Former Sen. Ted Stevens was confirmed dead at the site of a plane crash in Alaska. The plane was carrying... View Article
Continue readingRangel to Congress: Go get your shine box!
Now that’s what C-SPAN is for! Rep. Charlie Rangel just took to the floor of the House to defend himself... View Article
Continue readingCongress is somewhat more complicated than you think
A poster over at Slashdot put up an agitated reader comment about the changing nature of the state aid bill... View Article
Continue readingBob Bauer in his own words
Robert F. Bauer, who will take on part of the responsibilities of Norm Eisen, the departing Special Counsel to the President for Ethics and Government Reform, has a long and storied career in Washington. He has represented the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Kerry and Obama presidential campaigns, and 527 organizations like Vote Now and America Coming Together. He’s defended Democratic politicians who ran into ethics trouble, including former Rep. Tony Coelho and former Sen. Robert Torricelli—both of whom were forced to give up their offices as ethics charges mounted against them. He's filed ethics complaints against ...
Continue readingEPA limits chemical accident data citing security concerns
It has been 20 years since Congress included provisions in the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments to inform citizens of risks from factories using hazardous substances, but the data that details the potential effects of accidents at these sites is largely unavailable to the public.
In 1999, the Environmental Protection Agency began requiring plants that use a threshold amount of certain toxic or flammable substances to submit a risk management plan detailing what they are doing to prevent accidents and how they would respond if one occurred. But some lawmakers became concerned about one section of risk plans that laid ...
A Setback in the Commitment from the White House
From our perspective, with the appointment of White House Counsel Bob Bauer and Steven Croley to the Domestic Policy Counsel,... View Article
Continue readingThe Pace of Reform Was Just Too Slow
On June 15th, President Obama addressed the nation, referring to the oil spill and the failed Minerals Management Service, and... View Article
Continue readingNo Country for Self-Funders
I wonder if folks at the @sunfoundation realize they’re creating a system where only billionaires can get elected — Patrick... View Article
Continue readingProject updates on Recovery.gov lack clarity
A Texas company that received $14,675 in economic stimulus money submitted a mandatory progress report to the federal government using just two words: “door mats.” A California solar energy company went to the other extreme, using technical language that gave little insight of what it did with a half-million dollars in taxpayer money.
“The purpose of the reports is to allow the citizens to know where the [stimulus] money is going and what is being used for,” said Jerry Brito, a senior research fellow at George Mason University who is monitoring the process on his website, www.stimuluswatch.org ...
Waters charges
The House Ethics Committee announced three charges against Rep. Maxine Waters today. The Statement of Alleged Violations charges Waters with... View Article
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