New Posts

Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

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Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

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Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

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Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

  UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

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Sunset Commission Proposal Would Put Gov't Programs on Chopping Block

House conservatives have reportedly secured a floor vote for a radical sunset commission proposal that would ram program terminations through Congress. A Brief Overview To ensure passage of the House Fiscal Year 2007 budget resolution, House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) reportedly struck a deal with Republican Study Committee (RSC) leaders for floor consideration of several proposals, including a presidential line-item veto and a proposal to institute sunset commissions.

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What Would the Sunset Commission Proposals Do?

A quick look at the working parts of the two leading proposals for sunset commissions. Download (PDF | Word) the fact sheet.

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Good Jobs, Safe Jobs: Protect Workers Now

Worker Memorial Day is coming up -- Friday, April 28. It is a time to reflect upon the vital importance of safety and health for the men and women of America who work for a living. Get more info here.

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Beyond the Propaganda of Privatization

Law professor and CPR member scholar Amy Sinden has a provocative new article takes down the arguments for market-based and privatization solutions to the tragedy of the commons: [A]s academics and policymakers clamor to distance themselves from the now dowdy and stilted fashions of 1970s-style “command-and-control regulation” and to embrace the virtues of the free market, privatization has replaced government intervention as the preferred solution to the tragedy of the commons. Right wing ideologues pump out books, articles, and monographs touting the virtues of “free-market

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Sunset Commissions: Experiences in the States

While proponents of a sunset commission in Congress, particularly Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), have touted the achievement of sunset commissions in the states, evidence suggests that this case may have been overstated.

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2006 OIRA Regulatory Accounting Report

Downloads for OIRA's 2006 annual report: Draft reportDownloads for OIRA's 2006 annual report:

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How Now, Mad Cow?

Despite the discovery of three cows infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, long overdue measures to ensure the safety of the food supply and to keep foreign markets open to American beef have been stalled.

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Problems of Sunset Commissions

"Sunset commission" proposals would force all government programs--from CDBG to TANF, EPA to OSHA, DHS to DOD, and everything in between--to plead for their lives on a periodic basis, such as every ten years. The idea is a complicated version of something very simple: government shut downs. Download the fact sheet (PDF | Word) outlining the key elements and problems of the two major sunset proposals in the House.

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Groups Ask Congress to Reject Program Sunset Proposals

Nonprofit groups spoke out today against sunset proposals now being pushed by House conservatives. The proposals could create a single unelected commission to review every federal program, and would mandate that all federal programs automatically "sunset"--completely cease--after a fixed period, unless Congress intervened.

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Groups Oppose Sunset Commissions - Letter to Congress

A broad cross-section of the public interest and faith communities, at both the national and local levels, expressed opposition to plans to include sunset commissions in budget process reform. Download the letter Read the press release Learn more about sunset commission proposals Organization letters

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Resources & Research

Living in the Shadow of Danger: Poverty, Race, and Unequal Chemical Facility Hazards

People of color and people living in poverty, especially poor children of color, are significantly more likely...

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A Tale of Two Retirements: One for CEOs and One for the Rest of Us

The 100 largest CEO retirement funds are worth a combined $4.9 billion, equal to the entire retirement account savings of 41 percent of American fam...

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