Archives for March 2013
Mother Jones: The Government Still Doesn’t Want You to Know What Caused the Financial Crisis
Read the full story here: Mother Jones
In the aftermath of the 2008 financial meltdown, the US government launched a vast investigation, but it still doesn’t want you to know the details of what it found.
In January 2011, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) created by Congress put out its final report. But it only released a portion of all the source documents it scoured, so last year the government accountability group Cause of Action filed a lawsuit seeking the release of those documents, including emails, memoranda, and draft reports. Last week, the DC district court announced it was dismissing the case. But it’s not over yet: COA vowed on Tuesday that it will appeal the decision. In a statement, the group said the judge’s ruling that the documents were not subject to the Freedom of Information Act was “a misapplication of the law,” and said that “COA will continue to fight to shed light on the workings of our government.”
CoA Joins Coalition of Government Accountability Advocates in Asking FDA to Revise FOIA Policy
Earlier this week, Cause of Action was proud to join a number of other transparency organizations in sending a letter to the FDA concerning their FOIA deletions policy. Read more below from Open the Government and follow this link to see the letter.
Groups to FDA: Make FOIA Process More Accountable
“On Tuesday, March 8 OpenTheGovernment.org and 16 other organizations dedicated to openness and accountability filed a comment on a public petition urging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to you revoke the its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) “deletions policy.” Public Citizen originally filed the petition in September 2012.
Under the FDA’s current FOIA policy, the agency redacts portions, referred to by them as “minor deletions,” of documents released without giving requesters an immediate right to appeal within the agency. The agency instead requires requesters to make a second request for “reconsideration” of any deletions before being allowed to appeal. If a requester does not do so, the FDA administratively closes the FOIA request without ever making a final determination. The agency does not define “minor deletions,” but in practice it relies on the policy to delete substantial portions – sometimes full pages – of documents.
As described in the comment, we strongly believe the policy violates both the letter and spirit of FOIA and casts serious doubt on the accuracy of FOIA performance data that FDA provides to Congress and the public. Public Citizen’s citizen petition on this matter has been pending for more than five months and alleges a serious violation of the law; it is high time for the agency to respond to it.
Find out more about the petition, and submit your own comment, here.”
Cause of Action Pledges to Fight Court’s Denial of Transparency of FCIC Records
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
MARCH 5, 2013 Mary Beth Hutchins, 202-400-2721
Jamie Morris, 202-499-2425
Cause of Action Pledges to Fight Court’s Denial of Transparency of FCIC Records
Judge Grants National Archives’ Request for Dismissal, Denies Access to Records About the 2008 Financial Crisis
WASHINGTON – Cause of Action (CoA), a government accountability group, pledged today to appeal the March 1, 2013 decision from Judge Jeb Boasberg of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia dismissing the lawsuit CoA brought against the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) seeking release of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) records.
The FCIC was established by Congress to assess the causes of the 2008 financial crisis. However, this Commission was mired in controversy and the President has signed into law regulations, like Dodd-Frank, without the American people fully understanding what caused our economic meltdown or what went into the creation of the FCIC’s report.
Cause of Action’s Executive Director Dan Epstein offered this comment:
“We remain committed to transparency for American taxpayers and demand that NARA reveal what went into the report that shaped the nation’s response to the 2008 financial crisis. Cause of Action is appealing this case because we believe the public has a right to know whether the taxpayer-funded FCIC fully investigated the causes of the financial crisis. Judge Boasberg’s decision – which holds that the FCIC records are not subject to FOIA – is a misapplication of the law and CoA will continue to fight to shed light on the workings of our government.”
On October 3, 2011, Cause of Action requested via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) from NARA “all documents, including e-mail communications, memoranda, draft reports, and other relevant information and/or data contained in the records transfer of Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission documents stored at NARA to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform at the U.S. House of Representatives.” After exhausting administrative appeals to NARA’s denial of the documents, CoA filed suit in the US District Court against NARA on August 14, 2012. NARA filed a request for a dismissal of the case and Judge Boasberg granted NARA’s request for dismissal on March 1, 2013. CoA will be filing an appeal to this decision.
About Cause of Action:
Cause of Action is a nonprofit, nonpartisan government accountability organization that investigates, exposes, and fights job-killing federal government regulations, waste, fraud, and cronyism. Cause of Action, uses investigative, legal, and communications tools to educate the public on how transparency and accountability protects taxpayer interests and economic opportunity. For more information, visit www.causeofaction.org.
To schedule an interview with Cause of Action’s Executive Director Dan Epstein, contact Mary Beth Hutchins, mary.beth@causeofaction.org or Jamie Morris, Jamie.morris@causeofaction.org.
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Morning News for Thursday, March 07, 2013
Washington Examiner – “Officials who claim automatic sequestration spending reductions will slash the federal budget to the bone could have instead heeded suggestions last year from government watchdogs that would have saved more than $67 billion, according to a congressional report released today.”
Washington Times – “In Beltway terms, the Federal Communications Commission’s $350 million budget request for 2013 is practically a rounding error. Yet it costs the American people a lot more than that. In fact, it is the third-most-expensive federal agency, but thanks to a lack of transparency, very few people are aware of that fact.”
Weekly Standard – “With the White House closing its doors to public tour groups in order to save money for the sequester, it’s worth remembering some of the other costs the White House incurs annually. Like the “Chief Calligrapher,” Patricia A. Blair, who has an annual salary of $96,725, and her two deputies, Debra S. Brown, who gets paid $85,953 per year, and Richard T. Muffler, who gets paid $94,372 every year.”
Morning News for Tuesday, March 05, 2013
Marin Independent Journal – Drakes Bay Oyster Co. backers issue new report critical of scientific data
Washington Free Beacon – “A federal program that guarantees home loans to rural borrowers has seen taxpayer losses and foreclosure rates skyrocket, problems federal watchdogs attribute to bureaucratic mismanagement but others say are more fundamental.”
Daily Caller – “Congressional Republicans are already pressing Environmental Protection Agency assistant administrator Gina McCarthy, President Obama’s pick for the agency’s new administrator, on the EPA’s use of secret data to formulate air quality rules.”
Report Reveals Scientific Misconduct at Department of the Interior
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
MARCH 4, 2013 Mary Beth Hutchins, 202-400-2721
Jamie Morris, 202-499-2425
Cause of Action Report Reveals Scientific Misconduct at
Department of the Interior
How the Department of the Interior Use Flawed Science to Foreclose the American Dream
WASHINGTON – Cause of Action (CoA), a government accountability organization, today released “Keeping Entrepreneurship at Bay: How the Department of the Interior Uses Flawed Science to Foreclose the American Dream,” an investigative report on the systemic manipulation of scientific data within the Marine Mammal Commission (MMC), the National Park Service (NPS), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the Department of the Interior (DOI). The misrepresentation of data influenced a Cabinet member’s decisions, was quoted in a Department of Justice filing in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and is negatively affecting multiple businesses in the United States.
Cause of Action’s Executive Director Dan Epstein explained the consequences of the scientific misconduct:
Cause of Action has exposed a culture of corruption and disregard for scientific integrity perpetrated by the government on the taxpayers’ dime. The Interior Department’s opaque reliance on misrepresented data demands immediate reform of the Agency, its departments, and its Office of Inspector General as well as a complete revision of NPS environmental impact statements.
Secretary of the Interior Kenneth Salazar’s November 29, 2012 decision to deny a Special Use Permit (SUP) for land belonging to NPS to Drakes Bay Oyster Company (DBOC), a small, family-run, environmentally sustainable farm located inside the Point Reyes National Seashore, was largely affected by misrepresented data, a perpetuation of false information, a disregard for the law by multiple federal government offices, and political taint. This business is now embroiled in a legal battle that has produced temporary relief from the Ninth Circuit that will allow DBOC to remain open until another hearing in May 2013, but does not guarantee that the business will escape a full shut down.
“How the Department of the Interior Uses Flawed Science to Foreclose the American Dream,” reveals that the data used by multiple agencies within the federal government were out of date, inapplicable, and brazenly false in their representation of the impact of DBOC on the environment:
- The Department of Interior (DOI) Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) February 2013 Report Ignored Data and Used a Flawed Methodology.
- The Investigation by DOI Solicitor Gavin Frost Lacked Objectivity and Independence. It Improperly Dismissed Scientific Misconduct by Labeling It “Administrative Misconduct.”
- Federal Agencies Misrepresented Scientific Findings to Support a False Narrative.
- The National Park Service (NPS) Prioritizes Politics Over Scientific Integrity by Refusing to Withdraw and Correct Flawed Science, Impacting Businesses Both Nationally and Worldwide.
- DOI OIG Misled the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (Energy Committee) During the Confirmation of NPS Director Jonathan Jarvis.
- The Marine Mammal Commission (MMC) Cannot Effectively Function Without an Independent Inspector General (IG).
Click here to read a copy of the full report.
Click here to ready a copy of Cause of Action’s Data Quality Act complaint against NPS.
About Cause of Action:
Cause of Action is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that uses investigative, legal, and communications tools to educate the public on how government accountability and transparency protects taxpayer interests and economic opportunity. For more information, visit www.causeofaction.org.
To schedule an interview with Cause of Action’s Executive Director Dan Epstein, contact Mary Beth Hutchins, 202-400-2721 or Jamie Morris, jamie.morris@causeofaction.org.
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