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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Last-Minute Ocean Conservation from Bush

Jan 6, 2009 by Matthew Madia

President Bush will announce today that he is conserving areas around remote island chains in the Pacific Ocean — showing that the president is indeed sprinting to the finish, but that not all of his last-minute maneuvering bares bad tidings for the environment. From The Washington Post:

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An Assault on Public Protections: Regulatory Policy News in 2008

The federal government's ability — and sometimes inability — to protect the public drew national attention throughout 2008. President Bush's and senior administration officials' aversion to regulation and their penchant for allowing the market to operate unchecked appeared more and more outmoded in the face of the collapse of the financial market, the rising tide of dangerous imported products, and persistent examples of environmental degradation.

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White House Says "No Surprises" in Last-Minute Rules

Dec 8, 2008 by Matthew Madia

Today, the USA Today editorial board and White House spokesman Tony Fratto duke it out over the issue of midnight regulations. USA Today takes aim at many pending and recently finalized Bush administration regulations stating, "Some of the rules look like favors to Bush allies in energy, mining or other industries; others track his ideology on guns or abortion." USA Today surmises the White House's motivation for the Bolten memo, issued in May 2008:

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Bush Strips Employee Rights with Last-Minute Order

Dec 2, 2008 by Matthew Madia

As a parting gift to many of those who have stuck around during his tenure, President Bush yesterday issued an executive order stripping the collective bargaining rights of thousands of federal employees. Reg•Watch has been focusing on the regulations the Bush administration is expected to finalize before Jan. 20, but executive orders serve as another method for President Bush to advance his priorities in his waning days of power. Executive orders are easier to do than are regulations but also easier to undo. In both cases, it involves just the stroke of a pen.

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White House Still Working to Thwart GHG Regulation

Nov 26, 2008 by Matthew Madia

Although the Bush administration has less than two months left in power, when it comes to climate change, President Bush and his minions are still working hard to disgrace our country and damn our planet. Back in July, the Environmental Protection Agency published an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) on the issue of greenhouse gas emissions. EPA issued the notice — which is merely a suggested framework for future action — after being pressured to back off a more aggressive policy that would have begun to reduce emissions.

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Panel Sends Regulatory Recommendations to Obama, Congress

On Nov. 14, a panel of regulatory experts released a report calling for significant changes to the federal regulatory process. The recommendations are directed to President-elect Obama and the new Congress and are designed to achieve a more effective, efficient, and timely process that is now burdened with excessive requirements and assessments.

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Recommendations on Regulatory Reform for the Next President and Congress

Nov 14, 2008 by Matthew Madia

As most readers of Reg•Watch would agree, the regulatory system in the U.S. is in need of serious repair. News headlines consistently tell tales of contaminated food, dangerous workplaces, and an environment stressed by pollution and posing risks to public health and welfare. Too often, failure can be traced back to the government we entrust with providing us at least some protection from these risks.

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Complaints about Church Electioneering Continue

The 2008 election cycle has produced a number of complaints about religious and charitable organizations illegally opposing or endorsing candidates. The final weeks leading up to the election were no exception, as Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) filed three new complaints to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

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For Controversial Rules, Bush Officials Give Mixed Signals

Oct 28, 2008 by Matthew Madia

Under a deadline imposed by White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, federal agencies were to propose any regulation they wished to finalize under President Bush's watch by June 1 or wait for a new president to take the reigns of government. But several controversial rules that missed the June 1 deadline appeared destined for completion nonetheless.

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EPA to Reduce Airborne Lead, but OMB Bedevils the Details

The Bush administration recently tightened the national public health standard for airborne lead, drawing rare praise from clean air advocates. However, shortcomings in the network for monitoring lead pollution persist, and a new requirement to increase the number of pollution detectors was watered down by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

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