CBO - THE RIDGEWOOD BLOG.

Posted on August 27, 2015 August 26, 2015

CBO report forecasts unsustainable debt in long term

By Stephen Dinan – The Washington Times – Tuesday, August 25, 2015

The economy is sluggish but growing and inflation remains low, painting a decidedly mixed picture for the federal government, the Congressional Budget Office reported Tuesday, saying the fiscal situation is improving this year but will snap back by 2018 to swelling deficits and unsustainable debt.

The inflation rate is so low that Social Security beneficiaries probably won’t get a cost-of-living raise after this year, the CBO said. But tax revenue is up and spending has stayed pat, which is helping reduce the pool of red ink in the federal budget.

Combined, those numbers mean the government will run a deficit of $426 billion in fiscal year 2015, down about $60 billion from 2014 and marking the smallest deficit of President Obama’s tenure.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/aug/25/budget-deficit-smallest-obamas-tenure-cbo/

Posted on April 14, 2015 April 14, 2015

CBO: Feds Taxing More, Spending More, Running Bigger Deficit in 2015

TAXED MORE SPENT MORE-FY2014-FY2015-PHOTO

April 13, 2015 – 1:21 PM

By Terence P. Jeffrey

(CNSNews.com) – The federal government taxed away more money, spent more money and ran a bigger deficit in the first half of fiscal 2015 than it did in the first half of fiscal 2014, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

“The federal government ran a budget deficit of $430 billion for the first half of fiscal year 2015, CBO estimates–$17 billion more than the shortfall recorded in the same span last year,” the CBO said in itsMonthly Budget Review for March 2015, which was published April 8. “Both revenues and outlays were about 7 percent higher than the amounts recorded in the first six months of fiscal year 2014.”

The federal fiscal year begins on Oct. 1 and ends on Sept. 30.

In the first six months of fiscal 2014, the government took in approximately $1,323,000,000,000 in revenue, according to CBO. In the first six months of this fiscal year, it took in approximately $1,420,000,000,000—an increase of $98,000,000,000.

Meanwhile, the federal government spent approximately $1,736,000,000,000 in the first six months of fiscal 2014. It spent approximately $1,851,000,000,000 in the first six months of the fiscal year—an increase of $115,000,000,000 over last year.

Last year, the government ran a deficit of $413 billion in the first six months of the fiscal year. This year, it ran a deficit of $430 billion—a $17 billion increase over last year.

https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/cbo-feds-taxing-more-spending-more-running-bigger-deficit-2015

Posted on March 21, 2015 June 27, 2021

CBO: Obamacare to Hit Only 65 Percent of 2015 Coverage Target

CBO: Obamacare to Hit Only 65 Percent of 2015 Coverage Target

7:23 AM, Mar 20, 2015 • By JEFFREY H. ANDERSON

Given that Obamacare’s supporters like to take the Congressional Budget Office’s overly optimistic scoring of the president’s signature legislation as gospel, it’s fun to look at how poorly Obamacare is actually doing in relation to earlier CBO projections. When the Democrats rammed Obamacare through Congress in 2010 without a single Republican vote, the CBO said that the unpopular overhaul would lead to a net increase of 26 million people with health insurance by 2015 (15 million through Medicaid plus 13 million through the Obamacare exchanges minus 2 million who would otherwise have had private insurance but wouldn’t because of Obamacare).

Fast-forwarding five years, the CBO now says that Obamacare’s tally for 2015 will actually be a net increase of just 17 million people (10 million through Medicaid plus 11 million through the Obamacare exchanges minus 4 million who would otherwise have had private insurance but won’t, or don’t, because of Obamacare).

In other words, Obamacare is now slated to hit only 65 percent of the CBO’s original coverage projection for 2015.

Obamacare’s under-publicized failure on this key point is attributable to a variety of factors, including but not limited to the following: People aren’t thrilled with Obamacare-compliant insurance’s high cost and limited doctor networks, and some would even rather pay a fine for refusing to buy such insurance than pay its premiums; the Supreme Court ruled that part of Obamacare was unconstitutional, thereby giving states more freedom not to help expand it; and HealthCare.gov has been more reminiscent of DMV.org than of Expedia.com.

https://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/cbo-obamacare-hit-only-65-percent-2015-coverage-target_893012.html

Posted on January 27, 2015 June 27, 2021

Congressional Budget Office : Obamacare will cost $50,000 per person

Congressional Budget Office : Obamacare will cost $50,000 per person
JANUARY 26, 2015 6:56 PM
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, the UK Daily Mail is reporting ,that buried in a 15-page section of the nonpartisan organization’s new CBO ten-year budget outlook that the government will spend $1.993 TRILLION over a decade and take in $643 BILLION in new taxes, penalties and fees related to Obamacare .

The $1.35 trillion net cost will result in ‘between 24 million and 27 million’ fewer Americans being uninsured costing taxpayers, $50,000 for every person who gets health insurance under the Obamacare law, the Congressional Budget Office revealed on Monday.

The ACA will still leave ‘between 29 million and 31 million’ nonelderly Americans without medical insurance

These numbers assume Obamacare insurance exchange enrollment will double between now and 2025.

The best-case scenario described by the CBO would result in ’between 24 million and 27 million’ fewer Americans being uninsured in 2025, compared to the year before the Affordable Care Act took effect.

Posted on February 18, 2014 February 18, 2014

CBO says minimum wage bill would cost jobs, boost income

CBO says minimum wage bill would cost jobs, boost income
February 18, 2014, 01:41 pm
By Erik Wasson

President Obama’s proposal to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour would cost 500,000 jobs in 2016, according to a report released Tuesday by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

The report also found raising the minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $10.10 would significantly boost income for about 16.5 million workers, raising their income by $31 billion and potentially pulling nearly 1 million people out of poverty.

The White House and economic groups on the left immediately pushed back at the CBO’s conclusions on jobs, arguing its findings ran counter to other research.

“CBO’s estimates of the impact of raising the minimum wage on employment does not reflect the current consensus view of economists,” Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Jason Furman wrote in a blog post. “The bulk of academic studies, have concluded that the effects on employment of minimum wage increases in the range now under consideration are likely to be small to nonexistent.

Furman also highlighted the positive findings of the CBO report, starting with the estimate that 16.5 million workers would see their incomes boosted.

He told reporters that the CBO report is an overall a positive for raising the minimum wage and would not diminish the idea’s popularity.

Read more: https://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/economy/198605-cbo-minimum-wage#ixzz2tiHUbJBC

Posted on February 4, 2014 February 4, 2014

CBO: Obamacare slowing growth, costing 2.3M jobs

CBO: Obamacare slowing growth, costing 2.3M jobs
February 04, 2014, 10:15 am
By Erik Wasson

The new healthcare law will cost the nation about 2.3 million jobs by 2021 and contribute to a $1 trillion increase in projected deficits, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said in a report released Tuesday.

The nonpartisan agency’s report found the healthcare law’s negative effects on the economy will be “substantially larger” than what it had previously anticipated.

The findings from the nonpartisan agency immediately roiled the debate over the healthcare law on Capitol Hill ahead of a midterm election that Republicans hope will be dominated by the fight over ObamaCare.

It triggered a swift pushback from the White House, which sought to dismiss suggestions from Republicans that the healthcare law has contributed to a slower economic recovery.

The CBO is now estimating the law will reduce labor force compensation by 1 percent from 2017-2024 — twice the reduction it previously had projected. This will decrease the number of full-time equivalent jobs in 2021 by 2.3 million, the CBO said. It had previously estimated the decrease would be 800,000.

The budget scorekeeper said this decrease would be caused partly by people leaving the work force in response to lower wages offered by employers and increased insurance coverage through the healthcare law.

The agency also said employer penalties in the law would decrease wages, and part-year workers would be slower to return to the work force because they would seek to retain ObamaCare insurance subsidies.