We haven't directly mentioned this yet here, but the inclusion of language opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on the defense appropriations bill is an awful decision. Not only is the provision not related to the defense appropriations bill (and therefore should be struck through a procedural challege), but it is also a crude, callous, and reprehensible attempt by Sen.

The tax gap is the gap between personal income and adjusted gross income (AGI), and it is currently the highest it has been in 46 years worth of data analyzed by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The U.S. Senate is supposed to be spending 10 hours today debating the budget cuts reconciliation bill. But a substantial portion of the debate has been spent sparring over the reauthorization of the U.S. Patriot Act and the inclusion of ANWR in the Defense Appropriations bill. While these are certainly very important debates to be had, it's hard to understand why the debate is not about the budget cuts. Do Senators not have anything to say about the cuts? Do they think the changes they will vote for shortly are unimportant? Are Senators ashamed of what they are proposing in this bill?

Below is a list of cuts in the budget reconciliation bill currently being debated on the Senate floor:

• Medicaid: Low-income families will have to pay more than they can afford for medical care under Medicaid and face shrinking benefits.
• SSI: People with disabilities will have to wait as long as a year to receive the back SSI benefits they are owed because the government has taken so long to approve their application.