금융위기에 따른 재정적자의 축소를 위한 미국의 최신 입법동향 －재정건전성 회복 차원의 2010년 법제정비추진노력을 중심으로－

In response to the financial crisis stemmed in part from a mortgage-backed spending spree, the U.S. government poured huge amount of governmental budget into economy to cope with domestic economic slump. Since the U.S. continue to be saddled with snowballing fiscal deficits and thus tries to prop up its troubled economy through stimulus steps, the ratio of national debt to gross domestic product (GDP) for the U.S. is getting worse and worse. In order to restore fiscal health by cutting spending and raising taxes, Barack Obama the President of the U.S. has been a strong advocate for sound budget practices. The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 was enacted with purpose of strengthening the fiscal discipline of the federal government. PAYGO rule expired as a law in 2002 but is revived as a federal statutory law. As part of the financial reform package, Obama government has suggested the Volcker Rule which insists on limiting proprietary trading by commercial banks and serves as a measure to reduce the risk, size and complexity of large financial institutions. However, the Rule is not brand-new but similar to the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act. Also, President Obama proposed legislation to advance say-on-pay which curbs extravagant compensation. Even though shareholders' say-on-pay is nonbinding say on executive compensation, it can be a useful tool for shareholders to strengthen the link between CEO pay and performance. President Obama put forward a proposal of the Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee to be imposed on the debt of the largest financial firms in order to reimburse taxpayers the extraordinary assistance they provided to Wall Street during the financial crisis. After the Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee is incorporated into tax laws, the largest firms with the most debt will bear the brunt of the heaviest tax burden.