Return of the Senior Death Discount?: Heinzerling Takes On Mannix

Is the senior death discount back? It may be, if a recent speech by an Environmental Protection Agency official is any indication.

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Take Action Now: Support Real Transparency for Contracts and Grants

An important legislative effort is gaining steam in the Senate that would shed light on government spending by making federal contracts and grants available to the public free of charge in a searchable, downloadable online format. This legislation comes out of a bipartisan effort led by Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK), Barack Obama (D-IL), Tom Carper (D-DE), and John McCain (R-AZ), who are now seeking endorsements for their bill (S. 2590). OMB Watch strongly supports this legislation and has been working closely with the cosponsors to help craft portions of the bill and ensure its enactment.

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FFRF Sues VA for Violation of Establishment Clause

Interesting case filed by Freedom From Religion Foundation: On April 18, the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) filed suit against officials of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), claiming that the VA's hospital chaplaincy program violates the Establishment Clause. FFRF has brought two previous lawsuits against government programs that link religion and healthcare. This case, should it be determined in FFRF's favor, could impact the historic use of chaplancy in various other aspects of healthcare. For more, see Professor Ira Lupu's analysis of the case.

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Next One In

Bush has named Goldman Sachs CEO Henry M. Paulson to replace John Snow as Secretary of Treasury. The other shoe finally dropped when John Snow resigned Tuesday. Rumors of Snow’s resignation have been circulating since December 2004 when HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson stepped down.

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Pentagon Spending Cuts Detailed

The OMB has released detailed plans for cuts in military spending to offset Bush’s border security costs in the emergency supplemental making its way through Congress. Last week, there was only speculation about how the president’s planned to find nearly $2 billion in military spending to pay for his border security initiative. CQ reporting:

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Next Week: Ask Your Representatives About Sunsets!

Members of Congress are taking off from Washington to be back in their home districts all next week for the Memorial Day recess. They'll be doing town halls, going to Memorial Day events, and shaking hands and kissing babies. Each time you see your member of the House of Representatives is the perfect opportunity to ask about the threat of sunset commissions, proposals to create unelected commissions with the power to recommend whether programs live, die, or get reorganized... and then to push those recommendations through Congress on a fast-track, take-it-or-leave-it basis.

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Next One Out: Treasury Secretary John Snow

Secretary of the Treasury John Snow is will be stepping down from his position sometime over the next few days, he has told the White House. He plans to stay no later than July 3. Snow, a former railroad executive who a source says is excited to get back to the private sector, has been little more than a yes-man for this administration's policies. He has enthusiastically promoted extremely regressive business tax breaks and has done little to proactively fight what is turning into a cycle of continuing budget deficits. Director of Federal Fiscal Policy at OMB Watch Adam Hughes has stated:

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Summary of House Small Biz Hearing on Charitable Giving

From the Council on Foundations: Charitable Giving the Focus of Subcommittee Hearing

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Even More Changes at OIRA

Paul Noe, counselor to the OIRA administrator, is following John Graham and Don Arbuckle out the door. Here's a look at his career, courtesy of the Crowell & Moring press release announcing his move into their firm and related lobbying shop; follow the links for more about what his work actually meant:

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Organizations Speak Out Against Sunsets

A compilation of some of the letters that organizations are sending to Congress to express their opposition to the "sunset commission" chopping block. To be added as they are published. Organization Letters Coalition Sign-On Environment Letter National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities Leadership Council of Aging Organizations      Services to People in Need Groups concerned about Medicaid and Medicare National Low Income Housing Coalition      Education American Association of University Women - May 18, 2006 National Association of State Directors of Special Education

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