New Posts

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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Posting Federal Contracts Online: The Next Step in Contracting Transparency?

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on May 13 that could establish standards for posting federal contracts online. Providing the public online access to electronic copies of federal contracts could create a new level of accountability in federal procurement, but some contractors have opposed the idea, claiming it would cost too much and could reveal confidential business information.

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USAspending.gov to Increase Transparency through Subrecipient Reporting

Since it was unveiled in 2007, USAspending.gov has been a crucial portal through which the federal government makes spending data available to the public. With new guidance on subaward reporting released in August, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has taken additional steps to ensure USAspending.gov will comply with the law that created the site and will make it possible to track more of the federal spending chain.

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Putting a Better Face on Economic Stimulus

The latest economic data on the Recovery Act from the Congressional Budget Office indicate that, by at least two important metrics -- gross domestic product (GDP) and unemployment -- it is in fact working (see here, here, here, and here for more). Yet, only 33 percent of Americans think the Recovery Act "helped the jobs situation."

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CBO Monthly Budget Review, August 2010

People try to pull me down / They talk about me like a dog / Talk about the clothes I wear

Uh oh, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) just released its Monthly Budget Review (MBR) for August. The report states the federal government has racked up just under a $1.3 trillion deficit so far this fiscal year, which, for those of you paying attention, only has one month left. Are we going to break the $1.3 trillion barrier this year? Sadly, yes.

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White House Announces Video.gov

At the Gov 2.0 Summit this week, White House Deputy Chief Technology Officer Andrew McLaughlin announced plans to build a government-wide Video.gov platform — and set a goal that such videos would garner millions of views over the next year.

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The Real Significance of Orszag's Column

The man, the myth, the legend...

Peter Orszag's first opinion piece in the New York Times has certainly made a splash, hasn't it? Media outlets are hyping that the former head of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has come out in defiance of the White House to argue that Congress should extend all the Bush Tax Cuts. Take a closer look at Orszag's column, though, and one will recognize this meme as a silly controversy distracting from the real issue raised in the piece.

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Administration Scores a ‘Shows Improvement’ on Secrecy Report Card

Today, OpenTheGovernment.org released their annual Secrecy Report card, which tracks key indicators and statistics for executive branch secrecy. The Obama administration came into office placing a high priority on transparency and collaboration, promising to be the most open and accountable administration in history. The report, which covers the first 9 months of the Obama presidency, indicates the administration made noticeable progress in several areas.

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Congress Fails Transparency for Official Vehicles, Websites

Recent reports highlight Congressional weakness on two matters of routine transparency: official vehicles and website design.

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Posting Federal Contracts Online: Let's Do It

OMB Watch supports a rule to post federal contracts online.

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Deficit Commission Chair Troubled by Vets, Retirees, "Lesser People"

National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (AKA "Deficit Commission") co-chair former senator Alan Simpson's latest outburst has betrayed his ignoble sensibilities and misguided priorities.

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Resources & Research

Living in the Shadow of Danger: Poverty, Race, and Unequal Chemical Facility Hazards

People of color and people living in poverty, especially poor children of color, are significantly more likely...

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A Tale of Two Retirements: One for CEOs and One for the Rest of Us

The 100 largest CEO retirement funds are worth a combined $4.9 billion, equal to the entire retirement account savings of 41 percent of American fam...

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