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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White House Finds in Katrina Recovery 'Opportunity' to Waive Needed Protections

Though most government agencies have worked diligently to alleviate the untold burdens on Hurricane Katrina's victims and to expedite recovery in a safe and effective manner, several agencies have taken the opportunity to waive needed protections, thus possibly putting recovery workers and others at greater risk.

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Homeland Security Waives Law for Border Fence Construction

Apparently taking advantage of media focus on Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it is exercising its newly acquired power to waive apparently all law in order to expedite construction of border fencing near San Diego.

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Bush Decision to Waive Wage Protections Could Be Illegal

Sep 16, 2005 by Guest Blogger

As many surely know by now, the White House decision to suspend its obligations under the Davis-Bacon Act to require a fair minimum wage for contractors working on the reconstruction and recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina will have a direct and drastically negative impact on many of the very victims of the hurricane. Some have noted the irony of this decision given that the hurricane's devastation was compounded by years of poverty and low-wages throughout the Gulf region.

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OMB and the Price of Gas

Sep 14, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Astronomically high gas prices and possible post-Katrina price gouging are all over the news these days. So what does OMB have to do with the price of gas? Well, OMB has for some time been living in a fantasy land with regard to what we're paying at the pump. OMB puts out an annual report on the costs and benefits of regulations, and for the last several years the office has been using a low-ball estimate for the price per gallon of gas when calculating cost and benefit estimates. This year and last, OMB used an estimate of -- get this -- $1.10 to $1.30.

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Did Politics Warp FEMA Priorities?

Sep 13, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Under the provocative headline "Did FEMA 'Buy' Votes for Bush?," IPS asks if political considerations influenced FEMA's priorities -- in particular, the disparity between FEMA's response in Florida (politically valuable) and Louisiana (not). Here's an excerpt: As Michael Brown resigned his post as head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Monday following a relentless beating in the press for his mismanagement of Hurricane Katrina relief and rescue efforts, details on FEMA's past missteps began emerging.

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Bush Suspends Minimum Pay for Contract Workers

Sep 8, 2005 by Guest Blogger

The White House announced that it is suspending its obligations under the Davis-Bacon Act to require a fair minimum wage for contractors working on the reconstruction and recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

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Americans Demand Focus on Domestic Policy

Sep 8, 2005 by Guest Blogger

USA Today is reporting the results of the latest Pew poll, in which a majority expresses its desire for a renewed focus on domestic policy: More than half of Americans now say it is more important for the president to focus on domestic policy — the first time since Sept. 11, 2001 that domestic matters have been viewed as a higher priority than the war on terrorism in polling by the Pew Research Center. Two-thirds said the president could have done more to get relief efforts going quickly, according to the survey.

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OIRA MEets over Risk-based Capital Guidelines

Sep 6, 2005 by Guest Blogger

OIRA met with financial groups on January 27, 2005 to discuss risked-based capital guidelines in the Office of Thrift Supervision. The Unified Agenda lists two rules regarding risk-based capital guidelines: Risk-based Capital Guidelines; Capital Adequacy Guidelines; Maintenance: Domestic Capital and Risk-based Capital Guidelines; Implementation of New Basel Capital Accord.

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PART of the Problem in New Orleans

Sep 2, 2005 by Guest Blogger

There are plenty of signs that the Bush administration failed to invest in projects that could have prevented the devastation in New Orleans — see this recap from the Center for American Progress for more. For another way in, be sure to look at the White House’s assessment of Army Corps of Engineers programs, using OMB’s Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART).

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OIRA Meetings on Brownfields, Oil Spills

Sep 1, 2005 by Guest Blogger

EPA and OIRA met over standard practices for "all appropriate inquiries" with the National Association of Home Builders on Aug. 23. OIRA and EPA also met with energy companies and SBA representatives on Aug. 26 and 29 over a Spill, Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) proposed rule.

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