Blog: The Fine Print / Revenue & Spending

Halfway Done, FY 2008 Congressional Earmarks Cut in Half

Sep 13, 2007 by Dana Chasin

It's only a halftime score, but with all 12 of the House FY 2008 appropriations bills adopted, the total number and dollar value of the congressional earmarks included in these bills -- 6,651 earmarks worth $7.95 billion -- is down by about half from the 13,492 congressional earmarks totaling $18.94 billion in FY 2005. These numbers reflect calculations based on data from the official OMB earmarks website. Caveat: the site contains a full accounting of earmarks only for FY 2005, and only for congressionally-requested earmarks (omitting all executive branch earmarks requests).

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JEC Press Release Touts Flawed Inequality Measure

Sep 13, 2007 by Craig Jennings

Doing the work of his moneyed constituency, Joint Economic Committee ranking member Rep. Jim Saxton (R-NJ) issued a press release this week proclaiming that inequality in American remains unchanged since 2001. Citing the Census Bureau's latest Gini Coefficient, a numerical measure of income inequality, Saxon warns Congress about enacting any legislation aimed at curbing inequality.

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Anchored SCHIP

Sep 13, 2007 by Matt Lewis

CQ (subscription) reports that negotiations over SCHIP between the Houe and Senate have stalled. Lawmakers left the Capitol on Wednesday in a stalemate over children's health insurance, increasing the likelihood of a short-term extension of the program's funding.

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National Debt Limit Approaches 14-Digit Mark

Sep 12, 2007 by Dana Chasin

To follow up on yesterday's post, Debt on Arrival, the Senate Finance committee acted today, voice voting to increase the debt limit by $850 billion to close to $10 trillion. That's a 14-digit figure, in case you are counting.

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Medicare's Auditing Priorities

Sep 12, 2007 by Matt Lewis

There was an interesting article in the NYT about Medicare overpayments to insurance companies, many of which are a part of the Medicare Advantage plans that the House proposed to trim. In 2003, Medicare audited 49 of the 220 organizations participating in the program. Auditors found significant errors at 41 companies, but Medicare officials took no action on the findings. As a result of the errors, the auditors said, insurers kept "$59 million that beneficiaries could have received in additional benefits, lower co-payments or lower premiums." The report did not identify the companies.

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"Birnbaum," Italicized

Sep 12, 2007 by Dana Chasin

In his story on last week's House Ways & Means Committee hearing on the carried interest tax loophole, "More Opposed to Equity Tax Plan,"More Opposed to Equity Tax Plan," Washington Post reporter Jeffrey Birnbaum misstates some key facts and mischaracterizes others. [Incidentally, the Post editors almost got the headline right. "More Opposed to Equity Tax Plan" implies the plan is a tax on equity, which it is not. "More Opposed to Tax Equity Plan," would be much more accurate, but it would highlight the weakness of the position.]

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Watcher: September 12, 2007

Sep 12, 2007 by Matt Lewis

href="/article/articleview/3974/"> Nussle Approved as Budget Head, Faces Task of Completing FY 2008 Budget In the Senate's first vote following the August recess, former Rep. Jim Nussle (R-IA) was confirmed as director of the Office and Management and Budget (OMB), target="_blank">69-24, with all Republican senators voting in favor of Nussle and the Democrats split down the middle. Notably, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Appropriations Committee Chair Robert Byrd (D-WV), and Senate Budget Committee Chair Kent Conrad (D-ND) voted against the

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Debt on Arrival

Sep 11, 2007 by Dana Chasin

The country's single most sobering fiscal milestone -- or millstone -- may be when the national debt reaches another trillion dollars. During the United States' first 225 years in existence, such an occasion has transpired five times -- when Bill Clinton left office, the national debt was $5.95 trillion. During the presidency of George W. Bush, it has occurred four times. The fifth time is a grim inevitability sometime this fall, with the Senate prepared to increase the statutory debt limit to nearly $10 trillion, a new all-time record, in the next few weeks.

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Monster Nonsense: Norquist Outdoes Novak

Sep 11, 2007 by Dana Chasin

In an op-ed yesterday's New York Sun, Confronting His Monster, Grover Norquist, the Frankenstein of modern conservative tax policy points his fickle finger at the man he says "created, fed, defended ... a monster," the Alternative Minimum Tax -- none other than (drumroll please): that's right, Charlie Rangel! Is this better than Novak or what? "Hold" on -- let's be fair minded and consider Mr. Norquist's three claims on the merits:
  • Created: Norquist notes, "The AMT was created in 1969." Charlie Rangel was elected to Congress the following year.

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Links

Sep 11, 2007 by Matt Lewis

The Washington Monthly has two interesting articles on how to reduce the cost of health care- and at the same time, expand coverage and improve quality. Proof once again that there are humane and just ways to deal with the long-term fiscal gap. Jason Furman, of the Brookings Institution's Hamilton Project, testified to Congress on the real "dynamic" affect of the regressive Bush tax cuts- they'll be a net loss for three-quarters of all taxpayers, who'll be burdened with paying them off in taxes and benefit cuts over the long haul. In other words, tax cuts don't pay for themselves- people do.

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