Fox News reports on Cause of Action’s finding of a possible Hatch Act violation at the Federal Aviation Administration.
09/5/2012
AP: Group: FAA bosses urged workers to vote Democrat
Group: FAA bosses urged workers to vote Democrat
By: Manuel Valdes, Associated Press
SEATTLE (AP) — A government transparency group is urging an investigation into Federal Aviation Administration managers who allegedly urged workers in Seattle to vote Democrat in the upcoming elections.
The Washington, D.C.-based group Cause of Action sent a letter Wednesday to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s inspector general saying that in May at a mandatory staff meeting in Seattle, two senior FAA managers told employees that if Republicans win the presidential and congressional elections, the agency would face budget cuts. They allegedly said that if Democrats win, their budget would remain largely unchanged.
One of the managers is alleged to have said that “Republican politicians wished to cut the budget of the FAA, while Democratic politicians intended to keep the FAA budget at the same or similar levels as in recent years. Any cuts in the FAA budget would lead to furloughs, job losses, and pay reductions among FAA employees,” the Cause of Action complaint said.
Employees at the meeting complained that the statements felt like a threat.
Cause of Action argues that the managers violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits certain federal employees from engaging in partisan politics at the workplace.
A FAA comment was not immediately available.
“These career employees were led to believe their jobs were at risk if their political support did not line up with the agenda of the Administration,” said Daniel Epstein, executive director of the group.
Cause of Action describes itself as an “organization that uses public advocacy and legal reform strategies to ensure greater transparency in government and protect taxpayer interests and economic freedom.”
08/28/2012
The Washington Free Beacon: Report: 170 ACORN-affiliated groups still active
Read the full article here. Washington Free Beacon
“Cause of Action, a nonprofit government watchdog group, recently identified 174 active or rebranded ACORN affiliates, as well as organizations that share former ACORN staff. The groups shared the same physical location, leadership or staff, or tax ID number as old ACORN chapters, Cause of Action said.
At least two of the groups, Affordable Housing Centers of America (AHCOA) and Mutual Housing Association of New York (MHANY), have received federal dollars. According to MHANY, it receives funds from the Federal Home Loan Bank, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Fannie Mae. “It’s a serious concern because, as we stated in our letter to the IRS, it has been engaging in political activity,” Cause of Action executive director Dan Epstein told the Free Beacon. “We have concerns that these rebranded groups are using the same model that ACORN essentially trademarked: getting tax-exempt funds and using them for political purposes…”
08/22/2012
Washington Examiner: Report: ACORN network still active under new names
Read the full story here. Washington Examiner
“But that doesn’t mean it vanished from the landscape altogether. The nonprofit watchdog group Cause of Action published a list today of “still-active ACORN entities, ACORN allies, and rebranded ACORN organizations.”
The connections between these groups and the old ACORN groups include: having the same physical location, sharing leadership or staff or having the same tax ID number. “For some of these groups, all they did was legally change their name. Nothing else changed. The corporate structure, leadership and staff are the same,” said Karen Groen Olea, Cause of Action’s chief counsel. “At least two of the groups, Affordable Housing Centers of America and Mutual Housing Association of New York, have received federal dollars”, Cause of Action said…”
08/17/2012
SeafoodSource: Calif. oyster grower fights National Park Service
Read the full article here. Seafoodsource.com
“Cause of Action, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit dedicated to fighting federal overreach, today filed a Data Quality Act complaint before the National Park Service (NPS) for its intentional use of inaccurate, nontransparent and deliberately misleading information in an attempt to deny a renewable permit to a California family business for use of national park territory. Kevin and Nancy Lunny have a permit that allows their family business, Drakes Bay Oyster Co., to farm oysters in the Point Reyes National Seashore. When it expires in November, Drakes Bay, which has been operating for many years, will be forced to shut down and more than two dozen Californians will lose their jobs, thereby cutting off a substantial amount of the Bay Area’s commercial oyster supply.
“The National Park Service should not be allowed to get away with using bad data to justify closing a small business,” said Amber Abbasi, chief regulatory counsel at Cause of Action. “The evidence clearly shows how NPS, despite being called out by another federal agency and a credible member of the National Academy of Sciences, is using junk science to bully a family business into shutting down. We’ve sent a complaint to the NPS urging them to adhere to their own information-quality standards for the use of scientific information and correct the Final Environmental Impact Statement. NPS needs to make clear that a neutral scientific analysis reveals that DBOC does not adversely impact the environment in Drakes Estero.”
08/17/2012
WSJ Blog Reports on CoA’s NARA Lawsuit
Read the full article here. Wall Street Journal
“A government accountability group filed a lawsuit on August 14 against the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for withholding records pertaining to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) and claiming that these records are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act.”
08/15/2012
Mother Jones: National Archives Sued Over Financial Crisis Documents
Read the full story here. Mother Jones
“Cause of Action, a Washington transparency watchdog that filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking the FCIC documents last year, thinks the American public should not have to wait that long. Late Tuesday, the group sued NARA in federal court in Washington, DC, aiming to force the disclosure of thousands of pages of as-yet-unreleased documents.
“The FCIC had a big impact on the national discussion about what caused the financial crisis and all Americans have an interest in what really happened,” Mary Beth Hutchins, Cause of Action’s communications director, told Mother Jones. “We have an administration that from day one promised greater transparency in government, and what we’ve seen is that instead of having the public interest in mind, they’re bowing to the whims of this commission. It’s important that people be able to draw their own conclusions and judgments in addition to those the commission may have drawn from these documents.”
In the lawsuit, Cause of Action writes that NARA’s five-year restriction on the release of the documents (except for certain documents FCIC had pre-designated for release) is the same restriction that Phil Angelides, the commission’s Democratic chairman, advocated in a letter he sent to NARA in February 2011. But Cause of Action goes on to note that Peter Wallison, a Republican member of the commission, has said that he believes “the public should have access to all FCIC documents except those records provided to the FCIC on condition of confidentiality” and that he was “not even aware” of Angelides’ letter, “which expresses a position materially inconsistent with his own views.” (Hutchins said Wallison made those statements in phone conversations with Cause of Action’s legal team.)”