Earmarks

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

Conservative Republican Defends Earmarks

Mar 27, 2006 by Matthew Madia

Interesting article on the position of a conservative Republican House Member - Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) - supporting the earmarking process in Congress. Simpson even goes so far as to say outlawing earmarks may be unconstitutional.

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USA Today Pans President's Line-Item Proposal

Mar 23, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

USA Today's lead editorial today sharply criticizes supporters of the president's latest power grab - an line-item veto (or enchanced rescission power) proposal currently turning some heads in Congress. The editors make very good arguments, particularly the fact that this proposal would actually distract attention from the major issues at play with the errosion of our country's fiscal health, not help to make our government more fiscally responsible.

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Lawsuit Filed Over Budget Reconciliation Bill

Mar 22, 2006 by Guest Blogger

Public Citizen has filed a federal lawsuit regarding the constitutionality of the budget reconciliation bill. They are seeking to overturn the bill, which was signed into law on Feb. 8 by President Bush, on the grounds that it is unconstitutional because a clerical error resulted in a different version of the bill being signed than what was actually passed. It is possible the courts could rule that the act violates the Constitution -- specifically the bicameral clause -- which requires both chambers to pass identical legislation before it can become law.

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Senate Approves Disappointing Budget Resolution

Last week before leaving town for another weeklong recess, the Senate approved its Fiscal year 2007 budget resolution. The resolution is a significant departure from President Bush's proposed budget submitted earlier this year, dropping the president's Medicare cuts, not extending tax cuts, and adding over $16 billion in discretionary spending above the president's request. Despite these changes that make it more election-friendly for Senate incumbents, the budget continues to fall short of the sound budget policy desperately needed to stem the growth of deficits.

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Honest Debate Is Needed Around Vote to Increase Debt Limit

On March 16 the Senate voted 52-48 to increase the nation's statutory debt limit once again. The limit now sits at almost $9 trillion. The vote to increase the debt limit was necessary in order to avoid a government default, yet Senate Republican leaders pushed hard for this vote to take place without proper debate and without giving Senators a chance to offer amendments, some of which could potentially help to slow the rapid run-up of debt in years to come.

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OMB Watch Statement On Debt Ceiling Increase

Mar 17, 2006 by Matthew Madia

OMB Watch released a statement yesterday about the vote in the Senate to increase the nation's debt limit for the fourth time in the last five years. Read the statement

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Frist to Schedule Debate on Line-Item Veto

Mar 17, 2006 by Guest Blogger

As part of their vote-a-rama yesterday, the Senate voted to increase the national debt limit by $781 billion, placing the debt limit at almost $9 trillion. The debt limit vote forced lawmakers to cast politically unpopular votes (because they essentially just added almost $1 trillion to U.S. debt), and a number of them showed their disapproval by threatening Majority Leader Frist that they would force votes on budget-reform amendments, including one on the line-item veto.

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Senate Passes Budget Bill 51-49

Mar 17, 2006 by Guest Blogger

Last night the Senate passed the budget resolution by a very close vote of 51-49. Vice President Dick Cheney was on hand in case he was needed to provide a tie-breaking vote. A series of amendments approved by a bipartisan majority added $16 billion in spending to the $2.77 trillion resolution for FY 2007 that came out of committee. The increased spending -- as well as deals made with Gulf Coast lawmakers for increased funding to their states -- helped ensure final passage.

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Specter-Harkin Amendment Passes

Mar 16, 2006 by Guest Blogger

The Harkin-Specter amendment restoring $7 billion to Labor-HHS passed the Senate today. It passed 73-27, with the following Republicans voting in favor of the amendment: Sens. Alexander, Bennett, Burns, Chafee, Cochran, Coleman, Collins, DeWine, Dole, Domenici, Frist, Grassley, Hagel, Hatch, Hutchison, Lott, Lugar, Murkowski, Roberts, Santorum, Smith, Snowe, Specter, Stevens, Talent, Thune, Voinovich, and Warner.

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Senate Vote on the Debt Limit Increase

Mar 15, 2006 by Matthew Madia

The Senate will likely vote to increase the debt limit at some point tomorrow. Below are some good articles on the issue. New York Times: Senate Could Vote Thursday to Hike Debt Limit Los Angeles Times: Senate Stalls Debt-Ceiling Decision The Hill: Debt Limit Vote Seen as Budget Reform Lever When $8 Trillion Isn't Enough

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