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 Budget Cuts Target EPA Libraries

President Bush's proposed budget for 2007 includes deep cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Library Network, which EPA staff and the public rely on for research, policy making and advocacy efforts. According to internal EPA documents, the proposed cuts would force the EPA to close its headquarters library, discontinue its Online Library System electronic catalogue, and shut the doors of many of the libraries operating in EPA's 10 regions.

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More Dishonest War Budgeting from White House

President George Bush is continuing his piecemeal approach to funding U.S. war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, despite rebukes by Congress including last year's stinging one by Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV). On Feb. 17, Bush sent another supplemental request of $72.4 billion for war funding for the remainder of this fiscal year, leading critics to note that it is impossible to know how much the war efforts are really costing.

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Frist Vows Estate Tax Vote This Spring

In a Feb. 10 speech, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) told a national gathering of conservatives in Washington, D.C. he would "do everything in [his] power to bury the death tax once and for all," and said he plans to bring estate tax repeal legislation to the floor in May. These remarks, which were delivered at a three-day Conservative Political Action Conference, highlight Frist's desire to gain favor with his base by pushing for estate tax repeal. While full repeal is favored by a number of conservative groups, Frist lacks the 60 votes needed in the Senate to pass such a measure.

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Tough Negotiations Ahead for Tax Bill

House and Senate leadership have appointed conferees for long-awaited negotiations on the 2005 tax reconciliation bill. The conference, which will convene following the President's Day recess during the week of Feb. 27, will address differences between the versions of the bill passed by the House and Senate. An important issue of contention is the extension in the House version of tax cuts on capital gains and dividends, a move that would not only prove extremely costly but also disproportionately benefit the wealthiest Americans.

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Tax Cuts Do Not Add to the Treasury

Feb 22, 2006 by Guest Blogger

The other day Vice President Cheney said before a group of conservatives: "The evidence is in, it's time for everyone to admit that sensible tax cuts increase economic growth, and add to the federal treasury."

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Lobby Reform Continues to Overlook Budget Process

As Congress toils through the process of establishing self-regulation of lobbying and ethics issues, most proposals continue to overlook budget process reform that is critically needed to address corruption and open the process in Washington. Despite new legislation recently introduced that to some extent addresses the role of the budget process in the larger reform picture, no proposal gets all the parts right, nor does any go far enough to truly have a significant impact.

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House Conferees for Tax Reconciliation Bill

Feb 21, 2006 by Guest Blogger

Five conferees have been picked from the House for negotiations over the tax reconciliation bill. They are Reps. Dave Camp (R-MI), Pete Stark (D-CA), and Jim McCrery (R-LA), Ways and Means Committee ranking member Charles Rangel (D-NY), and Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA). The House has five conferees to the Senate's three, which could potentially give House members a leg up in these negotiations.

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Budget Gimmicks in Bush's FY07 Proposal

Feb 19, 2006 by Guest Blogger

President Bush's FY 2007 budget includes two proposals that mask the true cost of extending the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, which Bush claims to be one of his najor goals in 2006. As this Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report states,

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White House Requests $92.2 Billion Supplemental

Feb 17, 2006 by Guest Blogger

The White House submitted a $92.2 billion FY2006 supplemental spending request yesterday, which includes $72.4 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and intelligence activities, and $19.8 billion for Gulf Coast rebuilding costs. The Pentagon, which currently spends about $6.8 billion per month, will receive $65.3 billion to get through the current fiscal year.

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House Budget Committee Hearing on PART

Feb 16, 2006 by Matthew Madia

The House Budget Committee held a hearing today on performance evaluations and spending trends. Clay Johnson of the Office of Management and Budget testified, along with Brian Reidl of the Heritage Foundation and Bob Greenstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Johnson spoke of the importance of accountability in government spending as well as OMB's new performance website, but refused to recognize the hypocrisy surrounding some of the budget decisions made after these programs are evaluated by OMB's standards. Testimony and opening remarks are below:

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