NIH begins to address conflicts of interest

Sep 28, 2004 by Guest Blogger

According to the Washington Post, NIH is proposing a one-year moratorium on outside collaboration with pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies for all scientists. The ban comes in the wake of an internal investigation (prompted by an LA Times article last fall) that has found serious cases of conflict of interest within the agency, including one scientist receiving $600 per hour to be an expert witness and another receiving $517,000 over five years by Pfizer without reporting any of it to NIH. NIH is considering a permanent ban on any outside consulting by high-ranking scientists.

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New consumer agenda

Sep 28, 2004 by Guest Blogger

Six consumer protection groups -- Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, National Association of Consumer Advocates, National Consumer Law Center, Public Citizen, and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group -- have worked together to produce the Consumer Agenda, a six-point plan for increasing consumer protections and consumers' rights. From the press release:

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Bill to Regulate Independent Political Committees Introduced in Congress

The "527 Reform Act of 2004", introduced on September 22, would limit soft money for independent political groups, but does not clearly exempt advocacy groups exempt under Section 501(c) of the tax code.

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Congress Votes to Extend Bush's Tax Cuts

Sep 27, 2004 by Guest Blogger

The House and Senate voted overwhelmingly on the evening of September 23 to extend three tax cuts amounting to $146 billion total, with $13 billion set aside for a variety of business tax breaks. Because the costs of the tax cuts are not offset at all, many believe that they will end up hurting the middle class in the long run.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a report highlighting how the "middle class" tax cuts will likely end up making the middle class net losers, once the cost of paying for the tax cuts is considered. The report can be read here.

The legisltation, which was passed 92-3 in the Senate and 339-65 in the House, extends the $1,000 per-child tax credit and tax breaks for married couples, and prevents the 10 percent income tax bracket from being applied to smaller amounts of earned income. The legislation also extends alternative minimum tax relief for one year.

Click here to read a Washington Post article with further details on the new tax legislation.

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More news on Bush environmental record

Sep 27, 2004 by Guest Blogger

In case you missed it: Saturday's Washington Post featured an in-depth look at the Bush administration's environmental record. Check out "Oil and Gas Hold the Reins in the Wild West: Land-Use Decisions Largely Favor Energy Industry," Washington Post, Sept. 25, 2004, at A1. This article, like other comprehensive retrospective analyses in the press of the Bush administration regulatory record, is listed and linked here on our website.

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Short-changing your welfare for election-year gain?

Sep 27, 2004 by Guest Blogger

Stunning article in today's New York Times suggesting that agencies are "slow rolling" -- delaying -- needed protections of the public health, safety, and environment in order to secure industry support for this administration's reelection: In recent weeks, federal agencies across the vast Washington bureaucracy have delayed completion of a range of proposed regulations from food safety and the environment to corporate governance and telecommunications policy until after Election Day, when regulatory action may be more politically palatable.

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Center for Regulatory Effectiveness

The Center for Regulatory Effectiveness, founded by former Deputy Administrator of the Reagan White House's Office of Management and Budget Jim Tozzi, has been at the forefront of corporate America's efforts to use the Data Quality Act to distort regulatory policy in the service of corporate special interests. For more information, consult the Disinfopedia Chris Mooney , "Paralysis by Analysis, Jim Tozzi's regulation to end all regulation," Washington Monthly, May 2004

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ALEC: American Legislative Exchange Council

ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, is corporate America's conduit to the state legislatures. With its network of conservative state legislators, ALEC has promoted hundreds of harmful legislative proposals on a range of subjects from privatization of foster care to anti-environmental rollbacks. For a thorough introduction to ALEC, check out ALECWatch.org, with its comprehensive report of ALEC's history, news coverage of the largely unknown organization, lists of ALEC initiatives, and information on ALEC's funders -- naturally, a Who's Who of corporate America.

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Latest harmonization notices

Sep 24, 2004 by Guest Blogger

Recent notices in the Federal Register referring to efforts to harmonize domestic regulatory policy with international standards. (For more on what this all means, see Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch.)

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House Committee Finds FDA Failed to Warn Public About Danger

Sep 24, 2004 by Guest Blogger

FDA officials have had indicators that antidepressants could increase suicidality in children since as early as 1996, according to testimony given in front of the House Energy Commerce Committee yesterday by senior officials from the FDA’s Office of Drug Evaluation. However, rather than acting with caution, the FDA chose to forestall strong warnings on the use of antidepressants in children, despite the fact that most clinical trials have shown that antidepressants are no more effective than placebos in treating child depression.

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