From FDL:
The best summary of the Gang of Six proposal can be found in this two-page document that’s been floating around. And from what I see, it closely mirrors the Bowles-Simpson report while being sufficiently vague so as not to raise anyone’s ire.
Kent Conrad said this was a 3:1 ratio of spending to tax solutions. But, he was quick to point out, CBO would score this proposal as a tax cut of $1.5 trillion, and actually, I think that number would be bigger. The reason is the Bush tax cuts, which are set to expire at the end of 2012. Under current law, doing nothing would raise $4 trillion by returning tax rates to the Clinton level. But this deal would reduce marginal income tax rates and eliminate the alternative minimum tax. Then there’s a lot of happy talk about “encouraging economic growth” and “enhancing the competitiveness of American businesses and workers against global competition.” What they’re talking about is the same stew of lowering the rates and broadening the base that we’ve seen countless times. So loopholes and tax expenditures would be thrown out, and rates would go down. It’s not specified how this would be done.
Actually, very little is specific in this framework. Of the $3.7 trillion in deficit reduction planned, only $500 billion would be immediate (and all on the spending cut side). The rest would come by directing Congressional committees to find savings in key programs, enforcing that through spending caps. The tax reform would happen on a separate track. Congress would need a 2/3 vote to exceed the spending caps installed in this package, and “emergency” spending would be restricted…
Click here to read the full article.
