Current Policy Baseline: The Budget Trick That Could Make Tax Cuts Look Free

The Budget Trick the G.O.P. Here are some of their examples: “If budget reconciliation is like taking the express lanes on a highway, using a current policy baseline for taxes is like slapping a fake license plate on your car. ” Zach Moller Director of the economic program at Third Way, which describes itself as a “center-left” research group; former Senate Budget Committee staffer “It’s like taking an expensive week-long vacation and then assuming you can spend an extra $1,000 per day forever since you are no longer staying at the Plaza.” Marc Goldwein Senior vice president and senior policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan group that tends to be hawkish on deficits; former government budget analyst “Last year, despite being deeply in debt, I bought a $100,000 sports car. However, after graduation, your daughter announces that there’s no need for her to go find a job, since covering her expenses is just a continuation of the ‘current policy.’” Michael Peterson Chairman and chief executive of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, a nonpartisan research group that promotes deficit reduction “It’s like getting an F on an assignment, but then the teacher applies a curve so the grade written on your paper might say you passed, but you still did poorly on the assignment.” Erica York Vice president of federal tax policy at Tax Foundation, a research center that generally favors lower taxes “A current policy approach is like if you signed up for a Crunchyroll anime subscription that you knew you couldn’t afford, but now that it’s time to re-up the subscription, you pretend it’s free because you’ve already been paying it.” Bobby Kogan Senior director of federal budget policy at the Center for American Progress, a progressive research group; former adviser to the director of the Office of Management and Budget; former Senate Budget Committee staffer “It’s like winning $50 at a poker table today and saying you’re ‘up’ without acknowledging that you lost $500 each of the previous 5 days.” Doug Criscitello Program integrity fellow at Arnold Ventures, a research and advocacy group; former executive director of the Golub Center for Finance and Policy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology “Your spouse decides that they’re willing to spend $900 for three months of an Equinox gym membership so they can get in shape. But when the three months ends, they tell you that continuing the gym membership is free since you’ve already been spending $300 a month.” Brendan Duke Senior director for federal budget policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a progressive research center; former senior policy adviser at the National Economic Council under President Biden “Current policy is like being born on third base and thinking you hit a triple.