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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Bankrupt Nation!

Apr 4, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

OMB Watch Director of Federal Fiscal Policy Adam Hughes wrote an opinion piece explaining how the current Congressional budget proposals reveal a Republican Party in denial about the nation's poor fiscal health. The op-ed appeared this morning on www.tompaine.com. Tompaine.com: Bankrupt Nation

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Talk About Waste, Fraud, and Abuse...

Mar 31, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

Here's an item that, unfortunately, won't get mentioned at the next Republican-sponsored "waste, fraud, and abuse in government" hearing on Capitol Hill. IRS Commissioner Mark Everson testified before Congress this week that it will cost significantly more money to use private companies to collect outstanding taxes than it would to hire additional IRS agents.

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Everybody Wins With the Ultimate Tax Gimmick

Mar 30, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

As the 2005 tax reconciliation conference continues to drag on, an interesting and puzzling rumor has emerged that will keep you scratching your head. Typical of three card monte games on the strip in Atlantic City, this most recent gem from Congress is the ultimate budget gimmickry.

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Filing Your Tax Return Could Cost You More Than Money

Mar 22, 2006 by Matthew Madia

There have been scattered reports the last few days of hushed IRS decision to allow tax preparation companies or individual accountants sell part or all of your personal information from your tax returns to third party entities or marketers. (Your Tax Files For Sale? IRS Says Go For It.) The revelation of this decision has sent consumer advocate and public interest groups running - and rightly so. A joint statement filed by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), and the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) to the IRS, they remarked:

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Jumpstarting Real Debate on Tax Reform

Mar 22, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

After badly fumbling the first of his two major policy goals after being re-elected President last year (Social Security Reform), recently Mr. Bush dropped the ball again on the second of those goals - comprehensive tax reform. Despite an interesting report from his Presidential Tax Reform Commission released November 1 last year, the president seems to have long forgotten this issue was of any importance to him at all.

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White House Continues False Rhetoric on Impact of Tax Cuts

Attempting to justify the Congressional GOP's push to extend and make permanent President Bush's first term tax cuts, many Republican legislators and pundits, including the vice president, have recently claimed tax cuts pay for themselves by spurring economic growth. While this argument bolsters their call for tax cut permanence, the evidence shows the claim is more fiction than hard fact.

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Senate Passes Budget Bill 51-49

Mar 17, 2006 by Guest Blogger

Last night the Senate passed the budget resolution by a very close vote of 51-49. Vice President Dick Cheney was on hand in case he was needed to provide a tie-breaking vote. A series of amendments approved by a bipartisan majority added $16 billion in spending to the $2.77 trillion resolution for FY 2007 that came out of committee. The increased spending -- as well as deals made with Gulf Coast lawmakers for increased funding to their states -- helped ensure final passage.

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Update on Budget Resolution Amendments

Mar 15, 2006 by Guest Blogger

As of 2:00 PM today the Senate had yet to vote on the Harkin-Specter amendment, which would provide an additional $7 billion over the President’s budget request — allowing Congress to fund the FY07 Labor-HHS bill at the level enacted two years ago, in FY05. A one-pager on the amendment, made available by Senator Harkin's office, is available here.Among many points made, the one-pager says:

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Effects of the Senate Budget Resolution

Mar 14, 2006 by Guest Blogger

The Senate will be considering amendments to the budget resolution that came out of committee today and likely voting on it tomorrow. Here is a good analysis of the effects this budget resolution would have: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: The Senate Budget Committee's Plan: A Brief Analysis

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Recent GOP Estate Tax Comments

Mar 13, 2006 by Guest Blogger

Yesterday, four prominent GOP Senators echoed their dedication to repealing the estate tax at a rally in Memphis, TN. Sens. Bill Frist (R-TN), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sam Brownback (R-KS), and George Allen (R-VA) expressed their commitment to not only repealing the estate tax, but making tax cuts permanent in general.

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