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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House and(Likely?) Senate Approval of Pretty Good Stimulus Transparency

Feb 13, 2009 by Craig Jennings

UPDATE: The Senate has approved the bill 60-38.

UPDATE 2 (2/17/2009): President Obama has signed ARRA into law.

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Congress Takes Step Toward Stimulus Transparency

When the Senate took up the $819 billion House-passed economic stimulus package (H.R. 1) the week of Feb. 2, not only did the chamber modify myriad spending and tax measures, but it also altered the bill's transparency and accountability provisions. The Senate's version of H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), contains less detail on specific data the Obama administration must provide on stimulus spending. Neither version provides the level of detail that may be needed to collect and disseminate information about the type of jobs that are created or preserved, the wages paid to workers, or information about who may be getting such jobs. The assumption is that the Obama administration, through its Recovery.gov website, will tackle these thorny implementation issues.

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OMB Watch Joins Stimulus Transparency Coalition

OMB Watch has joined more than 30 other groups calling for transparency and accountability requirements in federal recovery efforts, including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 1). The Coalition for an Accountable Recovery (CAR) is an assembly of organizations and individuals who believe transparency and accountability are essential to ensuring that hundreds of billions of dollars of federal spending is disbursed fairly; spent with minimal waste, fraud, and abuse; and can be assessed as effective or ineffective.

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Coalition Forms to Demand Accountability in Economic Recovery

Feb 4, 2009 by Craig Jennings

OMB Watch has joined more than 30 other groups from across the political spectrum in a new coalition demanding stronger transparency requirements in any stimulus efforts conducted by the government. The Coalition for an Accountable Recovery was formed to promote accountability policies for both government agencies and companies that contract with or benefit from recovery spending.

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Support for Contractor Lobbying Disclosure?

Feb 4, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

In June 2008 Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) and then Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) introduced legislation to expand the information available on USASpending.gov, the Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Federal Spending Act of 2008. The bill was a follow up to the 2006 Transparency Act, which the two senators also worked together on. It would have required USASpending to include information on contractor and grantee performance.

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Senate Considers Stimulus Bill with Weaker Transparency Language

Feb 3, 2009 by Craig Jennings

The Senate is currently debating the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (S. 336), (or just "ARRA" or close friends and associates). And as we noted last week, the tax cuts and spending in the House version (HR 1) were receiving wide press attention, but we were more interested in the bill's transparency and accountability language. Today, we turn the spotlight on the analogue provisions in the Senate bill.

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New Treasury Secretary Takes Steps to TARP Transparency

Jan 29, 2009 by Craig Jennings

Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner announced that the Treasury Department will begin posting investment contracts of the banks that are participating in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

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OMB Watch Commends Obama Administration for Open Government Memos, Urges Strong Follow-Through

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21, 2009—OMB Watch today commended the Obama administration for making government openness and transparency one of its top priorities. In its first full day in office, the administration issued memos directing agencies to adhere to principles of openness and transparency and instructing the Attorney General to issue new guidelines on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that embody the spirit of open government.

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Groups Seek More Congressional Transparency

The Sunlight Foundation recently launched the Open Senate Project as part of its ongoing attempt to improve congressional transparency. The project is a bipartisan initiative to study the Senate's current information sharing practices and subsequently develop recommendations for improvement, particularly through the use of technology.

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Project Makes Transparency Recommendations for Next President

More than 100 groups and individuals from across the country have been working collaboratively to develop recommendations for the next president on how best to improve federal government transparency. The effort, the 21st Century Right to Know project, was organized by OMB Watch, and it involves organizations and individuals from across the political spectrum. A draft set of recommendations is now available for review and endorsement.

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