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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more news

Senate Passes SCHIP

Aug 3, 2007 by Craig Jennings

By a veto-proof margin (68-31), the Senate passed a $35 billion expansion of SCHIP. Earlier this week, the House passed its version - a $50 billion expansion, partially offset by changes to Medicare. The president has threatened to veto both.

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Carried Interest, Part. I: Krugman v. Schumer

Aug 3, 2007 by Dana Chasin

The Krugman op-ed in today's New York Times that Matt cites below rightly challenges Sen. Schumer for a transparent and actually meaningless position (the bill to close the carried interest tax loophole already does what Schumer demands). Krugman also hits the nail on the head, addressing the weird argument that industry defenders of the carried interest loophole make that if you take a risk by betting with someone else's money, a lot of your bettor's fee is a capital gain:

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Krugman Hits One Out Of The Park

Aug 3, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Paul Krugman has a must-read, or maybe a I-highly-recommend-you-read-it column today. You can get it for free over at Economist's View. It begins: It's been a good Democrats, bad Democrats kind of week. The bill expanding children's health insurance that just passed in the House makes you want to stand up and cheer. Reports that Senator Charles Schumer opposes plans to close the hedge fund tax loophole make you want to sit down and cry.

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American Medical Association Supports House SCHIP Bill

Aug 2, 2007 by Craig Jennings

In statement released yesterday, AMA stated its strong support for the House version of SCHIP expansion: The American Medical Association applauds the members of the U.S. House of Representatives who voted to pass legislation that preserves access to health care for children and seniors. ... By increasing the tobacco tax and eliminating overpayments to insurance companies offering private Medicare plans, Congress has found two appropriate ways to pay for these important national health care priorities.

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House Passes SCHIP

Aug 2, 2007 by Craig Jennings

By a 225-204 vote, the House of Representatives yesterday approved the renewal and a $50 billion expansion of SCHIP. Also on Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) filed a cloture motion on the Senate version of SCHIP renewal/expansion.

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Heritage Seriously Concerned About Fiscal Responsibility- NOT!

Aug 1, 2007 by Matt Lewis

The Heritage Foundation just put out a report on the fiscal responsibility-ness of the Senate's SCHIP bill. It's stupid, but it begins with the fair point that the legislation would sunset, in 2013, the funding increases it would set up.

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Carried Interest: Senatorial Sparring; Recommended Reading

Jul 31, 2007 by Dana Chasin

The carried interest issue returned to Capitol Hill today, as the Senate Finance Committee held its "Carried Interest, Part II" hearing. The views expressed by members of the committee were, for the most part, restatements of positions they took at the first hearing, on July 11.

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Schumer, Emmanuel Make Case for Carried Interest Reform Bill

Jul 30, 2007 by Dana Chasin

According to stories carried by Bloomberg News and the New York Times today, Rep. Rahm Emmanuel (D-IL) and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) have taken a position on the carried interest tax loophole in support of equity which is commendable -- to our view -- and fully consistent with unambiguous support for closing that loophole. In his conversations with Wall Street executives about the tax proposals, Mr. Schumer said, he has told them that he would oppose a tax increase as long as it did not also apply to other industries, like energy and real estate.

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Senate and House SCHIP Bills Compared

Jul 30, 2007 by Craig Jennings

While the Senate and House are both deliberating renewal of the SCHIP program, they have each offered bills with significant differences. Here's a brief summary to keep it all straight. House Senate 2008-12 2008-17 2008-12 2008-17 Covered children who would otherwise be uninsured 5 million 4 million Cost (billions of dollars) 47.8 159.9 35.2 71.0 Revenue Increase (billions of dollars) 27.0 53.8 36.1 72.8 Tax increase per pack of cigarettes 45¢ 61¢ Families USA has a more detailed side-by-side indicating differences other than cost and revenue scoring.

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More Shakeups in the Leadership at the IRS

Jul 30, 2007 by Adam Hughes*

After former head of the IRS Mark Everson announced in April he would be leaving to head up the American Red Cross, just last week the IRS announced Everson's would-be successor Kevin Brown is also bolting the IRS for the American Red Cross in September. Replacing Brown will be Deputy Commissioner for Operations Support Linda Stiff, who will assume the position of Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement and in that capacity will serve as IRS Acting Commissioner.

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