Law Librarian Blog

Bankruptcy Filings Rebound in Calendar Year 2007

New data from the U.S. Courts:

Bankruptcy filings in the federal courts rose 38 percent in calendar year 2007, according to data released today by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. The number of bankruptcies filed in the twelve-month period ending December 31, 2007, totaled 850,912, up from 617,660 bankruptcies filed in calendar year 2006. Filings rebounded from a 70 percent drop in calendar year 2006, which was the first full 12-month period after the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA) took effect.

An historic high in the number of bankruptcies filings was seen in calendar year 2005, when over 2 million bankruptcies were filed, mainly because, in October of 2005, many of the provisions of BAPCPA were enacted. Filings fell through 2006, but started their gradual climb back up in 2007." 

Related Items

• Per Capita Filings 2007 (pdf) (excel)
• Table F-2 (filing by month) (pdf) (excel)
• Table F (12-month period) (pdf) (excel)
• Table F-2 (12-month period) (pdf) (excel)
• Table F-2 (3-month period) (pdf) (excel)

[RJ]

CRS Report: Averting Financial Crisis

New CRS report via Open CRS:

"There is no precise definition of “financial crisis,” but a common view is that disruptions in financial markets rise to the level of a crisis when the flow of credit to households and businesses is constrained and the real economy of goods and services is adversely affected. Since mid-2007, central bankers — including the Federal Reserve — have labored to keep the downturn in U.S. subprime housing from developing into such a crisis.

While subprime problems were widely anticipated, the subsequent spread of turmoil into many seemingly unrelated parts of the global financial system was not. Many losses occurring in diverse firms and markets — often quite severe — have features in common: the use of complex, hard-to-value financial instruments; large speculative positions underwritten by borrowed funds, or leverage; and the use of off-the-books entities to remove risky trading activities from the balance sheets of major financial institutions."   

See also:  Government Interventions in Financial Markets: Economic and Historic Analysis of Subprime Mortgage Options (CRS Report) and LLB's earlier post, Soros on the Credit Crisis of 2008 and What It Means. [RJ]

CRS Report on Presidential Claims of Executive Privilege

The CRS Report Presidential Claims of Executive Privilege: History, Law, Practice and Recent Developments (pdf) has been updated (dated April 16, 2008). It includes an appendix listing presidential claims of executive priviledge from the Kennedy Administration through the George W. Bush Administration. [JH]

Saddam And Terrorism: Emerging Insights From Captured Iraqi Documents

From the Internet Archive: "Comprehensive military study of Saddam Hussein's links to terrorism. The report was prepared by Kevin M. Woods and James Lacey "under the Iraqi Perspectives sub task of the Joint Advanced Warfighting Program (JAWP) task order for the Director, Joint Center for Operational Analyses and Lessons Learned, United States Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM)" and the Institute For Defense Analyses. It is based on the analysis of some 600,000 official Iraqi documents seized by US forces after the invasion and on thousands of hours of interrogations of former top officials in Saddam's government in U.S. custody. This study found no "smoking gun" (i.e., direct connection) between Saddam's Iraq and al Qaeda. Saddam's interest in, and support for, non-state actors was spread across a variety of revolutionary, liberation, nationalist, and Islamic terrorist organizations."  [RJ]

2007 Wiretap Report Released

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts has released the 2007 Wiretap Report which reports that state and federal judges issued a total of 2,208 orders authorizing the interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications -- a 20% increase over the previous year.  The top three states for applications approved by state court judges are California, New York, and New Jersey.
[gvd] 

EPA Publishes Annual National Greenhouse Gas Inventory

From the press release: "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released the national greenhouse gas inventory, which finds that overall emissions during 2006 decreased by 1.1 percent from the previous year. The report, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2006, is the latest in an annual set of reports that the United States submits to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change." 

See also: New United Nations Environmental Program: "The UNEP Year Book 2008 (formerly the GEO Year Book) is the fifth annual report on the changing environment produced by the United Nations Environment Programme in collaboration with many world environmental experts. The UNEP Year Book 2008 highlights the increasing complexity and interconnections of climate change, ecosystem integrity, human well-being, and economic development. It examines the emergence and influence of economic mechanisms and market driven approaches for addressing environmental degradation, and it describes recent research findings and policy decisions that affect our awareness of and response to changes in our global climate and environment."

[RJ]

CRS Report on Judicial Treatment of the Second Amendment

District of Columbia v. Heller: The Supreme Court and the Second Amendment (April 11, 2008) (pdf) provides an overview of prior judicial treatment of the Second Amendment, with a focus on the litigation in Heller and the potential impact of its outcome. [JH]

Litigation Resources for District of Columbia v. Heller (07-290): Oral Arguments | SCOTUSwiki's entry

2008 U.S. Manual for Courts-Martial

The 2008 edition of the Manual for Courts-Martial, United States is now available from the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress.  [RJ]

2007 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices

New report from the U.S. Department of State:

"The Country Reports on Human Rights Practices are submitted annually by the U.S. Department of State to the U.S. Congress in compliance with sections 116(d) and 502B(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (FAA), as amended, and section 504 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended. The law provides that the Secretary of State shall transmit to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, by February 25 "a full and complete report regarding the status of internationally recognized human rights, within the meaning of subsection (A) in countries that receive assistance under this part, and (B) in all other foreign countries which are members of the United Nations and which are not otherwise the subject of a human rights report under this Act." Reports on several countries are included that do not fall into the categories established by these statutes and that thus are not covered by the congressional requirement."

See also:  Remarks on Human Rights Report, Secretary Condoleezza Rice and Remarks on Human Rights Report, Asst Secretary Farrar [RJ]

Asylum Law and Female Genital Mutilation: Recent Developments

New CRS report via Federation of American Scientists:

"Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a term encompassing a wide range of procedures that involve the removal or alteration of a woman’s genitalia. The federal courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) have classified FGM as a form of persecution, a showing of which can act as a basis for a successful asylum claim. However, recent developments in this area of law have created a split between the federal courts and the BIA over the treatment of applicants who have already been inflicted with FGM. The federal courts that have addressed this issue currently treat a past infliction of FGM as a basis for a well-founded fear of persecution. The BIA, on the other hand, has rejected this position, arguing that FGM is a one-time procedure, and that once inflicted, an applicant will not be persecuted with FGM again, and thus cannot act as a basis for an asylum application."  [RJ]

CREW Report Detailing Senators' Use of Positions to Benefit Family Members

The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has released its first-ever analysis of the misuse of power by all members of the Senate to financially benefit their family members. The analysis covers the 2002, 2004 and 2006 election cycles. The new report, Family Affair - Senate names 87 senators from all 50 states: 42 Democrats, 43 Republicans and 2 Independents." 

And from the Senate's Virtual Reference Desk: Salaries of Members of Congress: A List of Payable Rates and Effective Dates, 1789-2008:

"From 1789 through 1968, Congress raised its pay 22 times using this procedure. Congressional salaries initially were $1,500. By 1968, they had risen to $30,000. Stand-alone legislation may still be used to raise Member pay, as it was most recently in 1982, 1983, 1989, and 1991, but two other methods — including an automatic annual adjustment procedure and a commission process — are now also available.

Under the annual adjustment procedure, Members are scheduled to receive a 2.8% adjustment in January 2009. Members originally were scheduled to receive a 2.7% increase in January 2008. The increase was revised to 2.5%, resulting in a salary in 2008 of $169,300, to match the percent increase in the base pay of General Schedule (GS) employees. By law, Members may not receive an increase greater than the increase in the base pay of GS employees. Congress voted to deny the scheduled January 2007 adjustment. Members previously received a pay increase (1.9%) in January 2006, increasing their salary to the rate of $165,200." 

[RJ]

Internet Crime Report: The Top Scams of 2007

New report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation:

"According to the 2007 Internet Crime Report, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 206,884 complaints of crimes perpetrated over the Internet during 2007. Of the complaints received, more than 90,000 were referred to law enforcement around the nation, amounting to nearly $240 million in reported losses. This represents a $40 million increase in reported losses from complaints referred to law enforcement in 2006. All complaints received by IC3 are accessible to federal, state, and local law enforcement to support active investigations, trend analysis, and public outreach and awareness efforts." 

[RJ]

DOJ's Immigration Court Practice Manual

The DOJ Office of the Chief Immigration Judge has released of the Immigration Court Practice Manual (pdf), which sets forth uniform procedures, recommendations, and requirements for practice before the Immigration Courts. The Practice Manual's requirements are binding on the parties who appear before the Immigration Courts, unless the Immigration Judge directs otherwise in a particular case. The Practice Manual does not limit the discretion of Immigration Judges to act in accordance with law and regulation.

Effective Date. In order to provide the public an opportunity to become familiar with the Immigration Court Practice Manual, it will not go into effect until July 1, 2008. Beginning on that date, Local Operating Procedures will no longer be used, and parties will be expected to follow the Practice Manual. [RJ]

OMB Progress Report on E-Government Act Implementation

From the White House: "This is OMB’s fifth annual progress report on implementation of the E-Government Act of 2002 (Pub. L. No. 107-347; Dec. 17, 2002) (the “E-Government Act”) as required by 44 USC 3606. This report describes activities completed in fiscal year (FY) 2007, and is among a series of reports produced by OMB to describe the Administration’s use of E-Government principles to improve government performance and the delivery of information and services to the public."  [RJ]

Full Text of Pentagon "Torture" Memo Released

Part 1 and Part 2 from the Georgetown Faculty Blog.  [RJ]

NAFTA -- Myth vs. Facts

New Fact Sheet Office of the United States Trade Representative.  [RJ]

Estimates of Summary Judgment Activity in Fiscal Year 2006

New report from the Federal Judicial Center: "The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules asked the Federal Judicial Center to examine summary judgment practice across federal district courts as a means of assessing the potential impact of the proposed amendments to Rule 56. This report examined summary judgment activity in 179,969 cases terminated in the 78 federal district courts that had fully implemented the CM/ECF reporting system in Fiscal Year 2006. This unpublished research document is not restricted and may be distributed outside the federal judiciary."  [RJ]

Editor's Note: But is summary judgment constitutional? According to Cincinnati Law Prof Suja Thomas, the answer is "no!" Check out her thought-provoking article. [JH]

Controversy Over GAO Legislative Histories on Westlaw Heating Up

BoingBoing reports:

"John Wonderlich of the Sunlight Foundation alerted me to a situation about a month ago that we've been pursuing (with EFF's help) at the Government Accountability Office, which is an arm of the U.S. Congress.

The law librarians at GAO have compiled complete federal legislative histories from 1915 on. These are the definitive dossiers that track a bill through the hearing process and into law. If you want to divine the intent of Congress, this is where you go.

GAO cut a contract with Thomson West to have these documents scanned. Thomson West claims they have exclusive access to these public documents and even go so far as to boast that you should purchase this exclusive "product" from West because the GAO law librarians (public employees!) have done all the work for you!" 

[RJ]

The Quiet Revolution: The President’s Faith-Based and Community Initiative

New report from the White House:

• Letter From President Bush
• Executive Summary
• Chapter 1: A Determined Attack On Need
• Chapter 2: Transforming Government
• Chapter 3: Strengthening America's Nonprofit Sector
• Chapter 4: Measurement Matters
• Chapter 5: Taking Root Across America
• The President's Faith-Based and Community Initiative in 50 States: A Report to the Nation's Governors
• Fact Sheet: The Faith-Based And Community Initiative - A Quiet Revolution In The Way Government Addresses Human Need 

Operation Iraqi Freedom: Strategies, Approaches, Results, and Issues for Congress

CRS Report via Federation of American Scientists:

"Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) was launched on March 20, 2003. The immediate goal, as stated by the Bush Administration, was to remove the regime, including destroying its ability to use weapons of mass destruction or to make them available to terrorists. The broad, longer-term objective included helping Iraqis build “a new Iraq that is prosperous and free.”1 In October 2002, Congress had authorized the President to use force against Iraq, to “defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq,” and to “enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq.”

Over time, the focus of OIF has shifted from regime removal to the more open- ended mission of helping an emerging new Iraqi leadership improve security, establish a system of governance, and foster economic development. With that shift in focus, the character of the war has evolved from major combat operations to a multifaceted count! er-insurgency and reconstruction effort.

This report is designed to provide background and analysis of Operation Iraqi Freedom to support consideration of these short-term and long-term issues."

2007 IRS Data Book Now Online

Ever wonder what the IRS does after you have filed your 1040? Check out the the IRS Data Book, an annual snapshot of IRS activities for a given fiscal year. The 2007 IRS Data Book is now available.

From the press release:

The report describes activities of the IRS from Oct. 1, 2006, to Sept. 30, 2007, and includes information about returns filed, tax collections, enforcement, taxpayer assistance, as well as the IRS budget and workforce.

During fiscal year 2007, the IRS collected almost $2.4 trillion in taxes (net of refunds) and processed more than 235 million returns. More than 114 million individual income tax return filers received tax refunds that totaled $248.6 billion. In fiscal year 2007, IRS spent an average of 40 cents to collect each $100 of tax revenue, which was the lowest in seven years and down from 42 cents per $100 in fiscal year 2006.

IRS examined nearly 1.4 million individual income tax returns in fiscal year 2007. IRS personnel answered more than 33.2 million toll-free calls from taxpayers during the fiscal year, and the IRS Web site received about 215 million visits.

[JH]

Statutes at Large: 109th Congress, 1st Session (2005)

Is now available from GPO.  [RJ]

New Rules for Judicial Conduct and Judicial Disability Proceedings Take Effect Next Month

The Judicial Conference of the United States has approved the first-ever binding, nationwide set of rules for handling conduct and disability complaints against federal judges. The new 29 Rules for Judicial Conduct and Judicial Disability Proceedings, which take effect in mid-April, are authorized under the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act of 1980 that allows any person to file a complaint alleging that a federal judge has engaged in conduct "prejudicial to the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts." The statute also permits the filing of a complaint relating to a judge's inability to perform his or her duties because of "mental or physical disability."

Press Release | Text of Rules for Judicial Conduct and Judicial Disability Proceedings (pdf)

[JH]

Climate Change White Paper: Appropriate Roles for Different Levels of Government

From the House Committee on Energy and Commerce:

"The Committee on Energy and Commerce and its Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality are issuing a series of Climate Change Legislation Design White Papers as the next step in the legislative process leading to enactment of a mandatory, economy-wide climate change program. While the hearings last year were designed to give the Committee an understanding of the status and projected path of climate change and potential ways to address it, these White Papers and the hearings on them will focus the Committee=s attention on crafting mandatory, economy-wide climate change legislation. The White Papers and related hearings will lay out basic design and key principles of a program, and also identify issues about which further information and discussion is needed.
A comprehensive national approach to climate change will be most effective when all levels of government -- Federal, State, Tribal, and local -- play active roles. This paper is intended to foster discussion of these issues by raising key factors that should be considered in determining what roles are appropriate for each level of government."  [RJ]

2007 US Sentencing Commission Annual Report and Sourcebook

From the US Sentencing Commission:

"The 2007 Annual Report presents an overview of major Commission activities and accomplishments for fiscal year 2007. See the Commission's 2007 Sourcebook of Federal Sentencing Statistics for descriptive figures, tables, and charts, and selected district, circuit, and national sentencing data."  [RJ]

Annual Superfund Report to Congress for Fiscal Year 2007

From EPA's Office of Inspector General: "This report covers Fiscal Year 2007 Superfund activity of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG). The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 requires the OIG to annually audit the Superfund program and report the results to Congress." [RJ]

C-SPAN Congressional Chronicle

The C-SPAN Congressional Chronicle is an index to the C-SPAN video recordings of the House and Senate floor proceedings. The video recordings are matched with the text of the Congressional Record as soon as the Congressional Record is available. It only includes members who appeared on the floor to deliver or insert their remarks. The text included here is what the member submitted. Each appearance has a video link where users can watch and listen to the actual remarks.

Hat tip to beSpacific. [JH]

What is a Recession, Who Decides When It Starts, and When Do They Decide?

New CRS report (via opencrs.com):

"A recession is one of several discrete phases in the overall business cycle. The term may often be used loosely to describe an economy that is slowing down or characterized by weakness in at least one major sector like the housing market. When used by economists, “recession” means a significant decline in overall economic activity that lasts more than a few months. The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) business cycle dating committee is the generally recognized arbiter of the dates of the beginnings and ends of recessions. As with all statistics, it takes some time to compile the data, which means they are only available after the events they describe. Moreover, because it takes time to discern changes in trends given the usual month-to-month volatility in economic indicators, and because the data are subject to revision, it takes some time before the dating committee can agree that a recession began at a certain date. It can be a year or more after the fact that the dating committee announces the date of the beginning of a recession."  [RJ]

Coordination of IP Enforcement and Protection

New report from the National Intellectual Property Law Enforcement Coordination Council:

"This is the sixth annual report on the activities of the National Intellectual Property Law Enforcement Coordination Council (“NIPLECC” or “Council”) submitted pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 1128(e). This report continues to build upon the improvements made in the 2006 report, which was the first submitted after Public Law 108-447 established the U.S. Coordinator for International Intellectual Property Enforcement (Coordinator) at the head of the Council and charged the Council with coordinating and overseeing the Federal Government’s intellectual property protection and enforcement efforts.

The current report contains significantly more data and analysis, and establishes the precedent of submitting the report early in the calendar year so that we can provide the full results of our intellectual property (IP) enforcement efforts which have been typically reported by agencies on a fiscal year basis.

We have also attempted to provide greater detail on the full range of U.S. Government activities focused on IP enforcement and to analyze more fully the extensive interagency coordination that has supported substantial progress in the past year. This is done to demonstrate our commitment to a permanent and sustainable approach to IP enforcement that is focused on clear strategic goals."  [RJ]

Economic Report of the President

From the press release:

"The Economic Report of the President is a detailed summary of the economic issues and policies that face our nation today. Although not every topic worthy of consideration can be covered in one volume, we believe that those covered in this report are among the most important." 

See also:   Fact Sheet: The Economic Report of the President

[RJ]

Earmarks, Analysis and Resources

Thanks to OpenCRS, the public now has access to the following recent CRS report:

Earmarks Executive Order: Legal Issues (February 13, 2008) by Thomas J. Nicola and T. J. Halstead, Legislative Attorneys. Here's the summary:

On January 29, 2008, President George W. Bush signed Executive Order 13,457, "Protecting American Taxpayers from Government Spending on Wasteful Earmarks." The order states that it is the policy of the federal government “to be judicious in the expenditure of taxpayer dollars.” In order "[t]o ensure the proper use of taxpayer funds," the order provides that the number and cost of earmarks should be reduced, that their origin and purposes should be transparent; and that they should be included in the text of bills voted upon by Congress and presented to the President. For appropriations laws and other legislation enacted after the date of the order, it directs executive agencies not to commit, obligate, or expend funds on the basis of earmarks included in any non-statutory source, including requests in reports of committees of Congress or other congressional documents or communications on behalf of Members of Congress, or any other non-statutory source, except when required by law or when an agency itself has determined that a project, program, grant, or other transaction has merit under statutory criteria or other merit-based decision-making.

In the context of the order, an "earmark" is defined as any

funds provided by Congress for projects, programs, or grants where the purported congressional direction (whether in statutory text, report language, or other communication) circumvents otherwise applicable merit-based or competitive allocation processes, or specifies the location or recipient, or otherwise curtails the ability of the executive branch to manage its statutory and constitutional responsibilities pertaining to the funds allocation process.

There is a long tradition of congressional inclusion of, and agency compliance with, spending directives that are delineated in committee report language or in joint explanatory statements issued by conference committees. If applied rigorously, the provisions of Executive Order 13,457 could significantly alter this traditional dynamic. Accordingly, this report provides an overview of the provisions of the order; addresses questions that have arisen regarding both the President’s authority to control executive branch activity in this context and the effect of non-statutory congressional spending directives; and considers and evaluates potential congressional responses to the executive order. The report will be updated as events warrant.

See also the following CRS Report, if you can locate a copy: The President's Authority to Issue an Executive Order Governing Executive Agency Responses to "Earmarks" Contained in Committee Reports (Dec. 18, 2007)

Our blog coverage of additional resources on earmarks:

• Investigate Earmarks with EarmarkWatch.org
• OMB Earmarks Database

[JH}

CIA World Factbook 2008

The 2008 Factbook is now available from the CIA.    [RJ]

Transforming the National Guard and Reserves into a 21st-Century Operational Force

The third and final report to Congress by the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves. The previous reports from June 2006 and March 2007 are also available on the Commission’s website.

See also:  Guard, reserves called inadequate for domestic disasters, L.A. Times & Commission Urges Upgrade of National Guard, CQ Politics

[RJ]

Health Care Opinion Leaders’ Views on the Presidential Candidates’ Health Reform Plans

From the Commonwealth Fund:

"The 13th Commonwealth Fund/Modern Healthcare Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey asked a diverse group of experts for their perspective on the health care reform proposals of the 2008 presidential candidates. Survey participants strongly support reform proposals that applied a mixed private–public market approach. Additional favored policy strategies for reform include a requirement for individuals to obtain health insurance, new private market regulations, and a requirement for employers to provide coverage or contribute to a coverage fund. Alternatively, respondents think proposals that focus on tax incentives to purchase individual private health insurance are not an effective method for controlling the rising costs of health care or achieving universal coverage. Health care opinion leaders call for the next president to simultaneously address universal coverage and quality, efficiency, and cost containment policies to move our health care system toward high performance.

Also available are two related commentaries, Reform Is No 'Either-Or': We Must Fix the Payment System Along with Access and Tough Choices Ahead: Candidates Ignore Pain of Needed Cuts to Health Costs

What about our vets? The CBO has released The Health Care System for Veterans: An Interim Report:

"In recent years, the number of patients served by the medical system of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has increased substantially. At the same time, VA’s ratings for the quality of care and customer satisfaction have apparently improved. Many people both within and outside the department have pointed to several factors as being key to achieving those results:

• Organizational restructuring designed to share decisionmaking authority between officials in the central office, regional managers, and key personnel at dispersed medical facilities;
• Performance measurement targeted toward improving the quality of care; and
• Extensive use of health information technology (health IT).

This interim report provides a brief overview of VA’s medical system, summarizes some of the recent evidence on the quality of VA’s medical care and describes the incentives for quality that VA has included in its performance management system. The report also examines ways in which the department’s health IT may affect the quality of care. CBO’s final report, anticipated in early 2008, will address the potential for other government and private health care providers to make use of VA’s experience, along with other issues." 

[RJ]

Democracy Promotion: Cornerstone of U.S. Foreign Policy?

Recent CRS report via the Federation of American Scientists:

"One of President George W. Bush’s stated reasons for starting the war in Iraq was to bring democracy to that country. He stated in December 2006 that “[We] are committed to a strategic goal of a free Iraq that is democratic, that can govern itself, defend itself and sustain itself.” More broadly, the Bush Administration has viewed democracy promotion as an instrument for combatting terrorism.

Arguably, the lack of a clear definition of democracy and a comprehensive understanding of its basic elements may have hampered the formulation of democracy promotion policy and effective prioritizing of democracy promotion activities over the years. Also, the lack of definition may have complicated coordination of democracy programs and the assessment of U.S. government activities and funding. Further, without a consensus on democracy definition and goals, what criteria will determine when, if ever, a country has attained an acceptable level of democratic reform and no longer needs American assistance? 

The issue among Members of Congress, presidential hopefuls, and in the wider policy community is not whether democracy promotion is worthwhile in general, but rather when, where, and how it is to be applied to get the desired results and the most for the taxpayer’s dollar. In addition, coordination of democracy promotion activities is lacking among developed countries and within the U.S. government. The 110th Congress may scrutinize U.S. democracy promotion in Iraq and elsewhere. Whether or not “victory in Iraq” includes establishing an independent democratic Iraqi government will be important in evaluating the human and financial costs and benefits of U.S. involvement in Iraq and could affect other U.S. democracy promotion agendas. This report will be updated as warranted."

[RJ]

CEA's Annual Economic Report Released

From the Report's Overview:

The U.S. economy retains a solid foundation, even as it faces challenges ahead. Toward the end of 2007, there were increasingly mixed economic indicators (see Chapters 1 and 2). Economic growth is expected to continue in 2008. Most market forecasts suggest a slower pace in the first half of 2008, followed by strengthened growth in the second half of the year. The inherent resilience of our economy has enabled it to absorb multiple shocks in recent years, but the President does not take this growth for granted.

Download the Report (pdf) and related Council of Economic Advisers publications from the White House website. [JH]

My Friend Flickr: A Match Made in Photo Heaven

From the Library of Congress Blog:

"If you’re reading this, then chances are you already know about Web 2.0. Even if you don’t know the term itself, you’re one of millions worldwide who are actively creating, sharing or benefiting from user-generated content that characterizes Web 2.0 phenomena.

As a communicator, I want to expand the reach of the Library and access to our magnificent collections as far and wide as possible. Of course, there are only so many hours in the day, so many staff in Library offices and so many dollars in the budget. Priorities have to be chosen that will most effectively advance our mission.

That’s why it is so exciting to let people know about the launch of a brand-new pilot project the Library of Congress is undertaking with Flickr, the enormously popular photo-sharing site that has been a Web 2.0 innovator. If all goes according to plan, the project will help address at least two major challenges: how to ensure better and better access to our collections, and how to ensure that we have the best possible information about those collections for the benefit of researchers and posterity. In many senses, we are looking to enhance our metadata (one of those Web 2.0 buzzwords that 90 percent of our readers could probably explain better than me)."

Check out Flickr's take:  Many hands make light work.  [RJ]

A Pocket Guide to the Classified Information Procedures Act

Keeping Government Secrets: A Pocket Guide for Judges on the State-Secrets Privilege, the Classified Information Procedures Act, and Court Security Officers is available from the Federal Judicial Center:

"Most federal judges come into contact with classified information infrequently, if at all, but when they do, they are faced with the dilemma of how to protect government secrets in the context of an otherwise public proceeding. This pocket guide is designed to familiarize federal judges with statutes and procedures established to help public courts protect government secrets when courts are called upon to do so. The guide provides information about the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA), information security officers, and secure storage facilities."

[RJ]

President's Budget of the U. S. Government, FY 2009

New from GPO:

"Issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Budget of the United States Government is a collection of documents that contains the budget message of the President, information about the President's budget proposals for a given fiscal year, and other budgetary publications that have been issued throughout the fiscal year."

[RJ]

Report to Congress on Stalking and Domestic Violence, 2005 Through 2006

From the U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women:

"The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA), Pub. L. No.106-386, requires that “The Attorney General shall submit to Congress an annual report, beginning one year after the date of enactment of the Act that provides information concerning the incidence of stalking and domestic violence, and evaluates the effectiveness of antistalking efforts and legislation.”

This report, covering the time period 2005-2006, is the latest report in a series of stalking reports submitted to Congress since the enactment of VAWA. This report provides an overview of a collaborative effort between the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) to expand our understanding of the crime of stalking through the development of a statistical supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey on the crime of stalking. This report also provides a summary of the training and outreach efforts undertaken by the OVW-funded Stalking Resource Center, a program of the National Center for Victims of Crime." 

Effects of Gasoline Prices on Driving Behavior and Vehicle Markets

New report from the Congressional Budget Office: "This Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study—prepared at the request of the Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee—relates rising gasoline prices to changes in how fast people drive, the volume of highway traffic, and rail transit ridership. It also examines the effects on market shares, fuel economy, and pricing of cars and light trucks purchased over the past several years. With the worldwide price of oil continuing to rise, this study provides an indication of the kinds of adjustments consumers would make if gasoline prices continue to rise, and of the implications of rising gasoline prices for policies that would discourage gasoline consumption and thus limit the growth in carbon dioxide emissions. In keeping with CBO’s mandate to provide objective, impartial analysis, the study makes no recommendations."  [RJ]

CRS Report on President's Authority to Instruct Federal Agencies to Ignore Congressional Earmarks

The President's Authority to Issue an Executive Order Governing Executive Agency Responses to "Earmarks" Contained in Committee Reports
CRS Publication Date:  12/18/2007
Document No.:  M-121807

Abstract:  This memorandum provides a legal analysis of the President's authority to issue an executive order that would instruct "federal agency officials to ignore Congressional Earmarks contained in committee report language. Additionally, the memorandum addresses whether, as a matter of law, earmarks contained only in committee report language are legally binding on federal agencies.

CRS Reports can be obtained from www.GalleryWatch.com. Individual reports are available from www.pennyhill.com. [RJ]

FTC Issues Staff Report on Malicious Spam and Phishing

From the press release:

"In a new report, the Federal Trade Commission staff describes findings from its July 2007 workshop, “Spam Summit: The Next Generation of Threats and Solutions” and proposes follow-up action steps that stakeholders can adopt to mitigate the harmful effects of malicious spam and phishing. In addition to proposing action steps for stakeholders, the report provides an overview of the agency’s decade-long role in protecting consumers from the threats of fraudulent spam and phishing. The report also announces results from staff’s 2007 Harvesting and Filtering Study, which suggest that Internet service providers’ spam filters continue to serve an integral role in reducing the amount of spam that reaches consumers’ in-boxes."  [RJ]