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

All PART Of The Game

By Gary Bass and Adam Hughes, OMB Watch
Published March 25, 2005 at TomPaine.com
The Program Assessment Rating Tool, or PART, is a system in the President's Management Agenda that's supposed to be used to evaluate a program's effectiveness so decisions about expansion and funding can be more accurate. But a little digging reveals that Fiscal Year 2006 budget cuts were made based on ideology -- not on a measured, objective system. Gary Bass and Adam Hughes of OMB Watch explain.

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All PART of the Game

Mar 25, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Click here to read an OMB Watch op-ed on the administration's Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART). The op-ed discusses that despite the existence of PART, budget decisions are guided more by politics and ideology as opposed to program results. Click here for more information on PART and the Program Assessment and Results Act.

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House Committee Approves Government Performance Rating Bill

The House Government Reform Committee favorably reported out of committee the Program Assessment and Results Act, a bill that would have the effect of codifying the administration's controversial tool for rating program effectiveness. The bill is expected to move to the House floor this spring. The committee voted 18-14 to send the bill to the House floor during a March 10 markup session, after rejecting every amendment offered by committee Democrats.

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Amendments Rejected in Markup

Download the Waxman amendment and the Towns sunset amendment.

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From enforcement to entreaties

Feb 24, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Analyses are still being generated on the consequences of the White House's proposed FY06 budget. Word is trickling in that it means bad news for regulatory enforcement, in particular at EPA and FDA. Interesting to note, then, that spending on public relations has increased 9 percent since 2000 -- faster than the rate of growth for the government workforce itself.

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How Do You Measure Program Results?

For more than five years, the Bush administration has focused a good portion of its rhetoric on performance, accountability and results. To that end, in 2001, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) began to develop a mechanism called the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) to help budget examiners and federal managers measure the effectiveness of government programs.

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PART Summaries

A collection of OMB's one-page summaries of PART scores for each program.

FY 06 one-pagers
FY 05 and 04 combined
FY 05 alone

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President Bush's FY 06 Budget: An Overview

President Bush sent his proposed Fiscal Year 2006 (FY 06) budget to Congress on Monday, Feb. 7, in a package that is one of the most special-interest-driven budgets presented in a very long time. The new budget calls for a large transfer of benefits to corporate special interests and the most well-off through additional tax cuts, regulatory and litigation "reforms," and other measures that weaken public safeguards and government in general. At the same time, the president proposes cutting programs serving low- and middle-income Americans.

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PARTs in 2006 Budget

Data and summaries of PART in 2006 budget. Program summaries: This PDF file contains one-page summaries of the completed PART assessments. PART data: This Excel file contains an overview of PART ratings, program types, and funding levels. PART instructions for the 2006 Budget. PART assessments: Department of Agriculture Department of Commerce Department of Defense Department of Education Department of Energy Department of Health and Human Services Department of Homeland Security

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PARTs in 2005 Budget

Data and summaries of PART in 2005 budget. Program summaries: This PDF file contains one-page summaries of the completed PART assessments. PART data: This Excel file contains an overview of PART ratings, program types, and funding levels. PART instructions for the 2005 Budget. PART assessments: Department of Agriculture Department of Commerce Department of Defense Department of Education Department of Energy Department of Health and Human Services Department of Homeland Security

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