Open, Accountable Government

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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New Report Explores Chemical Dangers from Power Plants

A new report by the Working Group on Community Right-to-Know estimates that 3.5 million Americans living near some 225 non-nuclear power plants are at risk from leaks or releases of gaseous ammonia or chlorine. It calls for these plants to switch to safer alternatives to ensure the safety of surrounding communities. The Working Group analyzed information submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from individual facilities. Facilities are required to assess the dangers they pose to the surrounding communities.

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California Nonprofits Caught in Revenue Squeeze

The California Association of Nonprofits (CAN) recently completed a study of the impact on nonprofits of funding cutbacks in California. In the report "Holes in the Safety-net: Study of Funding Cutbacks and Safety-net Nonprofits in California," CAN found that a wide range of nonprofits in the state are squeezed between revenue reductions and increased demand for services.

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Momentum Grows to Limit 'Classified' Information

Amidst growing criticism that the White Hose and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) attempted to classify information that would prove more embarrassing than threatening national security, senior Republicans and Democrats in Congress are moving to reform the classification system.

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Economy and Jobs Watch: Wages Fail to Keep Pace with Inflation

While many observers believe that the economy is in the process of recovering from weak growth and a dismal labor market, there is still considerable evidence that the recovery is not serving everyone.

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Transportation Bill Pre-empts State Sunshine Laws

A provision in the transportation spending bill, H.R. 3550 and S. 1072, could pre-empt state and local sunshine laws and pre-empt public access to problems on the roads, highways, sea, and air.

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OMB Fails to Meet Another Deadline

The Office of Management and Budget is required to produce a "Mid-Session Review" by July 15 of each year. However, the mid-session budget review has still not been issued.

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Should 'Middle-Class' Tax Cuts be Extended, Offset or Not?

The political reality, especially in an election year, makes extension of the so-called "middle-class" tax cuts very likely. Hardly anyone is arguing against extending these cuts, as long as they are paid for. However, there are very good arguments why, even If the cost of the extension is offset, extension of these tax cuts is not supportable.

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NY Times Letter: Secrecy Goes on, despite 9/11 Access (not published)

Readers of "Families Forced a Rare Look at Government Secrecy" (July 22, 2004) might think the president's thwarted efforts to keep secrets from the 9/11 Commission signal a return to open, accountable government. Nothing could be further from the truth.

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Scientists Speak Out Against the Bush Administration

Last week the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) released updated evidence that the Bush administration continues to manipulate and control science for political reasons. UCS has now collected the signatures of more than 4,000 scientists supporting a statement urging the Bush administration to discontinue these troubling practices, and to restore scientific integrity in federal policymaking. The prestigious list of scientists taking this unprecedented stand includes 48 Nobel laureates, 62 national medal of science recipients, and 127 members of the National Academy of Sciences.

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OMB Watch Uncovers Flaws in OMB's Data Quality Report

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently published a report to Congress that analyzes and summarizes federal agencies' first year of operations experience using the new information quality guidelines mandated under the Information Quality Act (IQA). The guidelines are supposed to ensure the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of information disseminated by federal agencies. The report provides OMB's perspective on the first year under the law and the IQA reports submitted to OMB from individual agencies.

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