As 25 million families begin receiving their checks from the IRS for the $400 per child increases in the child tax credit, House Democrats used a series of procedural floor votes on July 23 to bring attention to the fact that no progress has been made to extend the credit to low-income families.

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in its annual "Mid-Session Review" recently projected that the U.S. federal budget will see an unprecedented $691 billion deterioration in its budget situation -- moving from record surpluses of $236 billion in 2000 to record deficits of $455 billion in 2003.

States continue to feel the impact of low revenue and a lack of support from the federal government. As a result, many state-supported colleges and universities have seen dramatic budget cuts in recent years. In an effort to minimize the damage, colleges and universities are approving skyrocketing tuitions. An informal scan of recent headlines (see below) shows some of the steep increases, with most in the double digits extending up to 28%.