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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Fiscal Policy in 2009 – A Review

Federal fiscal policy has been front and center throughout 2009 as the Obama administration and Congress have gone to extraordinary lengths to bring the country's economy back from the brink of disaster. It seems like every week, we saw a crucial vote or major policy proposal released. A massive Wall Street bailout, an economic stimulus effort with unprecedented transparency provisions, an attempted reform of the financial regulatory system, a new presidential effort to reform the contracting system, significant gains in proper enforcement of the tax code, and a Congress that continued to fail at passing appropriations and tax bills in a timely manner have made for a pretty exciting, if not chaotic, year. Below is a review of some of the major developments in federal fiscal policy in 2009 from an OMB Watch perspective.

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Bernanke Endorsed by Senate Banking Committee, Supports Limited Fed Audit

Dec 18, 2009 by Sam Rosen-Amy

Yesterday, in a bipartisan vote, the Senate Banking Committee approved Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's nomination to a second term as Federal Reserve chairman. The vote wasn't in any doubt, although the closeness of the margin, 16 to 7, does indicate the contentiousness of Bernanke's nomination. The nomination now heads to the Senate floor, where, barring some crazy unforeseen calamity, he will be nominated to another four year term in January.

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This Week in Deficit Hawks

Dec 18, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

On Thursday, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), in an attempt to become more "relevant," held a hearing in search of fiscal remedies to the country's growing $12 trillion debt. Rather than provide a platform for exploring different options, though, Lieberman lined up witnesses to trumpet a special congressional commission that could railroad budget "solutions" through Congress. Lieberman, along with several of his hearing witnesses, has joined a small but vocal choir of deficit-hawk-converts that are demanding the government address budget shortfalls immediately, seemingly without regard to current fiscal circumstances.

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House Finishes Year in a Blaze of Controversial Legislation

Dec 17, 2009 by Sam Rosen-Amy

Yesterday, in what most news organizations are calling a "flurry" of legislative action, the House passed a relatively large package of contentious bills, including the Defense appropriations bill, an increase to the debt limit, and a jobs bill. The Defense bill, originally thought to be the most difficult of the four bills, easily sailed through the House, 395 to 34, and the Senate immediately began its debate on the bill. The other two bills, however, proved to be much closer, and foreshadow legislative confrontations in the beginning of 2010.

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Deconstructing the Deficit

Dec 17, 2009 by Craig Jennings

When discussing the federal budget deficit, I should be clear that reducing it right now is absolutely the wrong policy to pursue. It will likely strangle the meager recovery that's underway, and attention should primarily be focused on reducing the growing cost of health care. Having said all that, if deficit reduction must be addressed right now, it's important to first understand its composition.

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Christmas Comes Early for the IRS

Dec 11, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

I Pity the Fool that Tries to Avoid Taxes Now

With the House's clearance of the $447 billion omnibus spending bill on Thursday and the Senate expected to pass the same legislation this weekend, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is set to finally get that substantial boost in funding this year.

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House Moves to Give More Access for GAO, SIGTARP, and the Public

While the attention of many transparency advocates has been focused on the first round of recipient reporting under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the Recovery Act), the House has been working on two financial transparency measures dealing with the Federal Reserve and use of the Wall Street bailout funds.

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OMB Watch Unveils Recovery Act Recipient Reports Database

On Dec. 3, OMB Watch released a beta version of a new database on FedSpending.org that gives the public improved access to and searchability of Recovery Act recipient report data. The database allows users to search more than 160,000 reports from recipients of almost $159 billion in Recovery Act contracts, grants, and loans awarded between Feb. 17 and Sept. 30.

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CBO Monthly Budget Review, November 2009

Dec 7, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

On Friday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its Monthly Budget Review (MBR) for November. With the first two months of the fiscal year behind us, CBO found that the government added $292 billion to the federal debt. Someone let Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) and the rest of the recently converted budget hawks in Congress know they have more fuel for their doomsday fire.

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Pomeroy Estate Tax Bill Passes House

Dec 3, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

As expected, the House brought up the Pomeroy estate tax bill this afternoon, and the legislation passed by a narrow score of 225 to 200. The bill passed mainly along partisan lines, but 26 Democrats joined the Republican caucus in opposition to the measure. Nine House members did not vote. With passage by the House, the bill now has to make it through the gauntlet that is the Senate.

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