Jobs 

CBO Says GOP Budget Would Increase Economic Output: According to CBO, the GOP budget unveiled last week would lower federal spending, debt and deficits—all of which would help grow the economy and create jobs. CBO’s analysis states, “Lower debt would increase private investment and would lead to greater economic output and income in the long run” compared to the president’s budget and CBO’s current projections.

Spending

President Obama Increases Spending 27 Percent: From 2008 ($2.982 trillion) to 2013 ($3.803 trillion), government spending will have grown by $820 billion or 27 percent under President Obama. Over the next ten years, the president’s budget would increase the size of the federal government by 53 percent.

Medicare

Physicians Consider Restrictions or Leaving Medicare Altogether:  In testimony to the Senate Special Committee on Aging, former CBO director Douglas Holtz-Eakin argues “Medicare coverage no longer guarantees access to care. Increasingly, seniors enrolled in the Medicare program face barriers to accessing primary care physicians as well as medical and surgical specialists…While there is bipartisan agreement that the SGR formula needs to be fixed, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) failed to reset or restructure the fee schedule. As a result, physicians are now faced with difficult decisions regarding whether to accept new Medicare patients or leave the Medicare market altogether.”