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Daily Archives: April 11, 2019

GAO – Action Is Needed to Address the Federal Government’s Fiscal Future

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The Nation’s Fiscal Health: Action Is Needed to Address the Federal Government’s Fiscal Future, GAO-19-314SP: Published: Apr 10, 2019. Publicly Released: Apr 10, 2019. “This report provides an update on the nation’s fiscal health as of the end of FY 2018, and describes its likely fiscal future if policies don’t change. Among its findings:

  • The federal government’s current fiscal path is unsustainable
  • The federal deficit increased to $779 billion—and will reach $1 trillion in the next few years for the first time since 2012
  • Publicly held debt was 78% of GDP at the end of FY 2018 and will surpass its historical high of 106% within 13 to 20 years—sooner than projected last year
  • Other agencies join GAO in saying that the longer action is delayed, the greater and more drastic the changes will have to be
  • The 2018 Financial Report, the Congressional Budget Office, and GAO all project that federal debt held by the public will continue to grow unsustainably into the future.”

A bibliophile’s paradise: the National Library of France in a classic documentary from 1956

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Aeon: “Before there was the internet, there was la Bibliothèque nationale de France (the National Library of France) in Paris: an ever-expanding collection of books, manuscripts, maps and other cultural artifacts that has been operating continuously since the 15th century. The documentary Toute la mémoire du monde (All the Memory in the World), made by… Continue Reading

Libraries lean on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to reel you in

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cnet.com – From pithy tweets to Insta Novels on Instagram, libraries around the world are using social media to entertain and reach their audiences. “:ast summer, the New York Public Library wanted to make classic literature more enticing to young readers. You know, readers who are more likely to scroll through a text message than… Continue Reading

You elected them to write new laws. They’re letting corporations do it instead.

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This story was published in partnership with USA TODAY and The Arizona Republic: “Each year, state lawmakers across the U.S. introduce thousands of bills dreamed up and written by corporations, industry groups and think tanks. Disguised as the work of lawmakers, these so-called “model” bills get copied in one state Capitol after another, quietly advancing… Continue Reading

When Prisons Cut Off Visits – Indefinitely

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The Marshall Project – ” It’s been nearly 25 years since Michigan adopted a controversial visitation policy. Families have been fighting it ever since. Looking Back at the stories about, and excerpts from, the history of criminal justice. In 1995, Michigan prison officials implemented a controversial new policy: Any inmate found guilty of two substance-abuse… Continue Reading

House Democrats launch probe into EPA officials’ ties to utilities

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POLITICO: “The House Energy and Commerce Committee is launching an investigation into whether top EPA officials violated ethics rules by launching a rollback of air pollution regulations that benefited their former lobbying clients in the electric utility sector. The committee’s Democrats are seeking to probe communications between the utilities and an industry group that was… Continue Reading

Ten-Fold Difference in Odds of ICE Enforcement Depending Upon Where You Live

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“The odds of being arrested and deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vary greatly depending upon where an individual lives. Sanctuary jurisdictions that limit local cooperation with ICE enforcement officers often reduce these odds. Despite ICE statements that the agency uses stepped-up arrests out in the community when local jurisdictions fail to cooperate, ICE… Continue Reading