You are here: Fairness.com > Resources > Government & Politics / History > Government (General) > Government Spending > Accounting / Budgets: Government

Accounting / Budgets: Government

Articles and Resources

123 Articles and Resources. Go to: [Next 50] [End]

Date	Fairness.com Resource	Read it at:
Feb 24, 2013	A Costly and Unjust Perk for Financiers QUOTE: Millions of general partners in investment funds receive carried-interest income when they earn profits for their clients. Since these partners do not have to risk any of their own capital, carried interest is really a taxpayer-subsidized fee for managing their clients’ money....This state of affairs denies our Treasury much-needed revenue; fuels public cynicism in government; and is evidence of the “crony capitalism” that favors some economic sectors over others	New York Times
Dec 14, 2012	Tax Plan Is Popular, but Not Quite Fair QUOTE: The political appeal of a proposal that limits deductions without actually naming any — inciting the powerful interests and lobbyists that support them — seems obvious. But many tax experts said that a fixed dollar cap is anything but the evenhanded approach to closing loopholes it appears to be.	New York Times
Aug 10, 2012	Why Asset Forfeiture Abuse Is on the Rise: It’s time to build a wall of separation between government power and the profit motive. QUOTE: throughout the United States, government agencies increasingly rely on “civil forfeiture” to bolster their strained budgets. The more assets these modern-day tax collectors seize, the more money they have for new equipment and other things....We should all be concerned that district attorneys—who are, by law, supposed to pursue justice first and foremost—are perpetrating abuses of property rights so that they can fill their coffers with money that comes primarily from people who have not been convicted of any crime.	Reason
Apr 19, 2012	CPI Conspiracy Theories Persist Even With Broad ChecksI QUOTE: The [Bureau of Labor Statistics]’s price-gathering and statistical methods are standard practice from Japan to Switzerland. That hasn’t averted a lashing from critics who say the government is engaged in a campaign to hide inflation of 10 percent a year or more. Assurances by Federal Reserve policy makers that inflation remains “subdued” also haven’t deterred the skeptics.	BusinessWeek
Oct 26, 2011	Europe Agrees to Basics of Plan to Resolve Euro Crisis QUOTE: European leaders, in a significant step toward resolving the euro zone financial crisis, early Thursday morning obtained an agreement from banks to take a 50 percent loss on the face value of their Greek debt.	New York Times
Aug 02, 2011	Reaping Millions in Nonprofit Care for Disabled QUOTE: [Young Adult Institute Network] and the Levys have earned many admirers in the field for the quality and range of their programs...But their spending is seldom scrutinized, and, even when state officials turn up questionable expenses, there are few consequences.	New York Times
Jul 25, 2011	A Bonanza for Airlines as Taxes End QUOTE: the agency no longer had the authority to impose the various federal taxes that airlines add to the price of each ticket. So as of 12:01 a.m. Saturday, the federal government began losing an estimated $25 million a day in tax revenue. But did airlines simply pass on this savings to customers? No, they did not.	New York Times
Jul 24, 2011	The 14th Amendment, the Debt Ceiling and a Way Out QUOTE: former President Bill Clinton identified a constitutional escape hatch should President Obama and Congress fail to come to terms on a deficit reduction plan before the government hits its borrowing ceiling. He pointed to an obscure provision in the 14th Amendment...	New York Times
Jul 13, 2011	Amid Minnesota Crisis, Pawlenty Faces Scrutiny QUOTE: ...Mr. Pawlenty’s fiscal record as governor is drawing closer scrutiny. And while Mr. Pawlenty did face economic and political challenges in balancing the state’s budget each year, his record includes what critics say was an overreliance on one-time accounting maneuvers that failed to address the underlying problems.	New York Times
Jun 22, 2011	Medicare: Facts and Convictions (The Stone) QUOTE: The moral of my story is that understanding and effectively taking part in a debate requires awareness of the level at which we and our opponents are operating at any given point...Once we’ve pushed the debate on Medicare or any other policy matter to the point where convictions become the sole basis of disagreement, it is time to vote.	New York Times
Jun 22, 2011	Some Greeks Fear Government Is Selling Nation QUOTE: “But at these extremely low levels, especially for those companies quoted on the stock exchange, we have to be very wary,” he added. “If we go by today’s values, as a result of the recession and the crisis the country finds itself in, it will be really selling the crown jewels at a pittance of their cost.” Mr. Papandreou’s government has not managed to make a convincing case for the sell-off to many Greeks, where the idea of a fire sale has taken hold, setting off a wave of national indignation.	New York Times
Jun 21, 2011	Oversight Group Did Not Refer Housing Complaints QUOTE: The federal agency overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the taxpayer-owned mortgage finance giants, failed to refer to criminal investigators and other authorities almost 100 complaints about possible foreclosure abuse and mortgage fraud at the companies over a recent two-year period, according to a report issued late Tuesday by the inspector general of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.	New York Times
Jun 16, 2011	Call Off the Global Drug War (OP-ED) QUOTE: [US] Drug policies here are more punitive and counterproductive than in other democracies, and have brought about an explosion in prison populations. At the end of 1980, just before I left office, 500,000 people were incarcerated in America; at the end of 2009 the number was nearly 2.3 million. There are 743 people in prison for every 100,000 Americans, a higher portion than in any other country and seven times as great as in Europe.	New York Times
Jun 16, 2011	A Schizophrenic, a Slain Worker, Troubling Questions QUOTE: Massachusetts, which compared with other states faces a relatively modest budget shortfall of $1.5 billion, is hardly alone in cutting money for mental health care. State mental health departments, serving vulnerable populations with little political clout, almost always get disproportionately squeezed during tough times. During the current fiscal crisis, many states have sharply reduced both inpatient and community-based mental health care.	New York Times
May 23, 2011	In Europe, Rifts Widen Over Greece QUOTE: Fissures among Europe’s currency partners are becoming even deeper and more widespread than was previously evident, raising new doubts about whether the group can resolve the regional debt crisis that has simmered for more than a year.	New York Times
May 14, 2011	In Prison Reform, Money Trumps Civil Rights QUOTE: A majority of those swept into our nation’s prison system are poor people of color, but the sudden shift away from the “get tough” rhetoric that has dominated the national discourse on crime has not been inspired by a surge in concern about the devastating human toll of mass incarceration. Instead, as Professor Bell predicted, the changing tide is best explained by perceived white interests. In this economic climate, it is impossible to maintain the vast prison state without raising taxes on the (white) middle class.	New York Times
May 04, 2011	Raise Taxes, but Not Tax Rates QUOTE: As the bipartisan fiscal commission appointed by President Obama stressed last year, tax revenues can be increased substantially by limiting the deductions, credits and exclusions that are essentially government spending by another name.	New York Times
Apr 20, 2011	Even in an era of budget cuts, these government programs won’t die QUOTE: But they have survived, again and again, thanks to powerful lobbies or high-placed patrons in Congress… “If lawmakers can’t cut programs that cost a few million, how are they going to cut deficits that are going to be in the trillions?”	Washington Post
Apr 20, 2011	The New Anti-Abortion Math QUOTE: Terrible sex education programs and a lack of access to contraceptives leads to a huge number of births to poor women… The Texas baby boom… marches off to underfunded schools... One of the first things the cash-strapped Legislature tried to cut was family planning.	New York Times
Mar 29, 2011	Why We’re Fasting QUOTE: The budget proposes cuts in the WIC program... in international food and health aid... and in programs that aid farmers in underdeveloped countries. Food stamps are also being attacked, in the twisted “Welfare Reform 2011” bill... These supposedly deficit-reducing cuts — they’d barely make a dent — will quite literally cause more people to starve to death, go to bed hungry or live more miserably than are doing so now. And: The bill would increase defense spending.	New York Times
Mar 10, 2011	Dumbing Deficits Down QUOTE: [Republicans] claim to care deeply about deficits — but they’ve spent the past two years putting cynical, demagogic attacks on any attempt to actually deal with long-run deficits at the heart of their campaign strategy.	New York Times
Mar 09, 2011	Wisconsin Senate Limits Bargaining by Public Workers QUOTE: Democrats, meanwhile, condemned the move as an attack on working families, a violation of open meetings requirements (most of them did not know there was to be a vote until not long before), and a virtual firebomb in state that already found itself politically polarized and consumed with recall efforts, large scale protests and fury from public workers.	New York Times
Feb 21, 2011	Why America's teachers are enraged QUOTE: Thousands of teachers, nurses, firefighters and other public sector workers have camped out at the Wisconsin Capitol, protesting Republican Gov. Scott Walker's efforts to reduce their take-home pay -- by increasing their contribution to their pension plans and health care benefits -- and restrict their collective bargaining rights.	CNN (Cable News Network)
Feb 06, 2011	Study finds funding gap between D.C. specialty and neighborhood schools QUOTE: The two public high schools, 21/2 miles apart in Northwest Washington, serve vastly different student populations. And they do it with vastly different levels of financial support, according to an analysis of school spending by a District advocacy group.	Washington Post
Jan 16, 2011	The War on Logic QUOTE: But the same spending would still be necessary if we were to undo reform. So the G.O.P. argument here is exactly like claiming that my mortgage payments, which I’ll have to make no matter what we do tonight, are a cost of going out for dinner.	New York Times
Jan 07, 2011	In Battle Over Health Law, Math Cuts Both Ways QUOTE: Much of the health care debate will center on cost — to the government and to employers. On Thursday, Republicans issued their own report, called “Obamacare: A Budget-Busting Job-Killing Law,” which concluded, “The health care law will cost the nation $2.6 trillion when fully implemented, and add $701 billion to the deficit in the first 10 years.” The Republicans’ projections were in contrast to the budget office’s analysis of the health care law, and a related budget reconciliation measure, after they were adopted last March.	New York Times
Jan 03, 2011	Strained States Turning to Laws to Curb Labor Unions QUOTE: Faced with growing budget deficits and restive taxpayers, elected officials from Maine to Alabama, Ohio to Arizona, are pushing new legislation to limit the power of labor unions, particularly those representing government workers, in collective bargaining and politics...in some cases — mostly in states with Republican governors and Republican statehouse majorities — officials are seeking more far-reaching, structural changes that would weaken the bargaining power and political influence of unions, including private sector ones.	New York Times
Dec 22, 2010	Alabama Town’s Failed Pension Is a Warning QUOTE: the declining, little-known city of Prichard is now attracting the attention of bankruptcy lawyers, labor leaders, municipal credit analysts and local officials from across the country. They want to see if the situation in Prichard, like the continuing bankruptcy of Vallejo, Calif., ultimately creates a legal precedent on whether distressed cities can legally cut or reduce their pensions, and if so, how.	New York Times
Dec 02, 2010	My take: Where's the outrage over Noah's Ark park? QUOTE: I write not to raise First Amendment questions about elected officials transforming themselves into self-appointed curators, but to ask whether these officials are really concerned (as they claim) about the use of taxpayer funds to weigh on matters of the spirit....Are you equally outraged over millions in tax breaks to a group promoting fundamentalism?	CNN (Cable News Network)
Oct 26, 2010	Treasury Hid A.I.G. Loss, Report Says QUOTE: The United States Treasury concealed $40 billion in likely taxpayer losses on the bailout of the American International Group earlier this month, when it abandoned its usual method for valuing investments...	New York Times
Jul 02, 2010	Illinois Stops Paying Its Bills, but Can’t Stop Digging Hole (Payback Time) ABSTRACT: For the last few years, California stood more or less unchallenged as a symbol of the fiscal collapse of states during the recession. Now Illinois has shouldered to the fore, as its dysfunctional political class refuses to pay the state’s bills and refuses to take the painful steps — cuts and tax increases — to close a deficit of at least $12 billion, equal to nearly half the state’s budget.	New York Times
May 07, 2010	Seeking Lower Property Taxes on a House of Sinking Value QUOTE: Challenging property taxes is becoming a national sport, as homeowners contend they are paying too much as their houses decline in value. Some, too, have lost their jobs or have seen their salaries cut and can no longer afford their hefty property taxes.	New York Times
May 02, 2010	Cash-strapped states go online, hoping to tax sales QUOTE: Online retailers are vehemently fighting the bills, filing lawsuits and severing business ties in states that have passed sales tax legislation. At stake is not only the small discount that many shoppers enjoy, but the low-price business model that fueled the explosive transformation of Amazon and Overstock.com into giants of the $130 billion e-commerce industry.	Washington Post
Apr 30, 2010	The Bitter Pills in the Plan to Rescue Greece QUOTE: Racing to secure financial aid and avoid a debt default, the Greek government has agreed to austerity measures totaling 24 billion euros (about $32 billion) that will include cutting some workers’ pay and some public sector jobs as well as opening up parts of the economy, Greek officials said Friday.	New York Times
Mar 27, 2010	States Seeking Cash Hope to Expand Taxes to Services QUOTE: few states have gone where political leaders in Michigan and Pennsylvania are now suggesting: adding scores of services to their states’ sales tax requirement and lowering the tax rate under a widened tax base.	New York Times
Mar 01, 2010	Both parties fall prey to make-believe politics QUOTE: A disconnect between the language of politics and the nation's actual problems is growing. The politics of the budget offer a splendid example.	Washington Post
Oct 26, 2009	A congressman, a lobbying firm and a swift path to earmarks: Democrat supported funds for tech companies, many of which supported him QUOTE: Federal investigators are scrutinizing [Representative Peter J.] Visclosky's earmarks and whether a member of his staff tried to raise campaign money by promising funding.	Washington Post
Oct 26, 2009	Sidewalks become battlegrounds QUOTE: The nation's crumbling sidewalks have disabled residents taking their wheelchairs to the streets, a potentially dangerous practice that has cash-strapped cities and disability-rights advocates at odds over how to fix the problem.	USA TODAY
Oct 09, 2009	Should Medicare Benefits Start Later in Life? (Economix) QUOTE: Instead of heeding the frightening messages emanating from self-styled “protectors” of Medicare, such as Ms. [Betsy] McCaughey, the elderly might search their souls on the moral platform for the political economy of sharing in a civilized society.	New York Times
Oct 08, 2009	Lexington: Of debt and deadbeats QUOTE: Arthur Brooks, the head of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think-tank, feels that the real culture war in America today is not about gay marriage or abortion, divisive though those issues are, but about capitalism.	Economist
Sep 21, 2009	When Less Paperwork Means No Science: The Paperwork Reduction Act and Unintended Consequences for Public Health Research QUOTE: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 has had the unintended effect of impeding research and evaluation in public health.	Science Progress
Jun 25, 2009	Scrutiny Grows as U.S. Pays Staffers' Student Loans QUOTE: Congress and federal agencies are expected to spend as much as $60 million in fiscal 2009 on a little-known taxpayer-funded perk: repaying government employees' college loans	Wall Street Journal, The (WSJ)
Nov 13, 2008	The New Old Age: Rationing Health Care QUOTE: The biggest change in the last 40 years, Mr. Callahan said to me, is that there are no limits. There's nothing we can't do for an old person, and there's a lot of pressure to do it. This is considered progress, and its considered ageism to be skeptical. But we can't go on this way. It's unaffordable. And it's the hardest dilemma in our society because theres no good way to deal with it other than saying no.	New York Times
Nov 08, 2008	Citing Workload, Public Lawyers Reject New Cases QUOTE: Public defenders’ offices in at least seven states are refusing to take on new cases or have sued to limit them, citing overwhelming workloads that they say undermine the constitutional right to counsel for the poor...in the most open revolt by public defenders in memory, many of the government-appointed lawyers say that state budget cuts and rising caseloads have pushed them to the breaking point.	New York Times
Sep 16, 2008	Capitol Strives to Define ‘Homeless’ ABSTRACT: With unemployment and foreclosures rising and growing numbers of families struggling to find affordable housing, lawmakers in Congress are debating who should be considered homeless... with too few shelter beds and services available to help the homeless who are already living on the streets, the debate over whether to expand significantly the pool of people eligible for such limited aid has sharply divided advocates for the homeless and upended political alliances.	New York Times
Sep 12, 2008	Palin admits truth on Bridge to Nowhere QUOTE: What Palin said during the interview was actually the truth about what happened to end the Bridge to Nowhere. (Though, of course, she didn't acknowledge that there was a wide discrepancy between the truth and the story she's been telling voters.) As my colleague Mike Madden has ably documented in this space before, what Palin "killed" was a dead bridge.	Salon
May 20, 2008	Not All Earmarks Are Paid in Full, and a Senator Wants to Know Why QUOTE: While many of his questions remain unanswered, Mr. Nelson says that federal agencies have been taking a cut from earmarked funds for years, some for unrelated purposes as varied as staff salaries and postage stamps. Mr. Nelson calls the practice “earmark skimming,” and lately he has become increasingly vocal over what he describes as unaccountable federal bureaucrats diverting millions of dollars into agency “slush funds	New York Times
May 11, 2008	System of Neglect (Careless Detention): As Tighter Immigration Policies Strain Federal Agencies, The Detainees in Their Care Often Pay a Heavy Cost QUOTE: Federal officials who oversee immigration detention said last week that they are "committed to ensuring the safety and well-being" of everyone in their custody. Some 83 detainees have died in, or soon after, custody during the past five years. The deaths are the loudest alarms about a system teetering on collapse.	Washington Post
May 05, 2008	As Budgets Tighten, States Free Inmates Early QUOTE: many cash-strapped states are embracing a view once dismissed as dangerously naive: It costs far less to let some felons go free than to keep them locked up.	Washington Post
Apr 09, 2008	U.S. Says It Will Increase Efforts Against ‘Tax Defiers’ QUOTE: If you think paying taxes is unfair, illegal or unconstitutional, then watch out — the Justice Department is after you. Just as the Internal Revenue Service is getting into its perennial tax-season tough talk, Justice Department officials weighed in Tuesday with a vow to ramp up efforts against “tax defiers.”	New York Times

Accounting / Budgets: Government

Articles and Resources

Services

Subject Categories

Geographic Categories

About Fairness.com

Volunteer Opportunities

Log In

Email:
Password:
Remember this login (help)