Government Matters Articles

FEC Seeks Comments on Electioneering Rule

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has issued a Notice of Availability of a rulemaking petition filed in July that seeks to exempt promotion of political films, books and other materials that refer to federal candidates from the electioneering communications rule. Comments in support or opposition to the proposal are due September 27. During August a federal court turned down Wisconsin Right to Life's (WRLC) request for an injunction that would allow it to run ads mentioning Sen. Russell Feingold (D-WI), who is running for re-election.

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Commission Finds Muslim Charities Shutdown Without Cause

A report published by the independent commission to investigate the 9/11 attacks has raised "substantial civil liberty concerns" regarding the government's shutdown in December 2001 of two Chicago-area Islamic charities. Since then, the government has neither proven either group was guilty of any terrorism-related crimes, nor convicted anyone involved.

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City Cites Terrorism in Secret Meeting on Gangs

The City Council of Staunton, Va., questionably used a terrorism provision to hold a secret meeting on gang activities. Using homeland security policies to hide non-terrorism information appears to be an increasing problem.

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Security Measures Invoked to End Safety Measures

A large sign in New York City, indicating the location of a natural gas pipeline to prevent accidents, was taken down after a website posted a photograph of the sign. John Young, the owner of www.cryptome.org, posts information on his site to draw attention to places needing increased security. Although federal regulations require that the location of natural gas lines be made as obvious as possible to the public for safety reasons, the company that owns the pipeline asserted that local laws allowed the sign's removal.

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Industry Data Quality Challenge Weakens Dietary Guidelines: Deadline for Comments Sept. 27

An industry data quality challenge appears to have succeeded in weakening new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) dietary guidelines.

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Coalition Reports Massive Classification Abuse, Secrecy Rose 60%

Testimony from two government officials before the House Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats & International Relations confirmed that federal agencies are massively abusing their classification powers. The experts estimated that half of the classified information is wrongly restricted. The same week, OpenTheGovernment.org, a diverse coalition of more than 30 organizations, released a Secrecy Report Card quantifying the expansion of secrecy as well as the growing costs to taxpayers.

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Senate Approves FOIA Exemption for Satellite Images

The Senate has approved a broad new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) exemption that would restrict public access and use of commercial satellite imagery.

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Appropriations: A Look Ahead

As Congress reconvenes today, the Defense Bill remains the only completed appropriation bill for FY 2005. The $417.5 billion bill was approved only just prior to the August recess. Members of Congress have a lot of work ahead of them if they wish to complete their appropriations work before the end of the fiscal year, which ends on September 30th, as only three other bills -- Homeland Security, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction -- have even made it through a full Senate committee.

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Economy and Jobs Watch: Sluggish Growth Continues

Employment growth continues to be below average. In August, the number of new jobs added was just 144,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This is the third straight month that the data has been below its historical average -- over the last 30 years, the economy has added about 150,000 per month.

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Labor Day Finds Little to Celebrate in Recent Trends

Yesterday we celebrated Labor Day. Unfortunately, there has not been much to celebrate in the labor market over the last 4 years. A look at the recent record shows an extremely under-performing labor market economy.

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