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

Estate tax media statement

Nov 5, 2003 by Guest Blogger

I would like to thank everyone here for coming out to talk about a very important issue, the estate tax.

Today, I would like to talk about the current status of estate tax law and pending legislation; as well as some new research that measures what effect a repeal might have on charitable giving.

As you probably know, current estate tax allows people to deduct charitable donations from their estate, allowing them to reduce their tax burden. If you remove this incentive to give to charity, you will reduce the amount of charitable giving in this country.

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US borrowing at record rates

Nov 4, 2003 by Guest Blogger

Nothing new here... it's amazing that just a few years ago the Federal Reserve was trying to figure out what to do once all the debt was bought back!

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Economy and Jobs Watch: GDP Update

Total output as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at an annual rate of 7.2% in the third quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported last Thursday.

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Congress Slow to Extend Unemployment Benefits

Unemployed workers may face another bleak holiday unless Congress passes legislation extending benefits.

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Congress Moves to Fund Efforts in Iraq & Afghanistan

The president's request for $87 billion seems to be on the way to final passage.

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Appropriations Still in Knots

Congress has completed only three of the 13 appropriations bills for fiscal year 2004, which began Oct. 1. In the meantime, several continuing resolutions -- which continue funding at last year’s levels -- have kept the government afloat.

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Kyl Still Pushing for Permanent Estate Tax Repeal

Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) is making a new push to permanently repeal the estate tax in spite of budget deficits and a growing national debt (not to mention its fundamental unfairness).

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2003 Q3 GDP

Oct 30, 2003 by Guest Blogger

Gross Domestic Product News Release

Third quarter 2003 gross domestic product (GDP) came in at a annual rate of 7.2% on the strength of consumer spending (see below).

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JOB WATCH

For monthly updates of state-by-state job trends, current labor market trends, and tracking of job growth measured against the number of jobs the Bush administration said would be created by its 2003 tax cut proposal; tune into the Economic Policy Institute’s Job Watch. A wealth of useful charts and graphs are provided.

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Internet Taxation and the State Fiscal Picture

The extension of the Internet services’ sales tax ban is due to expire November 1. However concerns remain, especially given the dire fiscal straits of most states. Besides making the ban permanent, the definition of the services that would be exempt from taxation is being expanded. The proposal under consideration also eliminates a "grandfather" clause that allowed state and local sales taxes on Internet access to continue in eleven states.

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