海角大神

Congress blows yet another budget deadline. After missing its chance to approve a spending bill to keep the government running after Thursday, Congress is now聽planning to vote this week on a very short-term continuing resolution鈥攐ne good for just a few days. The measure聽 is designed to keep the government open and buy some time for Congress to pass an appropriations bill to fund most of the government through September 2015. The problem: It聽can take a long time to finalize聽details of one these end-of-year omnibus bills, especially because lawmakers have added nearly 100 policy riders to the must-pass bill. Congresshas聽announced a $1.01 trillion deal but still will need a short-term extension to prevent a government shut-down.

Have pay-go rules, will make exceptions.聽President Obama is聽threatening to veto聽a House measure to make three highly-targeted tax breaks for charitable giving permanent. That鈥檚 because they are not聽 paid for. The breaks are included in the聽 House-approved bill that would revive most other expired tax breaks only for 2014.

When did a rule become a suggestion?聽TPC鈥檚 Howard聽Gleckman wants to know why Congress can pay for some things, and not others. If Congress was able to figure out how to pay for the聽ABLE Act, it should be able鈥攁nd required鈥攖o pay for reanimating over 50 dead tax subsidies.

The federal government: States need it for more than just discretionary spending.聽TPC鈥檚聽Tracy Gordon argues that聽the federal government remains the primary driver of US domestic policy. She shares examples: States opting for Medicaid expansion thanks to the Affordable Care Act; more than $100 billion in federal tax subsidies to states and localities; and federal highway funding, which provides more than half the funds for states鈥� capital improvements. There was also that federal stimulus in 2009: $140 billion that saved states from their own shrinking revenues. 鈥淭he federal government is not going anywhere any time soon,鈥� Gordon concludes. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 good because states and localities cannot and should not go it alone.鈥�

Meanwhile, states are cutting taxes and keeping spending growth modest.聽The聽Fall Fiscal Survey聽by the National Association of State Budget Officers shows that states enacted $2.3 billion worth of tax and fee cuts in fiscal year 2015, up from $2.1 billion in fiscal 2014. In 2010, following the recession and steep revenue declines, they enacted $23.9 billion in net tax increases. Interestingly, NASBO鈥檚 Scott Pattison notes, 鈥淲e are not seeing very significant [spending] growth as you might expect in a recovery period.鈥�

In Australia,聽like the United Kingdom: A 鈥淕oogle Tax鈥� on multinationals?聽The Australian Tax Office (ATO) is currently working closely with 10 big companies to determine whether they are paying聽a correct amount of tax in Australia.聽Australia鈥檚 Treasurer Joe Hockey hopes to collect another AU$1 billion ($833 million) in revenue over the next three years from the effort. Australia will pace itself, though: Hockey would prefer to join coordinated international action against profit shifting. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, on behalf of G20 governments, is leading an international tax crackdown against multinationals, known as Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS).

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