Dirt Diggers Digest No. 51
April 15, 2004
Editor: Philip Mattera
1. New coalition formed to oppose rise in government secrecy
2. Conference to address restrictions on infrastructure data
3. Keeping track of war profiteers
4. WSJ highlights Form 4 for info on executive stock options
5. Oxfam America issues report and launches campaign on farm labor
6. New tool for campaign contribution research
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1. New coalition formed to oppose rise in government secrecy
OpenTheGovernment.org is the name of a new coalition (and its
website) that is dedicated to fighting the expansion of government
secrecy at all levels of government in the United States. The
coalition--which bring together groups from the worlds of journalism,
organized labor, the environmental movement and others interested
in open government--has issued a report listing what it calls the "Ten
Most Wanted" documents, which include things such as data on gifts
from lobbyists to Senators and their staffs. (The report can be found at:
http://openthegovernment.org/filemanager/download/13/TenMostWanted.pdf)
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2. Conference to address restrictions on infrastructure data
Continuing on the issue of secrecy: OMB Watch, the Center for Public
Integrity, the American Library Association and other groups are
sponsoring a conference at American University in Washington, DC
next month on the growing restrictions that have been imposed on
infrastructure-related information since 9/11. These restrictions,
purportedly adopted to thwart terrorists, have begun to affect the ability
of independent researchers to analyze environmental and safety issues
relating to facilities such as nuclear power plants. For more information
on the conference, which will take place May 14-16, go to:
http://www.american.edu/radiowave/CII/CII_conferencehome.htm
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3. Keeping track of war profiteers
The role of military contractors in Iraq continues to be a major scandal
of the Bush Administration. Valuable information on these contractors
can be found on the new War Profiteers website launched by CorpWatch
at http://www.warprofiteers.com. Among the features of the site are
detailed profiles of companies such as Halliburton, Lockheed Martin,
Boeing and Raytheon.
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4. WSJ highlights Form 4 for info on executive stock options
An article in today's Wall Street Journal (April 15, p.C3) discusses
the importance of not relying solely on annual proxy statements in
doing executive compensation research. The article notes that, as
a result of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, executives now have to report
options grants within two business days on SEC Form 4 (which is
now among the forms available on the EDGAR system). Thanks to
Tyson Slocum for recommending this item.
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5. Oxfam America issues report and launches campaign on farm labor
Oxfam America has issued a new report called LIKE MACHINES IN THE
FIELDS that documents the ways in which changes in the fresh produce
industry are deteriorating working conditions for farmworkers in the United
States. The report looks at issues such as the effect of concentration on
supply-chain dynamics and the consequent impact on growers and the
workers they employ. (The sections on the fresh tomato and pickling
cucumber sectors were based on research done by Dirt Diggers editor
Phil Mattera and his colleague Mafruza Khan.) The report can be found at
http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/art7011.html. For information on
Oxfam's One Penny for Workers Rights campaign on behalf of farmworkers,
see http://ga0.org/campaign/ciw/is55gdr9jwm5m3.
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6. New tool for campaign contribution research
A new website called Fundrace 2004 <www.fundrace.org> doesn't
provide any campaign contribution information that isn't already
available from other sources, but it makes it easy to search for
donors to the current presidential campaign by street address or
zip code. You can also search for contributions by your neighbors.
Unlike sites such as OpenSecrets, the individual donor entries
display full addresses, so Fundrace might also be used to find home
addresses for individuals with unlisted phone numbers.
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Philip Mattera
Research Director & Director of the Corporate Research Project
Good Jobs First