Report
Over the past three years, both the underlying fiscal landscape and the broader economic context for the fiscal debate have shifted in very important ways, yet the debate has remained remarkably static.
In his testimony before the Senate Budget Committee, Michael Linden lays out broad principles for progressive, pro-growth tax reform.
Issue Brief
President Obama’s balanced approach to tax reform, which eliminates unfair giveaways to the rich, stands in stark contrast to the House GOP’s proposed reforms that favor the wealthy and unfairly burdens poor and middle-class families.
Charts
President Obama’s fiscal year 2014 budget shows his willingness to accept less revenue and less government spending than the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles plan.
The president’s compromise budget is constrained not by actual fiscal limits, but by perceived political limits.
Charts
If we actually have a “spending problem,” why does Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget only cut the portion of federal spending that is shrinking?
The budget plan put forth by Sen. Patty Murray promotes job creation, fosters the economic recovery, makes critical investments that lay the foundation for economic growth, and responsibly reduces the budget deficit.
Despite overblown claims of balancing the budget in 10 years, Rep. Ryan’s budget in actuality increases the deficit and debt.
The American people have soundly rejected the elements central to Rep. Paul Ryan’s latest House GOP budget, yet he insists on trotting out the same stale ideas.
Most of the projected massive run up in debt over the next quarter century is actually driven by the assumption that future Congresses will enact huge new deficit-increasing tax cuts and spending hikes, not by the growth in entitlement spending.
The horrifying list of budget cuts seems inevitable. Republicans want spending cuts, and Democrats want revenue increases. But they can get both by getting rid of hidden spending programs.
Data from the last 40 years show that when tax revenue was higher, budget deficits were smaller.
Conseratives in Congress support a measure to limit federal spending at 18 percent of gross domestic product. The last time federal spending dipped under 18 percent was 1966, nearly half a century ago. Things have changed quite a bit since then.
Issue Brief
As we continue to combat rising economic inequality, high-quality early childhood investments will help all children realize their full potential and provide enormous long-term benefits to society.
The Congressional Budget Office’s most recent budget projections show that the United States has made astounding progress toward reducing the federal budget deficit.