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

SCHIP Opposition: Even David Broder Doesn't Get It

Sep 27, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Centrist David Broder thinks its crazy to oppose SCHIP. The spectacle Tuesday of 151 House Republicans voting in lock step with the White House against expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was one of the more remarkable sights of the year. Rarely do you see so many politicians putting their careers in jeopardy.

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White House to Request $193 Billion for War

Sep 26, 2007 by Craig Jennings

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee, informed Congress that the White House would be requesting $193 billion to run the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in FY 2008. The AP reports that on top of the $150.7 billion requested in previous months, Gates asked the approps committee for an additional $42.3 billion, which includes:

$11 billion to field another 7,000 MRAP vehicles in addition to the 8,000 already planned;
$9 billion to reconstitute equipment and technology;

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Is It Ok To Say They're Lying?

Sep 26, 2007 by Matt Lewis

FactCheck.Org has a good rundown of the half-truths, dissembling, gaffes, disingenuous remarks and false claims (AKA lies) by the anti-SCHIP legions. Lying is what you do when you have a weak argument. However, it can be pretty effective, as we all know, when nobody checks you. For more, see the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities fact check, and the Democrat's fact check. Yeah, there's been a lot of dissembling.

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House Presses the Pause/Panic Button on FY 2008

Sep 26, 2007 by Dana Chasin

The Senate having passed only four of 12 FY 2008 appropriations bills and those four not even scheduled for conference, and the new fiscal year starting next Monday, Oct. 1, House passage of a continuing resolution to keep the government operating through Nov. 16 at FY 2007 spending levels -- for the most part (see below) -- was a foregone conclusion. It hardly qualifies as news. The

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Contracting Commission Bill On The Floor!

Sep 26, 2007 by Matt Lewis

The Senate is now debating the wartime contracing commission bill as an amendment to the defense authorization act. Check out C-SPAN now (it's 1:45) and call your Senators!

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Authorization Earmark an Oxymoron?

Sep 26, 2007 by Dana Chasin

Though President Bush signed the ethics and lobbying bill several weeks ago, some conservative critics now contend that the bill is conspicuously lacking, since it applies only to earmarks in appropriations -- and not authorization -- bills. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) says he reads the new earmark rules — and that the Senate Parliamentarian will back up his reading of the rules — to not ban Members from including new earmarks into authorization bills during conference talks with the House.

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CBO's Score for House SCHIP Bill (HR 976)

Sep 26, 2007 by Craig Jennings

CBO has released its score for the recently passed House bill that would increase funding for SCHIP.

SCHIP provisions alone are $27.7 billion above CBO baseline of $27.4 billion
Other provisions in the bill, including additional Medicaid outlays are $7.2 billion above CBO baseline
Total spending above CBO baseline is $34.9 billion
These additional mandatory expenditures will be offset primarily by a 61-cent per-pack cigarette tax totalling $35.5 billion

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Watcher: September 27, 2007

Sep 26, 2007 by Craig Jennings

Wartime Commission Would Investigate Contracting Abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan Sens. Jim Webb (D-VA) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) have sponsored a bill ( href="http://webb.senate.gov/pdf/contracti2.pdf" target="_blank">S. 1825) that would set up a commission to investigate and reform wartime contracting. It is likely the bill will be introduced as an amendment to the Defense Reauthorization Act that is currently being debated in the Senate. FY 2008 War Funding Could Top $200 Billion

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SCHIP Passes House!

Sep 26, 2007 by Matt Lewis

The SCHIP expansion bill passed the House last night by the large margin of 265 to 159. 45 Republicans voted for it, while only 8 Democrats voted against it. Kudos to everyone who called in! Now the fight moves to the Senate. Unfortunately, the House vote fell short of the 2/3 majority needed to overturn a veto. The Senate now has to get a veto-proof vote, which should put pressure on more House members to overturn a veto. If they don't get there, the new funding levels will have to come down, and fewer children will be enrolled in the program.

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House SCHIP Vote Imminent

Sep 25, 2007 by Matt Lewis

The House is scheduled to vote on the SCHIP bill in hours, while the Senate will vote on either Thursday or Friday. If you haven't already, please make sure to call your representatives. The toll free number is 1-866-544-7573. It sounds cheesy, but millions of kids are counting on you to do it.

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