How Government Works

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

No ICANN Fix It

The nonprofit organization responsible for the management of the Internet's domain name space has recently drawn renewed criticism from Congress, international governments, nonprofits, and the broader online public, most recently for a series of reorganization proposals developed to address earlier concerns about transparency, accountability, and fairness around its deliberations and overall operations.

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Race to Transfer .org Intensifies

On June 18, 2002, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) closed the bidding to both nonprofit and collaborative applicants that represent the future management of the .org Internet namespace.

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Current E-Rulemaking Systems

An OMB Watch assessment of currently available agency e-rulemaking systems. Dept. of Transportation

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Administration Pushes E-Rulemaking

For each regulatory decision, or rulemaking, an agency keeps a formal docket that contains a wealth of useful information, including scientific studies, cost-benefit analysis, and comments submitted by the public. Unfortunately, if you want access to these materials, you may have to visit a federal docket room in Washington, D.C., as most agencies do not provide this information through their web sites. In this digital age, we still have a substantially paper government.

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U.S. House of Representatives to Digitize Constituent Postal Mail

On 5/17/02, the U.S. House of Representatives issued a request for proposals to digitize their e-mail. Labeled the House Digital Mail Program, it calls for a pilot system to be put in place that would support the digitization of all mail that comes into the offices of up to 50 members and two committees. The anthrax mail scares on the Hill in October 2001, required the switching of Hill mail facilities to an offsite location. This also led to security measures that have increased the amount of time it takes for mail to reach House postal facilities from 3 to 10 days;

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EPA Announces New Online Rulemaking System

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced the launching of a new web service, called EPA Dockets, to allow the public to search regulatory documents and submit comments on rulemakings electronically.

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Data Quality Challenges

On 11/16/00, the Judicial Conference's Subcommittee on Privacy and Electronic Access to Case Files of the Court Administration and the Case Management Committee issued a request for comments regarding policy options for electronic and online access to federal court records.

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White House Memorandum on Use of Information Technology to Improve Our Society

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release December 17, 1999 MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES SUBJECT: Use of Information Technology to Improve Our Society The Internet and other information and communications technologies are changing the way we work, learn, communicate with each other, and do business. These technologies are shaping our economy and our society in the same way that the steam engine and electricity defined the Industrial Age. In recent years, information technology has driven the U.S. economy.

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White House Memorandum on Electronic Government

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release December 17, 1999 MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES SUBJECT: Electronic Government My Administration has put a wealth of information online. However, when it comes to most Federal services, it can still take a paper form and weeks of processing for something as simple as a change of address.

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White House Pushes Government Information and Services Online

The White House today released two memoranda to federal agencies designed to strengthen public access to federal government information and services. Largely unnoticed, the two memoranda direct agencies to put more information online and contain 16 directives for improving public access to government information and numerous strategies for improving electronic services.

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