The Committee for a Responsible Budget, a bipartisan, non-profit organization, looked at both the proposals offered by President Barack Obama and the House Republican leadership, and found little difference in their results to lower the share of debt to GDP.
Obama’s plan, which featured $1.6 trillion in tax hikes and at least $50 billion in additional stimulus spending, will leave debt-to-GDP at 73 percent by 2022.
Boehner’s proposal, meanwhile, which was sent in the form of a letter to the White House on Dec. 3 and conceded $800 billion in new revenue and roughly $1 trillion in spending cuts, leaves debt-to-GDP at 72 percent in 2022.
“While it is great to see that both sides are looking to address revenue and spending, both sides should negotiate up not down,” the committee said. “The original plans offered are likely to barely stabilize the debt or put it on a slow downward path.
“Going bigger offers the opportunity to put the debt on a clear downward path over the medium-term and making substantial improvements on our long-term fiscal situation,” the group said.
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