Blog: The Fine Print / Open, Accountable Government

Note to Norm: Deficits Don't Matter

Dec 12, 2007 by Dana Chasin

Leaving a Legacy of Kleptocracy In "Budget Gridlock Is a Shameful Legacy for Bush and Many Others," in today's Roll Call, leading congressional scholar Norman Orenstein bemoans the shrinking center in Congress and its impact on budget policy, as expressed in the current AMT and budget debates. Orenstein fingers the GOP for the fix we're in on AMT, sacrificing PAYGO on its altar and having to fix it at all:

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Higher Tax Rates = Higher Income Inequality

Dec 12, 2007 by Craig Jennings

New figures released by the CBO indicate that overall effective federal tax rates have increased from 20.1% in 2004 to 20.5 in 2005%. Through a process known as "real bracket creep," Americans are paying higher tax rates without changes in the tax code. As incomes grow faster than inflation, taxpayers will find themselves paying taxes at higher marginal rates.

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Orszag In The WSJ

Dec 12, 2007 by Matt Lewis

CBO Director Peter Orszag editorializes in the Wall Street Journal today on long-term budget problems. It's a great piece. Key excerpts: The bottom line is that while we need to address the effects of the coming retirement of the baby boomers and the projected imbalance in Social Security, we have to pay even more attention to the health-care costs that exert the dominant influence on our fiscal future. Policy makers will face both challenges and opportunities in trying to reduce these costs...

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The SCHIP Campaign Is Probably Over

Dec 11, 2007 by Matt Lewis

It now appears that the SCHIP expansion is sunk. CQ (subscription) is reporting that a one-year extension for SCHIP, with some additional funds to prevent cuts, will be tied to a bill that tweaks Medicare payments. That means a funding increase will have to wait until probably the year after next.

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"A Bad Patch" -- Next Steps on the AMT Bill

Dec 10, 2007 by Dana Chasin

House PAYGO Rules Requiring a Waiver Will be Watched This weekend, the Washington Post editorialized on what it deems "A Bad Patch," the bill moving through Congress to "patch" the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). Congress has taken pains to make sure all of its measures this year that raise mandatory spending or cut taxes are revenue-neutral, to comply with the fiscal discipline requirements of the "PAYGO" rules Congress passed this year.

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Equality and Individualism

Dec 7, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Via (who else but) Inclusionist, I checked out Chapter 6 of Prof. George Lakoff's new book on progressive strategy. Take a look at this paragraph on economic equality: For progressives, deservedness is understood through the lens of nurturance, which says that someone in need deserves assistance. This satisfies the "human dignity principle," making sure no one falls too far behind. It also fulfills the "common good principle," since the needs of the commons are counted as valid needs that merit attention, besides just the needs of an individual.

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CBO Monthly Budget Update: November, 2007

Dec 7, 2007 by Craig Jennings

CBO estimates that the federal government recorded a deficit of $157 billion for the first two months of fiscal year 2008, about $35 billion more than the deficit recorded for the same period last year. Outlays were about $50 billion (or 11 percent) higher than they were in 2007, while revenues were about $15 billion (or 5 percent) higher. CBO: Monthly Budget Review

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Important Farm Bill Vote Tomorrow

Dec 6, 2007 by Matt Lewis

A key vote on the Farm Bill, which includes increases in funding for anti-hunger programs, is set for December 7th (tomorrow). The Food Research and Action Center and the Coalition on Human Needs are asking people to call their Senator in support of the increases. The vote is on whether to filibuster the bill, and it's probably even more important than the vote on whether to actually pass it. We need 60 votes to avoid a filibuster. We need only a majority to pass the bill, and previous votes have shown that there's a clear majority in favor of the bill.

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CBO Director Peter Orszag Has A Blog

Dec 6, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Check it out. Hopefully this means that we can outsource posts on say, Robert Samuelson's disgusting and wrong column on health care policy? The Samuelson column really is awful, and if Orszag lays into it publicly, perhaps Samuelson will lose so much credibility that he'll shut up. If you do read it, remember that the central problem with health care is not overspending, but price, i.e. we're buying stuff that isn't worth the price we're paying.

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$1 Million a Minute!

Dec 4, 2007 by Adam Hughes*

In an attempt to have people pay attention to the issue of the national debt, a recent Associated Press article lead with the eye-catching headline of "National Debt Grows $1 Million a Minute." Wow! $1,000,000.00 a minute! That's quite a bit of cash. The article is well worth a read and should make you even more disappointed that the current Congress is considering waiving PAYGO rules for a patch to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). Such a move would add $50 billion to the debt immediately and the issue will have to be revisited all over again next year because the legislation being considered is only for one year. If they pass the AMT patch without paying for it this year, I wonder if they will pay for it next year? argh...

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