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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Pots, Kettles, and the Ironic Blackness of the U.S. Senate

Aug 30, 2006 by Matthew Madia

Earlier today we blogged about Sen. Stevens' (R-AK) "secret" hold on legislation of a fellow Senator - Tom Coburn (R-OK). We speculated that the reason Stevens' office gave for the hold was probably about as accurate as OMB's deficit projections have been over the past few years.

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Sen. Stevens, Come on Down!

Aug 30, 2006 by Matthew Madia

It's official - the secret hold on S. 2590 is none other than Sen. Ted "Series of Tubes" Stevens (R-AK). Sen. Stevens is the former chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and all around Senate curmudgeon. What's interesting about the fact that Stevens put a hold on the bill is his rationale. According to Stevens' spokesman Aaron Saunders, the Senator is worried "that the bill would create more bureaucracy. He wants to see a cost-benefit analysis." Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK)

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Who Is The Secret Holder: From 100 Down to 5

Aug 29, 2006 by Matthew Madia

TPMMuckraker, with the help of GOP Progress and porkbusters.org (who originally started the tally), has narrowed the list of possibilities of the "secret hold" on S. 2590 in the Senate to five candidates (in fact, in the time I took writing this post, the list narrowed from eight to five):

Robert Byrd (D - WV) Mike Crapo (R - ID) Judd Gregg (R - NH) Orrin Hatch (R - UT) Ted Stevens (R - AK)

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More Transparency on Katrina?

Aug 29, 2006 by Matthew Madia

A year ago today, of course, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. I don't have much to add to all that's been said so far, except for that we don't really know how the federal government has been spending the money it allocated for the relief and recovery effort. Amy Liu, a researcher for the Brookings Institute who's been tracking the recovery for the last year, should know what the federal government has been spending the money on. But as she said on the Tavis Smiley show in July, nobody really does.

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Secret Hold in Senate Blocks Transparency Effort

Aug 22, 2006 by Matthew Madia

While the inner-workings of Congress can often be full of illogical, ironic, and bizarre happenings, the latest behind the scenes buzz on Capitol Hill (and in the blogosphere) certainly takes the cake. OMB Watch has been supporting S. 2590 (see here and here for some of the BudgetBlog's coverage), a bill to create a free, searchable, downloadable database of all federal grants and contracts information. This effort is supported by progressives and conservatives, and nearly everyone in between, and has the support of a varied and eclectic mix of Senators.

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Quote of the Day

Aug 16, 2006 by Matthew Madia

ThinkProgress brings us this quote from House Appropriations Chair Jerry Lewis (R-CA): There is a misunderstanding, particularly in the media, that earmarks are "out of control," said Lewis, who is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Here's the punchline (from a May 11 article in the Los Angeles Times): Federal prosecutors have begun an investigation into Rep. Jerry Lewis, the Californian who chairs the powerful House Appropriations Committee, government officials and others said, signaling the spread of a San Diego corruption probe.

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FY2005 Budget Reconciliation Ruled Constitutional

Aug 15, 2006 by Craig Jennings

Earlier this year we told you that the budget reconciliation bill may violate the Constitution because, due to a clerical snafu, the two chambers did not sign identical versions of bill. On Friday, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that the bill is, in fact, constitutional. BNA (sub. req'd):

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Contract and Grants Database Legislation Gets State Support

Aug 11, 2006 by Matthew Madia

Legislation to create a free, searchable database with government information on all federal grants and contracts picked up the endorsement of Republican Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels last week (Daniels is a former Director of the Office of Management and Budget). Daniels sent seperate letters to Indiana Senators Evan Bayh (D) and Richard Lugar (R) urging them to support the bill.

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An Introduction

Aug 9, 2006 by Craig Jennings

Ya'll might have noticed an uptick in the quality of the blog since Monday. That would be the work of the newest member of the Budget & Tax program - Matt Lewis. So, say 'Hi' to Matt when you get a chance.

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Senate Defeats Estate Tax Giveaway...Yet Again

The Senate voted last week to reject a tax and wage package dubbed the "trifecta" that would have slashed the estate tax permanently, increased the minimum wage modestly, and extended a broad set of tax breaks. The bill, passed by the House last month, also contained a number of "sweeteners" to entice targeted senators to vote for the bill. "What I will do over the next month [is] assess where America is," Frist said. "And what I would very much like to do or to have happen is ... pressure from the American people. If I felt that, I would use that procedural option in bringing these back."

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