Blog: The Fine Print / Revenue & Spending

Less Health Care for Handicapped Kids

Sep 12, 2006 by Matt Lewis

The Bush administration is trying to cut Medicaid through a rule change, instead of asking Congress to enact legislation, yet again. The target now: kids in special education.

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Mounting Frustration with Frist's Fixation

Sep 12, 2006 by Dana Chasin

Congress Daily reported today that dissension within the business community over Bill Frist’s trifecta strategy — his insistence on linking the estate tax cut with the tax credit extensions -- boiled over at a White House meeting last Wednesday.

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Pirates of the Caribbean 3?

Sep 12, 2006 by Matt Lewis

Last week, you may remember that a group of oil companies announced that they discovered a huge new field in the Gulf of Mexico. The field is in federal territory, so the oil companies must take out a lease with the federal government and pay royalties on the oil they drill. Sounds fair, right? Well, despite record profits and high prices, the oil companies may get a massive break on royalties payments. Via Dean Baker, the NY Times has the story.

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OMB Requires Publication of Budget Justifications

Sep 11, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

You may recall back in July that OMB Watch drafted a joint letter with the National Taxpayers Union that was signed by 54 organizations urging the Senate to require that agency budget justifications be publicly available online. See this post for more information.

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S. 2590 Update

Sep 11, 2006 by Matthew Madia

The Bush Administration is showing its support for S. 2590. From an Office of Management and Budget press release: Today, OMB Director Rob Portman applauded the Senate for its unanimous approval of S. 2590, the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006. "Federal funding should be used to achieve measurable results for Americans, and wasteful and ineffective spending should be eliminated. That's why we welcome the Senate's unanimous approval of a bill to increase transparency and accountability. I particularly

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House to Consider Transparency Bill Next Week

Sep 8, 2006 by Matthew Madia

Faster than you can say TGIF, House and Senate negotiators agreed on legislation to increase accountability and transparency by establishing a public database to track federal grants and contracts. Per a press release this afternoon, House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) announced he plans to schedule the agreed-upon language for House floor consideration next week.

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Anticipate Another End Run Around the Budgeting Process for War Funding

Sep 8, 2006 by Craig Jennings

Last night the Senate unanimously passed the Defense appropriations bill. While clocking in at a hefty $470 billion, this appropriations bill is indeed a very large one, but I want to draw your attention to the $50 billion line item for spending on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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IRS Commissioner Everson Pursues Failed Scheme

Sep 8, 2006 by Craig Jennings

To keep you informed of IRS Commissioner Mark Everson's latest antics, we bring you this from American Public Media's Marketplace. Yesterday, they aired a great piece on the outsourcing of IRS collections. The nut of the story is this: The IRS wants to outsource the job of collecting outstanding taxes due and let the collection agency keep a percent of haul.

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A Transparent Effort

Sep 8, 2006 by Matthew Madia

Now that S. 2590, the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, has cleared the Senate, it is now time to praise all blogs and watchdogs who helped expose the Senators who had the holds on the bill. In the words of S. 2590 co-sponsor, Bill (Blogmeister) Frist: "I want to thank my colleagues and those in the blogosphere that were working so passionately to get this piece of legislation passed in a timely manner… A tremendous effort from the blogosphere." The Hill named names behind the effort. Let the credits roll:

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Guess What They're Privatizing Now?

Sep 8, 2006 by Matt Lewis

Privatization comes to the...labor department? Several leading women’s organizations, including the Coalition of Labor Union Women, are vigorously protesting the latest scheme by GOP President George W. Bush and his Labor Secretary Elaine Chao to downsize and outsource much of her department’s Women’s Bureau. In an Aug. 1 letter initiated by the National Council of Women’s Organizations and Wider Opportunities for Women, the groups call on Chao to reverse planned budget cuts at the Women’s Bureau and instead give it increased money in the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.

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