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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more news

Congress Working to Make Chemical Plants Safer from Attacks

Jun 18, 2009 by Brian Turnbaugh*

The House Homeland Security Committee this week considered legislation that would greatly reduce the risks and consequences of a terrorist attack on a chemical facility. The bill would enhance and reauthorize the flawed and inadequate existing security rules that are due to expire in October. It is crucial that Congress quickly pass and the President sign this security legislation so no more time is lost while millions of people are needlessly put at risk.

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Coburn "Report" No Help in Recovery Act Performance Conversation

Jun 18, 2009 by Craig Jennings

Writing on the States for an Accountable Recovery blog, Phil Mattera takes a well-measured swipe at Sen. Tom Coburn's (R-OK) report detailing Recovery Act project follies.

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Senate Quietly Passes Bill to Hide Torture Evidence

Jun 18, 2009 by Roger Strother*

On Wednesday night, the Senate quietly passed legislation to exempt photographs of detainees being tortured by U.S. personnel from the Freedom of Information Act. Further stunning the spirit of open government, they did so by unanimous consent.

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CIA Attempts to Block Release of Torture Report

Jun 17, 2009 by Chris George*

The Central Intelligence Agency is attempting to prevent the Obama administration from releasing a May 2004 Inspector General's report describing and evaluating the agency's treatment of detainees and interrogation practices, according to today's Washington Post. A redacted version of about 12 paragraphs of text was released in May 2008 as a result of an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit. The Obama administration promised a review of the IG report last month after the ACLU appealed the decision in that case.

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When We Shouldn't Worry About the Deficit

Jun 17, 2009 by Craig Jennings

As usual, Stan Collender makes much sense.

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Congress Moving in the Right Direction with Afghanistan Oversight

Jun 16, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

Congressional Quarterly (subscription required) reported this morning that the House passed by a voice vote yesterday a measure to speed the hiring of new investigators in Afghanistan.

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Torture Photo Disclosure Ban out of War Spending Bill but Still Possible

During the week of June 8, an amendment seeking to block disclosure of photos of abused detainees in U.S. custody was removed from the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009 (H.R. 2346). However, Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Lindsay Graham (R-SC), sponsors of the amendment, have pledged to insert the language into other legislation. Moreover, the release of the torture photos is the subject of a lawsuit that may reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Obama Administration Moves to Block Visitor Logs - CREW Takes Legal Action

Jun 16, 2009 by Roger Strother*

Like the Bush administration, the Obama administration has taken the unpopular stance that it does not have to release its visitor logs to the public. This is an incredibly disappointing move that casts doubts on Obama’s rhetoric of increased executive branch transparency & accountability. Hiding these logs prevents the public from better knowing who is lobbying the president.

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Bills Would Require Disclosure of "Fracking" Chemicals

Bills recently introduced in both the House and Senate seek to force natural gas drilling companies to disclose what chemicals are pumped into the ground in a practice known as hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking." Although the process has been linked to drinking water contamination and other harms to public health and the environment, companies are currently allowed to conceal the toxic chemicals they use.

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Wartime Contracting Commission Warns Congress of Potential Significant Waste

Jun 11, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

At a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee hearing yesterday morning, members of the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan provided an interim report warning of potential contracting waste, fraud and abuse during the future drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq and subsequent surge in Afghanistan.

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