Skip to main content

This page shows a chronological list of all CBPP materials.

Use advanced search and filtering

Pre-2005 Content Archive

Report

Poor Measurement: New Census Report on Measuring Poverty Raises Concerns

March 28, 2006 |

Key Findings

  • The Census Bureau recently unveiled new alternative poverty measures “intended to provide a more complete measure of economic well-being.”  The new poverty measures, which produce poverty rates as much as one-third below the official poverty rate, contain some features that have been characterized by poverty experts and past Census reports as flawed or incomplete.
  • Unlike past Census reports on alternative measures of poverty, this report does not include a set of poverty measures that follow the recommendations of an expert panel of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and that are more complete than either the official poverty rate or the new measures.  Poverty rates under the NAS measures are generally higher than the official poverty rate.
  • The new measures are flawed (and biased downward) because, among other reasons, they do not account for families’ expenses for child care and medical care and attribute major new categories of income (such as potential income from home equity) to families without making the adjustments to the poverty threshold necessary to create a consistent measure of well-being.
Read More
Report

A Faulty Fix: Repairing the "Ratchet" Will Not Repair TABOR

March 21, 2006

Key Findings

  • The main problem with tax and expenditure limits like Colorado’s TABOR is the arbitrary formula used to limit revenues each year. Fixing the “ratchet” (a feature of TABOR that worsens revenue shortages after a recession) would not avert the sharp decline in public services Colorado experienced under TABOR.
  • Services in Colorado deteriorated severely even before the ratchet took effect — evidence that the ratchet is not the major problem with TABOR.
  • The current set of TABOR proposals — known as “SOS” — claim they fix the ratchet through an alternative formula for annual adjustments; the change moderates the ratchet but does not eliminate it.
  • The SOS proposals also include Budget Stabilization Funds. A BSF could fix the ratchet in the context of these limits — but only if it is designed and used properly. The evidence suggests that would be unlikely in most states.
Read More
Report

Video: The Real Story Behind TABOR

March 2, 2006
This video discusses the impact of the "Taxpayer Bill of Rights" on Colorado and provides lessons for other states that may be considering similar limits on state taxes and...
Read More
Report

Administration Defense of Health Savings Accounts Rests on Misleading Use of Statistics

February 16, 2006 | and

Key Findings

  • In recent days, the President and other Administration officials have claimed that 40 percent of HSA enrollees have incomes below $50,000 and that 37 percent of HSA enrollees were previously uninsured.
  • These figures are being used in a misleading way. For example, they apply to only a portion of HSA enrollees and cannot be used to draw general conclusions about HSAs.
  • Extensive data not cited by the Administration support concerns that HSAs are most attractive to healthier and wealthier people.
Read More