It’s Your Turn to be a Budget Hero

By Tyler Hanson, Undergraduate Research Fellow, July 17, 2011 at 10:00 am

State budget negotiations may finally be coming to a close, but the debate over the federal deficit continues. Now you have a chance to come up with your own plan to break the gridlock in Washington: The Woodrow Wilson Center and American Public Media have teamed up to release a new video game based on the action-packed federal budget negotiations.

Budget Hero lets you take the role of an intrepid lawmaker seeking to extend the nation’s solvency past 2031, the year that debt is projected to reach 100% of GDP.

 

 

For players, one of the primary goals of the game is delaying the “budget bust,” or the year that debt exceeds 100% of GDP. This makes long-term debt reduction a priority. But with ballooning health care and Social Security costs, balancing the government’s checkbook in the coming decades is a tall order.

Making matters more difficult are the tax cuts enacted by President Bush in 2001 and 2003. The baseline scenario presented by the CBO assumes that these cuts will expire as scheduled in 2012. However, President Obama is likely to approve their extension as part of a budget deal. In total, these highly regressive tax cuts bring the “budget bust” three years closer. Simply allowing the Bush cuts to expire only for their wealthiest recipients will save the nation another year and billions of dollars.

The situation in Washington is strikingly similar to Minnesota’s. Rising health care costs, coupled with a revenue nosedive, have left us in dire fiscal straits much like the federal government. And just like Washington, we’re facing persistent deficits that require long-term solutions.

Unfortunately, our lawmakers haven’t been the budget heroes we desperately need. Eliminating the budget shortfall through additional school aid shifts and tobacco bonds ensures that the state will continue to face deficits in the coming decades. In addition, holding the line on taxes comes at a steep cost. Without any new permanent sources of revenue, the state will be hard pressed to keep up with rising health care and properly fund education in a sluggish economy.

For lawmakers here and in Washington, Budget Hero isn’t just a game: it’s our nation’s future. Sustainability may just be the most important part of crafting a responsible budget. Unfortunately, Minnesota has been set on the path to another deficit in 2013. However, there’s still a chance for a hero to emerge in Washington to tackle the federal deficit. Let’s just hope that he or she can learn from Minnesota’s mistakes and make the future a priority.

Posted in Fiscal Policy | Related Topics: Federal Government  President Obama  Budget Deficit