Comparing Spending in the House and Senate Budget Plans
Via Stanford University economist John Taylor, here's what you get when you compare proposed federal spending as a percentage of the economy in the budget plans put forth by Rep. Paul Ryan for House Republicans and Sen. Patty Muray for Senate Democrats:
Taylor notes that "the obvious differences between the plans are that the Senate would (1) tax more than the House by .7% of GDP, (2) spend more than the House by 2.8% of GDP, and (3) run a deficit larger than the House by 2.1 percent of GDP, where the percentages are based on 2023."
Both budgets would increase total federal spending. But if we adopted and stuck to the House GOP budget plan as presented (and yes, there are a number of missing details and some unrealistic assumptions built into its framework), it would keep its spending increases in check enough to zero out the annual budget deficit in a decade. The Ryan budget is far from ideal, but it aims for a sort of spending moderation that the Senate Democrats' doesn't remotely attempt.
