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...

read in full

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...

read in full

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...

read in full

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...

read in full

more news

House Releases New Rules Package

Jan 6, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

The House rules package for the 111th Congress released today (Jan. 6) includes only one change to House ethics rules. Last month groups called for specific House ethics changes, however, the package is not as extensive as they may have hoped. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) has a fact sheet on the changes.

read in full

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:

read in full

Comments on Form LD-203

Dec 23, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The Alliance for Justice issued comments to the House and Senate in response to a request for comments concerning Form LD-203, used by lobbying entities and individual lobbyist to report certain contributions under section 203(a) of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (HLOGA). The comments reference the revised Lobby Disclosure Act (LDA) guidance issued July 16, 2008.

read in full

FEC Approves Bundling Rule

Dec 19, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) unanimously approved a rule for campaign contributions bundled by lobbyists. The proposed rule was only released for public viewing instantly before the hearing. The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act require committees to disclose lobbyists who collect fundraising checks totaling more than $15,000. The rule will not go into effect until sometime next year and the FEC commissioners still need to approve an explanation for the approved rule.

read in full

Groups Urge Changes to Strengthen House Ethics Rules

Dec 16, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

In letters sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH), the Campaign Legal Center and other groups strongly urged that changes are made to House ethics rules in regards to when members negotiate for a new job. The organizations included the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, Democracy 21, the League of Women Voters, Public Citizen and U.S. PIRG.

read in full

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.

read in full

Happy Friday! EPA Announces Two Major Rollbacks

Dec 12, 2008 by Matthew Madia

Just like last week, the Bush administration is unveiling regulations on Friday hoping no one (other than industry lobbyists) will notice. The Environmental Protection Agency today announced two final regulations, or, more precisely, deregulations: one to allow companies to burn tons of hazardous waste and another to exempt factory farms from reporting the air pollution generated by animal waste.

read in full

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:

read in full

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.

read in full

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.

read in full