Government Accountability

Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act of 2008

hmoroz — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:12:59 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Supports

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Percentage increase in annual crude oil production in 2030 if restrictions on access to drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf are lifted, according to the Energy Information Administration: 7

Projected impact of this increased production on the price of oil: “insignificant”

Percent of world’s known reserves in the United States: 1.58%

Percentage of carbon emissions in the United States from residential and commercial buildings: 39

Number of new jobs that the American Solar Energy Society found were generated by U.S. renewable energy and energy efficiency industries in 2006: 8.5 million

Estimated number of jobs created in 2030 in U.S. renewable energy and energy efficiency industries, assuming no policy changes before 2030: 16 million

Estimated number of jobs created in 2030 in U.S. renewable energy and energy efficiency industries, assuming moderate, incremental federal and state renewable and energy efficiency initiatives and favorable market conditions: 21 million

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Middle Class Supports. Though the extremely high gas prices experienced this summer have eased, middle-class Americans remain strapped by a combination of difficult economic conditions that include elevated fuel costs, a tanking housing market, an endangered financial system, and widespread unemployment. The renewable energy and energy efficiency provisions adopted by the legislation – from credits for energy-efficient home appliances to green building standards and energy-conscious low-income housing – demonstrate a commitment to transforming the environment and the economy that can reduce energy costs and provide jobs for middle-class Americans struggling to make ends meet. Such measures are impotant steps in making the country more energy efficient and ensuring that the nation retains and produces more jobs in renewable energy and technology. Finally, the renewable electricity standard establishes an important incentive for electricity providers to switch to renewable energy sources, a commitment these providers have not made on their own.

The revenue-raising measures appropriately target the oil companies who have benefited grandly from high oil prices. Additionally, ethics reform is desperately needed in the Mineral Management Service after disturbing reports of oil industry influence buying in the agency.

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

Clean Energy 101, from the Union of Concerned Scientists

Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency: Economic Drivers for the 21st Century, from the Appollo Alliance

Impacts of Increased Access to Oil and Natural Gas, from the Energy Information Administration

Saving Energy Through Public Transportation Act of 2008

hmoroz — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:12:43 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Supports

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Net oil savings from the use of public transportation in 2006, according to USPIRG: 3.4 billion gallons

Dollar amount of this savings at today’s gas prices: 13.6 billion

Amount spent by households in neighborhoods with the best access to transit routes on all transportation costs, including gas, insurance, upkeep, and transit fares: $728

Amount spent by households in neighborhoods with the least access to transit: $925

Increase in public transportation use since 1995: 32%

Price of a gallon of gasoline on June 25, 2008, the date on which President Bush issued a veto threat for the Saving Energy Through Public Transportation Act: $4.07

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

The Middle Class Supports. With gas prices hovering at $4.00 a gallon, middle-class Americans are feeling the squeeze. While there are no quick fixes, public transportation is becoming an increasingly appealing option for more middle-class Americans. A recent report shows that households with the best access to public transportation routes spends an average of $728 a month on transportation costs, while households with the worst access spend almost $200 more. The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) has found that high gas prices, congestion, and expanded public transit services have led to a 32% increase in public transportation use since 1995 and that the average annual household savings from using public transportation is $6,251. Public transportation is also an effective means to support environmental sustainability. Net oil savings from public transportation were estimated to be 3.4 billion gallons in 2006 and public transportation reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 37 million metric tons each year.

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

Transportation Resources, from Smart Growth Online

"A Bridge to Somewhere: Rethinking American Transportation for the 21st Century," from the Brookings Institution

"Squandering the Stimulus: An Analysis of Household Gas Spending, Economic Stimulus Checks, and the Need for Better Transportation Options," from USPIRG

Amendment To Strike Title II From FISA Amendments Act of 2008

hmoroz — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:30:58 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Supports

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Year in which the United States Constitution established “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures”: 1791

Year Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was passed: 1978

Number of warrants the federal courts approved under the FISA in 2004: 1,758

Number of warrants courts rejected under FISA in 2004: 4

Date on which federal district court judge ruled that "the president of the United States ... has undisputedly violated the Fourth [Amendment] in failing to procure judicial orders" for unwarranted wiretap surveillance activities: August 17, 2006

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

The Middle Class Supports. Granting retroactive immunity to companies that illegally spied on citizens sets a dangerous precedent for corporations to trample the rights of middle-class Americans without having to face any consequences for breaking the law. Telecommunications companies, at the behest of the Bush Administration, illegally monitored American citizens’ private e-mail correspondence, phone calls, password protected web activity, and other communications. This violated Americans’ Fourth Amendment right against unwarranted searches and seizures, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the contractual rights of private customers who signed privacy agreements with these companies. Our civil justice system allows regular Americans to hold corporations accountable when they violate cherished rights such as those outlined in our Constitution. Granting retroactive immunity would weaken middle-class Americans’ ability to take on powerful corporations for breaking the law. What’s more, retroactive immunity would weaken the ability of middle-class consumers to trust that their contracts with corporations will be honored and that the legal system will treat their constitutional rights as more than symbolic. In short, granting retroactive immunity would severely undermine Americans' faith in the legal system. Granting retroactive immunity also sets a dangerous precedent by giving the Administration unbridled power, under the guise of pursuing security interests, to pressure companies into violating Americans’ rights with impunity and to protect those corporations from liability for a range of other violations of the law.

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

“The Case Against Retroactive Amnesty for Telecoms,” from the Electronic Frontier Foundation

“ACLU vs. AT&T and Verizon” updates on the lawsuits filed in August 2006 from the American Civil Liberties Union

Amendment to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2008

hmoroz — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:23:04 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Supports

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Approximate total award that service members can currently receive toward their education, in dollars: 39,600

Average total charges, including tuition and fees and room and board, for four years at an in-state public college or university in 2007, in dollars: 54,356

Estimated percentage of the unemployed who will be unemployed for longer than six months by the end of 2009, according to the Economic Policy Institute: 20.8

Number of states with an unemployment rate greater than 6.0% as of April 2008, including Washington D.C.: 5

Amount of stimulus produced for every $1 spent on extending emergency federal unemployment insurance benefits, in dollars: 1.64

Unemployment rate in Michigan in April 2008: 6.9%

Minimum estimated cost of the Iraq War paid by Michigan as of May 2008, in dollars: 13 billion

Estimated 10-year cost of extending unemployment insurance benefits, in dollars: 11.1 billion

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

The Middle Class Supports. The American economy remains at risk of recession and the employment picture is dim. In the first four months of 2008, the American economy lost 260,000 jobs and 400,000 workers were classified as “discouraged,” wanting work but believing that no jobs were available for them. Unemployment benefits provide direct assistance to the current and aspiring middle-class Americans likely to be hardest hit during the economic downturn. Moreover, the unemployed are most likely to spend their unemployment benefits immediately, providing an economic jolt that will enhance the stimulus generated by the tax rebates sent out earlier this year. Indeed, extension of unemployment benefits provides $1.64 in stimulus for every dollar spent, making the policy one of the most effective stimulus measures.

The “New GI Bill” measures are also important. Our nation owes those young people who have volunteered to fight for the United States a fair opportunity to enter the middle class. After World War II, the education and other benefits of the GI Bill allowed unprecedented numbers of returning soldiers to access a middle-class standard of living, but today’s GI Bill, intended for peacetime, does not provide adequate benefits. This amendment would change that. Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars face not only the challenges of readjustment to civilian life, frequently complicated by injury or mental illness, but the rising cost of higher education impacting middle-class Americans across the United States. The current GI bill covers only 60-70% of the cost of tuition at a four-year public university and less than two years at a private college. The Amendment to the supplemental appropriations bill would permit the equivalent of full scholarships to public institutions of higher learning to any service member who completed three years of service.

Imposing a moratorium on Administration-proposed Medicaid regulations will ensure continued health care access for aspiring middle-class beneficiaries and prevent a devastating loss of funding to states, public hospitals, and local schools already struggling during the economic downturn.

The provisions that increase accountability and transparency in federal contracting are welcome, but are not as comprehensive as those included in the Accountability in Contracting Act, passed by the House last year.

The Senate version contains welcome funding for programs that benefit aspiring middle-class and middle-class Americans.

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

"Making the Case - Again - for Economic Rebound," from the Economic Policy Institute

Unemployment Insurance and the Stimulus Debate, from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities

"A New GI Bill," from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America

Plain Language in Government Communications Act of 2008

hmoroz — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:24:33 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Supports

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Response rate to a Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) letter to veterans asking them to update their beneficiaries, written before the VBA switched the letter to plain language: 43%

Response rate to the VBA letter after the agency switched the letter to plain language: 65%

Amount saved by the VBA’s use of plain language in the same letter in staff time spent researching valid beneficiaries when veterans’ have not updated their beneficiaries, in dollars: 5 million

Amount of time to answer questions about a Federal Communications Commission regulation not written in plain language by experienced people affected by the regulation, in minutes: 2.43

Amount of time to answer questions about the same regulation written in plain language, in minutes: 1.5

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Middle Class Supports. Middle-class Americans should be able to easily understand communications from their government. Yet legalese is not confined to legislation and internal government memoranda. Americans who rely on Social Security benefits or veterans’ benefits to make ends meet, anyone who fills out tax paperwork, and any American who uses medication must interpret the convoluted technical language of benefits and tax documents and medicine warning labels. The audience-focused approach of the plain language standard would make benefits available to more Americans by making both application for federal benefits and eligibility requirement less confusing. Public access and transparency are key elements of good government and using plain, understandable language in government communications is a modest step toward both. The federal government would benefit because individuals and small businesses are more likely to comply with notices and instructions that they are able to understand easily and quickly. Additionally, the standard would reduce the customer support services that federal agencies must employ to explain obscure instructions. In general, the legislation would save time, money, and errors both inside of government and outside, benefiting middle-class Americans who rely on government services that are run effectively and efficiently.

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

Examples of Plain Language, from PlainLanguage.gov

Center for Plain Language

Civil Rights Act of 2008

hmoroz — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:04:56 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2008

atraub — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:31:29 -0500

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

Amendment To Strike Retroactive Immunity From Intelligence Legislation of 2008

atraub — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 15:30:53 -0500

Legislation

The middle class

Supports

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Year in which the United States Constitution established “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures”: 1791

Year Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was passed: 1978

Number of warrants the federal courts approved under the FISA in 2004: 1,758

Number of warrants courts rejected under FISA in 2004: 4

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

“The Case Against Retroactive Amnesty for Telecoms,” from the Electronic Frontier Foundation

“ACLU vs. AT&T and Verizon” updates on the lawsuits filed in August 2006 from the American Civil Liberties Union

Fair Elections Now Act of 2007

atraub — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 11:02:56 -0500

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

Accountability in Contracting Act of 2007

atraub — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 16:52:37 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Supports

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Value of federal government contracts in 2006: $412.1 billion

Percentage of that money that was awarded through a “full and open” bidding process: less than half

Approximate value of federal contracts that went to just one company – the Halliburton Corporation – in 2005: $5.9 billion

Amount the federal government collected in 2006 from settlements and judgments in cases involving allegations that contractors defrauded the government: $3.1 billion

Amount the top 50 federal contractors spent on lobbying in 2006: $146 million

Amount these contractors donated to federal campaigns in 2006: $15 million

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

The Middle Class Supports. Whether it’s military contractors accepting kickbacks in Iraq, no-bid contracts with a guaranteed profit margin for companies cleaning up after Hurricane Katrina, or politically-connected businesses landing lucrative contracts to provide materials to the Department of Education, it is middle-class taxpayers who ultimately foot the bill. With spending on federal contracts reaching more than $400 billion in 2006 – more than double the level in 2000 – middle-class taxpayers have more incentive than ever to demand efficient spending. Yet lax oversight is provoking increased concern about waste, fraud, and profiteering. Combined with legislation that protects whistleblowers who reveal cases of fraud, this bill represents an important step toward making sure that taxpayer money is spent effectively and efficiently.

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

Federal Contractor Misconduct Database, from the Project on Government Oversight

“Katrina Watch,” from the Center for Public Integrity

“More Dollars, Less Sense,” from the House Committee on Government Oversight

Federal spending contracts database, from OMB Watch

Government Accountability

Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act of 2008

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

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Quotes from Experts

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Beyond this Bill

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Additional Resources

Saving Energy Through Public Transportation Act of 2008

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

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Quotes from Experts

Related Blog: Text

Beyond this Bill

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Additional Resources

Amendment To Strike Title II From FISA Amendments Act of 2008

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Related Blog: Header

Quotes from Experts

Related Blog: Text

Beyond this Bill

Related Blog: Link

Additional Resources

Amendment to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2008

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Related Blog: Header

Quotes from Experts

Related Blog: Text

Beyond this Bill

Related Blog: Link

Additional Resources

Plain Language in Government Communications Act of 2008

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Related Blog: Header

Quotes from Experts

Related Blog: Text

Beyond this Bill

Related Blog: Link

Additional Resources

Civil Rights Act of 2008

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Related Blog: Header

Quotes from Experts

Related Blog: Text

Beyond this Bill

Related Blog: Link

Additional Resources

Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2008