A Budget that Deficit Hawks Should Love

Is it the Republican budget,  The Path to Prosperity?   Not really.   How about The President's Budget?   Closer,  but still no cigar.   There's actually a third option  <drum roll please>:  The Congressional Progressive Caucus's  Budget for All.


Despite their expressed concern about the deficit,  the Republicans' The Path to Prosperity doesn't seriously address this issue.   In fact,  according to their own projections,  the GOP's budget wouldn't be balanced until 2040:  28 years forward!   This,  despite a devastating attack on the social safety net.   Congressional Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan  (R - Wisconsin),  the principal spokesman for this plan,  also insists that more money is needed for the military,  despite prevailing sentiment from within the Pentagon,  that expenditures can be substantially reduced without compromising the nation's defense.  (Sidebar:  The Government Accountability Office [GAO], for at least the past 20 years,   has periodically tried to make financial sense of the Pentagon's budget,  but has found it "inauditable".  Even Defense Secretary Leon Panetta acknowledged the problem during a recent appearance before the Senate Budget Committee).


The President's Budget  by contrast,  is more merciful regarding social programs.   It also provides a revenue increase by allowing the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest households to expire.  However,  it too ramps up the military budget between  2015 and 2022 for more advanced weaponry (including drones) while phasing out arms programs deemed obsolete.   Projections beyond 2022 don't seem to be available.   While the deficit appears to decrease more quickly  than the GOP's budget,   neither option eliminates it.


Enter <stage left>  the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC).   Their Budget for All documents how the deficit can be eliminated by 2022 ---  without hurting anyone.


For starters,  it advocates an end to nation-building outside the United States.  The focus would be on reducing our military domination of the planet,  while still maintaining a necessary level of security.   (Over the past decade,  the military budget has doubled).   


Other highlights of the CPC budget include expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts as specified in The President's Budget.  However,  the Budget for All  also mandates  progressively higher tax rates for households with multi-million and billion-dollar-plus incomes.  (The highest marginal rate would be 49%  for incomes of over a billion,  still far lower than pre-1980s  tax rates).   Additionally,  there are proposals for taxes on high-end stock transactions and elimination of many corporate subsidies,  especially ones that encourage the out-sourcing of domestic jobs.   (For greater detail,  a link is available by googling  budget for all 2013 ).


In any event,  the CPC's Budget for All  seems to offer a --- uh  --- path to prosperity:  a genuine one that's not designed just for an anointed few.   And,  just as an afterthought,  it might also succeed in balancing the budget  sooner rather than later.