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

Business Tax Cuts as Stimulus: Somewhat Less Than Effective

Jan 8, 2009 by Craig Jennings

This week, I've been considering the value of tax cuts as an effective economic stimulus. On the one hand, government spending appears to provide the most bang-for-the-buck.

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Gates Opines on 2009 War Spending

Jan 7, 2009 by Craig Jennings

It's not official, but DefSec Gates has sent Congress an estimate of what he thinks the Pentagon will request to round out FY 2009 war funding. His "personal assessment" comes in at just under $70 billion, which is somewhat less than the $83 billion he mentioned in December.

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Details of New House Rules Package

Jan 6, 2009 by Adam Hughes*

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The Case for Tax Cuts in the Recovery Package

Jan 6, 2009 by Craig Jennings

In the post below, I expressed concern about emphasis on tax cuts in an economic recovery plan.

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Economic Package Details Coming Into View

Jan 5, 2009 by Craig Jennings

Details are emerging on the What and How of the imminent economic ~~stimulus~~ recovery package.

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Douglas Elmendorf Tapped as CBO Chief

Jan 5, 2009 by Craig Jennings

While we were glad to see Peter Orszag tapped to head OMB, we were equally sad to see the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) robbed of such an outstanding leader.

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We Wish You a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Dec 23, 2008 by Craig Jennings

The Budget Brigade would like to wish you all a great holiday season and a super New Year. We would also like to thank all of our readers for following our work supporting us in 2008. We will be on vacation until January, but will return in 2009 to continue keeping an eye on things.

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Christmas Comes Early to Wall Street

Dec 22, 2008 by Adam Hughes*

We're on the verge of the holidays this Monday and the Associated Press reported yesterday that bank executives around the country received an early present this year, courtesy of Joe and Jane Taxpayer:

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Your Lips Say "No," but Your Law Says "Probably"

Dec 19, 2008 by Craig Jennings

With the announcement of a TARP-sponsored bailout of GM and Chrysler, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said that the remaining $350 billion

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The Beginning of the End for Private Tax Collection?

Dec 17, 2008 by Adam Hughes*

The private tax collection program run by the IRS is in the news again. BNA reported yesterday that Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman John Lewis (D-GA) (along with 12 other Ways and Means members) sent a letter to President-elect Obama urging him to end the private tax collection program. The House members quickly lay out the strong rationale for ending the program:

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