On February 14, 2012, Cause of Action submitted a letter to both the House and Senate Ethics Committees requesting an investigation into Congressional staff actions that might be deemed insider trading.
You can see the letter here.
03/23/2012
Dan Epstein on FoxNews.com: Does it take a lawsuit for the White House to be transparent?
Read the full story here. Fox News
“Dan Epstein writes on FoxNews.com today, “On his very first day in the White House, the president remarked “transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency.” So when Cause of Action asked the Office of Management and Budget(OMB) to release documents that might indicate some coordination between federal agencies and members of Congress on administrative earmarks, in addition to concerns that grant dollars were not being doled out competitively, there should have been no objection.
But the OMB has failed to release these documents. So Cause of Action is taking the White House to court, because taxpayers deserve to know if federal agencies are working behind the scenes with members of Congress to create pet projects with their tax dollars. In an era where transparency is not just touted, but promised, it is incredibly disappointing to be faced with an administration that refuses to cooperate.”
03/21/2012
CoA’s Statement for the Record in FOIA Hearing before House Oversight Committee
Cause of Action submitted a statement for the record as part of a Congressional hearing on March 21, 2012 on FOIA technology. In an effort to educate the public and Congress on CoA’s experiences with FOIA requests and the problems with the current system of filing and receiving responses through the federal government, CoA offered the following statement: CoA Statement for the Record 3 19 2012
03/20/2012
Human Events: Justice Department asked to investigate abuse of stimulus funds for lobbying
Read the full story here. HumanEvents.com
“Cause of Action, a non-profit government accountability watchdog group, wrote to Attorney General Eric Holder and asked him to investigate the Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) grant program in depth, because “it appears that many grantees used grant dollars to lobby state and local officials for the creation of new taxes and other legislation.”
Contrary to dismissive statements made by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, this is against the law. Sebelius asserted that it’s only illegal when federal grant money is used to lobby the federal government, but in fact, it is illegal for such funds “to be used directly or indirectly to pay for any personal service, advertisement, telegram, telephone, letter, printed or written matter, or other device, intended or designed to influence in any manner… [a] jurisdiction, or an official of any government, to favor, adopt, or oppose, by vote or otherwise, any legislation, law ratification, policy, or appropriation.”
Cause of Action gave the Attorney General a few examples of clear violations to get him started….”
03/20/2012
Cause of Action to DOJ: Are Taxpayer Dollars Being Used to Lobby for Taxes and Legislation?
In a letter to the Department of Justice submitted on March 16, 2012, Cause of Action requests an investigation into a grant program through the CDC called Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) aimed at anti-tobacco and anti-obesity initiatives. Cause of Action investigators uncovered multiple instances where these grants may have actually been used for lobbying on tobacco and obesity legislation.
In October, 2011, CoA sent a letter to the Inspector General at the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) requesting an investigation into the CPPW program. In February, CoA sent letters to 20 grant recipients citing potential violations of lobbying laws based on their reports of how the CPPW grant monies were either being used or were to be used. Since HHS has failed to respond to CoA’s request for investigation, we submitted a letter to the DOJ asking them to look into how these taxpayer dollars are actually being used.
See the letter here.
03/19/2012
Heritage Foundation: Heritage Investigation Leads to Lawsuit Against the White House
Read the full story here. Heritage Foundation
“A public advocacy organization is suing the White House for failing to disclose its administrative earmarks, and cites a Heritage Foundation investigation as evidence.
Cause of Action, an organization that uses public advocacy to ensure transparency in government, announced its suit last week.”
03/16/2012
VIDEO: CoA’s Amber Taylor on “Anderson” Discussing Sperm Donor Regulation
Amber Taylor visits Anderson Cooper’s daytime show to explain why privacy rights and over regulation are important issues in the debate of sperm donation.