Government Executive - Authors - Julia Edwards

False alarm triggers rare book scare at Library of Congress

Julia Edwards, National Journal — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 17:33:34 -0500

A fire alarm inside the Library of Congress' Rare Book Division was triggered on Monday, according to the Architect of the Capitol.

It was false but that didn't stop police from evacuating the building, blocking First Street S.E. and calling in a hazardous-material truck.

The alarm sounded--but the automatic sprinklers were not triggered--and the books were unharmed, according to Library of Congress spokeswoman Gayle Osterberg.

The malfunctioning alarm is part of a new fire-detection system that the Architect of the Capitol is installing. AOC spokeswoman Eva Malecki said the alarm should not have activated and the agency is investigating why it did.

"We are making adjustments now while [the fire system] is being installed and before the system goes through its final testing to ensure that today's occurrence doesn't happen after the system is fully installed and operational," Malecki said.

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Congressional staffers wish for work-life balance

Julia Edwards, National Journal — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 10:56:25 -0400

Thirty-eight percent of staffers say they would leave the Hill for a job where they could better balance their work and personal lives, according to a new study.

A report released Wednesday from the Congressional Management Foundation found that overall office culture, paid time off, and work-life flexibility were most important to respondents and each category received low satisfaction ratings.

And you may not guess it by the size of the happy hour crowd at Union Pub, but 56 percent of staffers surveyed believe they work more hours than their private sector counterparts.

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Capitol Hill offices lagging in staff diversity

Julia Edwards, National Journal — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 10:00:00 -0400

“Hispanic communities are overrepresented in the construction industry,” Parra said he told those gathered, pointing out that the cuts would be disproportionately borne by Hispanic-Americans. “Thirty percent of Hispanic firms are construction firms.”

“That point would have gone unnoticed during our discussions if there hadn’t been minority staffers present,” Parra recently told National Journal Daily.

But despite the benefits of bringing a variety of voices to the table, racial diversity in Capitol Hill offices continues to lag behind corporate America, and most minority staffers are left only dreaming of the day they earn a position as senior as Parra’s.

Members of Congress are not required to report demographic details on staffers, so no definitive tally is available, but two voluntary surveys found minority hiring on the Hill to be surprisingly low, especially at senior levels.

National Journal’s “Hill People” issue in 2011 profiled 288 top aides who work for congressional leaders and House and Senate committees, and only 7 percent of them were identified as Asian, black, or Hispanic. In the private sector, these same groups collectively held 12 percent of top managerial positions in 2010, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Diversity on the Hill seems to increase further down the totem pole, with 17 percent of House staff assistants, an entry-level position, identifying themselves as a race other than white in the latest House Compensation Study from 2010. Still, 34 percent of entry-level professionals in the private sector in 2010 were minorities, according to the EEOC, compared to the 2010 Census finding that nonwhites made up 28 percent of the U.S. population.

Weldon Rougeau, who has worked in both the upper levels of Congress and the top rungs of corporate America, says members do not have the same incentives as CEOs to focus on staff diversity. Rougeau was one of the first black staffers on the Hill in the 1970s, beginning as a legislative aide and later working as chief of staff to then-Rep. William Jefferson, D-La. Rougeau left the Hill in the 1980s to help blaze a trail in another arena, becoming one of the first African-American vice presidents at American Express. He said that while he was there, hiring practices at the company began to favor more racial diversity in senior-level positions. He added that he has yet to see this same push spread widely across the Hill, even after his return to serve as CEO of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation in 2001.

The decision to focus on diversity among top management at American Express came about simply because it was “smart business,’’ he said.

“We used to call them ‘emerging markets,’ ” said Rougeau, who is now retired. “For all practical purposes, they have in fact emerged. They are not being ignored by companies anymore. They are huge economic forces, and companies who recognized that started hiring people who knew something about these markets.”

Unlike CEOs, members of Congress do not have customers, a board of directors, or shareholders to answer to. Instead, they have constituents, who are more likely to visit a member’s office in their state or district than to make the trek to Washington. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., who is white, represents a district that is 71 percent minority -- one of the highest levels in the country. He told National Journal that hiring staffers who look like his constituents is more important in home offices than on the Hill. Cohen has three black, five white, and one Latino staffer working in his Capitol Hill office, compared with six black, two white, and one Asian-American staffer in his Memphis office.

“In Memphis, you want to have people [on staff] that represent the district. I have staffers there who go out with me in the district when I’m home, and we know what people are thinking,” Cohen said. “In Washington, we’re dealing with issues that pertain to everyone: health care, jobs, housing, veterans’ affairs. [When hiring], we look at people’s backgrounds, their expertise, and their experience on the Hill.”

But many otherwise qualified minority applicants lack Hill experience because they never make it to the first rung of the legislative ladder: an internship. Most Capitol Hill internships are unpaid, which presents a barrier to potential staffers who cannot afford to spend a summer living in the expensive Washington metro area without a salary. Whites are more likely to be able to afford this sacrifice: In 2011, the poverty rate for whites was 9.8 percent, compared with 27.6 percent for blacks, 25.3 percent for Hispanics, and 12.3 percent for Asian-Americans, according to Census figures.

The homogeneity of professional networks that lead people to the Hill poses another hurdle. David McCallum, who as Reid’s deputy chief of staff makes hiring decisions for the Senate’s top Democrat, said most of his colleagues simply send word around to other chiefs of staff and members of their Washington networks when looking to fill an opening. The process is fast and efficient, but it brings in too few applications from minorities, he said.

Even minorities who are already on the Hill are told to broaden their networks and look outside the Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus -- the so-called Tri-Caucus groups -- if they want to rise through the ranks. At a recent panel hosted by the Congressional Black Associates, a former staffer passed on this advice to a young black woman who asked how to get ahead: “Get a mentor who does not look like you.”]]>

Booze, cologne and cuff links: House offices plagued by thefts

Julia Edwards, National Journal — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 15:47:27 -0400

The office of Rep. Mike McIntyre, D-N.C., is the first Democrat's, and fifth member's overall, to be burglarized since a spree hit House office buildings in April, according to a U.S. Capitol Police report obtained by National Journal on Tuesday.

Items went missing from McIntyre's Rayburn office between Aug. 3 and Sept. 11, and the thefts were reported to the police on Sept. 11.

It is possible that other instances of theft have occurred, but Capitol Police records lag. It looks as though a pattern is emerging as many of the stolen items are similar to those taken in previous instances.

McIntyre's is now the third Rayburn office known to have been targeted. The thief or thieves seem to have the same affinity for expensive alcohol and memorabilia as whoever burglarized the Rayburn offices of Reps. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., in April and Elton Gallegly, R-Calif., in September.

McIntyre's office lost two bottles of Scotch, three presidential Easter eggs, two bottles of cologne, and 10 pairs of collector's cuff links, each valued at $100. Other missing memorabilia from Rayburn includes Gallegly's collection of license plates, and Lewis's four autographed baseballs, six bottles of wine, and a set of presidential Easter eggs.

Longworth thieves appear to be interested in high-priced tech equipment. The Longworth offices of Reps. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., and Jon Runyan, R-N.J., which are next to each other, were robbed in April; Runyan's was hit twice. A digital camera and computer monitor were among the stolen items.

Although police have not reported any cracks in the known cases yet, Lt. Kim Schneider, a spokeswoman for the Capitol Police, said that the agency, "currently has an active, open investigation regarding the recent theft reports and continues to work diligently to solve these cases."

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Buildup for inauguration begins at the Capitol

Julia Edwards, National Journal — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 12:48:35 -0400

Weeks before one of them is tapped by voters as the next president, the stage is being set for Barack Obama or Mitt Romney to take the oath of office at the Capitol in January.

Architect of the Capitol Stephen Ayers announced on Thursday that construction will begin on the inaugural stand on the Capitol’s West Front on Sept. 10, the day Congress returns from its August recess.

Fencing will be erected and “no entrance” signs will be installed that will stay in place for the next five months, Ayers said.

Inauguration Day will be Jan. 21—pushed back a day because the date normally set for the president’s term to begin falls on a Sunday in 2012.

The inauguration also will be held for only the second time on the federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. The first was Bill Clinton’s swearing-in for his second term in January 1997.

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Liberal group attacks GOP on disaster relief

Julia Edwards, National Journal — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 13:43:07 -0400

With ill weather looming over the Republican National Convention, a liberal advocacy group is attacking the GOP for its emergency disaster-relief funding policies.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee launched online ads in Florida on Monday morning that read, “Republicans voted against disaster relief. Thank them here" -- with a link to the group's website.

The ad features House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla, and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Mitt Romney's running mate. Those who click are taken to boldprogressives.org and asked to sign the organization’s petition against Republican policies and “join the fight to hold Republican's accountable for their disaster relief cuts,” according to Neil Sroka, the group's press secretary.

"This week, Republicans will 'ensure the delegations housed in storm-impacted areas have alternative housing if needed.' Republican politicians give themselves extra safety from the storm, but consistently leave Florida out in the cold. Thanks a lot, Republicans," the ad reads.

A House Republican effort last year opposed approval of emergency disaster relief funds without matching spending offsets.

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Stopgap spending bill may delay repairs to Capitol dome

Julia Edwards, National Journal — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 17:25:00 -0400

The Capitol Dome needs a $61 million repair job that would plug leaking holes, fix water damage, and secure ornaments that have loosened over the years, according to the Architect of the Capitol.

The House version of the Legislative Branch Appropriations bill struck down the request in June, with Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla., the House Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee chairman, saying he was confident that his panel would find the funds “very shortly.”

But the Senate worked to speed the repair process along last week, when Sens. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and John Hoeven, R-N.D., chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch, sponsored and passed an amendment in their committee to restore the funding.

However, the six-month continuing resolution that Congress is expected to take up after the August recess would keep the government running at current funding levels through March — prohibiting any the addition or subtraction of any funding through the appropriations process from going into effect.

Concern is growing among architects and engineers off the Hill as the wait for funding to refurbish the dome continues.

Planners hope to complete the four-year project before the next presidential inauguration in 2017 to keep the symbol pristine during the event, which means work must begin by February. And there are other concerns as well.

“There is a potential of safety issues when you’re talking about leaks and cracks,” said Andrew Goldberg of The American Institute of Architects.

He added that the costs could increase if the project is put off.

“The rule of thumb is that the cost of deferring maintenance is 15 times more when [something] does break,” he said.]]>

House members vote to freeze their own salaries

Julia Edwards, National Journal — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 15:43:12 -0400

House members voted on Friday to pass the Legislative Branch budget for fiscal year 2013, which includes their own salaries as well as those of their staff. Though funding across the House of Representatives has been reduced by 10.5 percent since Republicans took control of the chamber in 2011, according to House Appropriations Chairman Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., salaries and members’ representational allowances will remain unchanged in 2013 if the Senate approves the bill.

The total for operations and maintenance of the House in fiscal year 2012—and now proposed for 2013--is $1.2 billion.

The bill decreases the salaries of leadership offices by $5.8 million, but the loss is only a retraction from last year’s amount, which was inflated to cover a gap when the leadership offices began receiving funds at the start of every calendar year rather than at the start of the fiscal year, according to a Democratic leadership aide. The current bill would appropriate money to leadership offices every calendar year.

The final vote was 307-102.

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Food fight waged over congressional utensils

Julia Edwards and Elahe Izadi, National Journal — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 11:30:00 -0400

On the Hill, even the kind of cup you prefer can be a weapon on the political battleground.

Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., wants to ban Styrofoam cups and other items made from the chemical polystyrene from cafeterias throughout the House side (the Democratic-controlled Senate already bans such products on its side) through an amendment to the 2013 legislative-branch appropriations bill on the House floor on Friday.

“Congress should lead by example, and it’s the wrong example for us to only be using Styrofoam cups and plastic forks and so on that are not biodegradable, that are harmful to the environment,” Moran said.

It’s the latest chapter in an ongoing battle over the recycling habits of Congress. More than a decade ago, lawmakers pushed for more robust recycling after a number of environmental groups blasted Congress for having an informal program with questionable results.

After becoming speaker in 2007, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., introduced the Green the Capitol initiative, which revamped the House with, among other things, new lights and biodegradable cups and utensils, all meant to reduce the Capitol’s carbon footprint.

But when Republicans regained control of the House, they nixed Green the Capitol and brought the Styrofoam cups back in 2011. House Administration Committee Chairman Dan Lungren, R-Calif., cited the House chief administrative officer’s findings that the greening program increased costs by $475,000 a year while providing negligible environmental benefits.

“It is neither cost effective nor energy efficient to continue the program,” Lungren said in a statement last year.

Plus, there were complaints from both sides of the aisle about biodegradable utensils that barely worked.

The reintroduction of Styrofoam didn’t go over well with some Democratic lawmakers, nine of whom sent a letter to Republican leaders charging that the cups are dangerous and contain a “potential human carcinogen.” Moran led an unsuccessful fight in 2011 to get Styrofoam out of House cafeterias, with a vote that fell largely along party lines.

Now Moran is back at it again, although he says the amendment will likely fail.

“If it sounds like we’re being environmentally sensitive, then it’s a ‘no’ vote if you’re a Republican,” Moran said.

Lungren said that Democrats should take into account a GOP program that burns waste across the Capitol at local facilities and converts it into energy.

"We were just starting [the waste-to-energy program] when we had this debate last year," Lungren said. "It now exists. Styrofoam, as well as everything else, is part of the burn."

Lungren also added that Democratic claims that Styrofoam is a carcinogen are unsubstantiated.

(Image via discpicture /Shutterstock.com)

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Waste charges rattle Library of Congress

Julia Edwards, National Journal — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 08:37:50 -0400

Management at the Library of Congress, the world’s largest storehouse of knowledge, has a poor memory. For a decade, problems of overspending, no-bid contracts, and improper care for some of mankind’s rarest books and artifacts have been brought to upper-level attention—but problems have only worsened.

The library’s inspector general, Karl Schornagel, who has monitored and reviewed the institution’s activities for the past 11 years, reported in March that he found $771,163 in questionable spending from the prior six months. The semiannual report also said that employees failed to use $1 million in funds before they expired due to lack of communication and coordination. And an outside consulting firm, Jefferson Solutions, found that more than half of $52 million worth of contracts chosen at random for review were awarded without opening the pool to competitors who could have offered a lower bid.

While spending is under scrutiny, the library is seriously stretched for space. No funding for future buildings has been appropriated, and while the collection in Landover, Md., will be able to hold a million books after a completed renovation in October, the library adds 250,000 books and periodicals a year, so the fight for space remains.

The inspector general’s office reported that librarians are storing books on the floor, double- and triple-shelving materials, and keeping rare and valuable collections in nonsecure areas. The Asian Division, which grew out of its designated secure space, recently lost a valuable scroll that was kept in a cage, but the scroll was later mysteriously returned. During the search for the scroll, the inspector general’s office also discovered a number of valuable artifacts left out in vulnerable locations.

Congress appropriated $587.3 million in taxpayer dollars to the Library of Congress for fiscal 2012, a portion of which went to contractors. Schornagel did not reveal which specific contracts had not been sent out for bids, but he did say that library contracts often carried hefty price tags, such as $40 million for an IT contract and more than $50 million for talking-book machines for the blind and disabled.

Last week, the House Appropriations Committee directed the library to hire an in-house top-level manager to see that contracts are awarded sensibly and to report to the committee by year’s end on the corrective actions that have been taken.

“The Committee believes that any issues associated with any findings that are not addressed, corrected, and eliminated within a 10-year period require immediate attention,” the Appropriations Committee wrote in its recommendations for the budget.

For its part, the library says it is up to the challenge.

“The library acknowledges there have been recurring challenges in this area, and the current senior management is committed to putting lasting solutions in place,” said library spokeswoman Gayle Osterberg.

The revolving door of senior management positions at the library hasn’t helped matters. The leaders in place in 2008 who promised to see that bids for contracts were open for competition have been replaced by a new batch, according to Schornagel. The inspector general also says the problems in the contracting office have deteriorated.

“The reason this has gone on for 10 years is because there is a lack of continuity in leadership,” Schornagel told National Journal Daily. “And beyond that, there’s really no excuse. That’s not even an excuse. There’s really no good reason.”

In theory, the Library of Congress follows the Federal Acquisition Regulation guidelines, which call for all federal agencies to award contracts in a cost-efficient manner and promote competition. But unlike most federal agencies, which fall under the executive branch, the library answers to the legislative branch and is therefore not bound by the same rules. The library is allowed to bend the regulations according to its own discretion, Schornagel says.

The House Appropriations Committee last week increased the library’s budget by nearly $5.3 million in its recommendations for fiscal 2013. Still, the appropriation is more than $10.9 million below the library’s request, which is based on its future needs. If absorbed by salaries alone, the cut would mean laying off 189 full-time employees. But Osterberg says the library could save money in other areas. Schornagel hopes the library will not put a freeze on construction to cut costs.

“During 11 years in the job, I have watched the space getting worse,” Schornagel said. “It’s a tough budget environment, but this has got to be handled sooner rather than later.” Schornagel added that neither the outside consulting firm nor his own staff has been able to quantify how much could have been saved by opening up contracts to competitive bidding. In December, the House Appropriations Committee will review Schornagel’s next semiannual report and the report of the library’s new trouble-shooter with the hope that the home of 151 million books, artifacts, and other national treasures will finally make good on its promises.

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Gingrich vows to strengthen 'fundamentally timid' spy agencies

Julia Edwards, National Journal — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 11:42:00 -0500

GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich pledged on Tuesday that if elected, he would overhaul the State Department, strengthen the intelligence community, and increase “our understanding of the threat of radical Islam” to aid Israel.

“We need an administration with the courage to say the words ‘radical Islam,’” Gingrich said in an appearance via satellite at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's conference in Washington.

He cited the shooting by a Muslim soldier in Fort Hood, Texas; the Muslim Brotherhood’s influence in Egypt; Pakistan’s hiding Osama bin Laden; and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai’s “mute” response toward terrorist networks in his country as examples of radical Islam that he would seek to expel as president.

Gingrich’s comments followed those of fellow GOP candidate Mitt Romney and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Each speaker explained how his policies align with Israel, a strategic move for candidates on the day the GOP holds Super Tuesday primaries in 10 states and one day after Obama’s meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the nuclear threat posed by Iran.

“We are morally, inextricably tied to Israel,” Gingrich said.

Gingrich pledged to share all U.S. intelligence with Israel after he strengthens U.S. intelligence capabilities. He called the U.S. spy agencies “fundamentally timid,” and said they are “incapable of doing real intelligence work on [their] own.”

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Cut! Capitol-security issues crimp moviemakers' style

Julia Edwards, National Journal — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 13:40:00 -0500

When Crystal Palmer became director of the Washington, D.C., Office of Motion Picture and Television Development, it was a position no one gave much attention. But 20 years later, as the architect of the Capitol considers whether to allow film crews to feature any shots of the Capitol building, Palmer has come into the spotlight.

December’s omnibus bill funding the government turned the jurisdiction of Union Square -- the open area with a reflecting pool just west of the Capitol -- from the National Park Service to the architect of the Capitol, who has banned commercial filmmaking on all of his grounds.

Movie producers feared the change would mean losing the last area open to them for filming with the Capitol in the background. But last month, the architect’s office announced that Union Square, a favorite location for filmmakers with its majestic Ulysses S. Grant Memorial, will remain open to commercial cameras, at least until a more formal policy is developed this spring.

The announcement provided some relief for Hollywood and D.C.’s Palmer, but both are still struggling to court free-spending moviemakers who have been increasingly frustrated about restrictions on filming around the Capitol since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

What threatens the security of the Capitol is the very thing that makes moviemaking around it profitable for the District: movie crews. Shouting, hustling, standing still, eating, buying -- movie crews interrupt the normal flow on the Hill while generating revenue for the area. Palmer’s office estimates that a film crew spends as much as $500,000 a day on location, and that commercial filming in Washington brought more than $20 million into the city last year.

Palmer’s job is to bring this profitable hubbub to the local economy, but her hands are tied when Congress tells the cameras where to turn. She said that the omnibus’s new limits on filming in Union Square came as a complete shock.

“I don’t know what caused it,” Palmer said, “I don’t know if there’s some new threat. All you know is what you’re told. You don’t know the backstory.”

Assisted by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., Palmer initiated a series of meetings with Architect of the Capitol Stephen Ayers that led to his change of heart at the end of January. Palmer immediately sent an e-mail to film and television industry members: “We are pleased to report that the Mr. Ayers understands and appreciates the art form of film and wants to find a viable solution that works for all parties concerned.”

Norton also praised the decision to continue allowing filming. “The vista of the U.S. Capitol is among America’s most iconic,” she said in a statement. “Limiting commercial films and photography, an important vehicle for telling the nation’s story, does an unintended disservice.

“Most of the people of the world know us and revere our system of government largely through commercial photography and films of the Capitol, which symbolizes our democracy at work. The nation can only gain by putting our best face forward.”

Palmer came to the city’s Office of Motion Picture and Television Development in the late 1980s as an undergraduate majoring in TV and film at American University, expecting to soak up as much movie experience she could in Washington before heading off to California. The previous director had followed that path, leaving Palmer as director with only three years of experience.

Back then, the local film industry was just emerging. Many Washington-based scenes were shot inside Hollywood studios. Palmer said that her colleagues called Washington “Docuwood” in those days because only makers of documentaries came to shoot in the nation’s capital.

What kept Palmer in D.C. during those early years was not her belief in an emerging local film industry but her own love story. In 1991, Palmer had a job offer in California, but her new husband, Harold Brazil, was running for the D.C. City Council. Convinced he would not win the seat, she went so far as to find them a new West Coast home. But, to Palmer’s surprise, Brazil won and served until 2005.

Over that time, Palmer has seen D.C.’s film and television industry through booms and busts, and found federal security enforcement to be a major factor in her ability to bring producers to the District. President Reagan, a former Hollywood man himself, opened up the White House to set researchers, Palmer recalled, and allowed them to take pictures and notes for scenes they would need to recreate.

And the policy stayed largely the same in the 1990s, paving the way for films and shows like The American President and West Wing. All the while Palmer was creating the rule book for on-location filming. If a crew filmed in a neighborhood, the residents had to be informed 72 hours in advance and the producers had to pay for D.C. police to secure the area.

But after Sept. 11, a much stricter set of federal rules were handed down to the film office that Palmer sums up with one word: paperwork. Many crews grew frustrated with the time it took to get approval for entrance into government buildings; some workers were even denied access for reasons such as bad taxes and late child-support payments.

And a bigger problem soon followed: Technology that allowed studios to recreate images of Washington like never before. Palmer blames technology more than post-Sept. 11 security for the drop in D.C.’s movie business.

“People think because we’re in D.C., our phones are ringing off the hook,” Palmer said, referring to calls from production companies. “That’s not true. Crews are now able to come shoot plate [background] shots and film the rest elsewhere.”

With all the security restrictions, technology enhancements, and the fact that tax incentives for moviemakers in D.C. are less than what is offered by many other cities, Palmer said she focuses on customer service to keep the producers coming. The relationships that she builds with production companies and with those making decisions about filming around the Capitol are the key.

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A Gingrich administration could be expensive

Julia Edwards and Naureen Khan, National Journal — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:47:00 -0500

Newt Gingrich has branded himself a visionary politician since his days in Congress and prides himself on his grand -- some would say even grandiose -- ideas for transforming the nation. That propensity to think big extends to all parts of his presidential platform, from tax reform to the space race, and occasionally puts him at odds with his party’s resolve to slash government spending. We take a look at some of the former House speaker’s most ambitious ideas – including two-track tax and Social Security systems -- and how much they would cost. From least expensive to most:

Immigration: Newt Gingrich’s proposal to deal with the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country calls for a new system of citizen panels that would decide whether certain illegal immigrants who have deep ties to the United States could be granted legal status (but not citizenship). Gingrich says he would charge Congress with setting clear, objective legal standards for the proceedings and task the Department of Justice with setting up the process itself. Although details of the proposal remain murky, experts agree that it would require the creation of a massive new bureaucracy and a significant investment of time and resources (such as training volunteers and space for the panels to conduct their meetings).

Gingrich has likened these citizen panels to the World War II-era draft boards set up under the Selective Service System. That agency, still in existence, has an annual budget of $24.2 million. In 1944, however, during the height of the draft and when the community boards were in full swing, Selective Service had a budget of $61.2 million a year, or more than $850 million in today's dollars.

Moon Base: Newt Gingrich’s vow to build a permanent moon base by the end of his hypothetical second term as president has earned him ridicule from his opponents, and kudos from fellow space enthusiasts (yes, there is indeed a Tea Party in Space). Gingrich has said he would only use 10 percent of NASA’s total budget to create prizes and other incentives to spur private-sector space innovation. That would amount to about $1.8 billion a year of taxpayer dollars if the NASA budget remained at its current levels. What’s the total sticker price of a base on the moon? Estimates have ranged over the years. Then-NASA administrator Michael Griffin said in late 2006 that it would cost $104 billion to establish the lunar outpost, but that didn’t include the cost of maintaining and staffing the base continuously. The Bush administration put the price tag at around $230 billion when it toyed with the idea of a permanent presence on the moon, before the program was ultimately shelved.

Tax Reform: Gingrich has proposed giving taxpayers a choice: They could keep paying under the current structure or pay a flat rate of 15 percent. The corporate rate would plummet from 35 percent to 12.5 percent. There would be no tax on capital gains, dividends or interest income. Gingrich would keep just a few deductions and credits, among them the mortgage interest and charitable gift deductions and the earned income and child tax credits. The Tax Policy Center estimates that Gingrich’s proposal would add an average $1 trillion a year to the federal deficit. “We are used to seeing numbers such as this describing the 10-year revenue loss of some tax plan” – not one year, writes the center’s Howard Gleckman, describing the sticker shock Gingrich’s plan could induce. Gingrich and his advisers say economic growth and spending cuts would keep the deficit down.

Social Security: Gingrich wants to bring a version of the Chilean retirement system to the United States. He would create a “voluntary option for younger Americans to put a portion of their Social Security contributions into personal Social Security savings accounts” run by investment firms. There are at least two huge possible costs associated with such a plan.

As in Chile, the government would guarantee that “all workers with personal accounts will receive at least as much in retirement as they would under the current Social Security system.” So if a personal account lost money or didn’t yield as much as a government account, the U.S. Treasury would make up the difference. A Social Security actuarial analysis of a similar plan in 2005 found that the guarantee could add $2 trillion to the federal debt. Gingrich says that in three decades, the Chilean government has not had to shell out any money for the guarantee.

Second, since benefits to current retirees are financed by payroll taxes paid by younger workers, the government would have to fill the gap left when some of those workers put money into private accounts instead of into the government Social Security pool. The actuarial analysis in 2005 estimated that gap at $1.4 trillion to $2.2 trillion over 10 years. The Gingrich plan says transition funding “can all be more than covered” by cuts he proposes to dozens of social welfare programs.

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Obama to appoint Cordray as head of consumer bureau

Julia Edwards, National Journal — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500

President Obama will announce Wednesday that he will appoint Richard Cordray as head of the controversial Consumer Financial Protection Bureau during the Senate's recess, the White House said.

The appointment comes to the dismay of Senate Republicans, who blocked Cordray's nomination in order to weaken the bureau.

Speaking in a news conference after Cordray's block Dec. 8, President Obama said he wouldn't take any option off the table, but a recess appointment was not an option he favored.

"My hope and expectation is that the Republicans who block this nomination come to their senses," Obama said at the news conference. "And I know that some of them have made an argument, we just want to sort of make modifications in the law. Well, they are free to introduce a bill and get that passed."

But the Senate did not make any amendments to the power Cordray would have as head of the CFPB, focusing instead on year-end deals for the remainder of December. Without a leader, the CFPB has no jurisdiction over banking institutions, which include mortgage lenders.

Obama is scheduled to make his first public appearance of 2012 on Wednesday at 1:15 p.m. in the suburbs of Cleveland -- Cordray's home state.

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Obama thanks Congress for passing bill, says more work ahead

Julia Edwards — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Medal of Honor recipient settles lawsuit with BAE

Julia Edwards — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0500

according to The Wall Street Journal. The settlement comes two days after McClatchy newspapers challenged the heroic narrative that won Meyer the medal, calling its details "untrue, unsubstantiated or exaggerated." The lawsuit appeared unrelated. Meyer, a BAE employee, conflicted with a superior over the company's "proposal to sell weapons scopes to Pakistan," according to The Wall Street Journal.

In the end, BAE did not make the sale.

"I am gratified to learn that BAE Systems-OASYS did not ultimately sell and does not intend to sell advanced thermal scopes to Pakistan," Meyer said.

Meyer said he and the firm settled their differences "amicably," though he spoke only through his lawyer and declined to comment to The Wall Street Journal.

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In Fort Bragg, military families brace for economic 'perfect storm'

Julia Edwards — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0500

58 die in Afghanistan suicide attacks targeting Shiites

Julia Edwards — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Various reports confirm that 54 were killed in Kabul when a bomber threw himself into a crowd that had gathered at Abul Fazl shrine to worship. Four were killed in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif and none died in the southern city of Kandahar where the attacker hid a bomb under a parked motorcycle.

The attacks targeted Afghanistan's minority Shiite population and mark the first major incident of religiously motivated violence since the fall of Afghanistan's Taliban regime; sectarian violence is more frequent in neighboring Pakistan. Like Kabul, the attack in Kandahar also targeted a Shiite procession, but it missed and hit policemen and bystanders, Kandahar Police Chief Abdul Razaq told The New York Times.

No group has yet to claim responsibility for the attack, though it is suspected to fall on the Taliban or an allied terrorist network.

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Biden makes unannounced stop in Baghdad

Julia Edwards — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0500

While in Iraq, Biden will co-chair a meeting of the U.S.-Iraq Higher Coordinating Committee, meet with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, President Jalal Talabani, Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, and other political leaders.

Biden will resume his scheduled trip to Greece and Turkey after his stop in Baghdad. It is his eighth trip to Iraq since being elected vice president.

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Obama at Key Bridge: Stalling infrastructure bill 'makes absolutely no sense'

Julia Edwards — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0400

The 60-vote threshold that sunk the last two efforts by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to pass the president's jobs plan (in full or in part) may doom the infrastructure proposal as well. Republicans oppose the regulations that a national infrastructure bank may attach to its loans and the immediate $50 billion investment the bill requires. Even reauthorizing federal transportation expenditures at the status quo was a challenge.

According to the Federal Highway Administration, the historic Key Bridge (named after the creator of "The Star-Spangled Banner") is in need of "crucial repairs" and "maintenance work." Of course, the president isn't just making the case for drivers; he has long pointed to bridges as job-creating projects.

"Millions of construction workers have had to look for a job," Obama said. "So today I'm joining many of these workers to say that it makes absolutely no sense, when there's so much work to be done, that they're not doing the work. Not when there are so many roads and bridges and runways waiting to be repaired and waiting to be rebuilt."

Despite the doubtful outlook for Thursday's vote, the president continued to make the case that constituents calling their representatives in Congress could make a difference.

"We've just got to get folks in Congress to share the same sense of national urgency that mayors and governors and the American people do all across the country."

White House press secretary Jay Carney admitted to reporters on Tuesday that the White House is at a loss when it comes to swaying Republicans to vote for the bill. And as with other proposals that failed to gain 60 votes, the infrastructure call will be met with the administration's plan B.

Moments before the president's speech, the White House announced $527 million in competitive TIGER grants from the Department of Transportation; an order for the department to shorten its application process for 2012 funding; and the establishment of a Transportation Rapid Response Team to speed up reviews for surface transportation projects. But like the executive orders announced last week, Wednesday's transportation announcements will not bring peace of mind to a White House pushing for grand-scale infrastructure investments.

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Obama to announce plan to curb veteran unemployment

Julia Edwards — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0400

President Obama will issue executive orders on Tuesday to curb unemployment among veterans, a problem likely to escalate after the drawdown of troops from Iraq. The announcement comes as part of a string of executive orders this week designed to spur the economy without requiring congressional approval. The White House will release more details as the day progresses.

Under the American Jobs Act, Obama proposed tax incentives to businesses hiring veterans, and first and second ladies Michelle Obama and Jill Biden announced an agreement by a private sector association last week to hire 25,000 veterans.

But the effect of those initiatives remains to be seen. The Senate will most likely block the tax incentives, as it has each time all or part of the American Jobs Act has been brought to a vote. And according to Stephen Rossetti, head of government affairs for the American Logistics Association, the private sector group working with the first and second ladies, the group cannot actually force its affiliate companies to hire the 25,000 veterans.

Rossetti said his group, whose affiliates include Coca-Cola and ConAgra, expects to see a rise in unemployed vets who are basically "walking out cold."

"You have families that have been involved in two wars for 10 years. It's very difficult to network for a position when you're walking in the mountains of Afghanistan," Rossetti said.

On Wednesday, from Denver, the president will announce the third executive order of the week, which is expected to be aimed at lowering student debt.

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U.S. ambassador to Syria returns to Washington

Julia Edwards — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0400

have reported that his decision was made in light of "credible threats."

Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Haynes Mahoney has underscored the fact that Washington did not formally recall Ford, though diplomats have a reason to be nervous in Syria. Ford and several embassy workers were hit with tomatoes and eggs last month on their way to meet with leaders of the opposition.

The State Department issued a statement Monday saying it is uncertain when Ford will return to Syria.

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First piece of Obama's jobs proposals is blocked

Julia Edwards — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0400

President Obama on Thursday night failed to gain the 60 Senate votes needed to pass his proposal to fund states and local agencies with $35 billion to retain teachers and first responders. The bill was a piece of Obama's American Jobs Act, which was blocked by a Republican filibuster when proposed in its entirety last week.

The vote was the administration's first attempt at proposing the bill one piece at a time, a strategy designed to record Republican votes on individual issues.

The White House issued a statement following the vote, blaming Republicans for blocking job growth: "Every American deserves an explanation as to why Republicans refuse to step up to the plate and do what's necessary to create jobs and grow the economy right now."

But the outcome was no surprise. Senate Republicans began criticizing the bill's emphasis of public jobs over private jobs as soon as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., proposed the bill on Wednesday. Many took issue with Reid's statement that "the private sector is doing just fine." Senate Finance Committee ranking member Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, called the focus on government jobs to create economic growth "plain ridiculous."

"We need to liberate the American people-our job creators and middle-class families-from too much government, too much spending, too much regulation and the threat of higher taxes that is weighing down the prospects of a real economic recovery," Hatch said.

A bill proposed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., also failed to win a 60-vote majority on Thursday night. The bill, opposed by the White House because it would be paid for by spending cuts, would have eliminated a rule that allows government agencies to withhold 3 percent of payments to contractors.

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Obama and first lady announce new jobs for veterans

Julia Edwards — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0400

The association represents 270 companies, including Coca Cola, Tyson Foods, and ConAgra, with the primary focus of placing veterans at those companies. The group was a logical first step for Michelle Obama and second lady Jill Biden's "Joining Forces" initiative to hire 100,000 veterans in the private sector by the same deadline.

It remains unclear which of ALA's affiliates will hire what proportion of the slated 25,000 veterans and spouses.

The first and second ladies initiative props up a portion of Obama's jobs bill, which has so far failed to gain traction in Congress. The president's American Jobs Act proposes a tax cut to companies who hire veterans and an additional incentive to those hiring disabled veterans. It's a section of the bill, Obama said, that has bipartisan support, which may propel Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to take it up for a vote soon.

"When I first proposed this idea in a joint session of Congress, people stood up and applauded on both sides of the aisle," Obama said. "So when it comes for a vote in the senate, I expect to get votes from both sides of the aisle. Don't just applaud about it. Vote for it!"

The president concludes this three-day bus tour in Chesterfield, Va., with a return to focus on the piece of his jobs bill that would provide states and local agencies with federal money to rehire public workers.

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Obama's speech equipment stolen in Virginia

Julia Edwards — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0400

The truck contained sound equipment, podiums, and presidential seals, which may have tipped the thieves off that they had stolen something bigger than they had intended. The truck was recovered in a local Holiday Inn Express parking lot, though it is not clear whether it was found by federal or local law enforcement or whether the equipment was still inside.

The president is scheduled to visit Virginia on Wednesday to campaign for his American Jobs Act.

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