C --- The government is moving towards austerity now. Recent budget proposal proves.
Maya Macguineas 6-17, 6-17-2023; Maya MacGuineas is president at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, working from offices in Washington, D.C. The organization focuses on virtually every aspect of the U.S. government budgeting and spending. She has a master’s degrees from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Prior to that, she garnered a bachelor’s degree (economics and psychology) from Northwestern University in Illinois.; "Congratulations to Republican Study Committee for ‘the largest deficit reduction bill passed in over a decade’", Oklahoma City Sentinel, https://www.city-sentinel.com/business/congratulations-to-republican-study-committee-for-the-largest-deficit-reduction-bill-passed-in-over-a/article_6dab5104-0d44-11ee-a945-a30fcabb186d.html, Accessed 6-26-2023 AQ
I am writing to congratulate the Republican Study Committee (RSC) on the Fiscal Year 2024 budget proposal. Following up on the largest deficit reduction bill passed in over a decade, the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the RSC should be proud of this accomplishment.
If implemented, the RSC budget proposal would make significant progress toward improving our nation’s fiscal health by putting debt on a downward path as a share of GDP, reducing it from 98 percent today to 68 percent by FY 2033 –- instead of letting it rise to 115 percent as the Congressional Budget Office projects under current law.
The RSC’s proposal also outlines how a balanced budget can be achieved by FY 2030 through a combination of discretionary and mandatory spending reductions.
While the spending levels called for in the budget proposal are likely lower than what Congress is willing to enact, the RSC budget deserves great credit for proposing reconciliation instructions to achieve all of its mandatory savings.
The RSC deserves credit for putting forward a budget when, unfortunately, few others in Congress are, as both the House and Senate Budget Committees have failed to introduce budgets. Other lawmakers should put forward their budgets to facilitate a healthy public debate, and then policymakers should adopt a budget plan for our country.
Finally, the RSC budget greatly informs the current budget process reform debate by recommending several worthwhile reforms. Such reforms are more important than ever, as our yearly budget process has completely broken down.
Again, the Republican Study Committee should be applauded for this serious effort that shows what is needed to place our country on a fiscally sustainable long-term path.”