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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Commentary: Why Discretionary Budget Caps Are Fiscally Irresponsible

With many families around the country facing financial hardship, fiscal hawks on Capitol Hill have begun ramping up their rhetoric: If America's families are forced to make hard decisions and cut back, they argue, why shouldn't their elected leaders do the same? During the week of March 15, Sens. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) introduced an amendment to H.R. 1586 that aimed to give teeth to that rhetoric. The amendment's effects on the nation's long-term debt would have been minimal, while its impacts on millions of Americans would have been severe. The amendment ultimately failed on the Senate floor.

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National Broadband Plan Seeks to Increase Civic Engagement

On March 16, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released its 376-page National Broadband Plan, setting forth a strategy to expand access to broadband Internet services to millions of people. Chapter 15 of the broadband plan is specifically intended to make it easier for Americans to actively participate in civil society and hold their government accountable.

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Sunshine Week 2010 Webcast TODAY @ Noon

Mar 19, 2010 by Roger Strother*

On his first full day in office, President Obama committed his Administration "to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government." To help meet that goal, the Administration has issued an Open Government Directive and a new Memorandum on Freedom of Information Act and Attorney General Guidelines. The Administration has also launched an expansive effort to open up data to developers, advocates, and the public via Data.gov. Join OpenTheGovernment.org for this three panel event to hear our panelists -- transparency experts from inside and outside government-- discuss these initiatives and their effect on the public. Panelists will also take questions from the live and viewing audience. Watch live here.

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Senate Rejects Arbitrary Budget Caps

Mar 18, 2010 by Sam Rosen-Amy

Thanks in no small part to the 1,146 emails you sent in the past 48 hours, the Senate just voted down the Sessions-McCaskill amendment, which would have instituted draconian discretionary budget caps for the next three fiscal years. The amendment lost on a 56-40 vote, failing to reach the 60-vote margin it needed by only four votes.

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Keep the Pressure on the Senate

Mar 17, 2010 by Craig Jennings

We're hearing that the vote on the Sessions-McCaskill amendment will happen today at 5 (EDT). If you haven't done so yet, send a letter to your Senators and tell them that arbitrary limitations on federal spending is terrible budget-making. Take action now!

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Tell the Senate to Vote No on Disastrous Discretionary Spending Caps

Mar 16, 2010 by Sam Rosen-Amy

In what looks like an attempt to out-fiscal-hawk President Obama, Sens. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) have introduced an amendment that would impose strict limits on discretionary spending for the next three years. The amendment sets limits far lower than Obama's already low budget proposal, and it even includes a cap on defense discretionary spending, something the President's proposal does not do. Such caps would result in drastic cuts to many vital economic safety net programs and public protection agencies, negatively impacting the lives of millions of Americans. And while the two senators claim that the amendment will reduce the deficit, in reality, because discretionary spending is so little of the federal budget, the amendment's deficit-reducing effects will be minimal.

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President Obama's Forecast - Sunshine with More to Come

Mar 16, 2010 by Sean Moulton

President Obama just made a statement on Sunshine Week applauding the work done so far to make the government more transparent and recommitting his administration to be the most open and transparent. The statement highlights some of the accomplishments the administration has already racked up in this area including Data.gov, Recovery.gov and Executive Order on Classification. The President also states that while they "are proud of these accomplishment" that the "work is not done." This reality of progress being made but more still being needed is reflected in two reports released for Sunshine Week.

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Bit by Bit, EPA Opening Up Toxics Program

Mar 15, 2010 by Brian Turnbaugh*

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced it is taking another small step increasing transparency by providing free access to a key database that lists every chemical in commerce. Well…almost every chemical. Of the more than 84,000 chemicals on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Substance Inventory, the identities of almost 17,000 are kept secret because the manufacturers allege the information is confidential business information (CBI). Such CBI claims are widely abused by manufacturers, and with the EPA's acquiescence, large amounts of information are inappropriately withheld from the public.

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Celebrate President Madison's Birthday with Sunshine Week!

Mar 15, 2010 by Roger Strother*

James Madison’s birthday is an exciting time for open-government wonks. Madison, the father of our Constitution and fourth president, was an outspoken advocate of open government. This is why we dedicate an entire week to heightened public advocacy of transparency issues through public events, legislative initiatives, and op-eds. This year offers several opportunities for public participation.

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D.C. Court Rejects OMB Assertion of FOIA Exemptions

Mar 12, 2010 by Roger Strother*

Today, the DC Circuit court reissued an opinion in Public Citizen v. OMB that rejected the agency’s use of exemptions 2 and 5 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). OMB had attempted to withhold information from Public Citizen that detailed which agencies submit materials to Congress without clearance by OMB. This court case adds an important legal support to the FOIA practice of discretionary disclosure.

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