2005 Tax Reconciliation Nears Deal?

Apr 6, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

Believe it or not, rumors are floating down from Capitol Hill that conferees to the reckless 2005 tax reconciliation bill may have finally reached agreement on a bill they hope will pass both chambers. The Congress has been working on this bill for well over a year and it was starting to look like they would not be able to reach consensus.

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Groups to Congress: No "sunset" shutdowns of gov't programs!

Apr 6, 2006 by Guest Blogger

In the wake of learning that the conservative wing of the House GOP caucus was demanding guaranteed floor votes for sunset commission proposals as a condition of securing the conservatives' votes for the House budget resolution, the public interest community has spoken out, telling Congress that sunset commissions are unacceptable. Keep track of these issues at www.ombwatch.org/files/regs/sunset, and here with <

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Groups Ask Congress to Reject Program Sunset Proposals

Nonprofit groups spoke out today against sunset proposals now being pushed by House conservatives. The proposals could create a single unelected commission to review every federal program, and would mandate that all federal programs automatically "sunset"--completely cease--after a fixed period, unless Congress intervened.

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Breaking News - 527 Legislation Passes in House

Apr 5, 2006 by Guest Blogger

H.R. 513 passed by a vote of 218-209. It remains to be seen whether the Senate will take up legislation reining in 527 organizations.

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Groups Oppose Sunset Commissions - Letter to Congress

A broad cross-section of the public interest and faith communities, at both the national and local levels, expressed opposition to plans to include sunset commissions in budget process reform. Download the letter Read the press release Learn more about sunset commission proposals Organization letters

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More Detail on Senate Supplemental Spending Bill

Apr 5, 2006 by Guest Blogger

Yesterday, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a $106.5 billion supplemental spending bill. The bill appropriates $72.4 billion for war funding in Iraq and Afghanistan and foreign aid and $27.1 billion for hurricane relief. Below are additional details on funding that was added by amendment in committee: Amendments Adding Funding Dorgan/Burns: $4 billion for agriculture relief Shelby: $1.1 billion for fisheries Harkin: $2.3 billion for pandemic flu preparations Byrd: $648 million for port security Murray: $594 million for FHA emergency road repair program

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Tell the FEC to Protect Grassroots Lobbying!

Please join us in urging the FEC to exempt legitimate grassroots lobbying from campaign finance restrictions! The Federal Election Commission has invited public comment on whether the agency should move to exempt grassroots lobbying communications from election-law restrictions on broadcast advertising.

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Richest of the Rich Win With Investment Tax Cuts

Apr 5, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

Absolutely fantastic article by David Cay Johnston on the front page of the New York Times today showing how enormously skewed the Bush tax cuts on capital gains and dividends are toward the richest of the rich in America. The Times did their own analysis of IRS data from 2003 with some shocking conclusions. A few excerpts below: Among taxpayers with incomes greater than $10 million, the amount by which their investment tax bill was reduced averaged about $500,000 in 2003

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More Bad News For Private Tax Preparers

Apr 5, 2006 by Craig Jennings

On the heels of some negative publicity private companies have received in the aftermath of two controversial issues over at the IRS - regarding a decision to change the rules governing the privacy rights of citizen's tax return information and a new program outsourcing collection of overdue taxes - more bad news came out of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) yesterday for paid tax preparation companies such as H&R Block.

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527 Legislation on the House Floor Today

Apr 5, 2006 by Guest Blogger

The House Rules Committee yesterday sent a 527 bill to the floor, under a closed rule, with only one hour of debate. The legislation, sponsored by Reps. Shays and Meehan, was changed to add one provision repealing party spending limits. The provision was taken from legislation sponsored by Rep. Mike Pence. Even with the change, reformers are supporting the bill. Almost all - if not all - Democrats will oppose the bill, and it seems with the recent letter sent by a number of conservative organizations, some Republicans may defect as well. The bill is expected to be taken up this morning.

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