View All | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

This page shows a chronological list of all CBPP materials.

Pre-2005 Content Archive

Report

How Would the President’s New Social Security Proposals Affect Middle-Class Workers and Social Security Solvency?

April 29, 2005 | Jason Furman

SummaryIn a press conference on April 28, President Bush endorsed a proposal that would result in substantial cuts in benefits for middle-income families and deeper cuts for...

Report

Despite Claims By its Supporters, Congressional Budget Plan Increases the Deficit

April 29, 2005 | James R. Horney

Proponents of the conference report on the Congressional budget resolution recently adopted by the House and Senate have claimed that the resolution reduces the deficit over the next five years. ...

Statement

Statement by Robert Greenstein Executive Director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, on the Budget Resolution Conference Agreement

April 28, 2005 | Statement by Robert Greenstein Executive Director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, on the Budget Resolution Conference Agreement

Rather than produce a balanced plan to reduce the deficit, House and Senate Republican negotiators have reached an agreement on a budget that increases the deficit and pairs more tax cuts for...

Report

The Ryan-Sununu Social Security Plan:

April 26, 2005 | Robert Greenstein and Richard Kogan

In 2003, Peter Ferrara, a conservative policy analyst and activist, proposed a plan to divert very large amounts of revenue from Social Security into private accounts and to restore long-term...

Report

A State Of Decline: What a Tabor Would Mean For Ohio

April 19, 2005 | David Bradley and Iris J. Lav

SummaryIf a constitutional amendment to limit expenditures — similar to Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) — had been in place over the last decade in Ohio, state and local...

Statement

CBPP Statement: Findings of Tax Foundation's "Tax Freedom Day" Report Should Be Treated With Caution

April 11, 2005

The Tax Foundation’s new report on tax burdens across the country should be approached with caution. The findings regarding each state’s tax burden for 2005 do not reflect actual tax collections...

Report

Tax Foundation Estimates of State and Local Tax Burdens Are Not Reliable

April 11, 2005 | Iris J. Lav and Nicholas Johnson

SummaryIn April 2005, the Tax Foundation released its annual report on "Tax Freedom Day," which it describes as the day when "Americans will finally have earned enough money to pay off their...

Report

Tax Foundation Figures Do Not Represent Middle-Income Tax Burdens: Figures May Mislead Policymakers, Journalists and the Public

April 7, 2005 | Joel Friedman, David Kamin and Robert Greenstein

HighlightsThe Tax Foundation employs averages in a misleading fashion that overstates the tax burdens of the vast majority of families. Analysis by authoritative...

Report

House Budget Resolution Would Require Much Deeper Cuts in Key Low-Income Programs than Senate Budget Plan

April 7, 2005 | Bradley Hardy, Sharon Parrott and Arloc Sherman

The budget resolutions passed by the House and Senate in mid-March differ sharply in the size of their cuts in key “mandatory” (or “entitlement”) programs that assist low-income families...

Report

Assessing The Budget Proposal Adopted By The Senate

April 1, 2005 | Joel Friedman, James R. Horney and Richard Kogan

This brief analysis examines the budget proposal adopted by the Senate on March 17. While the proposal calls for substantial reductions in many domestic programs, it nonetheless would increase the...

Report

Element of Medicare Trustees’ Report Could Spell Trouble for Beneficiaries in Future Years

March 31, 2005 | Robert Greenstein, Richard Kogan and Edwin Park

The report that the Social Security and Medicare trustees issued March 23 on the state of Medicare’s finances contains a “finding” that may draw considerable attention. The Medicare...

Report

WIC Budget Proposal Would Discourage Cost Containment and Represents Unsound Policy

March 28, 2005 | Robert Greenstein and Zoë Neuberger

SummaryThe Administration’s budget proposes a significant policy change in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) that would have adverse effects...

Report

What the New Trustees' Report Shows About Social Security

March 23, 2005 | Jason Furman and Robert Greenstein

On March 23, the Social Security Board of Trustees released the 65th annual report on the program’s financial and actuarial status. The report projects that Social Security’s trust fund...

Statement

Statement: Statement of Robert Greenstein, Executive Director, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Regarding the Report Issued Today by the Social Security and Medicare Board of Trustees

March 23, 2005 | Robert Greenstein

The new trustees' report provides further evidence that Social Security more closely resembles a house with a leaking roof in need of repair than a house that is built on quicksand. Social...

Testimony

Fairness Issues: Testimony before the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform

March 23, 2005 | Robert Greenstein

This testimony can be viewed as a PowerPoint or ...

Report

New Enforcement Mechanism In Senate Budget Plan Would Favor Tax Breaks And Distort Policy Debates

March 22, 2005 | James R. Horney

The budget resolution that was adopted last week by the Senate includes a new enforcement mechanism that would bar even modest increases in mandatory spending in future years. Yet the provision...

Report

With Bunning Amendment, Senate Budget Would Move Up Medicare Insolvency By Four Years and Increase Deficits By More Than $200 Billion

March 18, 2005

An amendment to the budget that the Senate adopted March 17 would move up by four years — to 2016 — the point at which the Medicare Hospital Insurance program becomes insolvent. With passage...

Report

Assessing the Budget Plan Approved By the House of Representatives

March 18, 2005 | Isaac Shapiro, Joel Friedman, James R. Horney and Richard Kogan

This brief analysis examines the budget plan approved on March 17 by the House of Representatives. In short, while the budget plan calls for substantial reductions in many domestic programs, it...

Report

What the President’s Budget Shows about the Administration’s Priorities

March 18, 2005 | Robert Greenstein, James R. Horney and Richard Kogan

The Administration’s new budget is, at bottom, a statement about national priorities. This budget’s priorities are clear: the budget features cuts in scores of programs that middle- and...

Report

Property Taxes in Perspective

March 17, 2005 | David Bradley

SummarySome observers suggest that a property tax “crisis” is brewing because property tax collections nationwide as a share of income have risen somewhat over the last few years, and...

Report

Fact Sheet: Growth In Housing Voucher Costs Has Slowed Sharply

March 16, 2005

The Administration has pointed to “spiraling” costs for the nation’s leading low-income housing program to justify radical changes in the program’s funding structure and the...

Report

If Done Properly, Reforming the Estate Tax Could Preserve Much-Needed Revenue

March 16, 2005

A new Center report shows that the estate tax can be reformed in a way that would exempt large numbers of estates from the tax while preserving much-needed revenue that would be lost if the...

Report

Estate Tax Reform Could Raise Much-Needed Revenue: Some Reform Options with Low Tax Rates Raise Very Little Revenue

March 16, 2005 | Joel Friedman and Ruth Carlitz

SummaryUnder current law, the estate tax will be repealed in 2010, and then will be reinstated in 2011. This strange sequence of events will occur because the tax cuts...

Report

State Enactments of the "Single Sales Factor" Tax Incentive Have Had Little Impact on Intel Corp.’s Major Plant Location Decisions

March 15, 2005 | Michael Mazerov

I never made an investment decision based on the tax code. . . If you are giving money away I will take it. If you want to give me inducements for something I am going to do anyway, I will...

Report

The Need To Restore Pay-As-You-Go Budget Enforcement For Tax Cuts And Entitlements

March 14, 2005 | Richard Kogan

Growing concerns that large chronic budget deficits once again threaten our economic future are leading Members of Congress to consider whether to reinstate the Pay-As-You-Go rule (PAYGO). When...

Report

The Senate's Cuts in Medicaid and SCHIP Substantially Exceed Those the Administration Proposed

March 14, 2005 | Victoria Wachino

The Senate begins consideration today of the federal budget plan for Fiscal Year 2006 adopted last week by the Senate Budget Committee. The plan requires $15.2 billion in reductions over five...

Report

House Budget Resolution Cuts Key Low-Income Programs

March 10, 2005 | Sharon Parrott

The budget resolution passed by the House of Representatives on March 17 includes substantial reductions in key programs for low-income families, seniors, and people with disabilities while calling...

Report

The House Budget Committee's Proposed Medicaid and SCHIP Cuts Are Larger Than Those the Administration Proposed

March 10, 2005 | Victoria Wachino

Yesterday, the House Budget Committee voted on Chairman Nussle’s proposed federal budget plan for Fiscal Year 2006. The plan’s required reductions in mandatory programs are likely to...

Report

Rainy Day Funds: Opportunities for Reform

March 10, 2005 | Robert Zahradnik

SummaryAs states slowly emerge from the fiscal crisis, policymakers can evaluate how well their state reserve funds worked to cushion deficits during the downturn. This is an...

Report

CBO Finds the President’s Budget Would Increase Deficits by $1.6 Trillion Over Ten Years

March 8, 2005 | James R. Horney

The analysis of the President’s budget released on March 4 by the Congressional Budget Office confirms that the President’s budget does not reduce the deficit.[1] In fact, according to CBO,...

Report

What New CBO Data Indicate About Long-Term Income Distribution Trends

March 7, 2005 | Isaac Shapiro

The Congressional Budget Office releases the most comprehensive data available on changes in incomes and taxes for different income groups. The data that CBO issues have two main advantages...

Report

Domestic Discretionary Funding Levels for 2006 through 2010, Detailed Data

March 7, 2005

The attached spreadsheet serves as the basis for the CBPP analysis “Unpublished Administration Budget Documents Show Domestic Cuts Would Significantly Reduce Funding for Most Public Services.”...

Report

Administration’s Budget Proposes to Cut the Food Stamp Program

March 4, 2005 | Stacy Dean

The President’s budget proposes to cut the Food Stamp Program by $500 million over the next five years (and by $1.1 billion over ten years) by cutting more...

Report

Congress Considers Using the "Reconciliation" Process Again To Make It Easier To Pass Deficit-Increasing Tax Cuts

March 3, 2005 | Joel Friedman and James R. Horney

Congressional leaders are considering standing the congressional budget process on its head once again in pursuit of more tax cuts. They reportedly are considering including in the Congressional...

Report

Medicaid Cuts in President’s Budget Would Harm States and Likely Increase Ranks of Uninsured

March 3, 2005

A new Center report finds that the Medicaid proposals in the President’s fiscal year 2006 budget would likely lead to increases in the number of uninsured and underinsured Americans by...

Report

Would An Entitlement Cap Be A Wise Idea?

March 2, 2005 | Robert Greenstein, James R. Horney, Richard Kogan and Sharon Parrott

This year, Congress is likely to consider proposals that would place an overall cap on the cost of entitlement programs. The House considered (and rejected) two entitlement cap proposals last...

Report

Assessing The Administration's Five-Year Appropriation "Caps"

March 1, 2005 | James R. Horney and Richard Kogan

The President’s budget proposes that statutory caps be established for each of the next five years on both funding levels and expenditure levels for annually appropriated (“discretionary”)...

Report

Where Would The Cuts Be Made Under The President's Budget?

February 28, 2005 | Bradley Hardy, Isaac Shapiro, David Kamin, Ruth Carlitz, James R. Horney and Sharon Parrott

The Bush Administration’s budget calls for substantial reductions in a wide range of “domestic discretionary” programs. These are the programs funded by annual appropriations, except for...

Report

Social Security Lifts 13 Million Seniors Above the Poverty Line

February 24, 2005 | Isaac Shapiro and Arloc Sherman

View more recent report with more up-to-date data: Social Security Keeps 20 Million Americans Out of Poverty: A State-By-State Analysis August 11, 2010Social Security...

Report

President’s Budget Would Restore Some Rental Vouchers Cut in 2005 but Reduce the Program Substantially in Future Years:

February 24, 2005

Executive SummaryThe President’s budget for fiscal year 2006 proposes a modest increase in funding for the “Section 8” Housing Choice Voucher Program that is sufficient ...

Report

APPENDIX: The Basis for the Estimate that the Budget Would Support 370,000 Fewer Vouchers in 2010

February 18, 2005

This analysis concludes that the level of funding proposed in the President’s budget for low-income housing vouchers in 2010 would support 370,000 fewer vouchers that year than are being...

Report

Should Congress Authorize States to Continue Giving Tax Breaks to Businesses?

February 18, 2005 | Michael Mazerov

Key Findings:

The Cuno decision declared unconstitutional many of the most costly, ineffective, and unaccountable business tax breaks granted by states and localities.
Such tax breaks chiefly shift jobs among states while impairing the states’ ability to fund education and transportation services that do enhance job growth and national productivity.
The proposed “Economic Development Act” would reverse Cuno, thereby preserving such unproductive incentives.
Enacting the “Economic Development Act” also could open a “Pandora’s Box” of new forms of state tax discrimination against interstate commerce.

Report

Medicaid Budget Proposals Would Shift Costs to States and Be Likely to Cause Reductions in Health Coverage: Administration’s Proposal Also Implies Cap on Federal Funding

February 18, 2005 | Leighton Ku, Andy Schneider and Victoria Wachino

The President’s budget for fiscal year 2006 includes major proposals relating to Medicaid, the health care and long-term care program for low-income Americans that is jointly funded by the...

Report

The Lukewarm 2004 Labor Market: Despite Some Signs of Improvement, Wages Fell, Job Growth Lagged, and Unemployment Spells Remained Long

February 17, 2005 | Sylvia Allegretto and Isaac Shapiro

Issued Jointly WithIntroductionThe labor market showed some signs of improvement in 2004; most notable in this regard was the job growth that occurred in every month of the year. This was the...

Report

OMB Baseline Assumptions Lead to Understatement of Cuts to Housing Assistance

February 15, 2005

Backup documents provided to Congress indicate that, under the Administration's plan, in 2010 programs within the housing assistance budget category Subfunction 604 would be cut by 10.1 percent below...

Report

Unpublished Administration Budget Documents Show Domestic Cuts Would Significantly Reduce Funding for Most Public Services

February 14, 2005 | Isaac Shapiro, David Kamin, Ruth Carlitz and Sharon Parrott

OverviewThe Administration’s budget calls for $214 billion in reductions over five years in non-entitlement domestic programs outside homeland security, compared to current funding levels...

Report

Assessing President Bush’s New Budget Proposal

February 14, 2005 | Isaac Shapiro, Robert Greenstein and James R. Horney

This short analysis examines the priorities reflected in the Administration’s budget, the effects of its proposals on the deficit, and some budget gimmicks it contains.The Priorities of the...

Report

Appropriations Shortfall Cuts Funding for 80,000 Housing Vouchers This Year

February 11, 2005 | Peter Lawrence, Barbara Sard and Will Fischer

Executive SummaryOn December 8, 2004, the President signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2005 (P.L. 108-447), setting spending levels for 13 federal departments...

Report

Deep Cuts in Federal Grants in FY 2006 Budget Will Squeeze States and Localities

February 9, 2005 | Iris J. Lav

Some of the spending austerity in the President’s budget is accomplished by passing down costs to other levels of government. This leaves states and localities the option of either...

Report

Administration Proposals To Change Budget Process Have Strong Ideological Cast

February 9, 2005 | Robert Greenstein and Richard Kogan

The President released a budget that proposes numerous changes in the process by which Congress develops and passes the federal budget. This analysis briefly summarizes the proposed changes,...