Ryan McNeely had an interesting post over at Think Progress this afternoon on Roll Call's recent "extremely flattering profile" of Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD), a leader among the Blue Dog Coalition in the House. McNeely notes that the article portrays Herseth Sandlin "as a thorn in the side of [Rep.] Nancy Pelosi [D-CA], bravely defending the nation from increased deficits." Of course, the problem with that description, like the media's general portrayal of the debate on deficits and debt, is that it is so oversimplified that "it does a grave disservice to our discourse."

The Budget Brigade has learned that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), along with Sens. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) as co-sponsors, will soon introduce the "Responsible Estate Tax Act." While the bill would essentially reinstate the estate tax at 2009 levels – exempting the first $3.5 million of an individual's estate ($7 million for couples) – it has a more progressive tax rate structure that targets the wealthiest one quarter of one percent of the population, and protects small businesses and family farms.

This news is a bit old, but I thought it was interesting enough to warrant a late post. On June 10, Treasury released its May TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) report, providing an update for the bailout program. The big, "milestone" news from the report is that TARP repayments have now exceeded the remaining balance. According to the report, through May, TARP recipients paid back $194 billion, which is more than half of the total funds TARP has paid out ($384 billion, which includes everything, from the bank warrants to the AIG payments to the auto bailouts). In other words, TARP recipients have paid back $194 billion, meaning that the returned funds now outweigh the remaining balance.