One of the frustrating things about working on federal budget issues is that nothing seems to change very much.  The same issues, the same data sources, the same organizations seem to be around year after year.  Even when there's a major disturbance in the fiscal force like Gramm-Rudman-Hollings or some other major new process, things quickly give you a sense of budget deja vu.

Subsidyscope, one of the latest projects by the Pew Charitable Trusts, has the potential to be different...and a game changer at least at the microlevel.  As the basic paper describing the project explains, it's not going to advocate for or against any federal subsidies, it's simply going to make it clear who and what is being subsidized.  And, very significantly, the reports will include both spending and tax subsidies: