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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Beating Around the Bushes

One year after President Bush's election, his administration is still slowly starting to take shape. Many vacancies remain, as pointed out by this Brookings Institution project; there are still 159 confirmations left to go out of a total of 508 positions. Yet from the president's nominees so far, the direction he is taking is clear. As described below, federal agencies are becoming littered with former industry lobbyists -- who must now be counted on to regulate their former employers -- and others who have spent their lives questioning the very existence of the agencies they now represent.

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OMB Reg Reviews at a Standstill; Paperwork Reviews Continue Apace

Under E.O. 12866, OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) reviews all major proposed and final rules, as well as other designated rules, to determine whether the agency proposal is consistent with administration policies and priorities. In addition to regulatory review, OIRA reviews all information collected by agencies from 10 or more people, including paperwork required by regulations. This paperwork review, required under the Paperwork Reduction Act, is to be done by OIRA within 90 days of receipt and gives OIRA the power to approve or disapprove the paperwork.

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Administration Pushes Regulatory Implementation Of Charitable Choice

"It is not Congress, but these overly restrictive Agency rules that are repressive, restrictive... [They] unnecessarily and improperly limit the participation of faith-based organizations." This statement, taken from the August White House report on barriers faith-based and community organizations face in applying for federal grants, appeared to lay the groundwork for regulatory, rather than legislative, changes to achieve the "charitable choice" component of the President's faith-based agenda.

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Administration Kills Contractor Responsibility Rule

Two days after Christmas, with no one around to object, the Bush administration quietly revoked a Clinton-era rule that promotes greater accountability for federal contractors -- to make sure they comply with important public protections. Specifically, this contractor responsibility standard instructed government contracting officers to look at a bidding company's compliance with the law (including tax laws, labor laws, employment laws, environmental laws, antitrust laws and consumer protection laws) before awarding taxpayer dollars.

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OMB Identifies Regulations for Repeal

As part of its annual report to Congress on the costs and benefits of federal regulation, released last week, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published a list of 23 "high priority" regulations it believes should be rescinded or revised. Many of these regulations are health, safety, and environmental standards, including major clean air and water standards (e.g., New

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Senate Confirms Daniels for OMB in 100-0 Vote

After a mere 20 minutes of debate, the Senate unanimously confirmed Bush's choice for director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Mitch Daniels. The decisions Daniels makes will be critical, and not just to OMB, but to the entire federal government. For a discussion of what Daniels may mean for OMB, see the January 22, 2001 Watcher.

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Bush Halts Regulatory Activity

In one of his first moves as president, George W. Bush issued a memorandum temporarily prohibiting agencies from publishing new rules in the Federal Register, effectively blocking last-minute regulatory actions by the Clinton administration.

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Bush to Pursue Reg 'Reform' Agenda

January 31, 2001 After eight years of doing battle with the Clinton administration – which frequently backed stronger protections for public health, safety, and the environment – business interests see an opportunity to roll back the clock with President George W. Bush.

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Bush Moves to Turn Back Public Protections

February, 7 2001 Since his first day in office, President Bush has moved aggressively to turn back Clinton-era protections for public health, safety, consumers, and the environment. Specifically: On Jan. 20, Bush's chief of staff, Andrew Card, issued a memorandum directing that agencies halt publication of new standards in the Federal Register, effectively blocking last-minute regulatory activity by the Clinton administration.

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Medical Privacy Revisited

Feb., 28 2001 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tommy Thompson, President Bush’s new secretary of Health and Human Services, announced (on Feb. 26) that the administration would delay and reconsider medical privacy protections put in place at the end of the Clinton administration that would limit the information health care providers can divulge without a patient’s consent. This marked a victory for the health care industry, which had been urging such an action.

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