David Ditch

United States

Senior Policy Analyst at Heritage Foundation

Analyst covering federal spending, debt, infrastructure @Heritage; tweeted opinions are mine. Fan of struggling causes (limited government & Buffalo Bills).

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Articles

Understanding President Trump’s FY 2026 Discretionary Funding Request

1 week ago | epicforamerica.org | David Ditch

The Trump administration has produced its discretionary funding request for fiscal year (FY) 2026, giving guidance to Congress for the annual appropriations process. While this “skinny budget” is smaller than the full budget, it will help inform negotiations on “topline” (total) levels for overall spending and major accounts.
House Education & Workforce Committee Delivers Student Loan Reforms

2 weeks ago | epicforamerica.org | David Ditch

The House Education and Workforce Committee has produced a set of recommendations that represent the largest student loan reform in history. Written as part of the reconciliation process, it could deliver more than $351 billion in savings. In addition to providing much-needed deficit reduction, the policies would also change higher education in ways that make it fairer and address bad incentives that have warped the system for decades.
Welfare for States: Refuting “Bring Home the Bacon” Myths

2 weeks ago | epicforamerica.org | David Ditch

Despite growing debt and unsustainable deficits, the federal government sends over $1 trillion per year to state and local governments. The dozens of federal aid programs are both unnecessary and unaffordable. Unfortunately, many legislators struggle to support reductions to subsidies that might affect their state or district, even if they agree with the policy change in principle.
If You Hate Taxes, Fight Spending

1 month ago | epicforamerica.org | David Ditch |Amelia Kuntzman |Sarah Wagoner

While many things have changed since America announced its independence in 1776, one has remained constant: Americans hate paying taxes. This has acted as a partial brake on the growth of the size and scope of government. The type of heavy across-the-board levies needed to fuel European-style welfare states are politically out-of-bounds in the U.S.However, the joy that officials get from spending other people’s money is the same all over the world.
Is it True the Rich Don't Pull Their Weight When it Comes to Paying Taxes?

1 month ago | epicforamerica.org | Amelia Kuntzman |Sarah Wagoner |Matthew Dickerson |David Ditch

Tax Day: the United States federal government collects trillions of hard-earned dollars and Americans walk away feeling that the system is rigged. According to a Pew Research survey, 61% of Americans say they feel that some rich people do not pay their fair share in taxes. Do lower income brackets take a hit while the rich get off easy? The 2021 tax data from the Congressional Budget Office appears to tell a different story.
Interest on the Debt Surging Past National Defense

1 month ago | epicforamerica.org | David Ditch |Matthew Dickerson

For most of America’s history, national defense was the largest part of the federal budget. This is no longer the case as “autopilot” spending now consumes a majority of tax dollars and an unsustainably growing share of the economy. More disturbingly, a single aspect of autopilot spending – interest on the national debt –exceeded defense spending in fiscal year 2024.
FY 2026 Appropriations: Three Principles for Savings

1 month ago | epicforamerica.org | David Ditch

As part of the annual spending process, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees consider adjustments to thousands of spending accounts. The most important input comes from members of Congress, such as through the request portal for the House of Representatives. Most of the requests that appropriators receive are to increase spending, with much less input identifying low-priority federal activities to cut or eliminate. Given the perilous state of federal finances this is unsustainable.
Congress Must Pump the Brakes on Spending to Avoid a Disastrous Future

1 month ago | epicforamerica.org | David Ditch |Matthew Dickerson

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has published a new report, The Long-Term Budget Outlook: 2025 to 2055. Using a “baseline” that assumes federal spending broadly follows trends while tax policy follows statute – a practice biased in favor of spending – CBO makes projections regarding key budgetary benchmarks. The picture it paints about America’s future is nothing short of bleak.
Welfare for States: Unnecessary, Unaffordable Federal Handouts

1 month ago | epicforamerica.org | David Ditch |Matthew Dickerson

As America’s citizens and legislators consider how to address the federal government potentially hurtling over the fiscal cliff, it is urgent to examine where Washington funnels public resources. One such area is federal aid to state and local governments. A multitude of federal programs and bureaus exist to funnel tax dollars to other levels of government.
“Washington Math” & Why Medicaid Savings Are Not Cuts

1 month ago | epicforamerica.org | David Ditch |Matthew Dickerson |Paul Winfree |Brian Blase

Congress is weighing reforms to Medicaid with a goal of saving up to $880 billion as part of the budgetary reconciliation process. Left-leaning legislators have decried the potential Medicaid savings as “deep cuts” or “eviscerating” the program. In reality, Medicaid spending would still increase – just by a smaller amount. This is a perfect example of “Washington Math” which assumes that all types of government spending increase every year.