Author archives

HHS Releases Fiscal Year 2005 Red Book (Cost-Saver Handbook)

“The Red Book is a compendium of significant Office of Inspector General (OIG) costsaving recommendations that have not been fully implemented. These recommendations may require one of three types of actions: legislative, regulatory, or procedural (such as manual revisions). Some complex issues involve two or all three types of actions. The Inspector General Act requires …

Subjects: Congress, E-Government, Government Documents, Legal Research

BBB Offers Toolkit to Help Manage Privacy and Security

“The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has partnered with nationally-recognized security and privacy experts to create a new toolkit to help small business owners manage security and privacy challenges. We call it Security & Privacy – Made Simpler (TM). The objective is to demystify the complexities of data security and give small businesses a non-technical roadmap …

Subjects: Cybercrime, E-Commerce, ID Theft, Privacy

Sunshine in Government Initiative

“The Sunshine in Government Initiative is a coalition of media groups committed to promoting policies that ensure the government is accessible, accountable and open. Public oversight is the ultimate safeguard of democracy. This is not an issue just for the media. It is the inalienable right of citizens to examine and judge their government; and …

Subjects: Freedom of Information

Judiciary Cmte. Holds Hearing on NSA Wiretapping

Hearing – NSA III: War Time Executive Power and the FISA Court, Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Tuesday, March 28, 2006. Statement of Sen. Patrick Leahy, Vermont: “We desperately need some answers to basic questions about the President’s decision to wiretap Americans on American soil without court approval and without attempting to comply with the …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Patriot Act, Privacy

Audit of Oversight of Load Ratings and Postings on Structurally Deficient Bridges on the National Highway System

Dept. of Transportation, IG Audit of Oversight of Load Ratings and Postings on Structurally Deficient Bridges on the National Highway System, March, 21 2006 (33 pages, PDF) Summary: “On March 21, we issued a final report on state transportation departments’ actions in calculating load ratings and posting weight limits on structurally deficient National Highway System …

Subjects: Government Documents

Call for GAO Inquiry of EPA Proposal To Limit Toxic Release Inventory Program

Following-up to postings on proposals to limit public access to the EPA’s pollution release inventory data, a bipartisan letter issued yesterday on the issue “called for an investigation into the proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) to weaken regulations that require polluters to inform the public about toxic releases.” Related government document: EPA Can …

Subjects: Congress, E-Government, Government Documents

GAO Issues Series of Reports on Critical Border Security Safety Issues

Border Security: Investigators Successfully Transported Radioactive Sources Across Our Nation’s Borders at Selected Locations, Full-text GAO-06-545R, March 28, 2006. Border Security: Investigators Transported Radioactive Sources Across Our Nation’s Borders at Two Locations, Full-text GAO-06-583T, March 28, 2006. Highlights Combating Nuclear Smuggling: Challenges Facing U.S. Efforts to Deploy Radiation Detection Equipment in Other Countries and in …

Subjects: E-Government, Government Documents