Yesterday, I
briefly outlined the highlights of the new Ryan budget, which garnered
considerable media coverage. One alternative that rarely seems to find an
audience among the mainstream media is the Congressional Progressive Caucus’ Better Off Budget. The group released their
more progressive budget for the fourth year running on March 12, to little
fanfare (the New Republic). It contains a series of ideas that
seem both commonsensical and within the contours of contemporary concerns about
economic growth AND the deficit, but while respected economists like Paul
Krugman and Dean Baker think it is worthy of consideratio the mainstream media
and DC in general seem to disagree. This lack of coverage thus provides further
evidence the “liberal media bias” mythology is just that, a mythology.
The highlights
of the budget, include the following:
- Requires that topline numbers for intelligence activities in each intelligence agency be included in the budget.
- Attempts to close the “output gap” of $790 billion (reflected in higher unemployment and lower wages) that has persistent since the financial crisis of 2007-08. This is done by investing in infrastructure, state aid and a government jobs program, closing the gap in three years while leading to 8.8 million new jobs. The Obama budget attempts to address the issue to a lesser degree while the Ryan budget completely ignores it.
- Calls for higher taxes on the highest earners and corporations, earning $6 trillion in additional revenue over the next decade, and thus addressing concerns over the deficit and long term debt.
- Overall, it would reduce the deficit to 1.4% of GDP by 2024, even though it focuses more on jobs than the deficit and increasing demand by pushing money toward those who need it.
When
presented to the average American, the budget has strong mainstream support,
but it appears to be outside the specter of popular discourses on the economy
today. The question every American should be asking is why?
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