Yesterday, CRFB released its analysis of the latest budget projections from CBO, discussing debt, deficits, spending, and revenues. We also updated the CRFB Realistic Baseline in our analysis to give a more realistic view of where the country is headed. Not surprisingly, it shows much higher debt and deficits than CBO's current law projections.

With Congress back in session this week, there is a renewed focus on several provisions that lawmakers extended for two-months in December and which are set to expire again at the end of February. As we commented on at the time, lawmakers extended the payroll tax cut, expanded unemployment insurance benefits, the doc fix, and various health care provisions for two months at a total cost of about $33 billion.

President Obama will be addressing the nation at 9 pm ET tonight for the annual State of the Union address, and CRFB will be active as well, live-tweeting throughout the event (@BudgetHawks). We will also chime in on any statements related to the budget that the President makes, so tune in for a view of the State of the Union from a fiscal perspective.

Be sure to check CRFB.org after the address for our statement reacting to President Obama's speech.

What a year it's been! 2011 certainly had plenty of budget and fiscal policy developments that kept all of us at CRFB pretty busy. We wish that meant we could say that this was the year of a fiscal plan. Funny enough, we said the exact same thing last year, when we took a look back at 2010 and hoped for a fiscal plan in 2011. But now we really mean it this time when we say we're confident that 2012 will be the year of the fiscal plan!

It's clear that any solution to control our rising debt will have to be bipartisan, not only to enact savings put to see them through and ensure they materialize. That's why CRFB is committed to a bipartisan approach, and is willing to work with lawmakers across the political spectrum who want to tackle our debt challenges.

Today, CRFB posted a Citizens' Resource Page to answer just that. As you can expect from the name, the page provides a number of resources for citizens to get engaged in the deficit debate and plenty of links to educational resources and information about the budget.

We receive a fair amount of e-mails from concerned citizens every day, be it questions, concerns, comments, or just general thoughts. Every so often, we receive a comment that truly encapsulates what CRFB is striving for and why.