1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036
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Deficit spending has increased sharply in 2009 and 2010, and the current national debt is approximately $9 trillion. Although it is widely accepted that these deficits are not sustainable in the long run, few politicians have articulated clear strategies
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for controlling them. Senator John Thune (R-S.Dak.), chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, recently introduced a bill designed to do just that. Among other things, this bill would institute a biennial rather than annual budget, make the budget a binding law that would require a presidential signature, establish a standing joint committee of Congress on deficit reduction to reduce spending, and cap nondefense discretionary spending. Senator Thune's presentation, entitled "Changing How Washington Works," will be followed by an expert panel discussion on the merits, potential problems, and political viability of the proposal.
| 2:15 p.m. | Registration | |
| 2:30 |
Introduction: | Arthur C. Brooks, AEI |
| 2:35 | Speaker: | Senator John Thune (R-S.Dak.) |
| 3:05 | Panelists: | Alan D. Viard, AEI |
| Norm J. Ornstein, AEI | ||
| Maya MacGuineas, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget |
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| Moderator: | Alex Brill, AEI | |
| 3:45 | Question and Answer | |
| 4:00 | Adjournment |
WASHINGTON, SEPTEMBER 16, 2010--Senator John Thune (R-S.Dak.) discussed his budget reform proposals in an address at AEI Thursday, focusing on the Deficit Reduction and Budget Reform Act of 2010, which he sponsored. Many politicians decry excessive spending, but cutting spending has always been politically difficult, and few politicians have articulated clear strategies for doing so. Senator Thune's presentation focused on the need for budget process reform. His proposals, including creating a bipartisan deficit-reduction committee, shifting to a biennial budget cycle, and capping government spending, were discussed at length by panelists Alan D. Viard and Norman J. Ornstein of AEI and Maya MacGuineas of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Though there was not a clear consensus on every provision in the legislation, the panel generally felt that this was an important piece of legislation on a critical topic, and one that should be examined closely. While the major deficit problem can only be solved by addressing entitlement spending, budget process reform may be an important step in the direction of more sweeping reform.
- "We are asking the next generation to sacrifice because we haven't been able to live within our means. The next generation of Americans may be the first generation that has a lower quality of life and a lower standard of living than what we have enjoyed, and in my view it all starts with this enormous debt that we hand down to them."
--Senator John Thune - "If you want to change the way that Washington works and the way business is done in D.C., change the budget process. Follow the money."
--Senator John Thune - "This bill is a step forward in addressing the budget. It's a relatively modest step compared to the challenge that we actually face. But I don't think we want to denigrate it just because there are other things that will also need to be done. As long as it's viewed as a first step, I think it's a good first step. If it's viewed as a complete solution, obviously it would fall short."
--Alan D. Viard, Resident Scholar, AEI - "I join with [Senator Thune] in believing that one of our great failures, especially in the last decade or two, is the failure to do oversight of programs. It was the appropriation committees who really were the stalwarts in the past. But for reasons that have as much to do with politics and the deterioration of the regular order in Congress, we don't do that anymore."
--Norman J. Ornstein, Resident Scholar, AEI - "I think the sequencing of doing fiscal policy may be that we have to start first with discretionary and almost go through it and say ‘here are all the programs we are going to eliminate. Here are all the redundant, outdated discretionary programs. We can get rid of them.' And have a long, long list and lo and behold you are going to save a tiny amount of money. But it will be a really good trust-building exercise. Just the same as saying "we're going to end earmarks." Earmarks aren't the problem. But if you need to make changes so that the country is more comfortable and trusting of government, to do them first before you move to the heavy stuff, that may be the place to start."
--Maya MacGuineas, President, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
--CHAD HILL
Speaker Biographies
Maya MacGuineas is the president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. She is also the director of the fiscal policy program at the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank, and previously worked at the Brookings Institution and on Wall Street. Ms. MacGuineas testifies regularly before Congress, advises the administration, and publishes broadly. As a political independent, she has advised numerous candidates for office from both parties and works with members of Congress on health, economic, tax, and budget policy.
Arthur C. Brooks became the president of AEI on January 1, 2009. Previously, he was Louis A. Bantle Professor of Business and Government Policy at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and an AEI visiting scholar. Mr. Brooks is the author of Who Really Cares (Basic Books, 2006), which examines American charitable giving; the widely acclaimed Gross National Happiness (Basic Books, 2008); and a textbook on social entrepreneurship. His most recent book, The Battle: How the Fight Between Free Enterprise and Big Government Will Shape America's Future (Basic Books, May 2010), describes the coming culture war in America.
Alex Brill is a research fellow at AEI. Prior to joining AEI in 2007, he served for five years on the staff of the House Ways and Means Committee, where he was chief economist and senior adviser to the chairman. In this capacity, he led the staff in work on major tax, pension, trade, and health legislation and oversaw efforts to expand the analytical capability of the Joint Committee on Taxation's revenue-estimating process. In addition to providing legislative and policy counsel to the chairman, Mr. Brill advised committee members about general economic trends and the effects of various tax, trade, health, and Social Security proposals. Prior to his work for the committee, he served on the staff of the White House's Council of Economic Advisers. Mr. Brill began his career in Washington as a research assistant at AEI. He studies a variety of tax policy issues and is also a term member at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Alan D. Viard is a resident scholar at AEI. He was a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and an assistant professor of economics at Ohio State University prior to joining AEI. He has also worked for the Treasury Department's Office of Tax Analysis, the White House's Council of Economic Advisers, and Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation. Mr. Viard is a frequent contributor to AEI's Tax Policy Outlook and AEI's On the Margin column in Tax Notes, which named him a nominee for 2009 Tax Person of the Year. He is also a member of the board of directors of the National Tax Association.
Norman J. Ornstein is a long-time observer of Congress and politics. He writes a weekly column for Roll Call and is an election analyst for CBS News. He serves as codirector of the AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project and senior counselor to the Continuity of Government Commission. Mr. Ornstein led a working group of scholars and practitioners that helped shape the law known as McCain-Feingold, which reformed the campaign-financing system. He was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2004. His many books include The Permanent Campaign and Its Future (AEI Press, 2000); the coauthored The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track (Oxford University Press, 2006); and, most recently, Vital Statistics on Congress, 2008 (Brookings Institution Press, 2008), also coauthored.
