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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Time for Recess: An August Appropriations Update

Aug 6, 2009 by Jocelyn Yin*

As the Senate finishes up a few important matters before the August recess, including a Cash-for-Clunkers vote, it's time to take a look at what else is going on in regular Senate business. Unfortunately, the Senate is behind schedule, and it remains unlikely that all appropriations bills will be resolved prior to the start of the new fiscal year on Oct 1.

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Progress Reporting

Aug 5, 2009 by Craig Jennings

(click to enlarge)

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Cash for Clunkers the New Darling of Stimulus Dollars

Jul 31, 2009 by Jocelyn Yin*

The "Cash-for-Clunkers" (C4C) program will get an addition infusion of money, this time from stimulus funds. Passed in June, the program's purpose was to use rebates to subsidize car purchases and with the launch of the program this month, it seems Congress underestimated demand by just a little bit.

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Is the Stimulus Working?

Jul 31, 2009 by Craig Jennings

This morning, the Bureau of Economic Analyses released the latest economic growth data. In the second quarter of this year, the gross domestic product (GDP) shrank at annul rate of 1.0 percent. While this represents a slowing of the free-fall rate of economic contraction we saw in Q1 (6.4 percent), the economy has quite a ways to go before job losses become gains and wages begin ticking upward. This improvement, though, does beg the question "Is the Recovery Act working?"

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Chugging Along: Time for an Appropriations Update

Jul 28, 2009 by Jocelyn Yin*

As Congress hits the home stretch before the traditional August recess, it's time to see what Congress has been up to...

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OMB Watch Submits Comments on Contracting Reform

Jul 21, 2009 by Adam Hughes*

On March 4, President Obama released a Memorandum on Government Contracting, which instructed the OMB and other federal agencies to improve and strengthen federal contracting practices, including seeking input from the public. In response to this effort, OMB Watch submitted comments and recommendations on necessary reforms to the federal contracting system.

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Obama's Use of Signing Agreements Draws Ire of House Democrat Leaders

Jul 21, 2009 by Jocelyn Yin*

Today, four House Democrat leaders, including Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Rep. David Obey (D-WI), released a strongly worded letter that expresses their displeasure with President Obama's use of a signing statement to reassert his right to ignore the conditions placed on the IMF funding for purposes of conducting foreign policy.

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SIGTARP Report Calls for More Bank Info

Jul 20, 2009 by Craig Jennings

This morning the Special Inspector for TARP released a report based on a survey of some 360 financial institutions that received TARP funds. The report finds that:

Many banks reported that TARP funds allowed them to increase lending for residential and commercial loans, small business loans, credit card loans, and other types of lending. Most firms reported multiple and sometimes interrelated uses; a majority of respondents’ reported that they used the funds primarily for lending, building capital reserves and investing...

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Congress Looks to Boost CPSC Funding above Obama Request

Jul 14, 2009 by Matthew Madia

Both the House and the Senate are working to increase the budget of the Consumer Product Safety Commission – the beleaguered federal regulator of everything from toys to toasters.

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