Congress has appropriated about $437 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through FY 2006, according to a newly updated report from the Congressional Research Service.
See “The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror Operations Since 9/11” (pdf), updated September 22, 2006.
Some other notable new CRS reports that have not been made readily available to the public include these (all pdf):
“National Security Surveillance Act of 2006: S. 3886, Title II (S. 2453 as Reported Out of the Senate Judiciary Committee),” September 15, 2006.
“Bangladesh: Background and U.S. Relations,” September 7, 2006.
“Terrorist Watchlist Checks and Air Passenger Prescreening,” September 6, 2006.
“Cuba: U.S. Restrictions on Travel and Remittances,” updated August 30, 2006.
January saw us watching whether the government would fund science. February has been about how that funding will be distributed, regulated, and contested.
This rule gives agencies significantly more authority over certain career policy roles. Whether that authority improves accountability or creates new risks depends almost entirely on how agencies interrupt and apply it.
Our environmental system was built for 1970s-era pollution control, but today it needs stable, integrated, multi-level governance that can make tradeoffs, share and use evidence, and deliver infrastructure while demonstrating that improved trust and participation are essential to future progress.
Durable and legitimate climate action requires a government capable of clearly weighting, explaining, and managing cost tradeoffs to the widest away of audiences, which in turn requires strong technocratic competency.