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House “Budget Transparency” Bill Would Make Budget More Opaque
June 18, 2013
The House Budget Committee may soon consider the proposed “Budget and Accounting Transparency Act” (H.R. 1872), which is identical to a bill that the House passed last year (H.R. 3581). The bill would implement what proponents call “fair-value accounting” for federal credit programs. In fact, the proposal is … -
House Bill Would Artificially Inflate Cost of Federal Credit Programs
Revised June 18, 2013
The House Budget Committee may consider legislation in the near future that would change the federal accounting of direct loans and loan guarantees in ways that would overstate the federal costs of those programs. As a result, the legislation also would overstate total federal spending and deficits. The Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 … -
Too Little to Go Around
June 5, 2013
The House Appropriations Committee’s plan to apportion discretionary funding for fiscal year 2014 among its 12 appropriations subcommittees — which it approved on a May 21 party-line vote — would override a key provision of the 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA) and shift tens of billions of dollars from domestic programs to … -
Proposed Balanced Budget Amendment is Extreme by International Standards
Revised May 3, 2013
Some proponents of a constitutional balanced budget amendment have argued that other developed countries’ constitutions require balanced budgets, suggesting that such a requirement for the federal government would therefore be appropriate.[2] In reality, however, no European country — not even Germany or Switzerland, which are … -
Sequestration by the Numbers
March 22, 2013
The automatic budget cuts known as “sequestration” took effect on March 1. Under the requirements of the 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA) as amended by January’s American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA), both defense and non-defense programs were automatically cut, or sequestered, reducing total funding by $85 billion. While the press and public have focused on the programmatic effects of … -
Ryan Roundup 2013: Everything You Need to Know About Chairman Ryan’s Latest Budget
March 22, 2013
Below is a compilation of the CBPP analyses and blog posts on House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget, which the House has passed. Overview/General Statement: Robert Greenstein, President, on Chairman Ryan’s Budget Plan March 12, 2013 “When House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan released his previous budget last … -
Commentary: Murray’s More Evenhanded Approach to Deficit Reduction Contrasts Sharply With Ryan’s
March 14, 2013
The budget that Senate Budget Committee Chair Patty Murray released yesterday stands in sharp contrast to the one that her House counterpart, Paul Ryan, released on Tuesday. As I wrote Tuesday, his budget is extreme.[1] Hers is more balanced and appropriate to meet the nation’s economic and fiscal challenges. The … -
Statement by Robert Greenstein, President, On Chairman Ryan’s Budget Plan
March 12, 2013
When House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan released his previous budget last year, I wrote that for most of the past half century, its extreme nature would have put it outside the bounds of mainstream discussion. It was, I wrote, “Robin Hood in reverse — on … -
Commentary: Senate Republican Proposal Fails to Address Key Sequestration Problems
February 28, 2013
A measure from Senators James Inhofe (R-OK) and Patrick Toomey (R-PA), which the Senate is expected to consider today, is presented by supporters as giving the President the needed flexibility to address the impending $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts (“sequestration”), enabling him to cut some programs more and some … -
The Pending Automatic Budget Cuts
February 26, 2013
This report has been updated to reflect new data. In budget circles and beyond, all eyes are focused on the automatic budget cuts, known as “sequestration,” that are slated to take effect on March 1. But, in fact, March will bring two separate sequestrations — the first and well-known one of March 1 and a second and much smaller one … -
Commentary: A Look at the New Simpson-Bowles Plan
February 22, 2013
The new deficit-reduction plan that Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles issued this week calls for $2.4 trillion of additional deficit reduction over the next ten years (through 2023), with roughly $2.1 trillion in policy changes and about $300 billion in resulting interest savings.[1] Of the policy savings, about $700 billion would come … -
Testimony of Jared Bernstein, Senior Fellow, Before the House Education and Workforce Committee
February 5, 2013
Chairman Kline and ranking member Miller, I thank you for inviting me to testify today on issues directly in the wheelhouse of this committee: education, skills, and jobs. My testimony begins by looking at the current jobs situation with an emphasis on educational investments. I then discuss ways in which recent budget cuts are threatening the … -
“Boehner Rule” Linking Debt-Ceiling Increase to Spending Cuts Is Dangerous Policy
January 25, 2013
House Speaker John Boehner has argued that “any increase in the debt limit has to be accompanied by spending reductions that equal or exceed it.”[1] The Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011, which ended the previous debt-limit showdown, paired a $2.1-trillion increase in the debt ceiling with spending cuts of similar size.[2] … -
Separating the Debt Limit From the Deficit Problem
January 23, 2013
Some lawmakers speak of refusing to raise the debt limit and thereby risking default on obligations of the U.S. Treasury unless Congress and the President agree to harsh spending cuts, or of raising the debt limit for only a few months at a time and thereby fostering ongoing uncertainty. To be sure, the nation’s long-term fiscal … -
Achieving Further Deficit Reduction Solely Through Spending Cuts Entails Cutting Entitlements That Benefit the Poor and Middle Class While Shielding the Biggest Entitlements for the Wealthy
January 9, 2013
Since President Obama and Congress enacted the “fiscal cliff” budget deal, congressional Republican leaders have vowed not to raise a dollar more in taxes for deficit reduction. All further deficit reduction, they say, must come from budget cuts, primarily from entitlement programs. That, however, would spare the broad … -
Commentary: Next Round on the Deficit
January 7, 2013
In recent days, policymakers, pundits, and the media have debated whether the “fiscal cliff” budget deal was a victory or defeat for the President or congressional Republicans, progressives or conservatives, rich or poor, the economy or the deficit — you name it. Most of the commentary is unpersuasive, however, for …
