Taking a Balanced Approach – Four Revenue Options for Fixing Sequestration

Congress needs to replace sequestration with a balanced approach to deficit reduction that includes at least one dollar in new revenues for every dollar in smart, strategic spending cuts.
Due to recent deficit reduction legislation and an improving national economy, Congress needs to find just $1.5 trillion in budget savings over the next decade in order to put the debt on a sustainable path relative to our economy.
Sequestration is the wrong approach to finding these savings, since these spending cuts target the smallest portion of the federal budget – a portion that has already borne the brunt of previous deficit reduction.
Instead, Congress should consider four revenue options that can raise almost $737 billion over the next decade, half of the savings required to hit the debt stabilization target.
These revenue options include: (1) limiting the total savings from deductions and loopholes available to high-end taxpayers; (2) preventing offshore corporate tax avoidance; (3) limiting deductions for oil companies; and (4) eliminating the corporate deduction for expenses associated with moving business operations offshore.