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Nonpartisan Washington think tank that analyzes US federal budget, deficit, and entitlement policy, publishing cost estimates for fiscal proposals.
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Fed policymakers hiked in September against inflation that supplies about 4 points of the 6%-plus nominal growth now outrunning a 5.16% 10-year yield. With the $2 trillion deficit adding about 5% a year to the debt, a slowdown that leaves yields near 5% would push the debt ratio up.
Reality
The $5,000 check Trump promised at the Republican midterm convention would cost about $1.35 trillion by one Wharton estimate. It rests on tariff revenue the Supreme Court has already narrowed.
Reality
Trump promised $5,000 to each American adult if his party keeps its congressional majorities, and Fortune reports that such a proposal could cost more than $1 trillion. No financing was attached to it.
Perspective Coverage
6 publishersReality
Brent near $108 and futures pricing a 92.3% chance of a Fed hike took the 10-year to 5.014% intraday. Capital Economics says the United States is not in a fiscal crisis yet because nominal growth still beats debt service.
Perspective Coverage
6 publishersReality
The CBO baseline that federal interest projections rest on now sits 90 basis points below the market, and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget priced $2.7 trillion of annual interest off a smaller gap than that.
Reality
Tom Cole and Lloyd Smucker have both said the payroll side of Social Security is open for discussion before the 2032 benefit cut, and the cap they would move sits at $184,500 of wages taxed at 12.4% between worker and employer.
Reality
Trump has floated $5,000 DOGE dividends and $2,000 tariff rebates since taking office. The only household cash Congress has enacted is a tax-free $1,000 grant for children born in the next few years.
Reality
Debt held by the public went from 32% of GDP to 100% in a quarter century, and the budget hawks' own decomposition says removing any one of tax cuts, new spending or crisis response would have left it near where it started.
Reality
CBO has net federal interest passing $1 trillion in 2026 and reaching $2.1 trillion by 2036, which is the arithmetic that decides how much room Congress has to close the 2032 shortfall without touching payroll taxes or benefit formulas.
Reality
CRFB's return ratios describe cash that has already moved. What a planner can use is narrower: the 2032 date and the size of the cut that follows.
Reality
Gross federal debt reached about $40.047 trillion on August 18. The trillion added since March annualises to a $2.4 trillion issuance pace and roughly $31 billion of fresh annual interest.
Reality
A new scenario model puts household numbers on the fiscal path: $53,000 in extra lifetime mortgage payments for a 2031 buyer, and a $705 monthly hole for retirees by 2033.
Reality
John Larson and Bill Cassidy both lost primaries and exit Congress in four months, with the trust fund set to empty in 2032 and benefits scheduled to fall 22.5 percent.
Reality
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget puts the average hit at about $500 a month. Retirement plans built on full scheduled benefits now carry a dated, quantified downside.
Reality