Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson made entitlement reform a major priority in his speech at Columbia University yesterday. According to Reuters:

The biggest economic issue facing our country is the growth in spending on the major entitlement programs: Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security," Paulson said, referring to government programs that help ailing and elderly Americans with medical and living costs.

According to BNA, Paulson said reforms must be pushed through, even with a strong economy:

While the U.S. economy is "on a more solid footing and stronger than most would have predicted" considering the challenges of the last five years--including the spate of corporate scandals--Paulson said that "the economy had been growing at a rate that was simply not sustainable over the long run."

Consequently, the secretary said it is best not to place too much emphasis on the 2.5 percent gross domestic product advance growth estimate for the second quarter that was issued the week of July 24 by the Commerce Department.

"The longer we wait to fix [Social Security] the more limited will be the options available to us, the greater the cost and the more severe the economic impact on our nation," the secretary said. The financial burdens associated with Medicare and Medicaid are still larger and even more complex than Social Security, he said.

The Monterey Herald reports that Paulson was optimistic about change:

"The entitlement challenge is difficult, but it is fixable," Paulson said. "And given our expanding economy we can approach the issue from a position of strength."

Until recently, Paulson was the powerful chief executive officer of Wall Street behemoth Goldman Sachs & Co. Many colleagues wondered why he'd take a job in Washington for a lame-duck president facing a Congress with no stomach for overhauling Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid.

Paulson alluded to that Tuesday, saying he abides by a philosophy that "when a problem needs fixing you should run toward it, not away from it. That's one of the reasons I came to Washington."

Government Computer News reports on the Coburn-Obama federal fundung database legislation:

Few technical experts doubt the feasibility of establishing a central, searchable database that can track all types of federal spending. If large banks can monitor individual credit card transactions, certainly the Office of Management and Budget can set up a Web site for federal expenditures, said Alan Webber, senior analyst at Forrester Research Inc. of Cambridge, Mass. “It would be a huge undertaking, but it would be feasible,” Webber said. “This is easy,” when compared to monitoring personal banking records.

The bill does face political obstacles:

Politically...the bill could run into problems. Forrester’s Webber said that for commercial and competitive reasons, vendors may not want to disclose every bit of information to the public. The bill also could be a casualty of timing, as the legislative calendar is getting short and lawmakers are anxious to get home to their districts. With this being an election year, the chances of Congress working past early October are slim, congressional observers said. But with House majority whip Blunt and Government Reform Committee chair- man Davis throwing their collective muscle behind the grants database, legislation to bolster spending transparency is gaining momentum.

Mark Tapscott reports that Tom Davis told the Examiner he's willing to ask the House to add contracts to the spending database, a move that would affect some of the shadier appropriations:

Proponents of the Coburn-Obama bill have feared House insistence on not including federal contracts in the proposed database would kill the legislation that appears headed for easy passage by the Senate.

Asked by The Examiner if he would support inclusion of contracts in the database in the conference committee, Davis said "if the Senate has it, I would yield to it." Asked if he would encourage House colleagues to approve a conference report that includes contracts, Davis said "I don't have a problem going back to the House for it."

Davis did leave himself an out, saying he would have "to look at it, see how they do it" of the Senate bill but the Virginia congressman insisted that he favors transparency and competition in federal contracting. "The more competition you have, the better," Davis said.

The Senate may not have time for broad budget reform. According to BNA:

Prospects for a wide-ranging budget process overhaul dimmed significantly Aug. 1 after Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said he instead favored possibly taking to the floor more narrowly focused legislation to give the president greater power to challenge specific spending provisions via line-item rescission power. Speaking to reporters, Frist praised Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, for drafting a bill (S. 3521) aimed at making broad changes in the budget process, including rising entitlement spending.

"I do not think--given the limited amount of time--we'll be able to take that to the floor," Frist said. "One item in there is line-item veto, an issue that I introduced already on the floor of the Senate. I personally would very much like to take that to the floor. Whether or not we can do that in September, I don't know yet," he said.

At the state level, Mainers support a Taxpayers' Bill of Rights, Americans for Prosperity reports:

Just over 3 months before election day, a poll released today by Strategic Marketing Services indicates that the majority of Mainers support a Taxpayer's Bill of Rights Amendment...

The poll also showed that 54 percent of respondents would vote for or are leaning toward voting for a referendum seeking to establish a Taxpayer Bill of Rights. The so-called TABOR proposal would limit government spending to the rate of inflation plus population growth. Twenty-five percent opposed the question and 21 percent were undecided.