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

Trollin'

Aug 14, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

It's been a slow day at the BudgetBlog, so we thought we'd point out a few interesting links. Tax & Business Law Commentary Blog has two good posts up, one about howBig Pharma is stiffing the IRS on taxes it owes on its foreign sales and assets, and another on how Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA) is stiffing the IRS on taxes he owes on his property sales. Feel free to ponder the potential meta-connections between the posts. And check out this article from the Rapid City Journal on the effects that federal budget cuts may have on water supply issues in South Dakota. It's pretty frightening stuff.

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Ask, Receive

Aug 9, 2006 by Matthew Madia

Earlier, Matt asked: [A]ny readers out there want to calculate how much lower the deficit would have been if the 2003 capital gains and dividends tax cuts hadn't been in effect? Well, I'm not sure about the capital gains and dividends cuts, but the Center on Budget and Policy Priotities informs us that:

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An Introduction

Aug 9, 2006 by Craig Jennings

Ya'll might have noticed an uptick in the quality of the blog since Monday. That would be the work of the newest member of the Budget & Tax program - Matt Lewis. So, say 'Hi' to Matt when you get a chance.

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CBO Forecasts Big Deficit, Just Less Of It

Aug 9, 2006 by Matthew Madia

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has just lowered its estimate of the Fiscal Year 2006 budget deficit by about $111 billion. So for now, FY 2006, which ends on September 31st, will probably result in a budget deficit of $260 billion. The CBO estimate puts the deficit about $30 billion lower than the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which revised its estimate in July. See here, here and here for more information on OMB's gimmicky deficit numbers.

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Katrina Woes

Aug 9, 2006 by Matthew Madia

The 1-year anniversary of the Katrina disaster is coming up, and the New Republic is featuring the plodding recovery effort in its most recent issue. From the editor's take on it (free registration required):

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Contracts and Grants Disclosure Bill Fast-Tracked

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs unanimously passed the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (S. 2590) on Aug. 8. The bill would create a searchable website that provides information about all federal spending, including government contracts and grants. Following the quick committee action, Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), the committee's chair and ranking member respectively, jointly requested that the bill be fast-tracked and brought to the Senate floor for a unanimous consent vote.

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Momentum Swings Against Frist and 'Trifecta' Bill

Aug 3, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) - a key swing vote on the upcoming "trifecta" bill - has publicly announced she will vote against the bill. Cantwell's bold decision to stand up for working-class families in Washington and around the country who would get a bad break with this legislation is a significant blow to Sen. Frist's (T-RN) attempts to pass this crass and manipulative bill. Sen. Cantwell should be praised for her brave leadership in speaking out against this effort. Kudos to her!

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The National Debt, Pt. II: Why the National Debt Matters

Jul 28, 2006 by Matthew Madia

In this installment of my series on the national debt I explain why the national debt matters. The U.S. government owes a whole bunch of people a whole lot of money. Is this a problem? Well, like most things macroeconomic, the answer depends. Generally speaking, there are two things about which to be concerned when the federal government carries debt.

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OMB Watch Supporting Publication of Budget Justifications

Jul 27, 2006 by Matthew Madia

OMB Watch has partnered with the National Taxpayers Union to draft a letter to the Senate in support of making federal department budget justification reports public documents. The completed letter was sent to the Hill yesterday afternoon with the endorsement of 54 organizations.

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Treasury Dept: Sorry, No Free Lunch

Jul 26, 2006 by Craig Jennings

Supply-siders argue that tax cuts do not cause budget deficits because they create so much economic growth that total tax revenues will increase, even at the lower tax rates. In short: tax cuts pay for themselves. The Treasury Department released a report today which analyzes the economic effect of President Bush's tax cuts and concludes that tax cuts do not, in fact, pay for themselves. From page ii of the Office of Tax Analysis, U.S. Department of Treasury's A Dynamic Analysis of Permanent Extension of the President’s Tax Relief:

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