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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Stimulus Jobs: The Fine Print

The White House announced April 14 that a new report shows that the Recovery Act has been responsible for 2.2 million to 2.8 million jobs through the end of March. As always, we advise reading the fine print.
As we’ve written before, it’s not possible to know what might have happened had the $787 billion economic stimulus bill not been enacted and signed into law more than a year ago, on Feb. 17, 2009. Economists can only estimate.

AHIP on the Attack: 50 Percent of What?

Almost immediately after releasing an incomplete report on the supposed increase in premiums that the Senate’s health care overhaul bill would trigger, the health insurers’ trade group took to the airwaves with a TV ad claiming the bill would shortchange millions of seniors.

This ad, which is sponsored by America’s Health Insurance Plans, screams for context.
As we’ve written previously, it’s true that about 10 million seniors are on Medicare Advantage, as the ad says, which means they’ve chosen to get their benefits from a private insurer instead of through the fee-for-service route that 78 percent of Medicare recipients use.

Long Term Debt Forecasts

Q: What’s a good source for the U.S.A.’s long-term debt, annual revenues and expeditures, and long-term deficit forecasts?

A: The Congressional Budget Office publishes data on the federal government’s budget – that’s revenues and expenditures, deficits and debt. The Treasury Dept. is the best source for daily debt figures.