The Public Manager Magazine Article
Member Benefit
Recommendations to Strengthen the Federal Budget Process
The federal government faces a large long-term mismatch between projected spending and projected revenues. Closing this fiscal gap will require hard choices to yield trillions of dollars in budget savings. Achieving these savings while sustaining the nation's highest public priorities, supporting robust economic growth, and dealing with inevitable emergencies will be difficult.
Mon Dec 24 2012
Soon after the election, the United States will approach a "fiscal cliff" when the Bush tax cuts expire and sequestration's automatic cuts kick in. This may offer an opportunity for agreements on policy adjustments to address the problem. A continued stalemate would trigger across-the-board spending cuts and massive tax increases, pitching the nation back into recession and complicating an already staggering political and fiscal challenge. Whatever budget savings are negotiated must be implemented and sustained year-by-year through the federal budget process.