Total national debt consists of publicly held debt and intergovernmental debt. Intergovernmental debt is the amount that the government owes to specific programs or agencies, such as the Social Security Trust Fund. Publicly held debt is the amount borrowed from credit markets. America’s national debt is out-of-control and is projected to grow even faster in the future, threatening Americans with a massive tax burden today and in the future. Congress amassed huge amounts of debt over past decades by allowing the federal government to become bloated, overextended, and unrestrained. Spending on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security is the main driver of America’s long-term spending and debt crises.
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.
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Issues 2012 provides candidates for elected office the ability to quickly identify the key issues of the day and present clear policy recommendations, supported by facts, for addressing them. Read More.
In the few months since Washington’s dramatic debt ceiling confrontation, America’s fiscal situation has only worsened. Federal spending is set to soar past previous record-shattering levels, endangering the economic future of the nation. This is a moral issue because younger generations will be forced to bear either staggering levels of…
Curtis Dubay discusses the President's tax hikes on FBN's The Willis Report. …
Abstract: The President’s 2013 budget, released on February 13, repeats the stale and unsuccessful policies of the past three years. The Administration’s apparent vision is one of bigger government, more spending, higher taxes, and deeper deficits. At a time when runaway spending and swelling…
The President’s post-debt-ceiling, election-year budget will provide a good test of whether he is serious about facing up to the country’s looming fiscal crisis and driving spending down. At this critical moment for the nation’s fiscal and economic health, he should seize the opportunity to change the course of fiscal…
Today marks the 1,000th day since the United States Senate has passed a budget. While the House has put forth (and passed) its own budget, the Senate has failed to do the same. To help illustrate how extraordinary this failure has been, our new video highlights a few of impressive…
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…
With the collapse of the deficit reduction “super committee,” a year that began with promise is degenerating into another late-December budgetary scramble on Capitol Hill. Along with certain necessary decisions by Congress on tax policies, unemployment insurance, and the “doc fix,” nine of the 12 annual spending bills are still…
Abstract: The Budget Control Act, which ended the impasse over the debt ceiling and created a Super Committee to identify more deficit reduction proposals, cuts the defense budget by $1 trillion and paves the way for further reductions next year. These cuts come on top of successive rounds of deep…
Abstract: The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction—the “Super Committee”—created under the Budget Control Act of 2011 has failed to recommend a strategy for reducing the federal deficit by $1.2 trillion over the next decade, leaving automatic cuts of 2 percent on…
From The Heritage Foundation, I'm Ernest Istook. …
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…
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,…
Abstract : Federal spending is on an unsustainable path that risks disaster for America. Runaway spending has increased annual…
Abstract: The massive federal budget deficit is unsustainable today because of out-of-control spending. Consequently, the federal government is about to run up against its statutorily imposed debt limit. Fortunately, Congress has options, and it has time to consider them carefully. If Congress chooses not…
The new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) 10-year budget baseline shows a virtually unprecedented sea of red ink. The report reveals an unprecedented $1.5 trillion deficit in fiscal year (FY) 2011—an increase of $95 billion over their last 2011 estimate.[1] This will be the third consecutive year of trillion-dollar…
The deep cuts in defense spending envisioned in the just-announced debt ceiling deal[1] raise a fundamental question for Americans: Will we let a deal stand that promises to end American security as we know it? Or will Americans demand that the deal, born of crisis-driven politics in…
As the “super committee,” created by the contentious Budget Control Act (BCA), grapples with its mandate to find $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction savings, many are urging it to “go big.” And no wonder. Since July 31, the eve of the BCA’s enactment, the federal government has continued to hemorrhage…
While most attention is focused on the congressional “super committee,” House and Senate appropriators have been moving legislation aimed at meeting their own fiscal year (FY) 2012 spending limits under the debt reduction agreement enacted earlier this year. So far, the appropriators are close to that modest goal. But they…
Judging by the accounts published to date, the “jobs” plan President Obama proposes Thursday night will likely include the typical set of infrastructure spending, school construction, aid for teachers, unemployment benefits, “targeted” tax breaks, and the like.[1] In other words, the President will call for more of the…
Heritage recently released the 2012 Federal Budget in Pictures. It graphically illustrates the direction our country is...…
April 29 marks the third year that the U.S. Senate has not passed a budget. Now more than ever, it is crucial that...…
Over the past week, President Obama has been on the road making an appeal to young Americans, offering a sales pitch...…
The European euro/debt/growth/banking/identity crisis is entering its third year. With so many summits, toasts, tense...…
We get it, the last thing President Obama wants is to be blamed for is the nation's growing debt—or anything else,...…
On March 13, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) updated its score of Obamacare, announcing that the program is $48...…
The most significant numbers in today’s updated estimates from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) are not the...…
President Obama's budget proposes a sharp increase in entitlement spending and more outlays for domestic programs and...…
Yesterday, the Department of the Treasury released an initial estimate of foreign holdings of U.S. securities, including...…
While the President’s FY2013 budget ignores the looming crisis of entitlement spending, the House and Senate Budget...…
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
Assistant Director, Center for Data Analysis and Research Fellow
Senior Research Fellow in Retirement Security and Financial Institutions
Grover M. Hermann Senior Fellow in Federal Budgetary Affairs