On June 24, the House passed the DISCLOSE Act by a close, largely party-line vote of 219-206. Supporters praise the bill as a success for transparency, while critics argue that it is an attack on the First Amendment and creates unfair exemptions for groups such as the National Rifle Association. The companion bill in the Senate, S. 3295, must now overcome many obstacles.

Adding insult to injury, the worst oil spill in U.S. history has been plagued by a lack of transparency that is hindering the response to the disaster and may impact responses to future spills. Reports of restrictions on media access to the spill site, the delayed disclosure of information on dispersants, and frustrations with BP's overall lack of transparency have confounded efforts to hold the company and government agencies accountable.

Around the time that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the Recovery Act) was being developed, a report co-authored by Christina Romer and Jared Bernstein indicated that passage of such an economic stimulus package could avert economic calamity. Yet now, with the unemployment rate hovering close to 10 percent, the president is setting about cutting federal spending by hundreds of billions of dollars in the coming years. The president's cuts are imprudent in the short run, given their potential to smother the burgeoning economic recovery before it can fully take hold, and could impair the federal government's ability to respond to economic or environmental disasters.