Federal Tax 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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Economy and Jobs Watch: Long-term Budget Choices

Several new reports have pointed to the weakness of the long-run U.S. fiscal situation. A wide range of observers -- from independent analysts to conservative think-tanks, from international aid organizations to congressional analysts, and even from the administration itself -- are all pointing to the fact that current tax and budget policy is not sustainable. (See links below).

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The Estate Tax and the Holocaust

Jan 6, 2004 by Guest Blogger

There was an interesting commentary in the Washington Post by Richard Cohen which followed up on the comments made last October by conservative Grover Norquist.

"...among other things, Norquist compared the estate tax to the Holocaust."

"...This is unbridled selfishness in the guise of ideology and makes wealth the moral equivalent of ethnicity or religion or even sexual preference. To Norquist, distinguishing between rich and poor is like making a selection at Auschwitz. It not only trivializes the Holocaust, it collapses all moral distinctions."

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Long-run Fiscal Condition of the US

Dec 22, 2003 by Adam Hughes*

A new report from the CBO shows just how harmful current tax policies have been to the long-run health of the country.

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Arizona Charities and the Estate Tax

Dec 22, 2003 by Guest Blogger

A story from the Arizona Republic

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Lost revenue from tax evasion

Dec 19, 2003 by Guest Blogger

The nation is loosing up to $40 billion in revenue per year from tax avoidance, according to a story in today's Washington Post.

The story also indicates that "...efforts to shift resources to the problem have slowed considerably, even as the extent of the problem has unfolded."

In fact, according to the story, last year the IRS commissioner admitted that "79 percent of identified taxpayers who use abusive devices such as offshore accounts are not pursued."

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Watcher Newsletter: Dec 17

Dec 17, 2003 by Guest Blogger

OMB Watch - The Watcher - December 15, 2003 Vol.4 No.25 -

Federal Budget
The Omnibus Spending Bill and the Budget Process A Call to Action! A Long-Term Tax and Budget Plan The Bush Tax Economy and Jobs Watch: Employment and Output Data

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The Bush Tax

While much has been made of 2001 and 2003 tax legislation, much less attention has been paid to the hidden “Bush Tax.”

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Long-term Tax and Budget Issues

Dec 10, 2003 by Guest Blogger

OMB Watch - Moving Towards Long-Term Action on Tax and Budget Issues

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Op-Ed from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Dec 2, 2003 by Guest Blogger

Op-ed from the state of Washington ...

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Economy and Jobs Watch: Consumer Debt Increases, Savings Rate Down

While very recent economic news shows some long-overdue strength – gross domestic product grew at an 8.2% annual rate in the third quarter – mounting levels of both public and private debt remain a concern, both for the near future as well for the long-run health of the economy.

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