Washington, D.C. — As the Democratic Party begins to chart its path forward following President Joe Biden’s historic decision to end his re-election campaign, a new report from the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) argues Democrats must adopt new ideas in addition to a new candidate at the top of the ticket.
The report, titled “Paying for Progress: A Pragmatic Blueprint to Cut Costs, Boost Growth, and Expand American Opportunity,” was compiled by PPI’s Center for Funding America’s Future with contributions from more than a dozen PPI experts covering a wide variety of policy areas. The report argues that, although President Biden successfully led the country in revitalizing major public investments and bringing unemployment to historic lows, failure to tackle the federal government’s $2 trillion annual budget deficit and the inflationary pressures it creates puts those successes in jeopardy.
“Voters are unlikely to support expanding the role of any government that they believe can’t even pay for the promises it’s already making,” said Ben Ritz, PPI’s Vice President of Policy Development and lead author of the report. “Demonstrating to the American people that we have an ambitious vision to cut costs, boost growth, and expand American opportunity — along with an economically pragmatic plan to pay for it — would help progressives restore confidence in the government’s ability to tackle big problems and build a more prosperous society for all.”
PPI’s report proposes a comprehensive blueprint for achieving many of the uncompleted goals from the Biden administration’s Build Back Better agenda while simultaneously putting the federal budget on a path to balance within 20 years. The report also offers the next administration a series of ideas to address major upcoming fiscal deadlines, including the reinstatement of the federal debt limit, the expiration of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and the impending exhaustion of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds.
The roughly six dozen federal policy recommendations in the report are organized into 12 overarching priorities:
I. Replace Taxes on Work with Taxes on Consumption and Unearned Income
II. Make the Individual Income Tax Code Simpler and More Progressive
III. Reform the Business Tax Code to Promote Growth and International Competitiveness
IV. Secure America’s Global Leadership
V. Strengthen Social Security’s Intergenerational Compact
VI. Modernize Medicare
VII. Cut Health-Care Costs and Improve Outcomes
VIII. Support Working Families and Economic Opportunity
IX. Make Housing Affordable for All
X. Rationalize Safety-Net Programs
XI. Improve Public Administration
XII. Manage Public Debt Responsibly
An abridged version of PPI’s blueprint was featured this morning by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation’s 2024 Solutions Initiative alongside comprehensive budget plans by six other think tanks from across the political spectrum. Of all the proposals, PPI’s would achieve the most deficit reduction while maintaining the highest level of discretionary spending, demonstrating that fiscal responsibility and robust public investment can be complementary rather than contradictory policy objectives.
Read and download the full report here.
See how PPI’s plan compares to those of six other think tanks here.
Launched in 2018, the Progressive Policy Institute’s Center for Funding America’s Future works to promote a fiscally responsible public investment agenda that fosters robust and inclusive economic growth. To that end, the Center develops fiscally responsible policy proposals to strengthen public investments in the foundation of our economy, modernize health and retirement programs to reflect an aging society, transform our tax code to reward work over wealth, and put the national debt on a downward trajectory.
The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org. Find an expert at PPI and follow us on Twitter.
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Media Contact: Ian O’Keefe — iokeefe@ppionline.org
