Blog Posts and Analysis / Revenue & Spending

How Do You Measure Program Results?

For more than five years, the Bush administration has focused a good portion of its rhetoric on performance, accountability and results. To that end, in 2001, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) began to develop a mechanism called the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) to help budget examiners and federal managers measure the effectiveness of government programs.

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‘Slow Down’ Is the Bipartisan Buzz for Social Security

As President Bush continues his efforts to raise anxiety across the country about the Social Security program, more and more members of Congress, both Democrat and Republican, are starting to speak uniformly on the need for patience in working towards a solution. Even House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan urged caution and called for further debate in approaching Social Security reform this past week.

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Negative Reactions to Budget Come from Both Sides of the Aisle

President Bush’s release of his budget proposal on Feb. 7 confirmed widespread speculation that its contents would prove unfavorable for a number of important agencies and social programs. The president stated many times in the weeks leading up to the budget release that his proposal for fiscal year 2006 (FY 06) would be “tough.” In a bold effort to cut our national deficit in half — the same deficit which is mostly the result of his costly tax policies — Bush proposed slicing and dicing funding for many domestic programs, which would result in the termination of some.

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President Bush's FY 06 Budget: An Overview

President Bush sent his proposed Fiscal Year 2006 (FY 06) budget to Congress on Monday, Feb. 7, in a package that is one of the most special-interest-driven budgets presented in a very long time. The new budget calls for a large transfer of benefits to corporate special interests and the most well-off through additional tax cuts, regulatory and litigation "reforms," and other measures that weaken public safeguards and government in general. At the same time, the president proposes cutting programs serving low- and middle-income Americans.

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Bush Budget Seeks Deep Domestic Cuts, Radical Budget Reforms

The President’s Fiscal Year 2006 (FY06) budget was released today and contains deep cuts in domestic discretionary spending outside of homeland security. Overall, the president’s $2.57 trillion budget seeks to cut non-defense domestic discretionary spending by one percent – eliminating dozens of popular government program and drastically reducing funding for many others.

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Center for American Progress Progressive Tax Plan

On Jan. 31, the Center for American Progress unveiled its progressive tax plan, titled “A Fair and Simple Tax System for Our Future: A Progressive Approach to Tax Reform.” This comprehensive plan provides an alternate vision for tax reform based on the themes of fairness, simplicity, and opportunity through tax policy. The release of this plan is part of a broader Progressive Policy Series the Center is publishing aimed at outlining responsible policy proposals and proposing steps lawmakers can take to enact them.

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Bush Makes Social Security Centerpiece of State of the Union

When President Bush addressed Congress and the nation on the evening of Feb. 2, he devoted much of his address to his proposed changes to Social Security, yet declined to provide the American people with details regarding exactly which reforms he plans to pursue. Many believe this strategy is to avoid what President Clinton faced when he tried to reform health care a decade ago. Clinton had submitted a heavily detailed proposal to members of Congress, who were then able to pick it apart and subsequently defeat it.

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