Treasury Confident Debt Limit Won't Be Reached in 2005

Aug 3, 2005 by Adam Hughes*

The Treasury Department has told Democratic senator Max Baucus (D-MT) that the $8.184 trillion ceiling on government borrowing will not need to be raised this year, confirming speculation that the improvement in tax receipts seen in 2005 will allow Congress to avoid the politically charged issue for the first year since 2001. Despite this seemingly good news, Baucus called attention to the continually disturbing broader financial picture, noting that the debt limit has been raised four times and over $3 billion since 2002. "In the face of record deficits, the government needs to show more fiscal discipline," Baucus said in a news release. Taxing Internet Porn Speaking of tax receipts, Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and eight other democratic senators have introduced the Internet Safety and Child Protection Act of 2005 (S.1507), which would impose a 25 percent tax on "Internet pornography transactions." The revenues would be dedicated to a fund to support law enforcers and organizations that combat Internet and pornography-related crimes against children. News Coverage: Arkansas News Bureau Washington Post

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Organizations Urge Senate to Save the Estate Tax and Reject Dangerous "Compromise" Proposals

Washington, DC -- July 26, 2005 -- So-called "compromise" proposals on the estate tax offered by Senate Republicans would be just as damaging to the economy and the charitable sector as full repeal, according to a letter sent today to members of the U.S. Senate by a coalition representing 20,000 organizations with roughly 20 million members across the country. Realizing they lack the 60 votes necessary to avoid a filibuster in the Senate, some in the pro-repeal camp are now calling for compromises that would be tantamount to repeal. The coalition urged senators to

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EAC Issues Guidance on Statewide Voter Registration Lists

Aug 2, 2005 by Kay Guinane

The Election Assistance Commission, which is charged with implementing the Help America Vote Act, has issued VOLUNTARY GUIDANCE ON IMPLEMENTATION OF STATEWIDE VOTER REGISTRATION LISTS, which are intended to "assist States in their efforts to develop and implement a single, uniform, official, centralized, interactive computerized statewide voter registration list."

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Nonprofits Turning to For-Profit Model

Aug 1, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Changing the way an organization is run to increase efficiency and impact, a process known as capacity building, is one of the biggest trends in nonprofits. Motivated in part by an uncertain economy, nonprofit organizations have become more results-driven by developing new ways of creating revenue, increasing employee specialization, and enhancing marketing techniques. For the full scoop...

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Cost-benefit has its limits: Ask Posner...

Jul 30, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Be sure to check out the latest article by Professor Lisa Heinzerling, which reviews a recent book by Richard Posner:

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When silence is deafening (or deadly)

Jul 29, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Public Citizen's Critical Mass Watchdog Blog posted the following on July 20: Emergency Sirens: Don't Count on Them (We Told You So)

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Frist Files for Cloture, Kyl Floats New Proposal

Jul 29, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Despite rumors earlier this week that the estate tax might see floor action, the Senate had far too many issues on its plate this week for Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) to schedule a vote. He did, however, file for cloture and we can plan on probably seeing an estate tax vote after Senators return from their August recess. In other estate tax news, this week Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) has floated some new specific numbers regarding reform options. He specifically mentioned a $3.5 million exemption rate and a 15 percent tax rate. While the $3.5 million exemption is much lower than what we have been hearing from him over the past month, the low tax rate still guts the tax. CBPP has estimated, based on Joint Committee on Taxation numbers, that in 2015 the cost of this proposal would be roughly 74 percent of what the total cost of repeal would be.

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More Recent OIRA Meetings

Jul 29, 2005 by Guest Blogger

  • Tue Jun 21, 2005: OMB met with small business over the EPA Pretreatment Streamlining Rule. Those in attendance included representatives from SBA's Office of Advocacy, the Water Quality Assessment Program, the National Water Quality Assessment Program, EPA and the Policy Group.

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Questioning the theory of market-based approaches

Jul 29, 2005 by Guest Blogger

A new article by CPR member scholar David Driesen questions the conventional theory purporting to establish that environmental benefit trading encourages innovation better than comparable traditional regulation. Here's a look at the abstract:

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OIRA Meets Over DC Airspace Rule

Jul 29, 2005 by Guest Blogger

OIRA met with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) on July 26 over FAA's Washington, DC Airspace Rule.

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