In Case You Missed It...

This week on Off the Charts, we examined the new annual reports of the Social Security and Medicare trustees, the economy, state budget cuts, and why President Bush’s tax cuts for high-income households should expire on schedule.

• On the new Social Security and Medicare trustee reports, Paul Van de Water previewed what to look for before they were released.  After the reports were released, we posted his and Bob Greenstein’s comments from our press call.  Jim Horney debunked claims that savings from Medicare were “double-counted.”
• On the economy, Chad Stone showed what today’s jobs report means through a series of charts on job losses, long-term unemployment, and private sector jobs.  He also explained why a recent report released by Senators Coburn and McCain about spending in last year’s stimulus program is misleading.
• On state budget cuts, Nick Johnson provided an update on the damaging cuts states are making to key services, like education, due to the recession.  Shannon Spillane explained why these cuts threaten an economic recovery.
• On the Bush tax cuts, Chuck Marr discussed why the cuts for high-income households should expire on schedule.

In other news, the Center released statements on the Medicare trustees' report, Social Security’s solvency, and the July employment report.

We released reports on the extension of high-income tax cuts and small businesses and an update on state budget cuts.

We released podcasts on letting the high-income tax cuts expire and our media briefing on understanding the annual reports of the Social Security and Medicare trustees.

We also released a chart-book, "The Legacy of the Great Recession."