Government Matters Articles

Economy and Jobs Watch: Wages Fail to Keep Pace with Inflation

While many observers believe that the economy is in the process of recovering from weak growth and a dismal labor market, there is still considerable evidence that the recovery is not serving everyone.

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Transportation Bill Pre-empts State Sunshine Laws

A provision in the transportation spending bill, H.R. 3550 and S. 1072, could pre-empt state and local sunshine laws and pre-empt public access to problems on the roads, highways, sea, and air.

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CBO Releases Two New Studies Examining Impact of Estate Tax on Charitible Giving

The Congressional Budget Office has released two new reports on the impact of the estate tax on charitable giving. The reports confirm that there is a significant negative impact on charitable giving that would result from the elimination of the estate tax.

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Appropriations: A Broken Process

Not only was Congress unable to pass a budget resolution this year --passage of appropriations is also in jeopardy.

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OMB Fails to Meet Another Deadline

The Office of Management and Budget is required to produce a "Mid-Session Review" by July 15 of each year. However, the mid-session budget review has still not been issued.

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Should 'Middle-Class' Tax Cuts be Extended, Offset or Not?

The political reality, especially in an election year, makes extension of the so-called "middle-class" tax cuts very likely. Hardly anyone is arguing against extending these cuts, as long as they are paid for. However, there are very good arguments why, even If the cost of the extension is offset, extension of these tax cuts is not supportable.

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Tax Cuts: See You in September ...

A bipartisan agreement to extend the so-called "middle-class" tax cuts for an additional two years bit the dust last week. Efforts to extend the cuts will now be delayed until Congress returns in September.

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New Poll Finds Overwhelming Majorities Favor Government Regulation for Health and Safety

A new Harris poll conducted for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety reveals that nine out of ten Americans believe that governmental regulation to protect health and safety is important. The finding accords with similar findings since 1996. According to the study's authors, "the weight of public opinion is overwhelmingly on the side of having federal responsibility for . . . safety and public health. The intensity of support is also high." Of those who rated the government's role as important, almost 64% (or 58% of all respondents) considered the government's role as very important.

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Court Says State Must Accept Voter Registrations From Nonprofit Project

A Georgia education group involved in a multi-state effort to register voters won a preliminary injunction in early July barring the Georgia Secretary of State from rejecting voter registration cards mailed in bundles. The case, Charles H. Wesley Education Foundation, Inc. v. Cathy Cox, et al., was a test of whether state officials can impose rules on voter registration drives that are inconsistent with the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).

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More Evidence of Misconduct by Head Start Bureau Chief

On June 30, the National Head Start Association issued a statement calling for the immediate resignation of Windy Hill, the U.S. Head Start Bureau Chief. Hill is the subject of an Inspector General investigation into misconduct during her tenure as head of a Texas Head Start agency prior to coming to Washington. The investigation began after NHSA released details of Hill's misconduct in April, alleging thousands of dollars in unauthorized pay, vacation time and undocumented expenses.

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