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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Bill Introduced to Bolster Whistleblower Protections

Last week Sens. Leahy (D-VT), Levin (D-MI), and Akaka (D-HI) introduced an important bill to reinforce traditional whistleblower protections. The Whistleblower Protection Act Amendments (S. 1229) are the product of three years of research and staff review, as well as in-depth hearings. Various court decisions have eroded the protections for whistleblowers established by Congress in 1989 with the unanimously supported Whistleblower Protection Act, which was later strengthened, again with a unanimous vote, in 1994.

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Panel Investigates Impact of SBU on Media

Last week, The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania held a conference entitled, “Sharing and Protecting Homeland Security Information -- Avoiding Conflict Between the Media and the Government.”

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Government Increasingly Citing Privacy for FOIA Denials

A study completed for the Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) Conference last week found that federal agencies are increasingly using privacy exemptions when denying requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The study, which examined FOIA annual reports from the 13 Cabinet-level departments in existence as of September 30, 2002, reported that over the past five years almost two out of three request denials cited privacy exemptions.

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OMB Watch Analysis on the Proposed CII Rule

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced its proposed rule for the handling of Critical Infrastructure Information (CII). The rule is required by the CII provision in the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and the development of the legislation was very controversial. The legislation allows corporations that voluntarily submit information on infrastructure vulnerabilities secrecy, civil immunity, preemption of state and local disclosure laws, and protection from whistleblowers.

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Federal Budget Resources

The Federal Budget is a core issue area of OMB Watch. We follow federal budget and economic policy issues ranging from tax issues to government performance and beyond.

Our core issues include:

The Social Investment Initiative (SII): a two-year effort arising out of Invest in America to build a network of state and local organizations around long-term federal budget priorities; as well as other related projects.

Americans for a Fair Estate Tax (AFET): OMB Watch is very involved in the AFET coalition's efforts to fight against repeal and for a fair reform of the estate tax.

Fair Taxes for All (FTFA): a growing coalition of more than 300 national, state and local organizations, including OMB Watch, who are united in opposition to massive, irresponsible tax cuts.

Additional sub-issues include: Social Investment Initiative Budget Surpluses, Deficits and the National Debt Annual Budget Process & Appropriations Federal Tax Policy State Budget Policy Social Security Invest in America Government Performance Economic Policy Category Map

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The Estate Tax and Charitable Giving

There is little doubt that repeal of the estate tax will have a profound impact on nonprofit organizations. One way nonprofits will feel this impact is through less charitable giving. This policy analysis examines the ways in which nonprofits and foundations might be affected as well as the magnitude of the reduction in charitiable giving that might arise from a full repeal. The Estate Tax and Charitable Giving

Downlad full analysis (.pdf)
Downlad policy summary only (.pdf)
Downlad report only (.pdf)

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Budget ZigZag

The “Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation of 2003” bill (HR 2) that President Bush signed into law with much fanfare on May 28 is chock full of tax cuts that “sunset” – that is, they revert back to pre-2003 law. When combined with the previous Bush tax cut, “The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001,” which is also full of tax cuts that slowly phase in and then end altogether, the result is like something out of Kafka. However, the difficulty for the IRS of creating forms and instructions to reflect yearly changes and taxpayer confusion are not the worst consequences of these bills.

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Tax Priorities

The 2003 tax cut package contained a number of goodies for higher income individuals -- a dividend tax cut, a capital gains tax cut, acceleration of previous reductions in upper income tax rates. However, several reports have shown that millions of taxpayers, primarily middle income and below, as well as millions of children, have been left behind.

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In the Name of Homeland Security, Let the Stonewalling Begin

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been severely criticized over recent allegations that department resources were used during a partisan political battle in Texas. On Monday May 12th, more than 50 Democratic Texas state legislators fled to Oklahoma to avoid hearings and prevent the Legislature from having quorum on a bill that would redraw congressional districts in the Republicans’ favor. The same day, a DHS agency was contacted in order to track a plane carrying several of the Democrats in hopes of returning them to the state capitol.

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NRC Secrecy Unlikely to Lead to Security for Neighbors

While the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued new security standards for nuclear power plants defending against terrorist attacks, residents near these plants are unlikely to even be aware of them. The standards have been developed without the consultation of key groups, and most of the new rules are not being made public.

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