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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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Latest Wage Data Show Earnings Decline

Jan 16, 2008 by Craig Jennings

The latest wage data released by the Bureau of Labor statistics show that in 2007, when accounting for inflation, workers saw about a 1% decrease in pay. Average weekly earnings rose by 3.4 percent, seasonally adjusted, from December 2006 to December 2007. After deflation by the CPI-W, average weekly earnings decreased by 0.9 percent. Before adjustment for seasonal change and inflation, average weekly earnings were $605.96 in December 2007, compared with $578.67 a year earlier.

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Where a Fiscal Stimulus Debate Might Head

Jan 15, 2008 by Craig Jennings

Well, this just isn't helpful. Congressional Republicans are making noises that they really aren't in a mood to hold hands with Democrats and implement a fiscal stimulus package that would actually, you know, work. The New York Times is reporting a selection of statements by a few Congressional Republicans indicating that the Republican caucus may demand that extension of the Bush 2001-2003 tax cuts be included in any fiscal stimulus package.

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Bush Backs Off Social Security Reform

Jan 15, 2008 by Craig Jennings

Bob Samuelson must be crying ($): President Bush said in late 2007 that Social Security reform awaits the election of the next president, effectively deferring any action on reform before 2009. The biggest issue for the next president will be entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, Bush said Nov. 7 in an interview with German television reporters.

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Fiscal Policy in Response to Economic Downturns, Pt. 2: Getting the Most Out of a Fiscal Stimulus Dollar

Jan 14, 2008 by Craig Jennings

In Part 1 of this series on economic stimulus fiscal policy, I defined what fiscal policy is and why policy makers would use it during an economic downturn. Today, I discuss "the multiplier process." The multiplier process is the reason that not all fiscal policies are the same - some are more effective than others at jump-starting a faltering economy. In short, the multiplier effect is the phenomenon by which a dollar injected into the economy (in this case, through fiscal policy) replaces more (and sometimes less) than a dollar of reduced aggregate demand.

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Pelosi and Reid Ask Bush for Cooperation in Putting Together an Economic Stimulus Package

Jan 11, 2008 by Craig Jennings

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) have sent President Bush a letter requesting to work with him and Republican Congressional leadership to craft an economic stimulus package that adheres to the three Ts of sound fiscal policy: Timely, Targeted, and Temporary.

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Contact Us!

Jan 11, 2008 by Craig Jennings

Questions, comments, suggestions, and glad tidings can now be directed to the BudgetBlog inbox at: (In an effort to prevent spam, our contact address appears as an image and without a link to the address.)

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Pelosi Says Dems Will Propose Stimulus Package

Jan 9, 2008 by Craig Jennings

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced yesterday that Democrats are moving forward with an economic stimulus package. Although she remains vague about such a proposal, Pelosi indicated that it would be targeted to low- and middle-income individuals. A press release at her website says that the package will "assist hard-hit families by promoting consumer confidence, economic growth, and job creation" and will be designed to provide "economic security for those with the greatest economic hardships..."

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Fiscal Policy in Response to Economic Downturns, Pt. 1: What is Fiscal Policy and Why Use It?

Jan 8, 2008 by Craig Jennings

On Friday of last week (January 4), the Bureau of Labor Statistics released December employment data showing that the unemployment rate had jumped from 4.7 percent to 5.0 percent, causing many economists to predict a higher probability of recession in the coming quarters. Attention is now focused on policy makers in anticipation of an offering of some sort fiscal policy response. This series will lay out the basic mechanics of fiscal policy in response to economic downturns.

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Temporary and Targeted: The Basics of an Economic Stimulus Package

The release of dismal national jobs data on Jan. 4 has prompted rumblings from politicians in Washington about the need for an "economic stimulus package." On Jan. 7, President Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson delivered separate speeches on the state of the economy, in which they addressed the basic outlines of a fiscal policy designed to mitigate the effects of a possible recession. Bush announced he is taking a stay-the-course approach while economists from across the political spectrum are calling for some type of stimulus package. The president could still offer a plan in his State of the Union speech at the end of January.

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Economic Slowdown Taking a Toll on Budget Deficit

Jan 8, 2008 by Dana Chasin

According to the CBO Budget Review, released yesterday: The federal budget deficit was about $107 billion in the first quarter of fiscal year 2008, CBO estimates—about $27 billion more than in the same period last year. Outlays have risen by 9 percent compared with their level in the first three months of [fiscal year] 2007, whereas revenues have grown by about 6 percent. The deficit increase is attributed to:

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    Resources & Research

    Living in the Shadow of Danger: Poverty, Race, and Unequal Chemical Facility Hazards

    People of color and people living in poverty, especially poor children of color, are significantly more likely...

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    A Tale of Two Retirements: One for CEOs and One for the Rest of Us

    The 100 largest CEO retirement funds are worth a combined $4.9 billion, equal to the entire retirement account savings of 41 percent of American fam...

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    Blowing Smoke: Chemical Companies Say “Trust Us,” But Environmental and Workplace Safety Violations Belie Their Rhetoric

    Large chemical companies a...

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    Gasping for Support: Implementation of Tougher Air Quality Standards Will Require New Funds for State Agencies

    New scientific research shows that the current levels of...

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    more resources
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