Fiscal Policy Program
 

Paving the Way for a Better Budget and Tax System

Our nation’s current approach to taxation and spending is inefficient, insufficient and unfair. Our tax system punishes work and savings, raises revenues far short of what we spend, and has become less progressive at a time of widening income inequality. Our complex tax code also suffers from an overall lack of transparency and a failure of coordination between different levels of government. The purpose of the Fiscal Policy Program is to reframe the national debate through concrete reform proposals -- such as replacing payroll taxes with a progressive national consumption tax -- that pave the way for a tax system that better reflects American values and a budget that better serves our most important national priorities.

This program is directed by Maya MacGuineas, who also serves as president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

For a more detailed description of New America's Fiscal Policy Program, please click here.

Articles

What Obama Needs to Learn from the Failure of Bush's Social Security Plan and Clinton's Healthcare Reform

Marc Goldwein | History News Network | June 15, 2009

Health Reform's Savings Myth

"Health-care reform is entitlement reform" has become a mantra of the Obama administration. The idea is that Congress can add a massive health-care program this year -- covering the uninsured -- and use the same measures that pay for the health reform to fix the broader budget problems. If that sounds too good to be true, there's a reason.

Maya MacGuineas | Washington Post | May 31, 2009

$4 Trillion in Exaggerated Savings

On two separate issues -- health-care and the budget -- the president has promised savings of $2 trillion. A total of $4 trillion dollars -- now that's real money. Unfortunately, the claims are completely exaggerated.

Maya MacGuineas | Washington Post | May 20, 2009

The End of the Ownership Society?

In his second inaugural address, President Bush offered a vision of an "ownership society"

Marc Goldwein | History News Network | February 16, 2009

Stimulus Debt Burden Must Be Addressed Responsibly When the Bill Inevitably Comes Due

Now is clearly not the time to balance the budget--even the most adamant deficit hawk knows that. But economic recovery will not be as simple as merely running up the government's credit card and calling it a day. Certainly, the U.S. economy is in very bad shape--but so too is the fiscal health of the country.

Maya MacGuineas, Marc Goldwein | U.S. News & World Report | February 13, 2009

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Policy Papers

Moving Forward with Bipartisan Tax Policy

U.S. tax policy is urgently in need of reform. Our tax system is overly complex and has failed to keep pace with changing economic conditions. The current economic crisis has led to an escalating budgetary shortfall, which will exacerbate the already significant fiscal challenges facing the country. Moreover, looming changes written into the tax law will require Congress to make major decisions regarding the tax code. On December 31, 2010, most of the tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003 ("the Bush tax cuts") will expire. In… more

Maya MacGuineas | February 12, 2009

Paying for the Stimulus

Summary

We are currently in the midst of two immense economic challenges: an immediate and severe financial crisis, which has already wiped out over $20 trillion in global wealth; and a longer-term fiscal crisis, which existed before the financial crisis but will be made worse because of it.

Maya MacGuineas, Marc Goldwein | February 6, 2009

A Budget We Can Believe In

To:            President Barack Obama

From:       Robert Bixby, William Galston, Ron Haskins, Julia Isaacs, Maya MacGuineas, Will Marshall, Pietro Nivola, Rudolph Penner, Robert Reischauer, Alice Rivlin,  Isabel Sawhill, Eugene Steuerle

Subject:   A Budget We Can Believe In

Date:        January 27, 2009

Maya MacGuineas | January 27, 2009

The Fiscal Roadmap Project

The Fiscal Roadmap Project was created to help policymakers navigate the serious economic and fiscal challenges facing the country.

Currently, fiscal policy is being shaped in a haphazard way: bailing out a firm here, letting another firm go bankrupt there; attaching conditions to a company bailout, writing a check to another company without strings attached. These are not ordinary times.

Anne Vorce, Maya MacGuineas | December 18, 2008

CRFB Projects a One Trillion Dollar Deficit

The fiscal year 2009 deficit could reach over one trillion dollars, according to an analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB). This deficit would be more than twice as large as the 2008 deficit of $455 billion and would represent a post-war record both in nominal terms and as a share of GDP.

"These numbers are simply astonishing," said Maya MacGuineas, president of CRFB. "Of course we can't try to balance the budget right now when the economy is in such turmoil, but… more

Maya MacGuineas, Marc Goldwein | November 10, 2008

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Events

Towards Bipartisan Tax Policy

Four politically diverse tax experts will release their new paper, "Towards Bipartisan Tax Policy" at a forum hosted by the New America Foundation, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, American University's Center for Public Finance Research, the Concord Coaltion, and the Tax Foundation, on Thursday, February 12, 2009.

02/12/2009 - 9:30am
02/12/2009 - 11:30am

Social Policy After the Economic Crisis

On December 5, 2008, the New America Foundation’s Next Social Contract Initiative hosted a three panel discussion about the future of social policy after the economic downturn. David Gray, Director of the Workforce and Family Program at New America, opened the event with preliminary remarks. Karen Kornbluh, formerly of the New America Foundation, policy director in the office of Senator Barack Obama and the primary author of the 2008 Democratic Party Platform, delivered the keynote address. She was followed by a series of

12/05/2008 - 12:00pm
12/05/2008 - 3:15pm

What Comes Next?

On Wednesday, October 8th, experts from private industry, think tanks and government came together on two panels to discuss the recent financial crisis and its effect on future policy. The first panel discussed the economic conditions surrounding the bailout and possible government responses, and featured Mark Zandi of Moody's Economy.com, Martin Baily of the Brookings Insititution, Rob Dugger of the Tudor Investment Corporation, Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, and Tim Adams of The Lindsey Group. The second panel covered the likely… more

10/08/2008 - 9:00am
10/08/2008 - 12:00pm

Busting the Budget: Healthcare Costs or Entitlement Programs?

On Monday, September 15th, six experts in fiscal policy and healthcare policy debated the nature of the nation’s pending fiscal crisis at the National Press Club. Moderated by TaxVox editor Howard Gleckman, the event featured Henry Aaron and Alice Rivlin of the Brookings Institution, Julie Barnes and Maya MacGuineas of the New America Foundation, Robert Greenstein of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, and Eugene Steuerle of the Peterson Foundation. Henry Aaron warned that long-term deficit projections would… more
09/15/2008 - 12:00pm
09/15/2008 - 2:00pm

Lessons in Entitlement Reform

On October 28th, 1997, House Speaker Newt Gingrich and President Bill Clinton held a secret meeting where they reached a groundbreaking deal to create a centrist political coalition to reform Social Security and Medicare. Although the Lewinsky scandal ultimately undermined their agreement, the efforts of these men, and others in Congress, might serve as a model for members of both parties interested in addressing the long-term shortfalls in the nation's entitlement programs. Steven Gillon will discuss the details of… more
09/08/2008 - 12:15pm
09/08/2008 - 1:45pm

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Congressional Testimony

Testimony of Maya MacGuineas on Budget Process Reform
Prepared Text for Delivery Before the House Budget Committee | September 26, 2008

Testimony of Maya MacGuineas on Renewing Statutory PAYGO
Prepared Text for Delivery Before the House Budget Committee | July 25, 2007

Testimony of Maya MacGuineas on Congress' Role in Federal Financial Management
Prepared Text for Delivery Before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and International Security | May 25, 2006

Testimony of Maya MacGuineas on Social Security Solutions Beyond Solvency
Prepared Text for Delivery Before the Subcommittee on Social Security | June 14, 2005

 
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