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Daily Archives: October 9, 2008

UK Freezes $4 Billion in Assets of Icelandic Bank

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UK Daily Mail: “Iceland’s banking system is £35billion in debt – the equivalent of an incredible £116,000 for every man, woman and child on the island, it was revealed today. With a population of just over 300,000 – less than that of Norwich – a miniscule economy and banks deeply involved in global markets before the meltdown, Iceland is on the bring of national bankruptcy. It will cost Britain too. British taxpayers are likely to have to pay out at least £2.4 billion to compensate hundreds of thousands of account holders at Landsbanki, the Icelandic lender.”

  • UK Treasury: “Acting on the advice of the Bank and Financial Services Authority (FSA), and in light of announcements made by the Icelandic authorities in recent days, the Chancellor has taken action today to protect the retail depositors in two Icelandic owned banks: Icesave, a UK-based branch of Landsbanki and Heritable, a UK-based banking subsidiary of Landsbanki. He has taken this action to ensure the stability of the UK financial system. Savers’ money is safe and secure.”

    • Census Bureau Releases Comprehensive Health Insurance Coverage Estimates by County

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    News release: “The U.S. Census Bureau today released the most extensive estimates it has ever published on county-level demographic characteristics of people with and without health insurance coverage. The 2005 estimates cover all states and counties across gender, age and income as well as race and Hispanic origin (for states only).” “The Small Area Health… Continue Reading

    THOMAS Publishes Permanent Links

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    The Open House Project: “Fulfilling one of the recommendations of the Open House Project report, The Library of Congress has published on their THOMAS web page directions for creating permanent links.” THOMAS: “Legislative Handles are a new persistent URL service for creating links to legislative documents from the THOMAS web site (http://thomas.loc.gov). With a simple… Continue Reading

    New GAO Reports: Veterans' Disability Benefits, Food Labeling, FDA Advisory Committees

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    Veterans’ Disability Benefits: Better Accountability and Access Would Improve the Benefits Delivery at Discharge Program, GAO-08-901, September 09, 2008 Food Labeling: FDA Needs to Better Leverage Resources, Improve Oversight, and Effectively Use Available Data to Help Consumers Select Healthy Foods, GAO-08-597, September 09, 2008 FDA Advisory Committees: Process for Recruiting Members and Evaluating Potential Conflicts… Continue Reading

    Protections for America’s Disabled Workers Expanded Under New Law

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    Follow up to September 17, 2008 posting, Congress Passes ADA Amendments Act, this America.gov article, Protections for America’s Disabled Workers Expanded Under New Law: “A new law restores workplace protections for the disabled that had eroded as a result of several Supreme Court decisions issued since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in… Continue Reading

    Recent CRS Reports: Presidential Succession, Income and Poverty Among Older Americans in 2006, Oil Industry Financial Performance

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    October 08, 2008 – Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies: FY2009 Appropriations October 06, 2008 – Supreme Court Appellate Jurisdiction Over Military Court Cases October 03, 2008 – Presidential Succession: Perspectives, Contemporary Analysis, and 110th Congress Proposed Legislation October 03, 2008 – Income and Poverty Among Older Americans in 2006 September 30, 2008 –… Continue Reading

    World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009

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    News release: “The United States tops the overall ranking in The Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009, released today by the World Economic Forum. Switzerland is in second position followed by Denmark, Sweden and Singapore. European economies continue to prevail in the top 10 with Finland, Germany and the Netherlands following suit. The United Kingdom, while remaining… Continue Reading

    Individual Retirement Account Contributions and Distributions Are Not Adequately Monitored to Ensure Tax Compliance

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    Treasury IG for Tax Administration: Individual Retirement Account Contributions and Distributions Are Not Adequately Monitored to Ensure Tax Compliance, March 28, 2008, Reference Number: 2008-40-087 “We analyzed more than 13.7 million IRA Contribution Information (Form 5498) showing IRA contributions in Tax Year (TY) 2005 and identified 51,109 taxpayers who had made IRA contributions in excess… Continue Reading

    Protecting Individual Privacy in the Struggle Against Terrorists: A Framework for Program Assessment

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    News release: “All U.S. agencies with counterterrorism programs that collect or “mine” personal data — such as phone, medical, and travel records or Web sites visited — should be required to systematically evaluate the programs’ effectiveness, lawfulness, and impacts on privacy, says a new report from the National Research Council. Both classified and unclassified programs… Continue Reading