Government Performance

Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

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Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

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Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

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Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

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Politics as Usual

Jul 9, 2008 by Adam Hughes*

The Hill reports today about some border-line shady behavior from Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) related to his earmark requests in the 2005 transportation bill. Turns out the earmark request Kanjorski submitted to build a parking garage at, of all places, the Kanjorski Cetner (pictured above) did not meet federal guidelines.

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DPC Hearing on Iraq Contracting This Week

Jul 8, 2008 by Craig Jennings

The Democratic Policy Committee is holding a pair of hearings this week to examine contractor practices in Iraq.

Safeguarding Taxpayer Dollars in Iraq: An Insider's View of Questionable Contracting Practices by KBR and the Pentagon Wednesday, July 9, 2008 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. 608 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Contractor Misconduct and the Electrocution Deaths of American Soldiers in Iraq Friday, July 11, 2008 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. 226 Dirksen Senate Office Building

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Tomato, Beef Recalls Show Problems with Food Tracking

Federal officials are having difficulty providing consumers with information on two recent food-borne illness outbreaks. Investigators are still searching for the source of an ongoing salmonella outbreak, and officials have been unable to provide detailed information for consumers on a batch of E. coli-contaminated beef, which has spread to a number of states across the country.

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Fiscal Policy Agenda Returns to Washington

Jul 7, 2008 by Adam Hughes*

The Fiscal Policy Team and Congress both return to action this week with a number of fiscal policy issues to be tackled during the next five weeks. Below is a rundown of issues coming up soon, with most of the action happening in the Senate:

Debate continues between Senate Democrats and Republicans over whether to offset the cost of a popular package of tax breaks called the "extenders." The latest development is that Senate Republicans are now challenging Democrats to offset the cost of the package with spending cuts rather than other tax increases. BNA ($)

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BudgetBlog on Hiatus for Holiday: Happy Fourth Everyone!

Jun 27, 2008 by Adam Hughes*

Happy Fourth of July! Just wanted to let our loyal BudgetBlog readers know we're going on a short hiatus next week. With Congress heading out of town for a short summer recess and the upcoming Fourth of July holiday next week, the Fiscal Policy team is heading out of town in order to escape the heat for some well-deserved vacation. This means, though, that the BudgetBlog will be dormant next week. But don't despair. Craig and I will return in one short week on July 7 to continue to bring you all the news, gossip, information, and analysis on federal fiscal policy you've come to expect.

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GAO Report Finds Private Medicare Providers Prefer Profits Over Providing Better Service

Jun 26, 2008 by Craig Jennings

A recently released GAO report finds that (surprise!) Medicare Advantage providers predicted lower profit margins in 2005 than actually materialized.

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Yet Another Example of Questionable Outsourcing

Jun 26, 2008 by Adam Hughes*

Another report of a questionable use of outsourcing appeared today in CongressDaily, this time it's happening over at the State Department. Seems folks over there have modified an existing contract to Computer Sciences Corporation (FedSpending.org profile) to "collect visa information and fingerprints of Mexicans applying for new border crossing cards." The non-competed contract has raised some eyebrows in Congress and among government watchdogs, particularly the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

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Senate GOP Battling Themselves Over Earmarks

Jun 26, 2008 by Adam Hughes*

Looks like reforms that would bring increased transparency to earmarking in the U.S. Senate will have to wait a little longer. The Senate Republican caucus postponed a vote yesterday on a package of recommendations developed by five GOP senators earlier this year that would increase disclosure of earmark requests and accessibility of earmark language in legislation. The Hill reports:

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More Support for Ending the Contracting Free-For-All

Jun 25, 2008 by Craig Jennings

Following up on my blog earlier today about the Webb-McCaskill Wartime Contracting Commission finally starting to get off the ground, I came across a great column by Thomas Frank today in the Wall Street Journal (of all places!) continuing the drumbeat for a contracting commission to finally get to the bott

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Contracting Oversight Commission Members Announced

Jun 25, 2008 by Adam Hughes*

Craig's post yesterday about some short-sighted decisions at OMB to not provide sufficient resources for contractor oversight at the Army got me thinking about the Webb-McCaskill Commission on Wartime Contracting. There hasn't been a ton of news about that commission since it was enacted into law last fall, but just last week seven of the eight commission members were announced.

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