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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2006 Tax Reconciliation Bill Languishes

Despite claims by the two senior GOP tax writers of a breakthrough last week following daily meetings with Republican leaders, last year's $70 billion tax cut bill remains unfinished. The bill is expected to be finalized and brought to the floor of both the House and the Senate, as long as House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) reach a compromise over how to pay for a small part of the bill that exceeds budget targets.

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Harsh Budget Resolution On Its Last Leg?

There has been little movement on the FY 2007 budget resolution since it was pulled from the House floor before the April congressional recess. Despite a deal late last week between Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA) that removed one of three major obstacles to approval in the House, the outlook for the resolution remains bleak.

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White House Misleads Public, Congress on PART Results

In each of the past two years, President Bush has publicly cited a group of 100-plus federal programs in his State of the Union address that he wishes to eliminate or drastically reduce because they are "not getting results." Yet, over two-thirds of these programs have not even been reviewed by the administration's own tool for determining results: the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART).

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"Death Tax" Summit Today

May 2, 2006 by Guest Blogger

The anti-tax troops are out in full force on Capitol Hill today, participating in the annual Death Tax Summit which includes lobby visits and speeches from prominent GOP Senators. The National Association of Manufacturers' website states:

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Spotlight on the Line Item Veto Act

May 1, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

On April 27, the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution held an oversight hearing on the Line Item Veto Act of 2006. Christina Martin Firvida, Senior Counsel at the National Women's Law Center, testified the bill would

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Super-Rich Families Lurk In Estate Tax Repeal Shadows

Apr 26, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

United for a Fair Economy and Public Citizen released a new report unveiling the 18 mega-rich families who are the primary finacial influence behind the decades long effort to repeal the estate tax. As detailed in the report, Spending Millions to Save Billions, the families include the candy magnate Mars family, the Waltons - owners of Wal-Mart stores, the Gallo wine dynasty, the Kochs of Koch Industries and Dorrance family of the Campbell’s Soup Company. Together, they are worth a total of $185.5 billion and would save upwards of $71.6 billion if the tax was repealed.

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The President Who Cried Wolf?

Apr 26, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

The Senate voted today to smack down an attempt to cut spending from the 2006 emergency spending bill current under debate. An amendment offered by Sen. Craig Thomas (R-WY) that would have replaced the entire text of the $106.5 billion bill with President Bush's original $92.2 request was easily defeated 72 - 26.

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Estate Tax Report: Spending Millions to Save Billions

Apr 25, 2006 by Guest Blogger

United for a Fair Economy and Public Citizen released a report today called "Spending Millions to Save Billions: The Campaign of the Super Wealthy to Kill the Estate Tax." The report details the multimillion-dollar lobbying effort -- led by a handful of extremely wealthy families -- to repeal the estate tax. The groups issued a press release as well, saying:

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Many Not Pleased With Levels of Supplemental Spending

Apr 25, 2006 by Guest Blogger

The New York Times has a great article today highlighting some of the criticisms of supplemental spending, which has "ballooned over the last five years, driven first by the Sept. 11 attacks, followed by the war in Iraq and then by natural disasters including the tsunami in Asia and Hurricane Katrina."

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National Council of La Raza Report Releases Estate Tax Report

Apr 21, 2006 by Guest Blogger

The National Council of La Raza has issued a white paper concluding "that repeal of the estate tax would exacerbate the wealth gap between Latinos and other Americans and reduce the amount of revenue available for the community’s key policy priorities." Report: Undercutting the American Dream: Estate Tax Repeal Would Harm Latinos Executive Summary

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