In Case You Missed It...

This week on Off the Charts, we focused on the federal budget and taxes, the economy, SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called food stamps), state budgets and taxes, health reform, and the 2012 Census Bureau poverty, income, and health insurance data.

• On the federal budget and taxes, Paul Van de Water pointed out that updated projections from the Congressional Budget Office show that most federal spending is actually falling as a share of the economy.  Richard Kogan explained that the facts do not back up House Speaker John Boehner’s claim that deficit reduction plans have always been tied to a debt-limit increase.

• On the economy, we excerpted Chad Stone’s testimony before the Senate Budget Committee explaining that political gridlock and brinksmanship over budget policy have hurt economic growth and job creation.

• On SNAP, we highlighted Jared Bernstein’s On the Economy blog post discussing a Washington Post profile of Rep. Steve Southerland (R-FL) and its misleading portrayal of his proposed changes to SNAP.

• On state budgets and taxes, Chris Mai explained that cuts in federal aid to states are dragging down school funding.  Michael Leachman discussed how K-12 funding trends in Kansas show the price of the state’s costly tax cuts.

• On health reform, Edwin Park noted that a recent Urban Institute analysis agrees that a delay in the individual mandate would reduce health insurance coverage and raise premiums.

• On the Census Bureau data released last week, we compiled five things we took away from the data on poverty, income, and health insurance coverage in America.

In other news, we issued Chad Stone’s testimony before the Senate Budget Committee and a paper correcting five myths about Medicaid.

A variety of news outlets featured CBPP’s work and experts recently.  Here are some highlights:

Can the Threat of Defunding Education Slow Down Tax Cuts?
Governing
September 26, 2013

Proper school funding is the best option for growth
Kansas City Star
September 21, 2013

Free to Be Hungry
New York Times
September 13, 2013

All Budget Deals Are Not Created Equal
U.S. News and World Report
September 19, 2013