Budget Matters Blog


Federal income taxes: “They don’t take them to be mean.”

In honor of young people thinking big thoughts, take a moment and check out NPP’s suite of Tax Day materials. Run a tax receipt so you can see how you personally contributed to programs ranging from WIC to nuclear weapons. Play with our all-new and wildly popular Trade-Offs tool so you can see how much taxpayers in your own city or town pay toward a variety of federal programs – and what else that money could buy. And, if you’ve spoken with your paycheck, take a few minutes to view our animated video If Paychecks Could Talk.


Tax Day 2013, Tax Receipts, and Trade-Offs

Introducing trade-offs, a new tool in NPP's tax day arsenal. In addition to generating a personal income tax receipt, you can now see how much your state, county, congressional district, and town contributed to federal programs and reallocate those tax dollars to match your personal priorities.


See Where Your Taxes Went

Taxes are due on April 15 – right around the corner – though few Americans know where their taxes actually go. So NPP is launching Tax Day 2013 – a suite of materials, including this chart that shows how Washington spent every one of your income tax dollars in 2012.


March Madness: A Tale of Two Budgets

After months of inaction on the federal budget, Congress is now wrapping up work on two – the budget for fiscal year 2013, which began back on Oct. 1, 2012, and the first steps in a budget for fiscal 2014, which will begin on Oct. 1, 2013.


Is There a Federal Budget for 2013? Detailed Updates

Last week I explained that the federal government is operating on a temporary spending bill called a continuing resolution instead of a real budget for fiscal 2013. That continuing resolution expires on March 27. If lawmakers don't pass new legislation the federal government will shut down on March 28. Here's what's happening.


The 5 Things to Know: Budget Proposals from Paul Ryan, the Senate, and Congressional Progressive Caucus

Three budget proposals for 2014 arrived in Congress this week – one authored by House Budget Chair Paul Ryan, another by Senate Budget Chair Patty Murray, and one by the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Here are the top five things to know.


How Sequestration Will Lead to Less Informed Budgeting

The Census Bureau is yet another agency impacted by the sequester, and result could be delayed release of some key economic data. Cutting this bureau's funds could lead to uninformed budgeting and the inability to track the outcomes of our policies and spending.


House Budget Chair Paul Ryan Releases 2014 Budget

Today House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan released his budget resolution for fiscal 2014. The proposal includes many of the same elements as his proposal last year – including deep cuts to spending on health care and safety-net programs like food stamps, plus reductions in many other kinds of spending.


Is There a Federal Budget? It's Even Worse Than You Thought.

News about the federal budget is almost impossible to follow, so here’s some straight talk about whether or not there’s a federal budget for 2013 and why things are even worse than they seem.


House Bill Funds Government for Remainder of the Year

The legislation introduced yesterday would extend the current spending bill through the end of the fiscal year – in other words, Congress is proposing to go through this entire fiscal year without passing an actual budget. However, this new legislation did include an actual budget for just two areas of government – Defense and Military Construction-Veterans Affair.