GDP Grows 4.3 Percent in the Third Quarter

The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the economy grew 4.3 percent in the third quarter, which is the best showing in more than a year. The growth marks a sizable increase from the 3.3 percent increase in GDP registered in the second quarter of this year. Corporate profits decreased $45.5 billion this quarter, following a $59.3 billion increase in the previous quarter. According to the BEA, "The major contributors to the increase in real GDP in the third quarter were personal consumption expenditures (PCE), equipment and software, federal government spending, and residential fixed

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EPA to Reduce Testing of Ground Zero

In a slap in the face to resident of New York City, EPA released yesterday a reduced testing plan for contaminants released in the collapse of the World Trade Center. EPA backed away from initial broader testing plan that included parts of Brooklyn and areas north of Canal Street in Manhattan. From the Washington Post:

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Watcher: November 30, 2005

Post-Katrina Survey Finds Wariness, Desire For Change House, Senate to Battle Over Budget Cuts Tax Cut Measure Guarentees Increasing Deficits TABOR: A Losing Proposition For Colorado

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Latest Watcher

Be sure to check out the latest issue of our biweekly newsletter, The Watcher. Katrina-related articles this time: Post-Katrina Survey Finds Wariness, Desire for Change

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Latest Watcher

Be sure to check out the latest issue of our biweekly newsletter, The Watcher. Reg policy articles this time: White House Asserts Authority Over Agency Guidance Documents

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White House Asserts Authority Over Agency Guidance Documents

The White House released a draft bulletin on the day before Thanksgiving that establishes new guidelines for non-rulemaking agency guidance documents.

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Developments Could Hamper, Help Effort to Preserve TRI

In response to a petition from public interest groups, the EPA has extended the deadline for public comments on its proposed cutbacks to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) to Jan 13. In an unrelated change, the agency also moved the electronic docket of public comments from its own website to the federal government's www.regulations.gov. The transition was far from seamless, and the possible effects of the location change in the midst of the rulemaking process are uncertain.

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A New Ultra-Secret Government Agency

Legislation is moving in the Senate to create a new government agency to combat bioterrorism that will operate, unlike any other agency before it, under blanket secrecy protection.

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TABOR: A Losing Proposition for Colorado

Earlier this month, voters in Colorado demonstrated their dissatisfaction with the state's constitutional spending limit law — otherwise known as TABOR--by voting in favor of suspending its spending limits for five years. TABOR, the "taxpayer's bill of rights," had contributed to a significant decline in the state's public services since its enactment in 1992. Unfortunately, this victory in Colorado has come after years of disastrous tax and spending practices eroded state services, harming Colorado's education system, health care programs, and transportation infrastructure.

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It's Not the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (for Appropriations Work)

Although five of the 11 appropriations bills remain to be signed into law by President Bush, Congress has completed work on all but two: the Defense and Labor/Health and Human Services bills. While a massive omnibus has been avoided this year, an equally contentious (and still quite large) bill--a so-called "minibus"--could be passed containing those two final bills. With all the items on the schedule for December and likely only three weeks to complete them, Congress still has a lot of work left to do before they are finished for the year.

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