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off the charts
POLICY INSIGHT
BEYOND THE NUMBERS

In Case You Missed It...

| By CBPP

This week on Off the Charts, we discussed the economy, the federal budget, state budgets, and housing.

  • On the economy, Chad Stone explained why Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s claim that government spending is slowing the economy lacks evidence; he also pointed to recent statistics that show hope for economic growth.
  • On the federal budget, we posted a clip of Robert Greenstein discussing the forthcoming debate over spending cuts proposed by the House leadership on PBS’s “NewsHour.” We also featured James Horney’s statement on the Congressional Budget Office’s new budget and economic estimates, and Paul Van de Water reminded us of the serious problems with Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget plan.
  • On state budgets, Iris Lav cleared up some important misconceptions about state debt and pensions and outlined why enacting a federal law to let states declare bankruptcy is a bad idea.  Phil Oliff highlighted the main points from our most recent update on state budget shortfalls.
  • On housing, Barbara Sard explained why a recent segment of ABC’s “Nightline” on public housing does not tell the whole story.

In other news, the Center featured Paul Van de Water’s testimony on health reform before the House Budget Committee, as well as James Horney’s statement on the new CBO budget estimates. We also released a report on TANF’s response to the economic downturn and a podcast on misunderstandings about state debt and pensions.