Publications

Bush Budget Seeks Deep Domestic Cuts, Radical Budget Reforms

The President’s Fiscal Year 2006 (FY06) budget was released today and contains deep cuts in domestic discretionary spending outside of homeland security. Overall, the president’s $2.57 trillion budget seeks to cut non-defense domestic discretionary spending by one percent – eliminating dozens of popular government program and drastically reducing funding for many others.

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Budget Includes Anti-Regulatory Proposals

As expected, the White House included several threats of new anti-regulatory initiatives in today’s budget release to Congress. As OMB Watch reported earlier, the White House used the occasion of the budget release to announce two proposals for creating unelected commissions with far-reaching powers to weaken protections of the public health, safety, civil rights, and environment:

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    OSHA Must Improve Safety for Meat and Poultry Workers

    Recent reports highlight the dangerous and sometimes deadly working conditions faced by workers in the meat industry and the urgent need for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to take increased actions.

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    Bill Would Place Homeland Security Above All Law

    A bill to establish national identification card standards and restrict asylum claims also contains a controversial provision to empower the Secretary of Homeland Security to waive any and all laws in the course of securing the borders from illegal immigration. The provision also includes an exemption from judicial review that not only shields the waiver decisions from court scrutiny but also strips courts of any power to order remedies for anyone harmed by the consequences of such decisions. Background

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    HHS Withholds Study Results Showing Head Start Is Effective

    The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) failed to publish two reports that show Head Start is effective in raising the academic performance of low-income children. The National Head Start Association (NHSA) recently leaked the data, noting that the Bush administration continues its efforts to dismantle the program. Head Start advocates have been fighting the administrationÕs proposals to restructure the program for more than two years.

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    Investigation of Agency Use of Funds for Propaganda Requested

    Several columnists, some with ties to nonprofits, have recently been the agents of covert propaganda for the Bush administration. An investigation by USA Today revealed that the Department of Education (ED) hired a public relations agency, Ketchum Incorporated, to promote the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). As part of this contract, Ketchum entered into a subcontract to pay Armstrong Williams, a conservative commentator, $240,000, to promote the NCLB. Two more cases of similar actions have surfaced, prompting the Campaign Legal Center to request an investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

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    Grassley Revenue Proposal Dims Chances for New CARE Act

    On Jan. 24, Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) introduced S. 6, The Family and Community Protection Act of 2005, a tax and welfare reform bill that includes the Charity, Aid, Recovery and Empowerment Act (CARE). Although the bill was included in Majority Leader Sen. Bill FristÕs (R-TN) Republican Top Ten Agenda for 2005, recent moves by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) dim the ActÕs chances of success.

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    New Bill to Regulate Independent PACs Introduced

    On Feb. 2, seeking to act before the 2006 congressional campaigns get underway, sponsors of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) announced the introduction of a new bill aimed at regulating independent political committees. The 527 Reform Act of 2005, S. 271, specifically targets groups exempt under Section 527 of the tax code, so that charities and other groups exempt under Section 501(c) that focus on issues, not candidates, would not be impacted.

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    IRS Clarifies Rules for Foundation Funding for Lobbying

    A recent letter from the Internal Revenue Service to the Washington, DC-based nonprofit, Charity Lobbying in the Public Interest, sheds light on the rules that govern private foundation lobbying. CLPI had requested that the IRS answer a series of questions aimed at clarifying the law on foundation support of nonprofits that engage in lobbying. The response from the IRS dispels the misperception that foundation funding of nonprofits that lobby is inappropriate and illegal.

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    NAACP Says IRS Summons Illegal, Politically Motivated

    On Jan. 27, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People declined to respond to a summons from the Internal Revenue Service in an audit based on charges of illegal partisan activity. The NAACP said the IRS did not follow proper procedures and the agency’s actions are politically motivated. The IRS denied its motives are political and referred the allegation to the Treasury Department’s Inspector General for Tax Administration. The audit is unusual because it is based on NAACP Chairman Julian Bond’s July 2004 convention speech that criticized Bush administration policies.

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