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New Publications, Posts, and Cases
GAO Files FOIA Suit Against Another Agency That’s Lost the Plot
Government Accountability & Oversight has filed suit against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) for its failure to release records about — recent headlines affirm — yet another federal government agency failing to engage in its core responsibilities or competencies in favor of politicization.
DC Circuit Strikes Down Bid to Hide Records re Donor-provided ‘Staff’
Court orders House to brief whether the Congress, Speaker, and Oversight Committee are immune from public scrutiny Committee use of donor-provided ‘staff’ to drive “year-long investigation” — apparently (see UPDATE, below) later handed over to plaintiffs’ bar — at issue See here, here, here, here, here and/or here for the fascinating backstory behind this suit, and the […]
Splitting Up the Loot, II
“Watch the theme of “environmental justice”- it will subsume much policy orientation going forward” GAO readers may have seen this recent item about the New Green Blob that’s eating the Old Blob, and the bitter power struggles along the way, in keeping with Sayre’s Law (though admittedly the number of dollars being redistributed is so high). […]
Meet the New Green Blob
Old Westerns remind us what happens when it comes time to split up the loot Recent coverage of “environmental justice” money being thrown around (a billion here and a billion there, pretty soon…) . reminded GAO of some transition-era emails — including from a recent Biden White House promotion (and, speaking of hijacking agendas and […]
About Government Accountability & Oversight
At the beginning of 2018, after several successful years pursuing transparency among activist public servants, including office holders, academics and even law enforcement, experienced attorneys from the litigation, prosecutorial and classical liberal think tank worlds joined together to create the non-profit public interest group Government Accountability & Oversight.
GAO pursues and supports litigation that seeks to ensure that governmental entities at state, local, and federal levels comply with their sunshine and transparency obligations under open records acts. Institutions suffer from capture – including, increasingly, the public’s academic institutions, enlisted by donors and ideologues as weapons in legal, political and policy battles, almost universally on one side of the ideological divide. As New York University professor Jonathan Haidt argues, academia cannot be devoted to the search for truth if it also has a political agenda.
More broadly, all public institutions (including those under the control of political actors) must exercise public authority and conduct the public’s business objectively and according to the institution’s mission.
GAO works to lessen the burdens of government and defend human, civil and property rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and secured by law, through ensuring the public is aware of how government institutions operate, with whom, toward what ends.
State and federal laws require transparency in public institutions, to allow for an educated public to understand how their institutions are being used – whether in cultural and ideological battles, or simply in ways that the institutions. or certain individuals in those institutions, would prefer be kept from the taxpayer on whose incomes they depend and whom they serve.
GAO has research, litigation, investigative journalism and publication functions, all combining to seek and educate about public information showing how policymakers and activists in the tort bar and educational institutions use public resources to advance a shared agenda, and private interests, with an emphasis on environmental and energy policy. By broadly disseminating the public information it obtains under open records and freedom of information laws, other organizations and individuals can benefit from the knowledge GAO uncovers.
Please support GAO as it continues to shine light on these activities, what the revelations mean and how these play in the policy and legal world, as well as how the activities they detail impact your lives.
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