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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Congressional Budget Chairs to Bush: Budget War Costs

Jan 3, 2007 by Dana Chasin

Over the holidays, incoming Senate Budget Committee chair Kent Conrad (D-ND), the incoming House Budget Committee chair John Spratt (D-SC), and the Senate Budget Committee chair Judd Gregg (R-NH) sent a letter to President Bush reminding him to include the full costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan military operations in his regular budget submission for FY 2008, expected on or about February 7, 2007. The letter opens:

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Humbled Bush Writes in WSJ

Jan 3, 2007 by Matt Lewis

President Bush has fired the opening shot of the 2007 budget battle, writing an op-ed in today's WSJ. The piece is mostly PR, which is an encouraging sign that the President is more interested in repairing his image than pursuing harmful policy. Substance-wise, the President is not asking for much more than the continuation of the status quo. Some notable budgetary policies and goals mentioned in the op-ed:

No new taxes: "Now is not the time to raise taxes on the American people."

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PAYGO and Progressive Legislaiton

Dec 21, 2006 by Matt Lewis

If you're interested in how PAYGO might affect progressive legislation, check out this discussion at Inclusionist.org that I chimed in on. And read the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities statement on PAYGO that got the ball rolling. It's got good background info on PAYGO for anyone who's new to the issue.

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Brass Bounces Ball to Budget

Dec 20, 2006 by Craig Jennings

Sounds like Dana spoke too soon. According to the AP, the supplemental request is now $99.7 billion. WASHINGTON - The Pentagon wants the White House to seek an additional $99.7 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to information provided to The Associated Press. The military's request, if embraced by President Bush and approved by Congress, would boost this year's budget for those wars to about $170 billion. One hundred billion was just too high, apparently.

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Congressional Democrats -- Who's your Daddy Party?

Dec 20, 2006 by Dana Chasin

The Wall Street Journal today offers a must-read page-one article on the fork in the road ahead for Democrats regarding the Party's identity on economic issues. Appearing arrayed against each other are the Clintonian, "establishment," free-trading internationalists led by Robert Rubin and the populists and organized labor challengers focused on economic -- especially job, health care, and retirement -- security.

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Supplemental: It's Wednesday, It Must be $110 Billion

Dec 20, 2006 by Dana Chasin

Those trying to follow the bouncing budget ball of the President's expected "emergency" supplemental request for war funding in 2007 watched it bounce yet again yesterday. USA Today reports that when asked if the supplemental will be at least $110 billion, OMB Director Rob Portman said, "Yes." Exactly a week ago, CNN referred to a House report released that day saying "the administration is expected to submit an additional request early next year that will total roughly $100 billion."

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ADDENDUM: 100 Hours Rules Package and Rationales

Dec 15, 2006 by Dana Chasin

TODAY, The office of the House Democratic Leadership released an Honest Leadership/Open Government Rules Package," identifying ethics, lobbying, and key process reform priorities, as well as rationales for their selection.

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Pelosi Promises Key Budget Process Reforms

Dec 15, 2006 by Dana Chasin

In a press conference yesterday, incoming House Speak Nancy Pelosi re-affirmed her commitment to key budget process reforms long-supported by OMB Watch. Among the "First 100 Hours" rules package will be the following reforms:

EARMARKS: mandatory disclosure of all earmarks and the requirement that members certify that spouses do not directly benefit from the added project
DEFICIT DISCIPLINE: budget Reconciliations will not be considered if they reduce the budget surplus or increase the deficit

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Sen. Murray on Earmark-Free CR's Impact

Dec 15, 2006 by Matt Lewis

Here's an interesting article on the mixed blessings of an earmark-free funding year. Congressional Democrats will strip all pet-project "earmarks" from the 2007 federal budget early next year to help pay for the war in Iraq, says U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. But that move will have a downside for Clark County, she said Wednesday. Murray's address to the Vancouver Rotary Club delivered a stiff dose of fiscal reality.

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PAYGO and War Costs: A Red-Ink-Herring

Dec 14, 2006 by Dana Chasin

A story in today's New York Times entitled "Democrats Plan to Take Control of Iraq Spending" raises a number of interesting questions about budgeting war costs. How can you put such an unpredictable item as war costs into an annual budget? Should war funding requests go to appropriations or a substantive policy review committee such as armed services? What degree of congressional oversight is appropriate for an emergency supplemental spending request? Reporter Carl Hulse raises one issue, however, that is a complete red-ink-herring:

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