The Senate Budget Committee stretched a few definitions in announcing yesterday’s “Mark-Up of the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2013.” Turns out it’s not really a budget resolution, per se, and there will be no formal committee action on it—no amendments, no vote, no real committee-adopted fiscal plan. Thus, April 29 will complete the third full year since the Senate last passed a budget resolution. “I had considered presenting a budget that reflected the general consensus among the Democratic Members of the Committee,” explained Senate Budget Committee …
Buried deep in the President’s hyperbolic assault on the House-passed budget last week—with all that “radical vision” and “social Darwinism” rhetoric—was one kernel of truth: “This isn’t a budget supported by some small rump group in the Republican Party,” the President said. “This is now the party’s governing platform. This is what they’re running on.” Exactly right. The fiscal plan authored by Budget Committee Chairman Paul D. Ryan (R–WI) is not just a blueprint for spending. It’s a vision for governing that deliberately and self-consciously seeks to advance “the timeless …
Hats off to the Senate parliamentarian, who apparently has rebuffed the Democratic leadership’s latest excuse for failing to bring a budget to the floor—something the Senate hasn’t done for nearly three years. Since February, Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D–NV) and his lieutenants have claimed the Budget Control Act (BCA)—spawn of last year’s debt ceiling agreement—constitutes a budget resolution for fiscal year 2013. “We do not need to bring a budget to the floor this year,” Reid contended, citing the BCA’s $1.047 trillion ceiling on annually appropriated spending for fiscal …
If President Obama wants to challenge the House Republican budget passed last week, he certainly should. His views would be more enlightening, however, if they actually said something substantial, instead of the shrill hyperbole he repeated today. In a speech at an Associated Press luncheon, Mr. Obama branded the House budget “thinly veiled social Darwinism” and “antithetical to our entire history as a land of opportunity.” He said the plan, authored by Budget Committee Chairman Paul D. Ryan (R–WI), would “impose a radical vision on our country” and was a …
The Republican Study Committee (RSC) budget introduced today addresses six key fiscal criteria. It launches decisive entitlement reforms, cuts spending sharply and quickly, avoids tax hikes, includes pro-growth tax reform, provides for a strong national defense, and moves aggressively—within five years—to a balanced budget. The plan falls short in substantiating many of its significant spending cuts with adequate policy detail, but it is an ambitious effort aimed at solving the twin crises of spending and debt. The plan contains $3.4 trillion in entitlement savings. It repeals Obamacare. It includes a …
There are six key elements to a successful federal government budget, including the plan released today by House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R—WI): Does it cut spending sharply and quickly? Does it begin decisive entitlement reform? Does it avoid any tax hikes? Does it ensure a strong national defense? Does it contain pro-growth tax reforms? Does it move swiftly and surely to a balanced budget? Spending has soared under President Obama, so cutting spending is indispensable to resolving the nation’s unsustainable budget practices. But establishing lower spending numbers alone …
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate of the President’s budget reveals a reckless fiscal plan that shirks the spending cuts in the Budget Control Act and increases spending by more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years. It confirms that Obama is the first President to preside over four years of deficits in excess of a trillion dollars. Moreover, it deepens the debt by $3.5 trillion. A few details: Higher Total Spending. In the CBO’s analysis, the President’s spending is $1.15 trillion higher between 2013–2022. Roughly half of the …
The most significant numbers in today’s updated estimates from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) are not the official “baseline” figures. More important are CBO’s “alternative” projections, which make clear once again that too much spending—not too little tax revenue—is the biggest threat to the country’s fiscal and economic health. Among other things, the alternative figures show that: Federal spending will consume record levels of resources as a share of the economy, reaching nearly one-quarter of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022. Without tax increases, tax revenue would still reach its …
Most politicians and political commentators insist that this year’s election rests on economic concerns, not “social values” (contraception, abortion, gay marriage, and the like). But in America’s free market system, economics and values are in fact closely joined. Not only is capitalism the most successful system for generating wealth, but it does so in large part by reinforcing virtues that make individuals good and societies strong: self-reliance, initiative, personal responsibility, productivity, honesty. This connection between economics and moral virtues should not be neglected. The eminent political scientist James Q. Wilson, …
While the President’s FY2013 budget ignores the looming crisis of entitlement spending, the House and Senate Budget Committees, to their credit, are keeping their eyes on the ball this week with hearings on the three largest threats to the country’s economic health: Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. These hearings usefully keep attention focused on the urgency of the problem and will be even more valuable if they lead to proposals for real solutions. Naturally, such events invite a bit of political theatrics, as Members on each side critique reform proposals …
