Feature Channels: Government and Law

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The small increase in take-home pay that began in April 2009 through the Making Work Pay Credit could mean an unexpected bump in your tax bill says Cheryl Block, tax law expert and professor of law at Washington University. The problem, according to Block, is that the Treasury Department’s new withholding tables do not take several individual employment circumstances into account. Some joint filers, college students and retirees, among others, may end up repaying all or part of the credit this tax season.

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Allergy & Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics (AANMA), the leading national patient advocacy and education organization for people with asthma and related conditions, hails South Dakota lawmakers for making it the 50th and final state in America to establish laws protecting students’ rights to carry and self-administer their lifesaving asthma medication at school.

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Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke addressed innovation through regional cluster formation Thursday at “Clustering for 21st Century Prosperity”, a meeting at the National Academy of Sciences, hosted by the National Research Council. Innovation leaders from around the nation participated in the event.

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The Partnership for a Secure America (PSA), the U.S. Civilian Research & Development Foundation (CRDF) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) have united to elevate the role of science diplomacy in U.S. foreign policy. Their joint initiative will launch with the unveiling of a bipartisan statement at 6 pm, Thursday February 25 in Arlington, VA.

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Kate Bronfenbrenner, Cornell senior lecturer on labor relations, will talk with journalists about the pending federal rule change related to the Railway Labor Act and how the recent U.S. Supreme Court landmark decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission – that nixes campaign spending limits – will change the playing field for labor. Her discussion will be held Tuesday, March 9, from noon to 1:30 p.m., Cornell’s ILR Conference Center, 16 E. 34th St., Sixth floor, New York City.

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As the United States prepares for the 2010 census, rural areas are at risk of being undercounted, says demographer William O’Hare, senior policy fellow at the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire. O’Hare is available to comment on the characteristics of rural America that may make certain rural areas difficult to count.

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On the eve of high-level policy discussions about the federal role in job creation, university technology transfer, and regional clusters, the Association of University Research Parks (AURP) releases "The Power of Place 2.0: The Power of Innovation—10 Steps for Creating Jobs, Improving Technology Commercialization, and Building Communities of Innovation" in Washington, D.C.

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Joel W. Hay, Professor of Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy, USC School of Pharmacy is an expert on issues related to the legalization of medical marijuana.

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On the surface, peacekeeping and counterinsurgency have little in common: neutral, nonviolent end of war versus an inherently non-neutral, violent operation to win a war. Yet the two are not so dissimilar.

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Vigorous two-party competition provides the best guarantee for meaningful, broad-based governance and modest salaries for lawmakers add a second protection against narrow-interest legislation, finds a national study spanning 120 years of state lawmaking.

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Mixed-income housing developments, intended in part to reduce social isolation for public housing residents, don’t automatically lead to strong communities. While these developments appear to be successful in improving physical conditions and safety, the social environment is proving more challenging.

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How best to start developing a strategy for United States activities in outer space? A specially-convened workshop of experts has initiated a dialogue on how to develop a U.S. National Space Strategy.

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Baylor Law Professor Mark Osler has joined with the ACLU and other groups and individuals nationwide preparing a petition calling on the Obama Administration to commute the sentence of a grandmother serving her 17th year of a 27-year federal prison sentence for a first time, non-violent crack cocaine conspiracy offense.

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Workplace equality for women boils down to not only whether women are included in the workforce but on how they are included.

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Rafael Reuveny, a professor of public and environmental affairs at Indiana University, says President Obama should bypass the gridlocked Congress and issue an executive order to cut greenhouse gases.

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University of Oregon authors focus on key perspectives and experiences, provide roadmap for changes.

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The American Psychological Association urged both the Pentagon and Congress today to move swiftly to end the restrictions on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military, noting that there are decades of scientific research demonstrating no threat to military readiness or morale.

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Funding will ensure that scientists continue transformational research, leading to technologies that spur innovation and generate clean energy jobs to keep the nation competitive in a global economy.

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“The tobacco industry has always been very nimble and aggressive in its responses to new regulations, and Altria’s current attempts to market smokeless tobacco as ‘less harmful’ are no exception,” says Douglas Luke, Ph.D., professor and director of the Center for Tobacco Policy Research at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. “Part of what we're seeing here is the tobacco industry trying to position smokeless tobacco products so that they either do not come under the new Food and Drug Administration regulations or they come under weaker regulations.”

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Michael Middleton, associate professor of education at the University of New Hampshire, is available to discuss the sweeping changes proposed by the Obama Administration to the No Child Left Behind Act and the elements of the original act that educators have found problematic.

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NASA is set to unveil the space agency’s fiscal year 2011 budget on Monday, February 1st. Dr. Ray Williamson, Executive Director of Secure World Foundation, is prepared to respond to reporter questions regarding the proposed NASA budget.

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National Wildlife Federation applauds Obama State of the Union.

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A University of South Carolina researcher in experimental psychology can discuss his studies and the science that supports federal and state bans on texting while driving.

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Count on more political attack ads in 2010 after a Supreme Court ruling lifting the ban on corporation and labor donations, according to political scientist John Geer.

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A new study offers a scathing critique of a U.S. immigration enforcement program that targets migrant workers. The report states that the program, Operation Streamline, violates the civil rights of defendants and diverts resources from fighting border violence: drug smuggling and human trafficking.

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A University of Iowa free speech expert is available to discuss the Supreme Court decision expected this week in a case that could overturn limits on campaign spending by some organizations.

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For every $100 of taxpayer money spent on refrigerators under the federal appliance rebate program, $6 is entirely lost, say two University of Delaware economists.

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As President Obama wraps up his first year in office, how has his government affected the United States’s relations with its largest trading partner? What will President Obama’s direction be during the next four years and what impact will that have on Canada? Ryerson University experts can provide their insight on these and other questions in the lead-up to President Obama’s state-of-the-union address in February.

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A list of faculty experts to serve as sources for reporters covering the upcoming State of the Union Address.

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The United States Senate, in a historic Christmas Eve vote, passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009 (H.R. 3590). The Women's Health Office Act (WHOA), SWHR’s signature piece of legislation, was included as a provision in the health reform bill, marking a tremendous accomplishment for women’s health and women's health research and an advancement of SWHR’s advocacy work.

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States that received funding from two obesity prevention programs founded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention implemented more than twice as many obesity-prevention policy initiatives as states that did not receive funding, according to a study by researchers from RTI International.

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The overwhelming majority of Americans support action to limit carbon pollution and move the U.S. toward a clean energy future, according to a new poll released today by National Wildlife Federation.

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As the debate over health reform continues, please remember that faculty members of The George Washington University (GW) Medical Center Department of Health Policy are available to comment on topics regarding health reform, including: general policy/political analysis, Medicare, Medicaid, compliance, community health centers, state health reform, affordability, finance, health technology information.

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James Martin, who specializes in the study of infrastructure for increased resilience to natural or terrorist activities, advocates community-based leadership to minimize disasters. "Government must coordinate efforts but ... we need the transportation, water, power, and other industries to share the leadership."

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One year ago this week, Siemens (a global powerhouse in the industry, energy and healthcare sectors) agreed to pay $800 million in combined U.S. fines and penalties to settle Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) charges for a pattern of bribery the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) termed “unprecedented in scale and geographic scope.” The charged conduct involved improper payments to obtain or retain (among other business) transportation, telecommunication, energy and health sector contracts in (among other places) Argentina, China, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, and Venezuela.

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More than twenty of our nation’s premiere physician organizations applaud Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA) for introducing an amendment to The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590). The amendment delays by one year the implementation of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) decision to eliminate the use of consultation codes.

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Earlier this week, Don Fisher, PhD, President and CEO of the American Medical Group Association (AMGA), wrote to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), urging him to oppose the recently revealed idea for a Medicare “buy-in” plan. Reid had asked a group of 10 Senators, chaired by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), to address the public plan option. As part of the group’s work, a plan has been developed to allow a “buy-in” to Medicare for those 55 to 64 years of age and without other insurance coverage.

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Research parks’ role in job creation will be the focal point this Wednesday, December 9th as the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hears testimony on Senate Bill 583 Building A Stronger America Act.

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The Endocrine Society commends Representative Jim Moran (D-VA) and Senator John Kerry (D-MA) for introducing the Endocrine Disruption Prevention Act of 2009 (H.R. 4190; S. 2828). The bill, endorsed by the Society, amends the Public Health Service Act by authorizing the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to conduct a research program on endocrine disruption aimed at preventing and reducing the production of and the public’s exposure to harmful chemicals.

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On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Free Enterprise Fund v. PCAOB. Indiana U. legal expert Donna Nagy has been researching and writing about the constitutional status of the PCAOB for years and can comment on the case.

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President Obama launched the “Educate to Innovate” campaign, a nationwide effort to motivate U.S. kids to excel in math and science. Jeffrey Choppin, Ph.D., believes that this initiative is a great way to engage students in mathematics outside the classroom. He suggests that the initiative should help students grapple with problems that are authentic and mathematically intriguing, with an underlying goal of connecting the ways students experience the world with formal mathematical concepts.

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Lee Goldman, M.D., executive vice president for health and biomedical sciences and dean of the faculties of medicine and health sciences at Columbia University testified today on medical malpractice reform before the New York State Senate Committees on Codes, Health and Insurance in Albany, New York.

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The growth of global space capabilities and the importance of emerging space Sates is addressed by Dr. Ray Williamson, Executive Director of Secure World Foundation, before a U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics.

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The U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources today approved legislation expanding key watershed and environmental education programs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

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Nationwide, 14 percent of open homicide cases and 18 percent of open rape cases contain forensic evidence that has not been sent to a crime lab for analysis, according to a new study conducted by RTI International for the Office of Justice Programs' National Institute of Justice.

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Harvard University event targets social, legal history of crack cocaine.

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On Nov. 21, 2009, Americans with a genetic medical condition will no longer live in fear of discrimination from their employers because of their unique genetic code. On that date, The Genetic Information Nondiscrimation Act (GINA) goes into effect, prohibiting employers from discriminating in terms of hiring, promotion, firing or any other terms and conditions of employment based on an individual’s genetic code.

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The new study calls for Congressional action to cap payday lender interest rates at 36 percent.

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Law enforcement officers who are exposed to child pornography as part of their investigative work report experiencing mental health problems that impact both their work and home lives, according to new research from the University of New Hampshire Crimes against Children Research Center.

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Latin American expert discusses Honduran coup and upcoming election.