Ever hear of a bill passing and wonder how much your senator or representative got paid to vote for it? Now you can find out. I think the interface is clunky, but if you watch the tutorial video, you can pretty quickly get a sense of how folks voted, who was lobbying them, and how much they were paying.
I used MAPlight to critique the FISA bill vote in June.
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Monday, November 24, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Only Republicans outsource to lose money
It's tax season, judging by the W-2 forms and mailers with multiple perforations showing up in my mailbox. So here'a a thought about how those tax dollars are being spent, in one specific tax-related agency.
The IRS is outsourcing tax collections to private collections firms because of a shortage of in-house revenue officers. The collectors will help bring in billions of tax dollars that might otherwise go unpaid. For their fee, the collections agencies will keep 22-24 cents of every dollar they collect. Not a bad deal for keeping the IRS lean and mean, eh?
Except that the overhead for the IRS to do the work itself is only three cents of every dollar. That's right, government is 7-8 times more efficient at collections than the private sector. And it adds up. Over 10 years, the IRS reports that it could collect up to $87 billion in underpayments, compared to less than 2 billion from the contractors.
Note: this isn't the only way the Republican administration has hamstrung the IRS. It also prevents them from providing free tax e-filing.
The IRS is outsourcing tax collections to private collections firms because of a shortage of in-house revenue officers. The collectors will help bring in billions of tax dollars that might otherwise go unpaid. For their fee, the collections agencies will keep 22-24 cents of every dollar they collect. Not a bad deal for keeping the IRS lean and mean, eh?
Except that the overhead for the IRS to do the work itself is only three cents of every dollar. That's right, government is 7-8 times more efficient at collections than the private sector. And it adds up. Over 10 years, the IRS reports that it could collect up to $87 billion in underpayments, compared to less than 2 billion from the contractors.
Note: this isn't the only way the Republican administration has hamstrung the IRS. It also prevents them from providing free tax e-filing.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Teens think six figure salaries are coming
Courtesy of docuticker, a survey of teen financial knowledge shows that, on average, teens expect to earn six-figures ($145,000) when they grow up. I'd call that silly, but my dad likes to tell the story about he hoped to make $7000 a year when he was young. Thanks to inflation, he's far exceeded his goal.
Inflation could help today's teen meet their aspirations, too. With the help of average annual inflation of 3%, a teen would only need to make $51,000 in today's dollars to hit $145,000. Of course, that still exceeds the average American wage by $11,000.
Adulthood might prove a rough awakening.
Inflation could help today's teen meet their aspirations, too. With the help of average annual inflation of 3%, a teen would only need to make $51,000 in today's dollars to hit $145,000. Of course, that still exceeds the average American wage by $11,000.
Adulthood might prove a rough awakening.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Money in politics: growing until it's obsolete?
An interesting essay in the NYTimes Magazine examines the roll of cash in national campaigns, particularly in buying ad time. $1.1 billion was spent on TV ads during the 2006 Congressional elections in the United States, and yet one homebrew ad made for free by an Obama supporter - and posted to YouTube - reached millions of Democratic voters (and has been viewed 3.2 million times).
As long as early campaign reporting involves constant scrutiny of fundraising goals, targets, and success, the media will continue to use money as a measure of political viability. But how much does it really matter when folks can TiVo your $50 million traditional attack ad but willingly seek out the homebrew one on YouTube?
As long as early campaign reporting involves constant scrutiny of fundraising goals, targets, and success, the media will continue to use money as a measure of political viability. But how much does it really matter when folks can TiVo your $50 million traditional attack ad but willingly seek out the homebrew one on YouTube?
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