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...

read in full

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...

read in full

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...

read in full

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...

read in full

more news

Estate Tax Repeal Would Further Concentrate Wealth

Apr 21, 2006 by Guest Blogger

Check out this good opinion article on the estate tax. It mentions that not only does the estate tax affect a miniscule percentage of Americans, but it is also an important tool for redistributing wealth and leveling the playing field in our society. In his column Jim Kiser refers to a point made by Bill Gates, Sr., an extremely wealthy man and an outspoken proponent of the estate tax:

read in full

With Vote Nearing in the Senate, Experts Speak Out Against Estate Tax Repeal

WASHINGTON, April 21--Key experts and stakeholders came together Wednesday to call on the U.S. Senate to reject full repeal or "backdoor repeal" of the estate tax next month. Numerous organizations including unions, anti-poverty, public interest, and faith groups are hoping to prevent estate tax repeal, which will cost $1 trillion over the next decade. Participants added a diverse range of perspectives to the argument that repeal of the tax is impractical, unnecessary, and too costly.

read in full

Post Editorial: Reality and Taxes

Apr 20, 2006 by Guest Blogger

The Washington Post editorial board responds to a member of the Virginia House of Delegate's comments that Virginia is a highly-taxed state and thus should not raise taxes in order to meet the state's critical priorities. Washington Post: Reality and Taxes

read in full

Wage Gap Between Immigrant and U.S.-Born Workers Has Grown

Apr 20, 2006 by Guest Blogger

A new report, "Changing Patterns in the Relative Economic Performance of Immigrants to Great Britain and the United States, 1980-2000," finds that the gap in earnings between U.S. born and immigrant workers increased significantly between 1980 and 2000. The paper uses data from the 1980, 1990, and 2000 Censuses to look at changes in the pace of the economic assimilation of immigrants. The executive summary states that the evidence suggested "that immigrants lagged farther behind US-born workers in 2000, than they had in the 1990 and 1980."

read in full

Surprise, Surprise: Bush Tax Cuts Mainly Benefit Wealthy

Apr 19, 2006 by Guest Blogger

As we've said time and again, one of the main reasons why the Bush tax cuts are so egregious -- besides the fact that they are draining the Treasury of revenues and causing important federal programs to get squeezed -- is the that the beneficiaries of these tax cuts are overwhelmingly the very richest people in our society. As this well-written article puts it, "things will get even worse if the Bush administration gets its way.

read in full

OMB Watcher: April 19, 2006

Apr 19, 2006 by Guest Blogger

Gearing Up For May Estate Tax Vote House Fails to Agree on Budget; Boehner Retreats

read in full

Gearing Up for a May Estate Tax Vote

As the May vote in the Senate to repeal the estate tax approaches, nonprofit advocacy groups around the country are stepping up their campaign to save the nation's most progressive tax and a vital source of revenue. OMB Watch urges individuals to email Senators today and let lawmakers know America favors preserving the estate tax and opposes repeal or back-door "reform" that would amount to repeal.

read in full

House Fails to Agree on Budget; Boehner Retreats

After proposing a sparse budget on March 29 and following a intense and divisive few weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations, House GOP leaders ultimately pulled the plug on the $2.8 trillion FY 2007 budget resolution late on April 6. House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), who admittedly spent the week "popping Advil" in preparation for difficult negotiations with his colleagues, failed time and again to emerge from these talks with enough votes to pass the resolution--a significant setback in what was his first real test as the new Majority Leader.

read in full

Rob Portman Nominated to Become New OMB Director

Apr 18, 2006 by Guest Blogger

It was announced today that U.S. Trade Representative and former Congressman Rob Portman will most likely be the one to replace Josh Bolten as director of the Office of Management and Budget. Portman -- a long time friend of the President's who has claimed to "owe his career" to the Bush family -- shares the President's views on taxation, claiming today in the Rose Garden: "Now is not the time to risk losing ground by raising taxes," and stating his support of the administration’s agenda of extending tax cuts.

read in full

Grassley to Everson: Consider Free Filing Through IRS

Apr 18, 2006 by Guest Blogger

Finance Committee Chair Charles Grassley (R-IA) sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Mark Everson April 13 regarding online tax filing, and specifically, his recommendations for reforming it. While the IRS currently provides a free online filing service to qualified individuals (those with adjusted gross incomes of $50,000 or less) throught the "Free File Alliance," Grassley is "looking into allowing" the IRS to provide a free, electronic direct filing service to all taxpayers.

read in full