OMB POLICY STATEMENTS
CBO Chief Warns Middle-Class Tax Hikes or Benefits Cut Needed
So far both political parties in Washington have done a pretty good job of obscuring the reality of the budget fight. They've spent months arguing about taxes on millionaires and spending cuts on wasteful government programs. This dialogue obscures that fact that the only way to get the budget deficit under control is to raise taxes on the middle class or take away from the their cherished benefits. This message was delivered Monday, in typically neutral tones, by Douglas Elmendorf, the director of the Congressional Budget Office. He's got arguably the worst job in Washington -- trying to be the neutral fact-keeper for the full scale political food-fight that fiscal policy has become.