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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Obama and Open Government: Turning Vision into Reality

Jan 5, 2011 by Gary Bass*

On his first full day in office, President Obama promised an administration premised on transparency, participation, and collaboration. If Obama is successful in transforming government in this way, what does that mean for you?

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Congress Once Again Punts on FY 2011 Budget

Dec 23, 2010 by Sam Rosen-Amy

Surprising almost no one, on Tuesday Congress passed a short-term continuing resolution (CR), funding government for another few months and delaying passing a budget for the 2011 fiscal year. Over the past week or two, it became obvious that Democrats did not have enough votes to pass a year-long budget of some kind, either as a CR or as an omnibus.

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Federal Employees: Doing More with Less...Already

Dec 21, 2010 by Craig Jennings

President Obama has proposed freezing salaries of most federal employees for the next two years as part of his effort to address the federal budget deficit. Projected to save some $5 billion over the next two years, the freeze would shave 0.22 percent off the $2.3 trillion in deficit spending over that time, making it a largely token measure.

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EPA Analysis Shines New Light on Toxic Pollution

Dec 20, 2010 by Brian Turnbaugh*

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released an expanded and enhanced "National Analysis" of the 2009 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data. The National Analysis examines trends in toxic pollution and waste generation from thousands of facilities nationwide. This year, EPA has added several new features and new analyses that help the public track pollution and identify the biggest polluting companies. The improved National Analysis is another positive step in a series of actions EPA has taken to strengthen the TRI program.

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OMB Watch Criticizes House Vote on Estate Tax Amendment

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17, 2010—OMB Watch today criticized the House's Dec. 16 failure to adopt Rep. Earl Pomeroy's (D-ND) estate tax amendment to the Bush tax cut compromise reached by President Obama and congressional Republicans. The vote against the Pomeroy amendment indicates that the nation's fiscal priorities have been cast aside in favor of the estate planning needs of the wealthiest 0.3 percent of Americans.

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Customer Reviews of the Year in Federal Fiscal Policy

Fiscal policy determines a lot of things in your daily life. From the number of food inspectors that USDA can employ, to the availability of FBI agents to track down suspected terrorists, to the quality of the roads you drive on, fiscal policy is what makes this country tick. If you were running a country and were shopping around for fiscal policies, would those proposed in 2010 by Congress and President Obama be the first ones you'd grab off the shelf? Before you buy, you may want to consider what other customers thought about the Fiscal Policy of the United States of America in 2010.

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The Teas of Transparency

2010 was a banner year for government transparency, with many significant advances and only a few disappointments. However, there were other events outside the world of government openness that seeped into the collective consciousness, and one of the most notable was the rise of the Tea Party in American politics. For this year-in-review article, we decided to take a somewhat tongue-in-cheek approach to assessing and commenting on events in government openness, playing off the theme of tea. Thus, we present to you … the Teas of Transparency.

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The Fine Print Is Now Available on Kindle

Dec 13, 2010 by Brian Gumm

The Fine Print is now available for Kindle users via Amazon.com. According to Amazon, "Kindle Blogs are auto-delivered wirelessly to your Kindle and updated throughout the day so you can stay current. It's risk free — all Kindle Blog subscriptions start with a 14-day free trial. You can cancel at any time during the free trial period." Additionally, blogs on Kindle give you full-text content and images. A Fine Print subscription for Kindle users is just $1.99 per month, and a portion of the proceeds go to OMB Watch.

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CBO Monthly Budget Review, November 2010

Dec 9, 2010 by Gary Therkildsen*

On Monday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its Monthly Budget Review (MBR) for November. Two months into fiscal year (FY) 2011 and the federal government is $283 billion in the hole. The good news is that this deficit is $14 billion less than the shortfall the government experienced at this time last year. The continuing bad news is that budget deficits like this are going to continue well into the future. Oh, and according to the report, the economy is "strengthening," which is also good news.

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Administration Looks to Expand Online Access to Rules

Dec 9, 2010 by Matthew Madia

The Obama administration has released a best practices document aimed at improving the efficiency and usability of the federal e-rulemaking system. The best practices could lead to significant improvements for Regulations.gov – the public portal where users can find information and comment on rules.

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