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

News or Tea Leaves on Min. Wage Tax Breaks?

Apr 18, 2007 by Dana Chasin

Today's Wall Street Journal includes an odd squib, Bill to Raise Minimum Wage Might Include Tax Breaks. It opens, "Democratic tax writers hope to reach a deal on a minimum-wage bill that would include about $5 billion in tax breaks to help businesses affected by the higher pay levels."

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Everson Stepping Down

Apr 18, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Breaking News: IRS Commissioner Mark Everson to step down...

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More on the Politics of IRS Privatization

Apr 18, 2007 by Matt Lewis

The American Prospect has posted an excellent article on the IRS privatization program- particularly all the shady and suspicious political donations that seem -but have not been proven- to be the driving force behind the program. Also, the article sheds some light on one of the mysteries of the privatization program- that it's found a staunch supporter in Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN) (emph. mine).

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Supplemental II: Pelosi Mulls Senate Withdrawal 'Goal'

Apr 18, 2007 by Dana Chasin

Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly (CQ $) met with key House Democrats and members of the Out of Iraq Caucus Tuesday to discuss reconciling differences regarding Iraq troop withdrawal language in the House and Senate supplemental bills. According to a Democratic aide briefed after the meeting, "The [conference] committee will likely keep the [waivable House] readiness components but take the [non-binding] Senate language on goals" for a withdrawal date.

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Watcher: April 18, 2007

Apr 18, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Supplemental Debate: War of Words In the weeks since the House and href="/article/blogs/entry/3076/2" target="_blank">Senate each narrowly passed emergency supplemental appropriations bills, the president and congressional Democrats have engaged in a rhetorical battle over additional items above the president's record request, as well as language that would call for a withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Bush has issued almost daily attacks against the bills since they

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A Balanced View of Progressivity's Tipping Point

Apr 17, 2007 by Dana Chasin

Should current trends continue -- from higher payroll taxes to the potential impact of the Alternative Minimum Tax on middle-class earners -- the US system could tip from progressive to flat in a matter of years, at least for the top half of earners. And then tip back again.

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Byrd Adopts DeMint Earmarks Rule for Approrpriations

Apr 17, 2007 by Dana Chasin

This morning, Senate Appropriations chair Robert Byrd (D-WV) announced that his committee would immediately adopt the earmark disclosure rules advocated by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) in S. Res. 123 that we reported on last week. Under the new committee rules,

all earmarks in appropriations bills and reports would be identified, with the amount, the sponsor and the recipient of the earmark; the committee bill and report will be published on the Internet

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Economic Policy Institute Panel Looks beyond Balanced Budget

A balanced budget can and does have a place in a responsible fiscal policy, but it is not the only element. That was the message presented April 12, when the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) hosted a panel discussion entitled "Beyond Balanced Budget Mania." Indeed, a strict concentration on balancing the budget could have deleterious effects on the economy, continue to leave health care out the reach of millions, and contribute to the ongoing decay of national infrastructure.

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Selling Taxes: Compounding the Problem

Apr 17, 2007 by Dana Chasin

The very problem that Matt alludes to at the end of his blog below, the inadequate "contextualizing and disaggregating" of fiscal issues by what are called "opinion leaders," is illustrated perfectly in a well-meaning but ultimately wonky piece published yesterday in tompaine.com, Hidden Truths of Progressive Taxes, by George Lakoff, senior fellow at the Rockridge Institute, and Bruce Budner, its ex

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Supplemental Debate: War of Words

In the weeks since the House and Senate each narrowly passed emergency supplemental appropriations bills, the president and congressional Democrats have engaged in a rhetorical battle over additional items above the president's record request, as well as language calling for a withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Bush has issued almost daily attacks against the bills since they passed, calling them attempts to "micromanage" the war and fund unnecessary projects. The two sides are scheduled to meet at the White House April 18, but the war of words is not expected to abate anytime soon.

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