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

Congress Looks to Complete Fiscal Year 2009 Funding Bills

On Feb. 23, the House released details of a $410 billion omnibus spending bill. The bill would continue funding large portions of the federal government for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. The omnibus bill bundles appropriations for nine out of 12 spending bills set to expire on March 6. The Senate is expected to pick up the legislation the first week of March.

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Recovery.gov

Feb 17, 2009 by Craig Jennings

It's live.

The new stimulus spending website mandated by the recently-passed (and soon-to-be-signed) American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is now up and operational.

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OMB Watch Joins Stimulus Transparency Coalition

OMB Watch has joined more than 30 other groups calling for transparency and accountability requirements in federal recovery efforts, including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 1). The Coalition for an Accountable Recovery (CAR) is an assembly of organizations and individuals who believe transparency and accountability are essential to ensuring that hundreds of billions of dollars of federal spending is disbursed fairly; spent with minimal waste, fraud, and abuse; and can be assessed as effective or ineffective.

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New Treasury Secretary Takes Steps to TARP Transparency

Jan 29, 2009 by Craig Jennings

Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner announced that the Treasury Department will begin posting investment contracts of the banks that are participating in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

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House Approves $819 Billion Stimulus Bill

Jan 29, 2009 by Craig Jennings

With nary a vote from the Republican side of the aisle, House Democrats approved a gigantic spending and tax package 244-188. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (HR 1) calls for some $544 billion in spending, including a $3 billion transit provision added as amendment, and $275 in tax cuts.

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House Makes Transparency a Priority for Stimulus

The House is poised to vote on an $825 billion economic stimulus package. The legislation represents a historic effort to stabilize the economy through fiscal policy by approving $275 billion in tax cuts and $550 billion in direct spending, including funding for health care, education and job training, community development and housing, and energy and transportation infrastructure projects.

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Groups Launch Bailout Watch to Oversee Government Bailout Actions

OMB Watch and five other nonprofit organizations have collaborated to form a project called Bailout Watch. The project will research, investigate, and analyze the federal government's bailout activities and publish resources and data for policymakers, the media, and interested citizens.

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Senate Finance Committee Airs Tax Portion of Stimulus

Jan 23, 2009 by Craig Jennings

The Senate Finance Committee unveiled its part of the Senate stimulus bill today. The committee will be marking up on Jan. 27 a tax provisions and a section of unemployment insurance, health, and state fiscal relief.

The $275 billion tax title is similar to the House version, but there are a few notable differences:

The Child Tax Credit income threshold would be reduced to $6,000; the House version would drop the floor all the way to $0. So while the House would allow all workers to see a some of the tax cut, the Senate version would maintain the ridiculous "too poor to qualify" aspect of the credit.
The Senate bill would temporarily suspend income taxes on unemployment insurance benefits whereas the House makes no such provision.

Press release from Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus

Original Chairman's Mark of Senate Finance Committee Tax Provisions for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Title I (Tax Relief, Trade Adjustment Assistance, and Other Provisions)

Original Chairman's Mark of Additional Senate Finance Committee Provisions for the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009, Titles II — V (Unemployment Insurance, Health, and Other Provisions)

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Win $100 for Assessing the Stimulus Bill

Jan 23, 2009 by Craig Jennings

WashingtonWatch.com is sponsoring a contest to call out the the best and the worst of the stimulus bill that is making its way through Congress.

Your goal is to identify spending in the economic stimulus bill that will do a really good job of stimulating the economy, or a really bad job. A $100 prize will go to the best comment identifying good stimulus spending - the spending that will do the most to get the economy on its feet - and another $100 to the best comment identifying bad stimulus spending - spending that will just fall in a hole or even make the U.S. economy worse.

Take any part of the stimulus bill and write a short case for why it's good or bad. (Recommended: search the bill for "$" - there are more than 350 of them.) Pick anything - from an entire government department to the smallest program. You can even pick a non-spending provision in the bill that you think will do good or bad.

The Budget Brigade's own Adam Hughes will be one of the judges, so start sending those ~~checks~~ entries in to me WashingtonWatch.com!

Image by Flickr user littleli1985 used under a Creative Commons license.

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House Takes Aim at TARP

Jan 22, 2009 by Craig Jennings

A couple of quick updates on TARP legislation in the House:

The House approved (260-166) House Financial Chair Barney Frank's (D-MA) TARP Reform and Accountability Act of 2009 (HR 384) yesterday. The bill would, among other things, strengthen oversight and transparency provisions in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The Senate is not expected to take up the legislation.
And today, the House passed (270-155) a resolution that would deny the Obama Administration access to the last $350 billion of the $700 in TARP funds. The vote was largely symbolic, as the Senate considered the resolution and promptly voted it down (42-52) on Jan. 15.