Posted by admin! / Under Federal Reserve System
TRENTON — The U.S. Department of Education today awarded a total of $330 million to two coalitions of states — both of which include New Jersey — to create a new generation of standardized tests that will assess national standards for what students should learn in school. The U.S. DOE is awarding funding for the new assessments through its $4.35 billion Race to the Top competition. The federal government awarded nearly all of its Race to the Top funding through an education reform competition that New Jersey narrowly lost last week. But $425 million was left over to create better...
Published on Wednesday 8th of September 2010 08:04:39 AM
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Posted by admin! / Under Federal Reserve System
THE VILLAGES — Renee Braun laughed as she read the introduction to the cover story in the September issue of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association magazine. “Yes, it should be The Villages,” exclaimed the Village of Summerhill resident who volunteers as the service officer for the association’s Orange Blossom Chapter 2234, serving The Villages and surrounding communities. “It definitely should be.” The Villages emerged as the “runaway favorite” among the 600 or so association members who responded to a magazine survey for a story on the best retirement communities.
Published on Wednesday 8th of September 2010 08:04:39 AM
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Posted by admin! / Under Federal Reserve System
As a retired federal government employee, I’m offended when I hear Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and a host of other conservative talk show hosts bash all levels of government employees. It seems the all-time favorite government employee to bash works for the Department of Motor Vehicles. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, federal government employees in 2008 earn an average of $67,691 compared to $60,046 in the private sector. This doesn’t count the benefits all federal government employees enjoy. Not all federal government employees make as much as their private sector counterparts, but many do. For example, a registered...
Published on Wednesday 8th of September 2010 08:04:39 AM
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Posted by admin! / Under Federal Reserve System
Embracing her strong pro-gun stance, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann fired off a few rounds from an M4 carbine Thursday morning, according to employees of a local ammunition manufacturer in her district. The pro-Second Amendment conservative and rising Tea Party movement icon made the final public campaign stop of her two-day bus tour at Federal Ammunition ATK in Anoka, Minnesota. Photography and videotaping were not allowed. Employees of ATK who were in attendance told CNN about the visit before the campaign ushered them away saying details for the press would be provided by the campaign. Two employees said Bachmann fired off...
Published on Wednesday 8th of September 2010 08:04:39 AM
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Posted by admin! / Under Federal Reserve System
Federal workers have become a new flashpoint in the fight between Republicans and Democrats on the economy. House GOP Leader John Boehner (Ohio) this week blamed Democratic policies for exacerbating a gap in the pay between public and private workers that he claims was rising even as the country suffers through a housing crisis and high unemployment. House and Senate Republicans already have offered legislation to freeze the salaries of the 2 million federal employees through amendments to economic stimulus bills being ushered through Congress by Democrats. Each effort has failed due to opposition from Democrats.
Published on Wednesday 8th of September 2010 08:04:39 AM
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Posted by admin! / Under Federal Reserve System
Outside a hotel ballroom near Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport airport, about three dozen men and a handful of women lined up one recent morning to get a colored dot - green, blue or red - affixed to their suits and dresses. The colors were key to what's known as the "meal ticket" for getting a job in the intelligence community: a top-secret clearance.
Published on Wednesday 8th of September 2010 08:04:39 AM
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Posted by admin! / Under Federal Reserve System
Question: As a government worker, I'm eligible to invest in the Thrift Savings Plan for my retirement. I'd like an objective view of the quality of the options, and I'd also like to be able to enter my complete portfolio on your site but can't find matches for the TSP funds on Morningstar.com. What do you think of the plan, and can you think of any funds that would be good proxies for the TSP's holdings? What is it missing? Answer: I recently wrote an article about workarounds in case you can't find information for one of your investments on...
Published on Wednesday 8th of September 2010 08:04:39 AM
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Posted by admin! / Under Federal Reserve System
Federal employee salaries are making news around the country. Literally over a hundred articles have appeared in the past few days in news media noting that federal employees now make more than twice as much as the average American. Moreover, the disparity between the average salary of federal employees and the rest of America continues to grow wider each year. According to OPM, "Thirty years ago, over 22% of our workforce was in blue collar jobs. Now that percentage has dropped by half while the percentage of IT and Health professionals has doubled. Data clearly show that many of these...
Published on Wednesday 8th of September 2010 08:04:39 AM
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