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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House Budget: More Exemptions and Lower Payments for Big Oil

Feb 23, 2011 by Matthew Madia

In the latest issue of The Watcher, OMB Watch discusses (here and here) the recently passed House budget and the many non-budget provisions attached to it, including the anti-environmental riders that prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other agencies from doing this or that.

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Environmental and Public Health Safeguards Under Siege in House Spending Bill

The House-passed fiscal year 2011 spending bill would stop the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from limiting greenhouse gases from certain sources, halt standards for air and water pollution, and set other conditions on the agency that will complicate its efforts to protect the environment and public health. Other health and safety agencies are also targeted in the bill.

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A Government Shut Down, One Way or the Other

Feb 18, 2011 by Matthew Madia

The 2011 budget has turned into a game of hot potato. With a short-term extension of the current budget increasingly unlikely, it appears as though those holding the decisionmaking authority on March 4 at 11:59 pm, when the current continuing resolution expires, will be forced to make an unpopular decision: passing draconian Republican cuts or forcing the government to shut down.

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Dear Concerned American, You Are Not Alone

Feb 17, 2011 by Matthew Madia

It has been a lonely few months for those of us who believe government ought to help protect the air we breathe, water we drink, food we eat, and products we buy. Opponents of regulation, especially in Congress, have been accusing regulations of being “job-killers” and creating uncertainty (though they never explain how). It can sometimes feel as though we’re outnumbered, outflanked, and outgunned. While the latter two may remain true, the first is certainly not. Two new polls prove that the vast majority of Americans support common sense health and safety standards.

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Broad Opposition to Anti-Regulatory Bill

Feb 14, 2011 by Matthew Madia

On Friday, 72 labor, environmental, consumer advocacy, health care, and other public interest organizations (including OMB Watch) wrote to the House Judiciary Committee urging its members to oppose H.R. 10, the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act. The bill, which we’ve been covering extensively on this blog in recent weeks, would require congressional approval of all major rules before government agencies can implement them.

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Scores of Public Interest Organizations Oppose Congressional Effort to Halt Crucial Safeguards

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14, 2011—Seventy-two labor, environmental, consumer advocacy, health care, and other public interest organizations have called on lawmakers to oppose a fast-moving bill designed to halt the most important new public protections that agencies are developing to safeguard the American people.

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242 Lawmakers Vote Against Safe Food, Water, and Children’s Toys

Feb 14, 2011 by Matthew Madia

242 members of the House of Representatives don't give a damn if your food is uncontaminated, your water is clean, or your children are safe. Don’t believe me? Then you should have been watching C-SPAN last week.

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Anti-Government Senator Introduces REINS Act

Feb 8, 2011 by Matthew Madia

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act yesterday in the Senate. The bill, which would require Congressional approval of all major regulations, has already been introduced in the House and is expected to be a top priority for House leadership.

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Anti-regulatory Forces Launch Full Assault on Public Protections

Corporate lobbyists and their allies in Congress have launched a systematic, coordinated effort to attack the federal government's efforts to boost innovation and protect public health, worker safety, and environmental quality. The attacks appear to have the Obama administration backpedalling on its agenda to provide meaningful health and safety standards to the American people.

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House Republicans’ Rule Inventory is Misguided

Feb 7, 2011 by Matthew Madia

House Republicans are willing to take on a pretty big chore in their quest to demonize regulations. The House Rules Committee will consider on Tuesday a resolution that would require most of the major House committees to review and evaluate all regulations written under the laws in their respective jurisdictions.

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