Tracking Obama
An action shot of the left hand that controls the Executive branch.*
Some friends and I have been interested in following and documenting Obama's actions now that he's President. We're curious to know whether he's living up to his campaign promises, and we thought it'd be useful to keep them in one easy-to-find place.
We started noting what we'd read in the news and sending it back and forth in an email thread, but really -- what is this, 1999? So I started a blog, and invited the friends as moderators. Unfortunately, we found that once our days picked up for a few hours, we quickly fell behind and started missing events. Not a very useful tool if it's ad hoc and incomplete.
Obama's first signature as president -- Jan. 20, 2009.
Brains beat brawn every time on the Internet, so off to Google my friend Chris went. For posterity, some useful resources are listed below.**
- Politifact is useful for tracking campaign promises and is being kept up to date.
- FactCheck.org is great for all recent claims made by politicians or floating around the rumor mill.
- FiveThirtyEight.com is Nate Silver's political stats and analysis site -- the best in the business.
- Whitehouse.gov tracks the various executive orders, which is kinda cool, too. So far...
EXECUTIVE ORDERS
January 22, 2009
- Review and Disposition of Individuals Detained at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and Closure of Detention Facilities
- Review of Detention Policy Options
- Ensuring Lawful Interrogations
January 21, 2009
- Presidential Records
- Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel
PRESIDENTIAL MEMORANDA
January 22, 2009
- Review of the Detention of Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri
January 21, 2009
- Freedom of Information Act
- Pay Freeze
- Transparency and Open Government
Still, Chris couldn't find a blog or other site that's just tracking what Obama does, what actions he approves or denies each day. Another oddity -- Kottke (citing others) also notes that once the new White House site goes up, the prior president's site disappears -- *poof* -- and is moved over to that president's library site.
All problems seem strange, given the ubiquity of this type of information. If anyone finds resources or tools that are particularly useful, please post in the comments.
* The President's watch is a Jorg Gray JGC6500 Chronograph Watch. Or you could go here and pay double...
** Many thanks to those willing and able to dedicate themselves to this work. Also key is Obama's dedication to transparency and the open, free exchange of information. So refreshing.
[First image via The Big Picture. Second image via Reuters, ffffound.]
Clean Air: Tiny Step Forward, Huge Step Back
The Court of Appeals for the District of Colombia today relented, just a bit and after heavy pressure by the EPA and others, to allow continued work towards capping sulfur-dioxide and nitrogen oxides.
The [Clean Air Interstate Rule, or CAIR] regulations are aimed at cutting emissions of unhealthy pollutants and particulate matter in 28 states by tightening the cap on sulfur-dioxide emissions and establishing a new cap on emissions of nitrogen oxides.
Meanwhile, W is sure making the most out of his last months as President. Some argue that he's attempting to rewrite history in regard to his own legacy.
As importantly, W's administration has been quietly issuing hundreds of last-minute regulations and executive orders. As has been his M.O., his administration issued a unilateral, unexplained decision contrary to all prior expert testimony and Congressionally-appointed advisors but in line with industry interests. And of course, the decision was made without allowance for public comment. Says Alston & Bird,
With only weeks remaining as Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Administrator, Stephen L. Johnson issued a memorandum indicating that CO2 is not a regulated pollutant in the approval process for power plants. Johnson's interpretation of "regulated pollutant" was not opened to a public comment process, but he concluded by saying,
The interpretation adopted in this memorandum is based on a reasonable reading of the terms of the regulation, is consistent with past Agency practice, and is not precluded by the Clean Air Act. Furthermore . . . it is not sound policy to trigger mandatory emissions limitation under the [permit] program on the basis of rules designed for information gathering.
Johnson's decision remains for now, but it may fail in court and could be overturned by Lisa Jackson when she takes Johnson's place as EPA Administrator under President-elect Obama's administration.