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U.S. Ambassador killed in Libya – DorobekINSIDER 7 Stories you need to know

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Regardless of what happens in November, there will be a transition. Long-time feds say the transition between a first and second term presidents can be significant.

Romney is also prepping to fill his Cabinet if he were to be elected. The Wall Street Journal says, ”Mitt Romney’s presidential transition team, stocked with veterans of the George W. Bush administration, is studying personnel and policy moves that would prepare Mr. Romney to reorder federal spending and quickly propose a budget, should he win the White House. The team, which moved into Washington, D.C. offices last week, offers an early peek at how a Romney administration might run. It is peppered with old GOP hands and fresh faces from the business world.”

The SEVEN stories that impact your life

  1. U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed in a rocket attack on the consulate in Benghazi. The Associated Press reports three other consulate employees were killed. President Obama has called for increased security not only in that country but elsewhere in the world. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says some are trying to justify the attack as a response to inflammatory material on the Internet. Protesters burned down the Benghazi consulate in anger over a film that ridiculed the Prophet Muhammad. It was produced by an Israeli filmmaker living in California. In Egypt, protesters scaled the walls of the U.S. embassy and replaced the American flag with an Islamic banner. Stevens is the sixth Ambassador to be killed on duty. The last was in 1979.
  2. The House has released a stopgap spending measure that would freezes federal pay for another six months. The Federal Times says the continuing resolution runs through the end of March. It funds agencies at slightly above fiscal 2012 levels, while giving lawmakers more time to pass budget bills.
  3. The House plans to approve legislation this week that would put a $500,000 cap on government conferences. Federal Times says the bill would also let agencies cover the travel expenses of only 50 employees for international conferences, The Hill reported. the Government Spending Accountability Act was introduced by Rep. Joe Walsh, R-Ill. The $500,000 cap can be exceeded if the head of an agency determines that the expenditure is “justified as the most cost-effective option to achieve a compelling purpose,” and submits that justification to Congress.
  4. The Office of Management and Budget’s acting director, Jeff Zients, is signaling an expansion and the mandatory use of the Obama administration’s strategic sourcing initiative, which uses the government’s buying power to reduce the price for common goods and services. Federal News Radio reported Zients says “without mandatory requirements, “we’re just going to be chasing this opportunity rather than getting ahead of it or catching up to it.” The board also adopted recommendations to improve the way the government reduces improper payments.
  5. The General Services Administration is centralizing critical functions so that leaders can keep better tabs on spending. Federal News Radio says that means consolidating three chief information officer offices into one and making the chief people officer responsible for all human resources. Acting Administrator Dan Tangherlini is set to present these reforms in his testimony before the Senate.
  6. On Tuesday, the House passed a bipartisan bill that would require the Office of Management and Budget to develop customer service performance measures for Federal agencies. Government Executive says this measure would require Federal agencies to collect feedback from its “customers” on quality of service, as well as appoint a customer relations representative to issue guidelines and report findings to the public. It remains to be seen whether the Senate takes up the legislation.
  7. Due to the current stalemate in deficit reduction negotiations, Moody’s has threatened to downgrade US Treasury securities from their current triple A credit rating. Standard & Poor already downgraded their rating in August 2011, further damaging the standing of US Treasury securities. If there is no action by the end of the year decreasing medium-term debt levels, it is likely the downgrade will take place.


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