What Would a Non-Partisan Budget Plan Look Like?

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We might find out tomorrow, because we're getting a fresh batch of ideas from a group of non-electeds sponsored by the Bipartisan Policy Center. Headlined by former CBO Chief Alice Rivlin and former Senator Pete Domenici, the panel includes no current elected officials. It'll be interesting to see how that sort of intellectual freedom manifests itself in tax rates and spending levels.

Here's the latest on their ideas:

Speaking at the Wall Street Journal's CEO Council in Washington, Ms. Rivlin said the proposal would have a "much simpler, lower [tax] rate, broader base income-tax and corporate income tax with a considerably lower corporate tax rate that will bring us back into the range that other countries are in."

She also said the proposal would "phase in a broad-based consumption tax."

Lower the rates, widen the base and add a consumption tax? All ideas I support, but lower rates plus a new tax that tends to be regressive could upset liberals looking for additional tax rates on millionaires. Read the full story at WSJ.

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Derek Thompson is a senior editor at The Atlantic, where he oversees business coverage for TheAtlantic.com. More

Thompson has written for Slate, BusinessWeek, and the Daily Beast. He has also appeared as a guest on radio and television networks, including NPR, the BBC, CNBC, and MSNBC.

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