Blog: The Fine Print / Revenue & Spending

Congress Votes to Extend Bush's Tax Cuts

Sep 27, 2004 by Guest Blogger

The House and Senate voted overwhelmingly on the evening of September 23 to extend three tax cuts amounting to $146 billion total, with $13 billion set aside for a variety of business tax breaks. Because the costs of the tax cuts are not offset at all, many believe that they will end up hurting the middle class in the long run.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a report highlighting how the "middle class" tax cuts will likely end up making the middle class net losers, once the cost of paying for the tax cuts is considered. The report can be read here.

The legisltation, which was passed 92-3 in the Senate and 339-65 in the House, extends the $1,000 per-child tax credit and tax breaks for married couples, and prevents the 10 percent income tax bracket from being applied to smaller amounts of earned income. The legislation also extends alternative minimum tax relief for one year.

Click here to read a Washington Post article with further details on the new tax legislation.

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CTJ and ITEP Release Important New Report

Sep 23, 2004 by Guest Blogger

On September 22nd, Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy released an important report highlighting the taxes paid - or not paid - by many of the county's largest companies.

The report can be downloaded here.

BUSH POLICIES DRIVE SURGE IN CORPORATE TAX FREELOADING

Eighty two of America's largest and most profitable corporations paid no federal income tax in at least one year during the first three years of the George W. Bush administration. This is one of the many troubling findings of this major new report on corporate tax avoidance.

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Watcher: September 20th, 2004

Sep 21, 2004 by Guest Blogger

Federal Budget

  • Appropriators Continue Slow Pace
  • Economy and Jobs Watch: Cyclically Adjusted Deficit Reaches Record High
  • Return of a 'CYA' Budget Policy
  • Congress Defies White House, Saves Overtime For Millions

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Oppose Balanced Budget Amendment

Sep 21, 2004 by Guest Blogger

The full House Judiciary Committee met on September 22 to consider, once again, the ill-fated Balanced Budget Amendment (H. J. RES. 22). While the Committee did meet to debate the amendment, they ended the session without making any decisions. The issue will most likely be revisted by the House Committee sometime next week, although it is currently unknown exactly when. Regardless of one’s opinions about the wisdom of balancing the budget or running massive deficits, the Balanced Budget Amendment currently being debated in the House Judiciary Committee is exceptionally bad economic policy.

Max B. Sawicky, an Economic Policy Institute budget and fiscal policy expert, said “The rush to force future Congresses to wear the balanced budget straitjacket comes from a fundamental misunderstanding about deficits."

Sawicky sent a letter to House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner, presenting a detailed, economists’ eye view of how moderate-sized deficits have historically been an important tool for stimulating economic growth, especially in times of recession. He points out that even the weak growth that has occurred in the recent recovery would likely have been choked off if the amendment now under consideration were already in place.

A constitutionally mandated requirement to balance the budget every year would have terrible economic consequences. It would destabilize the economy by amplifying downturns in the business cycle, and restrict the nation's ability to invest in projects that would yield significant benefits in the future.

In addition, more than 1,000 economists have publicly opposed the amendment, including 11 Nobel laureates. A letter oulining this opposition was coordinated by the Economic Policy Institute in 1997; a press release can be found here.

For more information on the amendment, click here to read a treasury Department memo by Brad DeLong.

Take action on this issue! Send a fax to the House Judiciary Committee, telling them that a balanced budget amendment is a fiscally irresponsible economic policy.

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Tell Congress To Save Overtime Rights

Sep 8, 2004 by Guest Blogger

Congress has an opportunity to undo the administration's rollback of overtime protections. A final rule from the Department of Labor would disqualify over 6 million workers from overtime protections. An amendment to the Labor appropriations bill, proposed by Congressman David Obey, would restore overtime rights while preserving an inflation adjustment to the minimum salary that determines automatic overtime eligibility.

OMB Watch stands by the proposition that the federal government should use its regulatory powers to serve the public interest. The Department of Labor has not lived up to that obligation during the course of this administration. For example, DOL’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has yet to produce a single economically significant protection of worker health and safety, even as it has abandoned work on many proposals to address documented needs. The Bush administration’s overtime regulations are the latest example of this overall failure to serve workers’ needs. Fortunately, Congress has an opportunity—the Obey amendment—to stop DOL from further harming the labor force it is charged with protecting.

Tell Congress to save overtime rights and support the Obey amendment! Click here to send a message to your members of Congress.

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Watcher: September 7th, 2004

Sep 8, 2004 by Guest Blogger

Federal Budget

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CBO Confirms Record Deficits

Sep 7, 2004 by Guest Blogger


The CBO today released its semi-annual budget update. The report confirms record deficits of $422 billion for 2004.

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Poverty on the Rise

Aug 26, 2004 by Guest Blogger

The Census Bureau today released updated income and poverty data. The news is not good.

Among the findings:

  • "Real median household money income did not change from 2002 to 2003.1
  • ...the share of aggregate income received by the lowest 20 percent of households had a slight reduction – from 3.5 percent to 3.4 percent.
  • The ratio of female-to-male earnings in 2003 for full-time, year-round workers was 76 percent, a decline from 77 percent in 2002, because of a decline in the earnings of female year-round full-time workers.
  • The official poverty rate rose, from 12.1 percent in 2002 to 12.5 percent in 2003. The number in poverty increased also, by 1.3 million people, to 35.9 million in 2003.2.
  • The poverty rates for people 18 to 64 and those 65 and older remained unchanged, but the poverty rate for children rose from 16.7 percent in 2002 to 17.6 percent in 2003."

See the full report from the Census Bureau.

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Recent Trends in Nonprofit Employment and Earnings 1990-2004

Aug 24, 2004 by Guest Blogger

New Report: "Recent _fcksavedurl=>"Recent Trends in Nonprofit Employment and Earnings: 1990-2004" This report examines the recent history of employment and compensation trends in the nonprofit sector, from 1990 to 2004. It finds that while the nonprofit sector held up well in the 2001 recession and its recent aftermath, the more recent experience has been troubling. Employment growth has come to a near standstill over the past year. In addition, and perhaps more troubling, there have been declines in average hours worked, weekly earnings, and hourly wages. Data on individual states also confirm the general nationwide pattern. Read More.

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