Some have claimed that the current tax burden is at an all time high. In fact, taxes on middle class families have been reduced in recent years. [Click here for more]
Some Republicans have claimed that it was their idea to reserve Social Security surpluses for Social Security, and that President Clinton last year advocated reserving only 62 percent of the Social Security surplus. These claims are false.
[Click here for more]
This year's budget resolution covers only five years, not ten years, as did last year's resolution. The majority argues that "a five year resolution does not mean less budgetary discipline, since JCT [the Joint Committee on Taxation] and CBO [the Congressional Budget Office] will still produce 10-year estimates." This argument, however, is wrong. The failure of the budget to cover more than five years will allow the majority to approve tax cuts the costs of which explode in the future, without the constraints that a long-term budget resolution could provide.
[Click here for more]
After pushing all year for massive tax breaks, congressional Republicans now have proposed to reserve 90 percent of the FY2001 surplus for debt reduction. However, this proposal counts Social Security and Medicare as part of the budget. If those programs are considered "off-budget," as Democrats believe they should be, the Republican plan saves only 62 percent of the surplus for debt reduction -- and only for one year. Meanwhile, using the GOP's accounting, the President's budget reserves 95 percent of the surplus for debt reduction, and completely eliminates the public debt by 2012. For the Administration's analysis of the GOP plan, click here.
Notwithstanding much rhetoric to the contrary, President Clinton and the Republican Congress have worked together in recent years to provide significant increases in our military budget. Many criticize Congress for spending too much on pork barrel projects and other items not requested by the military, or for providing too few resources to directly support our troops. However, there is no question that we now have the most powerful military in the world and the best funded, by far.
[Click here for more] Budget Quiz - 2000
1. How long did it take the House of Representatives to exceed the spending limits it established for itself in the House budget resolution? [Click here for answer] 2. By how much did appropriators exceed the discretionary spending assumptions in last year's budget resolution? [Click here for answer]