What sets CAP's new deficit reduction plan apart from other plans?

The Peterson Foundation engaged six organizations from across the ideological spectrum to produce long-term budget plans that each had large amounts of deficit reduction. The CAP plan is the only one of the six that actually balances the budget without taking it out of the hides of the middle class.

Why is it important to invest in the middle class?

Balancing the budget is only one of the things that America has to do to ensure a strong economy going forward. We also have to invest in the middle class and those two things cannot be mutually exclusive. The middle class is the engine of American economic growth. A country that ignores the strength of its middle class does so at its on peril. So the CAP plan balances the budget but does so in a way that still leaves room for major new investments in middle class prosperity like education, science, basic services that the middle class depends on.

What are the plan's major recommendations?

It takes a lot to balance the budget but CAP's plan does do a few major things. For one, on the spending side, we get control of health care costs, not just in the public sector, but across the economy. On the revenue side, we raise enough revenue through a comprehensive income tax reform that is fair, efficient, and more simple. That way people in the middle aren't going to be asked to pay more, people at the top are asked to pay their fair share.