Promises and price tags: A fiscal guide to the 2016 election

June 27, 2016 Maya MacGuineas, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget

What would the fiscal policies put forward by Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump do to spending, revenue, and the national debt? The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has just completed a comprehensive report that attempts to answer these questions.

The report is “Promises and Price Tags: A Fiscal Guide to the 2016 Election,” and among its key takeaways are:

• Neither candidate has a plan to fix the debt – and Trump makes it worse;

• Both candidates’ plans would increase spending;

• Clinton increases taxes and Trump cuts them dramatically;

• Both plans would need major tax increases or spending cuts to make the debt sustainable, especially Trump’s;

• Economic growth cannot fix the debt under either candidate’s plan.

Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget as well as the head of the Campaign to Fix the Debt, offers her advice to the next president about fiscal issues in her essay, Tough Choices, part of Volume 3: The Critical First Budget.