Briefing cards on members of congressional delegations to Iraq are distributed to nearly every government employee who may come into contact with a visiting member of Congress.  The sheets contain a photo, bio, and the legislator’s batting record on Iraq-related measures in Congress.  See Jonathan Weisman’s story in the Washington Post here.

Scot Paltrow of the Wall Street Journal reports that U.S. Attorney offices around the country are facing a cash crunch and are short-handed, unable to prosecute cases and taking longer with existing cases, including investigations into congressional wrongdoing.  Full story here.

Washington Post reporting shows the importance of independent voices within government with the resources and authority to criticize government performance.  Two new GAO reports have emerged:  one describes in detail the lack of progress in meeting benchmarks in Iraq, and the second criticizes State Department effectiveness in hiring, staffing embassies, and hiring and training Arabic-language specialists.  Karen De Young and Tom Ricks have a detailed review of the Iraq report here, and the Post’s "Primary Source" feature excerpts the DOS report here.

David Trachtenberg writes in the Christian Science Monitor about Voice of America’s dull and often opinion-free editorials.  He says VOA and its parent organization, the Broadcasting Board of Governors, are missing an opportunity to help foreigners recognize America’s nuances and appreciate our internal policy debates.  Read his opinion piece here.

Could America’s superpower status be endangered by the country’s thirst for ever greater profits from  complex investment products?  The strategic consequences of massive foreign investment in the U.S. economy are now emerging. (more…)

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has extended the review period for new security regulations that would force NGOs receiving AID grants for international projects to report more detailed information about grantees, staffing, and expenditures.  See Walter Pincus’s follow up article from the Washington Post here.

Phred Dvorak writes in the Wall Street Journal that leading hi-tech and manufacturing companies are sending foreign engineers, designers, and scientists to their non-U.S. offices because they can’t obtain J-1 visas for them.  Full story is here.

NPR’s Sasha Khoka reports on Weekend Edition Saturday that the California town of Arvin has the worst smog problem in the nation and . . . apparently there’s nothing that citizens or even Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger can do about it.  The state environmental agency and the EPA are expected to sign off soon on clean air regulations that will put off the deadline for improving Arvin’s air quality for eleven years.  Hear the full story here.

One bureaucracy that has a splendid record of efficiency has been put on a near-starvation diet by the Bush administration.  "Staffing at the Social Security Administration will soon be at its lowest level since 1974," reports the Washington Post’s Stephen Barr.  "The number of disability claims waiting for hearing decisions is at an all-time high."

The agency’s head, Michael J. Astrue, says "that inadequate funding since 2001 is largely to blame for staffing and workflow problems."  Was the Bush gang trying to create problems with the present Social Security system to gain support for its privatization proposals?

(Originally printed in The Washington Monthly September 2007 issue.  Used by permission.)

David Hilzenrath reports in the Washington Post that the Bush Administration is proposing an expanded role for the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), allowing it to help homeowners move out of subprime loans, and raising the mortgage limit that the FHA can cover.  The move would make FHA more competitive with government-chartered private mortgage insurers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  Read more here.