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“Consumers Union testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection on combating robocalls and caller ID spoofing. Despite some progress made by regulators and phone companies to limit robocalls, complaints continue to skyrocket, with consumers filing at least seven million complaints about violations of the Do Not Call list in …
“The strength and stability of democracy has become a subject of intense debate in the United States and around the world. But how do Americans feel about their own democracy? As part of a year-long effort to study “Facts, Trust and Democracy” Pew Research Center has conducted a major survey of public views of the …
CRS Report via FAS – Covert Action and Clandestine Activities of the Intelligence Community: Selected Definitions in Brief – “While not defined by statute, DOD doctrine describes clandestine activities as “operations sponsored or conducted by governmental departments in such a way as to assure secrecy or concealment” that may include relatively passive intelligence collection information …
“U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John Kennedy (R-LA) [on April 24, 2018] announced privacy legislation that will protect consumers’ online data. Social media and other online platforms routinely capture users’ behavior and personal information, which is then used to help advertisers or other third parties target those users. The bipartisan legislation would require companies …
Jeff Green, Bloomberg: “Even as women have begun speaking out about sexual harassment at work, the number of official complaints to state and federal regulators hit a two-decade low in 2017. The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and its state-level counterparts received just over 9,600 complaints in 2017, according to data obtained by Bloomberg, down …
StateScoop: “Four years ago, Christina Ho led an effort through the U.S. Treasury Department to help Americans track the federal government’s spending of public funds. Now, she’s left government and embarked on a new project: aggregating data from the country’s more than 30,000 municipalities to help citizens shape local policy. On Monday, Ho launched a beta version of her …
News release: “US Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chris Coons (D-DE), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduc[ed] the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act. The new legislation merges two parallel efforts into one unified, bipartisan bill. In August of 2017, Senators Tillis and Coons introduced the Special Counsel Integrity Act, S. 1741, and Senators Graham …
“The widespread concerns over misinformation online have created a tension in the United States between taking steps to restrict that information – including possible government regulation – and protecting the long-held belief in the freedom to access and publish information. A new Pew Research Center survey finds that the majority of Americans are resistant to …
Via FAS – Regulatory Reform 10 Years After the Financial Crisis: Systemic Risk Regulation of Non-Bank Financial Institutions. Jay B. Sykes, Legislative Attorney. April 12, 2018. “When large, interconnected financial institutions become distressed, policymakers have historically faced a choice between (1) a taxpayer-funded bailout, and (2) the destabilization of the financial system—a dilemma that commentators …
Center for Data Innovation – “The Financial Times (paywall) has created a collection of data visualizations showing that 89 percent of women in the United Kingdom work at companies with a pay gap favoring men. The newspaper analyzed data from firms with more than 250 employees, which were required to submit data comparing men and …
New York Fed – Liberty Street Economics: “The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) introduces significant changes to the federal income tax code for individuals and businesses. Several provisions of the new tax law are particularly significant for the owner‑occupied housing market. In this blog post, we compare the federal tax liability and …
Sexual Harassment and Title VII: Selected Legal Issues. Christine J. Back, Legislative Attorney; Wilson C. Freeman, Legislative Attorney. April 9, 2018.”Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) generally prohibits discrimination in the workplace, but does not contain an express prohibition against harassment. The Supreme Court, however, has interpreted the statute to …
