National Women’s Law Center — Why Women Need a Buffett Rule

On Monday, the Senate is set to vote on whether to begin debate on the Paying a Fair Share Act (S. 2232) sponsored by Sen. Whitehouse (D-RI). By requiring that all households with incomes above $1 million pay at least a 30 percent tax rate (with a phase-in for incomes between $1 million and $2 [...]

OMB Watch — Letting the Fox Guard the Henhouse – Literally

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) made the front page of The New York Times this week for its proposal to change the way chickens and other poultry are inspected in processing plants before they are sent to supermarkets and butcher shops all across the country. In January, the [...]

DEMOS — Yet Another Way NOT To Decrease Gas Prices

Here is a list of things that have a direct impact on current gas prices: oil speculation; increased tensions with, and sanctions on, oil-producing nations like Iran; and high levels of global demand due to economic growth and increased consumption among developing nations. Here is a list of things that do not have an impact [...]

Health Care for America Now! – CBO: Republicans and Right-Wing Media Spreading Falsehoods on ACA Costs

If you only got your news from the right-wing media, you might think the Congressional Budget Office’s report last week on the Affordable Care Act meant that the bill cost more than it was originally expected to — a lot more. But the fact is, and as Talking Points Memo pointed out last week, the [...]

Economic Policy Institute – Report to Congress confirms large benefits, modest costs of new EPA rules

The Office of Management and Budget just posted a draft of its annual report to Congress on the benefits and costs of federal regulations. This official documentation of all major regulations reviewed by OMB includes an individual listing of the benefits and costs of all such rules finalized by the Obama administration through Sept. 30, [...]

Friends of the Earth – End corporate welfare for oil companies

President Obama has identified over $4.7 billion that the oil and gas industry should pay under standard tax rules this year but that will remain in company coffers because the industry receives preferential treatment  in the code. This special treatment gives oil and gas companies advantages that most other companies, individuals, and families don’t receive, [...]

Economic Policy Institute – A jobs bill in substance or acronym only?

The House of Representatives passed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act in overwhelming bipartisan fashion (390-23). The JOBS Act is a package of six bills, four of which had already passed the House, and all of which would lift or relax Securities and Exchange Commission rules. The bill is intended to make it easier [...]

People For the American Way – Super-Pac Tuesday

Ten states are holding primaries and caucuses today, earning March 6th the title of “Super Tuesday.” Participants will show up, cast their vote, and hopefully feel good for participating in the democratic process and fulfilling their civic duty. But thanks to Citizens United, and the Super PACs that flawed decision gave rise to, the voters [...]

NRDC – Nuclear Safety Deferred: U.S. Reactors One Year after Fukushima

In the days that followed the 2011 Great Tōhoku Earthquake and Tsunami, news outlets around the globe followed the unfolding catastrophe at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant with what seemed like minute-by-minute coverage. The world witnessed the Japanese rescue workers struggling to keep the plant’s nuclear cores from overheating and melting. We saw graphic [...]

Union of Concerned Scientists – In Virginia, the Emperor Has No Clothes

The Virginia Supreme Court rebuffed Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s attempts to access the personal correspondence of climate scientists at Thomas Jefferson’s University of Virginia. The court’s ruling found that the university does not constitute a “person” and is therefore not subject to the Civil Investigative Demands—essentially subpoenas—issued by the attorney general under the Virginia [...]