Revenue & Spending

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

Priority Check: Congressman Donates Pay Raise

Nov 30, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Rep. Jim Matheson (D-UT) is giving away the annual pay raise he received to charity today. The Transportation/Treasury/HUD appropriations bill raised Congress' pay by $3,100 this year.

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GDP Grows 4.3 Percent in the Third Quarter

Nov 30, 2005 by Guest Blogger

The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the economy grew 4.3 percent in the third quarter, which is the best showing in more than a year. The growth marks a sizable increase from the 3.3 percent increase in GDP registered in the second quarter of this year. Corporate profits decreased $45.5 billion this quarter, following a $59.3 billion increase in the previous quarter. According to the BEA, "The major contributors to the increase in real GDP in the third quarter were personal consumption expenditures (PCE), equipment and software, federal government spending, and residential fixed

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Watcher: November 30, 2005

Nov 30, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Post-Katrina Survey Finds Wariness, Desire For Change House, Senate to Battle Over Budget Cuts Tax Cut Measure Guarentees Increasing Deficits TABOR: A Losing Proposition For Colorado

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TABOR: A Losing Proposition for Colorado

Earlier this month, voters in Colorado demonstrated their dissatisfaction with the state's constitutional spending limit law — otherwise known as TABOR--by voting in favor of suspending its spending limits for five years. TABOR, the "taxpayer's bill of rights," had contributed to a significant decline in the state's public services since its enactment in 1992. Unfortunately, this victory in Colorado has come after years of disastrous tax and spending practices eroded state services, harming Colorado's education system, health care programs, and transportation infrastructure.

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It's Not the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (for Appropriations Work)

Although five of the 11 appropriations bills remain to be signed into law by President Bush, Congress has completed work on all but two: the Defense and Labor/Health and Human Services bills. While a massive omnibus has been avoided this year, an equally contentious (and still quite large) bill--a so-called "minibus"--could be passed containing those two final bills. With all the items on the schedule for December and likely only three weeks to complete them, Congress still has a lot of work left to do before they are finished for the year.

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CRS Estimates Ten Year Cost of Tax Cut Extension

Nov 29, 2005 by Adam Hughes*

A recent Congressional Research Services report has estimated that extending the '01, '03, and '04 tax cuts will cost the Treasury $2.286 trillion over 10 years. The CRS cost estimate was based on Congressional Budget Office estimates and calculations by the CRS, according to the report.

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House, Senate To Battle Over Budget Cuts

Among the top priorities for Congress, when its members return to Washington next week, is the construction of a conference report for spending cuts that is acceptable to both chambers. The House and Senate versions of the reconciliation bill for entitlement spending contain significant differences, particularly with respect to cuts to Medicaid, student loans, and food stamps.

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Tax Cut Measure Guarantees Increasing Deficits

The House of Representatives will return to session next week after a two-week Thanksgiving break, with the first item on its agenda being a bill to cut taxes--primarily for high-income Americans--by an additional $56 billion. When combined with its companion reconciliation spending bill, which barely passed the House in the early hours of Nov. 18, the bill will actually increase deficits over the next five years - directly contradicting the original intent of the reconciliation process.

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Post-Katrina Survey Finds Wariness, Desire for Change

Shortly after Hurricane Katrina, OMB Watch launched an online survey seeking feedback and reaction to the possibility of launching an investment agenda, not just for the affected states, but for the entire country. The response was tremendous, as over 800 respondents from nearly every state completed the survey and contributed a multitude of thoughtful, in-depth comments. The overwhelming consensus among respondents held not only that now is the time for a comprehensive, long-term investment agenda for the country, but that such an initiative is long overdue.

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Cunningham Is Out: One Fewer Vote For Budget & Tax Bills

Nov 29, 2005 by Guest Blogger

As you are likely aware, yesterday Rep. Randy ''Duke'' Cunningham (R-CA) pleaded guilty to conspiracy and tax charges and resigned from office. Cunningham admitted to taking $2.4 million in bribes to steer defense contracts to conspirators. He entered pleas in U.S. District Court to charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud and wire fraud, and tax evasion for underreporting his income in 2004.

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