2012 Elections

GOP Leaders Take on Far Right Pressure Groups

By Eric Pianin

There have been plenty of theories about why Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) strode onstage at a conservative gathering late last week carrying a rifle. Ostensibly, McConnell, the 72-...
Some CEOs Are Still Cashing In at Our Expense

By Josh Boak, The Fiscal Times

Many of the highest paid CEOs might be ripping off stockholders and taxpayers, according to a study released Wednesday by the progressive Institute for Policy Studies.
Tax Reform Could Be Easier Than Congress Thinks

By Yuval Rosenberg

The conservative-leaning Tax Foundation issued a press release Monday touting some “good news for tax reformers”: An analysis by experts at the foundation found that a plan to dramatically simplify...
‘The Daily Show’ Explains Why Our ‘Chicken$#!&’ Congress Hasn’t Reformed the Tax Code

By Yuval Rosenberg

Congress may be out on its month-long August recess, but that doesn’t mean “The Daily Show” stops its skewering. Last night, host John Oliver took on our broken tax code – and used the issue to take...
How 21 Major Corporations Dodged $93B in Taxes

By Eric Pianin and Josh Boak

Twenty-one of the top 100 publicly traded U.S. corporations – including such big names as Goldman Sachs, Apple and Walt Disney – have avoided paying $93 billion a year in federal taxes by parking...

Obama’s Bargain: Lower Rates for Higher Spending

By Eric Pianin

President Obama intends to make one last pitch for a “grand bargain” of new spending and tax policy on Tuesday that will attempt to marry corporate tax reform with funding for jobs to benefit the...
Ominous Signs for the GOP in 2014

By Bruce Bartlett, The Fiscal Times

The conventional wisdom is that Republicans are in good shape going into next year’s congressional elections. Gerrymandering and the enormous benefits of incumbency virtually guarantee them continued...
Trading Tax Write-Offs for Real Growth

By Andrew Fieldhouse, The Fiscal Times

Overhauling the tax code is a wonky fixation of the D.C. policymaking elite, for good reason — it’s an area loaded with policy nuance, lobbying intrigue and major ramifications for long-term fiscal...
IRS Scandal: How the Brouhaha Went Bust

By Peter Weber, TheWeek.com

Rep. Darrell Issa is still banging the scandal drum. Is anyone listening anymore?
Beer, Burgers, and a Two-Man Blitz on Tax Reform

By Josh Boak, The Fiscal Times

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI) are keeping hope alive that the tax code can be rewritten. Both peg the odds of successful reform at more than 50 percent, according to a joint lunch...

Lobbyists Mobilize Over Reforming the Tax Code

By Jerry Markon, The Washington Post

An army of lobbyists has been mobilizing in the halls of Congress over recent months in anticipation of what could be a monumental struggle later this year over reforming the tax code. While the...
Sequestration: A Fiscal Diet That Won’t Fix the Deficit

By Bruce Bartlett, The Fiscal Times

Every budget expert I know thinks the sequester is just about the stupidest way of cutting spending imaginable, because it cuts equally from fat, muscle and bone. I certainly agree, but today I want...
Only Ryan Takes on the 800 Lb. Gorilla--Medicare

By Edward Morrissey

Most of the budgetary focus of the past month has settled on the sequester that hit on March 1, and the scare stories spun by the president and his fellow Democrats over what amounts to a temporary...
Government Audit Shows Agencies Waste Billions

By Brianna Ehley, The Fiscal Times

The federal government lost out on 67 billion in savings by failing to implement nearly 17,000 recommendations by inspectors general in 2012
Budget Breakthrough? Or Government Shutdown!

By Eric Pianin and Josh Boak

President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner have ruled out the possibility of a government shutdown later this month, but they have been wrong before. In the latest chapter of Washington’s budget...

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