More than 300 state, local, and national organizations sent a letter today to every member of Congress, urging them to support H.R. 2834, the bill intoruced by Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI) to close the tax loophole that allows fund managers to pay capital gains tax rates on the portion of their compensation for management services known as "carried interest." There is no other profession or sector that enjoys this tax preference. OMB Watch is pleased to be among the letter's signatories. The issues involved -- tax equity and fiscal responsibility -- are close to the core of OMB Watch's mission.

The Wall Street Journal has a good article on the top presidential candidate's position on taxes. It's subscription only, so here's an excerpted version: The 2008 presidential race is likely to produce a sharp debate over tax policy and its effects on individuals, estates, investments and corporations. But voters may have to wait for the general election to hear it. That is because there is substantial agreement on the biggest policy questions within each party's field of primary candidates. For now, those broad areas of consensus have left intraparty rivals to bicker at the margins.

CBO's The Budget and Economic Outlook: An Update is a statute-directed baseline: "In accordance with long-standing procedures, CBO's projections assume that current laws and policies remain in place." So, the revenue figures in years 2010-2017 reflect a scenario in which the 2001/2003 tax cuts expire (as legislated). If Congress does nothing - that is let the sun set on tax cuts, the Treasury will see surpluses starting in 2012. But if those tax cuts are extended, it's a river of red ink. Federal Budget Surplus/Deficit(-) (billions of dollars) 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Lots of good stuff came out today.

• A Congressional Research Service (CRS, aka the super-authoritative researchers who members of Congress ask to do reports for them, but typically the reports aren't available to the public) comparison of the House and Senate SCHIP bills
• The House Budget Committee's breakdown of how some of Bush's proposed budget cuts would impact each state
• A knowledgeable article in the Washington Post about the