CRFB Brings Back U.S. Budget Watch
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has announced the return of U.S. Budget Watch, just in time for the Republican primary season and the full 2012 presidential election. U.S. Budget Watch will monitor the election, the talking points, candidate websites, and the debates to get a picture of what each candidate is proposing, and will put it all into a unified plan to estimate the costs and/or savings (with an emphasis on the federal debt impacts) of what each candidate hopes to accomplish. First, however, U.S. Budget Watch is kicking off its return with its statement of principles in “The 12 Principles of Fiscal Responsibility for the 2012 Campaign,” where we lay out 12 specific principles all candidates should adhere to.
The 12 principles are:
- Make Deficit Reduction a Top Priority.
- Propose Specific Fiscal Targets.
- Recommend Specific Policies to Achieve the Targets.
- Do No Harm.
- Use Honest Numbers and Avoid Budget Gimmicks.
- Do Not Perpetuate Budget Myths.
- Do Not Attack Someone Else's Plan Without Putting Forward an Alternative.
- Refrain From Pledges That Take Policies Off the Table.
- Propose Specific Solutions for Social Security, Health Care Programs, and the Tax Code.
- Offer Solutions for Temporary and Expiring Policies.
- Encourage Congress to Come Up With a Budget Reform Plan as Quickly as Possible.
- Remain Open to Bipartisan Compromise.
As always, CRFB and now U.S. Budget Watch will offer objective and nonpartisan analysis. We hope this election will keep fiscal policy in the spotlight and that the candidates put forward Go Big plans which stabilize our debt and put it on a downward path. This election is a chance for the nation to advance toward solving our fiscal problems, and U.S. Budget Watch plans to follow it closely. Stay tuned for in-depth analysis!
Click here to read “The 12 Principles of Fiscal Responsibility for the 2012 Campaign” and here to visit U.S. Budget Watch’s homepage.