,

The SEVEN Stories you Need to Know — Roth Delays and the Secret Service heads to Congress

We start with the SEVEN stories that impact your life for Monday April 23rd 2012…

  1. We’re going to talk about the Thrift Savings Plan’s Roth option later, but… It turns out that TSP’s Roth option might not make its May 7th start date. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service has said it will not be ready for the start-up next month. The Washington Post says the delay is partly due to the time will take payroll offices to be able to separate the traditional and roth investment options and make the necessary TSP’s traditional tax treatment.
  2. Lawmakers are broadening the investigation into the Secret Service activities in Colombia involving prostitutes. Federal News Radio says the Senate Homeland Security Committee wants to determine whether the incident was an exception, or part of a pattern of misconduct. The House Homeland Security Committee sent Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan a list of 50 questions. Members wanted a comprehensive, minute-by-minute timeline of the event.
  3. A group of non-profits are looking into federal whistleblowing protection in the wake of the GSA conference spending scandal. The Washington Post says the group Cause of Action has asked the Office of Management and Budget to conduct a governmentwide audit to make sure agencies were complying with federal ethics and whistleblower laws. The GSA inspector general who investigated the agency’s lavish Las Vegas conference spending said the regional administrator at the heart of the scandal did not tolerate dissent from employees. IG Brian Miller said Jeff Neely intimidated those who raised questions about the spending.
  4. The House is set to debate on as many as four cybersecurity bills this week. The National Journal reports, the bills would encourage businesses and government to share threat information; increase cyber research, development, and education; and update federal network security practices. Today kicks off federal cybersecurity week.
  5. Another pay cut could be on the way…but this time the cut would only affect Congressman. Kansas Republican Kevin Yoder has introduced a bill to cut the pay rates of lawmakers by 5 percent. Government Executive says the bill would also prevent Congressman from getting cost of living adjustments.
  6. House Republicans are moving back towards the debt deal’s spending levels. The Hill Newspaper says Republican leaders who are “Boxed in by their Senate colleagues on one side and House conservatives on the other are inching closer to the spending levels agreed to in the Budget Control Act.
  7. And on GovLoop, Bob Gourley is talking about this new product TwitChimp. The idea is harness the power of Twitter to niche markets. We will actually be talking to Gourley later this week. But you should head over to our homepage now to check it out. And we’ll be talking to Gourley about TwitChimp later this week here on the DorobekINSIDER.

Leave a Comment

Leave a comment

Leave a Reply