White House 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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more news

Gaps in Homeland Security Benefit Bush Campaign Funders

The Bush administration has weakened, opposed, or failed to initiate proposals to address security gaps that leave chemical and nuclear plants, hazardous material carriers, shipping ports, and drinking water facilities vulnerable to terrorist attacks, according to a new report that links these failures to Bush campaign funding from the very industries that oppose needed regulation.

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Welcome!

Aug 23, 2004 by Matthew Madia

Welcome to OMB Watch's new regulatory policy blog, your home for quick alerts to the latest news and views about protections of the public interest. For permalinks, just click on the headline of any blog entry.

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White House Overrides Forest Service, Allows Gas Project

White House officials have overridden a decision by the U.S. Forest Service to deny a Texas energy company's request to explore for natural gas in a national forest, according to correspondence uncovered by the Los Angeles Times. Although the Forest Service originally denied the request by El Paso Corp. two years ago, the agency made an about-face earlier this month and laid the groundwork for a future approval of the company's request to drill in the Carson National Forest, a section of New Mexico's Valle Vidal adjacent to the nation's largest Boy Scout camp.

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Comments on OIRA 2004 Draft Report on Regulatory Costs and Benefits

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OMB Role in Fuel Economy Change Exposed

White House staff prompted the development of a controversial proposed overhaul of the entire structure of automobile fuel economy regulation aimed at diminishing standards. Foremost among the architects of the change was John Graham, administrator of OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).

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White House Changes Experts' Report on Health Effects of Mercury

The White House and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) made changes to a report from the National Academy of Sciences on the toxicology of mercury, a powerful neurotoxin that is especially dangerous to pregnant women and young children. According to documents obtained by the New York Times, White House staff made editorial interventions in the report, which was commissioned by Congress to establish the science on the risks associated with mercury. The White House's alterations downplayed the risks of mercury, replaced specific enumerations of mercury-related harms with bland, general

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President Bush Stacks Council on Bioethics

On Feb. 27, President Bush dismissed two handpicked members of his Council on Bioethics who had publicly supported human embryonic stem cell research -- which the president opposes -- and replaced them with three members who can be counted on to fall in line. The two dismissed members include Elizabeth Blackburn, a renowned biologist at the University of California at San Francisco, and William May, a highly respected emeritus professor of ethics at Southern Methodist University. In their place, the president appointed:

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Leading Scientists Say Bush Administration Suppresses, Distorts Facts

More than 60 distinguished scientists, including 20 Nobel laureates, blasted the Bush administration last week for suppressing and distorting scientific information that does not support its predetermined agenda.

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Administration Asks Manufacturers for Regulatory Hit List

OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), headed by John Graham, is soliciting recommendations for regulatory revisions that would reduce costs for the U.S. manufacturing sector, brazenly putting special interests over the public interest.

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GAO Finds OMB Regulatory Review Not Well Documented

Under the Bush administration, OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) has significantly affected the substance of health, safety and environmental standards but failed to consistently document its influence, according to a report by the General Accounting Office (GAO).

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