City and County Data Book, 2007

The County and City Data Book: 2007 has been released. Compiled and issued annually since the 1940s, it incorporates demographic and economic information about the United States from Census Bureau surveys, as well as information from other government and private organizations.

The data cover topics such as population, housing, vital statistics, health care, social programs, education, labor force, wholesale and retail trade, and weather. Geographic areas covered in the County and City Data Book include states, counties, cities with populations of 25,000 or more, and places with 100,000 or more residents.

War On Terrorism

Analysis of the Growth in Funding for Operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Elsewhere in the War on Terrorism:

If the Administration’s request for 2008 is funded in full, appropriations for military operations and other war-related activities in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere in the war on terrorism will rise to $188 billion this year and to a cumulative total of $752 billion since 2001. Most of the spending is concentrated in two categories—operation and maintenance, which has roughly doubled from 2004 to 2008, and procurement, which has increased tenfold over that period. The reasons for some of the increases are difficult to determine precisely because available data on the pace of operations and other factors that might affect costs are limited and because some of the funding and reporting categories are very broad. The Congressional Budget Office's analysis is based on supplemental budget requests submitted by the Administration, budget justification materials provided by the Department of Defense, reports on obligations incurred during the war, and committee reports accompanying appropriation acts.

Federal FY 2009 Budget Proposals

Major Savings and Reforms in the President’s FY 2009 Budget describes and provides funding levels for major discretionary and mandatory savings and reform proposals in the Fiscal Year 2009 Budget. These proposals will result in savings to taxpayers and improved Government services by eliminating or restructuring low-priority programs and programs that are not producing results. The proposals were guided by criteria that considered whether the programs met the Nation’s priorities, constituted an appropriate and effective use of taxpayer resources by the Federal Government, and produced the intended results.

In total, the Budget proposes to terminate or reduce 151 discretionary programs, reducing 2009 spending by $18 billion. These include 103 terminations saving $7 billion and 48 reductions saving $11 billion. The Budget also proposes mandatory spending reforms that will achieve an additional $16 billion in net savings in 2009, and result in $208 billion in savings through 2013. Mandatory savings proposals highlighted in this volume total $19 billion in 2009 and $233 billion through 2013, and exclude reforms that are cost-neutral or result in cost increases.

Source: Office of Management and Budget

























In total, the Budget proposes to terminate or reduce 151 discretionary programs, reducing 2009 spending by $18 billion. These include 103 terminations saving $7 billion and 48 reductions saving $11 billion. The Budget also proposes mandatory spending reforms that will achieve an additional $16 billion in net savings in 2009, and result in $208 billion in savings through 2013. Mandatory savings proposals highlighted in this volume total $19 billion in 2009 and $233 billion through 2013, and exclude reforms that are cost-neutral or result in cost increases.

Energy Security and Climate Change

Managing the Transition to a Secure, Low-Carbon Energy Future seeks to establish a framework for considering the complex and evolving links between energy security and climate change, and identifies three challenges: the evolving and interconnected nature of energy security and climate change definitions and goals, the variables that contribute to an uncertain future, and the trade-offs and unintended consequences involved in addressing both issues.

A workable strategy must be concerned not just with how to design a future in which climate change and energy security concerns are met, but also with the pathway to get there. To guide this transition, this brief offers several guiding principles for devising energy and climate policies that are both effective and politically viable.

Source: Center for Strategic and International Studies

Alternative Energy

The U.S. Department of Energy's Wind & Hydropower Technologies Program exists to "improve wind energy technology so that it can generate competitive electricity in areas with lower wind resources, and to develop new, cost-effective, advanced hydropower technologies." The website for the program provides overviews of how wind power and hydropower work and exploration of the history and advantages and disadvantages of each. Publications, photographs, and related links are featured.

Most wind energy research is carried out at world-class facilities located at DOE's National Wind Technology Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in cooperation with Sandia National Laboratories. Hydropower research is conducted at Idaho National Energy and Environmental Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Fiscal Policy

Options for Responding to Short-Term Economic Weakness: The economy has recently been buffeted by several interlinked shocks, and the risk of recession is significantly elevated compared with what it is during normal economic conditions.

In response to a request from the Chairmen of the House and Senate Budget Committees, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has examined the potential role of fiscal policy efforts to expand aggregate demand in the current economic situation and the efficacy of various policy options to do so. This paper also examines options for dealing with the crisis in the home mortgage market, which has contributed to the overall economic weakness. It updates and expands upon a January 2002 CBO analysis of various tax options for stimulating the economy (see Economic Stimulus: Evaluating Proposed Changes in Tax Policy).

Federal Trade Commission Resources

These Federal Trade Commission: Energy and Environment Web pages compile FTC information regarding energy and environment topics such as labeling and advertising of fuel and automotive products, marketing claims concerning carbon offsets and renewable energy certificates, and EnergyGuide labels for home appliances, plumbing, and lighting products. In addition to consumer and business education materials, they also contain rulings and statutes, press releases and announcements, and other government documents.