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July 29th, 2010
The Generation Gap on Government — Why and How the Millennial Generation Is the Most Pro-Government Generation and What This Means for Our Future
Source: Center for American Progress
Young Americans today across the ideological spectrum share a far more favorable view of the federal government than do their elders. Importantly, this so-called Millennial Generation may hold the key to reversing historic declines in public confidence in government—the major finding from a new survey commissioned by the Center for American Progress.
The May survey of 2,523 adults conducted by Hart Research Associates found that young Americans age 18 to 32 give the government more positive performance ratings and more strongly favor a significant role for government in addressing national challenges than does the public at large. Millennials’ distinctly pro-government outlook may well be a leading indicator of a nascent rebound in public confidence in government.
Despite their relatively positive outlook, though, Millennials do share their elders’ concerns that the federal government is often poorly managed and spends money inefficiently, the survey found. And there is no guarantee that their more favorable disposition toward government won’t sour as they age. The message for politicians and policymakers who would seize on the opportunity presented by relatively pro-government Millennials: Make government better, not smaller.
+ Full Report (PDF)
Posted in Government and politics, Social and cultural issues | No Comments »
July 29th, 2010
Nurse Numbers Tell the Tale
Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
A new fact sheet and accompanying slideshow from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation offers a wealth of hard data on the nursing workforce—how many nurses are at work today, what their educational backgrounds are, how diverse the nursing population is, what the employment trends are, how big the nursing gap will be in a few years, and more. The fact sheet and slideshow will be updated periodically to incorporate new government employment data and projections.
Posted in Health and healthcare, Labor | No Comments »
July 29th, 2010
Against the odds: Re-engaging young people in education, employment or training
Source: Audit Commission (UK)\
From the summary:
Young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) at 16-18 have poorer life chances than their peers and are more likely to be a long- term cost to the public purse.
National figures for 2009 show 9.2 per cent (183,200) of young people aged 16-18 were NEET.
The 2008 NEET cohort will cost an estimated £13 billion in public finance costs and £22 billion in opportunity costs over their lifetimes.
Young men who were NEET are three times more likely to suffer from depression, and five times more likely to have a criminal record, thantheir peers.
Data from fieldwork areas found a quarter of young people were NEET at some point during a two-year period, but most get into education, employment or training. However, ten per cent of young people remain NEET for six months or more.
+ Direct link to full report (PDF; 3.3 MB)
+ Direct link to summary (PDF; 669 KB)
Posted in Business and economics, Diseases and conditions, Education, Europe, Health and healthcare, Labor, Postsecondary, Social and cultural issues, United Kingdom | No Comments »
July 28th, 2010
Beige Book — July 28, 2010
Source: Federal Reserve Board
Economic activity has continued to increase, on balance, since the previous survey, although the Cleveland and Kansas City Districts reported that the level of economic activity generally held steady. Among those Districts reporting improvements in economic activity, a number of them noted that the increases were modest, and two Districts, Atlanta and Chicago, said that the pace of economic activity had slowed recently.
Manufacturing activity continued to expand in most Districts, although several Districts reported that activity had slowed or leveled off during the reporting period. Districts also noted improved conditions in the services sector. The five Districts reporting on transportation noted increased activity. Tourism activity also increased across the Districts, although the Atlanta District noted concerns about decreased leisure travel to the Gulf Coast. Retail sales reports generally indicated a continued rise in spending, and several Districts noted that necessities continued to be strong sellers, while big-ticket items moved more slowly. However, most Districts that reported on auto sales noted declines in recent weeks. Activity in residential real estate markets was sluggish in most Districts after the expiration of the April 30 deadline for the homebuyer tax credit. Commercial real estate markets, especially construction, remained weak. Banking conditions varied across the Districts, with some Districts noting soft or decreased overall loan demand; credit standards remained tight in most reporting Districts. Recent rains had mixed effects on crop conditions, while activity in the natural resources sector increased. Overall labor market conditions improved modestly across the Districts, with several reports of temporary hiring. Consumer prices of goods and services held steady in most reporting Districts. Input prices also held largely steady, with only a few reports of cost increases. Wage pressures continued to be contained on the whole.
Posted in Business and economics | No Comments »
July 28th, 2010
New GAO Reports and Testimonies (PDFs)
Source: Government Accountability Office
28 July 2010
+ Reports
1. Technology Assessment: Explosives Detection Technologies to Protect Passenger Rail
2. Small Business Administration: Undercover Tests Show HUBZone Program Remains Vulnerable to Fraud and Abuse
3. Defense Management: U.S. Southern Command Demonstrates Interagency Collaboration, but Its Haiti Disaster Response Revealed Challenges Conducting a Large Military Operation
4. Defense Management: Improved Planning, Training, and Interagency Collaboration Could Strengthen DOD’s Efforts in Africa
5. Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act: After Almost 20 Years, Key Federal Agencies Still Have Not Fully Complied with the Act
6. Performance Measurement: Better Alignment to Strategic Goals and Data Verification Needed at the Corporation for National and Community Service
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+ Testimonies
1. National Security: Interagency Collaboration Practices and Challenges at DOD’s Southern and Africa Commands, by John H. Pendleton, director, defense capabilities and management, before the Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
2. Department of Veterans Affairs: Long-standing Weaknesses in Miscellaneous Obligation and Financial Reporting Controls, by Susan Ragland, director, financial management and assurance, before the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
3. Small Business Administration: Undercover Tests Show HUBZone Program Remains Vulnerable to Fraud and Abuse, by Gregory Kutz, managing director, forensic audits and special investigations, before the House Committee on Small Business
4. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Payment Errors and Trafficking Have Declined, but Challenges Remain, by Kay E. Brown, director, education, workforce, and income security issues, before the Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition, and Forestry, House Committee on Agriculture
5. DOD’s High Risk Areas: Observations on DOD’s Progress and Challenges in Strategic Planning for Supply Chain Management, by Jack E. Edwards and William M. Solis, directors, defense capabilities and management, before the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Posted in GAO, Government and politics | No Comments »
July 28th, 2010
Active Education: Physical Education, Physical Activity and Academic Performance
Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Educators, policy-makers and parents are concerned about academic achievement in the nation’s schools. One response to that concern is a focus on testing, and schools have responded by trying to meet those academic standards.
At the same time, in their effort to boost academic performance—and test scores—many schools across the United States have reduced or eliminated physical education.
Yet the available evidence shows that children who are physically active and fit tend to perform better in the classroom, and that daily physical education does not adversely affect academic performance.
This research brief from Active Living Research offers a summary of peer-reviewed research into the relationship between physical activity and children’s academic performance.
+ Full Report (PDF)
Posted in Education, Health and healthcare, K-12, Sports, recreation and leisure | No Comments »
July 28th, 2010
Federal Debt and the Risk of a Fiscal Crisis
Source: Congressional Budget Office
Over the past few years, U.S. government debt held by the public has grown rapidly—to the point that, compared with the total output of the economy, it is now higher than it has ever been except during the period around World War II. The recent increase in debt has been the result of three sets of factors: an imbalance between federal revenues and spending that predates the recession and the recent turmoil in financial markets, sharply lower revenues and elevated spending that derive directly from those economic conditions, and the costs of various federal policies implemented in response to the conditions.
Further increases in federal debt relative to the nation’s output (gross domestic product, or GDP) almost certainly lie ahead if current policies remain in place. The aging of the population and rising costs for health care will push federal spending, measured as a percentage of GDP, well above the levels experienced in recent decades. Unless policymakers restrain the growth of spending, increase revenues significantly as a share of GDP, or adopt some combination of those two approaches, growing budget deficits will cause debt to rise to unsupportable levels.
+ Full Report (PDF)
Posted in Business and economics, Government and politics | No Comments »
July 28th, 2010
Health Reform: How Hospitals and Physicians Will Be Affected
Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Throughout the debate around health reform, health care consumers and providers alike have asked how physicians and hospitals will be affected by the new law.
These brief reports funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation explore the effects that health reform will have on consumers, state governments, the economy and health care costs. Two reports released today look at how physicians and hospitals—including community, teaching and safety net hospitals—will be affected.
The authors, Robert Berenson and Stephen Zuckerman, both from the Urban Institute, conclude that under reform, hospitals will likely be able to improve the quality of their care without seeing much difference in their revenues and expenditures. Further, physicians will likely benefit financially as coverage expands—at worst they will be unaffected financially.
+ How Will Hospitals Be Affected by Health Care Reform? (PDF)
+ How Will Physicians Be Affected by Health Care Reform? (PDF)
Posted in Government and politics, Health and healthcare | No Comments »
July 28th, 2010
NRC Publishes Annual Security Inspection Report on Nuclear Facilities to Congress
Source: Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has made available to the public an unclassified version of an annual report to Congress outlining the 2009 security inspection program. The report covers the security inspection program, including force-on-force exercises, for commercial power reactors and fuel cycle facilities for calendar year 2009.
…
According to the report, required under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the NRC conducted 179 security inspections at commercial power reactors, of which 24 were force-on-force inspections. These force-on-force inspections use a well-trained mock adversary force to test a facility’s ability to respond to the level of threat the facility is required to defend against. The security inspections yielded 180 findings from these reviews, of which 168 (94 percent) were of very low security significance and 12 were of low to moderate security significance. The results of the security inspections conducted at fuel cycle facilities are discussed in the Safeguards Information version of this report.
Under the security inspection program, licensees are expected to promptly fix or put compensatory measures in place if any potentially significant deficiencies are identified in the protective strategy of a plant. According to the report, 25 force-on-force inspections are scheduled for the 2010 calendar year.
+ Full Report (PDF)
Posted in Energy, Public safety | No Comments »
July 28th, 2010
U.S. R&D Companies Employed 27 Million Workers Worldwide in 2008
Source: National Science Foundation
U.S. R&D companies–companies located in the United States that performed or funded research and development (R&D) domestically or in their overseas locations–employed 27.1 million workers worldwide in 2008, according to a new National Science Foundation report.
The figures are the first employment statistics from the new Business R&D and Innovation Survey (BRDIS), developed jointly by NSF and the U.S. Census Bureau. Earlier this year, this same survey yielded information for the first time about worldwide sales and monetary amounts spent on R&D by U.S.-based companies. Data from that report can be found in an NSF press release and in an InfoBrief published in May.
Employment data from the BRDIS released today in a new NSF InfoBrief titled “New Employment Statistics from the 2008 Business R&D and Innovation Survey” show that R&D employees (those who perform or directly support R&D activities) accounted for 1.9 million jobs, or 7.1 percent of jobs at U.S. R&D companies worldwide. The domestic portion of total employment was 18.5 million workers, including 1.5 million R&D employees. Thus, domestic R&D employment accounted for 7.9 percent of companies’ total domestic employment and for 77 percent of their worldwide R&D employment.
Policymakers and industry officials consider these numbers important because workers engaged in R&D activities directly influence the creation and diffusion of knowledge, and in turn contribute to innovation and economic growth. The proportion of R&D employment relative to total employment, or R&D employment intensity, is one indicator of a company’s involvement in R&D activity.
Worldwide R&D employment intensity in some industries is much higher than the 7.1 percent figure for the aggregate of all industries; notably, R&D employment in scientific R&D services is at 31 percent; R&D employment associated with communications equipment is at 27 percent, and R&D employment associated with computer systems design and related services is at 25 percent.
+ New Employment Statistics from the 2008 Business R&D and Innovation Survey
Posted in Business and economics, Labor, Science, Technology | No Comments »
July 28th, 2010
FHFA Report Concludes Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Guarantee Fees Declined in 2008-2009 (PDF)
Source: Federal Housing Finance Agency
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has found that the average total “g-fee” charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on single-family mortgages fell in 2009 relative to 2008, from 25 basis points to 22 basis points. The second annual report on Enterprise guarantee fees, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Single-Family Guarantee Fees in 2008 and 2009, concludes that the decline in the total guarantee fees charged by each Enterprise in 2009 resulted from significant improvement in the credit profile of the single- family mortgages they acquired relative to 2008.
There were improvements across the product, credit score and LTV ratio spectrums, as 15-year- fixed-rate mortgages grew as a share of total acquisitions, borrower credit scores improved, and fewer loans with low down payments were acquired. The share of mortgages with risk layering also fell significantly. The improvement in the credit profile of acquisitions more than offset the effect of the g-fee pricing increases implemented by the Enterprises in 2008 and 2009, resulting in the decline in total guarantee fees charged in 2009.
For mortgages acquired in 2009, each Enterprise set the g-fees at levels sufficient to cover expected costs and to provide a modest return on capital. The sole exception to this policy was for loans originated under the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), which offers the Enterprises a benefit in the form of reduced credit exposure. Although the g-fees charged for HARP loans were not expected to achieve the targeted rate of return, the new loans should perform better than the mortgages they refinanced and the g-fees charged for these loans are generally higher than the fees on the original mortgages.
The FHFA report, required by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, studies the fees charged by the Enterprises for guaranteeing securities backed by single-family mortgages that are not insured or guaranteed by the federal government and that finance properties with four or fewer residential units. Those fees cover projected credit losses from borrower defaults over the life of the loans, administrative costs, and a return on capital.
+ Full Report (PDF)
Posted in Business and economics, Government and politics, Housing and real estate | No Comments »
July 28th, 2010
New MPI Estimates: As Many as 2.1 Million Young People Could Be Eligible for the DREAM Act, Though Far Fewer Would Meet its Education or Military Service Requirements for Legalization
Source: Migration Policy Institute
Slightly more than 2.1 million unauthorized immigrant youth and young adults could be eligible to apply for legal status under the DREAM Act legislation pending in Congress, according to a new Migration Policy Institute analysis that offers the most recent and detailed estimates of potential beneficiaries by age, education levels, gender, state of residence and likelihood of gaining legalization.
Prepared by MPI’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, DREAM vs. Reality: An Analysis of Potential DREAM Act Beneficiaries, makes clear, however, that far fewer people would likely obtain legal status because of barriers limiting their ability to take advantage of the legislation’s educational and military routes to legalization. In the report, authors Jeanne Batalova and Margie McHugh estimate that only 38 percent — or 825,000 — of the 2.1 million potentially eligible DREAM Act beneficiaries likely would gain permanent legal status.
“Many potential DREAM Act beneficiaries would face difficulties in meeting the legislation’s higher education or military service requirements because of hardship paying for college tuition, competing work and family time demands and low educational attainment and English proficiency,” said McHugh, who is co-director of MPI’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy.
According to the analysis, enactment of the DREAM Act would :
- Immediately make 726,000 unauthorized young adults who meet the legislation’s age, duration of U.S. residency and age at arrival requirements eligible for conditional legal status (with roughly 114,000 of them already eligible for permanent legal status after the six-year wait because they have at least an associate’s degree).
- Allow 934,000 children under 18 to age into conditional-status eligibility in the future, provided they earn a U.S. high school diploma or GED.
- Extend the possibility of conditional status, provided certain educational milestones are achieved, to another 489,000 unauthorized immigrants between ages 18-34 who meet the legislation’s age and residency requirements but lack a high school diploma or GED.
+ Full Report (PDF)
Posted in Education, Government and politics, Immigration, Legal and law enforcement | No Comments »
July 28th, 2010
The Latino Digital Divide: The Native Born versus The Foreign Born
Source: Pew Hispanic Center
Technology use among foreign-born Latinos continues to lag significantly behind that of their U.S.-born counterparts. The nativity differences are especially pronounced when it comes to internet use. While 85% of native-born Latinos ages 16 and older go online, only about half (51%) of foreign-born Latinos do so. When it comes to cell phones, 80% of native-born Latinos use one, compared with 72% of the foreign born.
While rates of technology use among native-born Hispanics are relatively high, technology use for the full population of Hispanics continues to lag behind the use rates of the non-Hispanic population. When it comes to internet use, some 64% of Latinos ages 18 and older go online, compared with 78% of non-Latinos. More than three-fourths (76%) of Latinos use a cell phone, compared with 86% of non-Latinos
+ Full Report (PDF)
Posted in Ethnic, Internet, Social and cultural issues, Technology, Telecommunications | No Comments »
July 28th, 2010
Report exposes irregularities of obscure State Department-funded organization
Source: Government Accountability Project
A report released by the Government Accountability Project (GAP), based on documents obtained through nearly three years’ of U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, exposes the highly irregular manner in which the Foundation for the Future (FFF) – an obscure project funded by the U.S. Department of State – was established and operated by Bush administration officials and appointees.
Specifically, the report details how high-level State Department officials misled Congress as they sought millions in public money for the Foundation, which was a haven for people with political connections. The report also shows that FFF was a pet project of Elizabeth Cheney, former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. Cheney worked to set up the Foundation with Shaha Riza, Paul Wolfowitz’s companion whose seconding to the State Department (and then to the FFF) was directly responsible for the 2007 World Bank scandal that resulted in Wolfowitz’s departure from the Bank.
“Liz Cheney had the preposterous idea that the Foundation for the Future would bring peace and democracy to the Middle East,” said GAP International Program Officer Shelley Walden, author of the report. “This overlong project wasted millions of taxpayer dollars.”
+ Executive Summary (PDF)
+ Full Report (PDF)
+ Key FOIA documents (PDF)
+ Appendix I
Posted in Ethics, Government and politics, International Relations | No Comments »
July 28th, 2010
Alliance for Justice Releases Report on Oil-Industry Ties to Fifth Circuit Judges Hearing Drilling Moratorium Case
Source: Alliance for Justice
An Alliance for Justice report has found that many U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals judges have extensive and multi-faceted ties to the oil industry, a factor which will come into play this week as a three-judge panel hears the Obama Administration’s appeal of a lower court decision blocking a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
With oral arguments scheduled for July 8 in Hornbeck Offshore Services v. Salazar, “Judicial Gusher: the Fifth Circuit’s Ties to Oil,” examines not only the circuit’s judges’ financial interests, but also the kinds of clients they had while in private practice, their attendance at industry-sponsored “seminars,” and other connections. Detailed information is offered on the three Fifth Circuit judges assigned to hear the Administration’s appeal of District Judge Martin Feldman’s order prohibiting the drilling moratorium from going into effect.
Among its findings, the report reveals that two of the judges on the appeals panel, Judges Jerry Edwin Smith and William Eugene Davis, frequently represented the oil and gas industries while in private practice. They also attended all-expense-paid “seminars” held at resorts in Big Sky, Montana, and sponsored by the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment (FREE), whose purpose is to oppose government regulation, promote free-market solutions to environmental problems, and to “explain why ecological values are not the only important ones.” Judge James L. Dennis, the third member of the panel, has extensive financial holdings in at least 18 companies in the energy industry, a situation not uncommon among his Fifth Circuit peers.
+ Full Report (PDF)
Posted in Business and economics, Energy, Ethics, Government and politics, Legal and law enforcement | No Comments »
July 28th, 2010
Treasury Releases Semi-Annual Report to Congress on International Economic and Exchange Rate Policies
Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury
The U.S. Department of the Treasury today sent to Congress the Semi-Annual Report on International Economic and Exchange Rate Policies, consistent with Sections 3004 and 3005 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988.
The Report concludes that the renminbi remains undervalued. On June 19, 2010, China took the significant step of ending its peg to the dollar and allowing its exchange rate to appreciate in response to market forces.
+ Full Report (PDF)
+ Annex: Foreign Exchange Reserve Accumulation – Recent Developments and Adequacy Measures (PDF)
Posted in Business and economics, Government and politics, International Relations | No Comments »
July 28th, 2010
Leading Questions: Learning from the Reading and Libraries Challenge Fund
Source: Paul Hamlyn Fund (UK)
From Press Release:
‘Leading Questions – Learning from the Reading and Libraries Challenge Fund’, brings together learning from three funding streams that made up the Reading and LIbraries Challenge Fund, Right to Read provided funds for work involving looked-after children and young people in care; Free with Words focused on prisoners and young offenders; and Libraries Connect looked at ways of helping refugees, asylum-seekers and other marginalised groups to access reading.
Sixty grants were made over several years, and the evaluation, written by Helen Carpenter, draws a number of lessons from this large body of work that will be of use to a range of organisations and policy-makers working in these fields.
Posted in Education, Europe, Social and cultural issues, United Kingdom | No Comments »
July 27th, 2010
New GAO Reports (PDFs)
Source: Government Accountability Office
27 July 2010
1. NextGen Air Transportation System: FAA’s Metrics Can Be Used to Report on Status of Individual Programs, but Not of Overall NextGen Implementation or Outcomes
2. Coast Guard: Deepwater Requirements, Quantities, and Cost Require Revalidation to Reflect Knowledge Gained
3. Department of Defense: Additional Actions Needed to Improve Financial Management of Military Equipment
Posted in GAO, Government and politics | No Comments »
July 27th, 2010
HHS Strengthens Health Information Privacy and Security through New Rules
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced important new rules and resources to strengthen the privacy of health information and to help all Americans understand their rights and the resources available to safeguard their personal health data. Led by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR), HHS is working with public and private partners to ensure that, as we expand the use of health information technology to drive improvements in the quality and effectiveness of our nation’s health care system, Americans can trust that their health information is protected and secure.
…
Through the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, current health information privacy and security rules will now include broader individual rights and stronger protections when third parties handle individually identifiable health information.
The proposed rule announced today would strengthen and expand enforcement of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy, Security, and Enforcement Rules by:
- expanding individuals’ rights to access their information and to restrict certain types of disclosures of protected health information to health plans.
- requiring business associates of HIPAA-covered entities to be under most of the same rules as the covered entities;
- setting new limitations on the use and disclosure of protected health information for marketing and fundraising; and
- prohibiting the sale of protected health information without patient authorization.
+ Health Data Privacy and Security Resources
Posted in Consumer issues, Government and politics, Health and healthcare, Privacy, Security, Technology | No Comments »
July 27th, 2010
USDA Forest Service Report Shows Economic, Health Benefits of America’s National Forests and Grasslands
Source: U.S. Forest Service (USDA)
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the release of a report showing the economic importance of America’s National Forests and Grasslands to rural communities across the country. The updated National Visitor Use Monitoring Report reveals that recreation activities on national forests and grasslands have helped to sustain an estimated 223,000 jobs in rural areas and contributed approximately $14.5 billion annually to the U.S. economy.
+ Full Report
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
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