Spending Transparency

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

If You Were Betting on the Deficit...

Oct 12, 2007 by Craig Jennings

...whose numbers would you use? We've noted before (here, here, and here) OMB's propensity to make overly pessimistic projections of the deficit only to claim credit for "great improvements" when the actual deficit numbers are reported at the end of the fiscal year. Being the start of the fiscal year, it's time for the Administration to gaze upon its own unrealisitically high deficit projections and marvel at the reality of comparatively lower FY 2007's actual deficit. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr.:

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States Sue Bush Administration over New Children's Health Insurance Requirements

Several states have sued the Bush administration over new policies governing the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The suits follow broad opposition from state public health experts and congressional Democrats and Republicans who urged the administration to abandon the new policies. The suits also come as Congress attempts to reauthorize SCHIP after a presidential veto.

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Deficits, War and Trade-Offs

Oct 10, 2007 by Matt Lewis

It is done: the deficit for FY2007 was $161 billion. Strangely, the President has yet to proclaim "mission accomplished" for "reducing" it from the inflated estimate he gave in his budget- $244 billion. Perhaps he isn't bragging because he didn't reduce it (or perhaps not).

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CBO: $160 Billion Budget Deficit in FY 2007

Oct 9, 2007 by Craig Jennings

CBO estimates that the federal budget deficit for FY 2007 was $160 billion, or 1.2 percent of the size of the overall economy. This figure represents about an $87 billion decline from the FY 2006 deficit of $248 billion, which was 1.9 percent of the economy. CBO's Monthly Budget Review, October 2007

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SCHIP Pressure Getting To Bush?

Oct 9, 2007 by Matt Lewis

President Bush says he's open to more money for SCHIP than his paltry initial request, according to The Hill.

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The Cure For the Common Robert Samuelson Column

Oct 9, 2007 by Matt Lewis

CBO Director Peter Orszag spoke at a conference on evidence-based medical reform and the long term fiscal challenge yesterday. The entire conference had interesting speakers, particularly Prof. Elliott Fisher. Very interesting stuff.

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Ryan's World: PAYGO a "Dangerous Fiscal Course"

Oct 5, 2007 by Dana Chasin

NEWS ITEM: 8. Which political party, the (Democrats) or the (Republicans), do you trust to do a better job handling The federal budget deficit? Democrats: 52; Republicans: 29. [This Washington Post-ABC News poll was conducted by telephone September 27-30, 2007, among a random national sample of 1,114 adults.]

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EJ Dionne's Column and A Rant About Fiscal Responsibility

Oct 5, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Not much to disagree with in E.J. Dionne's column on the war tax today. I wanted to highlight this passage, though: Would conservatives and Republicans support the war in Iraq if they had to pay for it? That is the immensely useful question that Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, put on the table this week by calling for a temporary war tax to cover President Bush's request for $145 billion in supplemental spending for Iraq.

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Estate Planning: PAYGO and Raising (gasp) Revenue!

Oct 5, 2007 by Dana Chasin

After Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) agreed to withdraw an amendment to cut the estate tax, Senate Finance Committee chair Max Baucus (D-MT) promised a committee mark-up of Kyl's amendment next spring.

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How Many Votes Are Really Needed to Override The President's SCHIP Veto?

Oct 4, 2007 by Craig Jennings

There seems to be some confusion in the press over how many votes will be needed to override President Bush's veto of the SCHIP bill. It's pretty much basic arithmetic. There are 435 members in the House. You need a 2/3rds majority of all voting members to overide a veto. So at most, 290 members will have to vote to override. That's all we know for sure.

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