Long-Term Fiscal Gap

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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more news

Obama Seeks to Eliminate Tax Benefits for Multinational Corporations

Jun 24, 2009 by Jocelyn Yin*

The Obama Administration continues to look for ways to find tax revenue and as a result, several significant tax breaks for multinational companies may be on the chopping block. During the Bush and Clinton Administrations, it became easier for controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) to conduct financial transactions between offshore subsidiaries at much-lower effective tax rates (or in some cases, tax-free). If Obama gets his wish, these tax breaks will not be renewed at the end of 2010 and the Joint Committee on Taxation estimates will result in an increase of $31-86.5 billion in tax revenue from 2011-2019.

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PAYGO*

Jun 10, 2009 by Jocelyn Yin*

The White House is making moves to address the growing concern over the budget deficit but the results may be lukewarm. The details of the program have yet to be announced but in an effort to display fiscal discipline, the Administration is likely to announce a set of budget control initiatives, such as pay-as-you-go (PAYGO). With the honeymoon effect fading, poll numbers indicate that the American public is beginning to express concern over who will eventually foot the bill for all of the recently proposed federal spending.

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Talk of Fiscal Responsibility Returns to Capitol Hill

Jun 4, 2009 by Adam Hughes*

Talk of fiscal responsibility returned to Capitol Hill yesterday when Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testified at a hearing of the House Budget Committee. Bernanke tried to push Congress and the Obama administration to start planning now to tackle the monumental deficits expected over the next few years.

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Obama Releases Details of Tax Plan

May 4, 2009 by Adam Hughes*

President Barack Obama announced today a plan that seeks to close loopholes used by companies and individuals to avoid paying taxes. In particular, Obama wants to make companies pay the proper tax rate on overseas profits and aggressively pursue those who use offshore tax havens to intentionally avoid paying taxes. His proposal is estimated to generate about $21 billion in revenue each year.

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Lack of Audits of Financial Services Firms Distressing

Apr 9, 2009 by Adam Hughes*

Despite the news from last week that the IRS is staffing up and hiring thousands of additional revenue agents and officers, there is new data out from the IRS that is a bit depressing. The Transactional Records Access Clearninghouse (TRAC) released a new report today that shows the IRS continues to do too little to audit financial services firms, particularly those with over $250 million in assets.

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IRS Stepping it Up!

Mar 31, 2009 by Adam Hughes*

BNA reported (sorry, no link) last night that the IRS is set to step up its enforcement of the tax code by hiring additional revenue agents and officers. While you might not like the IRS, this is great news for starting to chip away at the $345 billion annual tax gap. Deputy Commission for Services and Enforcement Linda Stiff gives more details.

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Bush's Priorities: Entitlements vs. Tax Cuts

Jan 17, 2006 by Guest Blogger

As this excellent column from Bloomberg.com highlights, there is a gap between the administration's rhetoric and reality when it comes to tackling the long-term budget implications of the rising costs of entitlement spending. Bush spent a lot of time last year making a big deal about the unfunded Social Security liability, and the liability for Medicare is expected to be even greater, with the administration estimating an $11 trillion shortfall.

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Mid-session Review Presents Misleading View of Nation's Finances

The White House's Office of Management and Budget recently (and belatedly) released its annual budgetary "Mid-Session Review," which attempts to put a positive spin on massive and worsening deficits, as well as the lowest level of revenue in nearly a half century.

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Should 'Middle-Class' Tax Cuts be Extended, Offset or Not?

The political reality, especially in an election year, makes extension of the so-called "middle-class" tax cuts very likely. Hardly anyone is arguing against extending these cuts, as long as they are paid for. However, there are very good arguments why, even If the cost of the extension is offset, extension of these tax cuts is not supportable.

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Will There Be a Budget Resolution?

"Paygo" rules, once a little-known budget technicality, are now proving to be the main impediment in reaching a budget resolution for FY 2005, which begins on October 1, 2004.

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