Facing three potential fiscal crises in the next 10 weeks, House Republicans and the president would do well to look back at the 1995 government shutdown for compromise ideas and lessons learned.
Three-quarters of the $2.4 trillion in deficit reduction already enacted since the start of fiscal year 2011 has been spending cuts.
After a decade of repeated tax cuts, the increase in revenue achieved in the legislation to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff is a step in the right direction, but it won’t be enough.
House Speaker John Boehner’s plan lacks seriousness and is an attempt to divert attention from an unwillingness to adopt a balanced approach that all serious people recognize as a necessity.
The president is trying to find a middle ground on both revenue and spending cuts, and only the most ideologically blinded lawmakers would reject his latest proposal to resolve the fiscal showdown.
What we now call “debt limit legislation” should be called “deadbeat legislation.”
Issue Brief
If carried out correctly, a well-managed defense drawdown can return the Pentagon’s budget to more sustainable levels without harming our national security or our economic recovery.
Issue Brief
Sequestration will inflict massive cuts on programs that protect our public lands and oceans—cuts that will impact all of us in a variety of ways.
Our new plan addresses some of the most serious flaws in the federal tax code while raising additional revenue to be used for deficit reduction, and at the same time offering changes to government spending.
Report
In order to secure our fiscal future and achieve meaningful deficit reduction over the next 10 years, we need a plan that combines progressive, revenue-enhancing tax reform with pragmatic spending cuts that do not undermine the middle class, the poor, or seniors.
If Congress and President Obama cannot come to an agreement to avoid the fiscal showdown, there will be significant cuts to programs that keep many people out of poverty, in the workforce, and able to pursue the American Dream.
If Congress and the president cannot agree on a budget deal by the end of the year, the resulting economic slowdown will have a big impact on communities of color.
Balancing the federal budget on the backs of poor and middle-class families lacks soundness and fairness.
Report
With the current fiscal showdown and sequestration looming, gay and transgender Americans may be caught in the middle of budget cuts and tax hikes unless we work together to minimize the harm to this group of Americans.
Charts
The Simpson-Bowles deficit reduction plan actually recommends more revenue than proposals on either side of the aisle—including the president’s budget.