Last week Sen. Max Baucus apparently began circulating a reform plan to counter Sen. Kyl's proposal, which will most likely be offered up next week after a vote on estate tax repeal. Baucus' counteroffer includes a graduated tax rate structure, setting rates at 15, 25, and 35 percent depending on the size of the estate. Baucus' offer, which would likely retain more of the revenue than Kyl's plan, would still likely prove to be insufficient in both keeping the tax code truly progressive and raising enough revenue to fund national priorities.

Last fall, the OpenTheGovernment.org coalition assembled a lengthy list of organizations and individuals, both liberal and conservative, who wrote to President Bush to urge him to put information about how Hurricane Katrina relief funds were being allocated (read the letter). This year, a new effort for increased transparency of federal funds spearheaded by four Senators is making its way through Congress. This effort will make all federal grant and contract information available to the public free of charge in a searchable, downloadable online format.

Bush has named Goldman Sachs CEO Henry M. Paulson to replace John Snow as Secretary of Treasury. The other shoe finally dropped when John Snow resigned Tuesday. Rumors of Snow’s resignation have been circulating since December 2004 when HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson stepped down.

Secretary of the Treasury John Snow is will be stepping down from his position sometime over the next few days, he has told the White House. He plans to stay no later than July 3. Snow, a former railroad executive who a source says is excited to get back to the private sector, has been little more than a yes-man for this administration's policies. He has enthusiastically promoted extremely regressive business tax breaks and has done little to proactively fight what is turning into a cycle of continuing budget deficits. Director of Federal Fiscal Policy at OMB Watch Adam Hughes has stated: