Blog: The Fine Print / Revenue & Spending

Progressivity, Part II: The Payroll Perspective

Apr 18, 2007 by Dana Chasin

Following up on yesterday look at progressivity's tipping point: The Tax Policy Center released an article last week revealing that 65.9 percent of all "tax units" pay more payroll tax than income tax. The article notes that payroll tax is regressive with respect to current income -- the effective payroll tax rate falls as income rises. The income tax, in contrast, is progressive, even considering the deductions, loopholes, and other flattening provisions. Query: how long has the majority of taxpayers paid more in payroll than income tax, and whither is the trend tending?

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News or Tea Leaves on Min. Wage Tax Breaks?

Apr 18, 2007 by Dana Chasin

Today's Wall Street Journal includes an odd squib, Bill to Raise Minimum Wage Might Include Tax Breaks. It opens, "Democratic tax writers hope to reach a deal on a minimum-wage bill that would include about $5 billion in tax breaks to help businesses affected by the higher pay levels."

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Everson Stepping Down

Apr 18, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Breaking News: IRS Commissioner Mark Everson to step down...

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More on the Politics of IRS Privatization

Apr 18, 2007 by Matt Lewis

The American Prospect has posted an excellent article on the IRS privatization program- particularly all the shady and suspicious political donations that seem -but have not been proven- to be the driving force behind the program. Also, the article sheds some light on one of the mysteries of the privatization program- that it's found a staunch supporter in Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN) (emph. mine).

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Supplemental II: Pelosi Mulls Senate Withdrawal 'Goal'

Apr 18, 2007 by Dana Chasin

Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly (CQ $) met with key House Democrats and members of the Out of Iraq Caucus Tuesday to discuss reconciling differences regarding Iraq troop withdrawal language in the House and Senate supplemental bills. According to a Democratic aide briefed after the meeting, "The [conference] committee will likely keep the [waivable House] readiness components but take the [non-binding] Senate language on goals" for a withdrawal date.

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Watcher: April 18, 2007

Apr 18, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Supplemental Debate: War of Words In the weeks since the House and href="/article/blogs/entry/3076/2" target="_blank">Senate each narrowly passed emergency supplemental appropriations bills, the president and congressional Democrats have engaged in a rhetorical battle over additional items above the president's record request, as well as language that would call for a withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Bush has issued almost daily attacks against the bills since they

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A Balanced View of Progressivity's Tipping Point

Apr 17, 2007 by Dana Chasin

Should current trends continue -- from higher payroll taxes to the potential impact of the Alternative Minimum Tax on middle-class earners -- the US system could tip from progressive to flat in a matter of years, at least for the top half of earners. And then tip back again.

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Byrd Adopts DeMint Earmarks Rule for Approrpriations

Apr 17, 2007 by Dana Chasin

This morning, Senate Appropriations chair Robert Byrd (D-WV) announced that his committee would immediately adopt the earmark disclosure rules advocated by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) in S. Res. 123 that we reported on last week. Under the new committee rules,
  • all earmarks in appropriations bills and reports would be identified, with the amount, the sponsor and the recipient of the earmark; the committee bill and report will be published on the Internet

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Selling Taxes: Compounding the Problem

Apr 17, 2007 by Dana Chasin

The very problem that Matt alludes to at the end of his blog below, the inadequate "contextualizing and disaggregating" of fiscal issues by what are called "opinion leaders," is illustrated perfectly in a well-meaning but ultimately wonky piece published yesterday in tompaine.com, Hidden Truths of Progressive Taxes, by George Lakoff, senior fellow at the Rockridge Institute, and Bruce Budner, its ex

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Budget Perception Vs. Reality

Apr 17, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Ask a friend (who doesn't do fiscal policy) to sum up the fiscal policy of the Bush era, and more likely than not, they'll tell you it's been one of "big spending." That's been my experience, at least. And Republican presidential candidates seem to be playing off that perception. Many of them have been issuing a call for greater fiscal discipline, achieved by spending restraint and reductions.

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