WASHINGTON – In
response to today’s release of new projections from the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) showing a substantial decrease in the expected federal budget surplus, The
Concord Coalition urged Congress and the Bush Administration to maintain fiscal discipline
by strictly adhering to the spending and tax levels set in the Fiscal Year 2002 Budget
Resolution, and by refraining from making long-term commitments with projected surpluses
that may never materialize.
WASHINGTON – In
response to today’s release of new projections from the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) showing a substantial decrease in the expected federal budget surplus, The
Concord Coalition urged Congress and the Bush Administration to maintain fiscal discipline
by strictly adhering to the spending and tax levels set in the Fiscal Year 2002 Budget
Resolution, and by refraining from making long-term commitments with projected surpluses
that may never materialize.
“The shrinking
surplus is a key test of fiscal discipline. In recent years, the booming economy allowed
politicians to spend more than they budgeted and still end up with a big surplus. That
fiscal nirvana has come to an end. Projected surpluses over the next few years have
declined to the point where there is essentially nothing left for new initiatives –
including more tax cuts – if Congress and the Administration want to make good on their
fiscally responsible pledge to wall-off the Social Security surplus,” said Robert
Bixby, Executive Director of the Concord Coalition.
“These numbers are
also a sobering illustration of how quickly budget projections can change, and the risks
of counting on large projected surpluses to ‘pay for’ permanent new commitments,
including tax cuts. At the beginning of the year, Congress and the President thought they
were dealing with a much bigger surplus than it now turns out they have. Commitments were
made than that may breach the line in the sand both parties drew at the Social Security
surplus. The best way to avoid repeating that pattern in the future ¾
particularly in the last five years of the 10-year outlook when the projection is most
uncertain ¾ is to
exercise great caution in committing projected surpluses” Bixby said.
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.
