Here are the specifics of Obama’s plan for economic growth and deficit
reduction which was announced today. The
plan includes a jobs bill that calls for investments in education, innovation,
and infrastructure and a deficit reduction package of spending cuts and revenue
enhancements (2 to 1 ratio) which the White House says will not only pay for
the jobs bill but produce net savings of more than $3 trillion over the next
decade, on top of the roughly $1 trillion in spending cuts that the President
already signed into law in the Budget Control Act – for a total savings of more
than $4 trillion over the next decade.
The plan says: The President will veto any bill that takes one dime
from the Medicare benefits seniors rely on without asking the wealthiest
Americans and biggest corporations to pay their fair share. Additionally,
the plan calls for comprehensive tax reform, and lays out five principles for
it to follow: 1) lower tax rates; 2) cut wasteful loopholes and tax breaks; 3)
reduce the deficit by $1.5 trillion; 4) boost job creation and growth; and 5)
comport with the “Buffett Rule” that people making more than $1 million a year
should not pay a smaller share of their income in taxes than middle-class
families pay. The latter proposal calls
for a new minimum tax rate for individuals making more than $1 million a year to
ensure that they pay at least the same percentage of their earnings as
middle-income taxpayers, according to administration officials. Republicans have already labeled Obama’s call
for the rich to pay their fair share “class warfare.”
Here is a summary of Obama’s plan. Note: Republicans have already rejected it.
The American Jobs
Act
·
Tax cuts to help businesses hire and grow
o Cutting the payroll
tax in half on the first $5 million in payroll, targeting the benefit to the 98
percent of firms with payroll below this threshold.
o A complete payroll
tax holiday for added workers or increased wages up to $50 million
o Extending 100
percent expensing into 2012
o Reforms and
regulatory reductions to help entrepreneurs and small businesses access
capital
·
Putting workers back on the job while
rebuilding and modernizing America
o A “Returning Heroes”
hiring tax credit for veterans
o Preventing up to
280,000 teacher layoffs, while keeping cops and firefighters on the job
o Immediate
investments in infrastructure, school buildings, and neighborhoods as well as a
bipartisan National Infrastructure Bank
·
Pathways back to work for Americans looking for
jobs
o The most innovative
reform to the unemployment insurance program in 40 years and extension of
emergency unemployment insurance preventing 6 million Americans looking
for work from losing benefits
o A $4,000 tax credit
to employers for hiring the long-term unemployed
o Prohibiting employers
from discriminating against unemployed workers when hiring
o Expanding job
opportunities for low-income youth and adults
·
Tax relief for every American worker and family
o Cutting payroll
taxes in half for 160 million workers next year
o Allowing more
Americans to refinance their mortgages
·
Fully paid for as part of the President’s
long-term deficit reduction plan
Paying for Our
Investments and Reducing the Deficit
·
The plan produces approximately $4.4 trillion
in deficit reduction net the cost of the American Jobs Act.
o $1.2 trillion from
the discretionary cuts enacted in the Budget Control Act.
o $580 billion in cuts
and reforms to a wide range of mandatory programs;
o $1.1 trillion from
the drawdown of troops in Afghanistan and transition from a military to a
civilian-led mission in Iraq
o $1.5 trillion from
tax reform
o $430 billion in
additional interest savings
·
To spur economic growth and job creation, the
plan includes one-time investment and relief in the American Jobs Act.
That adds to the deficit in 2012 but is fully paid for over 10 years, and
deficit reduction phases in starting in 2013, as the economy grows stronger.
·
Deficit reduction is achieved in a balanced
approach, with a spending cut to revenue ratio for the entire plan (including discretionary
cuts) of 2 to 1.
Deficits and Debt
·
The Joint Committee plan significantly reduces
deficits and puts the country on a fiscally sustainable path by 2017.
o The deficit is
projected to fall to 2.3 percent of GDP in 2021. By comparison, if we did
nothing, the deficit would be 5.5 percent of GDP in 2021.
o Reaches “primary
balance”-- where our current spending is no longer adding to our debt -- in
2017. At that point, current spending is no longer adding to our debt, debt is
falling as a share of the economy, and deficits are at a sustainable
level.
·
The President’s plan would reduce the national
debt as a share of economy.
o Stable or falling
debt as a share of the economy is a key metric of fiscal sustainability.
o If we did nothing,
the national debt would rise to 90.7 percent of GDP in 2021. By contrast,
under the President’s plan, the national debt would fall to 73.0 percent of GDP
in 2021 -- or an improvement of almost 18 percentage points.
Health Savings
·
The plan includes $320 billion in health
savings that build on the Affordable Care Act to strengthen Medicare and
Medicaid by reducing wasteful spending and erroneous payments, and supporting
reforms that boost the quality of care. It accomplishes this in a way that does
not shift significant risks onto the individuals they serve; slash benefits; or
undermine the fundamental compact they represent to our Nation’s seniors,
people with disabilities, and low-income families.
·
The plan includes $248 billion in savings from
Medicare.
o Within this total,
90 percent of the savings, or $224 billion, comes from reducing overpayments in
Medicare.
o Any savings that
affect beneficiaries do not begin until 2017.
o The plan does not
propose to change the eligibility age for Medicare benefits.
·
Other health and Medicaid savings amount to $72
billion.
·
Because of the structural nature of these
reforms, health savings grow to over $1 trillion in the second decade.
·
The President will veto any bill that takes one dime from the
Medicare benefits seniors rely on without asking the wealthiest Americans and
biggest corporations to pay their fair share.
Other Mandatory
·
The plan includes $250 billion in savings from
other mandatory programs.
·
Included within these savings are:
o $33 billion
insavings from agriculture subsidies, payments, and programs
o $42.5 billion in
reforms to Federal employee benefit programs, including programs for civilian
employees and military personnel.
o $4.1 billion from
the disposal of unused government assets.
o $92.2 billion from
restructuring government operations and reducing government liabilities.
o $77.6 billion from
improving Federal program management and reducing waste and abuse.
Revenues
·
The President calls on the Committee to
undertake comprehensive tax reform, and lays out five principles for it to
follow: 1) lower tax rates; 2) cut wasteful loopholes and tax breaks; 3) reduce
the deficit by $1.5 trillion; 4) boost job creation and growth; and 5) comport
with the “Buffett Rule” that people making more than $1 million a year should
not pay a smaller share of their income in taxes than middle-class families
pay.
o Tax reform should
draw on the specific proposals the President has put forward, together with
elimination of additional inefficient tax breaks. If the Joint Committee is
unable to undertake comprehensive tax reform, the President believes the
discrete measures he has proposed should be enacted on a standalone
basis. Their enactment as a standalone package still would significantly
improve the country’s fiscal standing, represent an important step toward more
fundamentally transforming our tax code, and serve as a strong foundation for
economic growth and job creation.
o To advance this
debate, the President is offering a detailed set of specific tax loophole
closers and measures to broaden the tax base that, together with the expiration
of the high-income tax cuts, would be more than sufficient to hit the $1.5
trillion target. These include:
§ Allowing the 2001
and 2003 tax cuts for upper income earners to expire ($866 billion)
§ Limiting deductions
and exclusions for those making more than $250,000 a year ($410 billion)
§ Closing loopholes
and eliminating special interest tax breaks (approximately $300 billion)
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