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A variety of criteria should be used when evaluating proposals to stimulate the economy:
Federal and state programs help many older people with low incomes. These programs provide access to vital services like income support and health care.
Relief packages for people facing hardships due to economic downturns should be temporary and well-targeted.
How to improve the tax code is the subject of much debate. Proponents of reform often call for increasing fairness and simplicity. But people define those concepts in different ways.
Public-benefit programs should ensure that families headed by grandparents and other caregiver relatives receive sufficient support for economic security and well-being.
Any further efforts to address marriage penalties should be focused on two-earner couples and structured to avoid increasing marriage bonuses.
Policymakers use the tax system to raise revenue and to promote social policy goals. For example, tax breaks may be provided to encourage home ownership.
Policymakers should broaden the tax base by limiting tax preferences that do not efficiently achieve important policy goals.