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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House Subcommittee Moves to Slightly Increase Funding for Transparency Projects, but More Resources Needed

WASHINGTON, June 16, 2011—The House Financial Services and General Government appropriations subcommittee today approved its fiscal year 2012 spending bill. The legislation would slightly increase funding for critical government transparency projects, but the full ramifications of the subcommittee’s actions are unclear.

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WaPo on the Drivers of Debt

They just can't help themselves

Last week, I noted the Washington Post's flawed execution of journalistic "even-handedness" in its editorial on President Obama's draft executive order (EO) on contractor disclosure. It seems the paper is once again leveling partisan disparities with a snazzy new interactive graphic on the drivers of our nation's debt, titled, "Votes that pushed us into the red."

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Issa, Cummings, Devaney Agree: We Need E-Gov Funding

In a hearing on federal spending transparency which just concluded, House Oversight Committee ranking member Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) entered our letter signed by more than 30 transparency groups in support of restoring the Electronic Government Fund into the hearing record. The E-Gov Fund supports important government websites such as USAspending.gov, the IT Dashboard, Data.gov, and Performance.gov.

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Commission on Wartime Contracting: Iraq Contracting Disaster Looming

On June 6, the Commission on Wartime Contracting (CWC) held a hearing to examine the Department of State's (State) continued preparations for taking control of operations in Iraq from the Department of Defense (DOD). In the past, the CWC has been less than sanguine about State's ability to run contingency operations in Iraq and has chided the agency for slow-walking reforms, especially in relation to contract oversight.

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Commentary: Issa Releases New Spending Transparency Bill

On June 13, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair Darrell Issa (R-CA) introduced a bill to revamp federal spending transparency. The new bill, called the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act), would create a new board to oversee spending transparency, as well as implement full multi-tier recipient reporting. While the bill is a welcome effort to improve federal spending transparency, it still lacks some key details, contains a few worrisome provisions, and does not go far enough in broadening transparency in federal spending.

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Administration Taking Recovery Accountability Government-wide

This morning, Vice President Joe Biden announced a major initiative to identify and eliminate government waste – the “Campaign to Cut Waste.” As Biden was announcing the initiative, President Obama issued a new executive order authorizing the main components of the campaign. The expansion of accountability measures for federal spending is a welcome and productive move by the administration.

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Open Government Groups Urge Congress to Restore Funding for Transparency Efforts

WASHINGTON, June 13, 2011—OMB Watch today released a letter, signed by more than 30 transparency and good government groups, calling for restoration of the funding for the Electronic Government Fund (E-Gov Fund). This fund supports important government websites such as USAspending.gov, the IT Dashboard, Data.gov, and Performance.gov.

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Open Government Groups Urge Congress to Restore Funding for Transparency Efforts

OMB Watch today released a letter, signed by more than 30 transparency and good government groups, calling for restoration of the funding for the Electronic Government Fund (E-Gov Fund). This fund supports important government websites such as USAspending.gov, the IT Dashboard, Data.gov, and Performance.gov.

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WaPo and the GOP Take Aim at Disclosure EO

Kaplan Inc. and the Global Oppression Party

In a thoroughly confused editorial published last weekend, the Washington Post told readers it simply does not care for President Obama’s draft executive order (EO) on contractor disclosure, claiming it’s “uneasy” with the “well-intentioned but flawed” proposal. Coming to the Post’s rescue, though, congressional Republicans have introduced stand-alone legislation similar to the recently passed Cole amendment that would prevent federal agencies from requiring contractors to disclose political spending to the public.

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When Are We Going to Have a Real Discussion About the Deficit?

Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) is getting specific about what the hostage takers Republicans want in exchange for raising the debt ceiling.

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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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more resources