Federal Budget Policy

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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Conferees Pass Supplemental, with Troop Restrictions

Apr 23, 2007 by Dana Chasin

House and Senate conferees have just approved a $124.2 emergency war spending supplemental conference report. The report adopts the Senate version of the supplemental, which set a goal of withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq by April 1, 2008.

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Emergency Supplemental -- Color-Coded

Apr 20, 2007 by Dana Chasin

Last year, President Bush sent a $72 billion emergency supplemental war spending bill to Congress on February 16, 2006. He signed the bill 119 days later, on June 15, 2006. A year earlier, the dates were: February 14, 2005, Bush submits $82 billion supplemental bill; May 11, 2005, he signs it.

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Forward Calendar for Supplemental, Budget Resolution

Apr 20, 2007 by Craig Jennings

The following is the current schedule of congressional action with respect to the:

War Spending Supplemental (H.R. 1591):
- April 23 -- House conferees (appointed April 19) to meet meet with Senate counterparts in first public conference committee meeting, 4:30 p.m., HC-5 Capitol Bldg.
- April 25 or 26 -- House consideration Conference Report
- April 26 or 27 -- Senate consideration of Conference Report
- May 31 -- Target date for passage of second ("post-veto") supplemental bill

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Breaking - Doolittle Steps Down from Approps Committee

Apr 19, 2007 by Craig Jennings

Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA), whose home was recently raided as part of an FBI investigation to his ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, has resigned his seat on the House Appropriations Committee. AP: Rep. John Doolittle, whose house was searched by the FBI in an influence-peddling investigation, said Thursday he will step down temporarily from the House Appropriations Committee.

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Question of the Day

Apr 19, 2007 by Dana Chasin

What remains now on the war funding front is to await the promised Bush veto of the record-sized supplemental appropriation bill Congress is expected to send to the president in the next week or so. Meanwhile, echoing the sentiment we expressed last week: Since the funding conditions may well, for all we know, end up as ignorable timetable "goals," it seems that the president is jumping the gun in issuing veto threats... Rep. James Moran (D-VA) asked this question yesterday:

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Withdrawal Date Debate: View from the Ground, Gates

Apr 18, 2007 by Dana Chasin

More than anything else, the sticking point in today's discussion about the war spending supplemental appropriations bill at the White House involved the timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. soldiers on the ground. President Bush and House Minority Leader Boehner (R-OH) argued con and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) pressed the pro line, but those on the ground spoke loudest of all. As Bloomberg reported today:

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Supplemental II: Pelosi Mulls Senate Withdrawal 'Goal'

Apr 18, 2007 by Dana Chasin

Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly (CQ $) met with key House Democrats and members of the Out of Iraq Caucus Tuesday to discuss reconciling differences regarding Iraq troop withdrawal language in the House and Senate supplemental bills. According to a Democratic aide briefed after the meeting, "The [conference] committee will likely keep the [waivable House] readiness components but take the [non-binding] Senate language on goals" for a withdrawal date.

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Economic Policy Institute Panel Looks beyond Balanced Budget

A balanced budget can and does have a place in a responsible fiscal policy, but it is not the only element. That was the message presented April 12, when the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) hosted a panel discussion entitled "Beyond Balanced Budget Mania." Indeed, a strict concentration on balancing the budget could have deleterious effects on the economy, continue to leave health care out the reach of millions, and contribute to the ongoing decay of national infrastructure.

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Supplemental Debate: War of Words

In the weeks since the House and Senate each narrowly passed emergency supplemental appropriations bills, the president and congressional Democrats have engaged in a rhetorical battle over additional items above the president's record request, as well as language calling for a withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Bush has issued almost daily attacks against the bills since they passed, calling them attempts to "micromanage" the war and fund unnecessary projects. The two sides are scheduled to meet at the White House April 18, but the war of words is not expected to abate anytime soon.

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Budget Perception Vs. Reality

Apr 17, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Ask a friend (who doesn't do fiscal policy) to sum up the fiscal policy of the Bush era, and more likely than not, they'll tell you it's been one of "big spending." That's been my experience, at least. And Republican presidential candidates seem to be playing off that perception. Many of them have been issuing a call for greater fiscal discipline, achieved by spending restraint and reductions.

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