A battle simmering for the last couple of months looks like it will reach a new stage in June. The battle is over the State of Oregon's attempt to assert copyright over the Oregon Revised Statutes.
Complainants include Justia and PublicResource.Org, which also includes in their post on this topic a "Paper Trail" of many of the documents associated with this issue.
A summary of the battle to date can be found at Ars Technica HERE.
While a court filing is possible in early June, Oregon seems to be backing off a bit with a letter last week HERE, requesting that the complaintants present their objections to a legislative committee in mid June.
5/23/08
Copenhagen Consensus to Rank Cost/Benefits Of Solving Global Problems Next Week.
Interesting WSJ story HERE about effort to rank cost/benefits of solving a wide range of global problems. Effort is called Copenhagen Consensus; Wikipedia page about Copenhagen Consensus, with all of the usual caveats and a current focus on earlier conference held in 2004, is HERE.
Another story HERE reports on findings of one related study about cost/benefits on war on terrorism.
Copenhagen Consensus 2008 web site is HERE. (Appears that 2008 conclusions will be announced next week, look for additional news stories then).
Another story HERE reports on findings of one related study about cost/benefits on war on terrorism.
Copenhagen Consensus 2008 web site is HERE. (Appears that 2008 conclusions will be announced next week, look for additional news stories then).
5/21/08
GI Education Bill Benefit Now 54% Below Inflation Adjusted Vietnam Era Benefit.
As a strong supporter and prior user of the GI educational benefit, I have been interested in the growing political battle over the GI Bill, S.22. Senator McCain has opposed the expansion of benefits that this bill will provide while many other Congressional members support the expansion.
I went back and looked at the cost levels for S.22, as detailed by the Congressional Budget Office. Their estimate HERE is that the average benefit cost would be $90,000 for 36 months of benefits--4 years of college.
I then went back and constructed a table HERE showing what education benefits would be if Vietnam era benefit levels were adjusted, using the rate of college tuition inflation since 1970.
Three Conclusions:
I went back and looked at the cost levels for S.22, as detailed by the Congressional Budget Office. Their estimate HERE is that the average benefit cost would be $90,000 for 36 months of benefits--4 years of college.
I then went back and constructed a table HERE showing what education benefits would be if Vietnam era benefit levels were adjusted, using the rate of college tuition inflation since 1970.
Three Conclusions:
- Current GI educational benefit levels are 54% below what they would be if they were at the same level of benefits available to Vietnam era veterans, after adjusting for tuition inflation.
- S. 22 benefits levels are somewhat more generous than called for by tuition inflation alone. Using CBO's benefit estimate of $90,000, the benefit provided by S.22 would be about 8% more--nearly $9,000 more- than what Vietnam era benefit levels would be adjusted through 2007 for tuition inflation.
- After inflation adjustments for 2008 are added, the proposed benefit levels in S. 22 are only marginally higher than they should be if they were adjusted only for tuition inflation since 1990.
5/20/08
Oregon Congressional Members Net Worth--Smith Net Worth 85 Times Wu's.
From Sunlight Foundation, new website shows net worth for Oregon congressional delegation HERE.
Gordon Smith is # 1 with net worth of more than $23 M.
David Wu is last with net worth of $272k.
Average families net worth $93k
Note: Sort of ALL members of Congress by net worth available HERE.
Highest net worth is by one of women members of Congress, Jane Harman from California, with a net worth of more than $409 million.
Gordon Smith is # 1 with net worth of more than $23 M.
David Wu is last with net worth of $272k.
Average families net worth $93k
Note: Sort of ALL members of Congress by net worth available HERE.
Highest net worth is by one of women members of Congress, Jane Harman from California, with a net worth of more than $409 million.
3/22/08
3/9/08
U.S. Senate Data: Real Estate Lobbyists Spent $65M+ in 2007.
From U.S. Senate lobbyist disclosure database at opensecrets.org
Results for real estate industry are HERE. Realtors, private mortgage insurance companies, Fannie, and Freddie top the list.
Results for real estate industry are HERE. Realtors, private mortgage insurance companies, Fannie, and Freddie top the list.
3/7/08
Air Force Tanker Procurement: CRS Report Has Facts.
Congressional members from Washington state are making a lot of noise about the recently announced decision to award a larger tanker contract to Northrup Grumman instead of Boeing. (It's only a matter of time IMO that Oregon lawmakers will be asked to weigh in on Boeing's behalf).
For those interested more in the facts than the politics, the Congressional Research Survey issued a report HERE at the end of February 2008 that does a good job of explaining what the procurement was intended to accomplish and the evaluation factors that were used in the procurement process. This report was issued before the procurement decision was announced.
For those interested more in the facts than the politics, the Congressional Research Survey issued a report HERE at the end of February 2008 that does a good job of explaining what the procurement was intended to accomplish and the evaluation factors that were used in the procurement process. This report was issued before the procurement decision was announced.
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