Questions for Solutions
The next generation will be called upon to address America’s federal budget challenges as voters, leaders, and future policymakers. The good news is that we have a variety of solutions available — the main question is, “Which of those solutions do we like?”
At Free the Facts, we believe problems aren’t partisan. Regardless of your party or ideology, you will be impacted by these challenges. The key to solving them is ensuring voters and leaders have reliable information so they can engage in a meaningful conversation about the federal budget and its future.
You’re now ready to ask the tough questions about solutions. Your answers to those questions will be guided by your own experiences, values, perspectives, and identity. To get you interested and involved in this conversation, we’ve provided you with several questions for solutions below.
Here are a few ways we could address the deficit, adjust the government’s funding priorities, and ensure its promises are kept:
CHANGE REVENUE
The government is spending more money than it takes in, which contributes to the national debt and can lead to inflation. One way to offset this difference is to increase revenue.
Income tax: Should we change the amount of taxes that American workers pay?
- Check out this report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on the effects of raising individual income taxes.
Payroll tax: Social Security and Medicare are facing major funding challenges that, if left unaddressed, will prevent the government from keeping its promises to millions of Americans. Should we raise the taxes that fund these programs?
- Take a look at this summary from the Social Security Administration on the effects of raising Social Security taxes.
- Check out this report from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget on the effects of raising Medicare taxes.
Broader tax changes: Aside from income and payroll taxes, there are plenty of other options for increasing tax revenue. Should we make broader tax changes that affect businesses, consumers, and other sectors of the economy?
- This report from the CBO outlines the impacts of implementing a federal sales tax.
- Another CBO report discusses what a carbon tax would do for federal revenue.
- Check out the Solutions Initiative from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which compiles more tax changes suggested by leading policy organizations.
- This report from the Tax Policy Center shows the impact of tariffs like those implemented in 2025.
CHANGE SPENDING
By changing how much the government spends on its programs, we’d essentially be adjusting the government’s priorities. Here are some ways we could do that:
Entitlement reform: Entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare make up the largest portion of mandatory spending. Should we change the way they’re structured?
- Check out the Free the Facts Social Security Policy Library to learn more about possible changes to this program.
- Take a look at this report by the Tax Foundation, which discusses entitlement reforms, including several ways to address the high cost of Medicare.
Discretionary spending: While discretionary spending makes up a smaller portion of the budget, a lot of the programs that you may care about fall under this category. Should we change how much we spend on defense, education, public health, or other discretionary programs?
- Check out this write-up from the CBO on cutting defense spending.
- The CBO also provides an expansive list of options to change discretionary spending in this compendium of policy options.
Change the appropriations process
Remember, the appropriations process is how Congress allocates funding to government agencies and programs each year. Given the possibility of government shutdowns when budgets aren't passed on time, could we improve this process?
Biennial appropriations: Currently, Congress debates and approves discretionary spending once a year. Could we improve efficiency by switching to a biennial process where appropriations bills are passed every two years?
- We've been debating biennial appropriations for decades but have never moved forward. Learn more in this 2015 report from the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) and this 2019 testimony from the BPC's Senior Vice President.
Automatic spending cuts when Congress misses its deadline: Another proposal to reform the process is to institute discretionary spending cuts if — or when — Congress misses its final approval deadline. Should Congress face penalties for missing its deadlines, or would this only penalize the Americans who benefit from those programs?
- The 2023 Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) instituted 1% discretionary cuts when deadlines were missed. Read more about the FRA and its effects in this report from the Congressional Research Service.
.svg)
