CATO Institute: “Crime committed by illegal immigrants is an important and contentious public policy issue, but it is notoriously difficult to measure and compare their criminal conviction rates with those of other groups such as legal immigrants and native‐born Americans. This policy analysis is the latest paper that attempts to resolve those data disputes by… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Congress
Where third-party candidates could spoil 2024
Politico – Getting on the ballot has enormous stakes. “Independent and third-party candidates are potential disruptors for Joe Biden and Donald Trump in a race expected to be decided by razor thin margins. But before these candidates become true threats, they have to first get on the ballot. “And if you are not on the… Continue Reading
Conservative-backed group creating list of federal workers it suspects could resist Trump plans
AP: “From his home office in small-town Kentucky, a seasoned political operative is quietly investigating scores of federal employees suspected of being hostile to the policies of Republican Donald Trump, a highly unusual and potentially chilling effort that dovetails with broader conservative preparations for a new White House. Tom Jones and his American Accountability Foundation… Continue Reading
America in Facts 2024: A Data-Driven Report for Congress
“To create America in Facts 2024, USAFacts interviewed Congressional staff on their topics of interest and the challenges they face when using data. These interviews spanned the House of Representatives and the Senate, included Republicans and Democrats, and identified several topics that we used to inform this report. We hope that members of Congress and… Continue Reading
CISA, EAC release communications guide for state, local election offices
NextGov/FCW: “The top U.S. cybersecurity agency and federal election information clearinghouse jointly unveiled a guide to help election officials develop a public communications plan for conveying accurate information on election administration and security. Both the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Election Assistance Commission targeted state, local, tribal and territorial officials in the guidance released… Continue Reading
Clarence Thomas, the Gordon Gekko of the Supreme Court
Prevail: “There’s a scene in Wall Street where Michael Douglas’s Gordon Gekko is explaining to Charlie Sheen’s Bud Fox the difference between being rich and being rich. “I’m talking about liquid,” he says in the back of his limousine. “Rich enough to have your own jet. Rich enough not to waste time. Fifty, a hundred… Continue Reading
Financial regulators have ‘insufficiently’ addressed hedge funds’ use of AI
FedScoop: ” SEC and CFTC oversight of how investment vehicles use AI to inform trading decisions is lacking and poses risks to market stability, a report from the majority staff of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee finds. Federal financial regulators are playing catch-up in their oversight of how hedge funds are using… Continue Reading
Durbin Reveals Omissions of Gifted Private Travel to Justice Clarence Thomas from Harlan Crow
“In exclusively obtained information from Harlan Crow as a result of Durbin and the Senate Judiciary Committee Majority’s Supreme Court ethics investigation and subpoena authorization, Durbin releases details of gifted private travel to Justice Thomas that Thomas has failed to disclose. WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary… Continue Reading
Book bans in political context: Evidence from US schools
Book bans in political context: Evidence from US schools. PNAS Nexus, Volume 3, Issue 6, June 2024, pgae197, https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae197 “In the 2021–2022 school year, more books were banned in US school districts than in any previous year. Book banning and other forms of information censorship have serious implications for democratic processes, and censorship has become… Continue Reading
Tracking AI-enabled Misinformation
“From unreliable AI-generated news outlets operating with little to no human oversight, to fabricated images produced by AI image generators, the rollout of generative artificial intelligence tools has been a boon to content farms and misinformation purveyors alike. This AI Tracking Center is intended to highlight the ways that generative AI has been deployed to… Continue Reading
Legal Definitions: A Research Guide for Congressional Staff
CRS – Legal Definitions: A Research Guide for Congressional Staff Updated June 6, 2024; ‘This report is designed to introduce congressional staff to examples of legal and nonlegal sources, including statutes, legislation, and dictionaries, for researching legal definitions. It includes governmental sources, such as the United States Code (U.S. Code), the Code of Federal Regulations… Continue Reading
Operation Overload
Aleksandra Atanasova (Reset.Tech), Amaury Lesplingart (CheckFirst), Francesco Poldi (CheckFirst), Guillaume Kuster (CheckFirst) Published in June 2024 under the CC BY-SA licence. “This report exposes a large-scale, cross-country, multi-platform disinformation campaign designed to spread pro-Russian propaganda in the West, with clear indicators of foreign interference and information manipulation (FIMI). The narratives promoted by the actors are… Continue Reading
