Political 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

Questioning QALYs and CEA

Mar 27, 2006 by Guest Blogger

Merrill Goozner of CSPI has a blog with an entry helpfully going through Quality Adjusted Life Years: Medical economists conduct these cost-benefit studies to determine if a new drug, medical device or surgical procedure is worth its pricetag. But how do they determine benefits? Over the years, the profession has developed a tool for measuring medical value known as the quality adjusted life year, or QALY. One year of perfect health gets a score of one QALY. If a patient is bedridden and in constant pain for that entire year, it might be considered a .3 (three-tenths of a year) QALY.

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Support Grassroots Lobbying Disclosure!

Tell the Senate to keep the grassroots lobbying provision in S.1 for the strongest reform bill possible. This measure contains a provision that would require disclosure of federal grassroots lobbying, but only for groups already registered under the Lobby Disclosure Act because of their direct federal lobbying expenses or firms that spend over $25,000 in a quarter conducting such campaigns on behalf of clients. There has been some incorrect information spreading regarding the provision, such as the claim that it will silence many small groups. We must correct this myth.

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Sign-On Letter in Support of Grassroots Lobbying Disclosure

A group of 28 national, state and local organizations signed onto a letter supporting grassroots lobbying disclosure. Would your organization like to sign on? If so, email ombwatch@ombwatch.org.

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Half-Baked and PART-Broiled

Mar 22, 2006 by Matthew Madia

We already know that there's a significant mismatch between PART scores, actual program performance, and budget/management policy decisions. We usually hear of a good program that gets a bad PART score, based on criteria that don't really apply to the program, and then is slated for budget cuts. Don't forget, though, that the White House is notorious for claiming that its budget cuts are based on programs' ineffectiveness -- even when most of the programs slated for cuts haven't actually been assessed by even this worthless tool.

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PART Strikes Again

Mar 22, 2006 by Matthew Madia

Independent oil and gas producers are joining the chorus of voices criticizing the White House's political performance measurement tool, PART. From the industry source, here's a look at what's at stake: Independent producers are back fighting what has become an annual spring battle to preserve federal support for domestic oil and gas research and development. But the stakes are much greater than a few tax breaks, an Independent Petroleum Association of America official said.

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PRA Hearing Features Industry Anti-Reg Wish List

Testimony in a House hearing on the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) revealed industry groups' intentions of using PRA reauthorization to push an anti-regulatory agenda.

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Climate Change, Whistleblowers, and Politicizing Science

Mar 20, 2006 by Guest Blogger

If you missed it last night (what, you were watching basketball?), 60 Minutes had a segment on the Bush administration's tendency to rewrite the science of climate change. Here's a brief look: What James Hansen believes is that global warming is accelerating. He points to the melting arctic and to Antarctica, where new data show massive losses of ice to the sea. . . . . "The natural changes, the speed of the natural changes is now dwarfed by the changes that humans are making to the atmosphere and to the surface."

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PART: Meet Winchester, Virginia

Mar 13, 2006 by Matthew Madia

PART is still pretty unfamiliar to most followers of federal policy at the national level, so it is interesting to note this story in the Winchester Star newspaper: When kids and families struggle with substance abuse or other issues, it is a total community issue. The Safe and Drug Free Schools Program helps school systems provide support for troubled students and families through services such as violence and drug prevention. But the federal program, which provides for state grants and national programs, has been targeted for elimination in President Bush’s 2007 budget.

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Senate Lobbying Reform Legislation: Specific Provisions Relating to Nonprofits

This paper provides a summary of action to date on legislation being considered on the Senate floor and a review of provisions relating to nonprofits. Although the entire legislation affects the nonprofit community by helping to offset the role money has in influencing public policy, there are provisions specifically applying to nonprofits that we describe.

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OMB Watch Letter to the Senate on Grassroots Lobbying and Coalition Disclosure

Ensure Coalition and Grassroots Disclosure Provisions Remain Intact! Dear Senator: OMB Watch strongly urges you to support the Coalition and Grassroots Lobbying Disclosure Provisions currently within S. 2349, the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act, currently being debated on the Senate floor, and asks that you oppose any attempts to strike these important provisions. We believe the disclosure of grassroots lobbying expenditures is necessary to ensure a level playing field for all nonprofits.

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