CBO A series of issue summaries from the Congressional Budget Office, June 20, 2007 – Explaining the Consumer Price Index “The consumer price index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) is the best-known official measure of inflation. Published monthly by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the CPI-U tries to approximate changes in the cost… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: June 2007
Oversight Committee Reports Cheney Exempts His Office from Requirements for Protecting Classified Info
Press release: “The Oversight Committee has learned that over the objections of the National Archives, Vice President Cheney exempted his office from the presidential order that establishes government-wide procedures for safeguarding classified national security information. The Vice President asserts that his office is not an entity within the executive branch. As described in a letter… Continue Reading
Study Examines Private Security Companies in Iraq
From the Project for Excellence in Journalism study overview: “Exactly how many Americans are serving in Iraq and what they are doing there might not seem like complicated questions. Stories in the media regularly talk about the 150,000 U.S. military personnel in the Iraq theater. Coverage of events inside Iraq, which includes the actions of… Continue Reading
Interview With Law Professor Who is Founder of Peer-to-Patent Project
Follow up to June 17, 2007 posting, USPTO Begins Pilot Program to Open Patent Examination Process for Online Public Participation, see Peer Review Starts for Software Patent Applications – IEEE Spectrum talks to the founder to Peer-to-Patent Beth Noveck. Continue Reading
Bill to Provide for Comprehensive Immigration Reform and for Other Purposes
Bill to Provide for Comprehensive Immigration Reform and for Other Purposes, S. 1639 – Currently being debated in the Senate. Continue Reading
EPA OIG Audit on Overcoming Obstacles to Measuring Compliance
2007-P-00027 Overcoming Obstacles to Measuring Compliance: Practices in Selected Federal Agencies, [Report PDF – 36 pages] [At a Glance PDF] June 20, 2007. Continue Reading
New GAO Reports and House Hearing on Misuse of Social Security Numbers
Social Security Numbers: Federal Actions Could Further Decrease Availability in Public Records, though Other Vulnerabilities Remain, GAO-07-752, June 15, 2007: “Various public records in the United States, including some generated by the federal government, contain Social Security numbers (SSN) and other personal identifying information that could be used to commit fraud and identity theft. Public… Continue Reading
Declassified CIA Documents Posted on Web by National Security Archive
Press release: “The Central Intelligence Agency violated its charter for 25 years until revelations of illegal wiretapping, domestic surveillance, assassination plots, and human experimentation led to official investigations and reforms in the 1970s, according to declassified documents posted today on the Web by the National Security Archive at George Washington University. CIA director Gen. Michael… Continue Reading
DOD OIG Audit – Use of Commercial Sealift
D-2007-105 United States Transportation Command Compliance With DoD Policy on the Use of Commercial Sealift (June 21, 2007) (Project D2006-D000AB-0236.000) Continue Reading
Surveys Examine the Impact of the Growing Cell-Only Population
Follow up to May 14, 2007 posting, Nearly 16% of U.S. Homes Have No Landline Phone, see also these related studies: The Landline-less Are Different and Their Numbers Are Growing Fast, by Scott Keeter, Director, Survey Research, Pew Research Center, June 20, 2007 What’s Missing from National RDD Surveys? The Impact of the Growing Cell-Only… Continue Reading
EU: eGovernment in the European countries
EU: eGovernment in the European countries, 19 June 2007: “As part of its mission to inform the European eGovernment community about key issues of common interest, the eGovernment Observatory maintains a series of Factsheets presenting the situation and progress of eGovernment in 32 European countries: EU-27, Croatia, Turkey, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, providing for each… Continue Reading
Hearing on Inspectors General: Independence and Accountability
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization and Procurement held a hearing entitled, “Inspectors General: Independence and Accountability,” on Wednesday, June 20, 2007. In connection with the hearing, Chairman Towns issued a fact sheet detailing recent situations that raise questions about independence and accountability of IGs. Continue Reading
