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发帖数: 731 | 1 NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Huge spending cuts, and maybe some targeted tax hikes.
That's how the deal to raise the debt ceiling is shaping up. Details are
thin, as negotiations have been carried out behind closed doors and involve
only a few of Washington's heaviest hitters.
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This much is known: Lawmakers must raise the nation's $14.3 trillion legal
borrowing limit soon. The Treasury Department says that on Aug. 2 it will
run out of money to pay the nation's bills in full and on time.
That's only a few weeks away. So what's it gonna take?
The group of lawmakers who participated in negotiations led by Vice
President Joe Biden have already identified more than $1 trillion in budget
cuts.
Republicans want far more.
But already, $1 trillion in cuts is entering uncharted territory. The cuts
would be some of the biggest in history.
"It sounds as if the package is going to be all spending cuts with a few
symbolic revenue increases," said Isabel Sawhill, an economist who studies
fiscal issues at the Brookings Institution and worked in the Clinton
administration.
Debt ceiling FAQs: What you need to know
The $1 trillion in cuts would probably be spread out over the next decade or
so, meaning roughly $100 billion less in federal spending each year,
although the savings might be larger in later years.
Sawhill said the cuts are likely to be focused on non-security discretionary
spending, a small section of the budget that includes funding for food
inspectors, the FBI and education grants, among many other programs and
services people associate with government.
"The public is going to be a lot more concerned when they see the details
and not just the abstraction of less spending," Sawhill said.
That's something Obama clearly has on his mind as well. He made the point in
a press conference this week.
"I've said to some of the Republican leaders, you go talk to your
constituents, the Republican constituents, and ask them are they willing to
compromise their kids' safety so that some corporate jet owner continues to
get a tax break," Obama said. "And I'm pretty sure what the answer would be."
Obama to Congress: Do your job
On the revenue side, the White House wants to close loopholes that benefit
the owners of private jets, and raise taxes on hedge fund managers who pay
lower tax rates on so-called "carried interest."
Additional proposals would change how business inventory is taxed, and
eliminate government subsidies for oil and gas companies.
But not if Republicans have anything to say about it. The party's leaders
have put up a united front on the issue. Tax hikes will not be considered,
they say. |
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