Government Matters Articles

OSHA Unveils Unenforceable Ergonomics Guidelines for Poultry Plants

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently released draft voluntary guidelines for the prevention of repetitive stress injuries (the most pressing health and safety issue confronting the workplace today) at poultry processing plants.

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Administration to Gut Roadless Rule

The Bush administration recently announced its intent to loosen a Clinton-era rule that bans road construction in 58.5 million acres of national forests -- opening the door to logging in wilderness areas. Specifically, the U.S. Forest Service plans to issue an amendment allowing states to seek exemptions from the roadless rule in cases of “exceptional circumstances.” Such instances would include road construction needed “to protect public health and safety or reduce wildfire risks to communities and critical wildlife habitat,” according to the agency.

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Graham Advises Agencies on Valuing Lives of Seniors

In a Washington Post op-ed on June 1, Robert Hahn and Scott Wallsten of the American Enterprise Institute pose a fantastic scenario: There are two simultaneous fires, one at a nursing home and one at a nursery. The problem is that the fire chief has only one pump, and must choose whether to save 11 seniors or 10 toddlers. Obviously, the chief should choose the toddlers, they write.

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Budget ZigZag

The “Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation of 2003” bill (HR 2) that President Bush signed into law with much fanfare on May 28 is chock full of tax cuts that “sunset” – that is, they revert back to pre-2003 law. When combined with the previous Bush tax cut, “The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001,” which is also full of tax cuts that slowly phase in and then end altogether, the result is like something out of Kafka. However, the difficulty for the IRS of creating forms and instructions to reflect yearly changes and taxpayer confusion are not the worst consequences of these bills.

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Tax Priorities

The 2003 tax cut package contained a number of goodies for higher income individuals -- a dividend tax cut, a capital gains tax cut, acceleration of previous reductions in upper income tax rates. However, several reports have shown that millions of taxpayers, primarily middle income and below, as well as millions of children, have been left behind.

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In the Name of Homeland Security, Let the Stonewalling Begin

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been severely criticized over recent allegations that department resources were used during a partisan political battle in Texas. On Monday May 12th, more than 50 Democratic Texas state legislators fled to Oklahoma to avoid hearings and prevent the Legislature from having quorum on a bill that would redraw congressional districts in the Republicans’ favor. The same day, a DHS agency was contacted in order to track a plane carrying several of the Democrats in hopes of returning them to the state capitol.

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NRC Secrecy Unlikely to Lead to Security for Neighbors

While the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued new security standards for nuclear power plants defending against terrorist attacks, residents near these plants are unlikely to even be aware of them. The standards have been developed without the consultation of key groups, and most of the new rules are not being made public.

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Several States Rushing to Close Openness Laws

Open-government laws continue to face threats from limits on access to information for the second year in a row. Last year, 21 states passed measures to limit public access to information that was deemed sensitive. This year, 15 states have considered similar legislation, with 5 states passing laws that restrict public access to documents or meetings.

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DOJ Whistleblower on Terrorist Case Still Paying

Jesselyn Radack, a lawyer who worked in the Justice Department’s Professional Responsibility Advisory Office, is without a job and at the center of a debate over legal ethics in a high profile terrorist case. Radack provided legal advice to the FBI on the possible interrogation of John Walker Lindh, the American who was captured in Afghanistan after joining with the Taliban.

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Josh Bolten Nominated as New OMB Director

As President Bush gears up for his re-election bid, a number of senior level personnel changes are occurring. One key change is the replacement of OMB Director Mitch Daniels, who reportedly is headed back to Indiana to take a run at the governorship. The President has nominated the 48-year-old Joshua Brewster Bolten to replace Daniels. As his name was announced by the White House, there seemed to be a general murmur of “Josh Who?”

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