War, Tax Cuts, Entitlement Programs, and a Balanced Budget

President Bush will send his FY 2008 budget to Congress February 5th. It is widely expected that he will call for a balanced budget by 2012. Will this goal be a realistic one? What new policies will be included in the President’s budget? (And which should be?) How will war costs be treated? What assumptions will be used concerning spending, revenue, and economic growth? Will this be a budget the Democratic Congress declares “dead on arrival” or will it be an overture towards bipartisan cooperation?

This brown-bag lunch session, cosponsored by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and the New America Foundation's Fiscal Policy Program, featured three distinguished budget experts discussing what's ahead in the FY 2008 budget battle. A question and answer session followed, moderated by the Committee’s President, Maya MacGuineas.

Video of this event is available at right, while an MP3 audio recording can be downloaded below.

Participants

• The Honorable William Frenzel
  Guest Scholar, The Brookings Institution
  Former Ranking Member, House Budget Committee
  Co-Chair, The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
• The Honorable Rudolph G. Penner
  Senior Fellow, Urban Institute
  Former Director, Congressional Budget Office
  Member, The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
• The Honorable Timothy Penny
  Senior Fellow and Co-Director, Humphrey Institute Policy Forum
  Former Member of Congress (D-MN)
  Member, The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
  
• Maya MacGuineas (moderator)
  President, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
  Director, Fiscal Policy Program, New America Foundation

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