Sima J. Gandhi (Center for American Progress), Rescission Decision: Tax Expenditures Belong on the Cutting Block:

The House Budget Committee will hold a hearing Thursday morning on a White House proposal to give the president authority to force reconsideration of items in spending bills that he concludes are not a good use of public resources. Under this rescission measure, the president could send recommended spending cuts back to Congress for an up-or-down vote.

Unfortunately, the Reduce Unnecessary Wasteful Spending Act of 2010 excludes from the presidential scalpel one of the largest categories of government spending: tax expenditures, or more simply, government subsidies that are doled out through the tax code. The failure to include tax expenditures in the president's spending-reduction measure leaves more than $1 trillion off the table.

Lawmakers should press administration officials at Thursday's hearing about this regrettable omission from the new proposal.

Sima J. Gandhi (Center for American Progress), Congressmen Join Chorus Calling for Tax Expenditure Scrutiny:

The House Budget Committee yesterday held a hearing on the president's most recent spending control measure, the Reduce Unnecessary Wasteful Spending Act of 2010. The hearing presented lawmakers with an opportunity to press the administration about why the bill—which would give the president greater flexibility in trimming appropriations packages—excludes one of the largest categories of government spending: tax expenditures.

Before the hearing, the Center for American Progress urged lawmakers to raise the issue—and they did.

House Ways and Means Budget Chairman, John Spratt (D-SC), flat out asked the administration why it had failed to include tax expenditures. And in a heated series of questions, committee member Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) derided the administration for subjecting tax expenditures and direct spending to different treatment. “If you were to come on behalf of the administration and ask us to write a check through the appropriations process for $38 million for this year only to NASCAR . . . you'd be laughed out of this room,” Doggett said, referring to a tax expenditure under consideration in the Senate.