You know what comes to my mind when I think of Elizabeth Warren, the left’s favorite to be the first director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau? Rap music. And Sergio Leone-esque spaghetti westerns. So you can imagine my joy when I stumbled upon this video, from the consumer protection group Main Street Brigade, which is a strong supporter of Warren and Obama’s financial reform efforts. “Got a New Sheriff” combines rapping, auto-tuned lyrics, and Ennio Morricone-inspired whistling, resulting in something that’s … er … unique, to say the least. Unless I’m sorely mistaken, this is the first rap…
Monthly Archives: August, 2010
“We think we’re picking up revenues and transactions that we otherwise would not have gotten,” said Michael Plunkett, the Postal Service’s manager of retail partners.
The Office of Personnel Management today refuted the findings of a recent USA Today story that found federal employees earn far more than employees in the private sector — and doubled down on the government’s current pay gap method that finds government employees earn 22 percent less on average than their private-sector counterparts. The points they laid out in this afternoon’s hastily-arranged press conference should be familiar to anyone who’s been following the issue in recent months. USA Today’s findings don’t compare like jobs, OPM pointed out, or people with equivalent skills and levels, in the same geographic areas –…
Know a GI in Iraq or Afghanistan who’s hurting for a smoke? Beginning Aug. 27, the U.S. Postal Service will once again allow customers to mail cigarettes and other tobacco products abroad to soldiers, Marines and other service members. The Associated Press reports that after a law kicked in June 29 that sought to keep minors from ordering cigarettes, the Postal Service originally only allowed care packages with tobacco to be mailed via Express Mail. The problem was, Express Mail can’t be sent to some overseas locations like Iraq and Afghanistan, leaving soldiers out of luck. But in two weeks,…
The Associated Press reports that former NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe is in critical condition after the plane crash that claimed the life of former Sen. Ted Stevens. O’Keefe and his son Kevin — who also survived Monday’s crash and is listed in serious condition — suffered broken bones and other injuries. Five people, including Stevens, died in the crash. The AP says that authorities are studying the weather patterns from that night to figure out what caused the small plane to go down.
Reuters reports that former NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe and his son survived the plane crash that killed former Sen. Ted Stevens last night. The Washington Post’s obituary for Stevens is online here. And President Obama just released the following statement: A decorated World War II veteran, Senator Ted Stevens devoted his career to serving the people of Alaska and fighting for our men and women in uniform. Michelle and I extend our condolences to the entire Stevens family and to the families of those who perished alongside Senator Stevens in this terrible accident.
The General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service has announced a “hiring blitz” — FAS says it wants to add 200 new employees by the end of September. The agency has been trying to increase its acquisition work force, and the jobs seem to be focused on contracting, project management, and analysis. Click the link above for more info.
Former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens and former NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe are believed to have been aboard a plane that crashed in southwest Alaska last night, according to the Associated Press. O’Keefe is chief executive officer of defense contractor EADS North America. EADS told the AP that O’Keefe was on board the plane. Friends of Stevens think he was a passenger as well, according to the Anchorage Daily News. The Alaska National Guard said there are possible fatalities in the crash, but Stevens’ and O’Keefe’s conditions are currently unknown. UPDATE: The National Transportation Safety Board says nine people were aboard,…
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, last Thursday introduced the latest bill seeking to cap the federal workforce. But the press release announcing the Reduce and Cap the Federal Workforce Act is so riddled with bad numbers and misinformation that it requires some straightening out. Here are the stats Hatch cites as proof that the federal government “is growing at breakneck speed”: From 1981 through 2008, the senator noted, civilian workers numbered between 1.1 million and 1.2 million. The Obama administration is forecasting the government’s workforce this year will reach 2.15 million and serve 310 million Americans. “That is almost a fifty…
Our story Friday breaking the news that the Pentagon has abandoned the pay-for-performance elements of the Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel System has generated a lot of interest, both on our main website and our blog. Responses ranged from exuberant and exclamation point-y (“THERE IS A GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11”) to regretful (“Unbelievable… back to the old way where you get paid for doing only as much as needed to not be fired?”). Federal Times is working on a follow up story this week, and we’d like to hear from people who have worked under DCIPS. Where do you think it went wrong? What…