Greenspan Testifies at Tax Panel Hearing

Mar 3, 2005 by Guest Blogger

After testifying on the deficit and the economic state of our country yesterday, Alan Greenspan spent this morning as a witness before the President's Advisory Panel on Tax Reform. The panel held their second hearing today, and their third is scheduled to take place in Tampa on tuesday, March 8th. The third hearing will focus how the tax system affects businesses and entrepreneurs; a list of witnesses has not yet been released. At today's hearing Greenspan spoke in favor of a "mixed" tax system that relied upon both consumption and income taxes to bring in national revenue and keep the economy strong. Accoring to Congressdaily, Greenspan indicated "displeasure at the idea of a moving toward a value-added tax, noting that some believe it is too effective a tool for raising taxes. He also indicated that a value-added tax would be too opaque." Also appearing before the panel today were former Treasury Secretary James Baker, who indicated a preference for a consumption tax, and IRS Commissioner Mark Everson. These hearings are meant to serve the panel in their task to provide viable suggestions to Secretary Treasury John Snow on how to reform the federal tax code. Their report will be submitted to Snow no later than July 31st of this year.

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CoF Quick Summary of IS Interim Report

Mar 3, 2005 by Guest Blogger

The Council on Foundations did a quick summary of Independent Sector's Interim Report.

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Center for American Progress' Faith-Based Initiative Talking

Mar 3, 2005 by Guest Blogger

The Center for American Progress posted its Faith Based Talking Points today. Check them out.

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OIRA Meets with Industry Regarding Food Labeling

Mar 3, 2005 by Guest Blogger

OIRA met with representatives from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the National Grocers Association and the Food Marketing Institute on Feb. 23 regarding nutrition labeling of single ingredient products and ground or chopped meat products.

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Take Action on the Budget -- Call Your Representatives

TELL MEMBERS OF CONGRESS: WE NEED A BUDGET RESOLUTION THAT MEETS OUR PRIORITIES! NATIONAL CALL-IN DAY TUESDAY, APRIL 12 As the House and Senate gear up to vote on the 2006 Congressional Budget Resolution, we need to tell our Senators and Representatives that we want to see a budget from them that maintains services to children and the elderly, keeps our communities strong, includes evenhanded budget rules that don't favor tax cuts over meeting our commitments, and accomplishes deficit reduction in a fair and balanced manner.

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Administration Steers Away From Payroll Tax Diversion

Mar 3, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Treasury Secretary John Snow indicated yesterday that the White House would in fact accept a form of Social Security overhall that did not include diverting a portion of payroll taxes into private investment accounts. This is a major shift in the administration's position. Snow said that personal accounts would be part of any Social Security legislation, but that they were open to funding these accounts through means other than the payroll tax. Congressional Democrats have almost unanimously opposed the idea of funding personal accounts with a diversion of payroll taxes. Bush's plan -- backed by many Congressional Republicans -- to allow individuals to put as much as 4 percentage points of their payroll tax contributions into private accounts has been one of the more controversial aspects of the discussion to overhaul Social Security. Opponents think that private accounts would would risk reducing benefits for low-income individuals, and also could result in higher interest rates because the government would need to borrow more to finance transition costs. In other Social Security news, an article in the New York Times today reports many Americans differ from Bush in their priorities regarding Social Security. A new New York Times/CBS News report showed that 51 percent of Americans believe investing a portion of payroll taxes into private accounts is a bad idea. Sixty-nine percent believed private accounts would be a bad idea if they would result in any benefit reductions, and 45 percent believed that private accounts would actually weaken the retirement system.

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Greenspan Testifies Current Deficits Are Unsustainable

Mar 3, 2005 by Adam Hughes*

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan testified before the House Budget Committee yesterday and painted a grim fiscal picture of the current state of the federal government. Greenspan noted decreasing the current deficits would require Congress and President Bush to make difficult political decisions. He said both decreases in spending and paying for future tax cuts would be necessary to tackle the deficit. Greenspan emphasized his long-standing position for the reinstatement of pay-as-you-go rules (PAYGO). These rules, a key aspect of the deficit reduction package that worked well in the 1990s, would require Congress to offset further tax cuts or increases in spending with savings elsewhere in the budget. The Bush administration and many top Republicans in Congress believe PAYGO rules should apply only to new spending. Read more about Greenspans testimony.

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FEC Looking at Internet Advocacy

Mar 3, 2005 by Kay Guinane

Bradley Smith says that the freewheeling days of political blogging and online punditry are over. In just a few months, he warns, bloggers and news organizations could risk the wrath of the federal government if they improperly link to a campaign's Web site. Even forwarding a political candidate's press release to a mailing list, depending on the details, could be punished by fines. Check out the full story.

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We Lost On WIA Yesterday...

Mar 3, 2005 by Guest Blogger

First of all, thank you to anyone who sent out a letter or made a phone call to their Representative. Staffers told our coalition members that the phone calls and letters really did make a difference. HR 27 passed yesterday, 224 to 200. The Scott Amendment to restore civil rights protections failed, 186 Aye -- 239 No. ' I'm really very proud of the work our coalition did. We had great leadership from groups like Americans United and ACLU. Now, on to the Senate!

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Opposition to Social Security Reform Pays Off

Mar 2, 2005 by Guest Blogger

It appears as though all of this talk about a Social Security overhaul is not working in the President's favor. The Washington Post reports today, "President Bush's bid to restructure Social Security may have to wait until next year and might not involve the individual accounts the White House has been pushing hard." Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) expressed these sentiments yesterday, and they are a blow to the administration's obvious efforts over the last few months to market their plans for Social Security privatization. Many GOP Congressman have been out in the field pushing SS overhaul over the past few weeks, and many are now wary about forging ahead with a politically risky plan that doesn't have a good deal of demonstrated public support. So, it appears that Social Security reform may be put on the back burner for a while. This is due to both the fact that many Democrats have been voicing strong opposition to the private accounts supported by the administration, as well as because Republican lawmakers are extremely divided among themselves as to how to proceed with an overhaul, and whether or not our economy could sustain borrowing trillions of dollars to finance it. To read more about the current hurdles facing a Social Security overhaul, click here.

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