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...

read in full

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...

read in full

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...

read in full

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...

read in full

more news

Cheney Breaks Tie To Pass Budget Bill

Dec 21, 2005 by Guest Blogger

After voting 52-48 on the procedural challenge previously mentioned, the Senate voted 50-50 on the budget cuts bill. The bill they voted on is different from the one which came out of conference in that it does not include some minor language concerning medicaid liabilities and a number of government reports.

read in full

Senate Votes To Uphold Procedural Challenge

Dec 21, 2005 by Adam Hughes*

The Senate voted 52 - 48 not to waive a procedural challenge to the budget cuts bill - and removed some language concerning medicaid liability and a number of government reports. Regardless of how the final vote goes, the House of Representatives will need to act again before the cuts will be finally passed. All Democrats voted with Republican Senators Snowe, Chafee, and Smith to support the procedural challenge.

read in full

GDP Growth At 4.1 Percent

Dec 21, 2005 by Guest Blogger

The Commerce Department reported today the economy grew by 4.1 percent in the fourth quarter, despite surging energy prices. Business growth was slightly lower than the government had previously estimated it would be. This growth was attributed to high consumer demand, especially for cars, as well as business investment.

read in full

Including ANWR on Def. Approps. Is Bad Process

Dec 21, 2005 by Adam Hughes*

We haven't directly mentioned this yet here, but the inclusion of language opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on the defense appropriations bill is an awful decision. Not only is the provision not related to the defense appropriations bill (and therefore should be struck through a procedural challege), but it is also a crude, callous, and reprehensible attempt by Sen.

read in full

Votes Expected This Morning on Budget Cuts

Dec 21, 2005 by Adam Hughes*

The Senate adjourned last night without taking votes on the budget cuts bill, postponing them until this morning. They are expected to begin voting at 9:15 am Wednesday morning. The Democrats are planning on a small set of procedural challenges before a vote on the final bill. Certain provisions in the bill may violate the "Byrd Rule," which prohibits extraneous matters in reconciliation bills, conference reports, and other resolutions. If these challenges are upheld by the Senate parlimentarian, Senator Gregg (R-NH) will move to waive the rule. This would require 60 votes.

read in full

Tax Gap Is The Highest It's Been In 46 Years

Dec 20, 2005 by Guest Blogger

The tax gap is the gap between personal income and adjusted gross income (AGI), and it is currently the highest it has been in 46 years worth of data analyzed by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

read in full

Sen. Sam Brownback Doesn't Understand PART

Dec 20, 2005 by Adam Hughes*

Sen. Sam Brownback, doing a miraculous job of reiterating Bush administration talking points, is currently making a statement on the floor of the Senate criticizing government program results as witnessed through the corrupt lense of the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) and other Bush administration management initiatives.

read in full

Isn't This Debate on a Budget Cuts Bill?

Dec 20, 2005 by Adam Hughes*

The U.S. Senate is supposed to be spending 10 hours today debating the budget cuts reconciliation bill. But a substantial portion of the debate has been spent sparring over the reauthorization of the U.S. Patriot Act and the inclusion of ANWR in the Defense Appropriations bill. While these are certainly very important debates to be had, it's hard to understand why the debate is not about the budget cuts. Do Senators not have anything to say about the cuts? Do they think the changes they will vote for shortly are unimportant? Are Senators ashamed of what they are proposing in this bill?

read in full

AARP Plans To Score Budget Vote

Dec 20, 2005 by Adam Hughes*

According to a report in The Hill, the large and powerful group AARP sent a letter today to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) saying they will "make sure that our members across the country fully understand the impact of this conference agreement on them and on their families." AARP plans to use the vote on the budget bill to hold Senators accountable during the midterm elections at the end of next year, according to AARP's director of policy and strategy John Rother.

read in full

Details of Cuts in Final Budget Reconciliation Bill

Dec 20, 2005 by Adam Hughes*

Below is a list of cuts in the budget reconciliation bill currently being debated on the Senate floor:

Medicaid: Low-income families will have to pay more than they can afford for medical care under Medicaid and face shrinking benefits.
SSI: People with disabilities will have to wait as long as a year to receive the back SSI benefits they are owed because the government has taken so long to approve their application.

read in full