Publications

Appropriations, the Only Legislation Congress Must Pass Every Year

An omnibus appropriation bills seems all but inevitable, since Congress still hasn't passed eight of the thirteen appropriations bills that fund government.

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EPA Sheltering Information Under Gag Order

A recently leaked internal memo from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) orders agency employees to refrain from discussing information regarding enforcement actions. The gag order came a week before the Bush administration revealed it would drop pending investigations of 70 power plants accused of violating the Clean Air Act (CAA). The Oct. 28 memo from J. P. Suarez, the assistant administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance, instructs staff to refrain from discussing “sensitive enforcement information” with external parties. These third parties include:

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    Internet Tax Moratorium Expires

    Legislation that prohibits states and localities from taxing the fee a user pays to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to connect to the Internet expired Nov. 1, 2003.

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    Data Quality Lawsuit Settled Out of Court

    A controversial lawsuit challenging global warming was recently settled out of court, thereby leaving the issue of whether federal agencies’ data quality guidelines are judicially reviewable unanswered.

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    White House Grants Limited Access to 9/11 Information

    Last week, the White House agreed to grant the 9/11-investigation commission limited access to portions of classified presidential briefings. The commission will have some degree of access to briefings from both the Bush and Clinton administrations. The decision comes after the chairman of the panel threatened the White House with a subpoena if the documents were not released. While the willingness of the White House to grant some access is a positive gesture, many feel that the agreement is not enough.

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    FOI Advocates Get Mixed Results from Defense Authorization Bill

    Open government advocates scored what optimists might call a minor victory when Congress granted the National Security Agency (NSA) a narrowly-tailored exemption from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), according to Secrecy News.

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    Economy and Jobs Watch: Taking the Long View

    Current economic policy is becoming unsustainable. Current and projected federal deficits are reaching the point where many economic commentators worry about the long-run viability of current policy.

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    High Court Asked to Lift Secrecy in Habeas Corpus Proceedings

    The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has asked the Supreme Court to hear a case in which the plaintiff is identified only by his initials and 63 of 65 motions are kept secret. The existence of the case (M.K.B v. Warden) was discovered when a court clerk mistakenly inserted files related to the case in a public docket and a reporter discovered the misfiled papers, according to news reports.

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    Report from the Treasury Department "Death Tax" Roundtable

    On Nov. 6 the Treasury Department hosted a “Roundtable on Jobs, Growth, and the Abolition of the Death Tax." There was surprisingly little substance discussed at this one-sided event – most participants opted to rehash old rhetoric opposing the estate tax. There was no new serious research discussed and no new data presented.

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    Economy and Jobs Watch: Employment Positive, But Still Weak

    October’s unemployment rate remains essentially unchanged from September’s 6.0 percent rate, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced last week. The labor market has improved slightly in recent months, posting employment gains of 126,000 jobs in October, and 125,000 in September.

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