head Start expansion should be addressed outside the stimulus," said Sara Mead, director of the Early Education Initiative at the New America Foundation. "The stimulus is all about getting money out the door fast.

Len Nichols, health policy director for the New America Foundation, a centrist think tank, said that a health care overhaul needn’t comply strictly with pay-as-you-go rules as long as it eventually reduces health care costs, as Baucus says he intends. “Health reform – getting that system to be sustainable and work for all of us in the long run – that is an investment worth making,” Nichols said. “Paying for it over a long period of time is a… more

The report dismissed the idea that “high-risk pools,” state-run associations that provide health coverage to people who have pre-existing conditions or who are deemed likely to need care in the near future, will help mitigate the negative effects of sales across state lines, unless the pools are “exceptionally well-funded.” McCain has voiced support for federal funding for state-run high-risk pools, which he claims will make it easier for the sickest Americans to receive coverage.

Elizabeth Carpenter, a senior associate for the… more

"We've found out that [paygo] does help, but only for things that are easy," said Maya C. MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, who supports the rule and has praised the Blue Dogs. She said Congress' inability to adhere to the rule suggests it may be time to rethink the entire budget process. LINK (subscription required)

...Another report by the Urban Institute and the New America Foundation discussed on Friday looked at changes in spending between 2006 and 2007, and found that while the overall children’s budget increased .7 percent, the non-child portions of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid grew 5.3 percent... During times of rapid growth in discretionary spending, such as what occurred between 2001 and 2006, one would expect an opportunity for more funding to go toward children and children’s programs, said David… more

...“We’ll be requiring key procedural votes, and also taking some time on the floor this week, to indicate the problems of this legislation,” Russ Feingold , D-Wis., said Monday of himself and Christopher J. Dodd , D-Conn., speaking at the New America Foundation, a Washington think tank. “We’re not just going to let it quickly pass...” LINK

Democrats Ponder Strategies for Confronting Bush on Spending (Congressional Quarterly Today) "It's hard to see how you go through the same process this year and make it work more smoothly," said Maya MacGuineas, president of The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a bipartisan watchdog group.

 

 

Senate Budget Chairman Conrad and ranking member Judd Gregg, R-N.H., recently proposed to "create a task force to recommend comprehensive legislation addressing expected shortfalls in the major entitlement programs," such as Medicare and Social Security.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget endorses the Conrad-Gregg proposal and is listed as a supporter in Congressional Quarterly Today (September 18, 2007) and in National Journal's CongressDaily (September 19, 2007). The Concord Coalition and GAO Comptroller General David Walker have also given praise… more

When a program to expand health coverage for children comes to the House floor this week, Democrats will face a stiff challenge posed by a campaign promise: paying for it.The bill (HR 3162) that would expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was approved last week by two panels but falls about $70 billion to $90 billion short of offsets over 10 years, which Democrats must deliver to move the legislation forward.At issue is the… more