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

Groups Object to Indian Affairs FOIA Exemptions

Several groups and individuals voiced objections to a Senate Bureau of Indian Affairs reform bill, in a letter delivered to Senators Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO) and Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI) July 8.

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Patriot Act Intact but Under Fire in Congress

In a vote reflecting disagreement among Republican leaders and several conservative members of Congress over the USA Patriot Act, the House of Representatives defeated by the thinnest possible margin an effort to reign in the government's power to require libraries and booksellers to reveal the books people are reading. Libraries and booksellers, including the American Library Association and American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, have gathered over 100,000 signatures in a campaign to support the Freedom to Read Protection Act, yet the House deadlocked on the bill.

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OMB Watch Analysis Finds Bias, Flaws in OMB Year-1 Data Quality Report

(Washington, DC 7/12/04) - OMB Watch released an analysis July 12 that found a report on data quality from the Office of Management and Budget filled with inaccuracies and misleading statements. The OMB recently published the report to inform Congress about the first year of implementing the Information Quality Act, also known as the Data Quality Act. The report provides OMB's perspectives on the first year under the law, as well as the IQA reports submitted to OMB from individual agencies.

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Poll Shows Growing Public Support for First Amendment

Public support for the First Amendment has rebounded to pre-9/11 levels, according to this year's results of an annual poll by the First Amendment Center.

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Tax Cut Extensions Possible

We reported earlier that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) wanted to delay until September consideration of extending the "middle-class" tax cuts -- marriage penalty, expansion of the 10% income tax bracket, and the $1000 child tax credit -- that will expire on December 31. However, the Bureau of National Affairs (BNA) reported July 12 that House and Senate leaders plan to consider the cuts late this week.

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Appropriations in November?

The House has been steadily moving forward with appropriations bills, in spite of the tight cap on appropriations spending for 2004; but in the Senate only one bill -- Defense -- has passed, and only one other bill -- Homeland Security -- has even gotten through a full Senate committee. None has made it to the Senate floor.

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Ad Council pushes public to "exercise freedom" after 9/11

The Advertising Council last week released several public service announcements designed to remind Americans to support and defend freedom as part of the response to the attacks of September 11. These new ads encourage Americans to exercise their freedom by voting, volunteering and otherwise engaging in civic life.

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OMB Watch Submits Comments on EPA's Science Inventory

OMB Watch submit comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on its recently launched Science Inventory (SI) located at www.epa.gov/si. OMB Watch applauds EPA in its efforts to heighten access to science information by providing it online. The inventory allows the public to better understand EPA activities and the importance of research and development efforts. While this is a step in the right direction, OMB Watch believes there are several opportunities to improve the inventory's organization, content, usability, and search functions. Read the Comments

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EPA Releases 2002 Toxic Release Inventory: Right-to-Know Compromised

The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 2002 data for the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) shows a 5 percent increase in toxic releases to the environment. The agency's premier right-to-know program released the new data on June 23, one day after the Environmental Integrity Project published a report documenting levels of air toxins four to five times higher than previously reported.

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Court Rejects Claim in First Decision on Data Quality Act

In the first ever court decision to address the Data Quality Act, a federal district court in Minnesota has held that the Act does not permit petitioners to seek judicial review.

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