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Daily Archives: May 7, 2008

Local Cost of War Breakdowns Based on President's New Funding Request

“As Congress considers President Bush’s request for another $178 billion in total war funding for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2008 and the first part of Fiscal Year 2009, the National Priorities Project (NPP) released today a state-level table and breakdowns of Iraq war spending costs by state, congressional district, county and town, showing the local cost of the additional request and what that amount of money could buy in domestic services for each locality instead.”

Of the $178 billion war spending request, $135 billion is dedicated to the Iraq War, with close to $84 billion allocated for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2008 and almost $52 billion allocated for the start of Fiscal Year 2009.

NPP’s state-level table shows the cost of the Iraq War thus far to each state, the cost to each state of the pending funding request and what that amount could buy each state in health care, school teachers and affordable housing. NPP’s “trade-offs” page offers similar breakdowns by congressional district, county, town and state as well.

Agencies Issue Proposed Rules on Risk-Based Pricing Notices

News release: “The Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Reserve Board today announced proposed regulations that generally would require a creditor to provide a consumer with a risk-based pricing notice when, based in whole or in part on the consumer’s credit report, the creditor offers or provides credit to the consumer on terms less favorable… Continue Reading

Background Material and Data on the Programs within the Jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means, 2008

News release: “Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-NY), today announced the release of the 2008 edition of Background Material and Data on the Programs within the Jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means, informally known as the Green Book. The Green Book provides updated data and information on programs within the… Continue Reading

National Archives Creates Plan for Online Access to Founding Fathers Papers

News release: “On Tuesday, May 6, 2008, Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein submitted a report, entitled The Founders Online, to the Committees on Appropriations of the U.S. Congress. This report is the National Archives response to concerns raised by the Committees that the complete papers of America’s Founding Fathers are not available online.… Continue Reading

New GAO Reports: Aviation and the Environment, Employment and Training Program Grants, Human Capital

Aviation and the Environment: NextGen and Research and Development Are Keys to Reducing Emissions and Their Impact on Health and Climate, GAO-08-706T, May 6, 2008 Employment and Training Program Grants: Evaluating Impact and Enhancing Monitoring Would Improve Accountability, GAO-08-486, May 7, 2008 Human Capital: Corps of Engineers Needs to Update Its Workforce Planning Process to… Continue Reading

Report: Employer Health Costs In a Global Economy: A Competitive Disadvantage for U.S. Firms

Employer Health Costs In a Global Economy – A Competitive Disadvantage For U.S. Firms, By Len Nichols, Sarah Axeen, New America Foundation, May 2008: “Although most Americans get health insurance through their employers, business leaders are increasingly united in their belief that rising health care costs threaten America’s competitiveness in the global economy. Business support… Continue Reading

FBI Withdraws National Security Letter After ACLU and EFF Challenge

News release: “The FBI has withdrawn an unconstitutional national security letter (NSL) issued to the Internet Archive after a legal challenge from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). As the result of a settlement agreement, the FBI withdrew the NSL and agreed to the unsealing of the case, finally… Continue Reading

VA OIG: Healthcare Inspection Scopes of Practice for Unlicensed Physicians Engaged in Veterans Health Administration Research

Healthcare Inspection Scopes of Practice for Unlicensed Physicians Engaged in Veterans Health Administration Research [07-01202-124], May 7, 2008. “We determined in a previous inspection that certain unlicensed physicians functioned outside their scopes of practice, engaging in activities that may constitute the practice of medicine. In an effort to identify whether this problem was systemic in… Continue Reading

Fact Sheet: Emergency Supplemental: Iraq, Afghanistan, Veterans, and Workers

Fact Sheet: Emergency Supplemental: Iraq, Afghanistan, Veterans, and Workers, House Appropriations Committee – Majority, May 7, 2008. “This week the House of Representatives will consider the emergency supplemental bill to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and pressing domestic needs. Under consideration are $183.77 billion in outstanding requests from the President. The Democratic proposal… Continue Reading

Report: Worst of the Worst: The World's Most Repressive Societies 2008

Worst of the Worst: The World’s Most Repressive Societies 2008 (124 pages, PDF) “Freedom House has prepared this overview report as a companion to our annual survey on the state of global political rights and civil liberties, Freedom in the World. We are publishing this report to assist policymakers, human rights organizations, democracy advocates, and… Continue Reading