Op-Eds

May 27, 2011

Obama’s Bad Policy, Harmful Regulations Add to Gas Prices

Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican, is the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and a former member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Gasoline prices continued to rise across the nation last week, putting the cost per gallon to more than one dollar over this time last year. As rising energy prices threaten economic recovery, Congress has ...

May 12, 2011

Politicizing Procurement

When President Obama took office, he promised to lead a new era of government accountability. In fact, his administration was to be marked by an “unprecedented level of openness and transparency.” Yet recent signals from the White House raise serious questions about the president’s interest in transparency as a tool for responsible government and the potential that transparency will instead become a weapon of partisan political activity. Weeks ago, the administration circulated a ...

May 12, 2011

D.C. Can Slow Rising Gas Prices

As gas prices across the United States approach four dollars a gallon, Congress has a responsibility to ensure that political agendas and the administration’s bureaucratic delays do not block efforts to lower energy costs and use our nation’s abundant natural resources. Increasing oil and gas production – both offshore and on –is essential to our energy future. We need to rely far more on hydraulic fracturing, a proven, safe technology.. We must also eliminate the excessive regulatory ...

May 3, 2011

The Presidential Records Act & Protecting America’s Right to Know

Since the passage of the Presidential Records Act 33 years ago, electronic media and information technology have proliferated across the federal government. Yet Congress has not undertaken a legislative effort to update the law and meet the demands of the digital information age. Three different presidents have issued executive orders to supplement the Presidential Records Act, but each has addressed issues relating to presidential privilege or the restriction of access to presidential ...