Blog: The Fine Print / Revenue & Spending

Stimulus Signed -- What's in it for You?

Feb 13, 2008 by Dana Chasin

Keep Your Eyes on the Prize and the Size of the Stimulus

This afternoon, President Bush signed the ballyhooed bipartisan bill that will provide a hundred billion bucks to Americans and, as a bonus, might simultaneously serve to stimulate the stagnant economy, so long it sparks spending on consumer items.

What does this mean for you? Do you get a rebate under the plan and, if so, how much of one? How do you sign up?

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Earmarks Developments -- Sound and Fury

Feb 13, 2008 by Dana Chasin

Two earmarks-related developments in the House yesterday:
  • a sound, measured, and well-reasoned decision by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) not to request funding for special projects in the FY09 appropriations process
  • a new website purports to promote the bipartisan message "Stop the Earmarks. Fix Washington," but appears to be a forum for fury and partisan posturing

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DAILY FISCAL POLICY REVIEW -- 02-13-08

Feb 13, 2008 by Dana Chasin

Budget -- Rough Patch for AMT?: Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) said yesterday that he'd probably leave an AMT patch provision (est. cost $75 bn.) out of budget reconciliation instructions this year in order to facilitate both PAYGO compliance with a patch and passage of a budget... By putting tax reconciliation instructions that could be used for an AMT patch into budget resolution, a later bill to patch the AMT with offsets would require only 51 votes to pass, rather than the usual 60 votes required to avoid a filibuster.

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The Limited Effects of Fiscal Stimulus

Feb 13, 2008 by Craig Jennings

Writing in the New York Times, Robert Reich explains how a minor and temporary boost to workers' incomes is tempered by the long-term trend in income inequality.

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DAILY FISCAL POLICY REVIEW -- 02-12-08

Feb 12, 2008 by Dana Chasin

Budget: Funding is Fundamental -- Bush's budget for FY09 recommends ending 103 domestic social programs (listed here), among them the $25 million (read: tiny) Reading is Fundamental (RIF) program... Treasury's explanation: "The White House doesn't quarrel with the program's goals. But it says the funds should be awarded under a competitive, merit-based process rather than automatically given to one non-profit group." OK, but do you need to kill the program first?

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Economic Report of the President Released

Feb 11, 2008 by Dana Chasin

A Part-Useful, Part-Sententious Document Today, the president's Council of Economic Advisers released the administration's annual report on the economy. The Report serves as much an account and forecast of the nation's ominous economic conditions -- where it is a highly relevant and even useful document -- as a lobbying effort on behalf of extending the administration's tax reductions in 2001 and 2003.

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Mentioning the Unmentionable

Feb 11, 2008 by Craig Jennings

Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Jesse Drucker notes($) that the full cost of the recently-passed economic stimulus package is slightly underestimated by the Joint Committee on Taxation's score: A round of business tax cuts in Congress's economic-stimulus package passed Thursday will cost nearly triple the official government estimate, tax experts said.

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Bush Budget Continues to Disappoint

Feb 11, 2008 by Craig Jennings

President Bush's FY 2009 budget continues to receive poor reviews into its second week. We reviewed a number of those reactions last week (see our summary posts here and here), and below are some additional disappointed reviews:
  • The Daily Tar Heel: Budget May Cut Student Loans
  • BlackAmericaWeb: Reading Is Fundamental's Program Target of Major Cuts
  • Center for American Progress: Bush's Budget Cuts Aid to Displaced Workers
  • The Buffalo News: Bush Budget Disappoints
  • Washington Post: No Funds in Bush Budget For Troop-Benefits Plan
  • WP's Stephen Barr: Social Security, DHS Say Bush's Budget Falls Short

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DAILY FISCAL POLICY REVIEW -- 02-11-08

Feb 11, 2008 by Dana Chasin

Budget --

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    FY09 Budget Process -- There You Go Again

    Feb 8, 2008 by Dana Chasin

    President Bush will try one last time to distract from his fiscal legacy of the enormous and enduring additional $3.5 trillion in national debt incurred on his watch by provoking another veto-spitball fight with Congress over something like $10-20 billion in discretionary spending in FY09. This morning, Bush said: Last week, I proposed a budget that terminates or substantially reduces 151 wasteful or bloated programs. Those programs total more than $18 billion. And if Congress sends me appropriations bills that exceed the reasonable limits I have set, I will veto the bills.

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