Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Russian AdoptionAgreement / Farm Bill


“On July 10, 2012 the Russian Duma approved the bilateral adoption agreement signed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on July 13, 2011.  This marks a significant milestone toward the entry into force of the Agreement, which will provide additional safeguards to better protect the welfare and interests of children and all parties involved in intercountry adoptions."

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Political Spending Disclosure / Small Business / Fires / Cybersecurity



H.R.4010: To amend the FederalElection Campaign Act of 1971 to provide for additional disclosure requirements for corporations, labor organizations, andother entities, and for other purposes.



“Small Business Tax Cut Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a qualified small business a tax deduction equal to 20% of the lesser of qualified domestic business income or taxable income. Defines: (1) "qualified small business" as any employer engaged in a trade or business if such employer had fewer than 500 full-time employees in either 2010 or 2011; and (2) "qualified domestic business income" as an amount equal to the excess (if any) of the taxpayer's domestic business gross receipts (i.e., gross receipts effectively connected with a trade or business within the United States) for a taxable year over the sum of the cost of goods sold allocable to such receipts and other expenses, losses, or deductions properly allocable to such receipts.
Limits the amount of such deduction to 50% of the greater of: (1) the taxpayer's W-2 wages (payroll) paid to non-owners of the taxpayer's business; or (2) the sum of the W-2 wages paid to individuals who are non-owner family members of direct owners (i.e., stockholders of the business), plus any W-2 wages paid to direct owners who have an ownership interest in the business of 10% or less.”


Missoulian: Cybersecurity chief urges action by Congress


“Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2012 - Title I: Research and Development - (Sec. 103) Directs specified federal agencies participating in the National High-Performance Computing Program to: (1) transmit to Congress a cybersecurity strategic research and development plan and triennial updates, and (2) develop and annually update an implementation roadmap for such plan.
Instructs the participating agencies, in developing and updating the strategic plan, to solicit recommendations and advice from the advisory

Monday, July 9, 2012

Public Inspection / Wolves / Fires


Missoulian: Broadcasters fight requirement to publish political advertisers' spending online

DEMONSTRATION OF ONLINE PUBLIC INSPECTION FILE INTERFACE
“On July 17, 2012, the FCC will conduct a public demonstration of the database it has developed to host the online public inspection file for television broadcast stations. The FCC will demonstrate the interface to be used by stations to file documents required to be placed in the online database.”

Missoulian: Montana's wolf trapping plan draws huge public response

Friday, July 6, 2012

Employment



BLS:  Employment Situation Summary
"Nonfarm payroll employment continued to edge up in June (+80,000), and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.2 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Professional and business services added jobs, and employment in other major industries changed little over the month."

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Countrywide / Fires


“A log of all loans processed by Countrywide’s VIP unit showed 17,979 loans between January 1996 and June 2008. Borrowers included Members and employees of Congress, the White House, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, federal agencies, and other government entities. The log listed hundreds of duplicate loans – the actual number of VIP borrowers was considerably less than 17,979. Lawyers for Bank of America acknowledged that the log may not contain the full roster of VIP borrowers.”

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Fires / Drug Shortage


"The information provided in this section is provided voluntarily by manufacturers.  FDA cannot require firms to report the reason for shortage or duration of the shortage or any other information about shortages.  FDA appreciates all information provided by manufacturers.  We post information about shortages as soon as we receive it from the manufacturers."

Monday, July 2, 2012

Health Care / Fires





Updated Estimates for the Insurance Coverage Provisions ofthe Affordable Care Act
“In preparing the March 2012 baseline budget projections, CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) have updated estimates of the budgetary effects of the health insurance coverage provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). That legislation comprises the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148) and the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-152).”- CBO