A Budget Proposal that Makes Sense!

I was listening to an interview with Jeffrey Sachs*, speaking to Amy Goodman
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/4/11/dont_punish_the_poor_economist_jeffrey
He spoke enthusiastically about a proposed budget put forth by the Congressional Progressive Caucus that, in effect, responds to the needs of the majority of Americans, including myself.

I then went to the CPC site, http://cpc.grijalva.house.gov to read their budget, and it was amazingly simple, direct and comprehensive. Their main points, summarized herein are:

The CPC proposal:

• Eliminates the deficits and creates a surplus by 2021
• Puts America back to work with a “Make it in America” jobs program
• Protects the social safety net
• Ends the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
• Is FAIR (Fixing America’s Inequality Responsibly)

What the proposal accomplishes:

• Primary budget balance by 2014.
• Budget surplus by 2021.
• Reduces public debt as a share of GDP to 64.4% by 2021, down 16.9 percentage points from
a baseline fully adjusted for both the doc fix and the AMT patch.
• Reduces deficits by $5.7 trillion over 2012-21
• Both outlays and revenue equal 22.3% of GDP by 2021

I urge you to take a look at their proposal to see if you agree. I'd like to get your feedback.


*Jeffrey Sachs, director of The Earth Institute at Columbia. He is also president and co-founder of Millennium Promise Alliance, a nonprofit organization aimed at ending extreme global poverty. He is the author of numerous books and articles on development and economic policy.