In 2009, about 39 million foreign-born people lived in the United States, making up more than 12 percent of the U.S. populationthe largest share since 1920. Naturalized citizens (foreign-born people who have fulfilled the requirements of U.S. citizenship) accounted for about 17 million of the total. Noncitizens (foreign-born people authorized to live and work in the United States either temporarily or permanently and people who are not authorized to live or work in the United States) accounted for about 22 million of the total.
CBO Blog
In the current fiscal year, the federal government will spend about $1 trillion on health care. More than half of that will be through Medicare, a little more than a quarter on Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the remaining fifth on veterans’ health care, the military health system, health research, and other programs. Those outlays represent nearly 7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). In addition, federal revenue is held down by the rapid growth of private health spending.
Until recently the obligations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—two federally chartered institutions (called government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs) that provide credit guarantees for almost half of the outstanding mortgages in the United States—had no official backing from the federal government, nor were any costs associated with them reflected in the federal budget. However, starting in 2007, their losses mounted sharply as housing prices dropped and foreclosure rates climbed.
Every year, the Congress is asked to approve the procurement of one years worth of expensive items such as ships and aircraft. Yet those decisions have long-term implications. Well-constructed 30-year acquisition plans for major weapon systems can provide information about those implications. This morning CBO senior analyst Eric Labs testified before the U.S. House Armed Services Committees Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation to discuss the value of the Department of Defenses (DoDs) annual 30-year shipbuilding and aviation plans.
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of prescription drugs has elicited various concerns. One concern is that DTC advertising may add to spending on drugs by consumers, insurers, and the federal government without providing enough benefits to justify that spending. Specifically, some observers worry that DTC advertising encourages broader use of certain drugs than their health benefits warrant. Another concern is that DTC advertising for newly approved drugs may lead people to use drugs whose potential risks were not fully discovered during the drug approval process.
As required by law, CBO prepares regular reports on its estimate of the number of jobs created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), which is often referred to as the economic stimulus package. In its latest report, issued today, CBO provides estimates of ARRA’s overall impact on employment and economic output in the first quarter of calendar year 2011, which differ only slightly from those presented in its previous report (issued in February 2011).
The deductibility of charitable donations has been a feature of the U.S. individual income tax almost as long as the modern income tax has been in existence. Although the deduction encourages charitable giving, like other forms of preferential tax treatment, it results in loss revenue to the federal government. At current levels of charitable giving, the cost of that deduction—measured as the additional revenues that could be collected if the deduction was eliminated—will total about $230 billion between 2010 and 2014, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.
Over the past two years, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has guaranteed more than 17 percent of new and refinanced mortgages on single-family homes in the United States. The estimated lifetime costs of FHAs single-family mortgage insurance program are recorded in the federal budget using a methodology spelled out in the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 (FCRA). Using the FCRA methodology, CBO estimates that the program will produce budgetary savings of $4.4 billion in fiscal year 2012.
This morning Joseph Kile, CBOs Assistant Director for Microeconomic Studies, testified before the Senate Finance Committee to discuss the federal role in paying for highways. The testimony draws on several recent CBO publications on highways and other infrastructure.
Status of the Highway Trust Fund
For programs funded through annual appropriations (which are called “discretionary” programs), CBO uses the funding provided for the current fiscal year as the starting point for its baseline budget projections for the coming decade. Specifically, appropriations for those programs are generally assumed to grow each year with inflation.