Newsletter Archive

February 7, 2007

The Tax Policy Center Newsletter

New TPC Budget Webpages

On Monday, President Bush delivered his FY 2008 budget to Congress, the first step in the annual appropriations and tax legislation process. To help the public understand the process and the issues under debate, the Tax Policy Center's web site now features a section on the federal budget.

The Current Situation explains the president's proposed budget and describes the Congressional Budget Office's budget baseline -- the basis for congressional analysis of proposals. About the Budget offers historical information about the nation's spending and tax levels and shows the steps in the budget process and development of tax legislation. Long-Term Issues focuses on the problems posed by the anticipated growth in entitlement spending on health care and retirement as the baby boomers leave the workforce and the elderly become a larger share of the population. All three sections direct readers to related publications by TPC analysts. The web site will be updated as additional material becomes available.

View the New Budget Section

Defining Our Long-Term Fiscal Challenges
Testimony Before the U.S. Senate Budget Committee
C. Eugene Steuerle

In testimony before the U.S. Senate Budget Committee, senior fellow C. Eugene Steuerle explained how, in recent decades, the government has wound a straightjacket around federal spending and tax subsidies. The main culprits have been in the broad areas of retirement, health, and taxation. Left alone, it leaves Congress with almost no control over its own budget. Only major systemic reform can restore a normal democratic process. He also highlighted ten consequences of the current budgetary situation.

Read the complete testimony

Defining Our Long-Term Fiscal Challenges
Testimony Before the U.S. Senate Budget Committee
Robert D. Reischauer

The recent fiscal situation and the intermediate-term budget outlook may appear relatively benign, Urban Institute President Robert Reischauer told the Senate Budget Committee, but deficits and debt will gradually grow to unprecedented and unsustainable levels if current tax and spending policies are not altered significantly. "The challenge we face," he said, "is determining how to balance our desire for improved health against our other priorities. We cannot have it all and ask our children and grandchildren to pick up the tab." The longer policymakers wait to act, the more wrenching the adjustments will have to be.

Read the complete testimony

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