William Hoagland: The Ghosts of Budgets Past, Present & Future

G. William Hoagland is Senior Vice President at the Bipartisan Policy Center and a member of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. He previously held senior staff positions with the U.S. Senate Budget Committee and the Office of the Republican Majority Leader. He recently wrote a piece for The Ripon Society's Ripon Forum, an excerpt of which is below: 

Ebenezer Scrooge would have certainly asserted of Congress’ budget process: “it is dead, dead as a door-nail.” In the spirit of the season, it is worth examining why the process now lies with old Marley in the graveyard.

I am visited by three apparitions of the federal budget process. The ghosts of budgets past, present, and future. As one who has lived in the past and present, “I will not shut out the lessons that they teach” but strive to apply them to the future.

Read the entire piece here.

"My Views" are works published by members or staff of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, but they do not necessarily reflect the views of all members or staff of the Committee.