Blog: The Fine Print / Revenue & Spending

Democrats Call for Budget Bill Revote

Feb 14, 2006 by Guest Blogger

After internal party debate, Democrats have decided to call for a revote on the budget reconciliation bill which recently passed the House by an extremely close vote of 216-214. The bill ran into trouble when it became known that the President signed a different version than that which was passed by Congress. Because the cuts passed in the bill are so contentious, Democrats have chosen to put the spotlight back on the issue by calling for a revote, as opposed to allowing the fixed bill to pass easily under unanimous-consent agreements.

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Senate Gets Tied Up on the Tax Bill

Feb 14, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

Today on the hill Senate Democrats tied up legislative business by lining up a series of votes on the tax reconcilation bill that caused other Senate business to be postponed or canceled. According to CNN.com, "The battle began when Democrats decided to use a routine procedure that sends the bill into final negotiations to make political points about President Bush's insistence on continuing tax cuts for investors." Republicans then countered these actions by matching the Democrats' motions one-for-one.

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Economic Report of the President Released

Feb 14, 2006 by Guest Blogger

February 13 President Bush issued his 2006 Economic Report to Congress. The eleven chapters cover many issue areas including the workforce, retirement savings, the U.S. tax system, and the financial services sector. The chapter on taxation discussed the U.S. tax system's high corporate tax rate and double taxation of corporate profits. This attention reflects the Bush administration's dedication to extending low investment tax rates.

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Frist Comments on Estate Tax Timeline

Feb 13, 2006 by Guest Blogger

In a speech on February 10 before the Conservative Political Action Conference, Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) says he plans to bring estate tax repeal legislation to the floor in May. The Senate had a cloture vote scheduled on the House bill last September, but it was postponed after Hurricane Katrina hit. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed skepticism in the past that a vote on full repeal would be able to garner the 60 votes necessary to pass.

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McCain Introduces Bill Against Earmarks

Feb 10, 2006 by Guest Blogger

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) introduced a bill yesterday -- called the "Pork Barrel Reduction Act" -- meant to crack down on the use of earmarks in appropriation bills and conference reports. The bill would allow senators to oppose earmarks by raising a point of order. Senate rules require 60 votes to waive a point of order, and if one is waived the earmark would stay in the bill or conference report. The bill is being co-sponsored by Sens. Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Evan Bayh (D-IN), and it would also:

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    Details of the 141 Programs Bush Wants to Cut

    Feb 10, 2006 by Guest Blogger

    Yesterday the Office of Management and Budget detailed its plan to terminate or reduce funding for 141 federal discretionary programs, saying that these cuts could free up to $14.7 billion in spending. The document, which also details Bush's plan to cut $71.1 billion from mandatory programs over five years, can be seen here.

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    The Real Problem With The 2007 Budget

    Feb 10, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

    Much has been made of the secret computer run published in the Washington Post yesterday that shows detailed and substantial program cuts over the next five years and the contrast between proposed increases for defense and military spending and cuts to pretty much every other domestic investment (read here, here, here, and here).

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    Discrepancy in Budget Reconciliation Bill Causes Problems

    Feb 9, 2006 by Guest Blogger

    The budget reconciliation bill passed by the House on February 1 was apparently different from the bill that was sent to President Bush for his signature. The discrepancy between the bills involves a provision that was intended to allow Medicare beneficiaries to purchase home-oxygen devices as opposed to paying endless rental fees. However, a clerical error made during the enrollment of the bill changed the policy to apply to practically all medical equipment. House and Senate aides are pointing fingers at each other for this change.

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    Bush's Budget Plan Includes Hidden Cuts, Document Reveals

    Feb 9, 2006 by Matthew Madia

    An eye-opening article in today's Washington Post says that internal White House documents indicate that meeting the president's goal of cutting the deficit in half will involve a significant amount of cutting to domestic programs -- even to those supposedly "favored" by President Bush.

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    Educated Opinions on the Budget

    Feb 8, 2006 by Guest Blogger

    Recently there have been some interesting op-eds on budget business in the Washington Post. Former CBO head Douglas Holtz-Eakin submitted an op-ed February 5 in which he discussed how increasingly booming entitlement programs need a "fundamental rethinking" that will dictate both the size of government as well as levels of taxation. E.J. Dionne, Jr. discusses in a February 7 column how "tax cutting is now the idol of the Republican shrine," and points out that sane budgeting will never happen unless deficit hawks work to turn popular opinion against this worship of tax cutting.

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