03/8/2013

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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03/7/2013

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.”

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03/5/2013

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.”

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03/4/2013

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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03/4/2013

Keeping Entrepreneurship at Bay

Keeping Entrepreneurship at Bay:

How the Department of the Interior Uses Flawed Science to Foreclose the American Dream

An investigative report from Cause of Action.

Report

Exhibits

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03/1/2013

Morning News for Friday, March 01, 2013

From the Washington Examiner:

Solyndra was indicative, not exceptional. Just this week, Cause of Action, an activist watchdog nonprofit, said it found a .95 percent correlation between companies that got Energy Department loans and those that made political contributions.

Government Executive:

The Justice Department spent $11.4 million on executives’ non-mission aircraft travel from 2006 through 2011, nearly a quarter of which was for personal travel.

The attorneys general and FBI director serving in this period overwhelmingly accounted for the travel, taking 95 percent of the flights, according to the Government Accountability Office. The AGs and FBI director partially reimbursed the government for the personal trips, in accordance with the law, GAO found.

Wall Street Journal:

Labor leaders had tough words for the Obama administration and Senate Democrats as they demanded that new members be appointed to the embattled National Labor Relations Board.

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03/1/2013