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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Kids Today

Jul 27, 2007 by Craig Jennings

A recent poll finds that 18-29 year-olds want a bigger government with more services. The Democracy Corps poll was conducted May 29 - June 19 and included 1017 18-29 year-old respondents. Generally speaking, would you rather have a bigger government providing more services or a smaller government that provides fewer services? Bigger government, strongly .................... 40 Bigger government, not so strongly........... 28 Smaller government, not so strongly......... 12 Smaller government, strongly................... 16 (Don't know/refused) ................................ 4

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Approps Update

Jul 27, 2007 by Craig Jennings

In the last minutes of yesterday, the Senate passed FY 2008 Homeland Security funding - its first appropriations bill for the next fiscal year. And the veto-resilient vote - 89-4 - bodes ill for the White House. The House approved its measure short of the veto-proof margin of 292 'yeas' (268-150), an so eyes will glance over to the presidents drawer where he keeps his veto pen in anticipation of Bush following through with his veto threat.

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Rep. Young, Sen. Stevens Under Criminal Probe

Jul 25, 2007 by Craig Jennings

Allegations of $$ for Earmarks, Contracts The Wall Street Journal reports today that "Federal investigators are examining whether Rep. [Don] Young [R-AK] or Sen. [Ted] Stevens [R-AK] accepted bribes, illegal gratuities or unreported gifts from VECO Corp., Alaska's largest oil-field engineering firm."

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Reauthorization of Children's Health Insurance Program Gains Momentum

On July 19, the Senate Finance Committee approved a proposal to expand coverage of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to four million additional children who would otherwise not have health insurance. The entire Senate is expected to vote on the proposal this week (July 24-27), while the House is expected to act soon to approve legislation providing insurance for even more children than the Senate's version. The president has threatened to veto the Senate Finance Committee-approved version, even though it cleared the committee with strong bipartisan support, 17-4.

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Sustaining Presidential Vetoes May Become More Difficult

As Congress continues making progress on appropriations legislation, and as details of its spending priorities are revealed in each of the twelve FY 2008 appropriations bills, signs of waning enthusiasm for sustaining presidential vetoes are appearing within a group of 147 House Republicans. While this group vowed to support any presidential veto of appropriations bills, eight of the appropriations bills passed thus far by the House have garnered significant bipartisan support, defraying the solidarity of that coalition.

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Pelosi, Reid Open Door to Spending Compromise

Jul 24, 2007 by Craig Jennings

In a letter sent Friday, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) invited President Bush (R-$$) to a sit down to discuss the "relatively small differences" between spending legislation making its way through Congress and the president's request. Hoping to avoid a budget showdown, the Democratic leaders are seeking to meet Bush somewhere in between.

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Of Promises and Principles

Jul 23, 2007 by Craig Jennings

Several (well, 62 to be exact) of the 147 congresspeople who signed a letter promising to sustain every presidential spending bill veto are already wavering in their commitments. CQ has an interesting analysis ($) of the four FY 2008 House- approved appropriations bills that have drawn veto threats from the president. Sixty-two of the 147 congresspeople who have pledged to sustain a veto have voted for at least one of the measures. Four of 147 signatories have voted in favor of all four of the bills, while three have voted for three.

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Approps Update

Jul 20, 2007 by Craig Jennings

Yesterday evening, the House voted 276-140 to pass the $607 billion ($151.4 billion discretionary ) Labor-HHS-Education spending bill. The president expressed his dismay at raising the level of funding above 2005 levels for the following programs when he issued a veto threat on Tuesday:

financial aid for college students
the president's own No Child Left Behind education initiative
medical research
low-income heating assistance
funding for children with disabilities
health education

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Approps Update

Jul 17, 2007 by Craig Jennings

The House washed its hands of Energy-Water when they voted 312-112 to pass the $31.6 billion bill.
Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee handed its bill off the to Senate Appropriations Committee

Also: President Bush continues his Gregorian-esque chanting as he issues another veto threat. This time, he takes a swipe at Labor-H's massive $2 billion excess [/sarcsm] of his requested level and its language on matters related to reproductive health. The view from the outside:

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Stop the Presses: Bush Objects to Obey Cuts

Jul 17, 2007 by Craig Jennings

Social Spending to Stimulate the Publishing Sector? Man bites dog: the administration is balking at some cuts that House Appropriations Committee chair Rep. David Obey (D-WI) has made made to the Labor-HHS bill. A brand new veto threat of that bill, issued today, reads in part: The Administration strongly opposes the $629 million reduction in the Reading First program. While the Administration recognizes the significant issues outlined in several Inspector General reports, the Department has addressed these problems and implemented all the IG's recommendations.

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