A second option reduces the interest rate to a fixed rate of about 6.25 percent, while the face value of the loan remains the same.

Still, it is not easy to calculate whether exercising such options will reduce costs.

Chapters 2 and 3 present options that would reduce mandatory and discretionary spending, respectively.

One option would reduce a loan by 30 percent and offer guarantees on principal and interest payments.

For example, options are usually not treated as an expense and thus do not reduce earnings.

The option would also reduce the standing size of the military as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down.

This option would reduce the value of some of those breaks to high-income households.

Two years earlier, options reduced corporations' taxes by $27.6 billion.

The third option would also reduce benefits for the more affluent.

It is incredibly important that these options for taking account of local or regional variations should not reduce the proposal's level of ambition.