U.S. Budget Facts & Figures

Budget Control Act - Became public law on Aug. 2, 2011. The act reduces projected annual deficits by $917 billion over 10 years by cutting and capping annual appropriations; and it increased the debt limit by $2.1 trillion through 2013.

Text - Legislative Activity & Summary - Good analysis

Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction - meets this Fall with the goal of reducing annual deficits by $1.5 trillion (actually $1.2 trillion) over 10 years. If the committee fails or if Congress disproves of the plan, spending increases will automatically be trimmed by $1.2 trillion over 10 years beginning in FY2013.

Balanced Budget Amendment (The House and Senate will vote on a joint resolution to amend the U.S. Constitution between Sept. 30 and Dec.31, 2011.)

National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility & Reform

"Debt held by the public will outstrip the entire American economy, growing to as much as 185 percent of GDP by 2035. Interest on the debt could rise to nearly $1 trillion by 2020. These mandatory payments – which buy absolutely no goods or services – will squeeze out funding for all other priorities." --The Final Report

66-Page Report (Dec. 2010)-proposed to reduce deficits by $4 trillion over 10 years.

Only 11 of the 18 commission members voted for the plan. It needed 14 votes to head to Congress for votes there. (Voted against it: Reps. David Camp, Jeb Hensarling, Paul Ryan, Sen. Max Baucus, Reps. Jan Schakowsky, Xavier Becerra, Jan Schakowsky, and Andrew Stern, former president of SEIU.) "This isn't the vote that matters," Andrew Stern told CNN Money.

(Voted for it: Sens. Judd Gregg, Kent Conrad, Tom Coburn, Michael Crapo and Dick Durbin, and Rep. John Spratt...)

Commission's Recommendations:

  • Discretionary spending--return spending to pre-2008 levels and limit future growth to half of inflation rate; reduce both security and non-security spending; impose enforcement mechanisms for caps; incorporate wars & disasters into the budget process; impose a 15-cent gas tax; trim redundant/ineffective Defense weapons systems.
  • Tax reform by 2012--lower tax rates, broaden tax rates, reduce the deficit, simplify the tax code and stop taxing corporations' foreign earnings. Eliminate 150 individual tax expenditures but maintain some for: Low-income workers and families (e.g., the child credit and EITC); Mortgage interest only for principal residences; Employer-provided health insurance; Charitable giving; Retirement savings and pensions. Eliminate 75 corporate tax subsidies and lower overall tax rate.
  • Reduce Health Care Costs
  • Other Mandatory Programs (civilian & military retirements, income support programs, veterans' benefits, agricultural subsidies, student loans, etc.)
  • Social Security
  • Process Reform