Blog: The Fine Print / Open, Accountable Government

CBO Monthly Budget Review, March 2010

Apr 9, 2010 by Gary Therkildsen*

Dad?

Chalk up another set of economic data under the category of "information most informed people knew a long time ago, but that will really upset the Teabaggers," because the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its Monthly Budget Review (MBR) for March, and, oh boy, are there some ugly numbers in there to cherry pick. With that said, there are some bright spots too.

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Open Government Plans Arrive

Apr 7, 2010 by Sean Moulton

Today, the Obama administration releases a slew of plans, memos and other materials in its Open Government Directive process. All cabinet level agencies, as well as many independent agencies, are releasing Open Government Plans that layout what each agency will do to become more transparent, participatory and collaborative. In addition to the plans, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has issued memos on policy clarifications on the Paperwork Reduction Act, the creation of a regulatory identification number, and long term federal spending transparency.

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OMB Restricts Authority of Paperwork Reduction Act on Social Media but Some Controls Remain

Apr 7, 2010 by Roger Strother*

Today, the Obama administration cleared a major hurdle for agencies seeking to solicit public input into policymaking and implementing the reforms called for in the Open Government Directive (OGD) issued on December 8, 2009.  The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo that exempts web-based interactive technologies from the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA).  Now, agencies are freer than before to communicate with the public in an unstructured way but there are still some restrictions on the solicitation of structured feedback.

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White House Tries to Ease Tracking of Rules

Apr 7, 2010 by Matthew Madia

In an effort to increase transparency and expand public participation in the rulemaking process, White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) Administrator Cass Sunstein issued a memo today encouraging agencies to consistently use Regulation Identifier Numbers, or RINs, to tag documents.

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White House Sidelines the Public in Coal Ash Debate

Apr 2, 2010 by Gary Bass*

On Dec. 22, 2008, an earthen dam holding back a pond of coal ash in Kingston, Tenn., broke, sending 5.4 million cubic yards of toxic goo cascading across the landscape. That's enough to fill the White House from top to bottom 200 times over.

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Deficit Commission Gridlock Set to Begin April 27

Mar 31, 2010 by Gary Therkildsen*

Gridlock

According to a Bureau of National Affairs article (subscription required) from earlier today, Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, co-chairs of the 18-member panel created by President Obama to devise strategies for reducing the nation's debt and deficits, have sent a letter to members informing them that the panel's first meeting will commence April 27. Formally known as the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (NCFRR?), the panel has a disastrously devised procedural process that is likely to produce either gridlock or, at best, water downed recommendations.

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EPA Moves to Expand Greenhouse Gas Registry

Mar 25, 2010 by Brian Turnbaugh*

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed several changes to its greenhouse gas (GHG) registry, a new mandatory program requiring thousands of facilities economy-wide to monitor and report their emissions of global warming gases. EPA is proposing to add oil and natural gas facilities and facilities that inject carbon dioxide (CO2) underground for storage, along with other facilities. EPA also wants to collect additional data from all covered businesses to get a better understanding of emissions at the corporate level and within whole industry sectors, not just by facility. Overall the changes would strengthen the registry and provide the agency and the public with crucial additional information needed to design policies to mitigate climate change and hold polluters accountable.

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Deficit Commission Line-Up Completed

Mar 25, 2010 by Craig Jennings

When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) named her picks to sit on the president's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (or, just "the Deficit Commission" or "the Debt Commission"), she rounded out the 18-member slate.

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Congress forms Caucus on Transparency: Plans to Focus on Education, Legislation, and Oversight

Mar 25, 2010 by Roger Strother*

Today, Reps. Michael Quigley (D-IL) and Darrell Issa (R-CA) announced the creation of the bipartisan Congressional Transparency Caucus in the House of Representatives.  The Caucus will work to develop policies and data standards that will give Americans better abilities to scrutinize the actions of government.

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Court Rules Fed Must Release Bailout Recipient Names

Mar 23, 2010 by Sam Rosen-Amy

Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan handed down a ruling ordering the Federal Reserve to give up the names of the financial firms that used the Fed's emergency lending window during the financial meltdown in 2008. Bloomberg News requested the names in November 2008 through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, which the Fed denied. The Fed argued that releasing this data would discourage companies from using the program, as it would essentially identify which banks were in danger of failing. With its ruling, the Appeals court rejected this argument, and upheld a lower court ruling also ordering the Fed to disclose recipient names.

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