Blog: The Fine Print / Revenue & Spending

Appropriations Update: 11 down, 1 to go

Dec 14, 2009 by Sam Rosen-Amy

Last night, in a 57-35 vote, the Senate passed the appropriations omnibus bill, coming one step closer to finishing the FY 2010 appropriations process. The Senate's vote means that all but one of the appropriation bills are done, which is good, since FY 2010 started a couple months ago. The one slight problem is that the last bill to go is the Defense bill, and it's shaping up to be a doozy.

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Christmas Comes Early for the IRS

Dec 11, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

I Pity the Fool that Tries to Avoid Taxes Now

With the House's clearance of the $447 billion omnibus spending bill on Thursday and the Senate expected to pass the same legislation this weekend, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is set to finally get that substantial boost in funding this year.

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Congress to Boost Consumer Product Safety Funding

Dec 10, 2009 by Matthew Madia

In an omnibus appropriations bill quickly moving its way through Congress, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is set to receive a major funding increase for FY 2010 (which began Oct. 1). The bill sets the agency’s budget at $118 million, the highest level allowed under a separate bill that reauthorized the agency in 2008. CPSC’s FY 2009 budget was $105.4 million.

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Task Force on Government Performance to Hold Hearing Today

Dec 10, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

The Senate Budget Committee’s recently inaugurated Task Force on Government Performance will hold a hearing this morning on the benefits of the use of technology in providing results in government performance. This will be the second hearing for the task force and it should be a good one.

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Warp Speed: An Appropriations Update

Dec 9, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

Oink Oink

Last night, as expected, Congress took a giant step toward finishing appropriations this year, as a House and Senate conference committee agreed to a $446.8 billion discretionary omnibus, which includes six of the seven remaining appropriations bills. In addition, the House this afternoon passed, by a vote of 241 to 181, the tax extenders package as a standalone measure rather than attaching it to an appropriations bill; and it's completely paid for!

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COP Evaluates TARP, Gives it a Passing Grade

Dec 9, 2009 by Sam Rosen-Amy

This being December, with school winding down and entering finals period, children everywhere are beginning the biannual tradition of dreading the arrival of their report card. Surprisingly, the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP), the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) oversight group chaired by Prof. Elizabeth Warren, decided to get in on the action themselves this year with their December report. Titled "Taking Stock," the latest installment of COP's monthly report looks back over the life of the program, and examines whether TARP has been effective or not. Reading the report, it looks like COP reluctantly gives the program a passing grade, but isn't entirely happy with TARP's progress so far.

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Appropriations Moving Quickly

Dec 8, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

Dollars and Sense

Today, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Daniel Inouye (D-HI) told reporters that appropriators from both sides of the Capitol would meet later today to hammer out the FY 2010 Transportation-HUD appropriations bill (HR 3288). He also blatantly hinted that the appropriations process would then begin to move fast.

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Open Government Directive Highlights Federal Spending Transparency

Dec 8, 2009 by Craig Jennings

Sean noted earlier today that the Obama Administration released the Open Government Directive this morning. It will have far-reaching implications for government transparency generally, but the directive focuses on federal spending transparency, specifically mentioning Recovery Act transparency as a critical venue for federal government openess.

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CBO Monthly Budget Review, November 2009

Dec 7, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

IT'S THAT BAD!

On Friday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its Monthly Budget Review (MBR) for November. With the first two months of the fiscal year behind us, CBO found that the government added $292 billion to the federal debt. Someone let Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) and the rest of the recently converted budget hawks in Congress know they have more fuel for their doomsday fire.

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How Big of a Joke is Our Tax System?

Dec 4, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

Monkeys on Bikes

Anyone with a cursory knowledge of our current tax code can tell you that it is broken. According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), which posted an interesting piece this morning on the need for comprehensive tax reform, our tax system "is inefficient, distorts behavior, stifles economic growth, and raises insufficient revenue to fund current or projected levels of government spending." CRFB included several suggestions for the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB), which was due to release a set of publicly generated recommendations on reforming the tax code today, but postponed the release until after the holidays.

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