Taxes and the Economy
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Zandi Analyses Show "Democratic" Measures in Tax Cut-UI Deal Boost Economy, "Republican" Measures Add to Deficit Risks
December 22, 2010
As a result of the tax cut-unemployment insurance legislation that President Obama signed into law last week, economic forecasters have substantially upgraded their outlook for 2011 (see the box on page 2). An analysis of the compromise by Mark Zandi, the chief economist for Moody’s Analytics, indicates that this greater optimism stems … -
Business Expensing Proposal Would Add to State Fiscal Problems
Updated December 16, 2010
Notwithstanding the overall positive impacts that the tax deal between President Obama and Republican leaders would have for the economy in the near term, its provision to encourage business investment in machinery and equipment would cost states over $11 billion in state corporate and individual income tax revenues during the … -
Unpacking the Tax Cut-Unemployment Compromise
December 10, 2010
Last night, the Senate released legislative language for the tax cut-unemployment insurance compromise negotiated between President Obama and Congressional Republicans. The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) released an official cost estimate for the revenue portions of the bill shortly thereafter. These graphs illustrate the various components … -
Statement: Robert Greenstein, Executive Director, on the Tax Cut-Unemployment Insurance Deal
Updated December 8, 2010
The deal between President Obama and Republican leaders on tax cuts and unemployment insurance has two substantial positive aspects: its surprisingly strong protections for low- and middle-income working families and its stronger-than-expected boost for the economy and jobs. But it … -
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. … -
Changing Budget Process Won’t Reduce Deficit — Only Specific Policy Changes Can Do That
November 18, 2010
A commission funded by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts has proposed far-reaching changes in the process by which the President and Congress develop and implement the federal budget.[1] The commission argues that the current federal budget process contributes to large deficits and that reducing the deficit … -
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 … -
Podcast: Key Issues Facing Congress
November 16, 2010
Jim Horney, the Center’s director of Federal Fiscal Policy, discusses the key issues facing Congress during the lame duck session that began yesterday.
Duration: 4:45
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Business Expensing Proposal Would Add to State Fiscal Problems
November 11, 2010
View more recent report with more up-to-date data: Business Expensing Proposal Would Add to State Fiscal Problems Updated December 16, 2010 President Obama’s proposed temporary tax incentive to encourage business investment in machinery and equipment would cost states up to $20 billion instate corporate and individual income tax revenues during … -
Ryan Plan Makes Deep Cuts in Social Security
Revised October 21, 2010
A new analysis by Social Security’s chief actuary of several possible changes to the program allows one to calculate the size of the benefit reductions that Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) budget plan would generate. Those cuts are very deep. By 2080, the initial benefit of a medium earner (someone earning $43,000 in today’s terms) … -
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 … -
High-Income People Would Benefit Significantly From Extension of “Middle-Class” Tax Cuts
August 13, 2010
A fact generally overlooked in the debate over whether Congress should extend the high-income Bush tax cuts — i.e. those targeted exclusively at couples making over $250,000 and single individuals making over $200,000 — is that these households will still receive substantial tax cuts if Congress extends the so-called … -
Extension of High-Income Tax Cuts Would Benefit Few Small Businesses; Jobs Tax Credit Would Be Better
August 3, 2010
Proponents of extending President Bush’s 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for people with incomes over $250,000 argue, in part, that allowing them to expire after 2010 would weaken the economy by hurting small businesses. In reality, however, extending the tax cuts would do little for small business because only the top 3 percent of people with … -
Media Briefing: Examining Tax Cuts For Those At The Top
July 28, 2010
Executive Director Robert Greenstein and former Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Alan Blinder discuss whether policymakers should extend President Bush’s tax cuts, which are due to expire at the end of this year, for those at the top of the income scale.
Duration: 10:17
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Federal Spending Target of 21 Percent of GDP Not Appropriate Benchmark for Deficit-Reduction Efforts
July 28, 2010
The average level of federal spending over the years since 1970 — about 21 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) — does not provide a reasonable benchmark for the level of spending that will be necessary or appropriate in the future. The Heritage Foundation has proposed that, in developing its recommendations, the … -
The Ryan Budget's Radical Priorities
Revised July 7, 2010
I. Summary The Roadmap for America’s Future, which Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) — the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee — released in late January, calls for radical policy changes that would result in a massive transfer of resources from the broad majority of Americans to the nation’s … -
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 … -
Compromise Provision to Narrow “Carried Interest” Tax Loophole Should Not Be Weakened Further
June 9, 2010
A provision in the jobs bill that the House passed on May 28 would partially close a tax loophole that allows investment fund managers to pay taxes on a large part of their income — their “carried interest” — at the 15 percent capital gains tax rate rather than at normal income tax rates of … -
Ryan’s Response to Center’s Analysis of “Roadmap” Is Off Base
Revised May 6, 2010
We are quite disappointed that, in responding to our analysis[1] of his budget plan, Rep. Paul Ryan accuses[2] the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities of “partisan demagoguery” as well as “factual errors and misleading statements.” Quite the contrary, we applied the same rigorous analytical process to Rep. Ryan’s Roadmap for America’s … -
Podcast: Tax Trends for the Top 400 Taxpayers
April 13, 2010
Trends in income and taxes for the highest-income taxpayers is discussed by Chuck Marr, Director of Federal Tax Policy at the Center.
Duration: 4:08
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High-Income Tax Cuts Should Expire on Schedule
April 1, 2010
Allowing the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for couples making over $250,000 (and singles over $200,000) to expire on schedule on December 31 represents the best course of action for the budget and the economy. Extending those tax cuts for one or two years, as some have proposed, would be highly ill-advised. It would make it much more likely that … -
Testimony: Robert Greenstein Executive Director, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, on the Need to Implement a Balanced Approach to Addressing the Long-Term Budget Deficits
March 23, 2010
I appreciate the invitation to appear before you today. I am Robert Greenstein, executive director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonprofit policy institute that conducts research and analysis on fiscal policy matters and an array of federal and state programs and policies. My testimony today makes three major … -
Podcast: Testimony of Robert Greenstein on Addressing Long-Term Deficits
March 23, 2010
Executive Director Robert Greenstein discusses the need to implement a balanced approach in addressing the long-term budget deficit in a testimony before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures.
Duration: 7:49
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Media Briefing: The Ryan Budget’s Radical Priorities
March 10, 2010
Robert Greenstein and Paul Van de Water discuss the radical priorities in Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget proposal in a media call on March 10, 2010.
Duration: 21:34
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Tax Rate for Richest 400 Taxpayers Plummeted in Recent Decades, Even as Their Pre-Tax Incomes Skyrocketed
February 23, 2010
The effective federal income tax rate for the 400 taxpayers with the very highest incomes has declined by nearly half over the past two decades, even as their pre-tax incomes have grown five times larger, new IRS data show.[1] The top 400 households paid 16.6 percent of their income in federal individual income taxes in 2007, down from 30 … -
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 … -
Oregon Voters' Approval of Tax Increase Noteworthy as Federal Tax Debate Opens
February 16, 2010
Oregonians’ decisive vote last month to raise taxes on households making over $250,000 calls into question the conventional wisdom that tax-increase proposals are politically untenable regardless of their merit on economic, budgetary, and equity grounds. This has important implications for Congress, which must decide … -
Allowing High-Income Tax Cuts to Expire on Schedule Would Be Sound Economic and Fiscal Policy
Updated February 1, 2010
In his State of the Union address, President Obama called for allowing the Bush-era tax cuts for high-income Americans to expire on schedule at the end of the year. Critics already are attacking this proposal as an unwarranted tax increase that would harm the weak economy and kill large numbers of jobs, especially among small …
