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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Bush Won't Raise Payroll Tax To Fund Social Security Changes

Dec 10, 2004 by Guest Blogger

President Bush made clear yesterday his opposition to raising payroll taxes in order to fund potential changes to social security. A payroll tax is a percentage of an individual's salary that goes into social security and medicare funds. The percentage paid into those funds is matched by employers, in order to raise adequate revenue for these entitlement programs.

While this administration is seriously looking into reforming social security -- an anti-poverty program which was implemented during the New Deal -- they have yet to explain how they will pay for this overhaul, which could cost anywhere from $1 - $2 trillion in transfer costs alone. On top of this, the administration has pledged to cut the deficit in half by 2009, and keep the first term tax cuts in place. Raising payroll taxes could help pay for social security overhaul, and even though the policy appears to have bipartisan support in Congress, the President has ruled it out as an option.

The fact that this administration is unwilling to look into raising payroll taxes means that they are more likely to look into increased borrowing or non-defense discretionary budget cuts to help stabilize the economy. In an article in today's Washington Post, Congressman Robert Matsui (D-CA) is quoted as saying, "I fear this means the administration will employ sham accounting gimmicks in an attempt to hide the true costs of their privatization schemes. Ultimately, hiding the truth about benefit cuts or fleecing the public on massive borrowing would have a disastrous effect on the economy, not to mention betray the trust of the American people."

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Snow Will Remain As Treasury Secretary

Dec 9, 2004 by Guest Blogger

Yesterday, December 8th, President Bush asked Treasury Secretary John Snow to remain in his position for the next two years, at least. After meeting breifly with the President, he agreed. Snow first joined the Bush administration in February 2003 after former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill was ousted; prior to that, he headed CSX, a large railroad company. Snow's position as Treasury Secretary puts him in one of the nation's most central economic policymaking posts.

This announcement is particularly noteworthy because of the rumors that have been circulating recently regarding whether Snow would remain on board in the second term. On Monday, the New York Times even reported that "President Bush has decided to replace John W. Snow as treasury secretary and has been looking closely at a number of possible replacements, including the White House chief of staff, Andrew H. Card Jr., Republicans with ties to the White House say."

Despite the rumors, Snow will remain to help the administration sell its second term economic agenda to the public and Congress. This decision comes at a time of considerable economic uncertainty, as we are faced with an increasingly weaker dollar, a growing deficit, and looming discussions of both tax reform and an overthrow of the social security entitlement program. Mr. Snow, as today's New York Times states, is largely seen as a "salesman for White House policies."

For more information on Snow as Treasury Secretary, click here and here.

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The Spending Bill: What's Inside?

Dec 7, 2004 by Guest Blogger

The FY 2005 spending bill includes $388 billion worth of government spending, and is over 3,000 pages long. So what’s inside? How do funding levels differ from last year? Here is a glimpse —

The Department of Housing and Urban Development's budget was cut by $618 million, reducing it by 1.6 percent, to $37.3 billion. That amount was still $521 million more than the president requested;

Earlier this year, Bush proposed cutting the Environmental Protection Agency's budget by more than 7 percent. Congress softened that blow, but nevertheless sliced the agency's funding by more than 3 percent -- about $277 million -- to approximately $8.08 billion. The bill also includes legislative language allowing the government to continue charging various fees at some national parks, to permit the slaughter of some wild horses roaming the West and to continue to allow snowmobiles at Yellowstone National Park;

Congress approved the smallest budget increase in nearly a decade for the Department of Education. The total discretionary budget of $56.6 billion is up $916 million, or 1.6 percent, on 2004 levels. Spending on several higher education programs, including the popular Pell Grants for low-income students, didn't keep pace with rising costs. The maximum Pell Grant was frozen at $4,050 for the third year in a row;

The budget funds the first deployment of a national missile defense system, at a cost of $10 billion. It also increased by $1.5 billion the administration's request for spending on ground combat systems, such as tanks, trucks and Humvees;

At the behest of Rep. David Joseph Weldon (R-Fla.), House negotiators inserted language into the bill allowing doctors, hospitals and insurers to refuse to perform abortions or offer abortion counseling. The budget for abstinence education increased by $30 million, to $105 million;

Funding for LIHEAP (Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program) increased from $1.89 billion to $2.18 billion. While this is a sizable increase, many supporters of the program are arguing that it is not nearly enough to keep up with the projected 24 percent increase in home heating costs that we are expected to see this year;

The Justice Department gained nearly $1 billion in new funding, faring even better than it would have under Bush's request. Most of the increase -- $625 million -- will go to the FBI to improve its counterterrorism and counterintelligence programs and to revamp its antiquated technology systems. At $5.2 billion, the bureau's rapidly growing budget dwarfs other Justice agencies;

The Department of Transportation spending fell 5 percent, from $46.1 billion to $43.9 billion, in fiscal 2004. Federal highways received $35.5 billion, or $1.9 billion more than in fiscal 2004. The Federal Aviation Administration, which already took funding hits this year, will receive $13.6 billion, $219 million less than in fiscal 2004.

This information, plus much more, can be found in a very detailed article in today’s Washington Post. You can find that article here.

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Spending Bill Highlights

Dec 3, 2004 by Adam Hughes*

Although the FY2005 spending bill won't officially be passed by Congress or signed by the President for a few more days, the bill is pretty much complete. For good highlights and assessments of the bill, check out the following two sources:

Senate Republican Policy Committee Summary
House Appropriations Committee Press Release

For the latest information on the tax return provision included in the spending bill, check out this Washington Post article.

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Watcher: November 30th, 2004

Dec 1, 2004 by Guest Blogger

Federal Budget

Congress Delays Spending Bill, Tackles Tax Return Provision
Congress Raises Debt Limit, Fails to Pass Intelligence Bill
White House Rejects Overtime Rules Amendment

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White House Rejects Overtime Rules Amendments

In both versions of the FY 2005 Labor-HHS spending bill, the House and Senate approved amendments intended to block the White House from implementing new and harmful overtime rules. Those amendments, sponsored by Rep. David Obey (D-WI) and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), would have reinstated old overtime eligibility rules for some workers, and were seen as a major victory for labor.

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Congress Raises Debt Limit, Fails To Pass Intelligence Bill

While members of Congress were unable to complete work on the omnibus spending bill or the intelligence bill during the lame-duck session, they did manage to complete their work on the debt limit.

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Congress Delays Spending Bill, Tackles Tax Return Provision

Although it was widely believed Congress would pass and the President would sign the $388 billion omnibus spending bill before Thanksgiving, it appears now the must-pass legislation will remain on hold until Dec. 6 when Congress will reconvene for a second lame-duck session to work on its passage. The bill, H.R. 4818, includes the nine remaining appropriations bills Congress left unfinished when the fiscal year ended, as well as numerous other riders and provisions.

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Spending Bill Will Remain On Hold Through Early December

Nov 29, 2004 by Guest Blogger

Although it was passed by both houses of Congress last weekend, the FY2005 spending bill will remain on hold and will not go to the President for a signature just yet. Problems arose last week when Senate staffers discovered that the omnibus spending bill included a tax-return provision that shouldn't have been in there. The provision, if passed, would have given appropriators and their "agents" unprecedented access U.S. taxpayers' returns.

Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers supported removing this provision from the omnibus spending bill, however a correcting resolution won't be passed until the House and Senate reconvene on December 6th and 7th, respectively, to fix the controversial rider. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) made it clear that Democrats would not give unanimous consent to make the change on a voice vote, so the omnibus is pending until lawmakers return for a second lame-duck session. Pelosi argued that this extra time will give lawmakers a chance to read the bill, so that they know exactly what they are passing. Congress passed a continuing resolution to fund the government while the omnibus pends; it expires December 8th.

It is clear that flaws in the budget process are responsible for this mess. Not only are nine of the thirteen appropriations bills being passed almost two months after the end of the fiscal year, but a highly detrimental provision almost slipped throught the cracks of a bill that is thousands and thousands of pages long. When lawmakers and their aides are given the opportunity to slip these types of riders and provisions into massive, must-pass legislation, it is not surprising that situations such as this arise. For more information on this issue click here and here.

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Tax Provision Holds Up Spending Bill

Nov 23, 2004 by Guest Blogger

Over the weekend Congress passed a $388 billion spending bill that included funding for the nine appropriations bills that remained unfinished when the fiscal year ended on September 30th. The massive omnibus bill was scheduled to go to the White House to be signed by the President early this week, however it was held up on Capitol Hill as lawmakers rushed to remove a provision from the bill that wasn't supposed to be there.

The provision, buried on page 1,162 of a 3,600 page document, would have given House and Senate Appropriations Committee staffers the power to enter IRS facilities and examine American's tax returns. This right is only currently available to the tax-writing committees of the two chambers. Embarrassed Republican lawmakers expressed surprise that this provision was included in the omnibus and blamed both the IRS and congressional staffers for incorporating it into the bill. Once it is removed, it will be sent to the White House.

The process of passing all unfinished spending bills in a massive omnibus is detrimental because it is more secretive and rushed than it would be if the spending bills were each passed separately, and on time. According to this informative Washington Post article, "When the measure was rushed to the floors of the two chambers on Saturday, few members had read it." Professor of Public Policy Allen Schick noted that the inclusion of this provision shows "how easy it is to put something in [an omnibus bill] without anybody else knowing about it."

Fortuntely this provision was caught before the bill was signed by the President. It does demonstrate, however, the problems of a process that allows this to take place. As Representative Ernest J. Istook (R-OK) stated, "We have a problem with how bills like this are put together." Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND), who serves as the ranking Democratic Member of the Senate Budget Committee, also comments on this issue in his floor statement on the subject, which you can read here.

For additional information, see this Washington Post article.

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