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...

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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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more news

More Transparency on Katrina?

Aug 29, 2006 by Matthew Madia

A year ago today, of course, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. I don't have much to add to all that's been said so far, except for that we don't really know how the federal government has been spending the money it allocated for the relief and recovery effort. Amy Liu, a researcher for the Brookings Institute who's been tracking the recovery for the last year, should know what the federal government has been spending the money on. But as she said on the Tavis Smiley show in July, nobody really does.

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Secret Hold Update

Aug 29, 2006 by Matthew Madia

TMPmuckraker has a handy-dandy tally of senators who have been cleared of being the secret holder. Their tally includes senators cleared by Porkbusters, GOP Progress, and TPMmuckraker. It also includes a list of senators who have refused to answer queries about the hold or who have not issued a denial.

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New Lows

Aug 29, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

Via Kevin Drum, we may now know why CBO found an unexpected drop in Medicare spending this year. Actual spending hasn't gone down. Rather, the Bush administration is waiting until next fiscal year to pay some of its bills from this year. That way, some of the spending on services performed this year will get counted in the FY07 budget. And when the CBO puts out its FY07 budget projection, there'll be no pesky election to worry about. Here's an excerpt from a great article on the scheme, from Barron's (sub. req'd).

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Katrina Contracts: One Year and $8.75 Billion Shy

Aug 25, 2006 by Matthew Madia

Yesterday, the U.S. House Government Reform Committee’s Minority Staff Special Investigation Division released a report on waste, fraud and abuse in procurement spending in response to Hurricane Katrina. The report, requested by Reps. Henry A. Waxman, Dennis A. Cardoza, David R. Obey, John S. Tanner, Eleanor Holmes Norton, and John F. Tierney, examines 19 Katrina contracts, collectively worth $8.75 billion, with significant overcharges, wasteful spending, or mismanagement.

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Indentity of Secret Holder Remains a Mystery

Aug 24, 2006 by Matthew Madia

The quest to smoke out the Senator who is placing a "secret" hold on legislation to create a free, searchable, online database of all federal grants and contract continues today with a Cox News story that appeared in the Houston Chronicle. The story quote's OMBW own Gary Bass as saying: It really is outrageous to do this in the dead of night as Congress is recessing. The public has a right to know how the government spends money.

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Secret Hold in Senate Blocks Transparency Effort

Aug 22, 2006 by Matthew Madia

While the inner-workings of Congress can often be full of illogical, ironic, and bizarre happenings, the latest behind the scenes buzz on Capitol Hill (and in the blogosphere) certainly takes the cake. OMB Watch has been supporting S. 2590 (see here and here for some of the BudgetBlog's coverage), a bill to create a free, searchable, downloadable database of all federal grants and contracts information. This effort is supported by progressives and conservatives, and nearly everyone in between, and has the support of a varied and eclectic mix of Senators.

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Quote of the Day

Aug 16, 2006 by Matthew Madia

ThinkProgress brings us this quote from House Appropriations Chair Jerry Lewis (R-CA): There is a misunderstanding, particularly in the media, that earmarks are "out of control," said Lewis, who is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Here's the punchline (from a May 11 article in the Los Angeles Times): Federal prosecutors have begun an investigation into Rep. Jerry Lewis, the Californian who chairs the powerful House Appropriations Committee, government officials and others said, signaling the spread of a San Diego corruption probe.

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Contract and Grants Database Legislation Gets State Support

Aug 11, 2006 by Matthew Madia

Legislation to create a free, searchable database with government information on all federal grants and contracts picked up the endorsement of Republican Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels last week (Daniels is a former Director of the Office of Management and Budget). Daniels sent seperate letters to Indiana Senators Evan Bayh (D) and Richard Lugar (R) urging them to support the bill.

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Dems Question IRS Downsizing

Aug 10, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

House Democrats are challenging a recent move by the IRS to downsize its estate tax auditing department (More here and here). Rep. John Olver (D-MA) just threw his hat into the ring, too. From BNA (subscription required): Olver expressed "strong concern" despite IRS's assertions that the change is due to the declining number of returns as a result of a bigger exemption. The Massachusetts Democrat pointed out that estates of more than $2 million are still subject to the tax.

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Katrina Woes

Aug 9, 2006 by Matthew Madia

The 1-year anniversary of the Katrina disaster is coming up, and the New Republic is featuring the plodding recovery effort in its most recent issue. From the editor's take on it (free registration required):

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