WASHINGTON
—
With Congress continuing its review of the President’s budget and
beginning work on the fiscal year 2007 budget resolution, The Concord Coalition
issued an analysis of the President’s fiscal year 2007 budget. The analysis is
based on The Concord Coalition’s "Seven Signs of Fiscal Sense" for evaluating
WASHINGTON
—
With Congress continuing its review of the President’s budget and
beginning work on the fiscal year 2007 budget resolution, The Concord Coalition
issued an analysis of the President’s fiscal year 2007 budget. The analysis is
based on The Concord Coalition’s "Seven Signs of Fiscal Sense" for evaluating
budget plans released last December.
“Aspects of the President’s budget deserve praise,
particularly the inclusion of proposals to restrain the growth of entitlement
spending. Overall, however, the budget falls far short of meeting The Concord
Coalition’s criteria of fiscal sense. Not only do the policy proposals in the
budget fail to make the necessary trade-offs to achieve a more fiscally
responsible path, the net effect would be to increase the deficit.
And, in an ominous sign of building fiscal pressures, the deficit path
turns upward in 2011 and beyond, shifting costs to future generations,”
The Concord Coalition concludes in the report.
“Moreover, President
Bush’s budget fails to account for policies the Administration clearly and
repeatedly has staked out as goals – policies that would significantly increase
the short-term and long-term deficit. In addition, the budget resorts to a
familiar combination of unrealistic assumptions and scorekeeping gimmicks that
understate likely expenses, overstate likely revenues and hide the costs of
certain initiatives. Lastly, the budget’s five-year window and limited goal of
cutting the 2004 deficit in half by 2009 serve to divert attention from the fact
that current policy is unsustainable over the long-term.”
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-NH) and Bob
Kerrey (D-NE) serve as Concord’s co-chairs and former Secretary of Commerce
Peter Peterson serves as president.
Analysis:
http://www.concordcoalition.org/issues/fedbudget/issue-briefs/060224-SevenSignsAnalysis.pdf
###
CONTACT:
Tristan Cohen
(703) 894-6222
communications@concordcoalition.org
