Citizens for Tax Justice Give Congress, President Failing Marks on Tax Policy

The last six years of fiscal policy under the Bush Administration have been a bad deal for 99 percent of Americans, according to two reports released last week by Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ). The first of the reports, The Bush Tax Cuts: Is Your State Better Off?, examines who in each state has benefited from Bush's tax policy. To more accurately represent the long-term effects of the tax cuts, the report not only shows the size of the tax breaks received by each income group, but also the disproportionate share of the increased national debt that each group must pay off.

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Treasury Reports Quarter-Trillion Dollar Deficit; President Still Obscures Fiscal Problems

When the Treasury Department closed the books on Fiscal year 2006 on Sept. 30, one number precipitated a furious round of back-slaps and high-fives in the halls of the White House and the Office of Management and Budget - $248 billion. President Bush had no compunction about expressing glee about the nearly quarter-trillion dollar federal budget deficit for FY2006.

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OMB Watch Launches FedSpending.org

For the first time, itemized information on the more than $12 trillion disbursed by the federal government between FY 2000 and FY 2005 is now available to the public on a user-friendly, searchable Web site. FedSpending.org, a project of OMB Watch launched Oct. 10, provides citizens with a detailed look at how the government sets national priorities and allocates federal resources.

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Letter from Gary Bass: OMB Watch Launches FedSpending.org to Shed Light on Government Spending

On Oct. 10, OMB Watch will open a window through which any American can see just how our federal government spends. With generous support from the Sunlight Foundation, we have created a new searchable website, FedSpending.org, that will let the public see who is getting federal contracts and other financial assistance, and how much is being spent on government programs and in specific states and congressional districts. FedSpending.org is unprecedented - and long overdue.

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Another Estate Tax Vote Unlikely During This Congress

With Congress now in its final week before adjourning for the midterm elections, the death knell may finally be sounding for the "trifecta" package ( The trifecta passed the House in late July, but it failed in the Senate, falling three votes short of the 60 necessary to end debate, entirely on account of the estate tax provision.

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Budget Failures: Cutting to the Core

Republicans in Congress, in order to avoid a backlash from core supporters this November, are on a path to make harmful budget cuts under the cover of a "continuing resolution" and a post-election "lame-duck" session. Only two of 12 appropriations bills -the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense spending bills - are even close to passage, and both should receive hefty allotments that will crowd out spending in the remaining appropriations bills.

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Earmark My Word: Boehner Promises House Action This Week

Last Thursday, House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) announced the House will take up legislation as soon as this week to overhaul the process allowing individual lawmakers to slip funding for special projects into large appropriations bills. Earlier this year, Congress seemed sure to address the enormously embarrassing loopholes riddling the nation's lobbying laws and Congress' own lax ethics rules in the aftermath of the Jack Abramoff scandal and the resignation of disgraced former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA).

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