Appropriations

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

House Passes Major Tax Measures Yesterday

Dec 8, 2005 by Guest Blogger

The House passed a number of tax bills yesterday. In total, they voted to trim $94.5 billion from federal revenue over five years. As Concord Coalition executive director Robert Bixby aptly put it in this Washington Post article, "I don't think it makes any sense to go through all the difficulty they just went through with the budget-cutting bill, then give it all back in tax cuts. If they want to cut taxes, fine, but they are going to have to cut spending by at least that much to help the deficit, and clearly they are not willing to do that. They have to start looking reality in the face."

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Temporary Victory for Wolf in Tax Bill

Dec 7, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) has pursuaded the House GOP leadership to put forward a Hurricane Katrina tax bill that exempts some businesses in the Gulf Coast from receiving tax breaks. According to a Ways and Means Committee summary of the bill, the "Gulf Opportunity Zone" restoration tax incentives will not be extended to country clubs, liquor stores, massage parlors, private or commercial golf courses, racetracks, tanning salons, or "facilities used for gambling."

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Debt Limit Increase on Hold Until 2006

Dec 6, 2005 by Adam Hughes*

The reconciliation process Congress is currently still entangled in was laid out in the budget resolution to include three components: one cutting the budget, one cutting taxes, and the third increasing the debt limit. It appears now that Congress will delay increasing the debt limit until February 2006.

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Gregg Wants To Tack $1.14 Billion on to Supplemental

Dec 5, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Before wrapping up this year's legislative session, Congress is expected to consider another emergency supplemental measure. Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, Judd Gregg (R-NH), announced today his support for tacking on to the bill $1.14 billion in spending on border security measures.

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Moderate Republicans Will Stand Up Against Budget Cuts

Dec 1, 2005 by Adam Hughes*

Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) said yesterday he will vote against a massive budget bill being considered in Congress if it includes cuts in the Medicaid and food stamp programs. Smith has taken moderate approaches to budget bills before. Last April he led a small group of Republicans in resisting Medicaid cuts in the budget resolution.

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It's Not the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (for Appropriations Work)

Although five of the 11 appropriations bills remain to be signed into law by President Bush, Congress has completed work on all but two: the Defense and Labor/Health and Human Services bills. While a massive omnibus has been avoided this year, an equally contentious (and still quite large) bill--a so-called "minibus"--could be passed containing those two final bills. With all the items on the schedule for December and likely only three weeks to complete them, Congress still has a lot of work left to do before they are finished for the year.

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Post-Katrina Survey Finds Wariness, Desire for Change

Shortly after Hurricane Katrina, OMB Watch launched an online survey seeking feedback and reaction to the possibility of launching an investment agenda, not just for the affected states, but for the entire country. The response was tremendous, as over 800 respondents from nearly every state completed the survey and contributed a multitude of thoughtful, in-depth comments. The overwhelming consensus among respondents held not only that now is the time for a comprehensive, long-term investment agenda for the country, but that such an initiative is long overdue.

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Cunningham Is Out: One Fewer Vote For Budget & Tax Bills

Nov 29, 2005 by Guest Blogger

As you are likely aware, yesterday Rep. Randy ''Duke'' Cunningham (R-CA) pleaded guilty to conspiracy and tax charges and resigned from office. Cunningham admitted to taking $2.4 million in bribes to steer defense contracts to conspirators. He entered pleas in U.S. District Court to charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud and wire fraud, and tax evasion for underreporting his income in 2004.

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Labor/HHS: Conference Changes or Yearlong CR?

Nov 23, 2005 by Guest Blogger

With the help of twenty-two Republican House members, the House surprisingly rejected the Labor/HHS appropriations bill which came out of conference negotiations last week. It is unclear now exactly what will happen with the bill, which would have cut $1.5 billion from programs.

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And A Bridge To Be Named Later

Nov 18, 2005 by Adam Hughes*

There have been many headaches for the GOP in Congress over the past two months, but one of the most public has been a battle over funding for two proposed bridges in Alaska. Funding for the so-called "bridges-to-nowhere" was included in the six year transportation reauthorization bill earlier this year (over $452 million in total), but had become a political liability to the Republican party over the past two months.

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