Tax Policy Center

Debt Limit

Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Debt Limit Madness

Let me see if I have this right: Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has effectively embraced the debt limit plan first offered months ago...
July 14, 2011Howard Gleckman
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

John Boehner’s Moment of Truth

In July 2000, under immense pressure from President Clinton, the Israeli government made Yasser Arafat a remarkable offer: It would recognize a Palestinian state that...
July 12, 2011Howard Gleckman
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

Hiking Taxes on Corporate Jets: Obama’s Version of Waste, Fraud, and Abuse

President Obama’s proposal to raise taxes on corporate jets is the Democratic version of “waste, fraud and abuse”—a political attack on a target of opportunity...
July 5, 2011Howard Gleckman
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Spending in Disguise

Republicans are demanding a deficit-reduction package that’s entirely spending cuts. Democrats insist that revenues must also be included. Are these positions completely irreconcilable? Not if...
June 29, 2011Donald Marron
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Financial Markets Snooze Though the Deficit and Debt Debate

Fiscal hawks (including me) often warn about what would happen to financial markets if Washington doesn’t get the deficit under control, and, worse, can’t manage...
June 28, 2011Howard Gleckman
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

The Day the United States Defaulted on Treasury Bills

Since the day of Alexander Hamilton, the United States has never defaulted on the federal debt. That’s what we budget-watchers always say. It’s a great...
May 26, 2011Donald Marron
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Note to Rep. Bachmann: Hitting the Debt Limit Has Consequences

The other day, I blogged on the necessity of increasing the debt limit. And I got a remarkable response: The tea party and others on...
April 26, 2011Howard Gleckman
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

S&P, the Debt Limit, and Political Risk

So it has come to this: The biggest short-term risk of the U.S. defaulting on its sovereign debt is not that big spenders will have...
April 21, 2011Howard Gleckman
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Geithner Won't Default on the Public Debt

In a guest column at CNN Money , I argue that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner won't allow us to default on the public debt even...
January 19, 2011Donald Marron
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Handicapping the Debt Ceiling Debate

Sometime this spring, Congress will vote to increase the debt ceiling. That vote won’t come easy. Newly ascendant House Republicans will threaten to withhold needed...
January 14, 2011Donald Marron