Reducing the Deficit: Spending and Revenue Options, March 2011

摘要

The choices facing the 112th Congress come at a time when the federal governments debt has increased dramatically in the past few years and when large annual budget deficits are projected to continue indefinitely under current laws or policies. If current laws remain unchanged, deficits will total $7 trillion over the next 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects; if certain policies that are scheduled to expire under current law are extended instead, deficits may be much larger. Beyond the coming decade, the aging of the U.S. population and rising health care costs will put increasing pressure on the budget. If federal debt continues to expand faster than the economyas it has since 2007 the growth of peoples income will slow, the share of federal spending devoted to paying interest on the debt will rise more quickly, and the risk of a fiscal crisis will increase. This report presents 105 illustrative options that would reduce projected budget deficits. As in past reports, the options cover an array of policy areas--from defense to energy to entitlement programs to provisions of the tax code. The budgetary effects shown for most options span the 10 years from 2012 to 2021 (the period covered by CBO's January 2011 baseline budget projections), although many options would have longer-term effects as well.