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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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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Are Earmarks Really That Bad?

Aug 15, 2006 by Matt Lewis

The Christian Science Monitor is running a series of articles on pork-barrel politics, the latest of which focuses on defense earmarks in West Viriginia. Here's what a defense contractor had to say about a military production facility (ABL) that earmarks have helped develop:

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Trollin'

Aug 14, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

It's been a slow day at the BudgetBlog, so we thought we'd point out a few interesting links. Tax & Business Law Commentary Blog has two good posts up, one about howBig Pharma is stiffing the IRS on taxes it owes on its foreign sales and assets, and another on how Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA) is stiffing the IRS on taxes he owes on his property sales. Feel free to ponder the potential meta-connections between the posts. And check out this article from the Rapid City Journal on the effects that federal budget cuts may have on water supply issues in South Dakota. It's pretty frightening stuff.

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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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Ask, Receive

Aug 9, 2006 by Matthew Madia

Earlier, Matt asked: [A]ny readers out there want to calculate how much lower the deficit would have been if the 2003 capital gains and dividends tax cuts hadn't been in effect? Well, I'm not sure about the capital gains and dividends cuts, but the Center on Budget and Policy Priotities informs us that:

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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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CBO Forecasts Big Deficit, Just Less Of It

Aug 9, 2006 by Matthew Madia

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has just lowered its estimate of the Fiscal Year 2006 budget deficit by about $111 billion. So for now, FY 2006, which ends on September 31st, will probably result in a budget deficit of $260 billion. The CBO estimate puts the deficit about $30 billion lower than the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which revised its estimate in July. See here, here and here for more information on OMB's gimmicky deficit numbers.

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Katrina Woes

Aug 9, 2006 by Matthew Madia

The 1-year anniversary of the Katrina disaster is coming up, and the New Republic is featuring the plodding recovery effort in its most recent issue. From the editor's take on it (free registration required):

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Contracts and Grants Disclosure Bill Fast-Tracked

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs unanimously passed the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (S. 2590) on Aug. 8. The bill would create a searchable website that provides information about all federal spending, including government contracts and grants. Following the quick committee action, Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), the committee's chair and ranking member respectively, jointly requested that the bill be fast-tracked and brought to the Senate floor for a unanimous consent vote.

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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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