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

New Report: Shrinking Corporate Tax Base is Wreaking Havoc on State Budgets

WASHINGTON, March 27, 2014—A new report published today by Center for Effective Government and National People’s Action uncovers how the shrinking corporate tax base is driving critical budget shortfalls and service cuts at the state and federal level. The report outlines exactly how much revenue has been lost due to a precipitous decline in corporate income tax rates and an explosion of loopholes. The report shows that since the recession, corporate income tax revenues have shrunk considerably, despite soaring profits, leaving individuals to pick up the slack.

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American Workers to Congress: We Need a Raise

Polls show that more than three-quarters of Americans support an increase in the minimum wage. Approximately 76 percent support raising the minimum wage to at least $9 an hour, and as many as 73 percent support an increase to $10.10, the minimum proposed in the Fair Minimum Wage Act, sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Rep. George Miller (D-CA). That bill would raise the minimum wage over two and a half years and then peg future increases to inflation. Raising the minimum wage enjoys broad bipartisan support: when polled, 58 percent of Republicans expressed support for increasing the minimum wage to $9 per hour.

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Emergency Unemployment Benefits: Boehner Signals Reluctance in the House

Mar 21, 2014 by Jessica Schieder

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has said the Senate emergency unemployment extension bill is “unworkable” in a blog entry posted to his website by his press office.

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Report: Restaurant Sales Increase with Tipped Wages

Mar 20, 2014 by Jessica Schieder

Restaurant sales per capita (per population) increase as the tipped minimum wage increases, according to a new report by the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United.

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Voices of the Unemployed

More than 3 million hard-working Americans have been cut off of emergency unemployment compensation since the program was allowed to expire on Dec. 28, 2013. Extended unemployment benefits help people pay their rent, utility bills, and transportation while they seek new work. In the past, both Republicans and Democrats have helped the unemployed get back on their feet. It's time for us to come together again and support our friends and neighbors.

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Housing Subsidies: An Unfair Playing Field

Mar 18, 2014 by Jessica Schieder

The mortgage interest deduction plays an important role in helping many American families purchase a home. Fiercely protected by upper and middle class home-buyers, the deduction has helped make home ownership more affordable for many households, but the mortgage deduction disproportionately helps higher income families.

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Emergency Unemployment Benefits: Compromise in the Senate

Mar 14, 2014 by Jessica Schieder

A bipartisan plan has been laid out to extend emergency unemployment benefits for five months, according to a press release made public by Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI).

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Q & A With Daphne Greenwood: How Outsourcing Can Harm Communities

Mar 14, 2014 by Nick Schwellenbach

Egregious examples of government contractors fleecing the public abound. But how does the outsourcing of government functions to contractors and the erosion of the public sector affect society?

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Raising Wages: Overtime

Mar 13, 2014 by Katherine McFate

It's not often that a policy wonk at a think tank puts an idea out there that gets picked up by the White House. But the hope that it will happen it is why we all do this work. And sometimes, the stars align.

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Emergency Unemployment Benefits: Time to Petition the Government

Mar 12, 2014 by Scott Klinger

Readers of the Center for Effective Government’s blogs will know that in the past two weeks, a significant and wonderful community of people has been communicating through the comments section of our site. We hope you all saw Jessica Schieder’s recent post announcing a new Google group for those of you that want to carry on the discussion.

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