Key Foreign Affairs Issues for the 110th Congress (CRS)
A new report from the Congressional Research Service presents a comprehensive 80-page survey of foreign policy and national security issues that will face the next Congress. See “Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade: Key Issues for the 110th Congress” (pdf), December 20, 2006.
Also newish from CRS is “Bioterrorism Countermeasure Development: Issues in Patents and Homeland Security” (pdf), updated November 27, 2006.
The new alignment signals a clear shift in priorities: offices dedicated to clean energy and energy efficiency have been renamed, consolidated, or eliminated, while new divisions elevate hydrocarbons, fusion, and a combined Office of AI & Quantum.
We came out of the longest shutdown in history and we are all worse for it. Who won the shutdown fight? It doesn’t matter – Americans lost. And there is a chance we run it all back again in a few short months.
Promising examples of progress are emerging from the Boston metropolitan area that show the power of partnership between researchers, government officials, practitioners, and community-based organizations.
Americans trade stocks instantly, but spend 13 hours on tax forms. They send cash by text, but wait weeks for IRS responses. The nation’s revenue collector ranks dead last in citizen satisfaction. The problem isn’t just paperwork — it’s how the government builds.