Blog Posts and Analysis / Revenue & Spending

GAO Reports Defense Department Barely Moving toward a Comprehensive Service Contracts Database

Earlier in April, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released the second in a series of new, congressionally mandated reports assessing the Department of Defense’s (DOD) efforts to compile an inventory of service contracts. Congress intends for the Pentagon to include these reviews in its yearly budget work and expects “inherently governmental work” currently performed by private contractors to be brought back “in-house.” This review process will help the Pentagon find ways to reduce costs and limit the over-reliance on contractors.

read in full

Congressional Progressive Caucus and Ryan Revenue Proposals: Two Sides of the Budget Coin

The fiscal year (FY) 2013 budgets proposed by the House Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Chair of the House Budget Committee, are perfect examples of the fact that budgets are about choices. The revenue proposals in each serve as a study of opposites. Where the Ryan budget would double down on the Bush tax cuts and provide huge windfalls to the country’s wealthiest, the CPC’s proposal – The Budget for All – would ask those with the most wealth to help fund important investments in our public structures.

read in full

Cutting Oil and Gas Tax Subsidies a Small but Responsible Step

There are few subsidies more polarizing than those for oil and gas drilling. Increasingly, however, the public tide seems to be turning against the subsidies. The president has been targeting them for repeal, and last week, the Senate came just a few votes shy of ending a slew of tax subsidies for oil and gas companies. While the subsidies are small compared to the forecasted $10.7 trillion 10-year deficit, ending the give-away to oil and gas companies that currently enjoy record-setting profits is a popular and fiscally responsible choice.

read in full

House FY 2013 Budget: Another Nail in the Budget Control Act Coffin

Leading up to the release of Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget resolution proposal, the question has not been whether House Republicans will adhere to the federal spending agreement reached in last year’s debt ceiling deal (they will not), but how far below the previously agreed-upon figures they will go. The House GOP’s abandonment of this agreement is yet another example of actions taken to undermine not only the spirit but also the letter of last summer’s deal.

read in full

Budget 101: The Differences between the President's Budget and a Budget Resolution

Today, the House released its budget resolution, a document laying out that chamber's budget priorities for the coming fiscal year. The budget resolution is often compared to another document, the president's budget, which is usually released a few weeks earlier. But these two documents are very different in both content and purpose. The budget resolution creates a budgetary framework for Congress, while the president's budget is more of a strategic planning document for federal agencies. These differences make it difficult to compare and contrast the documents' competing policies.

read in full

GOP Candidates' Tax Plans Reduce Taxes on Wealthy, Increase Deficits

As the media focuses its attention on the Republican Party’s presidential nominating contest, several tax and budget organizations have taken turns examining the candidates’ tax proposals. In January, Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ) released a report looking at the costs of each of the GOP contenders’ plans, and, just recently, the Tax Policy Center (TPC) scrutinized the distributional impacts of the candidates’ proposals. Both reports found that all of the contenders’ tax plans would disproportionately benefit the highest-income households and exacerbate budget deficits.

read in full

Report Highlights Need for Additional Revenue Options

The current top federal income tax rate is 35 percent. But what would the top rate have to be in order to raise enough federal revenues to cover spending? A recent paper from the Tax Policy Center (TPC) and the Pew Fiscal Analysis Initiative sets out to answer that question, but its answer is incomplete. To bring federal revenues up from their current historic lows, Congress needs to consider more revenue options than just raising individual income tax rates.

read in full

Pages

  • ©2025 Project On Government Oversight
  • 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.