The US Environmental Protection Agency has been criticized by environmentalists as being too business-friendly, but recent statements from the agency on climate change suggest it's warming up to environmentalist views. The US Climate Change Science Program, a government agency, also seems to feel to speak its mind.
Pew is also as balanced as you'll get on global warming, although at the end of the day they lean more left than right.
Debt. We’re deep in it – and still digging. Some economists warn that our national debt is growing to dangerous levels and could end up hurting our economy in the short- and long-term. Others caution there’s no need for alarm; the debt is manageable and is even a necessary byproduct of policies designed to boost the economy in sluggish times.
Benjamin Franklin famously wrote “Nothing in life is certain – except death and taxes.” Sadly, he was pretty on target, but although they're inevitably that doesn't mean taxes can't be fun to learn about! (Be kind: we're geeks – we spend all day writing about policy.) Needless to say, taxes are a complicated topic, but to help simplify matters, we break our tax page into two parts; a general overview of our tax system followed by (for those looking for adventure) an in depth analysis of the brackets, percentages and categories associated with our tax system – Enjoy!
While plans for any large scale tax overhaul are on hold until 2009, Congress continues to tweak, extend and slice taxes on an ongoing basis.
in 2006
In 2006, Congress managed to extend a couple of Bush tax cuts in 2006 - including capital gains and dividends cuts and relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).
At the tail end of the year, Congress also squeezed through some last minute tax credit extensions, including; research and development credits for business, college tuition deductions, state sales tax deductions (for those in states with no income tax), and incentives to hire welfare recipients and to conserve energy. (WP)
Efforts to pull off a permanent cut to the estate tax went no where in 2006.
in 2007
Congress will again try to keep AMT at bay in 2007 at the same time as twittering around with minor tax breaks and tweaks.
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cJ's Capitol Hill Update
Get the scoop on what Congress is voting on each week!
