U.S. Federal Debt Surpasses $7 Trillion

The U.S. Treasury recently announced that the federal debt subject to congressional limits has for the first time surpassed $7 trillion - approximately 62 percent of gross domestic product. In addition, in fiscal year 2003, over $300 billion was spent on paying interest on the debt.

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Tax and Budget Survey News

The OMB Watch Tax and Budget Survey is now closed. We had a tremendous response of over 700 completions. We extend our sincere thanks to all of you who completed the survey. We will be reporting the results soon!

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State-by-State Effects of the Bush Budget

The National Priorities Project has released a state-by-state analysis of the effect of the President's budget.

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A Government Rollback

It is no secret that, after contributing to the deficit by huge tax cuts, a primary focus of this Administration now is decreasing the deficit by cutting spending, while continuing to reduce revenue by way of tax cuts. This will require massive cuts and eliminations of programs and services. It augurs a historically significant rollback in federal spending that if unchecked will fulfill conservative promises to reduce government to the barest of minimums.

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Budget Process in the Service of Tax Cuts

It is important to remember the magnitude of the federal budget process on the outcome of community results. While budget process issues are often arcane and sometimes difficult to determine the affects on results, in the case of several of the president’s proposals, the purpose is very clear—to make tax cuts easier to pass and expansion of government services more difficult.

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Tax Freedom or Telecommunications Windfall?

There is considerable confusion about the debate on Internet taxes. One issue is whether items sold over the Internet should be taxed. Another issue is whether there should be a tax on access to the Internet; similar to the tax we pay for use of telephones. This second issue – charges a user pays to an Internet Service Provider to connect to the Internet, as well as taxes that would discriminatorily apply only to Internet technology and use – is now being debated in Congress.

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The Misleading 2005 Budget

It’s hard to know how much emphasis should be put on the president’s 2005 Budget. On one hand, it lays out the president’s main policy objectives – mainly tax cuts for upper income individuals, increases in defense spending, and real cuts for many domestic services. On the other hand, the cost estimates, deficit forecasts, and other analyses are fundamentally misleading.

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