FMOC Holds Steady at 5.25 Percent

May 11, 2007 by Dana Chasin

We tend not to venture over into monetary policy all that much, but it and fiscal policy are closely enough related that we thought we'd try. The non-news of the Fed's Free Market Open Committee's decision this week to hold the target Fed interest rate at 5.25 percent -- where it's been for the last year -- reflects some factors below, with a fiscal consequence noted further below. The Economists' View identifies these factors and notes behind the FMOC decision:

    read in full

    GAO Scrutinizes IRS's FY 2008 Budget Request

    May 11, 2007 by Craig Jennings

    Internal Revenue Service is requesting $7.2 billion for enforcement activities in its FY 2008 budget request. Money to pay for initiatives to close the tax gap sounds like a great idea, but how well will the initiatives accomplish this goal? IRS isn't exactly clear on this point in its budget request. From a GAO report released Wednesday:

    read in full

    House Passes Small Business Contracting Bill

    May 11, 2007 by Adam Hughes*

    Yesterday, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed by a vote of 409 - 13 a bill designed to increase the percentage of federal contracts awarded to small businesses and limit the bundling of small projects and work orders into gigantic contracts. The White House declared their opposition to H.R. 1873 earlier this week, but stopped short of saying President Bush would veto it should it reach his desk. That's a pretty good thing since the vote in the House is more than enough to override a veto by the president.

    read in full

    Senate FDA Reform Bill: The Nuts and Bolts

    May 11, 2007 by Matthew Madia

    Wednesday, the Senate voted 93-1 to pass S.1082, The Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act. The two primary aims of the legislation are to renew the Prescription Drug User Fee Act and to generally strengthen the regulatory authority of the FDA. Renewing PDUFA

    read in full

    Grassroots Lobbying Disclosure Discussion Continue: Until Maybe Next Week?

    May 10, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

    An article in BNA Money and Politics ($$) reports unsurprisingly that the House Judiciary Committee has put off the tentative plan to consider lobbying and ethics reform on May 11, stressing once again the struggle to reach an agreement in constructing language for the bill. Democratic leaders are reportedly continuing to work on the details of a bill. The article also extensively quotes a letter that OMB Watch sent to House offices urging their support of grassroots lobbying disclosure.

    read in full

    The Biggest Driver of the Long-Term Fiscal Challenge

    May 10, 2007 by Craig Jennings

    Doing a bit of research into mandatory spending, I came across this GAO document, which contains this bit: Among mandatory spending programs...the health area is especially important because the long-term fiscal challenge is largely a health care challenge. Contrary to public perceptions, health care is the biggest driver of the long-term fiscal challenge. This cannot be said enough: health care is the biggest driver of the long-term fiscal challenge.

    read in full

    Senate Votes on Budget Res. Motions-to-Instruct

    May 10, 2007 by Dana Chasin

    Caveat: This is very inside-baseball stuff, since motions-to-instruct are non-binding and purely advisory, and the practical consequences of budget resolutions themselves are mostly in terms of the overall discretionary spending caps they impose for the fiscal year ahead. Late yesterday, the Senate held the three roll-call votes listed below on motions to instruct budget resolution conferees. The Senate also approved, by voice vote, a motion by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), establishing a reserve fund for renewable fuels and other energy legislation.

      read in full

      Cost-Benefit Language Inserted in Fuel Economy Bill

      May 10, 2007 by Matthew Madia

      Monday, the Senate Commerce Committee sent a vehicle fuel economy reform bill to the floor. The bill would do some good by providing more information on fuel efficiency to car buyers and increasing funding for our national fuel economy program — the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard run by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). However, the bill would also mark a shift in the legislative view of vehicle fuel economy — from protecting the environment and strengthening national security to making economic factors a paramount consideration.

      read in full

      Dudley Inconsistent on Review of Guidance

      May 10, 2007 by Matthew Madia

      Today, BNA news service (subscription) published the recap of a lengthy interview with new White House regulatory czar Susan Dudley, conducted by reporter Ralph Lindeman. Dudley claimed she does not anticipate any delay in the issuance of agency guidance documents during her tenure.

      read in full

      House to Bar Tax Delinquent Companies from Contracts

      May 10, 2007 by Adam Hughes*

      In one of the more common-sense moves of the 110th Congress, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization, and Procurement unanimously approved a bill yesterday to prevent companies who owe federal taxes from being considered for government contracts. The bill (H.R. 1870) would target companies that owe at least $2,500 and have not paid the IRS or started a payment plan within 180 days of getting an assessment. During the mark-up, the bill's sponsor and subcommittee chairman Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY) offered an amendment that would help assuage concerns expressed by the Bush administration during hearings on the bill. The amendment would change the bill to incorporate the tax deliquency provisions into the regular contracting process. This change would still bar companies who owed taxes from receiving new contracts from the government, but would grant those companies due-process rights and opportunities to contest the government decision to bar them. Seems fair enough. The bill moves now to the full House Oversight and Government Reform committee, where it may encounter opposition ($) from ranking member Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA), who apparently thinks it's alright for companies not to pay taxes.

      read in full

      Pages

      • ©2015 Center for Effective Government
      • All Rights Reserved.
      • This an archive site of the materials produced by the Center for Effective Government (formerly OMB Watch) and is maintained by the Project On Government Oversight.