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Daily Archives: January 11, 2018

Statement to Congress: Oppose Proposals To End Independent Federal Reserve Funding

Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) sent a statement to the House Financial Services Committee regarding proposals to end independent funding for Federal Reserve bank regulation and supervision. “On behalf of Americans for Financial Reform (AFR), we are writing to stateour opposition to legislative proposals that would end independent funding for Federal Reserve supervision and regulation and shift such funding into the Congressional budgetary process..”

Subcommittee Examines Ways to Reform the Federal Reserve Washington, January 10, 2018 

The Subcommittee on Monetary Policy and Trade met today to further examine proposals to reform the Federal Reserve. Proposals reviewed include:

  • H.R. ____, to amend the Federal Reserve Act to establish requirements for salaries, financial disclosures, and office staff of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
  • H.R. ____, to amend the Federal Reserve Act to establish a blackout period for public communications by the Federal Open Market Committee
  • H.R. ____, to amend the Federal Reserve Act to bring the non-monetary policy related functions of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System into the appropriations process
  • H.R. ____, to amend the Federal Reserve Act to modify the appointment process for presidents of the Federal Reserve Banks
  • H.R. ____, to amend the Federal Reserve Act to revise the membership of Federal Open Market Committee
  • H.R. ____, to amend the Federal Reserve Act to require the Federal Open Market Committee to establish interest rates on balances maintained at a Federal Reserve Bank by depository institutions
  • H.R. ____, to amend the Federal Reserve Act to require the Vice Chairman for Supervision of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to provide a written report”

GAO – Agencies Need to Involve Chief Information Officers in Reviewing Billions of Dollars in Acquisitions

Information Technology: Agencies Need to Involve Chief Information Officers in Reviewing Billions of Dollars in Acquisitions GAO-18-42: Published: Jan 10, 2018. Publicly Released: Jan 10, 2018. “Most of the 22 selected agencies did not identify all of their information technology (IT) contracts. The selected agencies identified 78,249 IT-related contracts, to which they obligated $14.7 billion… Continue Reading

How Climate Change Web Content is Being Censored Under the Trump Administration

“On January 10, 2018 the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative (EDGI) [released] Changing the Digital Climate: How Climate Change Web Content is Being Censored Under the Trump Administration, the third installment of EDGI’s series of reports evaluating the environmental impacts of the first year of the Trump administration. Changing the Digital Climate draws on the… Continue Reading

Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s sneaky attack on partisan gerrymandering is beginning to pay dividends

Slate – Mark Joseph Stern: “On Tuesday, a federal district court made history by striking down North Carolina’s congressional map. The decision marks the first time a court has invalidated a congressional redistricting scheme as illegally gerrymandering along partisan lines. It arrives at a critical moment for the development of a legal theory that requires… Continue Reading

Gardening: The Wonderdrug

“In a world of instant communication, we are constantly exposed to the latest cures for whatever ails us – the latest wonderdrugs. Most are costly and many come with dire risks and side effects. Yet sometimes age-old simple cures can work wonders too. Gardening is turning out to be one of the best drugs available… Continue Reading

Rebecca B. Rankin: Early Advocate for Public Access to Government Information

NYPR Archives & Preservation: “Rebecca B. Rankin was the Director of the Municipal Reference Library for the City of New York. Her work included the promotion of resources and services of the library to its clients. When budget cuts forced her to curtail the traditional publications used for publicity and outreach, Rankin took the pioneering… Continue Reading

1980-2017 Q4 – U.S. Billion-dollar weather and climate disasters

“NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) tracks U.S. weather and climate events that have great economic and societal impacts (www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions). Since 1980, the U.S. has sustained 219 weather and climate disasters where the overall damage costs reached or exceeded $1 billion (including adjustments based on the Consumer Price Index, as of December 2017). The… Continue Reading