Publications

Economy and Jobs Watch: Employment Struggling to Recover

Employment increased by a steady 288,000 jobs in April, the Department of Labor announced earlier this month. The unemployment rate remains steady at 5.6 percent as well.

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Secret ACLU, NYCLU Lawsuit Tests Constitutionality of Patriot Act

While Congress remains reluctant to extend provisions of the Patriot Act set to expire in 2005, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and New York Civil Liberties Union revealed that they secretly filed a lawsuit last month challenging the constitutionality of a section of the Patriot Act that gives the government the authority to use "National Security Letters" to subpoena business records without judicial oversight.

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Lawsuits Challenge Viewpoint Discrimination Against Nonprofit Public Communications

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed two federal lawsuits aimed at protecting nonprofit speech.

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Democratic Senator Cancels Criticized Fundraiser

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AK) has decided to cancel her July 28 fundraiser that was to be held during the weekend of Democratic National Convention in Boston. Worried about both potential criticism and comparisons with the fundraiser hosted by Rep. Tom DeLay's (R-TX), Lincoln decided to pull the plug. For more on this see last week's Watcher story entitled, In the Name of Charity or Political Gain?

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Anti-regulatory Bill Pushes Through House

A bill making its way through the House threatens to advance the cause of "regulatory budgeting" policies that ration our protections of the public health, safety and environment based on phony cost and benefit numbers tailoredto serve industry interests. Called the "Paperwork and Regulatory Improvements Act of 2004," HREF="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:h.r.02432:">H.R. 2432 moved from its

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Internet Tax Ban Going Nowhere

As reported in the last Watcher, on April 28 the Senate passed a four-year continuation of the now-expired Internet tax moratorium. Disagreements with the House make passage of the ban unlikely.

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As U.S. Embraces Secrecy, Other Countries Embrace Openness

Countries around the world are embracing laws promoting openness in government, according to an updated global survey for freedominfo.org, a web site operated by the National Security Archive and other openness advocates. Over 50 countries have adopted freedom-of-information laws similar to the United States' Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which guarantees the public's right to access documents held by most of the executive branch. More than half of these governments passed these laws within the last decade.

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A Tax Cut a Week in the House

In spite of the "PayGo" logjam over whether or not tax cuts ought to be offset, which continues to prevent passage of a budget resolution, the House persists with its "a tax cut a week" schedule.

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