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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Feed And Forage Back Again?

Oct 2, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Loyal and long time readers of the BudgetBlog may remember the Feed and Forage Act, a budget policy as obscure as budget policies get (now that's obscure!). It gives the President the authority to obligate funding for a war without an appropriation. So even if funding runs out, soldiers will be provided for. Conceivably, the President then couldn't use a funding deadline to coerce Congress into funding wars. Calls to "support the troops" might ring hollow.

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Feelin' Blue?

Oct 1, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Well, I've got just the thing- an encouraging article in the Washington Post this morning on fiscal policy! Here's House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), coming to grips with unequal economic growth: "There's no question the economy is good, but it's not a good for everybody," said House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio.). "When you look at family incomes, there hasn't been much rise. But there has been increased health-care costs, increased energy costs. They're nibbling up more than the family budget. It just drives more concerns. "

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The President's Priorities: Neither National nor Fiscally Responsible

Sep 28, 2007 by Craig Jennings

Sure, he talks a big game about "fiscal responsibility," but it's more a rhetorical tick than any sort of commitment to adequately funding national priorities. This week is emblematic of the president's bankrupt talking point.

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Rally for Children's Health

Sep 27, 2007 by Craig Jennings

The Center for American Progress Action Fund and Service Employees International Union will be marching and rallying in Washington, DC on Monday to protest the president's expected veto of expanded SCHIP funding.

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The Debt and The War

Sep 27, 2007 by Matt Lewis

The Center for American Progress has done a nice job illustrating data that the National Priorities Project just released on who's bearing the cost of the war. You can check out your state and see how much of the nearly $193 billion supplemental you'll be paying. But the thing is, for the most part, nobody's paying anything to finance this war just yet. We're just racking up more debt, and that'll have to be paid off from now until eternity.

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SCHIP Opposition: Even David Broder Doesn't Get It

Sep 27, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Centrist David Broder thinks its crazy to oppose SCHIP. The spectacle Tuesday of 151 House Republicans voting in lock step with the White House against expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was one of the more remarkable sights of the year. Rarely do you see so many politicians putting their careers in jeopardy.

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White House to Request $193 Billion for War

Sep 26, 2007 by Craig Jennings

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee, informed Congress that the White House would be requesting $193 billion to run the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in FY 2008. The AP reports that on top of the $150.7 billion requested in previous months, Gates asked the approps committee for an additional $42.3 billion, which includes:

$11 billion to field another 7,000 MRAP vehicles in addition to the 8,000 already planned;
$9 billion to reconstitute equipment and technology;

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CBO's Score for House SCHIP Bill (HR 976)

Sep 26, 2007 by Craig Jennings

CBO has released its score for the recently passed House bill that would increase funding for SCHIP.

SCHIP provisions alone are $27.7 billion above CBO baseline of $27.4 billion
Other provisions in the bill, including additional Medicaid outlays are $7.2 billion above CBO baseline
Total spending above CBO baseline is $34.9 billion
These additional mandatory expenditures will be offset primarily by a 61-cent per-pack cigarette tax totalling $35.5 billion

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SCHIP Passes House!

Sep 26, 2007 by Matt Lewis

The SCHIP expansion bill passed the House last night by the large margin of 265 to 159. 45 Republicans voted for it, while only 8 Democrats voted against it. Kudos to everyone who called in! Now the fight moves to the Senate. Unfortunately, the House vote fell short of the 2/3 majority needed to overturn a veto. The Senate now has to get a veto-proof vote, which should put pressure on more House members to overturn a veto. If they don't get there, the new funding levels will have to come down, and fewer children will be enrolled in the program.

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House SCHIP Vote Imminent

Sep 25, 2007 by Matt Lewis

The House is scheduled to vote on the SCHIP bill in hours, while the Senate will vote on either Thursday or Friday. If you haven't already, please make sure to call your representatives. The toll free number is 1-866-544-7573. It sounds cheesy, but millions of kids are counting on you to do it.

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