Examining Supercommittee Proposals

We issued two reports today on deficit-reduction proposals in the congressional “supercommittee”:

• GOP Tax Proposal Risks a Substantial Tax Shift From High-Income Households to Low- and Middle-Income Households

Here’s the opening:

The Toomey plan from Republican negotiators on the deficit-reduction “supercommittee” would produce only a modest increase in revenues — about $300 billion over ten years, relative to a baseline that assumes Congress extends all of the Bush tax cuts.  But it would accomplish this through what appears to be a substantial shift in tax burdens from households at the top of the income scale to low- and middle-income households.

• Latest Democratic Offer Includes Further Compromise, Matches Overall Numbers of Toomey Proposal; Republicans Reject It:  Key Difference Has Big Impact On Fiscal Responsibility

Here’s a snippet:

To try to secure an agreement, Democrats on the Joint Committee offered a plan that moved significantly toward the Republicans and a considerable way beyond the bipartisan Bowles-Simpson and Gang of Six plans, which conservative senators like Tom Coburn and Mike Crapo had embraced.  Yet Republicans have summarily rejected the latest, rather conservative Democratic offer.  Why?

Related Posts:

• Why Doing Nothing Would Reduce Deficits by $7.1 Trillion
• History Lessons from Past Deficit-Reduction Packages
• Non-Defense Discretionary Cuts Could Be Larger With a Budget Deal Than Without One
• Supercommittee Won’t Get Anywhere Near $600 Billion in Medicare Savings Without Harming Lower-Income Beneficiaries