The Murray-Ryan budget compromise cleared all of the Congressional hurdles this week, capping off a tumultuous negotiation process that began after the government shutdown earlier in the year. In this week's edition of the Taxpayer's Tab, National Taxpayers Union Foundation has a detailed breakdown of what exactly is in the bill, as well as some of the other deficit-reduction options that Congress left on the table.
The compromise bill:
- Increases federal spending by $65 billion (75 percent of which will be seen in the first two years alone);
- Raises the self-imposed budget caps Congress recently agreed on;
- Offsets additional spending by $78 billion -- but 75% of that amount won't be realized for another six to ten years;
- Accounts for half of its proposed savings by way of increased user fees.
Congress did, however, have other options for budget cuts throughout the year. A list of all the savings bills we identified as part of the BillTally research program is available for browsing and download in this week's edition.
Check out the Tab online here and be sure to subscribe to our mailing list for future updates.