Contracting out Our National Identity

May 2, 2007 by Matthew Madia

Yesterday, Reg•Watch blogged about a conflict-of-interest controversy at the National Institutes of Health. A scientific consulting firm which prepares the Report on Carcinogens has a client list including, in addition to NIH, Merck and GlaxoSmithKline.

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Latest Watcher

May 2, 2007 by Matthew Madia

Be sure to check out the latest issue of our biweekly newsletter, The Watcher. Regulatory policy articles this time: OSHA's Lack of Standard Setting under Fire White House Tightens Grip on Regulatory Power Grab House Subcommittee Steps Up Oversight on Regulatory Changes

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House Democrats Continue To Try and Hash Out Fixes for Long Awaited Lobbying Bill

May 2, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

According to CongressDaily, House Democratic leaders met yesterday to work on the stalled lobbying and disclosure bill. The Judiciary Committee held one hearing in March on the bill the Senate passed in January, but no legislation has yet to be introduced. Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) accurately commented; "It's a time crunch. No doubt about it. It's May 1 already," and he has expressed plans to mark up the bill as soon as possible.

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Guidance Expected on Political Activity For 501(c)(3) Organizations

May 2, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

According to BNA Money and Politics ($$) the Exempt Organizations Division in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will issue precedential guidance on what constitutes political activity based on the IRS fact sheet published in February 2006, but will hopefully provide more precise information for tax exempt organizations going into the 2008 election season. The guidance on political activity for 501(c)(3) organizations was a part of the IRS's first update of its 2006-2007 priority guidance plan.

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Drug Importation Could Derail PDUFA Reauthorization

May 2, 2007 by Matthew Madia

Yesterday, Reg•Watch blogged about the various amendments to the Senate PDUFA reauthorization bill. An additional provision has become the subject of political wrangling. Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) support a provision which would allow importation of drugs from Canada and the European Union. Yesterday, OMB released a statement indicating the president would likely veto PDUFA reauthorization if it included such a provision.

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Estate Tax Audits- Important?

May 2, 2007 by Matt Lewis

There's a good Wall Street Journal article today on the importance of estate tax audits. But it's missing some critical context. On one of the people in the story, a former estate tax auditor: Ms. New started auditing estate-tax returns in the IRS's Detroit office in the 1980s. She managed an estate-tax group from 2001 until early this year, when she took a buyout and went into private practice.

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Watcher: May 1, 2007

May 2, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Mapping out the Post-Veto Supplemental Landscape President George W. Bush and Congress are continuing their power struggle over policies related to the war in Iraq, with a war funding bill containing a "goal" timeline for withdrawal of soldiers headed for an almost certain veto. Senate Still Without Strong Earmark Disclosure ProvisionsWhile the House passed earmark disclosure provisions in its initial rules package in January, a stronger proposal for earmark disclosure passed by the Senate as part of a larger lobbying and ethics reform bill has languished for months.

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MacDonald out, but Scientific Integrity Concerns Remain

May 2, 2007 by Matthew Madia

In March, Reg•Watch blogged about Julie MacDonald, one of the Bush administration's political minions who was manipulating environmental science to meet political ends. Yesterday, the Interior Department announced MacDonald's resignation. Interior is right to hold MacDonald accountable for her transgressions, but, as The New York Times reports, the move comes as the House Natural Resources Committee prepares to hold an oversight hearing next week on scientific integrity.

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IRS Privatization Debate Heats Up

May 1, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-SD) and Patty Murray (D-WA) released a "Dear Colleague" letter, or a message between representatives, in favor of S. 335, a bill that would end the IRS private debt collection program. The letter is part of the congressional war of words over the bills that would end the IRS program. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN) have sent letters defending the program. Here's Grassley's letter, and here's the first and second part of Gordon's letter.

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Scientific Contractor Besmirches RoC's Good Name

May 1, 2007 by Matthew Madia

The National Institutes of Health are once again under fire for relying on scientific consultants with industry ties. In March, OMB Watch reported on a contractor essentially running an office which researches reproductive health. In this instance, the potential for irresponsible contracting is jeopardizing one of the federal government's most important scientific products — the Report on Carcinogens (RoC). NIH hires the Constella Group to prepare the RoC which is intended to be an authoritative study on the most significant cancer-causing substances to which humans are exposed.

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