Los Angeles Daily Journal, Show Me the Money: A Hidden Source of Funding for Federal Deficit Reduction, by Katie Pratt (Loyola-L.A.):

If President Barack Obama and Congress ever decide to get serious about federal deficit reduction, there is a potential $1 trillion deficit reduction funding source that they have ignored. With annual federal budget deficits projected to average $1 trillion for the next decade, they should seriously consider this funding source, instead of assuming – contrary to fact – that radical cuts in federal discretionary spending programs can painlessly and equitably achieve meaningful deficit reduction. …

Although we can cut some discretionary spending, we also can search for wasteful, duplicative or inefficient federal spending in another place most voters would never think of – the federal tax code. Subsidies totaling over $1 trillion, known as “tax expenditures” are woven throughout the federal tax code. These tax expenditures provide federal subsidies that are targeted to specific industries and activities. Some of these tax expenditures (e.g., the home mortgage interest deduction) are well known and considered by most Americans as entitlements. Many tax expenditures are hidden from public view, however, buried in the complex morass of the federal tax code.