- FEMA Knew Of Toxic Gas In Trailers - Broader Privilege Claimed In Firings: White House Says Hill Can't Pursue Contempt Cases - Federal Contractor Misconduct Database - Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) & GEOFRED Patrice McDermott, Director OpenTheGovernment.org www.openthegovernment.org 202.332.OPEN (6736) - FEMA KNEW OF TOXIC GAS IN TRAILERS By Spencer S. Hsu Friday, July 20, 2007; Page A01 The Federal Emergency Management Agency since early 2006 has suppressed warnings from its own field workers about health problems experienced by hurricane victims living in government-provided trailers with levels of a toxic chemical 75 times the recommended maximum for U.S. workers, congressional lawmakers said yesterday. more [WPost] Links: House Oversight Hearing, Supplemental Memo and Exhibits FEMA's Travel Trailers: Litigation Considerations v. Health and Safety Considerations...... and the winner is? Video of hearing *** - BROADER PRIVILEGE CLAIMED IN FIRINGS: WHITE HOUSE SAYS HILL CAN'T PURSUE CONTEMPT CASES By Dan Eggen and Amy Goldstein Friday, July 20, 2007; Page A01 Bush administration officials unveiled a bold new assertion of executive authority yesterday in the dispute over the firing of nine U.S. attorneys, saying that the Justice Department will never be allowed to pursue contempt charges initiated by Congress against White House officials once the president has invoked executive privilege. more [WPost] *** - FEDERAL CONTRACTOR MISCONDUCT DATABASE The government awards contracts to companies with histories of misconduct such as contract fraud and environmental, ethics, and labor violations. In the absence of a centralized federal database listing instances of misconduct, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is providing such data. [POGO] Link: Database *** - FEDERAL RESERVE ECONOMIC DATA (FRED) FRED is a database of over 13,000 U.S. economic time series. Over 11,000 data series have been added to the regional data category in the database, including labor force and unemployment rate time series for every state, county, and metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the US. Also see the new data-mapping tool called GEOFRED, which displays color-coded data on the state, MSA, and county levels. Links: FRED GEOFRED ###