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

Shut off Funding for Private Tax Collection?

Jun 27, 2007 by Matt Lewis

The House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee may try to kill the private debt collection program by shutting off its funding. Here's the story: The IRS' use of private debt collectors has retrieved millions in delinquent taxes but has raised questions about collection techniques and privacy rights. The House plans a vote this week on restricting the program's funds. Democrats critical of the program since it was approved by a GOP Congress in 2004 included only $1 million for private debt collection in the 2008 budget for Treasury Department agencies.

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Inequality in England?

Jun 27, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Our neighbors "across the pond" are getting concerned about inequality, too. Check out this article from the Guardian. It also makes the point that inequality might affect housing prices. So here are reasons why it does matter. For a start, house prices have gone mad, partly because too much money is chasing too little property, not just in Mayfair but in places like Doncaster, where City tycoons are buying up whole buy-to-let streets.

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Means-Tested Exemption from Lobbying Ban?

Jun 26, 2007 by Dana Chasin

True or False: Whether the laws of the United States governing the cooling-off period (currently one year) restrictions for former Congressional staffers to lobby their erstwhile offices apply depends upon the salary of these staffers. Answer: True (per Public Law 101-194). Now -- and no cheating -- staffers are exempt from these revolving door restrictions if they:

A. Were at no point one of the top-two paid staffers in a Congressional office
B. Received a total of $200,000 or more during their tenure as Congressional staffers

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This is Rich: Defending the 'Carried Interest' Tax Break

Jun 26, 2007 by Dana Chasin

Generally, those enjoying the benefit of a flagrantly inequitable provision in the tax code are discreet in their defense of it. Now that legislation to end private equity and other fund managers' carried interest tax break (for an explication of the issue, click here) has been introduced in Congress, some are bravely, if not so discreetly, attempting to defend it. Some amusing examples from the last couple of days --

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Emanuel Proposes Defunding Part of the OVP

Jun 26, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) is leading a charge to cut funding for the Office of Vice President, in response to arguments the OVP has made that it isn't subject to disclosure requirements that apply to the executive branch. Emmanuel's amendment is such that unless the OVP complies with the requirements, it will lose the funding it gets in the appropriations bill that funds the President's administration, and will only get funding through the appropriations bill that funds legislative branch activities.

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The Vice President's Budget?

Jun 26, 2007 by Craig Jennings

The Washington Post is running a multi-part series on Vice President Dick Cheney and his impact on federal policies. Today, the series' authors, Jo Becker and Barton Gellman, examine the veep's role in influencing domestic policy. This section about the budget-making process is enlightening:

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President Follows Shining Path to $933 Bn.

Jun 26, 2007 by Dana Chasin

Threatens Veto of Interior-Environment Bill Yesterday, the administration issued its third veto threat of the appropriations season, this time against H.R. 2643, the House's $27.6 billion Interior-Environment Bill. Again, yesterday's Statement of Administration Policy reflects the administration's aggregate $933 billion discretionary spending topline approach to vetoing spending bills as they make their way through Congress:

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Admin. Veto Strategy: "Aggregate Topline" Theory

Jun 25, 2007 by Dana Chasin

An Analytic Framework for the FY 2008 Budget Battle

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The Privatizers Strike Back

Jun 25, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Congress may make a move to strip language that would keep states from privatizing the provision of food stamps. The anti-privatization language, which would go in the Farm Bill, could be struck down despite the massive failure of a scheme to privatize the food stamp system in Texas. Don't the privatizers get it? Government just does things like this better.

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President Promises Slew of Vetoes

As Congress looks forward to the July 4 recess, it continues to fulfill a primary responsibility — passing legislation that funds the activities of the federal government. Five of 12 FY 2008 spending bills have passed the House and await Senate approval. But President Bush has signaled he intends to veto bills that could push spending above the $933 billion cap specified in his budget request earlier this year.

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