House and Senate Budget Plans Share 10 Flaws

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As members of the House and Senate tasked with resolving differences between the Senate and House budget plans prepare to meet today, they’ll discuss plans that are largely aligned — and similarly flawed.  As we explain in a new paper, the House and Senate plans have in common a number of serious flaws that likely will also apply to any final agreement.

Both plans share these serious flaws:

1. Deficit reduction entirely through massive spending cuts, without any new revenues.
2. Disproportionate cuts in programs for low- and moderate-income Americans (see chart).
3. More Americans uninsured and underinsured, and more living in poverty.
4. No sequestration relief for domestic priorities in 2016, and a gimmick to boost defense spending.
5. More cuts in essential domestic investments after 2016.
6. Deep cuts in transportation infrastructure.
7. Federal spending shrinking to strikingly low levels as a share of the economy.
8. Omitted funding to combat fraud and abuse.
9. Tax cuts but no explanation of how to finance them.
10. Misguided focus on balancing the budget by 2025.

Click here to read the full paper.