Judicial Watch Uncovers Documents Detailing U.S. Senate Requests for Military Travel
Source: Judicial Watch
Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has obtained documents from the Department of Defense (DOD) and the United States Air Force (USAF) related to repeated requests for military aircraft made by members of the U.S. Senate. Judicial Watch recently obtained the documents through the Freedom of Information Act as part of its continuing investigation of waste and abuse related to congressional military travel.
Documents in PDF
Report: Arid West Can Help Meet Its Water Needs While Reducing Energy Use
Source: Natural Resources Defense Council
Implementing rainwater capture and infiltration techniques through “low impact development” at new and redeveloped residential and commercial properties in California and the West can generate billions of gallons of water supplies annually, reduce energy use and global warming pollution, and provide an effective and much-needed way to adapt to the impacts of climate change, according to a report issued today by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and University of California, Santa Barbara’s Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management (UCSB).
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The report, A Clear Blue Future: How Greening California Cities Can Address Water Resources and Climate Challenges in the 21st Century, highlights low impact development, or LID, as a land planning and engineering design approach for stormwater management. LID enables cities, states, and individuals to increase access to safe and reliable sources of water while reducing the amount of energy consumed and global warming pollution generated when delivering water to residents.The study found that implementing LID practices that emphasize capture and infiltration at new and redeveloped residential and commercial properties in the urbanized areas of Southern California and portions of the San Francisco Bay Area has the potential to increase local water supplies by up to 405,000 acre-feet of water per year by 2030—an amount roughly equivalent to two-thirds of the water used by the entire City of Los Angeles each year.
Managing Migration: The Points Based System
Source: Home Affairs Committee
Migration trends (from Chapter 2, International migration to the UK):
In 2007 an estimated total of 340,000 people emigrated from the UK and an estimated 577,000 people arrived to live in the UK for at least a year, meaning that total net migration into the UK was 237,000. This was an increase of 46,000 from 2006, but below the record estimate of 244,000 in 2004. 34 per cent of the total (197,000) were from the 27 EU member states.
The 2007 International Passenger Survey shows that, of the reasons for migration, having a definite job was the most cited (with approximately 30 per cent of inflow reporting this), followed by formal study (26 per cent), accompanying or joining a relative (15 per cent) and looking for work (12 per cent).
The number of A8 nationals (nationals of the 2004 EU accession states) approved on the Worker Registration Scheme totalled 227,875 in 2006, three quarters of whom (162,495) were Polish. Since 2006 the number of A8 nationals on the Scheme has fallen. The latest Home Office Control of Immigration quarterly statistical summary shows that the number of approved applicants making initial applications in Q1 2009 (21,000) was less than half that of Q1 2008 (47,000). This compares to 50,000 in Q1 2007. It states that “the decrease is mainly explained by the fall in approved Polish national applicants, which fell to 12,000 in Q1 2009 from 32,000 in Q1 2008 and 36,000 in Q1 2007″. However, an estimate from the UK Statistics Authority, using data from the Labour Force Survey, suggests that the number of EU nationals working in the UK was at or near its highest level in the first quarter of 2009. The number of such workers has risen significantly since the accession of the A8 countries in 2004.
Approved applications for accession worker cards from Bulgarian and Romanian nationals wishing to take up employment in the UK fell by 33 per cent in the last year, from 645 in Q1 2008 to 435 in Q1 2009. This compares to the higher number of 840 in Q1 2007. Operators of the Seasonal Agricultural Workers’ Scheme (SAWS)—restricted to Bulgarian and Romanian nationals—issued a total of 6,770 SAWS work cards in Q1 2009, slightly down on the 6,865 issued in Q1 2008.
Nationals of every non-EEA country wishing to come to the UK for over 6 months or to work require a visa. The latest available figures show that, in 2007/08, the UK received 1.27 million visit applications, 459,000 family visit applications, 344,000 student applications, and 89,000 work permit applications (not including working holidaymakers). The main categories in which applications decreased in 2007/08 were settlement and working holidaymakers (both down 16 per cent). Applications increased for work permits (up 12 per cent) and students (up 9 per cent). The overall refusal rate was 18 per cent, down 1 per cent on 2006/07. The Labour Force Survey estimates that the number of non-EU nationals in employment in the UK has more than doubled since 1997, and in the first quarter of 2009 stood at approximately 1.2 million workers out of a total workforce in the UK of 27.8 million.
+ Direct link to document (PDF; 6.3 MB)
ARRA Advisory on FAA’s Process for Awarding ARRA Airport Improvement Program Grants
Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General
The Office of Inspector General is working to ensure that the more than $48 billion in stimulus funds allocated to the Department of Transportation is committed to infrastructure projects that meet ARRA requirements. We issued this advisory to alert the Department that FAA’s process for awarding ARRA grants for Airport Improvement Program (AIP) projects did not ensure all ARRA requirements were met.
Specifically, FAA’s guidance to regional officials for selecting airport projects did not adequately reconcile national ARRA goals with the Agency’s National Priority Rating (NPR) process for scoring potential AIP projects, and the economic merit of some lower–ranked projects may be questionable. Additionally, some projects may involve recipients with histories of grant management problems. As a result, some of these grants may not fully comply with ARRA requirements calling for transparent, merit–based selections and effective administration of funds.
We offer proposed actions for change for the Department’s consideration. Most broadly, to ensure only projects of the highest priority and economic merit receive ARRA funds, FAA needs to reconcile its guidance to regional officials with ARRA requirements and provide a transparent selection process. We suggest that until FAA can demonstrate their economic merit, it should refrain from awarding additional grants for lower–ranked projects. For such projects that have been approved but for which no ARRA funds have been expended, FAA should show their economic merit or consider withdrawing those grants. Finally, FAA should increase its oversight over ARRA grant recipients that historically have not administered AIP funds effectively. We plan to follow up on the information in this advisory with a full audit.
+ Full Report (PDF; 105 KB)
12 Year Nationwide Drop in Tobacco Sales to Minors Continues Under State/Federal Partnership Program
Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) today announced that sales of tobacco to underage youth (those younger than age 18) have continued to decline, and have in fact reached historic lows under the Synar Amendment program – a federal and state partnership program aimed at ending illegal tobacco sales to minors.
The Synar Amendment (introduced by the late Representative Mike Synar of Oklahoma) requires states to have laws and enforcement programs for prohibiting the sale and distribution of tobacco to persons under age 18.
All 50 states and the District of Columbia have for the third year in a row achieved a major Synar program goal – a less than 20 percent non-compliance rate among tobacco product retailers. This stands in sharp contrast with the situation 12 years ago at the Synar program’s inception when the highest reported non-compliance rate was 75 percent.
+ Full Report (PDF; 489 KB)
New Report Examines Insurance Company Practice of Denying Coverage To or Discriminating Against Americans Who Have Pre-Existing Medical Conditions
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
In a new report, “Coverage Denied: How the Current Health Insurance System Leaves Millions Behind,” the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services examines the insurance company practice of denying coverage to or discriminating against Americans who have pre-existing medical conditions. A recent national survey found that 12.6 million non-elderly adults — 36 percent of those who tried to buy insurance on the private market — were discriminated against in the past three years because an insurance company deemed them ineligible for coverage because of a pre-existing condition, charged them a higher premium, or refused to cover their condition. Another survey found 1 in 10 people with cancer said they could not get health coverage, and 6 percent said they lost their coverage because of their diagnosis.
The insurance company practice of denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions is not confined to serious diseases. Even minor problems such as hay fever could trigger prohibitive responses. An insurer could charge high premiums, deny coverage, or set a restriction such as denying any respiratory disease coverage to a person with hay fever, according to the report.
What’s more, some insurance companies respond to an expensive condition such as cancer by initiating a thorough review of the patient’s health insurance application. If the company discovers that any medical condition, regardless of how minor, was not reported on the application, it could revoke coverage retroactively for the patient and possibly all members of the patient’s family, the report said. The practice is known as rescission.
Companies can do this even if the condition found is not related to the expensive condition or if the person wasn’t aware of the condition at the time.
At least one company encouraged employees to revoke sick people’s health coverage through rescissions, the report said.
+ Full Report (PDF; 727 KB)
The Phoenix Program and Contemporary Counterinsurgency
Source: RAND Corporation
Fresh interest in the history of counterinsurgency has focused renewed attention on the Phoenix Program, the United States’ primary effort to improve intelligence coordination and operations aimed at identifying and dismantling the communist underground during the Vietnam War. Modern-day advocates of the program argue that it was devastatingly effective, but detractors condemn it as a merciless assassination campaign. Without a clearer understanding of the truth about Phoenix and its overall effectiveness, analysts risk drawing flawed conclusions about the program’s applicability to contemporary conflicts.
The authors explore the Viet Cong underground (the target of Phoenix operations) and the early U.S. and South Vietnamese operations designed to dismantle it. Tracing the provenance and evolution of the Phoenix Program from these early operations, they identify the program’s three elements and assess its overall success. They conclude that the truth about Phoenix and its effectiveness lies somewhere between the extremes of today’s competing claims: The program made positive contributions to counterinsurgency in South Vietnam, but its political costs to the United States were substantial. The authors note that the Phoenix Program highlights the continuing importance of intelligence coordination and anti-infrastructure operations in contemporary counterinsurgency.
Leaks and Whistleblowing in Whitehall
Source: House of Commons Public Administration Committee
Summary:
In this report we examine the effects of leaks on government. Leaks are damaging to trust within government and trust in government. In particular, they endanger ministers’ confidence in an impartial Civil Service. However, we recognise that leaks can raise matters of genuine public interest and that the Freedom of Information Act has changed the legal landscape in favour of the open disclosure of government information. The Public Interest Disclosure Act sets an appropriate framework that balances these competing interests in almost all of the exceptional circumstances where leaking might be considered justified. However, there should also be a mechanism by which evidence that the Government has misled Parliament or the public, or failed to act on concerns that have be raised, can be investigated and reported to Parliament.
We found evidence to support the view that leak investigations within government often fail to find the culprit. Such investigations are constrained by political leaking. There should be independent investigation of breaches of the Civil Service Code by special advisers and a review of the resources available to leak investigators. We are also concerned that the boundaries between criminal and non-criminal disclosure of leaking established by the Official Secrets Act are becoming blurred.
The most effective way to prevent leaks by civil servants is to provide accessible, effective and visible channels by which civil servants of all grades can raise genuine concerns about the conduct of government. Whilst progress is being made increasing awareness about whistleblowing procedures in the Senior Civil Service, more needs to be done to ensure that all grades know how to access them and have the confidence to do so. In particular, much more should be done to ensure that whistleblowers who raise concerns in good faith are protected and feel that their concerns are taken seriously.
+ Direct link to document (PDF; 828.2 KB)
“Living Apart Together”: Relationships in the United States
Source: Demographic Research
We use two surveys to describe the demographic and attitudinal correlates of being in “Living Apart Together” (LAT), cohabiting, and marital relationships for heterosexuals, lesbians, and gay men. About one third of U.S. adults not married or cohabiting are in LAT relationships – these individuals would be classified as “single” in conventional studies that focus on residential unions. Gay men are somewhat more likely than heterosexual men to be in LAT relationships. For heterosexuals and lesbians, LAT relationships are more common among younger people. Heterosexuals in LAT unions are less likely to expect to marry their partners, but more likely to say that couples should be emotionally dependent than are cohabiters. Regardless of sexual orientation, people in LAT relationships perceive similar amounts of emotional support from partners, but less instrumental support than cohabiters perceive.
+ Full Paper (PDF; 962 KB)
Fighting Oil Addiction: Ranking States’ Oil Vulnerability and Solutions for Change
Source: Natural Resources Defense Council
America’s addiction to oil continues to threaten not only our national security and global environmental health, but also our economic viability. NRDC analyzed how heavily drivers in each state are affected by increases in oil prices and ranked states on their adoption of solutions to reduce their oil dependence — measures they are taking to lessen their vulnerability and to bolster America’s security. NRDC found that rising gas prices, combined with the economic downturn, are making people more vulnerable to changes in oil prices. But many states are taking significant steps to reduce oil dependence through smart clean-transportation policies.
Our analysis shows that:
- Oil dependence affects all states, but some drivers are hit harder economically than others.
- The trends in states’ vulnerability to oil price increases over the past couple of years are not encouraging — drivers in every state were more vulnerable in 2008 than they were in 2006.
- While some states are pioneering solutions and many are taking some action, a fair number of states are still taking few (if any) of the steps needed to reduce their oil dependence.
New GAO Reports (PDFs)
Source: Government Accountability Office
12 August 2009
1. Equal Employment Opportunity: Pilot Projects Could Help Test Solutions to Long-standing Concerns with the EEO Complaint Process
2. U.S.-Africa Trade: Options for Congressional Consideration to Improve Textile and Apparel Sector Competitiveness under the African Growth and Opportunity Act
Value of Provider Networks Survey
Source: America’s Health Insurance Plans
Protecting consumers from runaway charges billed by some out-of-network physicians is an important policy issue at a time of major economic challenges and a national debate surrounding health care reforms. This report provides a snapshot, state-by-state, of exorbitant charges billed by out-of-network physicians in the 30 largest states by population. It is designed to illustrate the value of provider networks and a growing problem faced by consumers who want affordable, meaningful, access to out-of-network providers.
+ Full Report (PDF; 546 KB)
Individual reports available for 30 states.
The Economies of Scale of Living Together and How They Are Shared: Estimates Based on a Collective Household Model (PDF; 313 KB)
Source: institute for the Study of Labor
How large are the economies of scale of living together? And how do partners share their resources? The first question is usually answered by equivalence scales. Traditional estimation and application of equivalence scales assumes equal sharing of income within the household. This paper uses data on financial satisfaction to simultaneously estimate the sharing rule and the economy of scale parameter in a collective household model. The estimates indicate substantial scale economies of living together, especially for couples who have lived together for some time. On average, wives receive almost 50% of household resources, but there is heterogeneity with respect to the wives’ contribution to household income and the duration of the relationship.
The Effect of Economic Downturns on Apprenticeships and Initial Workplace Training: A Review of the Evidence (PDF; 163 KB)
Source: Institute for the Study of Labor
The existing empirical evidence on the relationship between apprenticeships, initial workplace training and economic downturns, is relatively scarce. The bottom line of this literature is that ratio of apprentices to employees tends to be (mildly) pro-cyclical and to decline during a recession, with the notable exception of the Great Depression, when it rose (at least in England). When broader measures of training are considered, which exclude apprentices, the weight of the evidence is in favour of counter-cyclical training incidence. This paper suggests that a possible reconciliation of these findings is based on recognizing that firms may have incentives to train incumbents during a downturn and at the same time to reduce the recruitment and training of young employees, who are engaged in the transition from school to work.
Disproportionate Minority Contact Technical Assistance Manual
Source: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
This online manual provides detailed guidance on DMC identification and monitoring, assessment, intervention, and evaluation. Its intended audience is Juvenile Justice Specialists, members of State Planning Agencies and State Advisory Groups, DMC researchers and consultants, and policymakers and practitioners involved in the juvenile justice system at the state and local levels.
This manual incorporates lessons learned in DMC efforts over the years. It brings states and localities the latest information and tools for understanding and effectively addressing minority overrepresentation in the juvenile justice system. Electronic publication of the manual offers important benefits:
- Wide distribution.
- Hyperlinks for instant access to related materials.
- Annual updates: new information, resources, and examples of effective DMC reduction strategies.
