The Center for Effective Government (formerly OMB Watch) ceased operations as of March 2016. The majority of work and materials has been passed on to the Project On Government Oversight (POGO). This site is being maintained as an archive of materials produced.
Stan Collender, contributing editor of the National Journal, makes two excellent points calling out the White House for their faulty and ideological budget projections in his January 17 column Wolf!(subscription only).
With lobbying and ethics reform proposals starting to abound in Washington, additional details are continuing to emerge about the real difference it makes to have powerful lobbyists with access to unscrupulous lawmakers, particularly at the last minute.
United for a Fair Economy released information yesterday indicating that less than one-third of one percent of all U.S. estates-- or 0.27%-- will be affected by the federal estate tax in 2006. The estate tax exemption rose January 1 from $1.5 million to $2 million ($4 million per couple).
Due to the GOP push for a 1 percent across-the-board cut on FY 2006 discretionary spending, funding for LIHEAP - the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program - is down to $2.16 billion, a significant decrease from last year's $2.18 billion funding level. This figure falls far short of the $5.1 billion authorized by the comprehensive energy law enacted last year, and also far short of the need that exists, particularly in northeastern states.
As this excellent column from Bloomberg.com highlights, there is a gap between the administration's rhetoric and reality when it comes to tackling the long-term budget implications of the rising costs of entitlement spending. Bush spent a lot of time last year making a big deal about the unfunded Social Security liability, and the liability for Medicare is expected to be even greater, with the administration estimating an $11 trillion shortfall.
The federal government posted a budget surplus for December, 2005 for the first time since 2002, according to the Treasury Department. A surge in corporate tax revenues pushed total federal revenues for the month to $241.88 billion, while government spending rose at half the rate of revenues to $230.9 billion.
Al Hubbard, the director of President Bush's National Economic Council, said in an interview that the president does not support a key measure in the tax reforms submitted by the Advisory Panel on Tax Reform. Specifically, the president has rejected a reform that would tax workers on health insurance benefits valued at $11,500 or more for a family; instead advocating for expanding untaxed health savings accounts and increased deductibility of medical expenses. Expanding untaxed health savings accounts would add to the deficit to the tune of $6 billion annually.
At their recent annual convention, delegates of the National Farm Bureau Federation voted in approval to change the organization's position on the estate tax. The organization now supports raising the estate tax exemption to $10 million (indexed to inflation), from the current $2 million. The Bureau voted on this issue because members of Congress had been pressuring the organization to state what level of exemption its members would accept. At this point, it is not clear what specific tax rate they support.
