Medicare fund on a course to run dry by 2026 – “The Medicare Program is the second-largest social insurance program in the U.S., with 58.4 million beneficiaries and total expenditures of $710 billion in 2017. The Boards of Trustees for Medicare (also Boards) report annually to the Congress on the financial operations and actuarial status of… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: June 2018
Social Security Combined Trust Fund Reserves Depletion Year Remains 2034 Says Board of Trustees
“The Social Security Board of Trustees today released its annual report on the long-term financial status of the Social Security Trust Funds. The combined asset reserves of the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance (OASDI) Trust Funds are projected to become depleted in 2034, the same as projected last year, with 79 percent of… Continue Reading
New on LLRX – Popular Face-to-Face Conferencing Software
Via LLRX – Popular Face-to-Face Conferencing Software – Brandon Wright Adler reviews free and fee based meeting/conferencing software that meets the requirements to support effective communications with team and/or group members in disparate locations. Continue Reading
New on LLRX – Correcting The Legal Industry’s Bad Turn On Lean Thinking
Via LLRX – Correcting The Legal Industry’s Bad Turn On Lean Thinking – Ken Grady’s commentary focuses on the challenges to successfully operationalizing “lean” in the legal sector. He states – “to understand why lean thinking is struggling in the legal industry, we need to understand who is teaching lean. Most of the people who… Continue Reading
Searching for a Stronghold in the Fight Against Disinformation
Molly McKew, Center for International Governance Innovation: “Social media giants are under intense scrutiny for — at best — turning a blind eye to the proliferation of information operations on their platforms and — at worst — knowingly profiteering from and facilitating the use of their platforms for these kinds of campaigns. As a result,… Continue Reading
Criminal Prosecutions Jump 60% for Illegal Border Crossers
Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse: “Federal criminal prosecutions of individuals apprehended by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) along the southwest border with Mexico jumped 30 percent in April 2018 over March figures. Since January, criminal prosecutions were up 60 percent, rising from 5,191 in January to 8,298 in April. This increase followed rising border apprehensions and… Continue Reading
eBooks vs Physical Books: the Importance of Choice
IFLA Library Advocacy and Literacy Blog: “eBooks are often portrayed as being in conflict with physical books – the modern versus the traditional, function versus experience, and (more or less openly) Amazon versus bookstores and established publishers. Sales figures are regularly analysed for the relative trends. Partisans of physical books cite numbers from the big… Continue Reading
BEA Releases for the First Time Detailed Data on More than 200 Medical Conditions
BEABlog: “The Bureau of Economic Analysis for the first time released statistics that provide information on how much Americans spend to treat more than 200 specific medical conditions, such as acute myocardial infarctions, chronic kidney disease, and osteoarthritis. The new statistics, which cover the years 2000 through 2014, are part of BEA’s Health Care Satellite… Continue Reading
15 experts opine on whether US president can pardon himself
Vox – Sean Illing: “Can presidents pardon themselves? The answer, surprisingly enough, is not that clear. But since President Trump just tweeted that he has the “absolute right” to pardon himself, the question is suddenly relevant. Trump’s lawyers have previously explored the potential uses of presidential pardons — including whether the president can pardon himself… Continue Reading
U.S. Department of State Personnel: Background and Selected Issues for Congress
CRS report via FAS – U.S. Department of State Personnel: Background and Selected Issues for Congress. Cory R. Gill, Analyst in Foreign Affairs. May 18, 2018. “Shortly after his confirmation as Secretary of State in April 2018, Secretary Mike Pompeo lifted the hiring freeze that former Secretary Rex Tillerson left in place for over a… Continue Reading
(Robo)Call Me Maybe: Robocalls to Wireless Phones Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act
CRS report via FAS – (Robo)Call Me Maybe: Robocalls to Wireless Phones Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, Kathleen Ann Ruane, Legislative Attorney. May 29, 2018. “Robocalls—calls placed using an automated dialing system or artificial or prerecorded voice—are on the rise. Advances in technology have made it cheaper and easier than ever to dial millions… Continue Reading
CRS – Legal Sidebar Sidewalks, Streets, and Tweets: Is Twitter a Public Forum?
CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal Sidebar. Sidewalks, Streets, and Tweets: Is Twitter a Public Forum? Valerie C. Brannon, Legislative Attorney. May 30, 2018. “On May 23, 2018, a federal district court in New York in Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump held that the Free Speech Clause of the… Continue Reading
