Given the decade of budget deficits facing the federal government, the fiscal crises being experienced by most of the states, and the need for resources to accomplish the priorities that many Americans identify as much more important than tax cuts, the following organizations came together to urge Congress to act during the coming year to stop the next phase-in of the tax cuts (which will occur in 2004). We urge people to begin a debate about what our national priorities are and whether we can afford more tax cuts, which will primarily only benefit wealthier Americans, as we face the challenges ahead.

As we often try to remember on these pages, the federal budget, which may superficially appear to be merely a convoluted collection of insignificant numbers, is actually the decoder ring to a better understanding of our country’s real priorities -- since not a lot happens to improve a problem without spending money, the federal budget reveals which problems our country’s policy makers are working to improve. Even less understood and farther removed from our daily lives are the intricacies of federal budget rules. These rules, which govern how the House and Senate must work to craft the country’s annual budget, are in place to ensure that sufficient time is given to debating and developing the a course for tackling the nation’s problems.