Entitlements

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...

read in full

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...

read in full

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...

read in full

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...

read in full

more news

House SCHIP Vote Today!

Oct 25, 2007 by Matt Lewis

That was quick- the House will vote on a tweaked SCHIP bill today. The Washington Post: Just one week after failing to override President Bush's veto, House Democrats will put a new version of their $35 billion expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program to a vote today, hoping that minor changes will win enough Republicans to beat Bush this round.

read in full

Entitlement Hysterics and 2 New Blogs

Oct 24, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Jonathan Chait of the New Republic has a good article on the uptick in entitlement "sky is falling" rhetoric. And there's a couple new fiscal policy blogs worth going to: the Tax Policy Center's TaxVox and FacingUp.org's new blog. One of the coolest thing about blogging is that it facilitates dialogue; hopefully we've got some interesting conversations to look forward to.

read in full

Backdoor Energy Assistance Cuts

Oct 22, 2007 by Matt Lewis

A good article today on the declining value of funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Progam (LIHEAP). Given that gas prices are so volatile, wouldn't it make more sense just to make LIHEAP an entitlement program? About 30 million low-income American households who will need help paying heating bills this winter from a U.S. government program will be left in the cold because of a lack of funding for the program. The poor, already digging deep to pay for expensive gasoline, also will face much higher heating fuel costs, especially if oil prices stay near record levels.

read in full

President Bush Gets First Place in the Denying Millions of Children Health Care Contest

Oct 19, 2007 by Matt Lewis

White House Spokesperson, Dana Perino: "We won this round on SCHIP." Congratulations on winning. What exactly did you win? Well, here's President Bush, on vetoing SCHIP: And that's why when I tell you I'm going to sprint to the finish, and finish this job strong, that's one way to ensure that I am relevant. That's one way to ensure that I'm in the process. And I intend to use the veto.

read in full

Next Stage of the SCHIP Debate

Oct 19, 2007 by Matt Lewis

The Washington Post reports that a retooled SCHIP bill will be back on the floor in two weeks.

read in full

Conservatives Block SCHIP Veto Override

Oct 18, 2007 by Matt Lewis

The House failed to overturn the President's veto of SCHIP, 273-156 (roll call). This was closer than the last SCHIP vote in the House (265-159), so your efforts did make a difference.

read in full

House to Vote Tomorrow on SCHIP Override

Oct 17, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Tomorrow, the House will vote on whether to override the President's veto of the SCHIP funding bill. This vote will most likely set the fate of the bill. The Senate is likely to vote to override the veto anyway. So it may be your last chance to make an impact this time around. Don't forget to contact your legislator!

read in full

More of the Faux-Populism of the Far Right

Oct 16, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Do you work for a living? Not one of the superrich? Have a trouble paying your health insurance bills? Well, this is what the far right thinks of you.

read in full

Who Spends Money Better- You Or The Government?

Oct 16, 2007 by Matt Lewis

The President gave a major talk on the budget yesterday (White House-edited transcript). This excerpt struck me:

read in full

NYT Op-Ed on SCHIP

Oct 16, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Good New York Times op-ed on SCHIP: To hear the Bush administration tell it, expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program would entice hordes of families to drop their private coverage and put their children on the public dole. As the Health and Human Services secretary, Michael Leavitt, argued in a recent television appearance, states that cover middle-income children as well as the poor are essentially telling people to "cancel your private insurance and we'll have the government pay for it." There are several things wrong with that claim.

read in full