(Alexandria, VA) – The 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU) stated today that the Gang of Six backroom deal will likely never be satisfactory to taxpayers if its current outline is any indicator. Based on our current budget and tax structure, the plan appears to raise taxes by around $2 trillion, and only cut specific spending items by around $500 billion.
The plan’s unfinished status and reliance on multiple baselines, makes it difficult to pin down key details. Perhaps that is why Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) admits the legislation is “not ready for prime time,” and that it cannot be completed in time to enter into the debt ceiling debate. Not that its absence would be keenly felt – according to a database maintained by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, there are already at least 35 major plans from elected officials and organizations addressing elements of fiscal policy reform.
Yet, despite these facts, the premature framework of the Gang of Six deal came to light just as the only proposal that enacts long-term spending reform without tax increases, “Cut, Cap, and Balance,” was passing the House of Representatives.
NTU Vice President for Government Affairs Andrew Moylan expressed hope that the Gang of Six “plan” won’t serve as a distraction for Senators, who must focus on passage of Cut, Cap, and Balance in coming days.
“The Gang of Six is just a rehash of the President’s failed Fiscal Commission plan: a multi-trillion dollar tax hike with uncertain spending reforms,” Moylan noted. “Republicans have now passed a compromise in the House that raises the debt ceiling in exchange for structural budget reform: ‘Cut, Cap, and Balance,’ which is the only plan that will put our nation on a path to fiscal responsibility without raising taxes.”
The 362,000-member NTU is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working for lower taxes, smaller government, and economic freedom at all levels. More information on NTU’s work, is available at www.ntu.org.