March 14, 2013 - Download, View Online
National Priorities Project examines how new budget proposals stack up against what Americans want.
By Chris Hellman and Mattea Kramer
| Public Opinion: What Do Americans Want? | President Obama | Rep. Paul Ryan and the House Budget Committee | House Congressional Progressive Caucus | Sen. Patty Murray and the Senate Budget Committee | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Job Creation | 95 percent say restoring the job market is a top priority. | $166 billion over 10 years for job creation initiatives, including infrastructure repairs and tax credits for small businesses that hire or raise wages. | No new funding for job creation. | $4.2 trillion over 10 years for job creation through infrastructure investment, tax credits, and aid to the 50 states and the District of Columbia. | $100 billion in near-term spending for job creation, including $50 billion for transportation infrastructure and $10 billion for worker training programs. |
| Medicare | 88 percent say it is very important to preserve the long-term stability of Medicare. | Negotiates for lower prescription drug prices and raises premiums on wealthy retirees, among other changes, to save $392 billion over 10 years. | Beginning in 2024 seniors would receive a lump sum of money to buy private insurance. The lump sum would keep pace with inflation but not the rate of health care cost growth. | Negotiates for lower prescription drug prices to save $157 billion over 10 years. | Saves $275 billion over 10 years by accelerating health care reforms that reward quality of care rather than pay fee-for-service. |
| Social Security | 88 percent say it is very important to preserve the long-term stability of Social Security. | Proposes changing cost-of-living adjustments using an inflation measure known as "chained CPI" to reduce benefits over time and save $230 billion over 10 years. | Requires the president and Congress to submit plans for the long-term financial outlook of Social Security. | No proposed changes. | No proposed changes. |
| Tax Loopholes | 80 percent want to see loopholes closed for big corporations, while 66 percent want to see loopholes closed for wealthy taxpayers so that money can be used for deficit reduction. | Places limits on tax deductions for the top 2 percent of income earners (to raise $529 billion over 10 years). Among other changes, ends the “carried interest” loophole that benefits hedge fund managers ($16 billion) and eliminates special tax breaks for oil and gas companies ($44 billion). | Plans to close tax loopholes but does not specify which ones. | Closes loopholes that favor oil, gas, and coal companies, and that create incentives to move jobs overseas. Eliminates corporate loopholes for stock options, private jets, and meals and entertainment. Also eliminates the home mortgage-interest deduction for vacation homes and yachts. | Plans to close tax loopholes for $975 billion in deficit reduction but does not specify which ones. Plans to target loopholes that currently benefit the wealthy and major corporations. |
| SNAP (food stamps) | 75 percent oppose cuts to SNAP. | No proposed changes. | Makes deep cuts to SNAP funding and converts the program to a block grant administered at the state level. | Increases funding for SNAP as part of an overall increase of $312 billion over 10 years for income security programs. | No proposed changes. |
| Education | 73 percent say it’s very important to make a college education more affordable, while 83 percent oppose cuts to K-12 education. | Expands access to pre-kindergarten education to move toward a goal of universal pre-kindergarten education and expands mandatory funding for Pell grants. | Freezes the maximum Pell grant award at the same level for the next 10 years, provides financial aid to fewer families, and reduces general discretionary spending for education. | Expands the education budget and provides $25 billion over 10 years to hire back 300,000 laid-off teachers and modernize 35,000 public schools. | Calls for supporting elementary and secondary education and making college more affordable but does not specify how. |
| Individual Taxes | 70 percent want a simpler tax code with lower rates and 66 percent want to see higher taxes on the wealthiest taxpayers. | Places limits on tax deductions for the top 2 percent of income earners, as noted above. Also imposes a “Buffett rule” – a minimum tax rate on millionaires – to raise $53 billion over 10 years. | Steeply reduces tax rates for top earners by replacing the current tax brackets with just two brackets of 10 percent and 25 percent. | Ends the Bush-era tax cuts for families earning over $250,000, creates five new tax brackets for millionaires and billionaires, and ends special low tax rates for investment income. | Places limits on tax expenditures claimed by the top 2 percent of income earners. |
| Corporate Taxes | 64 percent want to see corporations pay more in taxes, while 73 percent want to prevent corporations from avoiding taxes by shifting profits overseas. | Proposes no new taxes on corporations. Would close some tax loopholes as part of tax reform to simplify the tax code and lower tax rates, thereby raising no new tax revenue from corporations. | Reduces the top corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent and releases overseas profits from U.S. taxation. | In addition to closing tax loopholes (specified above), creates a “Wall Street sales tax” on financial transactions including the sale of stocks and bonds. | Proposes changing corporate tax provisions that allow corporations to avoid taxes with offshore operations. |
| War Funding | 60 percent favor removing troops from Afghanistan as soon as possible. | Does not specify. | Provides $47 billion for war funding in 2014, a cut of 53 percent below the 2013 level. Maintains annual war funding of $37 billion or more for the next decade. | Calls for an expedited troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and ends war funding beginning in fiscal 2015. | Based on current plans to end the Afghanistan war in 2014, provides $100 billion in fiscal 2013, $50 billion in fiscal 2014 and $25 billion in fiscal 2015. |
| Military Funding | 58 percent would like to see major reductions in military spending. | Prevents across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration from affecting the military budget. Proposes a Department of Defense base budget of $526.6 billion in 2014, a cut of 1.6 percent. | Prevents across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration from impacting the military budget. | Reduces military spending by $897 billion over 10 years through a smaller force structure and reductions in Cold War-era weapons. | Would gradually reduce military spending beginning in fiscal 2015, for a savings of $240 billion over 10 years. |
| Medicaid | 52 percent support the expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare, while 46 percent oppose any cuts to Medicaid. | Maintains the expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare. | Makes deep cuts to Medicaid funding and converts the program to a block grant administered at the state level. | Maintains the expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare and increases funding for Medicaid through supplemental grants to states over the next two years. | Maintains the expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare. |
| Public Opinion: What Do Americans Want? | President Obama | Rep. Paul Ryan and the House Budget Committee | House Congressional Progressive Caucus | Sen. Patty Murray and the Senate Budget Committee | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Proposed Change in Spending | 56 percent want to see a mix of spending cuts and tax increases; 35 percent want cuts only. | $1.2 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years. | $5.7 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years. | $3 trillion in spending increases over 10 years. | $837 billion in spending cuts over 10 years. |
| Total Proposed Change in Tax Revenue | 56 percent want to see a mix of spending cuts and tax increases; 5 percent want only tax increases. | $583 billion in new tax revenue over 10 years. | No change in tax revenue. | $5.7 trillion in additional tax revenue over 10 years. | $923 billion in additional tax revenue over 10 years. |
| Total Deficit Reduction | 72 percent say deficit reduction is a top priority. | Reduces deficits by $1.8 trillion over 10 years. | Reduces deficits by $5.7 trillion over 10 years. | Reduces deficits by $2.7 trillion over 10 years. | Reduces deficits by $1.8 trillion over 10 years. |
SOURCES: All numbers and analysis drawn directly from budget proposals released by the White House , House Budget Committee , the Congressional Progressive Caucus , and the Senate Budget Committee .
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