In the news

Don't Track Me, Bro

2011-05-10T11:23:00.004-04:00

The White House and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have been asking the Senate for a law that would protect Internet users from having their online activity tracked for commercial purposes. Yesterday, Senator Rockefeller (D-WV), chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, introduced S.913, the Do-Not-Track Online Act of 2011, which would make it illegal for Internet companies to collect data on browsing behavior of people who have "opted out" via their web browser or their mobile device.

Some browsers have voluntarily included do-not-track tools already, but no company is required to honor that request without legislation in place. If the bill becomes law, the FTC will create and enforce the rules by which companies will then have to abide.

Check out the text of the bill, or a short summary of each section.

2011 Economic Report of the President

2011-03-01T08:18:00.010-05:00

The Economic Report of the President, 2011 is now available from the U.S. Government Printing Office. It is issued by the Executive Office of the President and the Council of Economic Advisers and transmitted to Congress no later than ten days after the submission of the Budget of the United States Government. The Economic Report of the President is available from GPO's Federal Digital System at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collectionGPO.action?collectionCode=ERP.

Documents are available in ASCII text and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), with many of the tables also available for separate viewing and downloading as spreadsheets in Microsoft Excel (XLS).

The Economic Report of the President includes:

1. Current and foreseeable trends and annual numerical goals concerning topics such as employment, production, real income, and Federal budget outlays;
2. Employment objectives for significant groups of the labor force;
3. Annual numeric goals;
4. And a program for carrying out program objectives.

Also included is the Annual Report of the Council of Economic Advisers.
Each year, the Council of Economic Advisers submits this report on its activities during the previous calendar year in accordance with the requirements of Congress as set forth in section 10(d) of the Employment Act of 1946 as amended by the Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978.

The Economic Report of the President, 2011 will be distributed to Federal depository libraries in paper format under:
* Title: Economic Report of the President, Transmitted to the Congress Feb. 2011 Together with the Annual Report of the Council of Economic Advisers* Class: PR 44.9:2011* Item Number: 0848-F-02* Shipping List: 2011-0032-S* PURL: http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS5348* CGP System Number: 582665.The Economic Report of the President, 2011 is also being shipped as House Document 112-2.

* Title: Economic Report of the President, Transmitted to the Congress Feb. 2011 Together with the Annual Report of the Council of Economic Advisers* Class: Y 1.1/7:112-2* Item Number: 0996-F* Shipping List: 2011-0032-S* PURL: http://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo4325* CGP System Number: 795910

In addition, copies of the Economic Report of the President, 2011 are available for purchase from the U.S. Government Online Bookstore at: http://bookstore.gpo.gov/collections/erp.jsp.

3... 2... 1... Liftoff

2011-02-24T12:55:00.003-05:00

The space shuttle Discovery sets off on its final mission (STS-133) today at 4:50pm. The Discovery will complete an eleven-day voyage to the International Space Station and then enjoy a long retirement, maybe work on its golf handicap, putter around in the garage, the usual stuff. Follow minute-by-minute coverage of the events at Kennedy Space Center, read about the shuttle's past missions, and watch the launch at NASA's Launch Blog.

Documents Used to Promote Rumsfeld's New Book

2011-02-18T09:26:00.006-05:00

Donald Rumsfeld, George W. Bush's Secretary of Defense through 2006, has recently published a memoir, "Known and Unknown." In order to promote his book, he's been making the talk-show rounds, and has created a website that he calls "The Rumsfeld Papers," which includes a collection of "hundreds of declassified or previously unreleased documents." The visitor is invited to browse the documents online, but they appear to be accessible only by searching keywords (if you can find a way to actually browse them, let me know).

The documents cover three administrations: Presidents Nixon, Ford, and G.W. Bush. There are scattered documents from his days in Congress and a special archive for the famous "snowflake" memos that inundated his staff during his years under Bush. With the right sort of indexing and verification this will be an extremely valuable collection, addressing a controversial period in our country's history.

Several journalists have already begun to dig through the memos and policy documents in order to compare them with information available during the early years of our war with Iraq. Jeremy Hammond, in Foreign Policy Journal, revisits the much-criticized decision to disband the Iraqi army in May of 2003. Bush, Rumsfeld, and V.P. Cheney have all claimed not to have authorized the order given by Paul Bremer, despite the fact that he reported to them and no disciplinary action was taken after he issued the order. As Hammond points out, documents on the website show that Rumsfeld was well aware of Bremer's intent to disband the Iraqi army; he had ample opportunity to refuse permission for such a move (one that largely led to the Iraqi insurgency we still see today). Bremer has claimed for years that he was not acting alone in this decision, and the documents on Rumsfeld's website appear to corroborate the accusation that at least Rumsfeld was complicit in this decision -- a decision that ran counter to the policy recommendations of his own Defense Department advisors and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Keep an eye out to see what else the document detectives come up with!

President's Budget of the United States Government, 2012

2011-02-14T16:35:00.002-05:00

Looking for the President's Budget as mentioned in this New York Times article? Well, we have just the thing for you!

The President's Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2012 is now available from the United States Government Printing Office (GPO). The public can search or browse the budget, which is accessible from GPO's Federal Digital System at: <http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collectionGPO.action?collectionCode=BUDGET>. FY 2012 Budget documents are available in PDF, with many of the tables also available for separate viewing and downloading as spreadsheets in excel format.

We will be getting the paper document soon at Jackson Library. For now you can see it using the links below:

* Title: Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2012
* Class: PREX 2.8:2012
* PURL: http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS2343

* Title: Appendix, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2012
* Class: PREX 2.8:2012/APP
* PURL: http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS862

* Title: Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2012
* Class: PREX 2.8/5:2012
* PURL: http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS17351

* Title: Historical Tables, Budget of the United States Government Fiscal Year 2012
* Class: PREX 2.8/8:2012
* PURL: http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS17353

Read GPO's press release about the President's FY 2012 budget at http://www.gpo.gov/pdfs/news-media/press/11news12.pdf

Fun Stuff

2011-02-07T15:24:00.006-05:00

Tracks in the Stacks

A couple of weeks ago, the Library of Congress received its largest-ever donation of audio recordings. Universal Music Group is shipping hundreds of thousands of masters on metal or lacquer discs, or reel-to-reel tapes – mostly from the 1930s and ‘40s – to the library’s National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in Virginia.

The LoC will not only preserve and catalog the collection; they’ll eventually digitize the songs and make many of them freely available for streaming from their website (though the record company retains all copyrights). Sony-BMG is collaborating with LoC on the project, called “The National Jukebox.”

The Decca record label supplies a substantial part of the donated material; sadly, recordings from the Chess and Motown labels aren’t included in this deal (maybe later). Some of the most recognizable artists represented in the collection are Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, Billy Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Bill Monroe.

GPO goes 2.0

The Government Printing Office is gettin’ all social-networky with its new Facebook page and its Twitter feed. Keep up with the latest news from the GPO and the Federal Depository Library Program.

Putting Budget Cuts in Perspective

This quick little video (about a minute and a half) isn’t government-produced, but it’s a good reminder of how to think about large numbers – the kind that are involved in any government-related budget discussion. Being alert to rhetoric is a good way to separate solid government information from politics. [Re: the legality of destroying pennies in the process of creating an educational video... Um, I dunno. It’s probably discouraged.]

Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Report

2011-01-27T13:26:00.003-05:00

Just released through the Federal depository system...

Published by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report investigates the causes of the financial and economic crisis of 2007-2010. On May 20, 2009, President Obama signed into law an Act that established the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to "examine the causes, domestic and global, of the current financial and economic crisis in the United States." During the course of its investigation, the ten person bipartisan committee reviewed millions of pages of documents, interviewed more than 700 witnesses, and held 19 days of public hearings in New York, Washington, D.C., and communities across the country that were hit hard by the crisis.

The final report presents the Commission's findings and conclusions and also contains 126 pages of dissenting views. The Commission terminates sixty days following the release of its final report.

Our library should receive The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report in paper format soon (check the library catalog for more information), but you can also view the document using the PURL below:

* Title: The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report: Final Report of the National Commission on the Causes of the Financial and Economic Crisis in the United States. Official Government Edition, January 2011.
* Class: Y 3.2:F 49/2/C 86
* PURL: <http://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo3449>

The final report is available on FDsys in PDF format <http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/search/pagedetails.action?packageId=GPO-FCIC> and for purchase from the U.S. Government Bookstore <http://bookstore.gpo.gov/collections/fcic.jsp.

You can also read a New York Times article on the report: Financial Crisis Was Avoidable, Inquiry Finds

Deep Water Horizon Commission Report

2011-01-12T11:08:00.003-05:00

Published by the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, Deep Water: The Gulf Oil Disaster and the Future of Offshore Drilling offers the American public and policymakers alike the fullest account available of what happened on April 20, 2010 when the Macondo well blew out. The explosion cost the lives of 11 men and initiated the catastrophe that sank the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that spilled nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The spill disrupted an entire region's economy, damaged fisheries and critical habitats, and brought vividly to light the risks of deepwater drilling for oil and gas.

The Commission's final report explains why the well blew out and proposes actions--changes in company behavior, reform of Government oversight, and investments in research and technology--required as the industry moves forward to meet the nation's energy needs.

Our library should receive the Deep Water report in paper format soon (check the library catalog for more information), but you can also view the document using the PURL below.

* Title: Deep Water: The Gulf Oil Disaster and the Future of Offshore Drilling. Report to the President
* call number: SuDoc PR 44.8:D 36/G 95
* PURL: http://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo2978

In addition to the report, the Commission released a Recommendations document for decision makers. The print version of this document should also be received by the library soon.

* Title: Deep Water: The Gulf Oil Disaster and the Future of Offshore Drilling. Recommendations.
* call number: SuDoc PR 44.8: D 36/G 95/RECOMM.
* PURL: http://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo2981

If you have any questions, please ask at the Reference Desk!

UNCG University Libraries' Election Guide

2010-10-27T12:31:00.002-04:00

Check out our new Election Guide for the 2010 mid-term elections! We have gathered lots of candidate guides and other materials for your voting needs!

Nixon and Uruguay

2010-08-14T08:09:00.002-04:00

The National Security Archive, a non-governmental research institute and library at The George Washington University, has posted new documents about the Nixon administration and Uruguay. After the kidnapping of the American advisor, Dan Mitrione, the Nixon administration instructed the US Ambassador to Uruguay to suggest to the Uruguayan Government that leftist prisoners should be threatened with death if Mitrione were killed. After his death, Uruguay began to release death squads against the leftist insurgency. You can read a short history and a few of the documents on the National Security Archives webpage.

Citizen Power... Activate! Form of... Upcoming Elections

2009-10-28T09:21:00.007-04:00

I was robbed!

Well, I'm not sure that Penn and I were ever actual city residents before, but with the recent redistricting process, we've lost our membership in the elite group that gets to go to the polls next Tuesday (or earlier if you like) and vote in the Greensboro city election.

You city-tax-payin' swells, on the other hand, will be voting for a mayor, a city council member from your district, and three at-large council members. You'll also be asked to approve or deny $20,000,000 in bonds for the Natural Science Center. You can determine your city district and polling place at the State Board of Election's Voter Lookup site. (Click "My Districts" once your personal information comes up.)

Candidates' financial reports are available here. The Greensboro News & Record's Vote '09 page has a sidebar listing the mayoral/council races with links to each candidate's personal website (if available). Winston-Salem residents, follow your races here (or tell me how to navigate your local newspaper's website well enough to find the municipal website that certainly must exist, somewhere.)

So have fun on Tuesday, and I'll see you at the polls... next year.

Docs Office Update

2009-10-22T15:00:00.004-04:00

Did you know that the University Libraries house approximately 400,000 government documents? Don't feel bad -- neither did very many other people! But that's changing, thanks to the awe-inspiring efforts of our Cataloging Department, especially Katherine Nunnally, Jennifer Ormsby, Ed Waters, Jenny Raabe, Paul Hessling, Clara Kelly, and Sue Brusnahan (retired) who started the whole process.

Thanks to the unbelievable efforts of these folks, documents from the departments of Education, State, and Defense, along with the Smithsonian Institute, Library of Congress, Civil Rights Commission and the state of NC are now listed in our catalog. Most Congressional and online-only docs are available as well, and catalogers are currently tackling the Health Department.

This project has been a long time coming, and we've already seen some very tangible results; there have been definite jumps in local and ILL circulation of documents that are now listed in the catalog and OCLC. When I mention the project to people from other depositories, they tend to get a far-away look in their eyes and whisper, "maybe someday..." We're very lucky to have the ability to make these resources so much more easily accessible to our patrons. Thank You to everyone involved, and to the librarians and administrators who were willing to back such a huge undertaking!

Autumn Sunshine

2009-10-21T12:36:00.003-04:00

Whether you're a citizen journalist, a researcher, or just a promoter of an informed electorate, the NC Open Government Coalition's "Sunshine Center" and the City of Greensboro are sponsoring two workshops that should prove useful. The presentations take place tomorrow, October 22, at 2pm and 7pm, at the Greensboro Historical Museum (get directions) and both are free and open to the public.

The 2pm workshop will focus on NC's open meeting law and requests from media. The 7pm workshop will emphasize NC's public records law and FOIA requests. Both presentations will feature representatives from Elon University's School of Law to anwer questions and provide a review of state legislation.

We have laws in place that protect our right to information, but they only work when we know how to use them.

Health Care Debate Making You Sick?

2009-09-04T11:12:00.007-04:00

The national debate on health care has caused people on all sides of the issue to break out in hideous rashes, violent ulcers, and astronomical blood pressures, not to mention fits of hysteria and complete breaks with reality. It's hard to stay focused on the facts in the current atmosphere, but this is a topic that's just too important to ignore. So grab your antacid and check out some of these relevant sites.

Healthreform.gov is a sort of one-stop shop for information on the Obama administration's policy with regard to health care reform. The reports section is a great place to start finding background information on specific health care topics.

NC Health Info has prepared a list of reliable sources of information on the differing ideas for the ways health care in this country should change. And our former Personnel Librarian, Beth Ellington, helped to create it so you know it's awesome.

The Congressional Research Service report: Health Insurance Reform and the 111th Congress is an excellent overview of the bills relating to health care change, but was published May 15, 2009, so is lacking the most recent legislative efforts. The Congressional Budget Office has a page devoted to their health care reform-related reports and cost analyses.

H.R. 3200, America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 is a major bill that is not included in the above-mentioned report. Opponents of the bill have engaged in a vigorous misinformation campaign about the content of the legislation, and Factcheck.org refutes the claims and explains the actual components of the bill in its reports, Twenty-six Lies About H.R. 3200 and False Euthanasia Claims.

Finally, this 2004 report from the Institute of Medicine, Insuring America's Health, reminds us why this debate is essential. The Committee on the Consequences of Uninsurance (the authors of the report) found that 18,000 unnecessary deaths per year are caused by simply not having health insurance. So, no matter how much it makes your ears hurt and your eyes cross, please keep paying attention to the discussion, keep offering input to policy makers, and keep demanding transparency and accountability in our legislative process.

Happy 60th Anniversary

2009-08-12T13:31:00.004-04:00

To the Geneva Convention of 1949 -- the fourth and final treaty to come from the diplomatic meetings at Geneva that began in 1864. This fourth treaty reaffirmed the agreements made in the other three, but added protections for civilians. Together with its subsequent Additional Protocols it has been ratified by 194 countries, all of whom have agreed to be bound by its rules, regardless of the behavior of opposition forces with whom they are engaged in conflict.

The United States' War on Terror has frequently come under fire in the past eight years for what its critics see as a disregard of the terms of the Geneva Convention (GC). A common assertion of the Bush White House was that the GC simply didn't apply to a war on stateless terrorist criminals. Opponents have argued that Common Article 3 of the conventions addresses specifically that situation.

In Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. 557 (2006), the US Supreme Court ruled 5-3 that the Bush administration had indeed violated not only Common Article 3, but our own country's Uniform Code of Military Justice as well. (Click here for oral argument transcript.) Debate on aspects of prisoner treatment and case disposition continue, and President Obama's Justice Department has argued for detainee conditions at Bagram Air Base and various other sites that some say continue to violate the Geneva Conventions.

Northwestern University has the be-all, end-all Reference Guide to the Geneva Conventions. So have a glass of champagne, (use it to toast the Red Cross, established at the first Geneva meeting) and enjoy.

Deals on Wheels

2009-07-30T10:31:00.008-04:00

***Updated 7/31/09 below***

If you've got a gas-guzzler, this may be the time for you to trade it in and get some extra purchasing power from the federal government. The Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) is a Department of Transportation program that will provide $3500 - $4500 discounts on new automobile purchases or leases when you trade in a vehicle with cruddy fuel economy. To see if you qualify, check your car or truck's gas mileage at my favorite website of the moment: fueleconomy.gov.

According to the Federal Register proposed rules, the purchased vehicle must be sold as new, sell for less than $45,000, and have minimum fuel economy standards. Get all the details at the CARS faq, and the final CFR rule.

The program ends on November 1, 2009 or when the $1 billion of funding runs out, so put the pedal to the metal (sorry) and hurry on in (again, sorry) because They're Dealin'!! (okay, I'm done now)

Update 7/31/09
Oh noes! As of Friday morning, it looks like more people have jumped on the "Cash for Clunkers" deal than the government anticipated -- the money may have been depleted in the program's very first week. Qualifying purchases made since July 1st are included in the payout that began last week, accounting for the large number of sales.

Because the program is so successful, DOT is in talks with Congress to find ways of extending the rebate period. If you wanted to participate but haven't yet, let your legislators know!

Madoff Retires to NC?

2009-07-14T09:22:00.000-04:00

The Associated Press is reporting today that Bernie Madoff will soon move to the Federal Correctional Complex in Butner NC, where he will serve out his prison sentence. Madoff hired a "prison consultant" in an attempt to be assigned to the most favorable environment possible for his final years. His defense attorney recommended placing Madoff in a facility close to his home in New York, but the final decision was left to Federal Bureau of Prisons officials.

The Bureau of Prisons maintains this Inmate Locator which was just updated yesterday to show Madoff's present location as the federal penitentiary in Atlanta GA.

Want to know more about the Federal Bureau of Prisons? Check out this issue of Federal Prison Journal -- a special anniversary issue concentrating on the agency's history.

More Sotomayor (For Shore)

2009-07-13T07:44:00.000-04:00

Do you like listening to speeches? Long, speechifying speeches, chock-full of high-dollar words and emotional phrases? Speeches given for the benefit of camera and constituents, and having very little to do with the proceedings during which the speech is delivered? Speeches with questions tacked on, almost as afterthoughts? Me too!

In a completely unrelated vein, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, presidential nominee to the Supreme Court of the U.S., undergoes confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee starting today. Check out the webcast from the Committee's website.

For more of the skinny on Sotomayor, see this previous post.

The House That Roared

2009-07-10T09:55:00.000-04:00

After the 8-year signing statement extravaganza that was the Bush presidency, the House of Representatives has reached its limit. And yesterday, it let the Obama administration know in no uncertain terms (429-2) that it was through playing.

Here's what happened:

June 24, 2009. President Obama signs the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-32) and issues a signing statement.
The signing statement warns that he will not be following parts of the law that he just signed:
However, provisions of this bill within sections 1110 to 1112 of title XI, and sections 1403 and 1404 of title XIV, would interfere with my constitutional authority to conduct foreign relations by directing the Executive to take certain positions in negotiations or discussions with international organizations and foreign governments, or by requiring consultation with the Congress prior to such negotiations or discussions. I will not treat these provisions as limiting my ability to engage in foreign diplomacy or negotiations.
The parts of the law with which Obama took issue, dealt with our contributions to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. They would have attached policy strings to our funding, and required Treasury reports on the agencies' activities.
July 9, 2009. The House takes umbrage. While debating the State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill (HR 3081), House Amendment 311 is introduced. This amendment authoritatively withholds Treasury funds from any agreement that doesn't follow the originally mandated conditions. The amendment passes by a bipartisan landslide.
July 9, 2009. The House passes the State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill (HR 3081) containing the amendment.

President Obama has said that he would "rarely impose his own interpretation of legislation." So far, he has issued 7 such statements. George W. Bush issued 159, breaking all previous records for subverting the rule of law. One of Bush's most famous signing statements allowed him to ignore provisions banning the use of torture.*

*There should be a link to that particular signing statement here. The Government Printing Office, however, has removed that document from its online database, "Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents." Weird, huh?

It Wasn't Called 'CREEP' For Nothing...

2009-07-02T11:41:00.000-04:00

Everything old is news again, now that the National Archives has made tapes from President Richard Nixon's Oval Office available for download. Tapes from January 1973 are the newest addition to the online collection, and include many conversations only recently declassified. The Nixon Presidential Library & Museum's website has also been updated with a large batch of documents, including handwritten notes of other conversations.

Some of the highlights include Nixon's views on:

where women belong in the Republican hierarchy
the psyche of the Jewish people as a whole
interracial pregnancies

However, there's also tons of material on Watergate, the Saturday Night Massacre, and previously-classified documents on Israel's efforts to build nuclear weapons.

Ah, but it's a new day. I don't know how the current White House residents feel about audio recordings, but they've definitely embraced flickr!

Get the Sotomayor Scoop

2009-06-04T09:03:00.000-04:00

Following the Sotomayor story is easy with all of the government's online resources. Start with President Obama's announcement of her as his nominee, where you'll also find the official White House background info on her career. The Library of Congress has a page listing some of her publications and linking to other sites where you can view many of her judicial opinions.

While we all anticipate her confirmation hearings, the Senate Judiciary Committee is preparing for them as well with this site specifically dedicated to Judge Sotomayor. It's being updated with information as it becomes available (hearing dates and submitted questions aren't up yet) and will no doubt carry the hearings live when they take place. You can also see the questionnaire she is required to fill out, and the transcripts of her previous hearings before the committee.

Senators Harry Reid (D-NV) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the Judiciary Committee Chairman, each met with Sotomayor earlier this week, as did ranking Judiciary Committee member Jeff Sessions (R-AL). And if anyone can find anything about it on Sessions' website, let me know!

Finally, why should we care about SCOTUS nominees? This fantastic website from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts provides all kinds of multimedia teaching tools to help educators explain how the nominee could impact our lives directly, and why the confirmation process is in place. Highly recommended!

The State is Your Oyster

2009-05-28T13:49:00.000-04:00

And here's the pearl: Personal Economic Aid Resource Links in North Carolina (PEARL NC). From the press release,

As our state, and indeed the nation, struggles with an economic crisis not seen since the Great Depression, services to support North Carolina's residents are especially crucial. The Personal Economic Aid Resource Links in North Carolina ( PEARL NC ) website was created by the State Library of North Carolina to help residents locate government services related to personal finance, health and medical, nutrition, careers, transportation, and housing assistance. Many of the services identified on this site are free or are provided at reduced cost to support individuals and families struggling to make ends meet.

Also check out the related links on Delicious, and the Job Search Toolkit, created through a collaboration between state and federal agencies, and with the help of libraries throughout the state.

Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em

2009-05-14T09:48:00.000-04:00

But only until January 2nd of 2010, if you're in a North Carolina restaurant or bar. With a few exceptions (cigar bars and private clubs, for instance), with the ratification of NC House Bill 2, smoking has been made illegal in those establishments beginning next year. Governor Perdue has said that she will sign the bill.

The benefits to this bill are many, but probably the best is that California and New York have to quit giving us the stink-eye now! Don't they?

O Budget, Where Art Thou?

2009-05-12T07:06:00.000-04:00

President Obama's detailed budget has been released in its entirety, and you will find it and all of its supplemental tables and appendices here.

The president's sense of humor was released with its usual flair at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on May 9, and you will find it (and at least one of its targets) here.

Enjoy!

Pssst... Want to Rent a PO Box?

2009-04-15T11:35:00.000-04:00

Most of us will have paid our taxes by the end of this day, but according to this 2008 GAO report, there are 18,857 businesses in one building alone that have escaped at least some of their tax burden, effectively shifting it to the rest of us. The building is located in the Cayman Islands, one of several tax havens used by U.S. corporations to game the system. In fact, 80% of the biggest corporations in the country "maintain revenues in offshore tax havens" according to another report from the GAO, this one published 4 months ago.

The non-profit, U.S. Public Interest Research Group has just released their findings detailing the actual costs of these income diversions to the citizens of each state. NC taxpayers are paying an extra $2,714,193,086 each year because of these practices.

Last year, Congress responded to public pressure and passed the HEART Act, which closed the loophole that allowed government contractors to use offshore subsidiaries to avoid paying payroll taxes on their employees. This year, the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act has been reintroduced in Congress, and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner recently testified to the Senate Finance Committee that

"Over the next several months, the President will propose a series of legislative and enforcement measures to reduce such U.S. tax evasion and avoidance. Some proposals will focus on the rules in our tax code that put those who invest and create jobs in the United States at a disadvantage. We will propose rules to both reform U.S. corporations’ ability to defer foreign earnings and deter high income individuals and corporations from using tax havens to avoid taxation."

Just in case someone has the temerity to defend this foolishness, the IRS has created a policy page explaining the indefensibility of these abuses:

Though promoters of offshore schemes often advance technical arguments, which purport to show that their scheme is legal, the intent of Congress remains clear. U.S. taxpayers are not to be allowed to evade taxes by shifting their own liability to some foreign entity.

So you should feel good about having paid your taxes this year! If there's any money left over, why not treat yourself to dinner and a movie -- how about Pirates of the Caribbean?

Just In Time...

2009-04-14T11:07:00.001-04:00

To scare you silly, the Justice Department has released "highlights" from its Fiscal Year 2008 Tax Enforcement Results. And according to the release, the Tax Division did just fine for itself:

The Tax Division has assisted the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in tracking down tax cheats who use offshore accounts, combating abusive tax shelters, stopping tax defiers and shutting down tax schemes and scams. During FY 2008, the Tax Division also successfully defended refund suits against the United States representing claims of nearly $803 million, and collected, through affirmative litigation, over $178 million. The Division’s budget in that period was less than $93 million.

So take heed, and file your returns by tomorrow! See this earlier post for links to IRS and NC Deptartment of Revenue forms and info.

Economic Crisis Extravaganza

2009-03-31T08:12:00.000-04:00

The University Libraries of Mississippi State University have done a fantabulous job of gathering and presenting a huge number of resources on the country's financial situation, including primers, podcasts, and this exhaustive collection of materials from the federal government.

H/t to reference intern, Yan for the link!

Congress: Not Angry, Just Disappointed

2009-03-23T07:49:00.000-04:00

On Friday, the House passed its version of a bill that would tax AIG's bonuses at 90% (leaving the other 10% for state and local taxes). Read a brief summary of the legislation and the situation here. The bill is a response to the free-floating outrage at the enormous sums, and possibly a distraction from the fact that previous legislation allowed the bonuses. But is such a punitive and pointed tax legal?

Constitutional scholars are divided in their opinions. The Constitution prohibits both "bills of attainder" and "ex post facto" laws. Bills of attainder target specific people for punishment, but AIG is not mentioned specifically in the bill, and the tax on bonuses would apply to all companies that accepted more than $5 billion in bailout funds. Ex post facto laws punish conduct prior to the enactment of the legislation. Defenders of the bill say that only money received in calendar year 2009 will be taxed at this rate, and so they claim that it is not retroactive.

Check out the annotated portion of the Constitution that deals with these proscribed laws (prepared by the CRS, with thanks to Cornell for the hyperlinked version) and see what you think about the legality of the House legislation. But remember, the Senate has yet to weigh in on the legislative process, and the White House is already calling for cooler heads, so the question of constitutionality may ultimately be moot.

The Company We Love To Hate

2009-03-18T11:32:00.000-04:00

AIG is all the rage right now! (And by "rage," I mean blind fury). As reported in the NYT, AIG gave out $165 million in bonuses last week, despite the fact that nearly 80% of it is owned by the US government.

Now Senators Wyden (D-OR) and Snowe (R-ME) may have reason to gloat just a little. It turns out that they introduced Senate Amendment 468 to the recently passed Recovery Act. This amendment would have required financial institutions receiving TARP funds (like AIG) to cap their bonuses at $100,000 or pay excise taxes of 35% on any portion above that figure that isn't immediately repaid to the Treasury.

The amendment actually passed the Senate, but was removed during the conference committee with the House. (At this point, no one is publicly taking responsibility for removing the amendment). According to Sen. Snowe, the pair will be re-introducing the legislation this week, but now they will be capping the bonuses at $25,000. And it will apply retroactively, to bonuses paid in 2008 as well. Suh-NAP.

AIG's CEO, Edward Liddy, will testify today before the House Financial Services Committee. Watch the hearing here or, if extremely uncomfortable situations cause you to avert your eyes, just check out his written testimony.

NC Governor's Budget Proposal

2009-03-17T12:18:00.000-04:00

Governor Beverly Perdue today unveiled her 2009-2011 Budget Proposal for North Carolina. A 118-page summary is available here. A lot of the reporting so far has focused on the proposed cigarette and alcohol tax increases, but UNCG's campus would also feel the impact of the suggested $167 million loss to universities across the state.

The UNC Board of Governors has developed several alternative plans for budget cuts. The 7% contingency plan comes close to the governor's proposal, with a savings of $180.2 million. This Board of Governors policy discussion document goes through the entire system and lists specific cuts that would be made, campus-by-campus.

Examples for UNCG's portion of cuts ($11.8 million):

Reduction of 275 class sections
Eliminate 5 positions that support IT services
60% of freshman seminar classes will be eliminated
Eliminate 10 positions in the facilities division

If The US Had A Yard Sale

2009-03-09T09:54:00.000-04:00

The Congressional Budget Office has identified some assets that the country could sell or lease in a time of economic crisis. Like now. This report was requested by Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wisc.) whose office, so far, has not mentioned it on his website. Congressman Kind is a member of the House Ways & Means Committee, and participated in last week's Fiscal Responsibility Summit at the White House.

The report makes for interesting reading but remember, no sales before 7 a.m.!!!

Brace Yourself

2009-03-06T10:07:00.000-05:00

Several recent publications are getting a lot of play in the news the last couple of days, and none is overly optimistic. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Employment Situation Summary for February 2009 today, and reported a higher unemployment rate of 8.1% (the highest in 25 years), and a loss of 651,000 non-farm jobs last month.

Another BLS report released yesterday, shows unit labor costs for 4Q 2008 up, and almost every other measure (productivity, hours, and output) down. Some areas show the largest decreases in a quarter since the Productivity and Costs series began.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve released the second Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions (or "Beige Book") for this year. The Beige Book is a summary of anecdotal economic information gathered in each of the Fed's 12 districts, then reported by district and sector. This report is unique in federal government, in that it looks at every aspect of the nation's economy, and uses it to draw very broad conclusions about the economic outlook. The verdict? For the reporting period of January through late February,

The deterioration was broad based, with only a few sectors such as basic food production and pharmaceuticals appearing to be exceptions.

That's right -- at least one sector is seeing a silver lining to this economy! An article in AdAge claims that prescriptions for antidepressants and sleep aids are both on the rise, despite pharma companies spending less on ads. Apparently, the drugs are selling themselves these days.

Rove to Give Testimony

2009-03-05T11:52:00.000-05:00

The House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), has reached an agreement with the former Bush administration, whereby Karl Rove and Harriet Miers will obey the committee's subpoenaes and provide testimony in the investigation of politically-motivated firings of U.S. Attorneys under Bush. U.S. District Judge John Bates rendered an opinion in July of 2008 that denied the claims of executive immunity and privilege being used to avoid participation in the investigation.

The committee's website provides access to scores of documents regarding the US Attorney firings and many more relating to the report finding Harriet Miers and Joshua Bolten in contempt of congress.

No date has yet been set for the depositions, but the Judiciary Committee's website is updated frequently, and will very likely provide the testimony here, before it's available through the Government Printing Office.

Net Neutrality & Broadband Plans

2009-03-04T10:10:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, President Obama nominated Julius Genachowski to be head of the FCC, bolstering the increasingly strong federal support for the principles of Net Neutrality. Genachowski helped to author the president's technological agenda during his campaign, and made Net Neutrality a high priority. Another strong backer is Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who was recently made chairman of the Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology . This pro-consumer stance is an abrupt turnaround from Bush administration arguments of just a year and a half ago.

Sen. Kerry has also been a vocal proponent of codifying a broadband strategy for the country. The recently-passed American Reinvestment and Recovery Act includes nearly $7.2 billion for broadband initiatives, and attaches open Internet conditions to the funds. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the FCC, and the Office of Rural Development will be holding the first of several public meetings on these new programs next week. Can't make it to DC? They'll be streaming the meeting live online -- get more information in this Federal Register announcement.

Snow Day!

2009-03-02T04:59:00.000-05:00

Winter's hitting Greensboro a little late this year. UNCG is closed today, but if you still need to be driving, you might want to check Greensboro DOT's 22 traffic-cams to see how the roads look.

And if the cable goes out (but, miraculously, you still have power and internet connectivity), take a few minutes to explore the Congressional channels on YouTube: one for the House and one for the Senate. Or contemplate the fate of the middle class at VP Biden's task force website.

Or just make some hot chocolate and go back to bed. :-)

Hot, Hot, Hot

2009-02-26T05:32:00.000-05:00

Office of Management and Budget head, Peter Orszag, said that the new website tracking the stimulus plan's dollars, recovery.gov, is getting 3,000 hits per second. That's got to be some kind of a record for government websites (well, at least since the Starr Report was released). Go see what's made gov-info sexy again, and then contact the NC governor's office if you'd like to see the same sort of information available at the state level!

Cost of Doing Business

2009-02-25T13:19:00.000-05:00

The funding for many federal agencies runs out next week, having been provided for only under an extension from last year's budgets. In order to fund agencies through the remainder of the fiscal year, the House votes today on the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009. While the House Rules Committee admits to $3.8 billion in earmarks, Taxpayers for Commonsense has been going through the bill with a fine-toothed comb and claims to have found $7.7 billion in disclosed earmarks alone. Here's a link to their table comparing types/amounts of earmarks between this year and last. The Senate will vote once this bill passes the House.

NC's Own "Dirty Lab" Scandal

2009-02-25T10:43:00.000-05:00

The Angiers, NC company AM2PAT sold tainted syringes of heparin and saline resulting in at least 5 deaths, and leading to the guilty pleas of 2 employees this week in U.S. District Court. Today's article in the News & Observer reports that numerous complaints about cloudy, off-color drugs and debris in the syringes had been made to the FDA as early as 2005, but that the agency didn't order a recall of the drugs that caused the deaths until December 0f 2007. This, despite the fact that the FDA had already recalled some batches in January of 2007, citing "an ongoing fda inspection of am2pat inc's facility". Days after the recall, the General Accounting Office presented testimony at a Congressional hearing, detailing the FDA's failure to inspect these sorts of labs at least every 2 years, as it is mandated to do.

The FDA's website has a great search engine for recalls, and offers an rss feed for all recalls. The GAO makes reports and testimony available on its website, but can be difficult to navigate if you don't know the report number or the date of release. One lazy way around this is to call up the reporter and ask for her source. If she's very nice, like Sarah Avery is, she may give you the info you need to find it online (thank you, SA)!

Oh Those Jokesters...

2009-02-23T07:43:00.000-05:00

The NYT today has an article on the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" (find NCLB policies, applications, and other forms here). This long-running legislation began in 1965 as the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act", was updated in 1994 as the "Improving America’s Schools Act" and became one of George W. Bush's legacy issues in 2001 under its current name.

People's perceptions of the law have fluctuated over the years, causing legislators and now Education Secretary, Arne Duncan to suggest a "re-branding" of the legislation, with a new name. Immediately, as the Times reports, "scores of educators, policy wonks and assorted rabble-rousers have rushed in with an outpouring of proposals."

Check out Andrew Rotherham's eduwonk.com blog to see the full range of silliness (with several serious proposals thrown in for good measure).

Shocking Number of U.S. Weapons Missing in Afghanistan

2009-02-21T15:53:00.000-05:00

On February 12, the General Accounting Office (GAO) released a truly jaw-dropping report detailing the roughly 87,000 weapons (AK-47 assault rifles, mortars, machine guns and RPG-launchers) donated by the U.S. to Afghan forces that are now unaccounted for. The Department of Defense (DoD) has similarly lost track of about 135,000 weapons that we obtained for Afghanistan from other countries. That's somewhere close to 222,000 weapons that our military may have allowed to slip into the possession of Taliban forces.

On the same day the report was released, the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs heard testimony from the GAO and from the DoD Inspector General's office; the IG's office had just released a parallel report agreeing with the findings of the GAO. The DoD IG's testimony can be found here. From statements by Committee Chairman John Tierney (D-Mass):

The reports highlighted at this hearing as well as this Subcommittee's recent meeting with General Formica in Afghanistan indicate serious impediments: poor security for stored weapons; illiteracy hampering efficient operations; corruption; high desertion rates; and unclear guidance.

Both reports blamed the Pentagon for its failure to set or follow accountability standards which led to U.S. forces ignoring their mandate to ensure the "accountability, control and physical security" of the weapons. In fact, the most basic step of recording serial numbers was routinely skipped.

Possibly the most disturbing aspect of the fiasco is the fact that it is a repeat of what happened in Iraq, according to a July 2007 GAO report. Because of those findings, Chairman Tierney said, "Congress passed a law requiring that 'no defense articles be provided to Iraq until the President certifies that a registration and monitoring system has been established.'" Remarkably, the DoD failed to generalize the new standards of accountability to the situation in Afghanistan, resulting in the latest round of hearings, and the possibility that Congress will have to pass new legislation to prevent the military from losing weapons that will ultimately be used to attack it's own soldiers.

P.S. A Lexis-Nexis search shows zero follow-up articles on these reports after the day of the hearings. If I've missed one somewhere, let me know with an email or a comment!

Effect of Stimulus on Congressional Districts

2009-02-20T09:46:00.000-05:00

The White House has released a breakdown of the stimulus package, signed into law on Tuesday as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. These tables and fact sheets include projections of job-creation by industry, by state, and even by congressional district.

UNCG is located in North Carolina's 13th district, and the White House projects 8,700 new jobs for the area -- a higher than average figure. According to the number-crunchers at FiveThirtyEight.com the 13th district is an exception to this interesting observation: the districts represented by Republicans (every one of whom voted against the bill) will receive, on average, 5.4% more jobs than the districts represented by Democrats (all but 7 of whom supported it).

Keep up with the stimulus process at Recovery.gov, where federal agencies have been directed by the Office of Management and Budget to provide spending and performance data for each project. You can also view a recovery timeline, or leave comments with the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board.

Update

2009-02-18T10:20:00.001-05:00

Every Tuesday a Holiday? has been updated here.

Survey Says

2009-02-16T12:16:00.000-05:00

Just in time to inform the discussion on our country's financial situation, the Federal Reserve Board has released the latest Survey of Consumer Finances. The survey is performed every 3 years and this latest release (the 2007 survey) is already being cited by economists in the news, though it looks like the expanded versions of the accompanying tables won't be released until February 17, 2009.

Check the Federal Reserve's website for more information on survey methodology and uses.

Stimulus Package, Take Two

2009-02-09T13:14:00.000-05:00

While President Obama campaigns, the GOP shrieks at its 3 "defecting" senators, and liberal economists worry over how much has been cut from this version of the bill, you may want to take a look at what the Senate will be voting on tomorrow. This is the Senate amendment to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which was passed by the House of Representatives. Once this amendment passes, the House and Senate will conference and work out a version that will pass both houses of Congress.

The Congressional Budget Office has released its report on the economic ramifications of the House bill, as passed. (Note that this is very different from the CBO predictions that were swirling around the first versions of this bill; as mentioned in the cover letter, the full report is for the version that was actually passed, once amendments had been made). Expect reports on the Senate amendment and the final bill soon.

In case none of this stresses you out at all, here's a link to The Employment Situation: January 2009 fresh from the Burea of Labor Statistics, in which we learn that our country lost 598,000 jobs last month -- the most lost in one month since December 0f 1974. Wow. Here's hoping the stimulus bill packs a few punches. But in case the governmental gears are turning too slowly for you or someone you know, NC residents may file for unemployment benefits using the Employment Security Commission website.

Turns Out Tax Laws Apply to ALL of Us...

2009-02-03T13:59:00.000-05:00

What is with this series of Obama-appointees being exposed as tax-evaders??? Oh well -- at least the timing allows them to serve as reminders to us all: pay your taxes, or risk having to withdraw from consideration as a presidential appointee someday!

You should, by now, have received the information that you need to file, even if it's for an extension. So why not head over to the IRS website and get a jump on things? They offer free help with the process by phone or online. IRS-approved volunteers also provide in-person help and will actually prepare tax returns for qualifying citizens! NC residents can file online as well, at the NC Dept. of Revenue website.

If you choose to submit your returns by mail, basic forms and instructions are still available at most libraries and post offices. Happy filing...

Every Tuesday a Holiday?

2009-01-29T15:19:00.000-05:00

Update: Postal Service is following the financial sector's lead

In January, Postmaster General John Potter testified that the USPS had lost $2.8 billion last year, and could lose more than $6 billion this year. Yesterday, ABC News reported that:

Potter's base salary rose from $186,000 in 2007 to more than $260,000 last year. On top of that, he received a "performance" bonus of $135,000. Between Potter's salary, bonuses, retirement benefits and other perks, total compensation was more than $850,000.

Potter's earlier testimony was delivered to a Senate subcommittee, but the House subcommittee on the Postal Service is headed by Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) who told ABC News, "$800,000 doesn't pass the basic sniff test." According to the article, regular postal employees did not receive raises last year.

The raise and performance-based incentives were granted by the Postal Service Board of Governors.

Previously published:

Well, even with the Clipper getting delivered every 2 hours or so, the US Postal Service is no longer getting enough business to keep it solvent. Currently, it's charged with delivering mail six days a week, but the Postmaster General is asking Congress to change that, and to give the USPS the option of delivering only five days a week, as a possible money-saving measure.

So what gives with the USPS anyway? If it's no longer a governmental agency, but a private corporation with a semi-monopoly and a mandate to break even, why do they have to ask for permission from Congress to change things? Or if they’re considered the providers of a public service, why aren’t they supported by our taxes?

Here’s the thing… They’re an “independent establishment of the executive branch." The USPS started out as a cabinet-level department, but by the late 1960s was struggling so mightily with labor, management, and financial issues, that it was cut (fairly) loose in 1971 by the Postal Reorganization Act, which did the following:

gave operational authority to a Board of Governors made up of members of both parties, and which chooses the Postmaster General, so the management is continuous and depoliticized
required the USPS to break even, but still provided for Congressional funds to pay for some things (e.g. mandated free mail delivery; highly unprofitable rural post offices)
established an independent Postal Regulatory Commission which offers rate recommendations
allowed for collective bargaining for postal employees

So while the Postmaster General and the other members of the Board of Governors may run the USPS like a business, they’re still under the legislative authority spelled out in Title 39 of the US Code. And buried in that law is a requirement that prevents them from scaling back delivery to less than 6 days a week. Hence the appeal to Congress.

Find out about more of our strange, part-government, part-private organizations in the most recent version of the US Government Manual. And try to wean yourself from those Val-Pak coupons slowly…

Hit the Ground Sprinting

2009-01-27T04:48:00.000-05:00

President Obama is working so hard that the National Archives had to change the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents to the Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents!! Just kidding -- they had planned to change its frequency anyway, with the incoming administration, now that the Government Printing Office's snazzy new Federal Digital System makes insta-publishing so easy for government agencies. The Compilation includes all of the proclamations, executive orders, speeches, and other presidential goodies released by the White House Press Secretary, and is the historical record of that office. (So far though, the official White House site still seems to be providing the important docs in a more timely fashion...)

And while the POTUS has been busy, Congress has been no slouch. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich) reintroduced his bill to provide universal healthcare yesterday (it died in committee in the 110th Congress, but could have a different fate in this one) and the House will vote this week on the much-anticipated economic stimulus package. The Senate has recently passed its version of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 and sent it back to the House.

To find the text of any bill you hear about in the news, search the Thomas database at the Library of Congress website. If it isn't yet posted there (like a couple of the above) try the websites of the bill's sponsor or the associated congressional committee. If it's in the news, chances are that it's available electronically in some form!

Inauguration Week

2009-01-23T09:10:00.000-05:00

With a new administration comes… a new White House website!! Fans of President Obama’s transition site will appreciate the makeover, not just aesthetically, but for the shift in philosophy regarding information-sharing and public participation in the governmental process.

Similar to the transition team’s Citizen’s Briefing Book the new administration is asking for input via it’s Office of Public Liaison webpage. Another change:

One significant addition to WhiteHouse.gov reflects a campaign promise from the President: we will publish all non-emergency legislation to the website for five days, and allow the public to review and comment before the President signs it.

Explore the new website’s briefing room to stay up-to-date with the work of the administration or catch President Obama’s weekly video address, and use the Our Government pages as a quick review of the various branches and offices and their responsibilities.

The website may have changed, but that doesn’t mean that we’ve lost access to the older incarnations of whitehouse.gov, or any of the government’s main websites. Thanks to the End-of-Term Presidential Harvest project, all important websites were collected and will be maintained at the (wonderful, miraculous, and oh-so-frabjous) Internet Archive.

Enjoy!

Timeline of the Financial Crisis by the St. Louis Fed

2009-01-07T13:36:00.000-05:00

The St. Louis Fed have posted a timeline of events and actions for the credit crisis. The site has timeline of market events and Fed and other government agency actions with links to the official source documents. The website also contains links to relevant economic data and important government agency websites. The site will be continually updated, along with additional content features in the next few months.

It is certainly depressing, but informative!

Investigation of Detainee Abuse

2008-12-13T08:04:00.001-05:00

On Thursday, the Senate Armed Services Committee released the executive summary and conclusions of its November 21 report on the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody since 2001. The report itself is undergoing classification by the Department of Defense.

When you read an article referencing a congressional report like this, how can you find a copy of it to read yourself? If the report has just been released, it's months away from being published, cataloged, and distributed through the depository system. One of the easiest ways to obtain a recent report is to go to the website of the committee itself. Usually. But not in this case -- this is one of the sorriest excuses for a committee website I've seen in a decade. (Nice animated flag .gifs though, if you're looking for a flashback to the mid-90's...)

Well, the committees don't have constituents with Internet access, but the members of those committees do! So check the website of the committee's chairperson, in this case Carl Levin (D-Mich) or the websites of members who made statements to the press in the article that mentioned the report. Because the news is recent, Senator Levin has a front-page link to his statements, which explain that the report itself is being judged for classification, and a link to the non-classified executive summary and conclusions. The site can also be searched, once the front-page link is removed.

Levin's statement mentions hearings that were held during the preparation of this report. The committee website actually does link to those hearings (June 17 2008 and September 25 2008). Which is nice. Because six months later the GPO has still not published those puppies! For those with UNCG credentials, LexisNexis Congressional does have some of the transcripts available under a temporary record; eventually, official copies of the hearings will be linked directly from our library's catalog.

Remember, if you need help in tracking down government information that you read about in the news, feel free to email me or ask at the reference desk!

He Said, She Said

2008-12-03T08:28:00.000-05:00

Ever since the mortgage meltdown, there's been a lot of finger-pointing among politicians who are trying to assign blame. It was the other party, another branch of government, anyone but them! Now, the Associated Press reports that it was Bush administration regulators who caved to pressure from members of the banking industry back in 2005, delaying any action for nearly a year, and stripping the new rules of the tough provisions that regulators had originally proposed.

How did the AP get to the bottom of things? By following the regulatory process reported in the Federal Register. When we do a search for "mortgages," we come up with Interagency Guidance on Nontraditional Mortgage Products, a series of proposed guidelines agreed upon by several agencies concerned with banking. As required by law, the agencies asked for public comments on these proposals.

Here's where it gets interesting: the public comment period ended in February of 2006, but the agencies didn't release the much-weakened rules until late that year. What changed the regulators' minds? The proposal lists the procedure for reviewing comments submitted to each of the participating agencies. By visiting their websites or emailing the agency, we can read comments from Lehman Bros. and WaMu execs (among others) accusing the government of overreacting and discouraging regulation, as well as comments from community agencies and some in the lending industry who warn that the regulators are spot on, and that without the proposed rules the industry was headed for a crisis. In the end, the agencies sided with the banks.

With so much attention on Congress, it's easy to forget the impact of all the rules and regulations that govern our daily lives, and that get created by Executive branch agencies, not legislators!

Why LexisNexis Congressional rocks my world!

2008-11-19T17:11:00.000-05:00

LexisNexis Congressional is, of course, useful to students and researchers interested in government, political science, and history, but the wide variety of topics covered means that congressional information would be of interest to researchers interested in many other disciplines if only they knew that the information existed. To showcase the variety of topics covered, we have begun to create a series of interdisciplinary handouts to illustrate how the governmental policy aspects of the information overlap with the disciplines themselves. For example, information on Federal science policy often contains information on the science content itself.

Currently, we have available handouts on Art and Architecture topics and on Natural Science topics, as follows:
Art in our Nation’s Capital
Art of the American West
Native American Arts and Crafts
Photography
Botany
Geology
Zoology

To find out more and look at the handouts, visit the LexisNexis Congressional wiki

Want to work for the new regime?

2008-11-14T15:52:00.001-05:00

The Office of the President-Elect has a new site called Change.gov. This site is the official transition site for the new President-elect and the Vice President-elect. The Presidential Transition Act of 1963 specifically authorizes the General Services Administration (GSA) to provide services and support to the Office of the President-elect beginning the day after the election until 30 days after the inauguration to support the orderly transfer of executive power after a general election. The website provides access to news, announcements, and job applicant information for the Obama-Biden administration. You can even read their blog!

Summer 2009 North Carolina State Government Internship Program

2008-10-21T10:47:00.000-04:00

The prestigious and competitive North Carolina State Government Internship Program is again offering 100 paid summer internship opportunities in state government agencies, for undergraduate and graduate students of many disciplines. Applications are now being accepted for the Summer 2009 North Carolina State Government Internship Program.

A variety of professional internship opportunities are located across the state and are available to North Carolina residents studying at the undergraduate or graduate level, or in law school. Summer interns work full-time (40 hours per week) for a
10-week period at a wage of $8.25/hour. Applications must be postmarked by January 21, 2009, for consideration. Student applicants must meet the following criteria:
* Permanent resident of North Carolina,
* Currently enrolled at a college/university and continuing education in Fall 2009,
* Carrying a minimum of a 2.5 GPA on a 4.0 scale,
* Completed high school and at least one year of college at the time the internship begins in May,
* And have not participated in the State Government Internship Program or an N.C. General Assembly paid internship in the past.

The 2009 N.C. State Government Internship Program booklet and an application form can be downloaded from our website at www.ncyaio.com (select Internships, Information for Students, then Summer Projects). The booklet contains all program
details, including available internship positions and application instructions.

Thank you in advance for sharing our State’s fine internship opportunities within your campus community. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at 919/789-5880 or lisa.flint@doa.nc.gov.

Lisa J. Flint-Morris, M.S., NCC
Coordinator, State Government Internship Program
Youth Advocacy and Involvement Office
100 E. Six Forks Road, Raleigh, North Carolina

VOTE!

2008-10-18T09:55:00.001-04:00

Here is UNCG's web page for information about voting, voter registration, and local and national candidates. Get informed and vote!

Info on the bailout from LexisNexis Congressional

2008-10-05T11:52:00.000-04:00

Info below from LexisNexis Congressional (available off-campus only to UNCG community) about finding bailout legislation:

Since the financial bailout is on everyone's mind, we want to provide you with tips on how to use LexisNexis Congressional to find relevant information.

The text of the Senate passed bill H.R. 1424 is available and may be accessed by searching for bill text using the Legislative Histories, Bills & Laws Get a Document form. Select the bill tracking option to access relevant Congressional Record abstracts. Relevant Congressional Record excerpts may also be accessed by using the Daily Congressional Record & Rules form to retrieve content for Oct. 1, and then narrowing your search to H.R. 1424 using the FOCUS(tm) Search feature.

Congressional Record excerpts which include debate and text of the substitute amendment to H.R. 3997 which failed in the House on Sept. 29, 2008 may be accessed by using the Legislative Histories, Bills & Laws Get a Document form to search for the bill. The text of the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 3997 is included in the House Rules Committee Report 110-903, which may be accessed by searching on the publication number using the Search by Number form and then clicking on the hyperlinked House report number in the results record to the full text.

GAO report on produce and food safety

2008-09-29T09:39:00.000-04:00

The U.S. Government Accountability Office released on Friday (9/26/08) a report on food safety and the FDA. The report argues for needed improvements at the FDA and gives recommendations. Read the full report or the summary.

WMD report card and reports

2008-09-15T09:57:00.000-04:00

The WMD report cards are available now from these links: The main page for the report and the components and The full report card

The report - "WMD Report Care: Evaluating U.S. Policies toPrevent Nuclear, Chemical & Biological Terrorism Since 2005" was done bythe Partnership for a Secure America, a bipartisan group.

2010 Census is coming soon!

2008-08-16T11:56:00.000-04:00

The Census Bureau is gearing up for the 2010 Census. Want to know more about the kick-off efforts?! You know you do. Check out the kick-off presentation on the NC State Data Center website.

Preparing for Elections 08?

2008-08-08T14:16:00.000-04:00

Check out our Election page for information about candidates, getting registered, and public opinion polls related to the election! Get ready for the fun!

Department of Defense Releases the National Defense Strategy

2008-08-01T15:06:00.000-04:00

The DoD released the 2008 National Defense Strategy today (7/31/08). The strategy outlines the national approach to the defense of this nation and its interests.

New Army history critical of Iraq War

2008-07-02T16:18:00.000-04:00

As mentioned in the Washington Post and other national newspapers, the Combat Studies Institute Press just released a new history of the Iraq war that is highly critical of the Pentagon. Read On Point II: Transition to the New Campaign.

Digital TV (DTV) transition information

2008-07-02T16:05:00.000-04:00

Still using an analog tv? (I am!) See this webpage for information on the Digital TV (DTV) transition. You can get a coupon for the converter box through the Digital-to-Analog Converter Box Coupon Program from Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

2008 Elections and Voting Information

2008-07-02T16:01:00.000-04:00

Here is UNCG's web page for information about voting, voter registration, and local and national candidates. Get informed and vote!