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 "Furloughed to Fairways."4:21 PM, Apr 30, 2013 • By DANIEL HALPERFurloughed federal employees who like to play golf are in luck. There's a deal waiting for them, courtesy of the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority.
"Thousands of area federal employees will be furloughed on certain days between April and September this year as a result of the Federal Sequester. In response, the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority (NVRPA) is offering a special deal for those furloughed federal employees who enjoy the outdoors and a good round of golf," the group writes in a press release, announcing its sequester deal.
"Starting on the first day of May, federal employees will be able to play any one of the three courses owned by NVRPA for just $25. This deal, which is about 30% off the regular greens fee, will be honored Monday through Thursday after 10 A.M. Federal employees must bring a civilian federal employee ID to the course to take advantage of the deal, which is targeted at furloughed employees."
Ted McCleskey, a civilian Defense Department employee, is quoted in the press release as saying, “NVRPA is giving a real morale boost to furloughed workers. To me, it’s more than just the golf discount-through Furlough to Fairways, NVRPA is showing that the Northern Virginia community supports us.”
The deal appears to be aimed at "The Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Authority, the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Management and Budget and many other departments [who] will be sending workers home on a regular basis (often weekly) as a result of the Sequester," as the press release states.
"No one knows what they do, what it means, how much they benefit us."3:32 PM, Apr 23, 2013 • By DANIEL HALPERFirst Lady Michelle Obama praised federal workers in remarks today, calling them an "invisible face." Her remarks were delivered at the Department of Interior.
"I ... know that the work that you do isn’t easy, especially right now during these times. I know that budget cuts mean that you all are juggling even more responsibilities with fewer resources. And I know that many of you are stretched thinner than ever before," said the first lady.
Read more... Contract awarded to Northeastern University in Boston.1:41 PM, Apr 18, 2013 • By JERYL BIERIn what may be just an eerie coincidence, the Defense Department posted a contract award notice today to Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts for research into "Methods for Explosive Detection at Standoff." Of particular concern are Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) that have become a favorite among terrorists and gained widespread attention during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Read more... 9:56 AM, Apr 2, 2013 • By DANIEL HALPERThe federal government will now allow companies that sell "nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products," such as Nicorette, not to put warning labels on their merchandise, the Food and Drug Administration announced. The change, the FDA now admits, is because the warnings, which were mandated for the last 30 years, were misguided from the very beginning.
Read more... In the Washington, D.C. area.7:23 AM, Mar 6, 2013 • By DANIEL HALPERThe federal government in the Washington, D.C. area is closed today. Here's the announcement, by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management:
Read more... 8:27 AM, Jan 15, 2013 • By DANIEL HALPERFederal welfare spending will skyrocket 80 percent over the next decade, according to new analysis by the minority side of the Senate Budget Committee. Here's a chart, provided by the committee, detailing the growth in spending:

Read more... 12:50 PM, Dec 28, 2012 • By DANIEL HALPERPresident Barack Obama issued an executive order to end the pay freeze on federal employees, in effect giving some federal workers a raise. One federal worker now to receive a pay increase is Vice President Joe Biden.
According to disclosure forms, Biden made a cool $225,521 last year. After the pay increase, he'll now make $231,900 per year.
Read more... 2:48 PM, Dec 17, 2012 • By DANIEL HALPERAccording to bestplacestowork.org, the worst large federal agency to work at is the Department of Homeland Security. The second worst large federal agency to work at is the Department of Veteran Affairs, while the Department of Labor is the third worst.
Read more... 8:16 AM, Dec 14, 2012 • By DANIEL HALPERThe federal government is now spending $110 billion on "all food assistance" per year, according to new analysis by the minority side of the Senate Budget Committee. The federal dollars spent on these programs has risen by nearly $70 billion in just ten years.
Here's a chart from the Republicans on the Senate Budget Committee, showing how spending has increased over the last dozen years:

Read more... 11:34 AM, Dec 3, 2012 • By GEOFFREY NORMANIt has been a little more than a month since Hurricane Sandy made landfall and pounded the Atlantic shores of New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut. Within hours, government big dogs, the president included, were on the scene promising speedy and comprehensive relief. When they left to attend to campaigning and other business, the bureaucrats arrived and took over. Now, things proceed slowly and in the usual fashion.
Read more... "They still have nothing to do."8:02 AM, Oct 19, 2012 • By DANIEL HALPERThe NBC affiliate in Grand Rapids filed this report on the stimulus-receiving battery company, LG Chem:
Read more... 8:45 AM, Oct 18, 2012 • By DANIEL HALPERA new report by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service finds that the largest federal budget item is spending on welfare programs. To support the 83 programs that CRS identified as welfare programs, the federal government spends $745.84 billion.
That dollar amount exceeds the $725 billion spent by the federal government on Social Security, $480 billion on Medicare, and $540 billion on non-war defense.
Read more... 3:06 PM, Jul 12, 2012 • By DANIEL HALPERThe federal government has been making the case that, with food stamps, "everyone wins," according to literature meant to promote the federal social welfare program. The argument is that accepting food stamp benefits helps to promote economic growth for the communities hosting those recipients.
Read more... 1:09 PM, Jun 20, 2012 • By DANIEL HALPERPresident Obama's Department of Justice recently released new regulations to prevent prison rape. "Sexual violence, against any victim, is an assault on human dignity and an affront to American values," Obama said when announcing the new initiative. "The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA) was enacted with bipartisan support and established a 'zero-tolerance standard' for rape in prisons in the United States."
Read more... 9:24 AM, Nov 23, 2011 • By JEFFREY H. ANDERSONThe Washington Post’s Greg Sargent claims to debunk the conservative argument against raising taxes on wealthier Americans, by drawing attention to “how much the share of their own income they are paying in taxes” and observing how much that share “has shrunk” (italics in original). But the facts don’t back him up.
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