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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Tax Cuts VS. Everything Else

We can either choose to pay now, or we will have to pay later -- preventing social ills is much cheaper in the long run. From a purely economic standpoint, many economists agree that a return to deficits is not a problem -- running a surplus would actually be more of problem -- and that this economic climate prescribes more government spending, not less.

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Economic Stimulus Proposals Resource Page

The following are analyses, updates and action alerts from OMB Watch and other organizations on the Fall 2001 - Spring 2002 attempts to create an "economic stimulus package."

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Facts on Corporate Welfare

Average taxpayers pick up an expensive tab for corporate welfare expenditures. Government spending for corporate welfare programs far exceeds government spending for social programs.

Fact: Spending for corporate welfare programs outweighs spending for low-income programs by more than three to one: $167 billion to $51.7 billion (source: Aid for Dependent Corporations, from the Corporate Welfare Project and How Much Do We Spend on Welfare?, from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, FY 95 figures)
Fact: Total federal spending on a safety net for the

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Estate Tax and Government Revenue

Because of the debate over repeal of the estate tax, OMB Watch has produced a series of articles providing background on the tax. This fact sheet focuses on the impact the estate tax has on government revenue. As with other discussions of the estate tax, we include the gift tax and generation-skipping transfer taxes in the discussion when we use the term estate tax, since it is a unified tax.

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OMB Watch Press Release: Estate Tax Preserved

Estate Tax Preserved: A Victory for Amercia's Charities For Immediate Release May 26, 2001 Contact: Ellen Taylor 202/234-8494

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Impact on the States

Most state treasuries benefit directly from the estate tax by "picking up" a portion of the federal estate taxes paid by estates in their states. The following analyses detail the impact full repeal of the estate tax will have on each state.

The National Priorities Project's analysis of the impact repeal of the estate tax would have on each state. These 2-page reports also examine the impact of the estate tax on family farms and businesses, as well as the income inequality issues the estate tax attempts to adjust.

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President Bush's Economic Stimulus Proposal

The President's proposal for an economic stimulus package is aimed more at additional tax cuts than stimulating the economy.

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Estate Tax Rally and Lobbying Day -- May 10, 2001

Nonprofits to Preserve the Estate Tax and Responsible Wealth sponsored a noon rally at the Capitol on Thursday, May 10, 2001. Between 200-300 people took part in the rally and we visited all 100 Senate offices and had meetings with nearly half of them. Speakers

Senator Kent Conrad (D-SD)
Senator Jon Corzine (D-NJ)
Bill Gates, Sr.
Marian Wright Edelman, Founder and President, Children's Defense Fund
Gerald McEntee, President, AFSCME
Robert Rowher, Iowa farmer, member, National Farmers Union

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Analysis of What Happened to the Estate Tax in June 2001

OMB Watch analysis of the significance of the estate tax repeal language signed into law as part of President Bush's June 2001 $1.35 trillion tax cut. The tax bill the President will sign next week will represent only a symbolic victory with regard to repealing the estate tax. (Read the full text of the bill, H.R. 1836 Conference Report)

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Newspaper and magazine articles profiling the estate tax repeal debate -- 2001

When Local Control Goes Out of Control: Ouch! A Taxing Lesson for the Nation's States (Post, David J. Barron and Eric M. Zolt, 7/15/01) A Tax Break's Unfortunate Legacy (Post, Letter by William H. Gates, Sr., 5/25/01) Focus on Farms Masks Estate Tax Confusion (NYT, 4/8/01) Dead Wrong: They're Lying and They Know It (Post, Michael Kinsley, 4/6/01) A Sensible Tax on Fortunes (NYT, Opinion, 3/22/01) Gates, Sr.

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