Fact Sheet: Obama's Deficit Plan

qhe thite eouse lffice of the mress pecretary cor fmmediate oelease peptember N9I OMNN

cact pheetW iiving tithin lur Means and fnvesting in the cuture J The mresident’s mlan for bconomic drowth and aeficit oeduction lverview qhe health of our economy depends on what we do right now to create the conditions where businesses can hire and middleJclass families can feel a basic measure of economic security. fn the long runI our prosperity also depends on our ability to pay down the massive debt the federal government has accumulated over the past decade. qodayI the mresident sent to the goint Committee his plan to jumpstart economic growth and job creation now – and to lay the foundation for it continue for years to come. qhe mresident’s mlan for bconomic drowth and aeficit oeduction lives up to a simple ideaW as a kationI we can live within our means while still making the investments we need to prosper – from a jobs bill that is needed right now to longJterm investments in educationI innovationI and infrastructure. ft follows a balanced approachW asking everyone to do their partI so no one has to bear all the burden. And it says that everyone – including millionaires and billionaires – has to pay their fair share. lverallI it pays for the mresident’s jobs bill and produces net savings of more than AP trillion over the next decadeI on top of the roughly AN trillion in spending cuts that the mresident already signed into law in the Budget Control Act – for a total savings of more than A4 trillion over the next decade. qhis would bring the country to a placeI by OMNTI where current spending is no longer adding to our debtI debt is falling as a share of the economyI and deficits are at a sustainable level.

The American gobs Act ·

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qax cuts to help businesses hire and grow o Cutting the payroll tax in half on the first AR million in payrollI targeting the benefit to the 98 percent of firms with payroll below this threshold. o A complete payroll tax holiday for added workers or increased wages up to ARM million o bxtending NMM percent expensing into OMNO o oeforms and regulatory reductions to help entrepreneurs and small businesses access capital mutting workers back on the job while rebuilding and modernizing America

A “oeturning eeroes” hiring tax credit for veterans mreventing up to O8MIMMM teacher layoffsI while keeping cops and firefighters on the job o fmmediate investments in infrastructureI school buildingsI and neighborhoods as well as a bipartisan kational fnfrastructure Bank mathways back to work for Americans looking for jobs o qhe most innovative reform to the unemployment insurance program in 4M years and extension of emergency unemployment insurance preventing S million Americans looking for work from losing benefits o A A4IMMM tax credit to employers for hiring the longJterm unemployed o mrohibiting employers from discriminating against unemployed workers when hiring o bxpanding job opportunities for lowJincome youth and adults qax relief for every American worker and family o Cutting payroll taxes in half for NSM million workers next year o Allowing more Americans to refinance their mortgages cully paid for as part of the mresident’s longJterm deficit reduction plan o o

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maying for lur fnvestments and oeducing the aeficit ·

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qhe plan produces approximately A4.4 trillion in deficit reduction net the cost of the American gobs Act. o AN.O trillion from the discretionary cuts enacted in the Budget Control Act. o AR8M billion in cuts and reforms to a wide range of mandatory programs; o AN.N trillion from the drawdown of troops in Afghanistan and transition from a military to a civilianJled mission in fraq o AN.R trillion from tax reform o A4PM billion in additional interest savings qo spur economic growth and job creationI the plan includes oneJtime investment and relief in the American gobs Act. qhat adds to the deficit in OMNO but is fully paid for over NM yearsI and deficit reduction phases in starting in OMNPI as the economy grows stronger. aeficit reduction is achieved in a balanced approachI with a spending cut to revenue ratio for the entire plan Eincluding discretionary cutsF of O to N.

aeficits and aebt ·

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qhe goint Committee plan significantly reduces deficits and puts the country on a fiscally sustainable path by OMNT. o qhe deficit is projected to fall to O.P percent of dam in OMON. By comparisonI if we did nothingI the deficit would be R.R percent of dam in OMON. o oeaches “primary balance”JJ where our current spending is no longer adding to our debt JJ in OMNT. At that pointI current spending is no longer adding to our debtI debt is falling as a share of the economyI and deficits are at a sustainable level. qhe mresident’s plan would reduce the national debt as a share of economy.

ptable or falling debt as a share of the economy is a key metric of fiscal sustainability. o ff we did nothingI the national debt would rise to 9M.T percent of dam in OMON. By contrastI under the mresident’s planI the national debt would fall to TP.M percent of dam in OMON JJ or an improvement of almost N8 percentage points. o

eealth Savings ·

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qhe plan includes APOM billion in health savings that build on the Affordable Care Act to strengthen jedicare and jedicaid by reducing wasteful spending and erroneous paymentsI and supporting reforms that boost the quality of care. ft accomplishes this in a way that does not shift significant risks onto the individuals they serve; slash benefits; or undermine the fundamental compact they represent to our kation’s seniorsI people with disabilitiesI and lowJincome families. qhe plan includes AO48 billion in savings from jedicare. o tithin this totalI 9M percent of the savingsI or AOO4 billionI comes from reducing overpayments in jedicare. o Any savings that affect beneficiaries do not begin until OMNT. o qhe plan does not propose to change the eligibility age for jedicare benefits. lther health and jedicaid savings amount to ATO billion.

Because of the structural nature of these reformsI health savings grow to over AN trillion in the second decade.

The mresident will veto any bill that takes one dime from the Medicare benefits seniors rely on without asking the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations to pay their fair share.

lther Mandatory · ·

qhe plan includes AORM billion in savings from other mandatory programs. fncluded within these savings areW o APP billion insavings from agriculture subsidiesI paymentsI and programs o A4O.R billion in reforms to cederal employee benefit programsI including programs for civilian employees and military personnel. o A4.N billion from the disposal of unused government assets. o A9O.O billion from restructuring government operations and reducing government liabilities. o ATT.S billion from improving cederal program management and reducing waste and abuse.

oevenues ·

qhe mresident calls on the Committee to undertake comprehensive tax reformI and lays out five principles for it to followW NF lower tax rates; OF cut wasteful loopholes and tax breaks; PF reduce the deficit by AN.R trillion; 4F boost job creation and growth; and RF comport with the “Buffett oule” that people making more than AN million a year should not pay a smaller share of their income in taxes than middleJclass families pay.

qax reform should draw on the specific proposals the mresident has put forwardI together with elimination of additional inefficient tax breaks. ff the goint Committee is unable to undertake comprehensive tax reformI the mresident believes the discrete measures he has proposed should be enacted on a standalone basis. qheir enactment as a standalone package still would significantly improve the country’s fiscal standingI represent an important step toward more fundamentally transforming our tax codeI and serve as a strong foundation for economic growth and job creation. o qo advance this debateI the mresident is offering a detailed set of specific tax loophole closers and measures to broaden the tax base thatI together with the expiration of the highJincome tax cutsI would be more than sufficient to hit the AN.R trillion target. qhese includeW § Allowing the OMMN and OMMP tax cuts for upper income earners to expire EA8SS billionF § iimiting deductions and exclusions for those making more than AORMIMMM a year EA4NM billionF § Closing loopholes and eliminating special interest tax breaks Eapproximately APMM billionF o