Today, CBO released its latest budget projections for the next ten years, again showing the appearance of a declining debt trajectory. These projections based on current law, however, do not incorporate the costs of current policies that lawmakers have extended many times in the past and are likely to do so again, such as the annual “patch” of the Alternative Minimum Tax.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its updated budget and economic projections today, showing the appearance of a sustainable debt trajectory over the next ten years. However, these projections do not incorporate the costs of policies lawmakers are very likely to continue, nor do they show the long-term costs of an aging population and growing health care costs beyond the ten year window.

Among our major findings based on the report:

1. Make Deficit Reduction a Top Priority.
2. Propose Specific Fiscal Targets.
3. Recommend Specific Policies to Achieve the Targets.
4. Do No Harm.
5. Use Honest Numbers and Avoid Budget Gimmicks.
6. Do Not Perpetuate Budget Myths.
7. Do Not Attack Someone Else's Plan Without Putting Forward an Alternative.
8. Refrain From Pledges That Take Policies Off the Table.
9. Propose Specific Solutions for Social Sec

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget – along with many other lawmakers, business leaders, former government officials, and policy experts – has called on the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (“Super Committee”) to go beyond its current mandate of finding $1.5 trillion in savings to recommend two to three times as much in order to stabilize the federal debt and reduce it as a share of the economy.