July 29, 2011
House Republicans leaders were left scrambling to rewrite deficit reduction legislation after a widely anticipated vote on the proposal was canceled late Thursday. The vote on the debt limit and deficit reduction plan could come today (Friday) if the House Speaker is able to modify his bill enough to garner the votes he needs for passage. However,… Read More
July 28, 2011
The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies held a hearing yesterday on the Department of Education’s FY12 budget. Secretary Duncan was the witness. In his opening remarks, Duncan expressed concern that America has gone from being a world leader in education to now being “middle of the pack”. He… Read More
July 27, 2011
Late last week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton named Dr. E. William (Bill) Colglazier as her Science & Technology Adviser. Congress established the position of Science & Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State in 2000; Dr. Colglazier is the fourth individual to hold the position. Dr. Colglazier’s most recent position was Executive Officer of the… Read More
July 26, 2011
The House Appropriations Committee today released their FY12 State & Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, which will be considered in subcommittee tomorrow. The bill includes a total of $39.6 billion in regular discretionary funding, which is $8.6 billion or 18 percent below FY11 levels and $11.23 billion below the President’s FY12 request. Included in these reductions… Read More
July 26, 2011
The Senate Majority Leader has released draft legislation last night that would raise the debt ceiling through 2012 while trimming the deficit by $2.7 trillion over 10 years. The package would boost the debt limit by $2.4 trillion immediately, would not include any new revenues (taxes), and would not affect Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security… Read More
July 25, 2011
Bipartisan deficit reduction talks broke down again over the weekend and congressional leaders are now writing their own proposals to avoid a government default in eight days (August 2nd). Lawmakers could vote on their separate plans later this week, which may form the basis for a compromise. The House Speaker will present a plan to… Read More
July 22, 2011
Debt Limit: President Obama and House Speaker Boehner are continuing their negotiations on a new “grand bargain” that would raise the federal debt limit by August 2nd, call for $3 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade, and promise a federal tax code overhaul next year. The deal would be a new version of… Read More
July 22, 2011
Through September 15, the National Endowment for the Humanities invites applications for grants of up to $25,000 to support the development of an undergraduate course on an “enduring question.” This course will encourage undergraduates and educators to grapple with a fundamental question addressed by the humanities and to join together in a sustained program of… Read More
July 21, 2011
University consortia and individual investigators are encouraged to submit white papers and full funding proposals to the Minerva Initiative, the Department of Defense’s competitive, university-based social science basic research program. Because of a delay in release of the funding solicitation, program managers have extended the deadline for white paper submissions to Friday, September 16, 2011,… Read More
July 21, 2011
As part of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership launched last month by President Obama, the Department of Energy is offering an investment of up to $120 million over three years to develop transformational manufacturing technologies and innovative materials. The Advanced Manufacturing Partnership is a national effort bringing together industry, universities, and the federal government to invest in emerging… Read More
