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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Commentary: Hamilton's Take on Inequality

Jun 25, 2007 by Matt Lewis

We've put up an analysis of the Hamilton Project's understanding of government and inequality. If you've been tracking our blogging on the subject, the thesis of the paper will come as no surprise: their attitude about government (it's incapable of doing much good) and inequality (it's probably fair and good for everyone, mostly) isn't particularly helpful.

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Commentary: Hamilton Project Paper Does Not Make the Grade

Prominent policy analysts for the Brookings Institution's Hamilton Project remain wedded to the ideology that government intervention in the marketplace does more harm than good. Their vision damages the public's perception of government and promises to fall short of ensuring that the "rising tide" of economic growth does indeed "lift all boats."

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Portman Out, Nussle Tapped to Head OMB

On June 19, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Rob Portman announced his resignation, effective in August. President Bush has chosen former House Budget Committee chairman Jim Nussle to be the next OMB director — a candidate whose reputation and policy record suggest the White House is prepared to clash with Democrats in Congress, particularly over the FY 2008 budget.

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House Battle over Earmarks Procedure Resolved

A fiercely partisan impasse in the House was resolved on June 14 when Appropriations Chair David Obey (D-WI) and Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) reached a comprehensive procedural agreement following months of confusion and vituperation over the chamber's earmarks disclosure and approval process. The agreement outlines rules for consideration of earmarks for the House to follow for each of the 12 FY 2008 appropriations bills and appears to be operating smoothly thus far: on June 21, the House Appropriations Committee approved the lists of earmarks for two spending bills by voice votes.

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Weekend Reading: CBO Testimony on Health Care

Jun 22, 2007 by Matt Lewis

If you read anything policy-related this weekend, make sure it's Peter Orszag's testimony to the Senate Budget Committee. He gives a fair reading of the factors producing the explosion in health care costs.

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The Budget Battle -- Rhetoric vs. Reality

Jun 22, 2007 by Dana Chasin

With the Bush administration trying to effect a sudden shift from spendthrift to scrooge this budget season, the time is right to sort out fiscal myth from reality. The administration has issued shrill warnings that "the Democrats' budget would lead to spending and tax increases that put economic growth and a balanced budget at risk" (per OMB, June 12). In fact, the administration has demanded an increase in FY 2008 discretionary spending of seven percent over FY 2007; by contrast, the Democrats' proposed increase is a whopping nine percent, as we noted last week.

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Korb: $60 billion in Defense Waste

Jun 22, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Lawrence Korb, former Reagan administration official and fellow at the Center for American Progress, has a good report out on $60 billion of annual waste in the defense budget.

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Ways & Means to Examine Fund Managers' Tax Rates

Jun 21, 2007 by Dana Chasin

The House Ways and Means Committee has announced hearings after the July 4 recess to examine tax rates applying to private equity and hedge funds managers. Committee chair Charles Rangel (D-NY) said he and ranking member Jim McCrery (R-LA) agree "it is imperative" that the committee conduct a hearing to explore taxation issues surrounding the "carried interest" issue.

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$32.1 Bn. Alternative Energy Tax Plan Stalls in Senate

Jun 21, 2007 by Dana Chasin

A cloture vote on the $32.1 billion tax title in an energy package failed by three votes in the Senate today, 57-36. Sen. Mary Landrieu (LA) was the only Democrat to vote against cloture; 10 GOP Senators supported it: Coleman (MN), Collins (ME), Crapo (ID), Grassley (IA), Lugar (IN), Roberts (KS), Smith (OR), Snowe (ME), Specter (PA), and Thune (SD).

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Post Article Gives Praise Unto Walker

Jun 21, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Praise be budget nutcase David Walker. His Word is holy, and those who speak it become holy, i.e. writers for the Washington Post. Today's epistle expresses almost zero skepticism about any of Walker's claims about the "entitlement" crisis. It is not for the Washington Post to question the Word, though the author gets a little credit for including a paragraph with a quote from a heretic.

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