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

Appropriators Get to Work

Jun 10, 2008 by Craig Jennings

With the bicameral adoption of a budget resolution last week, Congress embarks on the long, strange trip known as "the appropriations process." Occasionally, we'll update this chart to let you know where everything stands. Or, you can also follow all the appropriations action on the Thomas "Status of Appropriations Legislation for Fiscal Year 2009" website. House FY 2009 Appropriations Markup Schedule 6/11/2008 Subcommittee Markup — Homeland Security 6/11/2008 Subcommittee Markup — Interior & the Environment 6/12/2008

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House-Passed Bill Would Create GAO IG, Restore Pay Raises

Jun 10, 2008 by Craig Jennings

The House passed by voice vote today the The Government Accountability Office Act of 2008 (HR 5683). The bill was crafted to restore pay raises that were denied to mid-level employees in 2006 and 2007 when then-Comptroller General revised the performance system at GAO. The bill, however, would also create an office of inspector general within the GAO.

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Obama and Coburn Shine Brighter Light on Government Spending

Sens. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) have joined forces again to craft legislation that would increase the transparency of how the federal government spends taxpayers' money. The Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Federal Spending Act (S. 3077), introduced June 3, is a follow-up to the 2006 Transparency Act, which was also spearheaded by the two senators. Obama and Coburn, along with Sens. Tom Carper (D-DE) and John McCain (R-AZ), introduced the new legislation with the goals of making important new data easily accessible and enabling citizens to hold our government accountable for the fiscal stewardship of our shared resources.

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The $12 Billion Question

Jun 10, 2008 by Dana Chasin

Does UI Extension Require Compliance with PAYGO? Would that it were easy to answer this one. As you might imagine, the answer is: it depends. PRO: PAYGO applies to an extension of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits because there would be -- without an offset -- a net increase of the deficit at the end of the day. Like other trust funds (think Social Security), there is no actual money there, just IOUs.

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CBPP: Tax Extenders Need Comprehensive Review

Jun 10, 2008 by Craig Jennings

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has a helpful policy brief out today that runs through all the reasons the upcoming package of tax cuts -- popularly referred to as the "extenders" package -- should be offset. We couldn't agree with CBPP more. In their brief, they make four main points, the last of which is probably the most important:

Congress should pay for the tax extenders, as its budget rules require.
Arguments against applying PAYGO to the extenders bill do not withstand scrutiny..
The offsets in the House-passed bill are reasonable policy.

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Congress Adopts Mixed-Bag Budget Resolution

A rare event occurred in Washington on Thursday, June 5: Congress approved a budget resolution during an election year, a feat not seen since 2000. This fact and a human needs-oriented approach to spending signal that Congress is addressing national priorities while attempting to more responsibly manage the country's finances. However, Congress's eliding of pay-as-you-go rules and unrealistic assumptions about war spending and Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) relief have marred an otherwise responsible budget resolution.

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Spike in Jobless Rate Restarts Focus on Unemployment Insurance

On June 6, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported a jump in the national unemployment rate from 5.0 percent in April to 5.5 percent in May, the single biggest month-to-month increase in 22 years. Another 49,000 Americans joined the ranks of the unemployed in May, bringing the yearly total thus far to 324,000. The news took analysts by surprise, and along with rising oil prices, helped push stocks down by three percent on all three major American exchanges and re-ignited talk of a possible recession.

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DAILY FISCAL POLICY REPORT -- June 10, 2008

Jun 10, 2008 by Dana Chasin

Taxes -- House Vote on Unemployment Benefit Extension: The House is expected to vote later this week on H.R. 4934, a bill to extend unemployment insurance for workers who have exhausted their benefits by up to 13 weeks in every state as well as an additional 13 weeks in states with higher levels of unemployment. The bill's language defines "higher levels" as a seasonally adjusted 6 percent total unemployment rate or a 4 percent insured unemployment rate. The bill is expected to cost about $14 billion, and the funding levels are not offset in the bill, raising possible "pay-go" concerns.

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Military Wages

Jun 9, 2008 by Craig Jennings

Congress has sent the president a bill that would, in addition to forcing free-riding federal contractors to pay payroll taxes, "allow soldiers receiving combat pay to have their money counted as income for the purposes of the Earned Income Tax Credit." (BNA email) I realize that we blow a lot of cash on the military, but does it strike anyone as odd that some Americans getting shot at in a combat zone in service of their country are paid so little that they qualify for EITC?

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DAILY FISCAL POLICY REPORT -- June 9, 2008

Jun 9, 2008 by Dana Chasin

Economy -- Gas Prices Hit National Average of $4: Gasoline prices reached a national average of $4 a gallon for the first time over the weekend, adding more strain to the economy. "This crisis really impacts those who are at the economic margins of society, mostly in the rural areas and particularly parts of the Southeast," said Fred Rozell, retail pricing director at the Oil Price Information Service. Gas prices have risen a dollar a gallon since January 1. NY Times.

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