CBO Briefs Budget Conference On Long-Term Scenarios

Options for Reducing US Deficit, Sequestration Pain

• Spend no more than you earn? No, it cannot be so simple. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its latest assessment [PDF] of how the US government could tackle its fiscal imbalances. This will inform the conference committee currently trying to wrap up the FY2014 budget. The always-hopeful Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget urges them not to use short-term gimmicks to route around sequestration.

• Some Senate Democrats are following the script from House Republican defense hawks by decrying the loss of jobs incurred because of the sequester. John Bennett from Defense News concludes: “Only a few subcommittee members even showed up.”

• It would be nice if the strategy led the budget and not vice versa, but bromides from the top brass are not even internally consistent. If you pay attention, you’ll see them everywhere. When was the future anything but uncertain?