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Via LLRX – Why Steve Bannon faces fraud charges: 4 questions answered – Federal prosecutors in New York have arrested former senior Trump adviser Steve Bannon and three other men, and charged them with allegedly defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors to an online fundraising campaign to build portions of wall along the U.S. border with …
CRS report via LC – The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA): A Legal Overview, Updated August 24, 2020: “Originally enacted in 1966, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) establishes a three-part system that requires federal agencies to disclose a large swath of government information to the public. First, FOIA directs agencies to publish substantive and …
COVID-19: Brief Update on Initial Federal Response to the Pandemic. GAO-20-708: Published: Aug 31, 2020. Publicly Released: Aug 31, 2020. “This report updates our oversight of some aspects of the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings include: Spending. Federal obligations totaled $1.5 trillion and expenditures totaled $1.3 trillion, as of June 30. Public health. …
Bloomberg (Part 1 of 2 articles) – The Electoral Count Act of 1887 was designed to avert constitutional chaos. That’s the hope anyway. “Election Day — there is a chance of constitutional chaos. It could take the form of acute uncertainty, not only about who won the election but also about the process by which that …
“Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Special Committee on the Climate Crisis Chair Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), and U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) released a comprehensive report on the climate …
Fast Company – “Millions of Americans, far more than ever before, will cast their ballots by mail in the November election. For many it’ll be a first. Given that, and the huge stakes of this election, there’s plenty of worry to go around over whether all those mail-in ballots will find their way to being …
Via Reddit / Data is Beautiful – How representative are the representatives? The demographics of the U.S. Congress, broken down by party in comparison with the US population. Enlarge this graphic for a clearer view. View the author’s citations
Deep Fakes and National Security, August 26, 2020. “Deep fakes”—a term that first emerged in 2017 to describe realistic photo, audio, video, and other forgeries generated with artificial intelligence (AI) technologies—could present a variety of national security challenges in the years to come.As these technologies continue to mature, they could hold significant implications for congressional …
The Federal Reserve’s Main Street Lending Program, August 27, 2020. IF11632, Marc Labonte, Lida R. Weinstock. “In response to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), the Federal Reserve (Fed) created a series of emergency lending programs, including the Main Street Lending Program (MSLP). The MSLP supports lending to eligible businesses and nonprofits and marks the first time …
NBC News: “…The Postal Service manages 1.2 billion prescription drug shipments a year — or about 4 million each day, six days a week — the National Association of Letter Carriers reported earlier this year. That number has grown during the pandemic, and many recipients are accusing President Donald Trump and the White House of …
NBC News – “The federal government’s ability to pay Social Security benefits could stop by mid-2023 if President Donald Trump were to permanently terminate the payroll tax and not offer another revenue source, the chief actuary of the Social Security Administration said Monday. The chief actuary, Stephen Goss, offered the prediction in a letter to …
Gizmodo: “Documents displayed during Monday’s House Oversight Committee hearing with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy show just how far behind the Postal Service has fallen since DeJoy took over in June. DeJoy spent the morning defending his brief, scandal-ridden time as postmaster general before the committee. Citing complaints from constituents and postal workers across the country, …
