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...

read in full

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...

read in full

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...

read in full

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...

read in full

more news

CBO Again Finds Fiscal Policies Unsustainable

The recently updated Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Budget and Economic Outlook shows no significant improvement in the long-term fiscal health of the nation. In fact, the nonpartisan agency that provides Congress with budget and economic analysis found the situation worsening and reiterated that the current structure of taxation and spending is simply unsustainable.

read in full

Final Budget Bill Passed; Tax Bill Sent to Conference

A little over a month into 2006, Congress continues its effort to finish extraneous budget reconciliation bills from 2005. The reconciliation bills, which were laid out nearly a year ago in the April budget resolution, took up much of Congress' already-limited time last fall and winter and have laid out a number of extremely irresponsible fiscal policies.

read in full

IRS Capitulates to Pressure; Will Notify Taxpayers Under Suspicion

Feb 7, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

Some good news was reported yesterday that was overlooked amid the chaos of the president's budget release. The IRS has annouced it will reverse its previous practice and begin notifying taxpayers whose tax returns are being "frozen" under suspicion of tax fraud.

read in full

OMB Watch Initial Analysis of President's FY 2007 Budget

Feb 7, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

Our initial analysis of the president's budget release is now available. This is just preliminary and there are many more aspects of the budget to comment on. Check back here often for additional updates and information about what's in the FY 2007 budget proposal.

read in full

Initial Analysis of the President's 2007 Budget

The president's Fiscal Year 2007 (FY 07) budget would set the nation on a dangerous fiscal path and does nothing to honestly address the federal government's looming budgetary challenges. The budget--totaling $2.77 trillion--would make permanent the president's first-term tax cuts, which primarily benefit the wealthy, and pay for those cuts in part by cutting some entitlement programs and drastically reducing domestic discretionary spending (outside of homeland security and defense).

read in full

Senate Passes Tax Bill; Conference Negotiations Ahead

Feb 3, 2006 by Guest Blogger

Yesterday the Senate passed the tax reconciliation bill in a 66-31 vote. The bill passes $70 billion in tax cuts, and makes way for conference negotiations with the House. Lawmakers will be facing a difficult conference because of differences that exist between the House and Senate versions of the bill, particularly regarding the extension of the cut in tax rates on capital gains and dividends through 2010. The passage of this bill comes one day after Congress finished work on a $40 billion budget reconciliation bill which cuts entitlement spending in an effort to scale down the deficit.

read in full

You're Doing a Heckuva Job Georgie: Debunking the State of the Union

Feb 2, 2006 by Guest Blogger

OMB Watch has written an analysis debunking some of the statements made by President Bush in the 2006 State of the Union address. Be sure to check it out.

read in full

You're Doing a Heckuva Job, Georgie: Debunking the State of the Union

In his Jan. 31 State of the Union address, President Bush spoke on many issues vital to the country including foreign policy, the economy, and health care. As is often the case in the annual address, the president offered far fewer specifics and suggested fewer solutions than many Americans would have liked to hear. Still, the president did manage to articulate a few specific points, some suggesting policies and others spinning the facts. To follow is a look behind a few of the more misleading statements made by the president in the address.

read in full

One Disconnect Among Many

Feb 1, 2006 by Guest Blogger

In his State of the Union address last night, the President asked Congress to make his 2001 and 2003 taxcuts permanent, and told the American people this would make the economy even stronger. In the very same speech he mentioned efforts to "stay on track to cut the deficit in half by 2009."

read in full

2006 State of the Union

Feb 1, 2006 by Guest Blogger

Last night President Bush delivered his annual State of the Union Address. Check back here later in the day for an analysis on the comments Bush made regarding taxes, the budget, and the economy last night.

read in full