Blog: The Fine Print / Revenue & Spending
Why Non-Defense Discretionary Spending Keeps Getting Cut
May 23, 2013 by Nick Schwellenbach
The biggest difference among the three budget plans that official Washington is currently considering is spending for non-defense discretionary programs, which includes education, infrastructure, food safety, environmental protection and other essential public investments the public says it wants government to continue to make. A chart created by the Congressional Budget Office – shows the differences between President Obama and Senate Democrats’ budget plans versus the House Republican spending blueprint.
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The Lack of Jobs Is the Problem, Not Deficits
May 15, 2013 by Nick Schwellenbach
Budget deficits are shrinking at a breakneck pace now and will continue to do so over the next several years, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which released its latest projections on the budget and the economy on May 14. Meanwhile, we have anemic jobs growth that’s worse than it should be, in large part because of all the extreme deficit reduction measures we’ve seen over the last few years.
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Without Austerity, More Americans Would Have Jobs
May 10, 2013 by Nick Schwellenbach
As if Americans needed anymore confirmation that austerity is holding the economy back, The New York Times this week reported that the consensus among private financial analysts – as well as by the International Monetary Fund and the U.S. Federal Reserve and others – is that sequestration and earlier spending cuts are translating into fewer jobs and a worse economy for the nation overall.
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Tax Havens, Animated
Apr 11, 2013 by Patrick Lester
Tax Havens 101: The high cost of going offshore, an animation by The Washington Post, illustrates how offshore tax havens allow investors to legally – and quite easily – dodge taxes and accountability. This loophole costs our country billions in lost revenue. A recent report by U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) found that these tax havens cost the average taxpayer $1,026 and each small business $3,067 each year.
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New Bowles-Simpson Deficit Plan Emphasizes Spending Cuts
Feb 21, 2013 by Patrick Lester
Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, co-chairs of a presidentially appointed bipartisan commission that failed to reach agreement on a deficit reduction plan in 2010, released a new plan on Feb. 19 to reduce the federal deficit by an additional $2.4 trillion over the next ten years. Most of the proposed new deficit reduction is achieved through spending cuts.
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Democrats Release Plans to Prevent Sequestration
Feb 15, 2013 by Patrick Lester
On Feb. 14, congressional Democrats unveiled legislation that would cancel across-the-board spending cuts, called sequestration, which are currently scheduled to begin on March 1. The two bills include $120 billion in alternative spending cuts and revenue increases to offset the cost of canceling sequestration.
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Latest Economic Report Highlights Dangers of Further Austerity
Feb 1, 2013 by Patrick Lester
The latest official estimate of U.S. economic growth, released Jan. 30 by the U.S. Department of Commerce, has provided further proof that budgetary austerity in the midst of a weak economic recovery makes little sense. Despite this, with Congress still considering further budget cuts and across-the-board cuts (called sequestration) scheduled to begin on March 1, there is little evidence that federal policymakers are aware of how much damage they may be doing to the economy.
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CEO of Alcoa Embraces Regulations as Good for Business, the Economy
Jan 18, 2013 by Katie Greenhaw
The fact that public protections can increase productivity, spur innovation, and encourage creation of new markets is not news to us – or, apparently, to business leaders. New standards can create incentives to improve technologies and manufacturing processes
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Report: Corporate CEOs Pushing Tax Reforms that Would Reduce Firms' Taxes by $134 Billion
Nov 19, 2012 by Craig Jennings
A new report by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) says that the CEOs backing the "Fix the Debt" campaign could see their companies' bottom lines boosted by $134 billion if they get their way on corporate tax reform.
The report, The CEO Campaign to 'Fix' the Debt, examines one particular element of the Fix the Debt campaign that is a favorite of corporate tax cutters – a move toward a "territorial" tax system.
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Payroll Tax Cut Extension Back on the Table?
Nov 5, 2012 by Craig Jennings
House Budget Committee Ranking Member Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) made a few waves in October when he said that the payroll tax cut should be extended beyond the end of the year. Van Hollen noted that, given the state of the economy, extending the payroll tax cut would put money into the "pockets of working Americans who actually go out and spend that money."
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