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Former President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff John Podesta, now the head of the Center for American Progress, called on President Obama to push forward with his agenda using federal agencies and executive branch power Tuesday, even though Democrats were dealt a blow in the recent midterm elections. Podesta said the American people want the president to move forward with his agenda. “I think most of the conversation since the election has been about how President Obama adjusts to the new situation on Capitol Hill,” Podesta said. “While that’s an important conversation, it simply ignores the president’s ability to use...

Yes, it was a great victory last night in the Congressional elections. Today, Obama will slink into his inner chambers and rage at Americans who threw wooden shoes into the gears of his congress. But do not be fooled. Obama has installed a stealth government of pinch-lipped, sneering, condescending toadies as his Czars to continue destroying the United States from their unelected "agencies." Don't like cap and trade? Tough. The EPA will mandate it. Like your firearms collection? Too bad. The FDA will judge them a "health hazard" and the AG will deem them a "childrens' consumer hazard" (hey; they...

A proposal to vastly expand the acquisition boundary of the Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge has provoked passionate objections from landowners who feel they haven't been adequately notified about the plan and fear the expansion proposal could force them into giving up their land. Julia Sosebee said she didn't find out about the proposal until this week and has no interest in selling land that has been in her family since before the Civil War. "We don't have a price anyone can pay me," she said. "You can't put a price on that." CRNWR Refuge manager Stephen Miller said the...

The Justice Department has found a new way to pursue civil rights lawsuits, using the powers of the Civil Rights Division not just to win compensation for victims of alleged discrimination but also to direct large sums of money to activist groups that are not discrimination victims and not connected to a particular suit.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mortgage loan originators will have to be fingerprinted and sign up to a central registry to do business in future, according to final rules issued on Wednesday by the Federal Reserve and other regulators. The rules are part of the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008, also called the S.A.F.E. Act. They were issued by the Fed, Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, Office of Thrift Supervision, Farm Credit Administration and National Credit Union Administration.

New York City's public offices have 8,000 vacant desks, roughly 11% of the workstations in the city government's 19 million square feet of office space. The city has nine separate agencies to handle vehicle maintenance, operating 125 separate maintenance garages, some across the street from each other. Each city agency has its own HR department, with an overall ratio of HR workers to employees 2.5 times higher than is typical in the private sector. Police officers still report their hours worked on an error-prone, paper-based system that involves pairs of officers driving boxes full of paperwork between precincts and One...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is criticizing two federal agencies for canceling conventions that had been scheduled for Arizona. The agencies apparently took this action to protest the state’s new immigration law. The U.S. Department of Education recently canceled an October convention set for a Tucson resort. The U.S. Border Patrol also canceled plans for a conference last month at a Prescott resort. In other boycott developments: • A group of California lawmakers is urging the state to boycott Arizona over its controversial immigration law. Sen. Gil Cedillo’s resolution calls on the state to issue a travel advisory, cease...

PENFIELD, Pa. – An out-of-control natural gas well in a remote area of Pennsylvania shot explosive gas and polluted water as high as 75 feet into the air before crews were able to tame it more than half a day later, officials said Friday. The gas never caught fire and no injuries were reported, but state officials worried about an explosion before the well could be controlled. The well was brought under control just after noon Friday, about 16 hours after it started spewing gas and brine, said Elizabeth Ivers, a spokeswoman for driller EOG Resources Inc. Pennsylvania, historically an...

Snips: Two federal agencies charged with keeping potential terrorists off airplanes and out of the country have been without their top leaders for nearly a year. It took the Obama administration more than eight months to nominate anyone to lead the Transportation Security Administration and the Customs and Border Protection agency. Bogged down with health care reform, the Senate has yet to set a date to hold hearings for the Customs position. And Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., has placed a hold on the president's choice to head the TSA over the senator's concern that the new leader would let TSA...

Subject: Yahoo Sells All Its Users Private Email Contents to U.S. Agencies yahoo-spy.pdf Yahoo Lawful Spying Guide December 2, 2009 cox-spy.pdf Cox Lawful Spying Guide December 2, 2009 sbc-ameritech- spy.pdf SBC-Ameritech Lawful Spying Guide December 2, 2009 sbc-lea-spy. pdf SBC Lawful Spying Guide December 2, 2009 At 02:30 PM 12/7/09, W.G.E.N. wrote: Yahoo Sells All Its Users Private Email Contents to U.S. Agencies for Small Price Posted: 2009/12/05 From: Mathaba http://www.mathaba. net/news/ ?x=622292 (Mathaba) Yahoo isn't happy that a detailed menu of the spying services it provides to "law enforcement" and spy agencies has leaked onto the web. After earlier...

PHILIP ELLIOTT (AP) - Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON White House officials told agencies across the government Tuesday they should take care to avoid even the appearance that politics played a part in the award of federal grants. The advisory came in response to an embarrassing incident last month in which a National Endowment for the Arts official asked artists on a conference call to coordinate with the Corporation for Public Service on ways to help bolster President Barack Obama's public service agenda

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked lawmakers to blow up the boxes of government, and on Wednesday they obliged -- though not exactly as he envisioned. A legislative budget committee delayed action on many of Schwarzenegger's proposals for cutting waste, and instead took an ax to operations managed by the governor. They voted to get rid of entire departments and agencies under his authority. The committee voted to eliminate the Secretary of Education office, an appointed position that exists to help the governor on school issues. Lawmakers declared that the governor does not need such an office, as it overlaps with the...

Calif. Voters Reject Measures to Keep State Solvent By JENNIFER STEINHAUER Published: May 20, 2009 LOS ANGELES — A smattering of California voters on Tuesday soundly rejected five ballot measures designed to keep the state solvent through the rest of the year. The results dealt a severe setback to the state’s fragile fiscal structure and to Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state legislators who cobbled together the measures as part of a last-minute budget deal passed in February.The measures, which would have prolonged tax increases, capped state spending, earmarked money for education and involved the state in a complex borrowing...

California state workers outraged at possible layoffs By Jon Ortiz jortiz@sacbee.com Published Friday, May. 15, 2009 State workers were outraged and anxious on Tuesday after learning that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to lay off 5,000 of them in the coming weeks. Although the administration didn't break down which departments would lose jobs, it did say the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which runs the state prison system, would lose the most positions. And one official said the state may need to cut more jobs if California's recession worsens and the state's general fund revenue keeps dwindling. "This may not be...

SIERRA VISTA — Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast said Tuesday that protecting the nation’s borders means bringing together the different cultures of federal agencies. The Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have different procedures because of the way they handle their missions, which must be broadened to be more effective, she told more than 100 people attending a three-day Secure Border Initiative Conference at The Palms. The military and other government agencies must look at integrating homeland security and homeland defense, said Fast, who commands the Intelligence Center and Fort Huachuca. “Personally, I believe sealing our borders...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5, 2006 -- The State Department and the Office of Personnel Management have combined resources to process security clearances for overseas Defense Department installations. The joint effort will make the clearance process more efficient and cost effective, officials said. Effective tomorrow, the Department of State will activate an overseas investigative program with a cadre of special investigators working from U.S. embassies and consulates. The investigators will conduct OPM background investigations on DoD facilities. OPM will reimburse the State Department for the work performed. Officials have been working to make security clearance investigations timelier, as mandated by the...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2006 – The Defense Commissary Agency is partnering with a national anti-substance-abuse organization to promote the concept of families dining together as a means of establishing healthy lifestyles for young people, a DeCA spokesperson said today. “Since we’re the food leader for the military, anything that has to do with family quality and family lifestyles and focuses on eating is a good thing for us to be involved in,” said Bonnie Powell during a telephone interview with American Forces Press Service from her organization’s headquarters at Fort Lee, Va. DeCA will support and celebrate “Family Day...

Federal tax revenue versus federal spending by departments and agencies.

In December, the FBI was worried that Border Patrol agents' lives were in danger. But many of those officers never got the memo. Instead, agents say, they first learned of the threat -- that smugglers planned to hire gang members to murder Border Patrol agents -- when a Daily Bulletin reporter called to ask for their opinions. The fact that many officers didn't know about the threat, described in an "Officer Safety Alert" disseminated by the Department of Homeland Security, shows how poor communication among law enforcement agencies can be. The warning is "proof that we're being targeted," said a...

SIERRA VISTA -- Four people believe they were shot at from south of the border on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Border Patrol. But no evidence has yet been found to substantiate the incident, Border Patrol spokesman Gustavo Soto said Wednesday. U.S. Forest Service investigators also have not found evidence to support the report. "They perceived shots having been fired," Border Patrol spokeswoman Andrea Zortman said Thursday. "We turned everything over to the Park Service." Kym Hall, Coronado National Memorial's superintendent, said four people were stopped as they passed eastbound through the memorial at about 7:45 a.m. for driving erratically....