Changing Supreme Court and WRTL

Apr 23, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

According to a McClatchy Newspapers story; "Last week's ruling banning partial-birth abortions, revealed it. Coming up next, campaign reform will further clarify how President Bush's conservative appointments and the departure of former Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor have reshaped the court." Oral arguments in the Wisconsin Right to Life (WRTL) case will be heard this week, and expectantly, many are attempting predictions in light of the new court in Justice O'Conner's absence. And somehow last week's partial birth abortion ban foretells this changing court that may benefit WRTL.

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Will Min. Wage Make Supplemental Less Vetoable?

Apr 23, 2007 by Dana Chasin

House Ways and Means chair Charles Rangel and Senate Finance chief Max Baucus have indeed worked out a compromise minimum wage tax deal providing $4.84 bn. in tax relief for small business over 10 years, offset by an equal amount of tax increases.

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Smash Health Care Capitalism!

Apr 23, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Writing for the commie-pinko Washington Monthly, Philip Longman, a fellow at the unabashedly socialist New America Foundation, has foreseen the end of the capitalist health care market and the coming of socialized medicine in America.

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Emergency Supplemental -- Color-Coded

Apr 20, 2007 by Dana Chasin

Last year, President Bush sent a $72 billion emergency supplemental war spending bill to Congress on February 16, 2006. He signed the bill 119 days later, on June 15, 2006. A year earlier, the dates were: February 14, 2005, Bush submits $82 billion supplemental bill; May 11, 2005, he signs it.

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OMB Watch Statement on Privacy Violation in Government Data

Apr 20, 2007 by Adam Hughes*

Earlier this afternoon, the New York Times published information about Social Security numbers being disclosed for many years by the government in unique identifiers for certain financial transactions (Read the NYTs story). This was discovered by a user of our FedSpending.org, an online service providing information about government spending that includes a government database that had the personally identifiable information.

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Forward Calendar for Supplemental, Budget Resolution

Apr 20, 2007 by Craig Jennings

The following is the current schedule of congressional action with respect to the:
  • War Spending Supplemental (H.R. 1591):
    • April 23 -- House conferees (appointed April 19) to meet meet with Senate counterparts in first public conference committee meeting, 4:30 p.m., HC-5 Capitol Bldg.
    • April 25 or 26 -- House consideration Conference Report
    • April 26 or 27 -- Senate consideration of Conference Report
    • May 31 -- Target date for passage of second ("post-veto") supplemental bill

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    Keeping Government out of the Boardroom

    Apr 20, 2007 by Craig Jennings

    This week, the White House issued a statement asserting its opposition to the right of shareholders to voice an opinion about the way the companies they own should be run. The president takes issue with Rep. Barney Frank's (D-MA) Shareholder Vote on Executive Compensation Act (H.R. 1257), which "would require that public companies ensure that shareholders have an annual nonbinding advisory vote on their company's executive compensation plans."

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    Statement from Gary D. Bass on Privacy Violation in Government Data

    WASHINGTON, April 20, 2007—It has become public information today that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been including Social Security numbers in a data field that identifies certain public financial transactions with government (e.g., loans). In response, OMB Watch has taken two actions. First, we have temporarily redacted the information in the USDA data field, which serves as a unique identifier, from our online service, FedSpending.org. Second, we call on the federal government to immediately remedy the privacy violation by providing a new unique identifier that does not contain personally identifiable information.

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    OMB's Portman Still Drinking the Kool-Aid

    Apr 20, 2007 by Matt Lewis

    Rob Portman is in the Hill today, doing his best to spin the Congressional budget resolutions. One of his comments stands out: I'm disappointed that the budget pays for all that new spending with taxes, which I think will put at risk the very economic growth that has given us the increased revenues over the last few years to be able to reduce the deficit.

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    Baucus Confirms $5 Bn. Min Wage Tax Cut 'Ballpark'

    Apr 20, 2007 by Dana Chasin

    Senate Finance chair Max Baucus (D-MT) has indicated that he and House Ways and Means chair Charles Rangel (D-NY) are looking at a minimum wage small business tax package "in the ballpark" of $5 billion over 10 years, confirming our report earlier this week. Similarly, Baucus and other leading Democrats have decided that the war spending supplemental is the best vehicle for passing the minimum wage and its attendant tax breaks. "More often than not, the rider needs a strong horse. The supplemental is strong, the minimum wage is strong," Baucus said.

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