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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Frist Adds ET Repeal Amendment to Energy Bill

Jun 16, 2005 by Guest Blogger

From today's TaxAnalysts: An amendment proposing permanent repeal of the estate tax has been added to an energy bill - the Energy Policy Tax Incentives Act - going to the Senate Finance Committee today, June 16, for markup. The amendment was one of five added by Senate Majority Leader William Frist (R-TN) to the $16 billion energy tax title including 56 total amendments. Although many of the amendments will be withdrawn and others added before reaching the Senate floor, some suspect that Senator Frist will keep the estate tax amendment to obligate Democrats to vote on the contentious issue. Before becoming law, the amendment would have to be approved by the Finance Committee and full Senate as well as survive conference negotiations with the House of Representatives.

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Social Security and Pension Hearings

Jun 15, 2005 by Guest Blogger

A number of important hearings have taken place this week. Yesterday, the House Ways and Means subcommittee on Social Security held a hearing examining the impact of the American population’s increasing longevity on Social Security’s finances and exploring ways to encourage work at older ages. Members of the panel heard a range of proposals to address the impact of longer-living individuals on solvency. Witness testimonies can be read here. Also, this morning the Senate Budget committee held a hearing on the solvency of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which we wrote about in our last issue of the Watcher. The committee heard from Bradley Belt, Director of the PBGC, and CBO head Douglas Holtz-Eakin. The hearing was held because it is clear the defined-pension benefit system needs to be reformed. Rep. Boehner has offered a bill (HR 2830) to overhaul the pension system; however his bill has been criticized by both Republicans and Democrats. Boehner's bill raises pension insurance premiums that companies pay from $19 to $30 to ensure that the PBGC does not need a taxpayer bailout.

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DeLay Announces Delays in Budget Process Reform

Jun 14, 2005 by Adam Hughes*

House Majority Leader DeLay today said floor consideration of the budget process bill spearheaded by Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), and other conservatives has been delayed. "We've been put back just a little bit because we've asked a lot of the Appropriations Committee and a lot of [Appropriations] Chairman Lewis," DeLay told reporters today. "He's a vital part of budget process reform, and he's asked us to sort of give him a leave of absence until he gets all 11 appropriations bills done." Lewis has said repeatedly he will have all 13 appropriations bills finished by the July 4 recess in three weeks. Hensarling's bill would give the budget the force of law, as well as eliminate the practice of emergency spending bills, limit entitlement spending, and establish a committee to study waste, fraud, and abuse. DeLay said he was hopeful they could introduce a bill before the August break, but did not elaborate on a deadline. Read the latest Watcher article on these proposed budget process reforms.

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Watcher: June 14, 2005

Jun 14, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Federal Budget

House Conservatives Coopt Delay into Pushing Dangerous Budget Process Reforms
Erosion of Retirement Security Continues in America
Horrific and Costly Legislation to Repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax Introduced
Tax Cuts Often Slide Through Congress Undetected

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Senate Hearing Today on Govt. Accountability and Results

Jun 14, 2005 by Adam Hughes*

Today at 2:00 pm in Dirksen 562, there is a hearing before the Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs regarding accountability and results in federal budgeting. The hearing will focus on the specific metrics and tools (e.g., the Program Assessment Rating Tool, or PART) used by the OMB to determine the effectiveness of federal programs, the advantages and disadvantages of using these metrics, and how information provided by these metrics is being used to increase effectiveness and accountability in federal budgeting. Witnesses include GAO Comptroller David Walker, OMB Deputy Director Clay Johnson III, Research Fellow on government accountability issues Eileen Norcross, and Professor of Government and Public Administration at the University of Baltimore Dr. Beryl Radin. OMB Watch recently wrote an op-ed on PART, the President's tool for managing federally funded programs. The op-ed finds that FY 2006 budget cuts were made based on ideology?not on a measured, objective system of program evaluation.

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Erosion of Retirement Security Continues in America

A recent wave of bankruptcies has caused the benefit pension plans of many large companies to be significantly under-funded or fold, leaving millions of workers dependent upon the government-sponsored insurance system: the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). These bankruptcies have put additional pressure on the PBGC to cover the payments to millions of Americans who were planning on their pensions for retirement.

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Tax Cuts Often Slide Through Congress Undetected

It is one thing for Congress to cut taxes for major manufacturers such as those working in the wine, beer, and liquor industry, but it is another issue altogether to do so by burying the language in little-noticed sections of the highway reauthorization bill. Yet this is exactly what is happening right now and it is only one example of an increasingly opaque system Congress uses to make piecemeal changes to the tax code without debate.

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House Conservatives Coopt DeLay into Pushing Dangerous Budget Process Reforms

After House Republican leadership avoided the derailment of the FY 2006 budget resolution by a small group of House conservatives over a standoff about budget process rules, the movement to change those rules in Congress has picked up steam once again. This time, however, the group of conservative House Republicans has enlisted the help of a powerful ally: Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX).

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Horrific and Costly Legislation to Repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax Introduced

In a strange development in late May, a bipartisan group of Senators on the Finance Committee cosponsored legislation introduced by Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) to permanently repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax. However, the legislation does not include provisions to offset the huge cost of the bill.

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Smith and Conrad Unveil Retirement Savings Bill

Jun 10, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Sens. Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) announced yesterday their plans to introduce a Retirement Savings and Security Act, which they could unveil as early as next week. The purpose of the bill is to promote automatic enrollment of workers into company 401(k) plans, in order to minimize the risk of future generations outliving their retirement income. The bill could possibly produce 5.5 million new 401(k) participants over the next five years. The bill would also make changes to the saver's credit, a tax credit for low- and moderate-income workers who contribute to retirement plans and IRAs created under the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. Conrad said, "We think this can and will be passed this year."

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