“The Financial Systems Integration Office within the General Services Administration released the Federal Financial Management Standard Business Processes [Word doc.], which establishes the framework for standardizing, consolidating, and optimizing financial accounting practices across government to improve the cost, quality and performance of financial management operations.” Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: July 2008
Ensuring Security In An Unpredictable World: The Urgent Need For National Security Reform
News release: “The national security system created by the U.S. government in 1947 that served the nation throughout the Cold War is outdated and needs a massive restructuring to better protect the American people from terrorism, rogue states and other 21st century dangers, according to a study issued today by the Project on National Security… Continue Reading
Intelligence reform at the Dept. of Energy: Policy issues and organizational alternatives
News release: “The Committee on Energy and Commerce…released a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report that shows the Department of Energys (DOE) efforts to consolidate and streamline its counterintelligence program may be veering off course, potentially jeopardizing its ability to protect some of the country’s most sensitive national security secrets from foreign intelligence services.” CRS Report,… Continue Reading
Mid-Session Review, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2009
Mid-Session Review, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2009 (54 pages, PDF). Information contains revised estimates of budget receipts, outlays, and budget authority for fiscal years 2008 through 2013 and other summary information. “The Mid-Session Review updates the Administrations estimates of Government receipts, outlays, and deficits or surpluses to reflect economic, legislative, and… Continue Reading
The Necessity of Knowing and Heeding What Jurors Tell Us About Mitigation
Blume, John H., Johnson, Sheri Lynn and Sundby, Scott E.,Competent Capital Representation: The Necessity of Knowing and Heeding What Jurors Tell Us About Mitigation. Hofstra Law Review, Vol. 36, No. 3, 2008 “This article appears in the Hofstra Law Review symposium issue on the Supplementary Guidelines for the Mitigation Function of Defense Teams in Death… Continue Reading
Treasury Releases Best Practices to Encourage Additional Form of Mortgage Finance
News release: “The U.S. Treasury Department took steps today to encourage additional sources of mortgage finance and strengthen financial institutions by issuing Best Practices for Residential Covered Bonds…A covered bond is secured debt instrument that provides funding to a depository institution, collateralized by high-quality mortgage loans that remain on the issuer’s balance sheet. Covered bonds… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports: Tax Expenditures, Electronic Health Records, Bankruptcy Reform, Prescription Drug Oversight, Financial Audit Manual
Telecommunications: Agencies Are Generally Following Sound Transition Planning Practices, and GSA Is Taking Action to Resolve Challenges, GAO-08-759, June 27, 2008 Tax Expenditures: Available Data Are Insufficient to Determine the Use and Impact of Indian Reservation Depreciation, GAO-08-731, June 26, 2008 Electronic Health Records: DOD and VA Have Increased Their Sharing of Health Information, but… Continue Reading
Nearly 10 Billion Fewer Miles Driven in May 2008 than May 2007: Seven-Month Decline in Travel Reflected in Highway Trust Fund
News release: “New Federal data showing further steep declines in the number of miles Americans are driving is additional proof that the country needs new means – other than the gas tax – to finance the nation’s transportation infrastructure, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters said today…Secretary Peters said that Americans drove 9.6 billion… Continue Reading
Comprehensive Plan Needed to Guide the Future of the Iraq Reconstruction Management System
Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR): Comprehensive Plan Needed to Guide the Future of the Iraq Reconstruction Management System, July 25, 2008 “This report addresses the Iraq Reconstruction Management System. Public Law 108-106 created the $18.4 billion Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund (IRRF), and established a requirement for the IRRF-implementing agencies… Continue Reading
Year After Subprime Crash, Risks Remain Elevated, Says IMF
News release: “A year after the subprime market crisis erupted in the United States, triggering financial market turmoil around the world, global financial markets continue to be fragile and systemic risks remain elevated, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its latest assessment.” Global Financial Stability Report, Market Update, July 28, 2008: “Global financial markets… Continue Reading
Credit Rating Agency Challenges SEC's Proposals on Bond Ratings
Follow up to July 8, 2008 posting, SEC Examinations Find Shortcomings in Credit Rating Agencies’ Practices and Disclosure to Investors, today’s article from the WSJ (requires subscription – letter to SEC linked below is available free): S&P Resists SEC Ratings Plan – “Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services pushed back against Securities and Exchange Commission proposals… Continue Reading
Government of Iraq Increasingly Funding Iraqi Security Forces Infrastructure Development, but Substantial U.S. Support Remains
Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR): Government of Iraq Increasingly Funding Iraqi Security Forces Infrastructure Development, but Substantial U.S. Support Remains, July 26, 2008 “A congressional committee raised concerns that significant U.S.-appropriated money from the Iraq Security Forces Fund (ISFF) continues to be spent on infrastructure projects related to developing the… Continue Reading
