Budget Matters Blog


Millions of Workers Facing Loss of Unemployment Benefits

This week’s headlines from Washington have focused on an end of year budget deal that would avoid a federal government shutdown and the expiration of a temporary reduction in workers’ Social Security payroll deductions. Two important issues, to be sure, but left somewhere in the dust is another and arguably ...


Data Wednesday: Time Traveling on the Map

In the third installment of our weekly look at NPP's Federal Priorities Database, we discuss how to display historical data using the map.


Budget Brief- Extending Unemployment Benefits

Senior research analyst Mattea Kramer explains how the proposed extension of unemployment benefits would help keep the economy afloat.


Data Story: Unemployment Versus Underemployment

What's the difference between unemployment and underemployment, and how does a long-term economic downturn affect their relationship?


The Shakedown on the Payroll Tax Cut Extension

In Monday’s budget brief, NPP’s senior research analyst Chris Hellman explained the payroll tax cut and President Obama's proposal to extend it. But the proposal is controversial—it's been criticized by both Democrats and Republicans. Republicans argue that President Obama must find a way to offset the tax cut by cutting ...

Data Wednesday: Interpreting the Map

The second Data Wednesday installment discusses the map that displays search results from the Federal Priorities Database. We'll show you what to look for and how to find and interpret the numbers.


Budget Brief: Proposed Payroll Tax Cut Extension

In the latest installment of our weekly Budget Brief videos, senior research analyst Chris Hellman explains the payroll tax cuts enacted last year, the proposed extension of these cuts into 2012, and the debate over how to pay for them.


New Data: Federal Tax Collection

We've added a new category to the database, General Budget, and loaded its first dataset. Federal Tax Collection: gross federal tax collections by state (split out by total taxes collected, business taxes collected, and individual taxes collected.

From Greg Speeter: Dream of a Nation - An Activist’s Encyclopedia

I stayed up half the night engrossed in this book. It’s that compelling and well designed.  In fact, I’ve been an organizer and activist for 45 years, and I’ve never seen a resource as useful, timely and visually appealing as the just-released Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a ...

Weekly data brief: searching our database

We're introducing a new Data Wednesday feature to showcase our Federal Priorities Database and help folks make the best use of it. The first installment introduces the database and walks you through three easy steps to find the information you care about.