The national debt on November 04: $7,433,579,097,934.77
Your share of the national debt: $25,227.49
Why
Supply-Side Tax Cuts Do Not Work Today
October 28,
2004 -- You have no doubt heard at least once the following
refrain from supply-side advocates of large tax cuts: "If tax
cuts increased tax revenue for John F. Kennedy, they will increase
tax revenue today." In fact, the economists who implemented President
Kennedy's plan, including Walter Heller, Arthur Okun and James Tobin,
believed that those tax cuts never did in fact increase revenues.
But there is a very fundamental reason why tax cuts today would have
much less of an impact on incentives, and on economic activity, than
did those of the early 1960s.
Click
here to read the entire document.
As
Consumer Confidence Declines Again, Report Card Gives
Overall Bush Economic Policies A Failing Grade
October 26,
2004 -- On the same day that new data showed a further erosion in
consumer confidence - the third monthly decline in a row - the House
Budget Committee Democratic staff today released an economic
report card detailing the Bush Administrations overall
economic record. In all, the report card examines 19 economic
indicators spanning four broad areas: the labor market, economic
production, the international economy, as well as consumer confidence.
In each of the four major areas, the data reveal the economic shortfalls
of the Bush Administration.
Click here to read the
entire document.
Bush
Education Funding Fails the Test
October 20,
2004 -- A careful examination of President Bush's record shows that,
despite his claims, he has failed to make education funding a priority.
The attached report outlines how the President's budget fails to
support students in elementary and secondary education, special
education, and higher education. Click
here to read the report.
The
Sales Tax and the Myth of Falling Prices
October 18,
2004 -- Extensive analysis by non-partisan economic scholars has
shown conclusively that replacing existing federal taxes with a
national sales tax, beyond being administratively infeasible, would
be patently unfair. Working families would pay much more in tax,
while the very wealthiest Americans would have their tax burdens
cut by more than half. In the name of increasing the incentive for
working people to save more, Republicans would increase their share
of the tax load so much that they would not be able to save at all.Click
here to read more about a national sales tax.
Administration
Announces 2004 Deficit an All-Time Record
October 14,
2004 --Today the Administration announced that the 2004 deficit
is the largest in history $413 billion breaking last
year's record $377 billion deficit by $36 billion. This announcement
is the latest in a long series of troubling news items about the
budget. Just this morning, the Administration announced that rising
debt has hit the statutory limit for the third time in three years.
The Administration may attempt to tout today's numbers as somehow
representing an "improvement" over the inaccurate estimates
that it offered earlier in the year. But there is simply no credible
way to represent the largest deficit in history as good news. Click
here to read more about the new deficit numbers.
Treasury
Announces Debt Ceiling Has Been Hit Again
October 14,
2004 --Today the Treasury Department announced that the statutory
debt ceiling has been reached, and that the Secretary of the Treasury
can avoid default only by undertaking extraordinary actions. This
development marks the third time in three years that the government
has run up so much debt that it has hit the legal debt ceiling.
Meanwhile, House and Senate Republican leadership decided to adjourn
without voting to raise the debt ceiling despite an August
2 letter from the Secretary of Treasury notifying Congress that
the debt limit was critically close and that immediate action was
essential. Click
here to read the entire document.
Setting
the Supply-Side Record Straight
October 13,
2004 -- Those who believe that we can enact large tax cuts and balance
the budget at the same time often point to the 1980s for justification.
Never mind that the 1980s produced the largest budget deficits to
that point in history. The argument is that the economy was extraordinarily
strong, and that revenues poured into the Treasury. Without excessive
growth of domestic spending, the argument goes, the budget would
have been balanced. It would be good news if the nation could
cut taxes and enjoy higher revenues at the same time. However, the
record of supply-side tax cuts falls short.
Click
here to read the entire document on setting the record straight.
Disappointing
Jobs Report
October 8,
2004 -- Today the Labor Department announced that the U.S. economy
added only 96,000 jobs in September, well below the increase expected.
The unemployment rate in September remained at 5.4 percent. Today's
disappointing jobs report is a reminder that we are creating jobs,
but not enough to accommodate the day-by-day growth in our adult
population. Click
here to read the entire document.
Despite
Supply-Side Claims, Revenues are Down
October 8,
2004 -- Defying history, supply-side economics is back. Advocates
of large tax cuts, disproportionately targeted to those who need
the help the least, are claiming budgetary success for their forays
of the last four years. Click
here to read more about supply-side claims.
Department
of Defense Tapped FY 2005 War Reserve Early
October 8,
2004 -- Reuters reported on September 21 that the Department of
Defense (DoD) already had obligated $2 billion of the $25 billion
war reserve that was passed in the 2005 defense appropriations bill
to mitigate funding shortfalls. This is despite the Administration's
repeated claims that it had sufficient funds to finance its war
requirements through the end of fiscal year 2004 without the new
money. Click
here to read more about how the DoD Tapped FY 2005 War Reserve Early.
9/11
and Iraq War Costs are Not Primary Cause of Deficits
October 8,
2004 -- When President Bush took office in January 2001, he inherited
a projected cumulative surplus of $5.6 trillion for 2002 through
2011. Now these surpluses have been replaced by deficits for as
far as the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) forecasts. This unprecedented
turn in federal finances begs the question: What caused it?
Click here to read more
about 9/11 and Cause of Deficits.
Adjournment
Package
A Reflection of Unfinished Business the Republican
Leadership has Left Behind.
October 7,
2004 -- The national debt threatens to breach the statutory limit,
deficits soar to record levels, appropriations bills languish, budget
enforcement mechanisms have expired, yet congressional Republicans
fail to remedy their misplaced priorities or plot a course toward
improvement. Click
here to read the complete Adjournment Package.
No
Happy Fiscal New Year: Republicans' Complete Budget Breakdown
October 1,
2004 --Today is the beginning of the new fiscal year and Republicans
have failed to do their job, by neglecting to pass almost every
key budget-related bill. This neglect of their budget responsibilities
reflects the pattern Republicans began this spring, when they were
incapable of passing a conference report on the 2005 budget resolution.
With the arrival of the new fiscal year, the deficiencies in the
Republican budget record become more glaring, as their record reflects.
Click here to read more
about Republicans' Complete Budget Breakdown.
A
National Retail Sales Tax: Right-Wing Dream Tax Is Wrong Tax for
Most Americans
September
29, 2004 --President Bush believes that a national sales tax is
an interesting idea that we ought to explore seriously.
It would lower, if not eliminate, taxes on income from wealth, and
while working Americans would take up the slack and pay dearly,
proponents hope that the lure of ending the income tax would distract
attention from the real impact of a sales tax. If people understood
the true impact of a national sales tax, the vast majority would
reject it outright. Click
here to read more about A National Sales Tax.
Frequently
Asked Questions
About the Federal Budget
September
28, 2004 --The Congressional Budget Office released new budget estimates
this month, as well as a new estimate of the Presidents full
agenda. With these new figures, CBO confirms that the surpluses
the Bush Administration inherited in 2001 have become record deficits,
and Republican fiscal policies have had a disastrous effect on the
nations bottom line. Click
here to read Frequently Asked Questions About the Federal
Budget, which answers common questions about the national
budget.
Grow
Our Way Out of the Debt Problem?
Republican
Policy Record Says No.
September
28, 2004 -- Continuing large deficits and a mushrooming national
debt raise serious public concern. Republicans respond by urging
that we stick with the policies that caused these problems. Just
keep cutting taxes, they say, and the economy will grow so fast
that the deficit and debt problems will just melt away.Click
here to read more about Republican Policy Record.
Republican
Deficits Climb to Record Levels
September
28, 2004 -- Republicans control the House, the Senate, and
the White House, but they have failed to control the budget. Every
year on their watch, the bottom line of the budget has gotten worse,
and CBO has confirmed that there are no prospects for bringing the
budget back to balance under Republican fiscal policies. In three
years, a projected surplus of $5.6 trillion has been turned into
a projected deficit of $3.3 trillion an $8.9 trillion reversal.
As a result, the Bush Administration has asked the Congress to raise
the debt ceiling for the third time in four years. In addition,
the 2004 deficit will be the largest in history, $422 billion, breaking
last year's record by $47 billion.Click
here to read more about Republican Deficits.
New
CBO Analysis Shows Administration Policies Create Large and Sustained
Deficits
September
23, 2004 -- Today the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released
a new analysis with numbers confirming that this Administration's
policies call for a record deficit this year and large deficits
for as far as the eye can see. Today's analysis provides helpful
information and a sobering fiscal context as Congress continues
its consideration of the Administration's policy proposals. Click
here to read more about the New CBO Analysis.
President's
Budget Promises: Which Will He Break?
September
21, 2004 -- Earlier this month, the Washington Post reported that
the cost of the President's promised agenda is approximately $3
trillion over the next decade. Indeed, at the Republican convention,
the President vowed that if he is re-elected, he will privatize
Social Security (at a cost of at least $1 trillion over the first
ten years, with lots more to follow), make permanent all his tax
cuts (with a ten-year cost of $1.1 trillion), and increase funding
for education, job training, and community health centers. All
these promises fly in the face of the President's earlier pledge
to cut the deficit in half in five years. Click
here to read more about the President's Budget Promises.
Reality
Bites: Why Younger Generations Should Be Concerned About the Deficit
September
13, 2004 -- CBO estimates that the federal deficit will reach
$422 billion in fiscal year 2004 - thats 132,000 times what
the average 30-year-old will earn in his or her lifetime. Many younger
Americans may view the federal deficit and debt as far removed from
issues they face in their daily lives, but the governments
deficits and growing debt are important to young adults because
todays fiscal mismanagement will directly affect the quality
of their lives in years to come. Click
here to read the entire report or here
for more information about the forum sponsored by House Budget
Committee Democrats.
Republican
Deficits Climb to Record Levels:
Summary and Analysis of CBO's Updated Budget and Economic Outlook
September
7, 2004 -- CBOs report confirms that the long-term
budget outlook is bleak, with no prospects for bringing the budget
back to balance under Republican fiscal policies. The $5.6 trillion
projected ten-year surplus inherited by the Bush Administration
is gone, replaced by large annual deficits for as far as the eye
can see when Republican policies are factored into the forecast.Click
here to read more about the new CBO budget and economic outlook.
Alarm
on the Debt Limit
August 5,
2004 -- The Secretary of Treasury, John W. Snow, has warned Congress
that the national debt will breach its statutory limit "between
late September 2004 and early October 2004" unless the ceiling
is raised. The Secretary is required by law to give such notice
so that he can take cash from selected government trust funds when
his authority to borrow is exhausted.
Click
here to read the full document.
The
Mid-Session Review:
Deficits Are Back, and Theyre Worse Than Before
July 30, 2004 -- The Administration announced today that
the 2004 deficit will be the largest in history - $445 billion -
shattering last years record $375 billion deficit by $70 billion.
Under the Administrations policies, the budget never reaches
balance, and the picture is likely to be even worse when the full
cost of some omitted items are included in the projections. This
years $445 billion deficit is also considerably worse than
what the Administration projected this years deficit would
be when it issued forecasts in 2001, 2002, and 2003. Click
here to read the full report.
The
FY 2005 Defense Appropriations Bill Provides Insufficient Funds
For Full Years Cost of Iraq/Afghanistan Operations
June 22, 2004-- The House version of the FY 2005 Defense
Appropriations Bill, which goes to the floor on Tuesday, June 22,
2004, provides only $25 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This amount is only about one third of what the Department of Defense
(DoD) will need for the entire year and is intended to serve only
as a reserve fund to carry DoD through the first few months of the
fiscal year. DoD will have to submit an emergency supplemental appropriation
request early in calendar year 2005 to fully fund its war requirements.
Based on analysis performed by the House Budget Committee Democratic
staff in May 2004, DoD will need $40 billion to $55 billion in addition
to the $25 billion next year (for a total of $65 billion to $80
billion). Click here to read
the full report.
Flawed
Budget Process Legislation Expected on Floor
June 17, 2004-- As early as next week, the House may
consider H.R. 3973, the Spending Control Act of 2004. This budget
process bill reportedly is being brought to the floor at least in
part to fulfill a pledge made by the Republican leadership to encourage
reluctant conservative Republicans to vote in favor of this years
budget resolution. Democrats support strong and effective budget
enforcement rules, but the unfortunate reality is that this bill
proposes rules that likely would worsen the deficit rather than
improve it. Click
here to read the entire document.
Looming
Budget Cuts in 2006 Budget
June 1, 2004 -- A May 19 White House memorandum has now confirmed
that the President's budget for 2006 will impose significant cuts
in many important government services. (A House Budget Committee
Democratic report described these cuts, which the White House disavowed
at the time, in a February 19 analysis, "The Administration's
Hidden Budget: Cuts in Programs for 2005 and Beyond"). These
impending cuts should come as no great surprise. They are a direct
result of the Administration's oversized tax cuts, the record high
deficits the Bush policies have generated, and the Administration's
stated desire to "shrink" the size of government. Click
here to read the entire document
Administration's
$25 Billion Request for Iraq and Afghanistan Operations Will Cover
Only a Fraction of the FY2005 Costs
May 11, 2004 -- The Administrations
$25 billion request for fiscal year 2005 to finance military operations
in Iraq and Afghanistan will fall short of what is required by $40
billion to $55 billion, according to the attached report by the
House Budget Committee Democratic staff. At first glance, the Administrations
request is a step forward, better than the Presidents February
budget, which contained no funds for these operations. But a closer
look reveals that the requested amount will cover just a fraction
of what is needed for fiscal year 2005. According to the report,
the cost of the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and of enhanced
security here at home will be $65 billion to $80 billion for fiscal
year 2005. The size of the request will require the Administration
to submit another supplemental request before March of next year.
Click here to read the full report.
Summary
and Analysis of the President's 2005 Budget: Unfair and Unbalanced
February 6, 2004 -- The Presidents 2005 budget projects
a deficit increase of almost 50 percent this year and then makes
the lame promise that the deficit will be cut in half over five
years. Its hard to take this claim seriously, coming from
an administration that has presided over a $648 billion increase
in the deficit since 2001 and added $1.7 trillion to our national
debt.
These huge deficits are not just a bookkeeping problem. They are
a moral problem because our children and grandchildren will be forced
to repay the record amounts of debt we are borrowing today. The
Administration has dismissed these deficits as manageable,
but chronic deficits threaten our economic strength by crowding
out private investment, driving up interest rates, and slowing economic
growth. Click
here to read our long summary and analysis on the President's 2005
Budget.
(note: this document has been updated as of March 2, 2004)
Notes:
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