The Media's Response to the Legislative Efforts
Leading to the Plain Writing Act of 2010
— In Blogs, Newspapers, and Other Periodicals,
2007-2010
A Project of the Plain Writing Association
This ongoing Project of the Plain Writing Association attempts to document the media's response to the legislative efforts leading to the Plain Writing Act of 2010. Focusing mainly on the period from 2007 to 2010, the Project, arranged in reverse chronology, presents links to articles and posts in blogs, newspapers, and other periodicals.
The links below cover the year 2010. Use the navigation links above to proceed to a different year.
December 23, 2010
Forbes, Robert W. Wood, Decoding The Tax Law
December 20, 2010
The Private Library, L.D. Mitchell, Obfuscation, Bureaucratic and Academic, at The Private Library
December 14, 2010
Ripple Effect, Amy Bielski, Plain Writing Act of 2010
December 13, 2010
Traverse City Record-Eagle, Jodee Taylor, Jodee Taylor: Plain words are best
november 15, 2010
Utah State Law Library, Jessica Van Buren, Plain Writing Act of 2010
november 14, 2010
Legal Writing Prof Blog, Plain Writing Act of 2010(mentioned in: Legal Blog Watch, Bruce Carton, 'Plain Writing Act of 2010' Seeks Clearer Government Communications)
The Assembly Area, Seriously? A government agency to monitor how other agencies write?!
november 10, 2010
Schlabig, Sharon Sledzik, Plain Writing - 2010
november 9, 2010
Center for Plain Language, Plain Writing Laws, Deborah S. Bosley, First, the Act. Then, Accountability
The Hill's Congress Blog, John Klotsche, Tax simplification: Congress passes the buck
november 3, 2010
Fleet Maintenance, Kolman's Korner, The feds now have to be clear and concise
november 1, 2010
AllGov, Noel Brinkerhoff, Replacing Government-Speak with Clear Words - U.S. Edition
October 28, 2010
C. Hope Clark, Dumbing Down Writing
October 26, 2010
IRS Hitman, What the IRS Plain Writin Act Looks Like: And What it Means for YOU
October 25, 2010
IRS Medic, Anthony E. Parent, "Plain Writing Law" will force IRS to be gooder
October 22, 2010
WriteClick, Melua, Plain English now the law in US
Progressive News Daily, Jim Swanson, Wally Herger: A Big Silent "F*** YOU" To Everyone But Himself
October 21, 2010
L.W. Cooper Law Office, As If You Should Have to Ask: Plain Writing Rule Becomes Law
Technical Communication Center, Ugur Akinci, President Obama Signed Plain Writing Act of 2010
October 20, 2010
Deceiver, Obama: Trust Me, the Plain Writing Is In There - Somewhere
Center for Plain Language, Plain Language Matters, ABC Reports Plain Writing Act
Royse Law, Obama Signs "Plain Writing Act of 2010" into Law
October 19, 2010
Roni Deutch Tax Center, Roni Deutch, IRS Must Use "Plain Language"
Tax Rascal, Plain Writing Act of 2010: Can Taxes Ever Make Sense?
IQ Solutions, Dan Johnson, Coming Soon: Plain Language from the Federal Government
October 18, 2010
Tax Girl, Plain Writing Act of 2010 Clears Things Right Up(quoted in: Roth & Company, Plain Writing, Indeed)
CCH, Anton, Plain writing - banishing gibberish
Trident Leverage, John Evelyn, Get Lost
American Copy Editors Society, Board Notes, Teresa Schmedding, HR 946? Plain Nonsense?
Forbes, Taxing Matters, Janet Novack, The IRS, College Tax Credits and Congress' Plain Writing Hypocrisy
The Blaze, Jonathan M. Seidl, New Law: Obama Signs 'Plain Writing Act'
October 17, 2010
Good With Words, Ingrid Sapona, Obama signs Plain Writing Act of 2010
ABC News, World News With Diane Sawyer, John Berman, Obama Signs 'Plain Writing' Law
ABC News Radio Online, Joshua Cohan, Tax Forms Will Never Be The Same: 'Plain Writing' Law Passes
October 16, 2010
Don't Mess With Taxes, Kay Bell, Your taxes, now in plain language
Brooklyn Law School, BLS Library, Harold O'Grady, The Plain Writing Act
October 15, 2010
Law Librarian, It's Time for "Plain Language:" Obama Signs H.R. 946, the Plain Writing Act of 2010
October 14, 2010
GBM News, Dawn Rivers Baker, Plain Writing in Government Documents Is The Law!
Pappas Tax, Peter Pappas, New Law: IRS Must Talk Plainly
Roth CPA, Roth & Company, Congress: Your Guys Speak Plainly, But We'll Continue To Babble Gibberish
Progress Ohio, Dave, Voinovich Sponsored Plain Writing Act Signed Into Law
A Taxing Matter, Plain English or Misleading Tax Rhetoric Oct. 14, 2010: Tax Prof Blog, Paul L. Caron, IRS Must Now Use 'Plain Writing'(referred to in: How to Beat the Taxman)
Microenterprise Journal Blog, Plain Writing in Government Documents is the Law!
Iowa Politics, Bruce Braley, U.S. House of Representatives, Press Release, Bill to Simplify Public Documents Now Becomes Law
Bag of Nothing, Geeding, Bag of Randomness
Taxing Tennessee, Ben Cunningham, Call off the Tea Party, we are SAVED!!
New York Times, The Caucus, Michael D. Shear, Obama Signs Perfectly Plain Law
Death or Taxes, IRS Must Use "Plain Language"
October 13, 2010
Center for Plain Language, Plain Writing Laws, President Obama Signs Plain Writing Act of 2010
USA Today, Michael Winter, 'Plain Writing' now the rule for federal government(also quoted in Democratic Underground)
Daily Globe (by subscription), Worthington, Minnesota, As other see it: 'Language Bill' needed
October 12, 2010
VITA-Volunteers, On Friday, October 1st, H.R. 946, "Plain Writing Act of 2010" was presented to the President…
October 8, 2010
The Daily Republic (subscription), Mitchell, South Dakota, Our View: Congress' language bill needed to clear up confusion
October 4, 2010
Write With Jean, Make Mine Plain, Please
Votetocracy, HR. 946 - Plain Language Act of 2009
Clifton Douglas, Houses-passed "Plain Writing Act of 2010" will affect some IRS guidance; bill awaits President's signature(also in: Your Most Valuable Asset, Steven Hoffman and in Accounting and Tax Tips, Kenneth Reid, Oct. 12, 2010)
Newspapers publishing their representatives' Sept. 29 roll-call voting record of the Plain Writing Act (supplied by "The Votes In Congress Service" of Thomas Voting Reports) included in:Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, VA, Courier & Press, Evansville, IN, News and Observer, Raleigh, NC, Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, Salem, MA, Press of Atlantic City, NJ, Seattle Times, Richmond Times-Dispatch, VA, Las Cruces Sun-News, NM, as well as Inland Politics, CA, AllBusiness , Goliath
October 1, 2010
Forbes, Robert W. Wood, Plainspoken tax law
Iowa Politics, U.S. Congress: Plain language act goes to President's desk (Press Release, Sept. 30, 2010, Bill to Simplify Public Documents Passes House 341-82)
Adam B. Sullivan, Congress Should Go Even Farther With Plain Language Law
September 30, 2010
Hafen Buckner Everett & Graff, Policy & Regulatory, The Senate late on September 27, approved, by voice vote…
Wealth Strategies, James G. Haskell, Federal Government Must Speak Plainly
Communicate Health, Plain Writing - required by law!
September 29, 2010
Center for Plain Language, Plain Language Matters, The Senate Passes Plain Writing Act of 2010: Government At Its Best
Thomson Reuters, Abe Carnow, Plain Speaking and Tax Law
September 28, 2010
OMB Watch, Gavin Baker, Congress Tries to Make Bureaucrats Communicate More Clearly(and cited in: Legal Buzz)
Iowa Politics, U.S. Rep. Braley: Senate passes Braley Plain Language Act (Press Release, Sept. 28, 2010, Bill to Simplify Public Documents Receives Unanimous Consent)(also excerpted in: Health Information Literacy, Sept. 30, Angela Arner, Plain Writing Act Passes, National Network of Libraries of Medicine and Hawaii 24/7, and included in Senatus, Senate Passes the Plain Writing Act and GovLoop, GovLaunch - Plain Language Act Passes)
August 9, 2010
Cagle Post, Tom Purcell, Needed - Plain English and Cagle Cartoons(also in: The Doc Is In (Aug. 10), In The Rain (Aug. 15), The Politicus (Aug. 10), Catholic Exchange (Aug. 10), Politically Illustrated (Aug. 10), Jewish World Review (Aug. 10), Henry Daily Herald, McDonough, GA (Aug. 11), SIT News, Ketchikan, AK (Aug. 16), Pittsburgh Tribune (Aug. 8), Aurora Sentinel (Aug. 11), The Herald News, Fall River, MA (Aug. 9), NWTN Today (Aug. 11), TN, Pekin Times, IL (Aug.15), Sun Journal, New Bern, NC (Aug. 9), Daily Tribune, Cartersville, GA (Aug. 9), Wilson County News, TX (Aug. 12), News Sun, Sebring, FL (Aug. 25), Leader Call, Laurel (Aug. 11), Standard-Examiner, Ogden, UT (Aug. 13)
June 14, 2010
Communicate Health, Plain Writing Act of 2010 Passes the House
May 22, 2010
Business Record, Jim Pollock, Say what, now?
April 23, 2010
Duct Tape and Butter Cream, David Morrison, A Bill Everyone Can Support
April 19, 2010
Center for Plain Language, Language Matters, Whitney Quesenbery, Time for Plain Writing: Myths and Reality
April 15, 2010
Corp Magazine, Michael F. Carmichael, Can Plain Writing improve your bottom line - or change the way we behave
April 6, 2010
File These, Plain Language
March 25, 2010
WriteClick, Melua, US Plain Writing bill off to senate
March 24, 2010
Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants, House Approves Bill Requiring IRS to Use 'Plain Writing,' Except in Regulations
March 23, 2010
OMB Watch, Sunshine Week 2010 Concludes with a Number of Federal Initiatives
March 22, 2010
John Locke Foundation, Squall Lines, Bob Smith, Government Speak
March 21, 2010
Newspapers publishing their representatives' March 17 roll-call voting record of the Plain Writing Act (supplied by "The Votes In Congress Service" of Thomas Voting Reports) included:Raleigh News & Observer, NC, Seattle Times, WA, Courier & Press, Evansville, IN as well as AllBusiness
March 19, 2010
Pappas Tax, Peter Pappas, House Says IRS Regulations Don't Have to be Written in Plain Language
March 18, 2010
Irregular Times, Ted Poe's Split Personality Returns
Tax Prof, Paul L. Caron, House Approves Bill Requiring the IRS to Use 'Plain Writing,' Except in Regs
TechPresident, Nancy Scola, Major Legislative Win for the Plain Language Movement. The What?
March 17/18, 2010
Bruce Braley, U.S. House of Representatives, Press Release, House Passes Braley Plain Language Act(also in: Center for Plain Language, Plain Language Matters, Plain Language, Building Rapport, Cheryl Stephens, Plain English Asia, Project Vote Smart, PlainLanguage Wizardry, Web Content Managers Forum)
March 15, 2010
Microbusiness News Briefs, Dawn Rivers Baker, Plain Language Could Make Compliance Easier
March 12, 2010
Tax Foundation, Mark Robyn, Who is Really to Blame for Bewildering Tax Rules?
March 8, 2010
Center for Plain Language, Plain Language Matters, Now is Our Chance to Support Passage of the Plain Language Act
February 21, 2010
Changing Minds, Robert Deigh, A Law Against Poor Writing?
February 1, 2010
Center for Plain Language, Plain Language Matters, Speak Up For Plain Language
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P.W.A. PROJECTS
Plain Writing Legislation: A Comparison of Bills
— This Project of the Plain Writing Association uses proofreading marks and side-by-side comparisons to show how the various versions of the major plain writing bills of the last few years evolved into the Plain Writing Act of 2010. (MORE)
Plain Writing Legislative History
—
This Project of the Plain Writing Association presents a legislative history of the passage of the Plain Writing Act of 2010, documenting the process by which failed plain-writing legislation in the 110th and 111th Congresses ultimately led to the Act. (MORE)
Government Use of Plain Language Editing Software
—
This Project of the Plain Writing Association is a separate website (writersupercenter.com/stylewriterforgovernment) which advocates the use of the ground-breaking plain-English editing software known as StyleWriter Software to assist government in writing more clearly and concisely, in compliance with the Plain Writing Act. (MORE)
The Media's Response to Plain Writing Legislative Efforts
—
This ongoing Project of the Plain Writing Association attempts to document the media's response to the legislative efforts leading to the Plain Writing Act of 2010. Focusing mainly on the period from 2007 to 2010, the Project, arranged chronologically, presents links to articles and posts in blogs, newspapers, and other periodicals. (MORE)
A Historical Bibliography of the Plain Language Movement
— This ongoing Project of the Plain Writing Association presents links to articles that cover the main categories of the history of the plain language movement within American government. (MORE)
PLAIN ENGLISH SOFTWARE
StyleWriter For Government Website
Through our writersupercenter.com/stylewriterforgovernment website, PWA distributes plain-writing editing software to governments, businesses, organizations, and individuals. (MORE)
StyleWriter Editing Software
Working within MS Word, StyleWriter Editing Software converts any
kinds of written documents (reports, correspondence, contracts,
regulations, essays, etc.) into clear, concise, plain English... as
you write. StyleWriter
identifies and corrects more than 35,000 patterns of writing styles
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...StyleWriter Software is currently used in the offices of numerous federal agencies, such as the FDA, EPA, and FAA, as well as within 100s of businesses, organizations, and universities worldwide — and by 1000s of individuals.
StyleWriter is helping to
change the culture of careless, unclear, and confusing writing. And
in the process, it is helping to save countless hours of work and
millions of dollars otherwise lost answering confused client
inquiries and complaints, clearing up foul-ups caused by
miscommunications, and repeating misunderstood requests.
Electronic Writing Course
We now have at our StyleWriterForGovernment website an Electronic Writing Course that can be used in conjunction with, or separate from, the StyleWriter Software. It's a thorough self-directed course in writing that provides employees with all they need to know to be proficient editors of their work and to make the most effective use of StyleWriter Software. (DETAILS)
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