Posts tagged ‘us’
New Government Report: Factors Affecting the Decisions of General Motors and Chrysler to Reduce Their Dealership Networks
Factors Affecting the Decisions of General Motors and Chrysler to Reduce Their Dealership Networks
by Neil Barofsky
Paperback, 40 pages, 2010, $20.00
ISBN: 9781437936704
For the U.S. auto industry, the quarter ending June 30, 2009, was dominated by the bankruptcy filings of Chrysler and GM. As part of the bankruptcy proceedings, Chrysler terminated 789 dealerships, and GM planned to wind down 1,454 dealerships by Oct. 2010.
Questions arose as to how GM and Chrysler selected dealerships for termination and what benefit, if any, the companies gained from terminating the dealership.
This report addresses: (1) the role of U.S. Treasury in the decision to reduce dealership networks; (2) the extent to which GM and Chrysler documented processes for deciding which dealerships to terminate and which to retain; and (3) to what extent the dealership reductions are expected to lead to cost savings for GM and Chrysler. Illus.
New Government Report: Social Security Disability: Management of Disability Claims Workload Will Require comprehensive Planning: Testimony Before Subcommittees on Social Security and Income Security and Family Support, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives
Social Security Disability: Management of Disability Claims Workload Will Require comprehensive Planning: Testimony Before Subcommittees on Social Security and Income Security and Family Support, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives
by Daniel Bertoni
Paperback, 17 pages, 2010, ISBN: 9781437933284, $15.00
Statement of Daniel Bertoni, Dir., Education, Workforce, and Income Security, GAO.
Nearly 2 million people are waiting to find out if they qualify for Social Security disability benefits, reports the Associated Press. It will be a long wait for most, even if they eventually win their cases. The Social Security system is so overwhelmed by applications for disability benefits that many people are waiting more than two years for their first payment. In Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota and other states, the wait can be even longer.
For years, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has been challenged to manage its large disability claims workload. Difficulties in making timely and accurate decisions have contributed to backlogs accumulating at different levels of the claims process.
These backlogs have occurred most often at the hearings level, the level at which initial claims that were denied are appealed and await a hearing before an administrative law judge.
Claimants often experienced long waits for a decision on their claim because of this backlog. In May 2007, SSA released a plan designed to eliminate its hearings-level backlog. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) was subsequently asked by Congress to evaluate this plan and issued a report in September 2009.
This testimony discusses SSA’s backlog reduction plan and the challenges the agency faces in managing its overall claims workload. It draws primarily from GAO reports, and recent reports issued by SSA’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG). Figures.
New Government Report: Bank Mergers and Banking Structure in the United States, 1980-98
Bank Mergers and Banking Structure in the United States, 1980-98
by Stephen A. Rhoades
Paperback, 33 pages, 2000, $25.00
ISBN: 9781437933659
After 1980, the U.S. banking industry experienced a sustained and unprecedented level of merger activity that has substantially affected banking structure.
From 1980 through 1998, there were approximately 8,000 mergers, involving about $2.4 trillion in acquired assets. From 1990 to 1999 several mergers occurred that, at the time of occurrence, were the largest bank mergers in U.S. history.
This report describes various facets of bank merger activity and some of the changes in U.S. banking structure that occurred from 1980 through 1998. A primary force underlying the sustained merger movement in banking since 1980 was the gradual removal of state and federal restrictions on geographic expansion in banking. Charts and tables.
New Government Report: United States of America v. Paul A. Slough et al, Defendants: Ruling on the Case against Former Blackwater Security Guards
United States of America v. Paul A. Slough et al, Defendants: Ruling on the Case against Former Blackwater Security Guards
by Ricardo M. Urbina
Paperback, 90 pages, 2009, ISBN: 1437927750, $30.00
The sudden blow to the case against the former Blackwater security guards over a shooting that killed 17 Iraqis and wounded at least 20 may have come as a surprise to the public in Iraq and the United States, but the legal problem that the judge cited Thursday when he threw out the indictments was obvious to American government lawyers within days of the shooting, reports the New York Times.
This government report contains the ruling by Judge Ricardo M. Urbina of Federal District court in Washington, DC, on the case against former Blackwater security guards in Iraq over a shooting that killed 17 Iraqis and wounded at least 20.
Judge Ricardo threw out the indictments against the guards. In his opinion: “The defendants have been charged with voluntary manslaughter and firearms violations arising out of a shooting that occurred in Baghdad, Iraq on Sept. 16, 2007.
“They contend that in the course of this prosecution, the government violated their constitutional rights by utilizing statements they made to Deptartment of State investigators, which were compelled under a threat of job loss.
“The government has acknowledged that many of these statements qualify as compelled statements under Garrity v. New Jersey, 385 U.S. 493 (1967), which held that the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination bars the government from using statements compelled under a threat of job loss in a subsequent criminal prosecution.
“The Fifth Amendment automatically confers use and derivative use immunity on statements compelled under Garrity; this means that in seeking an indictment from a grand jury or a conviction at trial, the government is prohibited from using such compelled statements or any evidence obtained as a result of those statements.
“The government has also acknowledged that its investigators, prosecutors and key witnesses were exposed to (and, indeed, aggressively sought out) many of the statements given by the defendants to State Deptartment investigators.
“Under the binding precedent of the Supreme Court, the burden fell to the government to prove that it made no use whatsoever of these immunized statements or that any such use was harmless beyond any reasonable doubt.
“In short, the government has utterly failed to prove that it made no impermissible use of the defendants’ statements or that such use was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Accordingly, the court must dismiss the indictment against all of the defendants.”
New Government Report: China’s Approach to Cyber Operations: Implications for the United States: Congressional Testimony
China’s Approach to Cyber Operations: Implications for the United States: Congressional Testimony
by Larry M. Wortzel
Paperback, 11 pages, 2010, $10.00
ISBN: 1437931103
Statement of Larry M. Wortzel, Commissioner, U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, at a Hearing on “The Google Predicament: Transforming U.S. Cyberspace Policy to Advance Democracy, Security, and Trade.”
The attacks on Google that prompted this hearing are the most recent example of a series of penetrations into the computer networks of American companies, departments of the U.S Government, and even some members of Congress.
Read the 
of this report before you purchase it.
Diatoms of the United States: Exclusive of Alaska and Hawaii: Monographs of The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, No. 13, Vol. I
Diatoms of the United States:
Exclusive of Alaska and Hawaii
Monographs of The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, No. 13, Vol. I
by Ruth Patrick and Charles W. Reimer, foreword by Radclyffe Roberts
(Paperback, 688 pages, 1966, $75.00, ISBN: 1422317803)
This systematic treatment of the diatoms of the U.S. is written for the use of all those concerned with the multitude of kinds and the fascinating diversity of this very large and important group of algae of our fresh waters.
This volume represents the first part of a two part systematic treatment of the freshwater diatom flora of continental U.S. exclusive of Alaska.
Besides those taxa found in fresh water, a few taxa found in estuaries of rivers and belonging to genera that commonly occur in fresh water are included. No strictly fossil species are included; however, many of the species embraced are found in recent fossil material.
Although this book is concerned with the U.S., it should be helpful to the students of diatom floras in Mexico, Canada, and other areas. Illustrations.
New Government Report: Terrorism in Southeast Asia (ISBN: 9781437925685)
Questioning Supreme Court Nominees About Their Views on Legal or Constitutional Issues: A Recurring Issue (ISBN: 9781437935899)
By Denis Steven Rutkus
(Paperback, 25 pages, 2010, $20.00)
Contents of this report: (I) The Rise of Islamist Militancy in Southeast Asia: Overview; The Rise of Al Qaeda in Southeast Asia; (II) The Jemaah Islamiyah Network: History of Jemaah Islamiyah; Jemaah Islamiyah’s Relationship to Al Qaeda; Jemaah Islamiyah’s Size and Structure; Major Plots; (III) Indonesia: Recent Events; Background; The Bali Bombings and Other JI attacks in Indonesia; The Trial and Release of Baasyir; U.S.-Indonesia Cooperation; (IV) The Philippines: Abu Sayyaf; The MILF; The Philippine Communist Party (CPP); U.S. Support for Philippine Military Operations; (V) Thailand: Southern Insurgency; Approaches of Recent Governments; Current Government’s Approach; Little Evidence of Transnational Elements; Leadership of Insurgency Unclear; U.S.-Thai Cooperation; (VI) Malaysia: Recent Events; A Muslim Voice of Moderation; Maritime Concerns; Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism in Malaysia; Terrorist Groups in Malaysia; Malaysia’s Counter-Terrorism Efforts and Their Critics; U.S.-Malaysia Counter-Terrorism Cooperation; (VII) Singapore: U.S.-Singapore Cooperation; Enhanced Homeland Security. Maps.
New Government Report: Speed of Presidential and Senate Actions on Supreme Court Nominations, 1900-2010 (ISBN: 9781437934274)
Speed of Presidential and Senate Actions on Supreme Court Nominations, 1900-2010 (ISBN: 9781437934274)
By R. Sam Garrett & Denis Steven Rutkus (Paperback, 48 pages, 2010, $20)
In May, President Obama nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan as the nation’s 112th justice, to succeed the retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. In the coming months, she will face the confirmation process.
This report’s contents: (1) Recent Activity: Activity During 2010, 2009, and 2005-2006: Recent Niminations: John Roberts, Harriet Miers, Samuel Alito; (2) Measuring the Pace of Supreme Court (SC) Appointments; (3) How SC Vacancies Occur: Death of a Sitting Justice (SJ): Retirement or Resignation of a SJ; Nomination of a SJ to Another Position; Controversial, Withdrawn, and Rejected Nominations; (4) Date of Actual or Prospective Vacancy; Announcement-of-Nominee Date: Use of Medians to Summarize Intervals; The Duration of the Nomination-and-Confirmation Process: Changes Since 1981; Factors Influencing the Speed of the Process: How the Vacancy Occurs; The Senate’s Schedule; Committee Involvement and Institutional Customs; Controversial Nominations.
New Government Report: Long Passage to Korea: Black Sailors and the Integration of the US Navy
Long Passage to Korea: Black Sailors and the Integration of the US Navy
by Bernard C. Nalty
Paperback, 48 pages, 2003, $20.00
ISBN: 9781437936704
This monograph in the Naval Historical Center’s series commemorating the Korean War, not only covers the contribution of African American Sailors in that conflict but traces the story of racial integration in the U.S. Navy since the American Revolution.
Truman's Executive Order 9981
Read more on President Harry Truman’s Executive Order 9981, which eliminated segregation in the military (click to enlarge):
Author Bernard Nalty is a renowned authority on racial integration of the armed services.
Chapters: Introduction; The Early Republic; Filling the Ranks; From Slavery to Jim Crow; World War II Experience; Into the Cold War; and Impact of the Korean War. Sidebars: The Impressment of Black Sailors; Robert A. Smalls; The March on Washington; African Americans in the U.S. Coast Guard; President Truman’s Executive Order 9981; and Black Sports Heroes of the Korean War. Full-color illustrations.
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