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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DAILY FISCAL POLICY REVIEW -- 02-22-08

Feb 22, 2008 by Dana Chasin

Stimulus 2.0 -- Senate to Consider Housing Package: Majority Leader Reid may bring a housing-oriented 'stimulus' package to the Senate floor with a vote perhaps sometime next week... The housing piece looks like a grab-bag of provisions:

a controversial bankruptcy law revision allowing judges to alter home mortgage terms
increased caps on state mortgage-revenue bonds
tax breaks for homebuilders

[Query: what makes this a stimulus package? A PAYGO waiver?]

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Assessing the Fiscal Stimulus Package

President Bush signed a two-year, $168 billion fiscal stimulus package on Feb. 13 — the largest legislative initiative ever designed to ease an economic slowdown. Although it was passed by overwhelming margins in the House (385-35) and Senate (81-16), there was considerable debate on how to structure the package so as to maximize its efficacy and stimulative impact on the economy.

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When Bush and Congress Agree -- Catastrophe!

Feb 13, 2008 by Dana Chasin

President Bush signed the economic stimulus package this afternoon. Bipartisanship reigns. Whoopee. The White House transcript is here. Raise your hand if you're not breaking out the champagne. The lard-up was not as bad as it could have been. But the fundamentals of stimulus-palooza were wrong at the start and wrong at the signing. Borrow and spend may be good politics, but it is bad policy. Hillary wins. -- Michelle Malkin

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OMB Watch up for Online Advocacy Award

Feb 13, 2008 by Matthew Madia

Do you like OMB Watch? Would you like to boost our fragile self-esteem? Then please vote for us in the Golden Dot Awards, presented annually for excellence in online campaigning by the Institute for Politics, Democracy & the Internet at George Washington University. OMB Watch has been nominated for Best Issue Advocacy Blog. The nomination is for all three of our blogs: Advocacy Blog, Budget Blog, and Reg•Watch. Vote here: polc.ipdi.org/GoldenDots/voting.htm (OMB Watch has the utmost respect for the other candidates and has vowed to run a clean campaign.)

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Stimulus Signed -- What's in it for You?

Feb 13, 2008 by Dana Chasin

Keep Your Eyes on the Prize and the Size of the Stimulus

This afternoon, President Bush signed the ballyhooed bipartisan bill that will provide a hundred billion bucks to Americans and, as a bonus, might simultaneously serve to stimulate the stagnant economy, so long it sparks spending on consumer items.

What does this mean for you? Do you get a rebate under the plan and, if so, how much of one? How do you sign up?

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Economic Report of the President Released

Feb 11, 2008 by Dana Chasin

A Part-Useful, Part-Sententious Document Today, the president's Council of Economic Advisers released the administration's annual report on the economy. The Report serves as much an account and forecast of the nation's ominous economic conditions -- where it is a highly relevant and even useful document -- as a lobbying effort on behalf of extending the administration's tax reductions in 2001 and 2003.

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Mentioning the Unmentionable

Feb 11, 2008 by Craig Jennings

Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Jesse Drucker notes($) that the full cost of the recently-passed economic stimulus package is slightly underestimated by the Joint Committee on Taxation's score: A round of business tax cuts in Congress's economic-stimulus package passed Thursday will cost nearly triple the official government estimate, tax experts said.

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Bush Budget Continues to Disappoint

Feb 11, 2008 by Craig Jennings

President Bush's FY 2009 budget continues to receive poor reviews into its second week. We reviewed a number of those reactions last week (see our summary posts here and here), and below are some additional disappointed reviews:

The Daily Tar Heel: Budget May Cut Student Loans
BlackAmericaWeb: Reading Is Fundamental's Program Target of Major Cuts
Center for American Progress: Bush's Budget Cuts Aid to Displaced Workers
The Buffalo News: Bush Budget Disappoints
Washington Post: No Funds in Bush Budget For Troop-Benefits Plan
WP's Stephen Barr: Social Security, DHS Say Bush's Budget Falls Short

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Mechanics of the Stimulus Plan

Feb 8, 2008 by Dana Chasin

The A-B-C's of How it Works The stimulus package passed by Congress yesterday operates fairly simply. Here's what you need to know:

TAX REBATES: all eligible citizens will receive up to $600 per individual and $1,200 per married couple, with a minimum of $300 per single and $600 per couple plus an additional $300 per child
ELIGIBILITY: 35 million individuals and families who received at least $3,000 in 2007 in wages and social security/disability payments, including payments to survivors of disabled veterans, will be eligible for the rebate checks

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Senate Adopts Modestly Expanded Stimulus Bill

Feb 7, 2008 by Dana Chasin

Moments ago, the U.S. Senate passed a $152 billion ($168 billion over two years) stimulus package along the lines described below, by an 81-16 vote. The House is expected to adopt an indentical measure, perhaps as soon as this evening, and send it to the president for his signature.

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