- NextGen Air Transportation System – FAA Has Made Some Progress in Midterm Implementation, but Ongoing Challenges Limit Expected Benefits, GAO-13-264, Apr 8, 2013: “The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is pursuing key operational improvements to implement the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) in the “midterm,” which is 2013 through 2018. These improvements focus on establishing Performance Based Navigation (PBN) procedures at key airports, but benefits could be limited in the midterm.”
- Private Pensions – Timely Action Needed to Address Impending Multiemployer Plan Insolvencies, GAO-13-240, Mar 28, 2013: “The most severely distressed multiemployer plans have taken significant steps to address their funding problems and, while most plans expected improved financial health, some did not. A survey conducted by a large actuarial and consulting firm serving multiemployer plans suggests that the large majority of the most severely underfunded plans–those designated as being in critical status–either have increased or will increase employer contributions or reduce participant benefits. In some cases, these measures will have significant effects on employers and participants. For example, several plan representatives stated that contribution increases had damaged some firms’ competitive position in the industry, and, in some cases, threatened the viability of such firms.”
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Daily Archives: April 8, 2013
Reduce, reuse, recycle: green technologies and practices at work
BLS – Reduce, reuse, recycle: green technologies and practices at work, by Audrey Watson: “Fifty-seven percent of businesses in the United States used green technologies or practices to improve energy efficiency within their establishments in August 2011, and over half used green technologies and practices to reduce or eliminate the creation of waste materials as… Continue Reading
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant
CRS – The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant: A Primer on TANF Financing and Federal Requirements. Gene Falk, Specialist in Social Policy – April 2, 2013 “The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant provides federal grants to the 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Indian tribes, and the territories… Continue Reading
New – Central Library of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union and of the European Council
Carlo Marzocchi – Head of Sector, Library & Information Service: “The Council of the European Union is the European Union institution where the Member States’ ministers responsible for specific areas (e.g. finance, health, education) meet to discuss issues of common concern within their countries. The European Council consists of the Heads of State, or Government,… Continue Reading
Super PACs in Federal Elections: Overview and Issues for Congress
Super PACs in Federal Elections: Overview and Issues for Congress, R. Sam Garrett, Specialist in American National Government, April 4, 2013 “This report explores what super PACs are, how they developed, and what they raised and spent in the 2010 and 2012 election cycles. As of this writing, Congress has not amended the Federal Election… Continue Reading
CRS – Drones in Domestic Surveillance Operations
Drones in Domestic Surveillance Operations: Fourth Amendment Implications and Legislative Responses. Richard M. Thompson II, Legislative Attorney. April 3, 2013 “The prospect of drone use inside the United States raises far-reaching issues concerning the extent of government surveillance authority, the value of privacy in the digital age, and the role of Congress in reconciling these… Continue Reading
CRS – North Koreas Nuclear Weapons: Technical Issues
North Koreas Nuclear Weapons: Technical Issues. Mary Beth Nikitin Specialist in Nonproliferation, April 3, 2013 “This report summarizes what is known from open sources about the North Korean nuclear weapons programincluding weapons-usable fissile material and warhead estimatesand assesses current developments in achieving denuclearization. Little detailed open-source information is available about the DPRKs nuclear weapons production… Continue Reading
Speech by Chairman Bernanke on stress testing banks
Chairman Ben S. Bernanke At the “Maintaining Financial Stability: Holding a Tiger by the Tail” financial markets conference sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Stone Mountain, Georgia April 8, 2013 “…we currently have two distinct but related supervisory programs that rely on stress testing. The first is the stress testing required by the… Continue Reading
Report – The U.S. Continues to Be One of the Least Taxed of the Developed Countries
“The U.S. was the third least taxed country in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2010, the most recent year for which OECD has complete data. Of all the OECD countries, which are essentially the countries the U.S. trades with and competes with, only Chile and Mexico collect less taxes as a… Continue Reading
WikiLeaks Launches Public Library of US Diplomacy
News release: “The Kissinger Cables are part of today’s launch of the WikiLeaks Public Library of US Diplomacy (PlusD), which holds the world’s largest searchable collection of United States confidential, or formerly confidential, diplomatic communications. As of its launch on April 8, 2013 it holds 2 million records comprising approximately 1 billion words. WikiLeaks’ publisher… Continue Reading
