Industry Influence and Interference

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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Corporate Money Fuels Attack on Public Protections

An ongoing attack on the nation's regulatory safety net is being led by lawmakers with deep financial ties to the corporations and lobbying groups that often complain about federal standards, campaign finance data show.

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Who’s Really Behind Lawmakers’ Attacks on Regulation?

Mar 11, 2011 by Matthew Madia

Paul Blumenthal from the Sunlight Foundation describes on The Huffington Post how the for-profit college industry is leveraging campaign contributions to convince Congress to do the industry’s bidding.

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Consumer Products Reporting Database Under Attack

Corporations and their political allies are targeting a public database that allows consumers to file complaints about unsafe products with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Republicans in the House are trying to prevent the agency from spending money to implement the reporting site by blocking approximately $3 million in funding.

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House Budget: More Exemptions and Lower Payments for Big Oil

Feb 23, 2011 by Matthew Madia

In the latest issue of The Watcher, OMB Watch discusses (here and here) the recently passed House budget and the many non-budget provisions attached to it, including the anti-environmental riders that prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other agencies from doing this or that.

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Scores of Public Interest Organizations Oppose Congressional Effort to Halt Crucial Safeguards

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14, 2011—Seventy-two labor, environmental, consumer advocacy, health care, and other public interest organizations have called on lawmakers to oppose a fast-moving bill designed to halt the most important new public protections that agencies are developing to safeguard the American people.

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Anti-regulatory Forces Launch Full Assault on Public Protections

Corporate lobbyists and their allies in Congress have launched a systematic, coordinated effort to attack the federal government's efforts to boost innovation and protect public health, worker safety, and environmental quality. The attacks appear to have the Obama administration backpedalling on its agenda to provide meaningful health and safety standards to the American people.

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The REINS Act -- What a Mess

Feb 2, 2011 by Matthew Madia

Continuing our look at how H.R. 10, the REINS Act, would screw up the regulatory process by subjecting all major rules to a vote in Congress before they become effective, we will today look at an example that shows how REINS could cause great uncertainty for businesses (and everyone else).

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Reforming the Rulemaking Process Requires More than New Technology

Jan 27, 2011 by Gary Bass*

The three ideas for reforming participation in the rulemaking process in Beth’s Noveck's blog post, "Turning Rule Writers Into Problem Solvers: Creating a 21st Century Government That's Open and Competent by Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review," may or may not be useful. They certainly can and should be tested empirically. But the focus on these participation issues must be complemented by reform of the rulemaking process itself.

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Wall Street Journal Stumps for Messy Anti-Regulatory Bill

Jan 14, 2011 by Matthew Madia

Today, the Wall Street Journal came out in favor of the REINS Act (introduced last year and sure to be introduced again) which would require all new major regulations – regardless of their benefit to the public – go before Congress before taking effect.

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Protecting the Public or Big Business? Battle Lines are Drawn

As the 112th Congress convenes, a renewed battle over the role of government in protecting the public is being waged. The battle reflects the decades-old myth that regulations are "job-killers" and that government must either sacrifice jobs to provide public safety or sacrifice lives, health, and environmental quality to protect jobs.