Budget Puzzle: You fix the budget

[Sheldon]

It only takes a couple minutes!

Budget Puzzle: You Fix the Budget - Interactive Feature - NYTimes.com

Once you find a solution, a link pops up so you can post it here and others can see where you're at.



I got 48% savings from tax increase and 52% saving from spending cuts. So I guess that makes me half-socialist half-poor-people-hater?

Budget Puzzle: You Fix the Budget - Interactive Feature - NYTimes.com

 

[waltky]

The Donald gonna balance the budget within 10 years...

WH Budget Director: This Budget Reaches Balance Within 10 Years and Considers the Taxpayer
May 23, 2017 | White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney on Tuesday unveiled the president's budget, titled the "New Foundation for American Greatness," saying it balances for the first time in 10 years. "This plan will reduce publicly held debt to 60 percent of GDP, the lowest level since 2010, when the economic policies of the last administration took effect," an executive summary of the budget stated.

The budget includes $3.6 trillion in spending reductions - "the most proposed by any President in a Budget - to reach balance within 10 years." The budget will repeal and replace Obamacare, reforming Medicaid, provide a path toward welfare reform, reduce government waste from improper payments throughout the government, redirect foreign aid spending, and reduce non-defense spending and redefine "the proper role of the federal government."

Mulvaney said the budget really should have been called the Taxpayer First Budget, because they looked at the budget through the eyes of the taxpayer. "For years and years, we simply looked at a budget in terms of the folks who were on the back end of the program - the recipients of the taxpayer money - and we haven't spent nearly enough time focusing our attention on the people who pay the taxes," the budget director said. "Compassion needs to be on both sides of that equation," he said. "I put myself in the role of the person who's actually taking the money from you as a taxpayer - and giving the money to someone else in terms of a benefit, and if I can look you in the eye and say, 'look, I need to take this money from you so that I can help this injured vet,' I can do that in good conscience. I can look you in the eye, and my guess is, you're okay with that," Mulvaney said. "I am a lot less comfortable to the point of not wanting to look you in the eye and say, look, I need to take this money from you and give to this person over here who really isn't disabled, but is getting a disabled benefit, or this person over here, who is supposed to use the money to go to school but it isn't actually going, or a program that's supposed to encourage you to graduate … from college but is only 6 percent effective. That's the type of compassion we talk about. That's the type of different perspective that we bring to the budget," he added.

The budget also funds the president's priorities, which he mentioned on the campaign trail: national security, border security, veterans, school choice, nationwide parental leave. "We also increased spending for school choice and paid parental leave, making this president the first president of either party to propose a nationwide paid parental leave program for parents and adoptive parents," Mulvaney said. Furthermore, the budget "begins to reduce the size of the debt relative to the size of the economy in year one," Mulvaney said. Mulvaney said Trumponomics can be defined as sustained 3 percent economic growth. According to Mulvaney, the budget does not cut core Social Security benefits and does not cut Medicare benefits.

WH Budget Director: This Budget Reaches Balance Within 10 Years and Considers the Taxpayer

See also:

Treasury Secretary: ‘About 100 People’ Working on Tax Reform at Treasury
May 19, 2017 | “There are about 100 people working at the Treasury on the issue of tax reform,” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday. “It is our goal to bring relief to middle-income Americans and make American business competitive again. We will do this all while simplifying the tax system.”

Mnuchin noted it has been more than 30 years since the nation has overhauled its tax code, and he said he believes that economic growth of three percent or more is achievable – “if we make historic reforms to both taxes and regulation.” Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) asked Mnuchin if he would commit to no tax increase for families or individuals making less than $250,000 a year. “Let me just say that obviously tax reform is something that we are working on with the House and the Senate, but I can assure you that the president's objective and my objective is that we create a middle-income tax cut and that we do not raise taxes on the middle income. If anything, the opposite. We are trying to create a middle-income tax cut.

As for tax cuts for the rich – a familiar mantra of Democrats – Mnuchin said the administration wants to get rid of “almost every single deduction” that benefits wealthy taxpayers in exchanage for a “slight reduction in taxes.” “And our objective is that 95 percent of Americans won't need to use itemized deductions and will be able to fill out simplified tax returns. And we look forward to working with you as we progress on the details,” Mnuchin told Reed. Mnuchin also said he is “committed to make sure that rich people do not use pass-throughs as a loophole to pay lower rates.”

The so-called pass through provision allow some businesses (S corporations, limited liability companies, sole proprietorships, and partnerships) to avoid the corporate tax rate by passing through their profits to the owner’s individual tax returns, where the top rate is 39.6 percent. “So we do want small- and medium-sized businesses to have the benefit of lower rates but we will make sure that, you know, not every single accountant, lawyer, and doctor who should be paying higher personal rates sets up an LLC or a pass-through to get around the system,” Mnuchin said. The administration proposes cutting the rate on pass-through entities to 15 percent.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) asked Mnuchin, “Why is this administration giving the ultra-wealthy this massive tax cut?” “So I can assure you, and I've said this repeatedly, we are not going to allow all pass-throughs to get that rate," Mnuchin said. "We are going to make sure that small- and medium-size businesses have the benefit. “But we will put procedures in place, and I specifically said this, to make sure that people who should be paying higher taxes do not use pass throughs to arbitrage the system.” Mnuchin added, “There'll be a box that you have to check that says, I'm eligible for the business tax, which is 15 percent. And there will be qualifications around (that).” “It will not be available to everyone,” he added.

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[waltky]

Hippity-hoppity, flippity-floppity...

Trump Signs $1.3 Trillion Budget After Threatening Veto
23 Mar 2018 | WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed a $1.3 trillion spending measure Friday, averting a midnight government shutdown just hours after declaring he was considering a veto.

Trump said he was "very disappointed" in the package, in part because it did not fully fund his plans for a border wall with Mexico and did not address some 700,000 "Dreamer" immigrants who are now protected from deportation under a program that he has moved to eliminate. But Trump praised the increases the bill provides for military spending and said he had "no choice but to fund our military" "My highest duty is to keep America safe," he said. The bill signing came a few hours after Trump created last-minute drama by saying in a tweet that he was "considering" a veto. With Congress already on recess, and a government shutdown looming, he said that young immigrants now protected in the U.S. under Barack Obama's Delayed Action for Childhood Arrivals "have been totally abandoned by the Democrats (not even mentioned in Bill) and the BORDER WALL, which is desperately needed for our National Defense, is not fully funded." Trump's veto threat was at odds with top members of his administration and House Speaker Paul Ryan, who had said Thursday that he was supportive of the measure. The White House also issued a formal statement of administration policy indicating Trump would sign the bill. Several advisers inside and outside the White House said they suspected the tweet was just Trump blowing off steam.

Finally, in made-for-TV scheduling, the White House announced a news conference. Telegraphing the outcome, an internal television feed advertised the event this way: "President Trump Participates in a Bill Signing." Asked why he'd made the threat, Trump said he'd "looked very seriously at the veto," but "because of the incredible gains that we've been able to make for the military that overrode any of our thinking." The will-he, won't he episode came hours after the Senate early Friday morning passed the $1.3 trillion spending package aimed at keeping the government open past midnight. Trump has been increasingly frustrated with the media coverage of the bill, as conservative Republican lawmakers and other critics have railed against it. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., chairman of the House Freedom Caucus and a friend of the president, said in a tweet that the group would "fully support" a veto, adding that Congress should pass a short-term budget resolution while Trump and congressional leaders "negotiate a better deal for the forgotten men and women of America." Sen. Senator Bob Corker, R-Tenn., also egged Trump on. "Please do, Mr. President," he tweeted. "I am just down the street and will bring you a pen. The spending levels without any offsets are grotesque, throwing all of our children under the bus. Totally irresponsible." "Make my day, Mr. President," taunted Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore.

President Donald Trump speaks in the Diplomatic Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, March 23, 2018, about the $1.3 trillion spending bill.​

Senate passage of the bill averted a third federal shutdown this year, an outcome both parties wanted to avoid. While Trump has repeatedly criticized Democrats over DACA, he canceled the program last fall, ending the issuance of new DACA permits. A judge has forced the administration to continue issuing renewals. The spending package includes $1.6 billion for Trump's long-promised border wall with Mexico. But less than half of the nearly 95 miles (153 kilometers) of border construction that have been approved can be spent on new barriers. The rest can only be used to repair existing segments. The money was far less than the $25 billion over 10 years Trump had asked for as part of a last-ditch deal that would have included providing a temporary extension of the DACA program. White House budget officials have nonetheless tried to spin the funding as a win. "We ended up asking for 74 miles worth of wall, we get 110. Not exactly what we wanted where we wanted," budget director Mick Mulvaney said Thursday. "But generally speaking, we think this is a really, really good immigration package." The House easily approved the spending package Thursday, 256-167, a bipartisan tally that underscored the popularity of the compromise, which funds the government through September. It beefs up military and domestic programs, delivering federal funds to every corner of the country.

But action stalled in the Senate, as conservatives ran the clock in protest. Once the opponents relented, the Senate began voting, clearing the package by a 65-32 vote. "Shame, shame. A pox on both Houses - and parties," tweeted Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who spent the afternoon tweeting details found in the 2,200-page bill that was released the night before. "No one has read it. Congress is broken." The omnibus spending bill was supposed to be an antidote to the stopgap measures Congress has been forced to pass — five in this fiscal year alone — to keep government temporarily running amid partisan fiscal disputes. But the overall result was unimaginable to many Republicans after campaigning on spending restraints and balanced budgets. Along with the recent GOP tax cuts law, the bill that stood a foot tall at some lawmakers' desks ushers in the return of $1 trillion deficits. Trying to smooth over differences, Republican leaders focused on military increases that were once core to the party's brand as guardians of national security. But even that remained a hard sell — a sign of the entrenched GOP divisions that have made the leadership's job controlling the majority difficult. They will likely repeat in the next budget battle in the fall.

Trump Signs $1.3 Trillion Budget After Threatening Veto