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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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Bush Talks to the Public About Social Security

In President Bush's news conference last night on energy and Social Security reform, he stated, "I know some Americans have reservations about investing in the stock market, so I propose that one investment option consist entirely of treasury bonds, which are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government." (the entire transcript can be read here. This statement is interesting given the fact that on his "60 day, 60 city tour" Bush spent much of his time discussing how the treasury bonds in the trust fund are little more than IOUs which the American people expect will be paid back by the government someday. He has been discrediting the trust fund as nothing more than IOUs, just last week he said, "You see, a lot of people in America think there's a trust, in this sense -- that we take your money through payroll taxes and then we hold it for you, and then when you retire, we give it back to you. But that's not the way it works. There is no "trust fund," just IOUs that I saw firsthand, that future generations will pay -- will pay for either in higher taxes, or reduced benefits, or cuts to other critical government programs." He has been criss-crossing the country saying this, yet last night said the trust fund has the full faith and credit of the United States Government. Bush spent much of his press conference discussing the need for responsible reforms to Social Security; reforms that he says won't cut benefits for people and that will keep retirees receiving benefits out of poverty. Yet in the same breath he says he believes the best way to do this is to have workers divert a percentage of their payroll taxes into a personal account. Hundreds of economists, policy analysts, and Social Security experts have come out over the last few months and said that personal accounts will add a level of risk to the benefits being paid to recipients. Bush is still trying to market a bad plan to the American people, yet disguising it as one that is both necessary and progressive. Private accounts are neither necessary nor progressive, and luckily, polls have shown that more and more Americans are believing this to be true.

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House and Senate Reach Budget Agreement

Today House and Senate budget negotiators came to an agreement on a $35 billion, five-year package of cuts in spending, after agreeing to trim the plan by about $6 billion. This agreement was made in large part because of objections voiced by Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) concerning the size of Medicaid cuts, as well as the fact that those cuts would most likely grow in years to come. Smith sponsored an amendment in the Senate which stripped many of the entitlement cuts from the Senate's budget resolution. His amendment was passed by a margin of 52 - 48. The budget plan agreed to in conference assumes $843 billion of discretionary spending in FY 2006. It reduces the amount of money that the House Ways and Means Committee will have to cut in reconciliation from $6 billion to $1 billion. The budget plan also assumes $106 billion worth of tax cuts over the next five years, $70 billion of which are protected under reconciliation. This budget plan increases the already record-high deficit, and at the same time calls for more tax cuts for the wealthy. It cuts almost all funding for domestic programs by 1 percent, yet protects $70 billion worth of tax cuts in under reconciliation. Congress is effectively taking money from social programs that help the average American, and giving it out in the form of tax breaks to the wealthy. For more information on the budget agreement, click here and here. To read Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Director Bob Greenstein's comments, click here. For a CBPP analysis, click here.

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Bush News Conference On Energy and Social Security

Tonight at 8:30 PM (EST) the President will hold his first publicly broadcasted evening news conference since the start of his second term. At the news conference he will discuss plans for overhauling Social Security, and he will also discuss the high gas prices which have been plaguing the nation in recent months. Press Secretary Scott McLellan has noted that Bush will speak more specifically about his plans for Social Security reform than he has been. The President has been criticized by many for not speaking specifically enough regarding his exact plans for reform. During the conference Bush is also expected to urge Congress to pass his energy reform plan. High oil and gas prices are beginning to take a toll on the the level of national economic growth, as well as on Bush's approval ratings. Click here to read Sierra Club comments on his energy plan.

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U.S. Economic Growth Slows

The U.S. economy grew at its slowest pace in two years as the gross domestic product grew by just 3.1 percent in the first quarter of 2005, according to the Commerce Department. This was the slowest growth since 2003 and was a half a percentage point lower than economist had predicted. Most experts cite rising energy costs, lower business investment, and a widening trade gap as the major factors contributing to the slowdown. In a related story, statistics released by the Labor Department show weekly unemployment claims rising by 21,000 to 320,000. read more

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Sen. Smith Walks Away From Budget Deal

Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) walked away from negotiations on the congressional budget resolution last night moments before a final deal was struck. Smith, a key senator in the negotiations because of his successful amendment protecting Medicaid funding during the Senate debate, has said he will not vote for the final budget. This development will likely delay floor consideration of the budget this week and could doom the legislation altogether. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) and Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg (R-NH) will have a very difficult time passing the budget without Smith's support. Smith's amendment to protect funding for the low-income health care program on the Senate floor passed with the support of five other Republicans. Because the Senate passed the budget resolution by only two votes, those Republican Senators become the key to passing the final resolution. The position of some of those Senators on final passage is still unclear. As the Washington Post editorializes this morning, this may be the best thing for the country in the end.

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Rolling Stone Article on Sunset Commission

An article on the OMB's "Sunset Commission" appeared in the last issue of Rolling Stone magazine. Gary Bass and Bob Shull are quoted in the article discussing the Program Assessment Rating Tool and Bush's Sunset Commission. Check out the article: Bush's Most Radical Plan Yet The article has also been widely discussed on the blog "Daily Kos." To read the discussion on the article, click here.

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WA Passes New Stand-Alone State Estate Tax

As support for the estate tax continues to flounder somewhat at the national level, the state of Washington recently demonstrated their support of the estate tax by approving on April 24 a new stand-alone estate tax that is expected to generate nearly $140 million of state revenue over the next two years. This move is especially significant because in February, the Washington State Supreme Court "threw out" the state's existing estate tax for various technical reasons, costing the state roughly $430 million in state revenues. However, in resistance to this, Governor Christine Gregoire (D-WA) included the estate tax in her budget proposal. State legislators rallied around her decision and passed the bill, which is now headed to the Governor for her signature. The Washington estate tax will apply to estates worth more than $1.5 million. In 2006, that level will rise to $2 million. An estimated 250 Washington estates will be subject to tax each year.

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House Votes Overwhelmingly To Support Medicaid

Last night, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a motion to instruct conferees to the budget resolution conference committee to protect Medicaid funding. By a vote of 348 - 72, the House approved Rep. Stephanie Herseth's (D-SD) motion to the budget resolution conferees that Medicaid funding should not be cut through the reconciliation process. This vote puts a majority of both the House and Senate on record as opposing such cuts. Despite this, GOP leadership negotiators seem ready to sign-off on a deal on the budget resolution that would cut Medicaid funding by $10 billion over the next five years among other reductions to mandatory spending programs. Senate Budget Committee Chair Judd Gregg (R-NH) is pushing Congress to pass a budget resolution before the upcoming congressional recess at the end of this week. Gregg has said if an agreement is not reached this week, it becomes very difficult for Congress to pass a resolution. It is possible floor votes on the budget resolution could begin as early as tomorrow, but it is not assured it will pass in either the House or the Senate.

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Finance Committee Hearing on SS Solvency

The Senate Finance Committe held a hearing yesterday on the issue of Social Security solvency and private accounts. Witnesses testifying before the committee included Peter Orszag from the Brookings Institution, Robert Pozen, whose Social Security plan has been praised by Bush, Joan Entmacher of the National Women's Law Center, Michael Tanner of Cato, and Peter Ferrara of the Free Enterprise Fund. Click here for witness testimonies. Committee Chairman Charles Grassley told reporters after the hearing that he wants to move forward with Social Security legislation. Republicans on the committee are planning to meet in two weeks to start coming with legislation that Grassley hopes will appeal to the Democrats on the committee, which include Senators Max Baucus (D-MT), Kent Conrad (D-ND), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), John Kerry (D-MA), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), and Ron Wyden (D-OR). While the Democratic senators seem to be united in their opposition to private accounts, Republicans are more splintered on the issue. During yesterday's hearing Craig Thomas (R-WY) questioned a move that would add trillions of dollars to our debt, and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) seemed opposed to personal investment accounts. She said, "Social Security became the bedrock of support for seniors in my state precisely because it's defined and guaranteed. What cost and what risk is it worth to erode the guaranteed benefit?" Click here and here for newspaper articles on the hearing as well as the Social Security rally that took place yesterday afternoon on Capitol Hill.

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Greenspan Comments on Tax Increases and the Deficit

Last week Alan Greenspan testified before the Senate Budget Committee. He said that tax increases, as well as spending decreases, must be part of any responsible deficit reduction plan. In his testimony he also stated, "The federal budget deficit is on an unsustainable path, in which large deficits result in rising interest rates and ever-growing interest payments that augment deficits in future years." For more information, click here.

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Resources & Research

Living in the Shadow of Danger: Poverty, Race, and Unequal Chemical Facility Hazards

People of color and people living in poverty, especially poor children of color, are significantly more likely...

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A Tale of Two Retirements: One for CEOs and One for the Rest of Us

The 100 largest CEO retirement funds are worth a combined $4.9 billion, equal to the entire retirement account savings of 41 percent of American fam...

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