GAO Study Evaluating US Postal Service Deficit Proposals

The General Accounting Office (GAO) has released a short study addressing the United States Postal Service's (USPS) deficit. GAO evaluates key proposals made by USPS including the

• USPS proposal to sponsor its own health benefit plan...
• USPS proposal to seek reimbursement of its $6.9 billion FERS (Federal Employess Retirement System) surplus...
• USPS proposal on workforce optimization...

The report also poses key questions Congress should address including those that should be considered before USPS creates its own health benefit program.

The report concludes that "USPS’s business model is broken" and that difficult choices must be made.

Research Center for the Prevention of Financial Fraud

The Stanford University Center on Longevity and the FINRA Investor Education Foundation have joined forces to create the Research Center on the Prevention of Financial Fraud. The center is an "interdisciplinary resource for law enforcement, government and research groups studying financial fraud." The center plans to address the following questions:

• Who is most susceptible to financial fraud?
• How can people be effectively protected against fraud?
• What techniques do fraudsters use to persuade victims?
• Why do people fall victim to fraud?
• What is the economic and emotional impact of fraud in the U.S.?

If the fraud is committed online, the United States Department of Justice addresses fraud and cybercrime on its Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section page which includes information about how to report cyber and IP crime.

Violent Extremism Prevention

The National Strategy for Counterterrorism now has a partner document, Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism. The national strategy contains President's Obama's plan to protect the American people against al-Qa’ida, its affiliates and its adherents. The partner document describes how federal agencies will support local communities and agencies in their efforts to prevent violent extremism.

Analysis of the Budget Control Act of 2011

What impact will The Budget Control Act of 2011 have on the deficit? Estimates from the Congressional Budget Office created for the House and Senate are now available online. The estimates include discussions on the following topics : Discretionary Caps, Program Integrity Initiatives, the Social Security Administration, Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control, Changes in Direct Spending for Education Programs, Pell Grants, Student Loans,Other Provisions, and Overall Budgetary Impact of the Legislation.

On Aug. 2, 2011 President Obama signed into S. 365, The Budget Control Act of 2011, assigned as Public Law 112-25 (cite as Pub. L. No. 112-25, 140 Stat. 240 [28 pages]). The enrolled bill is available as a pdf at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112s365enr/pdf/BILLS-112s365enr.pdf or in html at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:S.365.enr: which also has links to previous versions of the bill.

Transnational Crime

According to a July 25, 2011 entry posted by Attorney General Eric Holder on the White House blog, the National Security Council has released its Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime. The strategy includes legislative proposals designed to strengthen anti-money laundering provisions and to identify and respond to evolving tactics used to conceal illicit operations and profits associated with transnational crime. The blog entry also links to fact sheets and assessments relating to transnational criminal activities.

Blog Commemorating 9/11

Starting July 5 the Homeland Security Digital Library will publish one blog a week leading up to the ten year anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The blogs will honor those who died by highlighting lessons learned and societal changes made to ensure another such attack does not occur. The blog schedule is:

• July 5 – Terrorism, Terrorists and Threats
  
• July 12 – The Department of Homeland Security
  
• July 19 – The 9/11 Commission Recommendations
  
• July 26 – Emergency Preparedness
  
• August 2 – Border Security and Immigration
  
• August 9 – Transportation and Travel
  
• August 16 – Freedoms and Rights
  
• August 23 – Protecting Critical Infrastructure
  
• August 30 – Communication
  
• September 6 – Commemorating 9/11

Access On the Homefront Blog entries at https://www.hsdl.org/hslog/.

Pentagon Papers Released 6/13/11

On June 13, 2011 at noon ET the National Archives will release online all 7,000 pages of the Pentagon Papers, the informal name for the "Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force" commissioned by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in 1967. According to the National Archives, this version is unique for the following reasons:

• No redactions compared to previous versions
  
• Presented as Leslie Gelb presented it to Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford on Jan. 15, 1969
  
• Includes all the supplemental back-documentation.
  
• Includes the complete account of peace negotiations, significant portions of which were not previously available either in the House Armed Services Committee redacted copy or in the Gravel Edition.

For more information including how to access a hard copy, see the Press Release.