U.S. Government

Drones Program Shakeup: Increased Transparency or Increased Killings?

by Maxwell Abbott — May 10, 2013 - 7:46am

Topics: Pakistan, U.S. Government, War / Peace

This spring, three senior Obama Administration officials informed Daniel Klaidman of The Daily Beast that the CIA would no longer operate targeted killings with unmanned drones. All targeted killings using the controversial technology would from now on be conducted by the Department of Defense, which has its own drones program in place.

News

Sen. Sanders and Rep. Deutch Press for New Democracy Amendment

by Brendan Fischer — March 20, 2013 - 9:50am

Topics: Campaign Finance, Election 2012, U.S. Congress, Corporations, Democracy, Ethics, Politics, U.S. Government

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) have introduced a new constitutional amendment to overturn the damage done by Citizens United, Buckley v. Valeo, and other judicial decisions that have diluted the role of ordinary people in American democracy.

Op-Ed

Conversation with "Fix the Debt," Help Count the Pinocchios

by Lisa Graves — February 28, 2013 - 1:21pm

Topics: Astroturf, Corporate Campaigns, Crisis Management, Front Groups, Corporations, Democracy, Economy, Media, Public Relations, U.S. Government

Projects: Real Economy Project

Last week, the Center for Media and Democracy and The Nation magazine worked together to publish a package in The Nation and a new online wiki resource on Pete Peterson and the Campaign to Fix the Debt, an entity we consider an "astroturf supergroup" with a huge budget working hard to create the fantasy that Americans care more about national debt and deficits than jobs and the economy. Fix the Debt is currently exploiting the "sequester" debate in Congress to encourage steep cuts to incredibly popular social programs like Medicare and Social Security.

News

Second Circuit Considers Challenge to NDAA's Military Detention Provisions; CMD Joins Challenge to Exec Powers

by PRW Staff — February 12, 2013 - 11:28am

Topics: Democracy, Politics, U.S. Government

-- By Lisa Graves, Brendan Fischer, and Meher Ahmad

The Obama administration is urging a federal court to overturn a ruling that blocked the government from enforcing a law that could allow the military to imprison American citizens indefinitely, without trial. The Center for Media and Democracy joined an amicus brief with groups across the political spectrum calling for the judiciary to reject such unchecked power to use "indefinite detention."

News

"Operation Tripwire" -- the FBI, the Private Sector, and the Monitoring of Occupy Wall Street

by Beau Hodai — December 31, 2012 - 1:15am

Topics: Activism, Banking, Terrorism, Corporations, Democracy, Human Rights, U.S. Government

Part One. Records obtained from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) by DBA Press and the Center for Media and Democracy (DBA/CMD) through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request indicate that the FBI employed tactics under a "counter terrorism" initiative called "Operation Tripwire" in the monitoring of Occupy Wall Street (OWS) activists.

[Note: records referenced in this article were obtained by DBA/CMD on November 8, 2012, as a partial response to a FOIA request submitted by DBA/CMD to the FBI on June 7, 2012. DBA/CMD have been analyzing these incomplete materials along with other public records to tell a more complete story of the pattern of domestic surveillance that has been underway.]

News

Marco Rubio, Geo Group, and a Legacy of Corruption

by Beau Hodai — August 29, 2012 - 7:00am

Topics: Corporations, Politics, U.S. Government

This article was published by DBA Press in January 2011 and has been updated.

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio's unsettling history of extremely close ties to private prison operator Geo Group and the possible federal investigation into Florida's private prison giveaway of more than $120 million.

News

Bill in Congress Could Limit Access to Drug Safety Information

by Rebekah Wilce — May 29, 2012 - 4:51pm

Topics: Health, Secrecy, U.S. Government

The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote Wednesday, May 30, on the Food and Drug Administration Reform Act of 2012, H.R.5651. Groups advocating for open and transparent government have found a provision in the bill that would keep potentially important health and safety information away from the public. Section 812 would, according to a letter to leaders of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee penned by several of these groups, deny the public access to information relating to drugs obtained by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from any government agency -- local, state, federal, or foreign -- if that agency has requested that the information be kept confidential.

Patrice McDermott, Executive Director of OpenTheGovernment.org, which works with the legislative and executive branches to encourage more open government, told the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) that the provision might blow a huge hole in the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). It would give the FDA carte blanche with regard to drug information.

News

Death by Delay: Obama Team Stalls on Chemical Regulation

by Rebekah Wilce — March 26, 2012 - 8:29am

Topics: Environment, Health, U.S. Government

Projects: Food Rights Network

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has drafted a "chemicals of concern" list to restrict the use of certain chemicals and alert the public to their possible dangers. But the list remains secret and dormant because it's stuck at the Obama administration's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for review.

OIRA is a division of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB). According to Katie Greenhaw, Regulatory Policy Analyst at the government watch-dog group OMB Watch, OIRA has 90 - 120 days to review rules from a regulatory agency, before releasing the rule back to the agency to open it up for public comment. Rules then go back to OIRA for additional review before being published as final rules. This rule has been stuck at OIRA for almost two years. That means the public hasn't even laid eyes on it.

News

USDA to Serve Kids More "Pink Slime"

by Rebekah Wilce — March 13, 2012 - 7:00am

Topics: Food Safety, Children, U.S. Government

Projects: Food Rights Network

A product made by grinding up connective tissue from cows and beef scraps that used to be made into dog food is too disgusting to serve at McDonald's, Burger King or Taco Bell, which have all dropped it due to public pressure, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) thinks it's fine to serve in school lunches. The USDA plans to buy seven million pounds of the "Lean Finely Textured Beef" (LFTB) from Beef Products Inc. (BPI) and serve it to school children this spring.