The Federal Budget Debate

Chairman Ryan Gets 66% of His Budget Cuts from Programs for People With Low or Moderate Incomes

"Cuts in low-income programs — including reductions in both discretionary and entitlement programs — appear likely to account for at least $3.3 trillion — or about 66 percent — of the $5 trillion in overall non-defense budget cuts, and probably significantly more than that. The $3.3 trillion in budget cuts includes:

• $2.6 trillion in reductions from Medicaid, subsidies to help people with modest incomes purchase health insurance, and much smaller related expenditures under the Affordable Care Act,
• $135 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program,
• At least $325 billion in cuts in mandatory programs serving low-income Americans, other than Medicaid and SNAP, and
• At least $235 billion in cuts in low-income discretionary programs"

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Statement: Greenstein on Chairman Ryan’s Budget Plan

"When House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan released his previous budget last year, I wrote that for most of the past half century, its extreme nature would have put it outside the bounds of mainstream discussion. It was, I wrote, 'Robin Hood in reverse — on steroids,' because it would have produced the largest redistribution of income from bottom to top in modern U.S. history. Ryan’s new budget is just as extreme. Its cuts in programs for low-income and vulnerable Americans appear as massive as in last year’s budget, and its tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans could be larger than in last year’s."  Read more

Read how the Ryan budget plan affects:
Medicaid | Medicare | SNAP | Non-Defense Discretionary Spending | The Economy

Commentary: Greenstein on Chairwoman Murray’s Budget Plan

"The Murray approach is sounder and more even-handed because it calls for both spending cuts and tax increases to reach a more appropriate fiscal goal, doesn’t set back the economic recovery, and spreads the spending cuts across both defense and domestic programs. All told, the Murray budget is a far better response to the economic and fiscal challenges at hand than Chairman Ryan’s budget." Read more
 

More: Federal Budget Analyses