Your Challenge
Reduce the Federal Budget Deficit
Over the long term, our country faces an unsustainable mismatch between the federal government's spending commitments and what it is projected to take in through taxes. Reducing projected deficits over the next 10 years represents an opportunity to get our fiscal house in order while phasing-in changes to our long-term budget plans. This is your turn to make policy choices that will do just that.
Are you up to the challenge?
Start Now!
Are you up to the challenge?
Where do theses policy options come from?
Most of the policy descriptions and cost estimates are from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and their "Budget Options" publications. Proposals not based on CBO materials are Concord Coalition estimates based on ideas and bills which are being considered or discussed by Congress. The Budget Challenge software was created by Next 10 and originally used for California.
This list of options is only intended as a representative sample of the options available to policymakers. It is neither comprehensive nor is it a list of recommendations by The Concord Coalition or Next 10.
Click here for notes on spending options.
This list of options is only intended as a representative sample of the options available to policymakers. It is neither comprehensive nor is it a list of recommendations by The Concord Coalition or Next 10.
Click here for notes on spending options.
Deficit basics
The goal of the Federal Budget Challenge is to reduce the amount of annual deficits over the next 10 years. Your starting point will be the CBO's estimate for these deficits under current law -- assuming Congress and the President pass no legislation over that time. This estimate likely understates deficits by a substantial amount for reasons explained here.
About the national debt
The national debt represents the accumulation of the government's annual deficits. It is the combination of debt held by the public and intergovernmental debt -- an accounting of the amount the government owes itself in various trust funds.
For the current size of the debt and to learn more, click here.