BLM Fracking Rule Violates New Executive Order on Open Data
May 16, 2013 by Sofia Plagakis
Today, the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its revised proposed rule for natural gas drilling (commonly referred to as fracking) on federal and tribal lands. The much-anticipated rule violates President Obama's recently issued executive order that requires new government information to be made available to the public in open, machine-readable formats.
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The Lack of Jobs Is the Problem, Not Deficits
May 15, 2013 by Nick Schwellenbach
Budget deficits are shrinking at a breakneck pace now and will continue to do so over the next several years, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which released its latest projections on the budget and the economy on May 14. Meanwhile, we have anemic jobs growth that’s worse than it should be, in large part because of all the extreme deficit reduction measures we’ve seen over the last few years.
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Without Austerity, More Americans Would Have Jobs
May 10, 2013 by Nick Schwellenbach
As if Americans needed anymore confirmation that austerity is holding the economy back, The New York Times this week reported that the consensus among private financial analysts – as well as by the International Monetary Fund and the U.S. Federal Reserve and others – is that sequestration and earlier spending cuts are translating into fewer jobs and a worse economy for the nation overall.
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Sen. Blumenthal Urges New OMB Director to Release Needed Rules and Improve Transparency
May 10, 2013 by Katie Greenhaw
On May 7, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sent a letter to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) urging the agency to end excessive delays in reviewing crucial health and safety protections. Echoing the concerns of public interest and safety advocates, Blumenthal wrote "that there are human costs to delay" and asked newly appointed OMB Director Sylvia Mathews Burwell to immediately complete reviews of several proposed agency actions.
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UPDATED: Three Reasons the REINS Act Must Be Stopped (Again)
May 9, 2013 by Katie Greenhaw
If passed, the REINS Act would require congressional approval of all major rules, potentially endangering the most important safeguards to our health, safety, environment, and economy.
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OMB Report: Standards and Safeguards Have Produced Vast Benefits at Minimal Cost
May 7, 2013
In April, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a draft report on the benefits and costs of federal standards and safeguards. The report shows that over the past 10 years, public protections have produced vast benefits at minimal cost. In all, the estimated annual benefits of these rules ranged from $192.7 billion to $799.7 billion, while costs ranged from $56.6 billion to $83.7 billion.
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Hang Together or Hang Separately: The Battle Against Austerity
May 7, 2013
Sequestration's automatic spending cuts were back in the news over the past few weeks. For a brief time, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had to furlough employees, leading to nationwide flight delays. At roughly the same time, a researcher exposed major flaws in one of the key texts serving as an intellectual buttress to global austerity policies. While those fighting against economically damaging austerity measures received a boost from these events, many fiscal policy battles and pitfalls still lie ahead.
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