# What could be in a progressive budget passed via reconciliation in 2021 **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 4, 2017, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-in-a-progressive-budget-passed-via-reconciliation-in-2021/803570 "2017-12-04T20:18:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-in-a-progressive-budget-passed-via-reconciliation-in-2021/803570/1 "2017-12-04T20:18:54Z")
Assume the dems win the house presidency and senate by 2020. What should they put in a 2021 budget? > **[Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnibus_Budget_Reconciliation_Act_of_1993)** > > The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (or OBRA-93) was a federal law that was enacted by the 103rd United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on August 10, 1993. It has also been unofficially referred to as the Deficit Reduction Act of 1993. Part XIII of the law is also called the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1993. > The bill stemmed from a budget proposal made by Clinton in February 1993; he sought a mix of tax increases and spending reductions that would cut th... The 1993 budget had a lot of tax hikes in the rich. So something like that to reverse the gop budget of 2017 would be nice. Corporate taxes, income taxes, Medicare taxes, amt, estate tax, etc hiked could be added on the wealthy. Could anything else be added. Increase the Medicare tax on high income earners to 5%, up from 3.8% now? Can a Medicare buy in be passed via reconciliation? What policy changes could be added? I doubt the dems pass single payer via reconciliation anytime soon, but can they? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-in-a-progressive-budget-passed-via-reconciliation-in-2021/803570/2 "2017-12-04T20:40:57Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > The 1993 budget had a lot of tax hikes in the rich. So something like that to reverse the gop budget of 2017 would be nice. Corporate taxes, income taxes, Medicare taxes, amt, estate tax, etc hiked could be added on the wealthy. Yep, pretty much. > [@](#): > > Could anything else be added. Increase the Medicare tax on high income earners to 5%, up from 3.8% now? Sure. > [@](#): > > Can a Medicare buy in be passed via reconciliation? No, because… > [@](#): > > ]What policy changes could be added? I doubt the dems pass single payer via reconciliation anytime soon, but can they? Reconciliation specifically prohibits policy changes in the covered legislation. You can have a bill that 99.9999% relates to fiscal matters, and the remainder deals with policy issues, and that bill is not protected by reconciliation procedures. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-in-a-progressive-budget-passed-via-reconciliation-in-2021/803570/3 "2017-12-04T21:34:28Z")
Then how was the GOP able to attempt to repeal the ACA via reconciliation? My impression was you could use reconciliation for anything except social security just so long as it lowered the debt over 10 years. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-in-a-progressive-budget-passed-via-reconciliation-in-2021/803570/4 "2017-12-04T21:43:30Z")
From wikipedia: _Reconciliation bills can be passed on spending, revenues, and the federal debt limit[4] once a year per topic unless Congress passes a revised budget resolution for that fiscal year (under section 304 of the Congressional Budget Act).[5] As an example, if a budget resolution’s reconciliation instructions affect both spending and revenues, no further reconciliation legislation can occur on these topics in the same fiscal year without a revised budget resolution.[5]_ ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-in-a-progressive-budget-passed-via-reconciliation-in-2021/803570/5 "2017-12-04T21:55:29Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Then how was the GOP able to attempt to repeal the ACA via reconciliation? > > My impression was you could use reconciliation for anything except social security just so long as it lowered the debt over 10 years. The effort just repealed the fiscal aspects of the ACA, and left a towering but empty shell in its place. I think the term used was “three pronged strategy” or something like that. Reconciliation is used for matters that – and I forget the exact term – have a budgetary impact, but that policies that have certain fiscal impacts beyond a ten year term are exempted. See also the 2001 tax cuts. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-in-a-progressive-budget-passed-via-reconciliation-in-2021/803570/6 "2017-12-05T00:25:51Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > The 1993 budget had a lot of tax hikes in the rich. So something like that to reverse the gop budget of 2017 would be nice. Corporate taxes, income taxes, Medicare taxes, amt, estate tax, etc hiked could be added on the wealthy. And the 1993 budget led to [the 1994 election](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections,_1994). So maybe don’t do that again. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-in-a-progressive-budget-passed-via-reconciliation-in-2021/803570/7 "2017-12-05T01:06:52Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > And the 1993 budget led to [the 1994 election](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections,_1994). So maybe don’t do that again. And the ACA led to the 2010 election. Still worth it. The GOP behavior will lead to a democratic wave in 2018. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-in-a-progressive-budget-passed-via-reconciliation-in-2021/803570/8 "2017-12-05T01:15:34Z")
Out of curiosity–not saying it’s wise–would a massive expansion of Medicare/Medicaid be allowed under reconciliation, as a budgetary move, or would that qualify as policy, or would that be something decided by the quirks of the parliamentarian? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-in-a-progressive-budget-passed-via-reconciliation-in-2021/803570/9 "2017-12-05T01:20:30Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Out of curiosity–not saying it’s wise–would a massive expansion of Medicare/Medicaid be allowed under reconciliation, as a budgetary move, or would that qualify as policy, or would that be something decided by the quirks of the parliamentarian? It depends on the precise language in the bill. I doubt, but cannot be certain, that eliminating the age requirement for Medicare could be considered a non-policy provision, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-in-a-progressive-budget-passed-via-reconciliation-in-2021/803570/10 "2017-12-05T01:36:25Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > The GOP behavior will lead to a democratic wave in 2018. I think that is likely, but a massive tax hike will just mean another flip-flop of control in the next cycle. If you want real, lasting change, you have to have patience. Small steps, being careful not to piss away that wave of momentum all at once. Take the long view. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-in-a-progressive-budget-passed-via-reconciliation-in-2021/803570/11 "2017-12-10T22:45:04Z")
Trimming defense spending would be another thing to look at. We probably won’t need another fancy aircraft carrier and whatever other stuff the Republicans will have likely put in the budget by 2020 to help out their big defense contractor buddies.