Open, Accountable Government

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

The Baseline

Aug 24, 2007 by Craig Jennings

CBO's The Budget and Economic Outlook: An Update is a statute-directed baseline: "In accordance with long-standing procedures, CBO's projections assume that current laws and policies remain in place." So, the revenue figures in years 2010-2017 reflect a scenario in which the 2001/2003 tax cuts expire (as legislated). If Congress does nothing - that is let the sun set on tax cuts, the Treasury will see surpluses starting in 2012. But if those tax cuts are extended, it's a river of red ink. Federal Budget Surplus/Deficit(-) (billions of dollars) 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

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CBO Undercuts Bush Claims on Tax Cuts

Aug 23, 2007 by Dana Chasin

What Was the Point ... Is Not at this Point To follow up on Craig's post below on the CBO budget outlook released today, the Center on Budget points out that CBO flatly contradicts the President's claim that "tax cuts are boosting the economy and significantly improving the budget outlook for coming years."

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Rising Pre- and Post-Tax Inequality "not a very interesting story"

Aug 23, 2007 by Craig Jennings

I, however, beg to differ with White House spokesmodel spokesman Tony "Unsurprised" Fratto.

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Seventy-Cent Min Wage Boost Makes a Difference

Aug 23, 2007 by Craig Jennings

Because of the copious amount of media attention the July 23rd minimum wage hike has received, it's possible you missed - what we here at the Budget Blog consider the best reporting on the subject to date - The Onion's coverage: WASHINGTON, DC—Two weeks after the hourly federal minimum wage was raised from $5.15 to $5.85, families across the country were still celebrating the historic increase by running their electric fans, buying coveted half-gallons of milk, and, like Charice Williams of Shreveport, LA, purchasing name-brand ketchup to share with loved ones.

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CBO: Budget and Economic Outlook, an Update

Aug 23, 2007 by Craig Jennings

CBO has released the August update to its Budget and Economic Outlook. The nickel version:

FY 2007 deficit is expected to be $158 billion - about $90 billion less than last year's deficit

FY 2007 deficit is expected to be $158 billion - about $90 billion less than last year's deficit
Revenues are higher than were projected in March due to higher-than-expected income from personal income taxes

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Meet You at the Corner of Wall and Main

Aug 22, 2007 by Dana Chasin

There's a complex relationship between the condition of the nation's capital markets and its macroeconomic performance. Equally complex is the parallel relationship between monetary policy set by the Fed the via interest rates and money supply and the far broader distributive fiscal policy options at the disposal of lawmakers. The past month's heavy losses among big, institutional investors coming at a time when the GDP has been contracting over the last couple of quarters are generating a spate of thought and opinion about this relationship.

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Links

Aug 22, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Lots of good stuff came out today.

A Congressional Research Service (CRS, aka the super-authoritative researchers who members of Congress ask to do reports for them, but typically the reports aren't available to the public) comparison of the House and Senate SCHIP bills
The House Budget Committee's breakdown of how some of Bush's proposed budget cuts would impact each state
A knowledgeable article in the Washington Post about the

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Calling The President's Bluff

Aug 22, 2007 by Matt Lewis

A popular topic of discussion among the budget folk here at OMB Watch is the mystery of President Bush's veto threats, which he's made against just about every remotely progressive piece of legislation being considered by Congress. His party just lost an election, and President Nixon was better liked. Where does he get off trying to stymie Congress?

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FOIA Performance Goes from Bad to Worst

The Coalition of Journalists for Open Government's (CJOG) analysis of government's implementation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) indicates record-setting FOIA problems despite a positive June report on FOIA from the Justice Department. These problems come to light as a legislative effort to reform FOIA has passed both the House and Senate and may soon become law.

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EPA Overlooking Testing and Regulations of Nanochemicals

As the nanotechnology sector expands, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not kept pace with oversight controls. Despite work to develop research strategies and priorities, the agency has not proposed any actual regulatory program for nanotech materials.

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