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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Just How Mad is Conrad?

Jul 11, 2007 by Dana Chasin

Mid-Session Merry-Go-Round and Tussle over Nussle The OMB Mid-Session Review today announced yet another expected reduction in the administration's earlier implausibly inflated federal budget deficit projection for the year. Senate Budget Committee chair Kent Conrad, in response, sounded like a man dizzy from too many turns on a not-so-merry-go-round:

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Proxy Wars, Pt. I: Nussle Nomination

Jun 28, 2007 by Dana Chasin

Senate Budget Committee chair Kent Conrad (D-ND) issued an unorthodox statement yesterday regarding the expected nomination of Jim Nussle to succeed Rob Portman as OMB Director: Representative Nussle and I had a very frank discussion today. While I understand the President's desire to appoint an OMB Director of his choice, a number of Members have spoken with me about their very real concerns about his nomination. Members expressed serious reservations about Mr. Nussle's reputation for confrontation.

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The Vice President's Budget?

Jun 26, 2007 by Craig Jennings

The Washington Post is running a multi-part series on Vice President Dick Cheney and his impact on federal policies. Today, the series' authors, Jo Becker and Barton Gellman, examine the veep's role in influencing domestic policy. This section about the budget-making process is enlightening:

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Admin. Veto Strategy: "Aggregate Topline" Theory

Jun 25, 2007 by Dana Chasin

An Analytic Framework for the FY 2008 Budget Battle

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Portman Out, Nussle Tapped to Head OMB

On June 19, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Rob Portman announced his resignation, effective in August. President Bush has chosen former House Budget Committee chairman Jim Nussle to be the next OMB director — a candidate whose reputation and policy record suggest the White House is prepared to clash with Democrats in Congress, particularly over the FY 2008 budget.

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House Battle over Earmarks Procedure Resolved

A fiercely partisan impasse in the House was resolved on June 14 when Appropriations Chair David Obey (D-WI) and Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) reached a comprehensive procedural agreement following months of confusion and vituperation over the chamber's earmarks disclosure and approval process. The agreement outlines rules for consideration of earmarks for the House to follow for each of the 12 FY 2008 appropriations bills and appears to be operating smoothly thus far: on June 21, the House Appropriations Committee approved the lists of earmarks for two spending bills by voice votes.

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The Budget Battle -- Rhetoric vs. Reality

Jun 22, 2007 by Dana Chasin

With the Bush administration trying to effect a sudden shift from spendthrift to scrooge this budget season, the time is right to sort out fiscal myth from reality. The administration has issued shrill warnings that "the Democrats' budget would lead to spending and tax increases that put economic growth and a balanced budget at risk" (per OMB, June 12). In fact, the administration has demanded an increase in FY 2008 discretionary spending of seven percent over FY 2007; by contrast, the Democrats' proposed increase is a whopping nine percent, as we noted last week.

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Portman/Nussle Quote Quiz -- Who Said What

Jun 20, 2007 by Dana Chasin

Here are the answers to this morning's pop quiz on who said what about yesterday's news of the changing of the guard at OMB:

"I regret Budget Director Portman is resigning." -- Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)
"It's an act of absolute confrontation." -- Rep. David Obey (D-WI)
"It's good for my mental health." -- A member of the Bush cabinet (Portman himself)
"My immediate reaction is not one I'm wise to articulate." -- Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD)

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What is the White House Thinking?

Jun 20, 2007 by Dana Chasin

Collender Examines Bush's Budget "Strategy" In a succinct synopsis of President's Bush sudden switch from spendthrift to scrooge, Stan Collender asks in his latest Budget Battle column ($) why Bush has declared a(nother) unwinnable war. It's unclear why the White House would issue five veto threats just in the last two weeks of budget bills fractionally larger than his requests when the six-year

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Speculating on the Nussle Appointment

Jun 20, 2007 by Matt Lewis

So Jim Nussle will be taking over at OMB in August. Congressional Democrats have already begun to romanticize their relationship with current OMB director Rob Portman, probably a sign that they aren't looking forward to working with Nussle. "I very much regret [the departure]," said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), who has sparred with Portman over budgetary issues. "Rob Portman was someone of credibility and decency, someone I felt I could work with."

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