WASHINGTON, Oct. 29, 2009—On Oct. 29, OMB Watch posted updated information about the risks of serious public harm posed by thousands of chemical facilities nationwide. The risk management plans of approximately 14,000 facilities that handle more than the threshold amounts of 140 dangerous chemicals are publicly available through the website of the Right-to-Know Network (RTK NET), at www.rtknet.org/db/rmp.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2009—Three nonprofit organizations that have been tracking the Recovery Act today called for the Obama administration to overhaul its jobs data system before releasing its first large set of data on Oct. 30.

When the Senate took up the $819 billion House-passed economic stimulus package (H.R. 1) the week of Feb. 2, not only did the chamber modify myriad spending and tax measures, but it also altered the bill's transparency and accountability provisions. The Senate's version of H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), contains less detail on specific data the Obama administration must provide on stimulus spending. Neither version provides the level of detail that may be needed to collect and disseminate information about the type of jobs that are created or preserved, the wages paid to workers, or information about who may be getting such jobs. The assumption is that the Obama administration, through its Recovery.gov website, will tackle these thorny implementation issues.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2009—OMB Watch applauds President Barack Obama’s decision to undo one of former President George W. Bush’s attempts to paralyze the regulatory process. In an executive order published in today's issue of the Federal Register, Obama revokes Executive Order 13422 and all implementing guidelines and documents.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 14, 2009—OMB Watch today released a report that explores the results of the anti-regulatory actions of the Bush administration since Jan. 20, 2001. The report, The Bush Legacy: An Assault on Public Protections, was crafted in a narrative style by freelance writer and author Osha Gray Davidson and shows that attacks on a variety of common-sense regulations have taken a great toll on the United States.

By Gary D. Bass, OMB Watch
Published September 25, 2008 on CJR.org, the website of the Columbia Journalism Review
Only a few days ago, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson asked Congress to pass legislation that would allow his department to use $700 billion to purchase mountains of bad debt. That's 5 percent of the nation's total annual economic output, or to put it another way, that's even more than what has been spent on the war in Iraq. The magnitude of the funds requisitioned is matched only by the administration's requested level of unchecked power and opacity in how it would execute this historic market intervention.

OMB Watch congratulates the 2008 Public Interest Hall of Fame inductees and the Public Interest Rising Star Award winners!

WASHINGTON, Sept 10, 2008—OMB Watch is pleased to announce that Jason Sabo, Senior Vice President at the United Ways of Texas, has won a Public Interest Rising Star Award for his outstanding public interest work in the Austin area and throughout the state. Sabo holds a Masters degree from Indiana University.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10, 2008—OMB Watch is pleased to announce that Robert McIntyre, Director of Citizens for Tax Justice, has been inducted into the Public Interest Hall of Fame for his outstanding public interest work in the Washington area and on the national stage. McIntyre is a native of Attleboro, MA.