Reports by James R. Horney
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Statement: Robert Greenstein, Executive Director and James Horney, Director of Federal Fiscal Policy, on the Final Report from the Co-Chairs of the Deficit Commission
December 1, 2010
The new deficit reduction plan that the co-chairs of the President’s Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform — former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles and former Republican Senator Alan Simpson — presented today to commission members contains a number of relatively modest … -
Rivlin-Domenici Deficit Reduction Plan Is Superior to Bowles-Simpson in Most Areas
November 30, 2010
The Rivlin-Domenici deficit reduction plan, which a commission of the Bipartisan Policy Center unveiled last week, marks a significant improvement over a plan from the co-chairs of President Obama’s fiscal commission — with the exception of health care, in which the Rivlin-Domenici plan actually is more problematic. … -
Bowles-Simpson Plan Commendably Puts Everything on the Table But Has Major Deficiencies Because It Lacks an Appropriate Balance Between Program Cuts and Revenue Increases
November 16, 2010
I. Overview and Summary The November 10 plan from the co-chairs of President Obama’s Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform helps move the budget debate beyond misguided claims that policymakers can tame deficits simply or primarily by eliminating earmarks and “waste, fraud, and abuse.” It also wisely subjects all … -
House GOP Leaders’ Plan Would Slash Funds for State and Local Services, Slow Economic Recovery
November 11, 2010
A proposal by House Republican leaders to cut non-security discretionary spending by more than 20 percent in fiscal year 2011 could reduce federal funding for programs operated by state and local governments by $32 billion, substantially reducing the ability of those governments to provide crucial services to millions of Americans. (See page … -
Boehner Proposal Would Cut Non-Security Discretionary Programs 21 Percent, The Deepest Such Cut in Recent U.S. History
Revised September 15, 2010
House Minority Leader John Boehner on September 8 issued a proposal to cut funding for non-security discretionary programs and to extend all of the Bush tax cuts for two years. He portrayed the proposal as a bipartisan compromise. Closer examination shows, however, that this is a radical plan that reflects deeply conservative … -
Fiscal Commission Should Not Focus On Gross Debt
July 21, 2010
A call by several members of the President’s Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform for the commission to focus on the federal government’s gross debt, rather than debt held by the public, is misguided and could inhibit efforts to address the nation’s long-term fiscal challenges. Debt held by the public … -
Testimony of Robert Greenstein, Executive Director and Jim Horney, Director of Federal Fiscal Policy before the Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
June 30, 2010
Members of the Commission, Thank you for giving us the opportunity to speak to you today. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is a nonpartisan research and policy institute that focuses both on fiscal policy and on programs and policies of particular importance to low- and moderate-income … -
Critics Still Wrong on What’s Driving Deficits in Coming Years
Updated June 28, 2010
The data in this analysis has been updated, but this version has a detailed critique of a misleading report by the Heritage Foundation that places blame for the deficits on rapid growth in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and interest costs, and dismisses the significance of weak revenues in general and the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts in particular. To view the … -
Thune Response to CBPP Report Misses Mark
June 17, 2010
We reported on June 15[1] that Senator John Thune’s proposal to cut $140.6 billion in budget authority from discretionary (i.e., non-entitlement) programs in fiscal year 2010 would shut down much of the federal government for the last two and a half months of the fiscal year (which ends September 30). Senator Thune said we are wrong … -
Thune Amendment Would Shut Down Much of the Federal Government for Final Months of Fiscal Year
June 15, 2010
Senator John Thune has proposed legislation with an obvious surface appeal to those concerned about federal spending and deficits — to cancel 5 percent of appropriated funds for fiscal year 2010, as well as tens of billions of dollars of unspent funds from last year’s Recovery Act and other legislation. But his legislation would … -
Recommendation That President’s Fiscal Commission Focus on Gross Debt Is Misguided
May 27, 2010
At a May 26 presentation before the President’s Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, University of Maryland professor Carmen M. Reinhart asserted that the gross debt of the government of the United States — rather than debt held by the public — is what matters, and a number of commission members agreed with her. … -
Sessions-McCaskill Proposal to Establish Discretionary Funding Limits Would Impose Steep Cuts on Domestic Programs
May 25, 2010
A proposal by Senators Jeff Sessions and Claire McCaskill to establish binding limits on discretionary appropriations for the next three years, which they are offering as an amendment to the supplemental appropriations bill now on the Senate floor, would necessitate much larger cuts in nondefense discretionary programs than many policymakers … -
Sessions-McCaskill Amendment to Establish Discretionary Funding Limits Would Impose Severe Cuts on Domestic Programs
Revised April 19, 2010
We have since analyzed a later Sessions-McCaskill proposal. To view that analysis, click here. A proposal by Senators Jeff Sessions and Claire McCaskill to establish binding limits on discretionary appropriations for the next three years would necessitate cuts in nondefense discretionary programs that would total nearly $30 billion in fiscal year 2011 … -
Obama Budget Reduces Deficit by $1.3 Trillion over Next Decade Compared to Current Policies
April 5, 2010
Despite claims that President Obama’s policies will generate big increases in deficits, his 2011 budget would actually reduce deficits by about $1.3 trillion over ten years, based on a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate of his budget and a realistic assessment of what deficits would be if policymakers continued to follow current … -
Health Reform Will Reduce the Deficit
March 25, 2010
Despite an official estimate by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to the contrary, some critics of the new health reform legislation — such as Rep. Paul Ryan and former CBO director and McCain campaign adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin — charge that it will not reduce federal budget deficits because it relies on budgetary gimmicks … -
Don't Let the Ideal Prevent the Necessary
March 3, 2010
Federal policymakers face two daunting challenges this year with regard to economic and fiscal policy. First, they must enact legislation that will help sustain and accelerate the nascent economic recovery and create jobs more quickly than would occur otherwise. Second, they must show that they are serious about putting the budget on a … -
Using Reconciliation Process to Enact Health Reform Would Be Fully Consistent With Past Practice
Updated March 3, 2010
The President and Democratic congressional leaders have determined that the best way to enact comprehensive health reform in the face of solid Republican opposition is to use the congressional reconciliation process to make a limited number of changes to the health reform bill that the Senate passed in December.[1] Despite charges by congressional Republicans and … -
Getting the Facts Straight
February 17, 2010
Some of President Obama’s critics and political opponents have launched a line of argument that Obama is mostly to blame for the large federal budget deficits projected for the coming decade and that his Administration’s role in swelling deficits and debt dwarfs that of the previous administration. [1] The critics cite what they … -
The Right Target: Stabilize the Federal Debt
January 12, 2010
Deficits and debt will rise to unprecedented levels in coming decades without major changes in federal budget policies, so policymakers should set a goal of stabilizing the debt as a share of gross domestic product over the next decade. This report presents new Center on Budget and Policy Priorities projections of federal spending, …
