Blog: The Fine Print / Revenue & Spending

Senate to Begin Appropriations Process Week of June 17

Jun 7, 2013 by Patrick Lester

The Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to begin consideration of annual appropriations bills starting the week of June 17, according to The Hill.

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Offshore Tax Havens May Be Addressed at G8 Summit

Jun 7, 2013 by Jessica Schieder

The issue of offshore tax havens appears likely to play a central role at the annual multinational G8 summit, set to begin June 17. On this side of the Atlantic, Apple’s recent high profile testimony before Congress brought media attention to the issue. The hearing called attention to strategies of “tax avoidance” that saved Apple more than $8 billion in taxes in 2009, 2010, and 2011.

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Center for American Progress Report Challenges Austerity

Jun 6, 2013 by Patrick Lester

The Center for American Progress (CAP), an organization that is generally supportive of Obama administration policies, has decided to part ways with the administration on the need for continued deficit reduction. In a new report, "It's Time to Hit the Rest Button on the Fiscal Debate," the organization argues that it is time to shift from deficit reduction to growing the U.S. economy.

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Boehner Charges Obama With Threatening Government Shutdown

Jun 6, 2013 by Patrick Lester

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) accused President Obama of threatening a government shutdown on June 6. The charge came after the administration issued veto threats against two spending bills that are consistent with a broader House GOP effort to shift further budget cuts from defense spending to domestic programs.

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White House Threatens to Veto GOP Spending Bills

Jun 5, 2013 by Patrick Lester

The White House has issued veto threats against two pending House spending bills, one funding the Department of Homeland Security (H.R. 2217) and another funding military construction and veterans affairs (H.R. 2216).

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Are Defense Department Civilians Behind the DOD’s Spending Problem? Not So Much

Jun 5, 2013 by Nick Schwellenbach

On June 3, 25 defense analysts from several think tanks announced that there are three areas of defense reform consensus:

  • Closing down unnecessary military bases and facilities
  • Reforming military compensation
  • Shrinking the number of Department of Defense (DOD) civilian employees

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To Avoid More Bridges Collapsing, We Need More Infrastructure Investment

May 24, 2013 by Nick Schwellenbach

The Interstate 5 (I-5) highway bridge collapse—which sent cars and people into the Skagit River without any fatalities—near Mount Vernon in Washington State should be a stark reminder that we urgently need to expand investments into repairing and upgrading our nation’s infrastructure.

The need is immense.

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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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