TaxVox: Federal Budget and Economy

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The voices of Tax Policy Center's researchers and staff

Individual Taxes

AIG: Ben Blinked

September 17, 2008 –
Just when we thought the bailouts were over, just when Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson insisted failing financial institutions would, like Lehman Brothers, sink or swim on their own, along comes AIG. Make no mistake, the Wall Street financiers called Bernanke and Paulson’s bluff. After the two men said Washington would not throw taxpayer money into the AIG pot, the big money guys went all in, insisting they would not rescue the rapidly-sinking financial services giant without cash from Washington.
Federal Budget and Economy

The Budget Deficit is Getting Worse

September 9, 2008 –
The deficit is about to get a lot worse, a lot faster. At least that's the latest projection by the Congressional Budget Office. In the past six months, Washington's medium-term fiscal health has deteriorated markedly, and what CBO once projected to be a small surplus beginning in 2012 has now morphed into annual deficits in excess of $100 billion as far as the eye can see (to borrow a phrase).
Federal Budget and Economy

Obama and the Deficit

September 9, 2008 –
I was, to say the least, surprised to read a couple of comments posted last week that claimed FactCheck.org was asserting Barack Obama’s tax-and-spending plans would pay for themselves. I was even more surprised to read that FactCheck was supposedly basing its conclusions on TPC data. So, I looked it up.
Federal Budget and Economy

The Audacity of Campaign Promises

August 29, 2008 –
Barack Obama gave four speeches last night. The first was the same optimistic cry for change that has carried him so far in this Presidential season. The second was a tough, frontal attack on the economic and foreign policies of both George Bush and John McCain. The third was a (Bill) Clintonesque bit of social policy triangulation—we can all work together to find solutions to such hot button issues as abortion, guns, gay marriage, and immigration. The fourth was a recitation of his economic agenda—a long list of promises that is familiar to readers of TaxVox by now.
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms

Obama's Stimulus Plan: $115 Billion and Counting

August 27, 2008 –
Barack Obama has raised the ante on economic stimulus. Just two weeks ago, when I left for vacation, the Illinois Senator was talking about a $50 billion plan. I barely unpack (and yes, I had a nice time, thanks for asking) and learn he is now considering a $115 billion boost. That, at least, is what an Obama aide told the Wall Street Journal yesterday.
Federal Budget and Economy

Obama and Holtz-Eakin II: Or How Will a New President Lower Expectations?

August 12, 2008 –
After I posted a tongue-in-cheek suggestion that, if he is elected president, Barack Obama should hire Doug Holz-Eakin to be his budget director, self-styled progressives have gone nuts. The Obamaites are up-in-arms because Holtz-Eakin happens to be John McCain's chief economic adviser. Could I have struck a nerve?
Federal Budget and Economy

Holtz-Eakin Should Be OMB Director -- For Obama

August 7, 2008 –
If Barack Obama gets elected President, the first thing he should do is hire Doug Holtz-Eakin to be his budget director. A highly-respected non-partisan budget wonk, who is leaning Obama’s way in the election, threw out this seemingly crazy idea at lunch the other day. And the more I thought about it, the more sense it made.
Individual Taxes

Great Marketing, But Is It Good Tax Policy?

August 5, 2008 –
Unlike other credits, the new one is really a 15 year interest-free loan. Qualifying buyers will get a refundable credit of the smaller of 10 percent of their purchase price or $7,500 for homes bought between April 2008 and June 30, 2009. Because they don’t get the credit until they file a tax return—and not when they buy the house—it’s unclear how much the cash windfall will help with down payments—which presumably was the whole idea. And interest-free doesn’t mean free: they must pay the money back to the government over 15 years.
Federal Budget and Economy

The Bush Deficit: "This is Going to be a Challenge"

July 29, 2008 –
To paraphrase the oily Captain Renault of Casablanca fame, we in Washington are shocked, shocked to find that deficits are going on here. To listen to the cries of outrage and dismay, one might think the Bush Administration’s latest projection of nearly $400 billion in red ink for the fiscal year ending on Sept. 30, and almost $500 billion for next year was unexpected.
Federal Budget and Economy

Medicare: I'm in favor of Competition -- Except When I'm Not

July 17, 2008 –
It wasn’t exactly So You Think You Can Dance, but watching Congress and President Bush boogie their way through the final song of the recent Medicare prom was still a hoot. In the end, Hill Democrats stomped Bush and, despite his veto, easily passed a Medicare bill that delayed, yet again, mandated cuts in physician payments. The Dems did so while insisting they were for both true competition and fiscal responsibility. Bush, trying to claim those same virtues for himself, had unsuccessfully tried to block the bill, insisting it would hurt beneficiaries by curbing their access to managed care plans.