The 2014 Budget of the Progressive Caucus Would Put the US Back to Work

The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) has analyzed the Congressional Progressive Caucus’s 2014 “Back to Work” budget and finds that it would boost near-term Gross Domestic Product growth by 5.7 percent, but it would also reduce the long-term deficit, build a stronger social safety net, and most importantly, return the country to full economic health by 2015.

After one year of implementation, EPI estimates the budget would create 6.9 million jobs, and drop the official unemployment rate to 5 percent. However, bear in mind that the real unemployment rate would still hover somewhat above ten percent, but it would be lower under this budget.

“The budget focuses on modern security needs by returning Defense Department spending to 2006 levels. It ends emergency overseas contingency operation spending in FY2015 and beyond, and cuts non-emergency Defense Department spending by $897 billion over 10 years.” There is always some Tea Party coward who will object because they’re worried the communists in North Korea and Cuba will team up and invade Texas even though the US spends more on defense than the rest of the world combined if you count its overly expensive but profitable (to the 1 percent) mercenary armies. By the way, that “contingency operation spending” mentioned above might mean ending funding of the overly profitable mercenary armies still in Iraq and Afganistan.

Although the Progressive Caucus budget makes sense, Republicans and corporate Democrats, like President Obama and Wall Street Senator Ron Wyden, will give it no serious consideration for the simple reason the budget doesn’t allow for redistributing income from the 99 to the 1 percent. The budget doesn’t give legislative tools to Wall Street that will allow it to suck us dry, and it scales back overly profitable military spending on behalf of the one percent. For the full report, click on the link below.

back-to-work-budget-analysis-congressional-progressive–Economic Policy Institute

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