Tax expenditures cost the government about $1.5 trillion each year, more than the budget of any agency or major spending program, including Social Security, Medicare, and the Department of Defense.
Now that the hard-fought election is over, lawmakers face a series of pressing fiscal and budgetary issues in the New Year. America’s leaders have an opportunity to show leadership in early 2017 by addressing the nation’s long-term fiscal challenges.
A newly updated report, prepared by Ernst & Young (EY) for the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, reexamines the federal government’s long-term fiscal outlook through the “fiscal gap” measure.