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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Competiting Claims on Our Fiscal Future

Jul 11, 2008 by Adam Hughes*

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has released a report from leading economists and budget experts criticing a recent paper from the Brookings Institute and the Heritage Foundation called "Taking Back Our Fiscal Future." From the CBPP

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Future of FY 2009 Appropriations Bills in Doubt

Jul 10, 2008 by Adam Hughes*

Things just keep getting worse and worse for the FY 2009 appropriations bills. First, House Appropriations Committee members get all hot and bothered with each other and refuse to continue to work on appropriations bills. Then, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) casts doubt that any appropriations bills will be passed by the House this year. And now, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has speculated he believes Congress won't enact any bills until long after President Bush starts working on his presidential library. The Hill reported today that Reid

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Politics as Usual

Jul 9, 2008 by Adam Hughes*

The Hill reports today about some border-line shady behavior from Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) related to his earmark requests in the 2005 transportation bill. Turns out the earmark request Kanjorski submitted to build a parking garage at, of all places, the Kanjorski Cetner (pictured above) did not meet federal guidelines.

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OMB Releases FY 2008 Earmarks Data

Jul 8, 2008 by Craig Jennings

OMB has released additional data on federal earmarks contained in the FY 2008 appropriations bills yesterday. The data is available at www.earmarks.gov. I have to continue to applaud OMB for publishing information online about federal spending in this earmark database. They have continued to improve the interface of the earmarks database and list earmark by agency, by state, and they now provide a summary of earmarks totaled up by appropriations subcommittee - a great addition. You can also do a keyword search across all the data they post.

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Monthly Budget Review: June, 2008

Jul 8, 2008 by Craig Jennings

CBO has released its Monthly Budget Review for June. It finds that while the stimulus payments accounted for a $21 billion decline in monthly revenue (compared to last June), June's surplus would still have been lower than last year's when the rebates are accounted for. Details below.

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Congress to End White House Forest Conservation Program

Jul 8, 2008 by Craig Jennings

CQ reports ($) that Congress intends to reverse OMB's decision to stop issuing printed budgets to various government offices. The committee report accompanying the fiscal 2009 Financial Services appropriations bill, which includes funds for White House operations, instructs OMB to send paper copies of the budget to Capitol Hill next year. "Committees and Members' offices frequently rely on the printed budget as one of many tools to analyze the president's proposals," the report reads.

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Bush Signs War Supplemental, Cements Fiscal Legacy

Contrary to his assertion that he would "not accept a supplemental over $108 billion," President Bush signed a $257 billion war supplemental spending package on June 30. The bill will fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for the remainder of the fiscal year (ending Sept. 30) and through the first several months of the next president's term.

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Fiscal Policy Agenda Returns to Washington

Jul 7, 2008 by Adam Hughes*

The Fiscal Policy Team and Congress both return to action this week with a number of fiscal policy issues to be tackled during the next five weeks. Below is a rundown of issues coming up soon, with most of the action happening in the Senate:

Debate continues between Senate Democrats and Republicans over whether to offset the cost of a popular package of tax breaks called the "extenders." The latest development is that Senate Republicans are now challenging Democrats to offset the cost of the package with spending cuts rather than other tax increases. BNA ($)

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BudgetBlog on Hiatus for Holiday: Happy Fourth Everyone!

Jun 27, 2008 by Adam Hughes*

Happy Fourth of July! Just wanted to let our loyal BudgetBlog readers know we're going on a short hiatus next week. With Congress heading out of town for a short summer recess and the upcoming Fourth of July holiday next week, the Fiscal Policy team is heading out of town in order to escape the heat for some well-deserved vacation. This means, though, that the BudgetBlog will be dormant next week. But don't despair. Craig and I will return in one short week on July 7 to continue to bring you all the news, gossip, information, and analysis on federal fiscal policy you've come to expect.

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Senate GOP Battling Themselves Over Earmarks

Jun 26, 2008 by Adam Hughes*

Looks like reforms that would bring increased transparency to earmarking in the U.S. Senate will have to wait a little longer. The Senate Republican caucus postponed a vote yesterday on a package of recommendations developed by five GOP senators earlier this year that would increase disclosure of earmark requests and accessibility of earmark language in legislation. The Hill reports:

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