Inheritance Tax Renewal to Be Part of "Fiscal Cliff" Discussions

With the federal budget on the precipice of a "fiscal cliff" of pending budget cuts and tax increases that could take place starting Jan. 2 and tip the economy into recession, many budget watchers are waiting on the outcome of this year's elections to determine how to proceed. One issue up for discussion is the renewal of the inheritance tax (also known as the estate tax).

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Automatic Defense Cuts No Threat to National Security

Unless Congress acts to undo the $110 billion in automatic, across-the-board spending cuts scheduled to take effect early next year, most federal programs will be cut by about eight percent. These cuts are the unfortunate product of crisis budgeting and will have deleterious impacts on many Americans, but harm to national defense won't be one of them.

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Student Loan Interest "Fix" Not a Solution to Longer-Term Problems

Just before they left town for the July 4th break, members of Congress finally voted to prevent a doubling of student loan interest rates for one year with mere hours to spare. Unfortunately, they paid for it by reducing other educational programs. If we want an educated workforce in the future, we need more permanent fixes to make college affordable for Americans.

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Policy Riders: Bringing Transparency to a Shadowy Legislative Process

Schoolhouse Rock was only partly correct: getting a bill through Congress is just one way to turn proposals into law. Another way to write your policy demands into law is to hide them in the funding bills Congress passes every year to keep the government running. These “policy riders” in appropriations bills are temporary, but they establish new policies just like normal laws. Their use effectively shuts the public out of important policy discussions, and they undermine the openness of the legislative process. To remedy this practice, Congress can take some lessons learned from its reforms of the earmarking process.

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Student Loan Interest Fight Highlights Competing Values

According to a recent study by the Pew Center on the States, Americans believe access to a quality education is the most important way the government can help people get ahead. Next year, reaching that goal could become more difficult. With the federal student loan interest rate set to double to 6.8 percent, college could become much more expensive for millions of students. Both parties in Congress have said they want to keep the lower rate, but they are far apart on how to find the $6 billion annually to pay for the loan subsidies.

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Cutting Costs and Courting Contamination: What Food Safety Budget Cuts Mean for Public Safety

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the federal regulator of meat, poultry, and egg products, faces resource limitations that make it more difficult for the agency to ensure the safety of the food supply. New plans to cut costs could have severe consequences for public health and safety.

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Buffett Rule Targets Capital Gains

On April 16, the Senate voted on a bill that would have enshrined the “Buffett Rule” in the tax code, which would have ensured that millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share of taxes. With the bill’s defeat, Congress should consider other options to increase tax fairness.

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Congressional Progressive Caucus and Ryan Revenue Proposals: Two Sides of the Budget Coin

The fiscal year (FY) 2013 budgets proposed by the House Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Chair of the House Budget Committee, are perfect examples of the fact that budgets are about choices. The revenue proposals in each serve as a study of opposites. Where the Ryan budget would double down on the Bush tax cuts and provide huge windfalls to the country’s wealthiest, the CPC’s proposal – The Budget for All – would ask those with the most wealth to help fund important investments in our public structures.

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Cutting Oil and Gas Tax Subsidies a Small but Responsible Step

There are few subsidies more polarizing than those for oil and gas drilling. Increasingly, however, the public tide seems to be turning against the subsidies. The president has been targeting them for repeal, and last week, the Senate came just a few votes shy of ending a slew of tax subsidies for oil and gas companies. While the subsidies are small compared to the forecasted $10.7 trillion 10-year deficit, ending the give-away to oil and gas companies that currently enjoy record-setting profits is a popular and fiscally responsible choice.

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Product Safety Regulator May Lack Resources to Implement New Mandates, Safeguards

Although the nation's premier consumer product regulator, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), has been crippled by budget cuts and staffing losses in the past, it has seen increases in its resources and responsibilities since 2008. However, advocates argue that a much larger influx is required to ensure that the CPSC has the resources it needs to protect Americans and eliminate dangerous products from the marketplace.

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