“The 2009 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) is an annual report by the Department of State to Congress prepared in accordance with the Foreign Assistance Act. It describes the efforts of key countries to attack all aspects of the international drug trade in Calendar Year 2008. Volume I covers drug and chemical control activities.… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: February 2009
Treasury Announces Participation in Citigroup's Exchange Offering
News release: “Citigroup is planning to strengthen its capital structure through conversion of a significant portion of its preferred securities to common equity in a series of exchange offers. Citigroup requested that the Treasury participate in this exchange offer by converting a portion of its preferred security to common equity alongside the other preferred holders.”… Continue Reading
More Than Half of Americans Say Family Skimped On Medical Care Because of Cost In Past Year
News release: “As economic conditions continue to worsen, the public is increasingly worried about the affordability and availability of care, with many postponing or skipping treatments due to cost in the past year and a notable minority forced into serious financial straits due to medical bills, according to the Kaiser Family Foundations first health care… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports: Access to Arts Education, Tax Gap, DOD Acquisition Management
Financial Audit: American Battle Monuments Commission’s Financial Statements for Fiscal Years 2008 and 2007, GAO-09-293, February 27, 2009 Access to Arts Education: Inclusion of Additional Questions in Education’s Planned Research Would Help Explain Why Instruction Time Has Decreased for Some Students, GAO-09-286, February 27, 2009 Tax Gap: IRS Could Do More to Promote Compliance by… Continue Reading
Obama Administration Lifts Blanket Ban on Media Coverage of the Return of Fallen Soldiers
National Security Archive: “Today Secretary of Defense Robert Gates lifted a blanket ban on news media coverage of the honor guard ceremonies that mark the return of military casualties from abroad. The new policy will permit media coverage of the ceremonies, during which caskets draped with American flags are brought home from war, after consultation… Continue Reading
Hearing on How Convicts and Con Artists Receive New Federal Contracts
How Convicts and Con Artists Receive New Federal Contracts: “The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee examines the Excluded Parties List System, a federal database intended to prevent persons and businesses ineligible to receive federal contracts due to past misconduct from receiving new awards. A GAO report…released at the hearing finds numerous examples of ineligible… Continue Reading
New Era of Transparency as OMB Launches Redesigned Website and Blog
Peter Orszag – Discipline, Efficiency, Prosperity – Peter Orszag, Director: “Welcome to my first blog post at the Office of Management and Budget. In this blog, I want to open up OMB even more to the public and share with you what were doing to address the many challenges that we face as a nation.… Continue Reading
Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Overview Document
Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Overview Document – A New Era of Responsibility: Renewing Americas Promise, Office of Management and Budget, February 26, 2009 [146 pages, PDF], “provides a description of the Obama Administrations fiscal policies and major budgetary initiatives. This document is an overview of the full Fiscal Year 2010 Budget expected to be released… Continue Reading
Pew Research Center: Newspapers Face a Challenging Calculus
Newspapers Face a Challenging Calculus – Online Growth, but Print Losses are Bigger, February 26, 2009: “The trend is unmistakable: Fewer Americans are reading print newspapers as more turn to the internet for their news. And while the percentage of people who read newspapers online is growing rapidly, especially among younger generations, that growth has… Continue Reading
LA TImes: CIA Delivering Daily Briefing on Economic Crisis
LA Times: “President Obama and senior administration officials have begun receiving a daily CIA report on the global economic crisis in addition to briefings on terrorist threats and other national security issues, CIA Director Leon E. Panetta said Wednesday. The CIA’s role in producing the report underscores the level of anxiety within the administration over… Continue Reading
CBO Reports: Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, VA Pharmaceutical Prime Vendor Program, Expanding Health Insurance Coverag
H.R. 1106, Helping Families Save Their Homes Act February 25, 2009 – Cost estimate for the bill as introduced on February 23, 2008. “CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1106 would increase direct spending by $7.6 billion over the 2009-2014 period, and would reduce direct spending by $14.9 billion over the 2009-2019 period. Enacting H.R 1106… Continue Reading
FinCEN Mortgage Fraud Report
News release: “The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) today released its latest mortgage fraud analysis – titled Filing Trends in Mortgage Loan Fraud – that shows suspicious activity reports (SARs) filed on suspected mortgage fraud increased 44 percent in the 12 months ending in June 2008 compared with the prior year.” Related postings on financial… Continue Reading
