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

Tell EPA to Protect Communities from Toxic Coal Ash

Aug 25, 2010 by Matthew Madia

OMB Watch is asking you to tell the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set strong public health and environmental standards for coal ash, a toxic waste resulting from coal combustion.

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Recess Appointment Puts Food Safety Agency Back on Track

Aug 20, 2010 by Matthew Madia

Yesterday, President Obama recess appointed Elisabeth Hagen to serve as the USDA Undersecretary for Food Safety. Hagen was nominated by Obama in January 2010, but has had difficulty getting the Senate’s attention.

Hagen had been the chief medical officer at the USDA. Now, as undersecretary, she will head the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the regulator of meat and poultry products.

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Another Shameful Attack on Our Public Protections

Jul 21, 2010 by Gary Bass*

There they go again. Amid some of the most spectacular market failures the country has ever seen, business lobbyists and their friends in Congress want to reinvigorate their discredited deregulatory agenda.

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Obama Asks for Improved Safety Conditions for Government Workers

Jul 20, 2010 by Matthew Madia

President Obama is asking his administration to make federal workplaces safer. In a memo yesterday, Obama announced his Protecting Our Workers and Ensuring Reemployment (POWER) Initiative, a four-year effort aimed at reducing on-the-job illnesses and injuries among government employees.

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At the White House, Business Finds an Audience for Anti-Regulatory Message

Jul 16, 2010 by Matthew Madia

The Business Roundtable, a coalition of top corporate executives, has submitted to the White House a list of laws, regulations, taxes, and other policies it believes are hurting businesses and would like to see rolled back – a roadmap for a dangerous, deregulatory future.

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Obama Faltering on Pledge to Restore the Role of Science

Jul 9, 2010 by Matthew Madia

One year after the White House was supposed to chart a new course for the role of scientists and the integrity of scientific information in government, federal employees and the public continue to await reform.

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Obama Presses Senate on Food Safety Bill

Jul 8, 2010 by Matthew Madia

President Obama yesterday gently reminded the U.S. Senate that food safety reform is still on their agenda, and that Senators may want to pass legislation in order to expand protections for the food supply.

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Simplify Choices, Disclose More to Alter Public Behavior, White House Says

The White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will push government to look at regulation in a new light and reassess how the choices regulators make affect the choices the public makes, according to a new memorandum sent to federal agencies.

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Obama Blocks Lobbyists from Government Panels

Jun 18, 2010 by Matthew Madia

Today, President Obama issued a memo barring registered lobbyists from serving on federal advisory committees, boards, and commissions.

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Obama Addresses Food Safety Concerns in the Gulf

Jun 15, 2010 by Matthew Madia

The Obama administration is attempting to reassure Americans that seafood from the Gulf of Mexico is safe to eat amid the BP-Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster. President Obama discussed food safety yesterday during a trip to the Gulf. "Let me be clear: Seafood from the Gulf today is safe to eat," Obama said.

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