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off the charts
POLICY INSIGHT
BEYOND THE NUMBERS

In Case You Missed It...

| By CBPP

This week on Off the Charts, we talked about House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget plan, taxes, the deficit, the economy, Medicaid, state pensions, and State Earned Income Tax Credits.

  • On Ryan’s budget plan, Chuck Marr detailed how its tax proposals would primarily help upper-income households and do nothing to reduce the deficit.
  • On taxes, we released a chart showing that the United States collects less in taxes as a share of the economy than nearly any other developed country.  Chuck Marr explained why a temporary tax holiday for overseas corporate profits wouldn’t produce the promised economic and job-creation benefits.
  • On the deficit, Chad Stone outlined flaws in former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker’s testimony on long-term budget issues.
  • On the economy, Chad Stone illustrated that U.S. economic growth slowed in the first quarter of 2011 and discussed the policy implications.
  • On Medicaid, Judy Solomon debunked Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s arguments for block-granting Medicaid.
  • On state pensions, Liz McNichol explained why state pension funds are in better shape than a recent Pew report suggests.
  • On state EITCs, Erica Williams lamented Republicans’ declining support for EITCs in many states.

In other news, we showed that the House budget’s tax proposals ignore deficit reduction and focus on high-income tax cuts,

the impact of the House budget on housing and community development programs, and examined the harmful consequences of a federal proposal to restrict states’ ability to tax corporations that do business within their borders.  We also updated our chartbook detailing the Great Recession’s impact on the U.S. economy.