Many speculate that the Obama administration avoided publishing controversial rules during the election season. However, corporate interests that have been fighting against stronger standards continue to do so, and advocates for stronger protections are waiting to see if the administration will act more aggressively to protect public health and the environment in its second term.

The New York Times recently reported that a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report was "withdrawn from circulation" at the behest of Senate Republicans. The CRS report finds no relationship between upper-income tax rates and economic growth, undercutting Republican claims that an extension of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy is necessary for economic growth. Senate Republicans called the report's validity into question, and CRS eventually withdrew it. However, the report's findings are only the latest in a series that suggest only a tenuous relationship between the economy and upper-income and capital gains tax cuts.

The White House and federal agencies have multiple tools to temporarily postpone most of the impacts of across-the-board spending cuts, known as "sequestration," scheduled to take place on Jan. 2, 2013, if budget talks during the congressional lame-duck session break down, according to a new OMB Watch analysis released Nov. 2.

As the country continues to recover from the effects of Hurricane Sandy, one lesson is already clear: government information plays a vital role in Americans' everyday lives whether they realize it or not. Information created, collected, and disseminated by government agencies alerted the nation to the storm, tracked its every move, and helped millions of Americans to prepare.