Government Performance

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...

read in full

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...

read in full

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...

read in full

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...

read in full

more news

What's the Ideal Ratio of Government Employees to Contractors?

Nov 15, 2010 by Gary Therkildsen*

This picture doesn't completely match the headline, but it's interesting, so go with it...

No one really knows, but the first step in figuring it out is to identify what the current ratio of feds to contractors is. And that's exactly what federal agencies, excluding the Department of Defense (DOD), will undertake in the spring according to a recent Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) memorandum. The analysis will help government agencies determine if they're getting the taxpayers' money worth out of contractors.

read in full

Time for FDA to Target Troubled Egg Producer

Nov 9, 2010 by Matthew Madia

On the heels of this summer’s massive egg recall, another recall was announced yesterday covering almost 300,000 eggs contaminated with salmonella. The eggs were recalled by Cal-Maine Foods Inc., a distributor, but were actually supplied by Ohio Fresh Eggs. No illnesses have been linked to the current recall.

read in full

Commentary: Contracting Oversight in the 112th Congress

With the GOP winning control of the House on Nov. 2, Republican members of House oversight committees are poised to determine how the lower chamber of Congress uses its investigatory powers for the next two years. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the likely chairman-to-be of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has released what his website calls "a blueprint" for oversight of the executive branch, and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) released a document shortly after the elections calling for greater congressional oversight overall. With plenty of contracting issues that remain unexamined or in need of further investigation, what will this shift mean for congressional oversight of government contracting in the next Congress?

read in full

Will Code of Conduct Clean Up Security Contracting Field?

In November, more than 20 private security contractors (PSCs), along with representatives from various governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from around the world, will come together in Geneva, Switzerland, to sign the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers. The code aims to "set forth a commonly-agreed set of principles for PSCs and … establish a foundation to translate those principles into related standards as well as governance and oversight mechanisms." Because the code’s "oversight mechanisms" remain undetermined, questions linger about the effectiveness of another self-policing policy for the private security industry.

read in full

Another Assessment Finds U.S. Among Least Transparent of Foreign Aid Donors

Oct 26, 2010 by Gavin Baker

A new international study ranks the U.S. 25th out of 30 donors in the transparency of its foreign aid spending.

read in full

FDA Warns Egg Producer Linked to Salmonella Outbreak

Oct 19, 2010 by Matthew Madia

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sent a warning letter to Wright County Egg, one of the facilities implicated in a recent salmonella outbreak that sickened more than 1,600 people and led to the recall of more than 500 million eggs.

read in full

International Comparison Ranks U.S. Well on Budget Transparency

Oct 19, 2010 by Gavin Baker

A new international comparison of budget transparency ranks the U.S. among the world's leaders, but highlights some areas for improvement.

read in full

Former NIH Director Touts Benefits of Open Federal Science

Oct 18, 2010 by Gavin Baker

Former National Institutes of Health (NIH) director Harold Varmus touts the benefits of open science in a new video released for Open Access Week (Oct. 18-24, 2010).

read in full

A Long Road for Mine Safety Enforcement Reform

Even though a five-month inspection blitz uncovered widespread disregard for miner safety, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is unlikely in the near term to be able to force behavioral or cultural reform among the nation’s most recalcitrant mine operators.