Automatic Budget Cuts Could Cost Michigan 31,000 Jobs

Automatic Budget Cuts Could Cost Michigan 31,000 Jobs

Congress is once again at an impasse over how to reduce the budget deficit.  Unless Congress acts by March 1st, a series of automatic cuts – called “sequestration” – is scheduled to take effect.  These indiscriminate cuts could damage the fragile economic recovery and impose deep cuts to crucial domestic priorities and national defense.  According to one study, sequestration could result in the loss of 2.1 million U.S. jobs, including 31,210 jobs lost in Michigan.  The Obama Administration has prepared a fact sheet detailing the impact these cuts would have on middle class families, jobs and economic security.

On February 14, House Democrats attempted to replace the sequester by instead cutting unneeded farm subsidies, closing tax loopholes for the largest oil and gas companies, and ensuring millionaires pay their fair share, but the Republican Leadership blocked the House from even taking an up-or-down vote on the Democratic substitute.

Voter Empowerment Act Introduced in House

The right to vote and to have your vote count is fundamental.  Without free and fair elections open to all eligible voters, our system of representative government grinds to a halt.   Leading up to the 2012 elections, state laws were passed that made it harder for millions of eligible voters to register and cast a ballot.  As a result, too many Americans were forced to wait hours in line to cast their votes.

On February 4, Rep. Levin joined more than100 other members of the House of Representatives in introducing comprehensive voting rights legislation, the Voter Empowerment Act [H.R. 12].

The Voter Empowerment Act is designed to modernize our voter registration system, reduce long wait times, ensure equal access to the ballot box for all Americans, prohibit voter caging and other deceptive practices, and make other critical reforms.  A new section of Rep. Levin’s website explores the problems with our current voting system and some of the solutions that are under discussion.

Report Highlights Consumer Gasoline Costs

With gasoline costs once again spiking across the country, a new report finds that vehicle owners, on average, spend almost as much on gas as on the vehicle itself.  The report by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that a “typical American driver will spend more than $22,000 on gas over the lifetime of a vehicle purchased in 2011 with average fuel efficiency (22.8 mpg).”  The report also notes that consumers can save thousands of dollars over the lifetimes of their vehicles by investing in fuel efficiency.  

One bright spot is that the fuel efficiency of vehicles sold in the U.S. is rising rapidly due to new fuel economy rules that, within 12 years, will almost double today’s standards for cars and light trucks to 54.5 miles per gallon.

IRS Offers Free Electronic Tax Filing

For the eleventh consecutive year, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is offering its “Free File” service that provides free federal income tax return preparation software to taxpayers who earned less than $57,000 last year.  More than 36 million people have used Free File since 2003.

Free File is a free, federal income tax prep and electronic filing program for eligible taxpayers, developed through a partnership between the IRS and the Free File Alliance, a group of private sector tax software companies. Taxpayers can do their federal income tax returns using commercial online software provided by the Free File Alliance companies.  For more information about Free File, click here.