WASHINGTON — The Concord Coalition today urged Congress to agree
on a budget baseline before approving any tax cuts, including the Marriage Tax Penalty
Relief Act (H.R. 6) scheduled to be debated Thursday in the U.S. House of Representatives.
WASHINGTON — The Concord Coalition today urged Congress to agree
on a budget baseline before approving any tax cuts, including the Marriage Tax Penalty
Relief Act (H.R. 6) scheduled to be debated Thursday in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“Tomorrow’s tax cut vote is nothing less than a preemptive
raid on an undefined surplus. Congress should first agree on a baseline and thereby define
its projected surplus, before voting on any legislation to spend the surplus. Giving away chocolates, rather than giving away the
surplus, would be a less expensive and more appropriate way to celebrate Valentine’s
Day,” said Concord’s Executive Director Robert Bixby.
“There will be plenty of time this year to debate the best use
of the surplus. But as of now, it is impossible to do so in a responsible manner because
Congress has not decided which of the many baseline assumptions it will use to determine
just how much of a surplus they’re anticipating,” Bixby said.
“CBO has developed three baselines to choose from and OMB has
come up with its own baseline. Even so,
Congressional leaders have said they want to consider additional baselines. Whatever the
merits, marriage penalty relief does not need to be taken up now, before the baseline
issue has been settled. Nor is there any good
reason to give this particular tax cut a privileged position ahead of all other competing
uses for whatever surplus projection Congress finally agrees upon,” Bixby said.
Baseline Menu ¾ Non-Social
Security Surplus in Billions of Dollars
|
Baseline |
2001-05 |
2006-10 |
Total |
|
OMB |
|
|
|
|
CBO “inflated” |
148 (18%) |
|
|
|
CBO “freeze” |
379 (20%) |
1,480 (80%) |
1,858 (100%) |
|
CBO “capped” |
594 (31%) |
1,325 (69%) |
1,918 (100%) |
|
Other |
? |
? |
? |
Note: numbers may not add up due to rounding
The Concord Coalition is a nonpartisan, grass roots organization
dedicated to balanced federal budgets and generationally responsible fiscal policy. Former U.S. Senators Warren Rudman (R-N.H.) and
Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) serve as Concord’s co-chairs and former Secretary of Commerce Peter
Peterson serves as president.
