Policy Brief

Wanna Giveaway?: Congress Using Budget Gimmicks to Reverse Air Traffic Cuts

Update (12:30pm) - The House passed this bill today 361-41, and it now goes to the President for his signature. Though the bill does...

Bringing Sequester in for a Landing: Congress on Verge of Avoiding FAA Furloughs with Budget Gimmicks

Update (9:03 pm): The Senate has gone with option 1 (see below), allowing for the transfer of $250 million from the Airport Improvement...

Analysis of Selected Sections of S. 601, Water Resources Development Act of 2013

The Senate's Environment and Public Works committee is taking up a water project bill that could cost taxpayers billions....

Taxpayer Subsidies for Small Modular Reactors

The Department of Energy (DOE) is asking Congress to provide hundreds of millions in subsidies to commercialize small modular nuclear...

Transportation Tax Provisions within Fiscal Cliff Deal

The final agreement signed by the president to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff” contains several items related to transportation that...

Energy Tax Breaks Catch Ride on Fiscal Cliff Train

At the 11th hour lawmakers and the White House agreed to a deal on the fiscal cliff. While the deal was crafted to address urgent tax...

Fiscal Cliff Fix

Congress and the President do not need to plunge taxpayers off a “Fiscal Cliff”. Common sense solutions can make government work and put the country on sound footing to deal with our deficits and debt....

Congress’ Tortured Math in MAP-21 (Trans. Reauthorization)

The just-passed MAP-21 (transportation omnibus) is paid for! It reduces the debt over 10 years! By $16.3 billion, if CBO is to be...

Analysis of FY13 Continuing Resolution: Special Carve-outs

H.J. Res. 117 — Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2013 was released this morning (9/11/2012). TCS staff will be posting relevant documents and analysis as we digest this proposal over the coming days....

With Agriculture Disaster Aid Congress Pays Now, Hopes to Save Later

Citing record drought conditions throughout the country, the House is debating today legislation to retroactively extend four...

Syria: Excuse 535 To Not Cut the Deficit

Volume XVIII No. 37 Possible action in Syria has become the most recent excuse du jour for Pentagon boosters...