The Wall Street Sales Tax

As policymakers in Washington, DC continue to debate our nation's budget priorities, some of the options currently being considered are cuts in Social Security benefits, education and health programs, important investments in transportation infrastructure and health research, and anti-poverty programs, among many others.

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CBO Report Reveals Economic Damage Done by Deficit Reduction

A new report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), released Feb. 5, reveals that the federal budget deficit is now on track to drop below $1 trillion for the first time in several years. It is expected to drop further for several more years without any additional efforts at deficit reduction. However, this drop has been bought at a significant cost, including substantially reduced economic growth and higher unemployment.

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Congress Sets Stage for Second Budget Showdown

On Jan. 23, the House of Representatives sidestepped a battle over the debt ceiling and prepared itself instead for a coming fight over sequestration and a possible government shutdown. The No Budget, No Pay Act (H.R. 325), passed by the House, suspends the debt ceiling until May 18 and ties congressional pay to passage of budget resolutions in the House and Senate by April 15.

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Spending Cuts Loom Large as Budget Debate Continues

Resolution of last year's "fiscal cliff" fight was achieved in the first few hours of the new year with a tax package that made permanent 82 percent of the Bush-era’s tax cuts. This may have made a "grand bargain" on the deficit that balances tax and spending provisions much more difficult to achieve and heightened the likelihood of more spending cuts.

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White House and Federal Agencies Could Manage Effects of Automatic Spending Cuts in Early 2013

The White House and federal agencies have multiple tools to temporarily postpone most of the impacts of across-the-board spending cuts, known as "sequestration," scheduled to take place on Jan. 2, 2013, if budget talks during the congressional lame-duck session break down, according to a new OMB Watch analysis released Nov. 2.

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White House, Agencies Can Manage Effects of Automatic Spending Cuts in Early 2013

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2, 2012—A new analysis by OMB Watch released today outlines the remedies available to minimize the effects of automatic spending cuts that will go into effect if the budget impasse in Congress continues into 2013. The White House and executive branch agencies have multiple tools to temporarily postpone most of the impacts of the automatic cuts scheduled to take place on Jan. 2, 2013, if budget talks during the lame-duck session break down.

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Conservatives' Tax Strategy: Use Economic Fears to Cut Taxes for the Wealthy

Congressional conservatives have revealed their negotiating strategy for dealing with the fiscal cliff slope: scare the public and congressional Democrats into a deal that reduces the deficit through spending cuts alone. These fears have been blown out of proportion. A fiscal Armageddon will not happen on Jan. 1, 2013.

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Passing Over the "Fiscal Cliff" in Early 2013 Seems Increasingly Likely

While the outcome of the 2012 election will still ultimately decide next steps on the federal budget, a status-quo election that leaves Democrats in control of the presidency and Republicans in control of the House of Representatives seems likely to produce a budget stalemate that will last through the rest of the year and will trigger a "fiscal cliff" of spending cuts and tax increases in the new year.

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New OMB Watch Analysis Indicates that Current Low Estate Tax Rates Are Unaffordable, Should Be Rolled Back to Earlier Levels

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2012—In a new analysis published today, OMB Watch makes the case for a strong, effective estate tax. The analysis lays out the importance of the tax in raising federal revenues and the ongoing budget debate and presents options for moving forward on the estate tax as the expiration of the Bush tax cuts looms at the end of the year.

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Tax Treatment of Capital Gains and Stock Trades Receives Attention as Congress Considers Tax Reform

On Sept. 20, the two congressional tax-writing committees held a joint hearing on the tax treatment of capital gains – gains on assets such as stocks, real estate, and other forms of wealth. The combined hearing – which brought together members of the Republican-controlled House Ways and Means Committee with members of the Democratically controlled Senate Finance Committee – demonstrated the commitment of both parties to address tax reform issues soon after the elections. Such reforms may come as part of a larger budget package intended to prevent the federal government from going over a "fiscal cliff" on Jan. 2, when a host of Bush era-tax cuts are set to expire and across-the-board spending cuts required by the 2011 Budget Control Act will go into effect.

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