TaxVox: Federal Budget and Economy

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The voices of Tax Policy Center's researchers and staff

Federal Budget and Economy

Stop Them Before They Spend Again: Budget Veterans Look for a New Entitlement Fix

April 24, 2008 –
There are few things more frustrating in life than being a budget hawk. You spend your days predicting dire consequences that never quite come to pass, trying to convince voters that their government can’t keep expanding popular programs without paying for them, and hectoring politicians into making votes that would be political suicide. Like Cassandra of Greek myth, you have the ability to foretell the future, but suffer the curse of being unable to change it.
Individual Taxes

Why Congress' Housing Fix Won't Help Steve and Laura

April 10, 2008 –
The Washington pols who are pushing housing legislation should meet my friends Steve and Laura. They are a 30-something couple with a two-year old daughter, and they have been waiting for years to buy a house.
Federal Budget and Economy

The Senate Defaults on a Foreclosure Bill

April 3, 2008 –
Why is it that the biggest problems always seem to encourage the worst possible solutions? The latest case in point: The Senate's housing bill, grandly titled "The Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008."
Individual Taxes

The Paulson Plan: Lots of Details, but Little Focus

April 1, 2008 –
What to make of Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson's plan to rewrite regulation of the financial services industry?
Individual Taxes

"A Game With Which I am Not Familiar"

March 20, 2008 –
When a young Jack Nicklaus won the 1965 Master's, golf legend Bobby Jones said he "was playing a game with which I am not familiar." I have the same feeling about the financial markets today.
Individual Taxes

AMT Redux

March 6, 2008 –
After a brief winter break, the AMT wars have resumed. By next week, the House will pass a fiscal 2009 budget that, among other things, would extend the annual Alternative Minimum Tax patch for another year. The House Budget Committee projects this would keep 20 million mostly middle class taxpayers off the dreaded levy. But, as it did last year, the House will also insist that the $62 billion fix be paid for with offsetting tax hikes.
Federal Budget and Economy

Is the Iraq War Ruining the U.S. Economy?

March 4, 2008 –
The political Left claims the war in Iraq is ruining the U.S. economy. At the very least, they insist, we would be using the money that is supporting the occupation for more important domestic priorities, such as reforming health care. At worst, they insist, the war is to blame for current economic slump.
Federal Budget and Economy

The Medicare Crunch: Do We Blame the Boomers or Health Costs?

February 26, 2008 –
For years, conventional wisdom in Washington said the nation's long-term fiscal crisis is being driven by the aging of the Baby Boomers and their impact on entitlements, such as Social Security and, especially, Medicare and Medicaid.
Federal Budget and Economy

Stimulus: Washington's Gift to the Middle Class

February 8, 2008 –
After Congress agreed to its $169 billion stimulus package last night, a happy House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cal.) boasted, "What has passed the Congress in record time is a gift to the middle class and those who aspire to it in our country."
Individual Taxes

Washington's Business Stimulus: Off Target

January 31, 2008 –
While everyone has focused on the individual elements of the stimulus bills working their way through Congress, few have paid much attention to the business provisions. They should, because they could turn out to be an awfully big waste of money.