The Top 15 Reasons Small Business Opposes H.R. 3962
Source: National Federation of Independent Business
Below is the National Federation of Independent Business’, the nation’s leading small business association, top 15 list why H.R. 3962 is a non-starter for small business.
Availability, Contributions, Account Balances, and Rollovers in Account-Based Health Plans, 2006–2009
Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute
ENROLLMENT IN CONSUMER-DRIVEN HEALTH PLANS: The share of the adult population with private health insurance enrolled in account-based health plans (so-called “consumer-driven” health plans, or CDHPs) remains small but continues to grow. In 2009, 4 percent of the adult population with private health insurance was enrolled in an health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) or had a high-deductible plan with an health savings account (HSA), up 1 percentage point from the previous year. An additional 4.9 percent were eligible for an HSA but did not have such an account. Overall, 8.9 percent of adults with private insurance were either in a CDHP or were in a high-deductible plan that was eligible for an HSA, but had not opened an account.
CDHP ELIGIBILITY: Among individuals with traditional employment-based health benefits and a choice of health plan, 39 percent were eligible for a CDHP in 2009, up from 33 percent in 2006.
CONTRIBUTIONS: Workers with employee-only coverage have seen their annual employer contributions decrease, while those with family coverage have seen their annual employer contributions increase, such that nearly three-quarters of workers with family coverage receive a contribution of $1,000 or more. Both the amount of money that individuals have accumulated in their accounts and the amounts rolled over from year-to-year have grown: Those reporting a rollover of $1,500 or more increased from 13 percent in 2006 to 31 percent in 2009.
+ Full Report (PDF; 1.1 MB)
Alliance Brief Examines Need To Reform Teacher Preparation Programs To Ensure That Students Meet High Expectations
Source: Alliance for Excellent Education
The Alliance for Excellent Education released a brief today that offers a new vision for secondary teacher preparation that ensures teacher candidates possess the critical skills necessary to make certain that all students graduate from high school ready for college and careers. The brief, funded by MetLife Foundation, also outlines how federal policy can support stronger teacher preparation.
…
According to the brief, Teaching for a New World: Preparing High School Educators to Deliver College- and Career-Ready Instruction, educating all students to the high standards now required for success in college and careers requires a host of new skills that many secondary school teachers do not currently develop during pre-service preparation or in-service professional development. The brief identifies five critical areas for teachers to develop competency before they enter the classroom in order to be effective:
- the ability to work with diverse learners, including special education students and English language learners;
- the capacity to teach adolescent literacy skills regardless of the content area;
- the ability to effectively use assessment and data to impact teaching and learning;
- the ability to teach in specialized teaching environments, including urban and rural settings; and
- the ability to convey content knowledge to students in an clear manner, tailored to the academic discipline.
+ Full Report (PDF; 626 KB)
New Report Debunks Common Myths about Energy
Source: Pacific Research Institute
The Pacific Research Institute, a free market think tank based in San Francisco, released a new report debunking the common myths about energy in America. Top Ten Energy Myths, by Thomas Tanton, senior fellow in Energy Studies, confronts ten popular myths about America’s energy sources, uses, and risks.
The report challenges conventional discourse about energy propagated by politicians, celebrities, and the media. Using data from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Energy Information Administration, Top Ten Energy Myths clearly outlines the types of fuel most used in the U.S.—where they come from, the risks involved, and the potential for alternative technologies.
…
The list of top ten myths in the report are:
- Myth: Most of our energy comes from oil.
Reality: Oil represents less than 40 percent of our energy use.- Myth: Most of our oil comes from the Middle East.
Reality: Two-thirds of our oil comes from North America.- Myth: We have no choice but to import vast quantities of oil and natural gas.
Reality: The U.S. could significantly reduce imports by expanding domestic production.- Myth: Offshore oil production poses environmental risks.
Reality: New technology has greatly reduced the risk of oil spills. Reducing oil reservoir pressure through extraction of petroleum will decrease the amount of oil pollution from natural seepage.- Myth: Reducing our petroleum use through alternative energies will increase U.S. energy security.
Reality: Reducing petroleum use will first reduce domestic production, not production in unstable regions. Renewable technologies are subject to import and price security concerns as well.- Myth: Energy companies will not invest in clean reliable energy so we need government programs to do so.
Reality: Energy companies are investing huge sums of money to develop cleaner and more reliable sources of energy.- Myth: Renewable energies will soon replace most conventional energy sources.
Reality: While growing fast in percentage terms, renewable energies are a very small fraction of our energy mix and will remain so for the foreseeable future.- Myth: The U.S. consumes large amounts of energy and thus emits a disproportionate amount of the world’s greenhouse gases.
Reality: The U.S. uses energy and emits a large portion of the world’s emissions because it produces a large portion of the world’s goods and services.- Myth: Federal mandates for higher-mileage cars means less energy consumption.
Reality: Increased energy efficiency leads to increased energy use.- Myth: Forcing drivers to use alternative fuels will help solve global warming.
Reality: Alternative fuels do not necessarily result in lower greenhouse gas emissions.
+ Full Report (PDF; 2.2 MB)
FTC Charges ‘Credit Card’ Companies with Deceptive Marketing
Source: Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission has filed a complaint in federal court alleging that a catalog credit card operation deceptively marketed its card, failed to honor its refund policy, and charged up-front fees for a guaranteed line of credit. The defendants, who charged consumers hundreds of dollars in fees for the card, voluntarily agreed to an order that prohibits the practices alleged in the complaint pending trial. The FTC seeks to permanently stop the unlawful practices and make the defendants provide refunds to consumers.
According to the FTC’s complaint, in mailers sent to consumers with credit problems, the defendants stated that consumers could “build” their credit by using a “Pre-Approved” “Platinum-level” credit card with a “GUARANTEED” $7,500 credit line and a cash advance benefit. Although the card appeared to be a regular credit card, it could be used only to purchase products from the defendants’ catalog, and only for part of the product purchase price. The defendants debited from consumers’ bank accounts 30 percent of each purchase plus shipping costs for products sold at greatly inflated prices. Consumers weren’t adequately informed that a 30 percent down payment would be required, that $397 in fees ($79 processing fee, $120 activation fee, $198 annual fee) also would be debited from their bank accounts, that the “cash advance” was really an opportunity to apply for a payday loan from a third-party lender, and that card users could not “build” their credit because their payment history was not reported to credit reporting agencies.
The defendants offered to refund the $120 fee to consumers who returned the card and catalog within 30 days, but the defendants often failed to deliver the catalog within the refund period, according to the complaint. Disclosures in the mailers were confusing, contradictory, out of context, and buried in pages of fine print. The defendants allegedly withheld details until consumers provided their bank account number, and then revealed as little information as possible. Disclosures about the terms and conditions, such as how fees are paid, did not correct the false impression left by the defendants, the FTC alleges.
+ Federal Trade Commission v. Low Pay, Inc., dba LPC Inc., et. al.
USDA Report Highlights Positive Effects of Direct Certification on School Meal Access
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) today published “Direct Certification of the National School Lunch Program: State Implementation Progress,” showing that the share of local educational agencies conducting direct certification grew to 78 percent, which represents 96 percent of all students, from a rate of 67 percent reported last year.
…
The report responds to the legislative requirement of the 2008 Farm Bill (P.L.110-246) to assess the effectiveness of State and local efforts to directly certify children for free school meals. The 2004 Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act required all local educational agencies (LEAs) to establish a system of direct certification of children from households that receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP – formerly Food Stamp Program) benefits by school year (SY) 2008-2009. The mandate was phased in over 3 years. Direct certification allows States and LEAs to use data from other means-tested programs to certify children for free school meals without the need for household applications.
+ Executive Summary (PDF; 83 KB)
+ Full Report (PDF; 1.1 MB)
A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial of 5 Smoking Cessation Pharmacotherapies
Source: Archives of General Psychiatry
From press release (National Cancer Institute):
In the largest study to date comparing smoking cessation therapies, the use of the nicotine lozenge in combination with the nicotine patch provided the greatest benefit for smokers trying to quit, resulting in over a two-fold better smoking cessation outcome 6 months after quitting compared to smokers who received placebo medication. The study also showed that this combination improved initial cessation and end of treatment quit rates compared to using just one therapy. This three-year project was supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), both components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The study appears in the November 2009 in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
Many smokers have quit successfully using a variety of smoking cessation aids, but there has been little research on the relative effectiveness of these therapies. What makes this study unique is that it compared three different medications (the nicotine patch; the nicotine lozenge; and the oral medication bupropion) with placebo and each other. They also compared two different combination therapies (the lozenge plus the patch and the lozenge plus bupropion) with placebo and with a composite group combining all of the individual therapies. In addition to medication, smokers received six one-on-one counseling sessions provided by trained case managers.
More than 1,500 smokers participated in the study, with treatment lasting from eight to 12 weeks. Investigators looked at initial cessation and quit rates at several intervals, including at the end of a week, at eight weeks, and at six months.
Foundations’ Year-end Outlook for Giving and the Sector (PDF; 282 KB)
Source: Foundation Center
From press release:
Foundation giving will likely decline by more than 10 percent in 2009, closer to the higher end of the 8 to 13 percent range estimated by the Foundation Center earlier this year. According to September 2009 survey findings released today in Foundations’ Year-end Outlook for Giving and the Sector, foundation giving will also decline further in 2010, as previously predicted by the Center.
Despite reduced resources, more than three-quarters of the close to 600 respondents to the new survey expect that the field of philanthropy will become more strategic as a result of having weathered the crisis. The focus of long-term changes range from governance to grantee relations to investments.
Stop Smoking Assistance for the 2009 Great American Smokeout
November 19, 2009 marks the 34th Annual Great American Smokeout. During this day Americans from coast to coast will try to give up cigarettes for 24 hours.
Quitting smoking is tough to do alone. Smokers are more successful in quitting when they have support from family and friends and use nicotine replacement products, prescription medication or read stop-smoking guides. These tips and publications from the Federal Citizen Information Center can help you leave cigarettes behind forever.
+ Smoking — Medicines To Help You
+ Local Smokeout Resources
+ Lung Cancer
+ Secondhand Smoke
+ Asthma
Integrated Measurement: Online Advertising Grows Up
Source: Nielsen
If the Internet has truly “arrived” and is being taken seriously, why have we not yet seen significant brand advertising dollars follow? Maybe it’s because we’re in the midst of one of the worst global recessions in history. Perhaps it’s because online creative units tend to replicate the print experience instead of redefining the consumer experience. Most likely is that the online ad industry has decided to remain independent—we speak our own, at times arcane, language; we use our own effectiveness measures reinforcing the belief that the Internet is a direct response media; and, we have yet to provide easy methods to help advertisers understand the role of the Internet in the entire marketing mix. In effect, we have made our lives, and potential livelihoods, very difficult.
The good news is there is hope. As a medium the Internet is quite the contender (and brand dollars are beginning to shift its way). To continue growing, the online ad world must take a hard look at itself as part of a broader, media industry-wide context and, as one prominent TV client put to me, “grow up.” The Internet does not exist in a vacuum and we’ve moved past the days when it is practical to operate like it does. Leading marketers look at media from a holistic perspective to reach today’s increasingly connected consumers. So too must anyone participating in the ad industry.
+ Full Report (PDF; 1.6 MB)
What is Fair Pay for Executives? An Information Theoretic Analysis of Wage Distributions
Source: Entropy
The high pay packages of U.S. CEOs have raised serious concerns about what would constitute a fair pay. Since the present economic models do not adequately address this fundamental question, we propose a new theory based on statistical mechanics and information theory. We use the principle of maximum entropy to show that the maximally fair pay distribution is lognormal under ideal conditions. This prediction is in agreement with observed data for the bottom 90%–95% of the working population. The theory estimates that the top 35 U.S. CEOs were overpaid by about 129 times their ideal salaries in 2008. We also provide an insight of entropy as a measure of fairness, which is maximized at equilibrium, in an economic system.
+ Full Paper (PDF; 222 KB)
Report to the Secretary of the Treasury from the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee
Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury
Since the Committee met in early August, the contraction in economic activity appears to have drawn to a close and financial conditions have continued to improve. Aggressive fiscal and monetary policies have played a critical role in helping to begin the process of normalization in key financial markets and the real economy. That normalization is highlighted in part by a return to pre-crisis spread levels in money and credit markets and the recently reported 3½% annualized gain in third-quarter GDP.
Despite the increase in third-quarter economic activity and the prospect of additional modest growth ahead, it remains unclear to what extent the economy can expand without the aid of aggressive policy support. Monetary and fiscal policy remains full throttle and contributed importantly to the latest quarter’s growth spurt. For instance, “cash for clunkers” lifted consumer purchases of motor vehicles, the first-time homebuyers’ tax credit is boosting home sales and traditional public sector automatic stabilizers are supporting household income, while on the monetary side, near zero interest rates and asset purchase and liquidity programs are shifting investor risk preference, improving the cost of capital.
With the federal funds rate at its lower nominal bound, the Federal Reserve is continuing its asset purchase program in an effort to further improve financial conditions. The Treasury purchase program begun in March has been completed but the purchase of mortgage backed securities is ongoing and will persist into the first quarter of 2010. These purchases will be a continued source of monetary stimulus.
See also: Minutes of the Meeting of the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee
See also: November 2009 Quarterly Refunding Statement
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction October 2009 Report
Source: Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction
From Message from IG about the Report (PDF; 63 KB):
The next six months will see a substantial reduction in the size of the U.S. military presence in Iraq, a continuing reorganization of the U.S. Embassy’s reconstruction management, and the election of a new Iraqi parliament. Among other things, this Quarterly Report–SIGIR’s 23rd–analyzes three key issues that will shape the continuing U.S. effort in Iraq:
- the transfer of police training from the Department of Defense to the Department of State
- the management and oversight of the billions in remaining U.S. reconstruction funds
- the changing U.S. presence in the provinces
A new SIGIR audit also explores policy issues related to the management of Iraqi funds by the U.S. government. To date, SIGIR has identified $27.5 million in Iraqi funds for return or potential return to the Government of Iraq: $13 million was returned in March 2009 to Prime Minister al-Maliki, and this quarter we identified $14.4 million more that may further be available for return. We plan to soon initiate further work to examine expired U.S. appropriated funds.
Another SIGIR audit issued this quarter uncovered $4.1 million in potential overbillings by a U.S. contractor charged with improving the Iraqi Army’s logistical infrastructure. The overbillings included charging $196.50 for a package of 10 washers; under the terms of the contract, the package should have cost $1.22. SIGIR also issued an initial report on its ongoing, statutorily mandated forensic review of all U.S. taxpayer funds appropriated for the reconstruction of Iraq. The forensic audit initiative already has identified hundreds of suspicious transactions, leading to the opening of six investigations involving 15 subjects.
School Enrollment in the United States: 2008
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Could a recent trend toward two-year colleges be leading to an all-time high in enrollment? These tables examine a host of details about school enrollment for the population 3 years and older by social and economic characteristics, including age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, type of school, labor force status of mothers with school-age children, type of family, employment status of those enrolled in vocational courses, income levels, children of foreign-born and more.
Healthy Animals — October 2009
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service
About Healthy Animals:
Welcome to Healthy Animals, an online compilation of animal health-related research news put out each quarter by the Information Staff of the Agricultural Research Service. ARS is the chief scientific agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Each issue profiles one aspect of ARS research. Links take readers to detailed stories on new findings important to the health of livestock, poultry and fish. And a list of all ARS research laboratories that work to improve animal health is just a click away.
THE – QS World University Rankings 2009 – top universities
Source: QS Quacquarelli Symonds
The world’s top universities according to the Times Higher – QS World University Rankings 2008.
Fraudulent Automated Clearing House (ACH) Transfers Connected to Malware and Work-at-Home Scams
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Within the last several months, the FBI has seen a significant increase in fraud involving the exploitation of valid online banking credentials belonging to small and medium businesses, municipal governments, and school districts. In a typical scenario, the targeted entity receives a “spear phishing” e-mail which either contains an infected attachment, or directs the recipient to an infected website. Once the recipient opens the attachment or visits the website, malware is installed on their computer. The malware contains a key logger which will harvest the recipients business or corporate bank account log-in information. Shortly thereafter, the perpetrator either creates another user account with the stolen log-in information, or directly initiates funds transfers by masquerading as the legitimate user. These transfers have occurred as both traditional wire transfers and as ACH transfers.
Further reporting has shown that the transfers are directed to the bank accounts of willing or unwitting individuals within the United States. Most of these individuals have been recruited via work-at-home advertisements, or have been contacted after placing resumes on well-known job search websites. These persons are often hired to “process payments”, or “transfer funds”. They are told they will receive wire transfers into their bank accounts. Shortly after funds are received, they are directed to immediately forward most of the money overseas via wire transfer services such as Western Union and Moneygram.
Customers who use online banking services are advised to contact their financial institution to ensure they are employing all the appropriate security and fraud prevention services their institution offers.
+ Banking Securely Online (PDF; 30 KB)
Experts Favor Broad Medicare Reforms to Control Costs and Foster Health Care Innovations, Survey Says
Source: The Commonwealth Fund
A vast majority of leaders in health care and health policy believe Medicare has been successful in providing access to care and stable coverage to the elderly and disabled individuals; however only a small percentage think the program has realized its potential to achieve other important goals, like using its leverage as the country’s largest purchaser of services to control costs and promote a high performance health system. In the latest Commonwealth Fund/Modern Healthcare Health Care Opinion Leaders survey, the experts surveyed favor sweeping changes to Medicare—reforms that would help control program costs and support broader health system reform.
Because of Medicare’s unique position as the nation’s largest insurance program, it can be an important testing ground for cost and quality innovations. To encourage such development, nearly all respondents favor expanding the power of the Secretary of Health and Human Services to put payment pilot programs on a “fast track” (95%) and to work with private payers and providers to establish multipayer initiatives (94%). Similarly, there was strong support for creation of an independent Medicare advisory council (favored by 75%) with broad authority to collaborate in multi-payer initiatives (89%), develop, test, and implement payment reforms rapidly and flexibly (88%), and alter beneficiary incentives based on effectiveness of services, drugs, and devices (86%).
Actuaries Project “Substantial Capital” to Fund Health Insurance Co-ops or Public Plan (PDF; 62 KB)
Source: American Academy of Actuaries
A group of nonpartisan experts said that the necessary start-up capital for either health insurance co-operatives or a public plan option may be substantial and could vary greatly. Under modeled scenarios, actuaries projected that start-up capital requirements ranged from approximately $1.7 billion to $45.6 billion. The projections are intended to inform policymakers about the costs of implementing either co-operatives or a public plan option, which are proposed in health care reform legislation currently under congressional consideration.
+ Full Report (PDF; 236 KB)
