New Posts

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 Problematic Voting Predictions

This comprehensive New York Times article covers a number of various problems that may arise on Election Day. Electronic voting machines are arriving late, and there is a shortage of educated people to work them. Vendors for the new machines are even looking to computer science graduate students and websites such as Monster.com for help. As well, many poll workers and voters could be unsure in some areas whether or not voter identification laws will be in effect or not. New computerized statewide voter registration rolls have also left many voters off the registration lists.

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Georgia Mailing Misleads Voters on Voter ID

A Georgia voter identification law was banned, yet the State Election board mailed out letters to voters informing them that they may need to show either a free Georgia voter identification card or a form of photo ID to vote in person. State Election Board Vice Chair McIver was under the impression that the mailing went out to 20,000, while the contents of the letter remained to be false, he became more concerned after finding out that in fact 200,000 voters received the letter.

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2004 Voting Problems Remain

As the November election gets closer and closer, attention continues to focus on the problems surrounding the voting process along with various speculations about how this mid-term election will pan out. However, there is reason for such awareness. The Century Foundation, Common Cause and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights have published "Voting in 2006: Have We Solved the Problems of 2004?" This report is a follow up to their report on the voting problems found on Election Day in 2004. Unfortunately, their study found that since 2004, not enough has changed.

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"Nonprofits Fight Terror Guidelines"

This Wall Street Journal article summarizes the work of OMB Watch and others who have responded to the Treasury's revised Anti-terrorist Financing Guidelines. As OMB Watch has noted in it's analysis, the Treasury has moved or modified certain language, while the main focus of the guidelines is maintained. OMB Watch's commentary on the latest revision says the information-collection recommendations remain "burdensome and unrealistic." Charities also argue that certain federal agencies have begun referencing the guidelines in discussions with nonprofits as if they had the force of law.

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Report Summarizes Priorities of Nonprofits

The Nonprofit Congress, an initiative of the National Council of Nonprofit Associations (NCNA) has put out "Voices from the Field: The National Meeting Briefing Book", which summarizes the priorities of nonprofits. Six key priorities of nonprofits are outlined, which include; Nonprofit Organizational Effectiveness; Nonprofit Collaboration; Advocacy and Grassroots Community Activities; Partnerships with Government and Business; Public Awareness and Support of the Nonprofit Sector; and Social Change.

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Nonprofits Used to Further Abramoff Lobbying

The minority staff of the Senate Finance Committee released a report yesterday detailing how five nonprofits have put their tax exempt status at risk in their dealings with lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

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"Faith-Based" Initiative Office Used For GOP Campaigns

David Kuo, a former staffer in the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives has written a book, "Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction," that outlines how the "faith based" initiative program was used to help GOP candidates. Disturbingly, the book holds claims that applications for federal faith-based funds were sometimes rejected because they were not Christian, despite White House officials insisting that money would be available to all religious groups.

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Virginia Muslim Charities Investigation Continues Over Four Years

The Washington Post has this interesting story about an international terrorism financing investigation that began March 2002. More than 15 sites in Northern Virginia were affected by the raids four years ago including charities, businesses, and think tanks, in particular the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT). Noticeably, this investigation is taking a great length of time, reportedly because of an elaborate money trail. During this time, "Some of the organizations raided in 2002 have closed, including several affiliated with Alamoudi, who is serving a 23-year prison term.

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Side-by-Side Comparison of 2005 and 2006 Treasury Anti-Terrorist Financing Guidelines

On Sept. 29, 2006 the U.S. Department of the Treasury released the third version since 2002 of its Anti-Terrorist Financing Guidelines: Voluntary Best Practices for U.S.-Based Charities. The new Guidelines come after Treasury requested public comments on the Dec. 2005 revision of the original Guidelines. See our comparison chart in pdf format.

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Treasury Releases Third Version of Anti-Terrorist Financing Guidelines

On Sept. 29, 2006 the U.S. Department of the Treasury released the third version since 2002 of its Anti-Terrorist Financing Guidelines: Voluntary Best Practices for U.S.-Based Charities. The new Guidelines come after Treasury requested public comments on the Dec. 2005 revision of the original Guidelines. In an annex to the latest version, Treasury provides an unconvincing explanation of its perception that abuse of charities by terrorists is a substantial problem. Treasury also uses the latest version to place greater emphasis on the voluntary nature of the guidelines.

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Resources & Research

Living in the Shadow of Danger: Poverty, Race, and Unequal Chemical Facility Hazards

People of color and people living in poverty, especially poor children of color, are significantly more likely...

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A Tale of Two Retirements: One for CEOs and One for the Rest of Us

The 100 largest CEO retirement funds are worth a combined $4.9 billion, equal to the entire retirement account savings of 41 percent of American fam...

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