| FY2008 President's Budget:
Too Many Gimmicks, Not Enough Hard Decisions
Washington, D.C. - The following is a written statement by Ryan Alexander, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense, on the submission of the FY2008 Budget Request:
Today, the President submitted the seventh budget proposal of his Presidency and the first that claims to balance the budget, at least by 2012, the last year of the next President’s first term. The budget still has too many gimmicks and wishful thinking to provide much confidence that we will return to budget surpluses any time soon. American taxpayers deserve to know not just what the President hopes others will do for us in years to come to address today’s problems, but also what we can do today to prevent or address tomorrow’s budgetary challenges.
One key positive change in the FY08 budget is that there is $142 billion included for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is a marked change from previous budgets, where exactly $0 was budgeted for these known expenses. This $142 billion number may be high or it may be low, but we are pleased to see something in the budget breaking the reliance on just-in-time war supplementals that avoid tough scrutiny and become defense department Christmas trees of extra goodies. One shortcoming of the FY08 budget seems to be the lack of understanding that we will still be racking up significant expenses related to Iraq and Afghanistan after September 30, 2008. The FY08 budget only anticipates continued spending of $50 billion in FY 2009 and beyond. Despite talk of future withdrawals, this seems to be the rosiest of rosy scenarios.
Unfortunately many gimmicks remain. Each year, the President has proposed a series of program eliminations, which help fund other priorities in his budget. This year, there are 141 program eliminations or reductions worth $12 billion. Many of these programs are the usual suspects, and probably should be reduced or eliminated. But considering that Congress, even with friendly Republican majorities, have rebuffed the Administration requests, the likelihood of success is infinitesimal. Yet these virtual budgetary program savings help fund real budgetary expenditures and throw the budget out of balance.
One of the few areas where Democrats and Republicans agree are the concerns over the looming Alternative Minimum Tax, the parallel tax code that will capture an increasing number of middle class taxpayers each year unless adjusted or eliminated. There are no long-term budgetary provisions for this despite the fact that each year of his Presidency, Congress has enacted a one year patch to relieve the AMT burden on many taxpayers. Clearly, this is an issue that will come to a budgetary head in the next few years.
Finally, the biggest smoke and mirrors game this budget benefits from is the so-called unified budget, where surpluses in Social Security and other trust funds get lumped in with all of the other spending in this $2.9 trillion budget, masking the size of discretionary deficits. By 2012, the Social Security trust fund surplus will be hiding $260 billion worth of deficit.
Budgets are about priorities. The President’s budget does not provide all the tools and information we need to have a real debate about the nation’s priorities. What are the fiscal consequences of our continued involvement in Iraq? How can we tackle the looming costs of our large entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare? Are we going to continue to write blank checks to the Homeland Security and the contractors, or are we going to require accountability and delivery?
We welcome the President’s contribution to the debate, and we look forward to working with the Administration and the Congress to rein in wasteful spending and bring our budget back into balance. |
