FedLine is attending the INPUT FedFocus today getting an outlook on Federal IT spending for 2009. GEIA Group of the Information Technology Association of America will give a similar briefing later this week. There’s lots of talk at INPUT’s event today about the economy and how that’s going to change the environment of the federal marketplace. The government’s Wall Street bailout could be a boon for contractors in the coming years if the government makes money off the deal, said Kevin Plexico, INPUT’s senior vice president. The bailout creates a rare scenario where the government will get a monetary return…

As we’re reporting on the Federal Times Web site, Special Counsel Scott Bloch announced his resignation — he’s leaving office on Jan. 5, the scheduled end of his five-year term. He made the announcement in a letter to the president (pdf) earlier today. Bloch had the option to stay for one more year (or until the Senate confirms the next special counsel, whichever comes first), but he declined to stick around. Bloch’s announcement is true to his word from an interview two months ago, when I asked Bloch about the increasingly vocal calls for his resignation: But when asked about…

Election Day is still two weeks away, but the next president already has good-government groups lining up to offer advice. The latest is the Project on Government Oversight, which today issued a set of recommendations for the next president. Many of them are obvious good-government suggestions, but many also come at opportune times. POGO points out, for example, that the government’s oversight and regulatory role has been “decimated” in recent years. Given the recent scandals at the Minerals Management Service, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Food and Drug Administration, that’s not an overstatement. There’s also a call for inspectors…

Struggling to figure out which charities to support this year through the Combined Federal Campaign? Who could blame you. There are literally thousands of local, national and international charities making pitches to get your dollar. Nearly all of them sound worthwhile, but how do you know that the charities you select are making the most of your contributions? One way is by reviewing how much of each charity’s collections goes to covering administrative and fund raising costs – i.e., how much is not going to the people the charity is supposed to be helping. The general rule of thumb is,…

As far as federal advertising goes, you have to admit the Federal Communications Commission’s announcement that it is sponsoring a race car to advertise the mandatory conversion to digital television is pretty creative. FCC spent $350,000 on the sponsorship that will debut on car No. 38, which will be driven by David Gilliland at the Oct. 19 NASCAR race at the Martinsville Speedway in Virginia. The transition message will also appear on car No. 38 during races on Nov. 9 and Nov. 16. Given the current economic crisis, which many say  hurts NASCAR’s bottom line, some cynics might view this as a new kind of government bailout. But…

The FDA announced this week that it will start opening foreign offices – first in China and India, and eventually in Latin America, Europe and the Middle East. It’s a promising step for the agency, which is simply terrible at inspecting foreign plants: Less than 30 percent of foreign drug plants, for example, are checked on schedule. So the FDA deserves a lot of credit for starting the program and investing $30 million to open those offices. But the announcement leaves some unanswered questions. In the United States, FDA inspectors can walk into any food or drug plant, unannounced, and…

Our weekly Federal Times poll showed some interesting results when we asked readers how their retirement plans are faring. In light of the recent stock market woes and diminishing TSP returns, 41 percent of responders — 387 people — said they’re planning to delay their retirement. Fifty-nine percent, or 562 of you, said you were still going to retire as planned. Now we want to hear more. Let’s talk below about your retirement plans — are you on track to still be able to retire in a few years? Will the smaller TSP returns cause havoc on your retirement plans?…

Welcome to FedLine, the new blog from Federal Times! I think you’ll find FedLine to be a great source of up-to-the-minute news, information and commentary from the Federal Times reporting and editing staff. Throughout each business day, we will post quick summaries and analysis on breaking news, such as congressional hearings, new reports and other news and events that affect federal managers and employees. When our reporters and editors first hear about breaking news, so will you — on FedLine. Our hope is that you will check FedLine throughout the day to find out the latest happenings in the world of…

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