President's budget is "to the right of Simpson-Bowles" argues CAPs Michael Linden: "...the president is willing to accept overall federal spending levels that are an average of about 0.5 percentage points of gross domestic product less than those in Simpson-Bowles, and revenue levels that are a full percentage point below those in Simpson-Bowles."
"Even with Exemptions, Chained CPI Proposal Will End Up Hurting Low-Income People" argues CEPR's Shawn Fremstad: "Once the chained CPI is adopted for the tax code and Social Security—an immensely popular program, in large part because it is tied to workers’ contributions—it will only be a matter of time until it is applied to the less-popular, non-contributory means-tested ones."
While CBPP's Robert Greenstein gives Obama's Chained CPI a qualified defense: "Experts widely regard the chained CPI as a more accurate measure of inflation for the population as a whole. It may well be, however, less accurate for elderly individuals and many low-income people and, thus, understate the inflation that they face. In an effort to address this problem, the budget includes a series of adjustments and protections for the very old and for people with low incomes. No set of adjustments can fully shield the very old or the poor, but the Obama package is robust and well designed. It should prevent an increase in the overall poverty rate among the very old and would shield the beneficiaries of most programs that focus on people at the bottom."
Budget Tough On Health Care, Military, Rich
Obama still targets tax breaks for the rich. NYT: "Under the White House plan, deductions for tax breaks likemortgage interest and contributions to charities would be capped at a maximum rate of 28 percent. The caps would limit the value of the breaks to the top 3 percent of taxpayers who face higher marginal tax rates and generate about $529 billion in additional revenue over 10 years."
"$1 Trillion Tax Gap With Republicans" reports Bloomberg: "Obama yesterday proposed higher taxes for top earners, estates, private-equity managers and tobacco users, wrapped inside a call for 'reforming our tax code.' Republicans instantly rejected any tax increase as unacceptable ... The bipartisan consensus on lowering the corporate tax rateand curtailing some breaks goes only so far. Obama’s budget plan adds few details to a year-old framework."
But Obama has cordial dinner with 12 Senate Republicans. Bloomberg: "A White House statement issued after the nearly three-hour get-together said Obama 'enjoyed a constructive, wide-ranging discussion with Republican senators that included reducing the deficit in a balanced way, reforming our broken immigration system and adopting common-sense measures to reduce gun violence.' [Sen. Johnny] Isakson, in a statement, termed the dinner 'very productive' and 'a good first step to what I hope will be an ongoing discussion and a path forward to solving our nation’s problems.'"
"Health Care and Military Spending Bear the Brunt of Proposed Cuts" reports NYT: "The budget would require $57 billion in higher payments by Medicare beneficiaries, cut $306 billion in projected Medicare payments to health care providers and squeeze $19 billion out of Medicaid, the program for low-income people ... The largest share of the new payments by Medicare beneficiaries, $50 billion over 10 years, would come from additional premiums paid by high-income people for coverage of doctors’ services and prescription drugs ... It includes substantial reductions for the Army ... 4 percent lower in constant dollars ... The budget proposes spending $2.4 billion over five years to conduct another round of politically difficult base closings, which Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said would deliver 'significant savings' over the long term."
GOP response proves they're not serious, says NYT editorial board: "Not a single Congressional Republican could be found to consider a budget that combines twice as much in spending cuts as it raises in tax revenues. The Social Security proposal remains a bad idea ... For now, it has served its purpose — no one will be able to accuse Mr. Obama of refusing to touch entitlements, and no one can credit Republicans for being at all serious about a deficit-reduction compromise."
Immigration Deal Tough On Border
"Senate immigration plan includes border crackdown" reports W. Post: "The provisions would call on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to increase surveillance to cover 100 percent of the Southwestern border and to apprehend 90 percent of the people who attempt to enter the United States illegally..."
"Can Gang of 8 stay tight?" asks Politico: "After being locked out of the process for so long, Democratic and Republican senators are anxious to get a crack at amending the bill, setting up a treacherous path through the Judiciary Committee to the Senate floor that threatens to undermine the delicate compromise. Most members of the group are prepared to band together, defeating one by one any controversial amendment that can upset the deal’s balance. Such unity is considered essential if the senators hope to keep the core of the bill intact, hold the support of a cross-section of labor and business interests — and ultimately win the kind of broad bipartisan vote that forces the House to also act on an immigration bill."
