Archive for January 29th, 2010
United States Department of Homeland Security
Saddling Posterity with Debt
“We believe–or we act as if we believed–that although an individual father cannot alienate the labor of his son, the aggregate body of fathers may alienate the labor of all their sons, of their posterity, in the aggregate, and oblige them to pay for all the enterprises, just or unjust, profitable or ruinous, into which our vices, our passions or our personal interests may lead us. But I trust that this proposition needs only to be looked at by an American to be seen in its true point of view, and that we shall all consider ourselves unauthorized to saddle posterity with our debts, and morally bound to pay them ourselves; and consequently within what may be deemed the period of a generation, or the life of the majority.”
~Thomas Jefferson to John Wayles Eppes, 1813
US Debt Clock
United States Department of Homeland Security
United States Department of Homeland Security
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2010/assets/dhs.pdf
Department of Homeland Security: History
http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/history/
“…Department of Homeland Security – $42.7billion+$2.8billion from the Recovery Act
The Department of Homeland Security budget focuses on safeguarding transportation systems, strengthening border security and immigration services and increasing research and development for cybersecurity.
Major Department of Homeland Security Expenses
Transportation
- 15 new Visual Intermodal Protection Response teams to increase in random force protection capability – $50,000,000
- DHS and DoT Planning and modernization of freight infrastructure linking coastal and inland ports to highway and rail networks – $25,000,000
Cybersecurity and Technology R&D
- Increase resilience and security of private and public sector cyber infrastructure – $355,000,000
- Ongoing support and improvement of surveillance technologies to detect biological threats – $36,000,000
Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Services
- Expansion of exit pilot and key land points of entry and general border secutiry priorities – $45,000,000
- Support of existing Customs and Border Protections – $368,000,000
- Expansion of electronic employment verification system, E-Verify, that hlps US employers to comply with immigration laws – $110,000,000
State Homeland Security Activities
- Addition of state and local level intelligence analysts – $260,000,000
…”
http://www.onlineforextrading.com/blog/federal-budget-broken-down/
“…Department of Homeland Security
The missions of the Department of Homeland Security are to prevent and disrupt terrorist attacks; protect the American people, our critical infrastructure, and key resources; and respond to and recover from incidents that do occur. The third largest Cabinet department, DHS was established by the Homeland Security Act of 2002, largely in response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The new department consolidated 22 executive branch agencies, including the U.S. Customs Service, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Secret Service, the Transportation Security Administration, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
DHS employs 216,000 people in its mission to patrol borders, protect travelers and our transportation infrastructure, enforce immigration laws, and respond to disasters and emergencies. The agency also promotes preparedness and emergency prevention among citizens. Policy is coordinated by the Homeland Security Council at the White House, in cooperation with other defense and intelligence agencies, and led by the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security.
…”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/executive-branch
United States Department of Homeland Security
“…The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is a Cabinet department of the United States federal government with the primary responsibilities of protecting the territory of the U.S. from terrorist attacks and responding to natural disasters.
Whereas the Department of Defense is charged with military actions abroad, the Department of Homeland Security works in the civilian sphere to protect the United States within, at, and outside its borders. Its stated goal is to prepare for, prevent, and respond to domestic emergencies, particularly terrorism.[3] On March 1, 2003, DHS absorbed the Immigration and Naturalization Service and assumed its duties. In doing so, it divided the enforcement and services functions into two separate and new agencies: Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Citizenship and Immigration Services. Additionally, the border enforcement functions of the INS, the U.S. Customs Service, and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service were consolidated into a new agency under DHS: U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The Federal Protective Service falls under the National Protection and Programs Directorate.
With more than 200,000 employees, DHS is the third largest Cabinet department, after the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.[4] Homeland security policy is coordinated at the White House by the Homeland Security Council. Other agencies with significant homeland security responsibilities include the Departments of Health and Human Services, Justice, and Energy.
The creation of DHS constituted the biggest government reorganization in American history, and the most substantial reorganization of federal agencies since the National Security Act of 1947, which placed the different military departments under a secretary of defense and created the National Security Council and Central Intelligence Agency. DHS also constitutes the most diverse merger of federal functions and responsibilities, incorporating 22 government agencies into a single organization.[5]
…”
“…
Structure
The Department of Homeland Security is headed by the Secretary of Homeland Security with the assistance of the Deputy Secretary. The Department contains the components listed below.[6] Not all subcomponents are listed; see the linked articles for more details.
Agencies:
- United States Citizenship and Immigration Services – Processes citizenship, residency, and asylum requests from foreigners
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection – Staff border checkpoints, collect tariffs, and patrol the border
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Long-term investigations of border violations
- Transportation Security Administration – Responsible for aviation security (domestic and international, most notably conducting passenger screenings at airports), as well as land and water transportation security
- United States Coast Guard – Maritime security, national defense, maritime mobility, and protection of natural resources (assigned to Department of the Navy during times of war or at the president’s direction)
- Federal Emergency Management Agency – Disaster preparedness, response, and recovery
- United States Secret Service – Protective services for important officials and protection of the U.S. currency
(Passports for U.S. Citizens are issued by the United States Department of State, not the Department of Homeland Security.)
Advisory groups:
- Homeland Security Advisory Council – State and local government, first responders, private sector, and academics
- National Infrastructure Advisory Council – Advises on security of public and private information systems
- Homeland Security Science and Technology Advisory Committee – Advise the Under Secretary for Science and Technology.
- Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council – Coordinate infrastructure protection with private sector and other levels of government
- Interagency Coordinating Council on Emergency Preparedness and Individuals with Disabilities
- Task Force on New Americans – “An inter-agency effort to help immigrants learn English, embrace the common core of American civic culture, and become fully American.”
Other components:
- Domestic Nuclear Detection Office – Develop nuclear threat detection capabilities at all levels of government and in the private sector
- Federal Law Enforcement Training Center – Interagency law enforcement training facility
- National Protection and Programs Directorate – risk-reduction, encompassing both physical and virtual threats and their associated human elements
- Federal Protective Service – Federal law enforcement and security for federal buildings, properties, assets, and federal government interests
- National Communications System
- Directorate for Science and Technology – Research and development
- Directorate for Management – Responsible for internal budgets, accounting, performance monitoring, and human resources
- Office of Policy – Long-range policy planning and coordination
- Office of Immigration Statistics
- Office of Health Affairs – Medical preparedness
- Office of Intelligence and Analysis – Identify and assess threats based on intelligence from various agencies
- Office of Operations Coordination – Monitor domestic security situation on a daily basis, coordinate activities with state and local authorities and private sector infrastructure
- Office of the Secretary includes the Privacy Office, Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Office of Inspector General, Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman, Office of Legislative Affairs, Office of the General Counsel, Office of Public Affairs, Office of Counternarcotics Enforcement (CNE), Office of the Executive Secretariat (ESEC), and the Military Advisor’s Office.
- National Cyber Security Center
- …”
“…
In response to the September 11 attacks, President George W. Bush announced the establishment of the Office of Homeland Security (OHS) to coordinate “homeland security” efforts. The office was headed by former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge, who assumed the title of Assistant to the President for Homeland Security. The official announcement stated:
- The mission of the Office will be to develop and coordinate the implementation of a comprehensive national strategy to secure the United States from terrorist threats or attacks. The Office will coordinate the executive branch’s efforts to detect, prepare for, prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks within the United States.[10]
Ridge began his duties as OHS director on October 8, 2001.
The Department of Homeland Security was established on November 25, 2002, by the Homeland Security Act of 2002. It was intended to consolidate U.S. executive branch organizations related to “homeland security” into a single Cabinet agency. The following 22 agencies were incorporated into the new department:[11]
- Customs Service – Treasury
- Coast Guard – Transportation
- Secret Service – Treasury
- United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (formerly Immigration and Naturalization Service) – Justice
- United States Border Patrol (formerly Immigration and Naturalization Service) – Justice
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (formerly Immigration and Naturalization Service) – Justice
- United States Federal Protective Service – General Services Administration
- Transportation Security Administration – Transportation
- Federal Law Enforcement Training Center – Treasury
- Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service – Agriculture
- Office for Domestic Preparedness – Justice
- Federal Emergency Management Agency
- Strategic National Stockpile and the National Disaster Medical System – HHS
- Nuclear Incident Response Team – Energy
- Domestic Emergency Support Teams – Justice
- National Domestic Preparedness Office – FBI
- CBRN Countermeasures Programs – Energy
- Environmental Measurements Laboratory – Energy
- National BW Defense Analysis Center – Defense
- Plum Island Animal Disease Center – Agriculture
- Federal Computer Incident Response Center – GSA
- National Communications System – Defense
- National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) (formerly the National Infrastructure Protection Center) – FBI
- Energy Security and Assurance Program – Energy
Prior to the signing of the bill, controversy about its adoption centered on whether the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency should be incorporated in part or in whole (neither were included). The bill itself was also controversial for the presence of unrelated “riders”, as well as for eliminating certain union-friendly civil service and labor protections for department employees. Without these protections, employees could be expeditiously reassigned or dismissed on grounds of security, incompetence or insubordination, and DHS would not be required to notify their union representatives.
The plan stripped 180,000 government employees of their union rights.[12] In 2002, Bush officials argued that the September 11 attacks made the proposed elimination of employee protections imperative.[13]
Congress ultimately passed the Homeland Security Act of 2002 without the union-friendly measures, and President Bush signed the bill into law on November 25, 2002. It was the largest U.S. government reorganization in the 50 years since the United States Department of Defense was created.
Tom Ridge was named secretary on January 24, 2003 and began naming his chief deputies. DHS officially began operations on January 24, 2003, but most of the department’s component agencies were not transferred into the new Department until March 1.[10]
After establishing the basic structure of DHS and working to integrate its components and get the department functioning, Ridge announced his resignation on November 30, 2004, following the re-election of President Bush. Bush initially nominated former New York City Police Department commissioner Bernard Kerik as his successor, but on December 10, Kerik withdrew his nomination, citing personal reasons and saying it “would not be in the best interests” of the country for him to pursue the post. On January 11, 2005, President Bush nominated federal judge Michael Chertoff to succeed Ridge. Chertoff was confirmed on February 15, 2005, by a vote of 98–0 in the U.S. Senate. He was sworn in the same day.[10]
In February 2005, DHS and the Office of Personnel Management issued rules relating to employee pay and discipline for a new personnel system named MaxHR. The Washington Post said that the rules would allow DHS “to override any provision in a union contract by issuing a department-wide directive” and would make it “difficult, if not impossible, for unions to negotiate over arrangements for staffing, deployments, technology and other workplace matters.”[13]
In August 2005, U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer blocked the plan on the grounds that it did not ensure collective-bargaining rights for DHS employees.[13]
A federal appeals court ruled against DHS in 2006; pending a final resolution to the litigation, Congress’s fiscal year 2008 appropriations bill for DHS provided no funding for the proposed new personnel system.[13] DHS announced in early 2007 that it was retooling its pay and performance system and retiring the name “MaxHR”.[10]
In a February 2008 court filing, DHS said that it would no longer pursue the new rules, and that it would abide by the existing civil service labor-management procedures. A federal court issued an order closing the case.[13]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Homeland_Security
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United States Department of Interior
United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Labor
United States Department of State
United States Department of Transportation
United States Department of The Treasury
United States Department of Veteran Affairs
United States Office of Management and Budget
United States Office of Personnel Management
United States Social Security Administration
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )United States Department of State
Saddling Posterity with Debt
“We believe–or we act as if we believed–that although an individual father cannot alienate the labor of his son, the aggregate body of fathers may alienate the labor of all their sons, of their posterity, in the aggregate, and oblige them to pay for all the enterprises, just or unjust, profitable or ruinous, into which our vices, our passions or our personal interests may lead us. But I trust that this proposition needs only to be looked at by an American to be seen in its true point of view, and that we shall all consider ourselves unauthorized to saddle posterity with our debts, and morally bound to pay them ourselves; and consequently within what may be deemed the period of a generation, or the life of the majority.”
~Thomas Jefferson to John Wayles Eppes, 1813
US Debt Clock
United States Department of State
United States Department of State
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2010/assets/sta.pdf
Department of State History
http://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/
“…Department of State and Other International Programs
The United States needs to renew its leadership role in the world. The 2010 budget for the Department of State and Other International Programs aims to increase foreign aid to help education children in some of the poorest nations, increase global food supply and security, and stabilize post-conflict areas. The budge also includes an increase in funding for global health programs and non-military assistance to Afghanistan and Pakistan. No exact numbers are given in the budget as to where the money will go. There is a very large discretionary budget.
Plan highlights
Foreign Policy Goals
- Increase funding for global health programs that commbat HIV/AIDs, malaria and TB – no specific amount given
- Funding the first year of a multi year counterterrorism and law enforcement program – no specific amount given
- Promotion of safe civilian uses of nuclear energy – no specific amount given
International Support
- Expansion of diplomatic and development ties by increasing the number of state and USAID Foreign services officers – no specific amount given
…”
http://www.onlineforextrading.com/blog/federal-budget-broken-down/
“… Department of State
The Department of State plays the lead role in developing and implementing the President’s foreign policy. Major responsibilities include United States representation abroad, foreign assistance, foreign military training programs, countering international crime, and a wide assortment of services to U.S. citizens and foreign nationals seeking entrance to the U.S.
The U.S. maintains diplomatic relations with approximately 180 countries — each posted by civilian U.S. Foreign Service employees — as well as with international organizations. At home, more than 5,000 civil employees carry out the mission of the Department.
The Secretary of State serves as the President’s top foreign policy adviser, and oversees 30,000 employees and a budget of approximately $35 billion.
…”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/executive-branch
United States Department of State
“…The United States Department of State (often referred to as the State Department), is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries. The Department was created in 1789 and was the first executive department established.
The Department is headquartered in the Harry S. Truman Building located at 2201 C Street, NW, a few blocks from the White House in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The Department operates the diplomatic missions of the United States abroad and responsible for implementing the foreign policy of the United States and U.S. diplomacy efforts.
The Department is led by the Secretary of State, who is nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate and is a member of the Cabinet. The Secretary of State is the first Cabinet official in the order of precedence and in the presidential line of succession (fourth overall, after the Vice President, the Speaker of the House, and the President pro tempore of the Senate). The current Secretary of State is Hillary Rodham Clinton.
The U.S. Constitution, drafted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1787 and ratified by the states the following year, gave the President the responsibility for the conduct of the nation’s foreign relations. It soon became clear, however, that an executive department was necessary to support the President in the conduct of the affairs of the new federal government.
The House of Representatives and Senate approved legislation to establish a Department of Foreign Affairs on July 21, 1789, and President Washington signed it into law on July 27, making the Department of Foreign Affairs the first Federal agency to be created under the new Constitution. This legislation remains the basic law of the Department of State. In September 1789, additional legislation changed the name of the agency to the Department of State and assigned to it a variety of domestic duties.
These responsibilities grew to include management of the United States Mint, keeper of the Great Seal of the United States, and the taking of the census. President George Washington signed the new legislation on September 15. Most of these domestic duties of the Department of State were eventually turned over to various new Federal departments and agencies that were established during the 19th century.
On September 29, 1789, President Washington appointed Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, then Minister to France, to be the first United States Secretary of State, although John Jay had been serving in that capacity as a holdover from the Confederation since before Washington had taken office and would continue in that capacity until Jefferson would return from Europe many months later.
The Executive Branch and the U.S. Congress have constitutional responsibilities for U.S. foreign policy. Within the Executive Branch, the Department of State is the lead U.S. foreign affairs agency, and its head, the Secretary of State, is the President’s principal foreign policy advisor, though other officials or individuals may have more influence on their foreign policy decisions. The Department advances U.S. objectives and interests in the world through its primary role in developing and implementing the President’s foreign policy. The Department also supports the foreign affairs activities of other U.S. Government entities including the Department of Defense, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Homeland Security, the Central Intelligence Agency (specifically, the Special Activities Division), and the U.S. Agency for International Development. It also provides an array of important services to U.S. citizens and to foreigners seeking to visit or immigrate to the U.S.
All foreign affairs activities—U.S. representation abroad, foreign assistance programs, countering international crime, foreign military training programs, the services the Department provides, and more—are paid for by the foreign affairs budget, which represents little more than 1% of the total federal budget, or about 12 cents a day ($44 a year) for each American citizen. As stated by the Department of State, its purpose includes:
- Protecting and assisting U.S. citizens living or traveling abroad;
- Assisting U.S. businesses in the international marketplace;
- Coordinating and providing support for international activities of other U.S. agencies (local, state, or federal government), official visits overseas and at home, and other diplomatic efforts.
- Keeping the public informed about U.S. foreign policy and relations with other countries and providing feedback from the public to administration officials.
- Providing automobile registration for non-diplomatic staff vehicles and the vehicles of diplomats of foreign countries having diplomatic immunity in the United States.
The Department of State conducts these activities with a civilian workforce, and normally uses the Foreign Service personnel system for positions that require service abroad. Employees may be assigned to diplomatic missions abroad to represent America, analyze and report on political, economic, and social trends; adjudicate visas; and respond to the needs of American citizens abroad. The U.S. maintains diplomatic relations with about 180 countries and maintains relations with many international organizations, adding up to a total of more than 250 posts around the world. In the United States, about 5,000 professional, technical, and administrative employees work compiling and analyzing reports from overseas, providing logistical support to posts, communicating with the American public, formulating and overseeing the budget, issuing passports and travel warnings, and more. In carrying out these responsibilities, the Department of State works in close coordination with other federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Department of the Treasury, and the Department of Commerce. As required by the principle of checks and balances, the Department also consults with Congress about foreign policy initiatives and policies.
Organization
United States Secretary of State: Chief executive officer of the Department of State, member of the United States Cabinet, answers directly to the President of the United States. Secretary of State organizes and supervises the entire department and its staff:
- United States Deputy Secretary of State: The Deputy Secretary (with the Chief of Staff, Executive Secretariat, and the Undersecretary for Management) assists the Secretary in the overall management of the department. Reporting to the Deputy Secretary are the six undersecretaries and the counselor, along with several staff offices:
- Chief of Staff
- Executive Secretariat
- Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism (which produces the Country Reports on Terrorism)
- Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization
- National Foreign Affairs Training Center (which houses the Foreign Service Institute)
- Information Programs
- Office of the Legal Adviser
- Office of Management Policy
- Office of Protocol
- Office of the Science and Technology Adviser
- Office of War Crimes Issues
- Bureau of Intelligence and Research
- Bureau of Legislative Affairs
- Bureau of Resource Management
- Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs: The third-ranking State Department official. Becomes Acting Secretary in the absence of the Secretary of State and Deputy Secretary of State. This position is responsible for bureaus, headed by Assistant Secretaries, coordinating American diplomacy around the world:
- Bureau of African Affairs
- Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
- Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs
- Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
- Bureau of International Organization Affairs
- Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs
- Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
- Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs
- Under Secretary of State for Management[1]: The principal adviser to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary on matters relating to the allocation and use of Department’s budget, physical property, and personnel. This position is responsible for bureaus, headed by Assistant Secretaries, planning the day-to-day administration of the Department and proposing institutional reform and modernization:

-
- Bureau of Administration
- Office of Allowances
- Office of Authentication
- Language Services
- Office of Logistics Management
- Office of Overseas Schools
- Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization
- Office of Multi-Media Services
- Office of Directives Management
- Office of Commissary and Recreation Affairs
- Office of the Procurement Executive
- Bureau of Consular Affairs
- Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS)
- U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS)
- Office of Foreign Missions
- Bureau of Human Resources
- Bureau of Information Resource Management
- Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations
- Director of Diplomatic Reception Rooms
- Foreign Service Institute
- Office of Management Policy, Rightsizing, and Innovation
- Office of Medical Services
- Office of White House Liaison
- Bureau of Administration
- Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs: The senior economic advisor for the Secretary and Deputy Secretary on international economic policy. This position is responsible for bureaus, headed by Assistant Secretaries, dealing with trade, agriculture, aviation, and bilateral trade relations with America’s economic partners:
- Bureau of Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs
- Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs: This Undersecretary leads functions that were formerly assigned to the United States Information Agency but were integrated into the State Department by the 1999 reorganization. This position manages units that handle the department’s public communications and seek to burnish the image of the United States around the world:
- Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
- Internet Access and Training Program
- Bureau of Public Affairs
- Office of The Historian
- Bureau of International Information Programs
- Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
- Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs: This Undersecretary coordinates the Department’s role in U.S. military assistance. Since the 1996 reorganization, this Undersecretary also oversees the functions of the formerly independent Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.
- Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation
- Bureau of Political-Military Affairs
- Bureau of Verification, Compliance, and Implementation
- Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs: The office of Undersecretary of Global Affairs was created by the Clinton Administration to manage diplomatic efforts on emerging worldwide issues, such as the environment, that could not be addressed at the bilateral or regional level. The office was renamed Democracy and Global Affairs in 2005, reflecting an increased focus on democracy promotion in American foreign policy.[2]
- Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
- Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs
- Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration
- Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons
- Counselor: Ranking with the Under Secretaries, the Counselor is the Secretary’s and Deputy Secretary’s special advisor and consultant on major problems of foreign policy. The Counselor provides guidance to the appropriate bureaus with respect to such matters, conducts special international negotiations and consultations, and undertakes special assignments from time to time as directed by the Secretary.
- Office of Global AIDS Coordinator: President’s main task force to combat global AIDS The Global AIDS Coordinator reports directly to the Secretary of State.
Since the 1996 reorganization, the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), while leading an independent agency, has also reported to the Secretary of State, as does the United States Ambassador to the United Nations (also known as the Permanent Representative). …”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_State
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Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )United States Department of Defense
Saddling Posterity with Debt
“We believe–or we act as if we believed–that although an individual father cannot alienate the labor of his son, the aggregate body of fathers may alienate the labor of all their sons, of their posterity, in the aggregate, and oblige them to pay for all the enterprises, just or unjust, profitable or ruinous, into which our vices, our passions or our personal interests may lead us. But I trust that this proposition needs only to be looked at by an American to be seen in its true point of view, and that we shall all consider ourselves unauthorized to saddle posterity with our debts, and morally bound to pay them ourselves; and consequently within what may be deemed the period of a generation, or the life of the majority.”
~Thomas Jefferson to John Wayles Eppes, 1813
US Debt Clock
United States Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2010/assets/mil.pdf
DOD 101: An Introductory Overview of The Department of Defense
http://www.defense.gov/pubs/dod101/
Department of Defense – $663.7 billion+$7.4 billion from the Recovery Act
The Department of Defense receives the lion’s share of the Federal Budget to be used both internally and externally. $533.7 billion is requested for specific programs with another $50-100 billion earmarked should the Department of Defense need it. The budget will cover the draw down of US troops from Iraq, the aid of struggling states like Pakistan and the funding of programs that help to monitor cyber, biological and nuclear threats. Overall, a large amount of funds are not detailed
Major Budget Allocations for the Department of Defense
Military Operations
- Military Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan – $130 billion
- Money that currently has no allocation but is budgeted should the Department of Defense need it – $50 billion
Soldiers
- Pay for service members that will keep pace with or exceed private sector jobs – exact amount not provided
- Expansion of military retired pay and Veterans Disability Compensation to all retirees receiving disability retired pay – exact amount not provided
- Expansion on integrated mental health professionals with deployed unites – amount not provided
- Improved medical care and housing for Wounded, Ill and Injured Servicemembers – amount not provided
- Quality of life improvements for American Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines include modernization of barracks – amount not provided
http://www.onlineforextrading.com/blog/federal-budget-broken-down/
“…Department of Defense
The mission of the Department of Defense (DOD) is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and to protect the security of our country. The department’s headquarters is at the Pentagon.
The DOD consists of the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, as well as many agencies, offices, and commands, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, the National Security Agency, and the Defense Intelligence Agency. The DOD occupies the vast majority of the Pentagon building in Arlington, VA.
The Department of Defense is the largest government agency, with more than 1.3 million men and women on active duty, nearly 700,000 civilian personnel, and 1.1 million citizens who serve in the National Guard and Reserve forces. Together, the military and civilian arms of DOD protect national interests through war-fighting, providing humanitarian aid, and performing peacekeeping and disaster relief services. …”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/executive-branch
United States Department of Defense
“…The United States Department of Defense (DOD or DoD) is the federal department charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the military. The organization and functions of the DOD are set forth in Title 10 of the United States Code.
The DOD is the major tenant of The Pentagon building near Washington, D.C., and has three major components– the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy, and the Department of the Air Force. Among the many DOD agencies are the Missile Defense Agency, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), and the National Security Agency (NSA). The department also operates several joint service schools, including the National War College.
History
During 1945, specific plans for the proposed DoD were put forth by the Army, the Navy, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In a special message to Congress on 19 December 1945, President Harry Truman proposed creation of a unified Department of National Defense. A proposal went to Congress in April 1946, but was held up by the Naval Affairs Committee hearings in July 1946, which raised objections to the concentration of power in a single department. Truman eventually sent new legislation to Congress in February 1947, where it was debated and amended for several months.
DoD was created in 1947 as a national military establishment with a single secretary as its head to preside over the former Department of War (founded in 1789) and Department of the Navy (founded in 1798; formerly the Board of Admiralty, founded in 1780). The Department of the Air Force was also created as a new service at the same time (it had been part of the War Department as the United States Army Air Force), and made part of DoD. DoD was created in order to reduce interservice rivalry which was believed to have reduced military effectiveness during World War II.
On July 26, 1947, Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, which set up the National Military Establishment to begin operations on September 18, 1947, the day after the Senate confirmed James V. Forrestal as the first Secretary of Defense. The Establishment had the unfortunate abbreviation “NME” (the obvious pronunciation being “enemy”), and was renamed the “Department of Defense” (abbreviated as DOD or DoD) on August 10, 1949; in addition, the Secretary of Defense was given greater authority over three of the branches of the military (Army, Navy, and Air Force). Prior to the creation of the National Military Establishment / Department of Defense, the Armed Forces of the United States were separated into different cabinet-level departments without much central authority. The Marine Corps remained as a separate service under the Department of the Navy, and the Coast Guard remained in the Department of the Treasury, ready to be shifted to the Navy Department during time of declared war (as it was in both world wars).
The Department includes the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, as well as non-combat agencies such as the National Security Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency, including the NORAD base in Colorado Springs. The DoD’s annual budget was roughly $786 billion in 2007.[2] This figure does not include tens of billions more in supplemental expenditures allotted by Congress throughout the year, particularly for the war in Iraq. It also does not include expenditures by the Department of Energy on nuclear weapons design and testing.
Civilian control over matters other than operations is exercised through the three service departments, the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy (which includes the Marine Corps), and the Department of the Air Force. Each is led by a service secretary, who are below Cabinet rank.
In wartime, the Department of Defense has authority over the Coast Guard; in peacetime, that agency is under the control of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Prior to the creation of DHS, the Coast Guard was under the control of the Department of Transportation and earlier under the Department of the Treasury. According to the U.S. Code, the Coast Guard is at all times considered one of the five armed services of the United States. During times of declared war (or by Congressional direction), the Coast Guard operates as a part of the Navy; the service has not been under the auspices of Navy since World War II, but members have served in the undeclared wars and conflicts since then while the service remained in its peacetime department.
The Pentagon, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., is the headquarters of the Department of Defense. The Department of Defense is protected by the Pentagon Force Protection Agency which ensures law enforcement and security for The Pentagon and various other jurisdictions throughout the National Capital Region (NCR).
Command structure
The President of the United States is the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. military, though in that position he is a civilian and not a member of the military.
The command structure of the Department of Defense is defined by the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 (PL 99-433), signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on 1 October 1986. The Act reworked the command structure of the United States military, introducing the most sweeping changes to the Department since it was established in the National Security Act of 1947. Under the act, the chain of command runs from the President of the United States, through the Secretary of Defense, to the combatant commanders (COCOM) who command all military forces within their area of responsibility. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the service Chiefs of Staff are responsible for readiness of the U.S. military and serve as the President’s military advisers, but are not in the chain of command. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is by law the highest ranking military officer in the United States. Each service is responsible for organizing, training and equipping military units for the commanders of the various Unified Combatant Commands.
National Command organizational chart
Components
United States Secretary of Defense
- United States Deputy Secretary of Defense
- Office of the Secretary of Defense
- Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization
- Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee
- Office of Net Assessment
- Pentagon Force Protection Agency
- Office of General Counsel
- Defense Legal Services Agency
- Office of Inspector General
- Defense Criminal Investigative Service
- Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
- Defense Intelligence Agency
- Defense Security Service
- Counterintelligence Field Activity
- National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
- National Reconnaissance Office
- National Security Agency
- Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
- Defense Security Cooperation Agency
- Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office
- Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics
- Defense Technical Information Center
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
- Missile Defense Agency
- Defense Contract Management Agency
- Defense Logistics Agency
- Defense Threat Reduction Agency
- Office of Economic Adjustment
- Defense Acquisition University
- Business Transformation Agency
- Operational Test and Evaluation Directorate (DOT&E)
- Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness
- Defense Commissary Agency
- Defense Human Resources Activity
- Department of Defense Education Activity
- Department of Defense Dependents Schools
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
- Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute
- Office of the Chancellor for Education and Professional Development
- Under Secretary of Defense Comptroller
- Defense Contract Audit Agency
- Defense Finance and Accounting Service
- Director, Program Analysis and Evaluation
- Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration
- Defense Information Systems Agency
- Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs
- Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Internal Communications
- Washington Headquarters Services
- Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs
- Military Health System[2]
- TRICARE Management Activity[3]
- Military Health System[2]
- Office of the Secretary of Defense
- Military Departments
- United States Secretary of the Army
- Department of the Army including the U.S. Army
- United States Army Corps of Engineers
- United States Secretary of the Navy
- United States Department of the Navy including the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps
- United States Secretary of the Air Force
- Department of the Air Force including the U.S. Air Force
- United States Secretary of the Army
- Joint Chiefs of Staff
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff | Adm. Michael G. Mullen (USN) |
Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff | Gen. James E. Cartwright (USMC) |
Chief of Staff of the United States Army | Gen. George W. Casey, Jr. (USA) |
Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force | Gen. Norton A. Schwartz (USAF) |
Chief of Naval Operations | Adm. Gary Roughead (USN) |
Commandant of the Marine Corps | Gen. James T. Conway (USMC) |
The United States Naval Observatory falls under the Chief of Naval Operations. In 2003, the National Communications System was moved to the Department of Homeland Security, but only for executive purposes. The National Communications System still centralizes its activities within the Department of Defense, since the human resources required by NCS (example: Military Departments) still reside within the Department of Defense, or for retention of practical maintenance.
Unified Combatant Commands
There are ten Unified Combatant Commands; six regional and four functional. United States Africa Command became initially operational in October 2007.
Command | Commander | Home Base | Area of Responsibility |
United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM) | General Victor E. Renuart Jr. (USAF) (also Chief of NORAD) | Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado | North American homeland defense and coordinating homeland security with civilian forces. |
United States Central Command (CENTCOM), | General David H. Petraeus (USA) | MacDill Air Force Base, Florida | Egypt through the Persian Gulf region, into Central Asia; handing over responsibility of Horn of Africa to AFRICOM. |
United States European Command (EUCOM) | General John Craddock (USA) (also Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) | SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe), Belgium (USEUCOM HQ in Stuttgart, Germany) | Europe, including Turkey, and Israel |
United States Pacific Command (PACOM) | Admiral Timothy J. Keating (USN) | Camp H. M. Smith, Oahu, Hawaii | The Asia-Pacific region including Hawaii. |
United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) | Admiral James Stavridis (USN) | Miami, Florida | South, Central America and the surrounding waters |
United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) | General William E. Ward (USA) | Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany for now; to be relocated to African continent | Africa excluding Egypt |
U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) | Admiral Eric T. Olson (USN) | MacDill Air Force Base, Florida | Provides special operations for the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. |
U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) | General James Mattis (USMC) | Naval Support Activity Headquarters (Norfolk) and Suffolk, Virginia | Supports other commands as a joint force provider. |
United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) | General Kevin P. Chilton (USAF) | Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska | Covers the strategic deterrent force and coordinates the use of space assets. |
United States Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) | General Duncan J. McNabb (USAF) | Scott Air Force Base, Illinois | Covers global mobility of all military assets for all regional commands. |
The Geographic Commands |
|
---|---|
|
In 2007, a new geographical command for Africa was authorized. This proposed significant changes to the areas of responsibility for other adjacent geographical commands as shown in the accompanying graphic. …”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Defense
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United States Department of Agriculture
United States Department of Commerce
United States Department of Defense
United States Department of Education
United States Department of Energy
United States Department of Health and Human Resources
United States Department of Homeland Security
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
United States Department of Interior
United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Labor
United States Department of State
United States Department of Transportation
United States Department of The Treasury
United States Department of Veteran Affairs
United States Office of Management and Budget
United States Office of Personnel Management
United States Social Security Administration
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )United States Department of The Treasury
Saddling Posterity with Debt
“We believe–or we act as if we believed–that although an individual father cannot alienate the labor of his son, the aggregate body of fathers may alienate the labor of all their sons, of their posterity, in the aggregate, and oblige them to pay for all the enterprises, just or unjust, profitable or ruinous, into which our vices, our passions or our personal interests may lead us. But I trust that this proposition needs only to be looked at by an American to be seen in its true point of view, and that we shall all consider ourselves unauthorized to saddle posterity with our debts, and morally bound to pay them ourselves; and consequently within what may be deemed the period of a generation, or the life of the majority.”
~Thomas Jefferson to John Wayles Eppes, 1813
US Debt Clock
Department of Veteran Affairs – $55.9 billion + $1.4 billion from the Recovery Act
United States Department of The Treasury
http://www.ustreas.gov/
United States Department of The Treasury
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2010/assets/tre.pdf
The United States Department of The Treasury: History
http://www.treas.gov/education/history/
Department of the Treasury – $13.3 billion + $300 million from the Recovery Act
The Department of the Treasury exists to promote economic prosperity and financial security of the United States. The 2010 budget supports the Financial Stability Plan, emphasizes transparent and accountable program management. In addition to the 2010 Budget, there is a $250 billion contingent reserve for further efforts to stabilize the financial system.
Highlights of the Department of Treasury Budget
IRS Services
- Additional funds to assist the IRS with tax collection abroad – exact amount not specified
- Improve quality of taxpayer experience – exact amount not specified
Lending and Community Development
- Double funding for the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund to help locally based financial institutions offer small business, consumer and home loans – exact amount not specified
Additional Point of Interest
- Funds are set aside as a reserve to be used in and when necessary to stabilize the financial system – $250 billion
http://www.onlineforextrading.com/blog/federal-budget-broken-down/
“…Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is responsible for promoting economic prosperity and ensuring the soundness and security of the U.S. and international financial systems.
The Department operates and maintains systems that are critical to the nation’s financial infrastructure, such as the production of coin and currency, the disbursement of payments to the American public, the collection of taxes, and the borrowing of funds necessary to run the federal government. The Department works with other federal agencies, foreign governments, and international financial institutions to encourage global economic growth, raise standards of living, and, to the extent possible, predict and prevent economic and financial crises. The Treasury Department also performs a critical and far-reaching role in enhancing national security by improving the safeguards of our financial systems, implementing economic sanctions against foreign threats to the U.S., and identifying and targeting the financial support networks of national security threats.
The Secretary of the Treasury oversees a budget of approximately $13 billion and a staff of more than 100,000 employees. …”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/executive-branch
United States Department of The Treasury
“…The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue. The Department is administered by the Secretary of the Treasury, who is a member of the Cabinet.
The first Secretary of the Treasury was Alexander Hamilton, who was sworn into office on September 11, 1789. Hamilton was asked by President George Washington to serve after first having asked Robert Morris (who declined, recommending Hamilton instead). Hamilton almost single-handedly worked out the nation’s early financial system, and for several years was a major presence in Washington’s administration as well. His portrait is on the obverse of the U.S. ten-dollar bill and the Treasury Department building is shown on the reverse.
Besides the Secretary, one of the best-known Treasury officials is the Treasurer of the United States, who receives and keeps the money of the U.S. Facsimile signatures of the Secretary and the Treasurer appear on all modern U.S. currency.
The Treasury prints and mints all paper currency and coins in circulation through the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the United States Mint. The Department also collects all federal taxes through the Internal Revenue Service, and manages U.S. government debt instruments.
History
The Office of the Treasurer is the only office in the Treasury Department that is older than the Department itself, as it was originally created by the Continental Congress in 1775.[1] Michael Hillegas served as the first Treasurer of the United States[2] and throughout the American Revolution until Congress created the Department of the Treasury on September 2, 1789:
- And be it…enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to digest and prepare plans for the improvement and management of the revenue, and for the support of public credit; to prepare and report estimates of the public revenue, and the public expenditures; to superintend the collection of revenue; to decide on the forms of keeping and stating accounts and making returns, and to grant under the limitations herein established, or to be hereafter provided, all warrants for monies to be issued from the Treasury, in pursuance of appropriations by law; to execute such services relative to the sale of the lands belonging to the United States, as may be by law required of him; to make report, and give information to either branch of the legislature, in person or in writing (as he may be required), respecting all matters referred to him by the Senate or House of Representatives, or which shall appertain to his office; and generally to perform all such services relative to the finances, as he shall be directed to perform.[3]
The current law, 31 U.S.C. § 301, reads as follows (in part):
“ | (a) The Department of the Treasury is an executive department of the United States Government at the seat of the Government.(b) The head of the Department is the Secretary of the Treasury. The Secretary is appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. | ” |
Responsibilities
The basic functions of the Department of the Treasury include:
- Managing federal finances;
- Collecting taxes, duties and money paid to and due to the U.S. and paying all bills of the U.S.;
- Producing all postage stamps, currency, and coinage;
- Managing government accounts and the United States public debt;
- Supervising national banks and thrift institutions;
- Advising on domestic and international financial, monetary, economic, trade and tax policy – fiscal policy being the sum of these, and the ultimate responsibility of Congress.
- Enforcing Federal finance and tax laws;
- Investigating and prosecuting tax evaders, counterfeiters, forgers, smugglers, illicit spirits distillers, and gun law violators.
With respect to the estimation of revenues for the executive branch, Treasury serves a purpose parallel to that of the Office of Management and Budget for the estimation of spending for the executive branch, the Joint Committee on Taxation for the estimation of revenues for Congress, and the Congressional Budget Office for the estimation of spending for Congress.
The term Treasury reform usually refers narrowly to reform of monetary policy and related economic policy and accounting reform. The broader term monetary reform usually refers to reform of policy of institutions such as the International Monetary Fund.
Organization
- Secretary of the Treasury
- Deputy Secretary of the Treasury
- Treasurer of the United States
- United States Mint
- Bureau of Engraving and Printing
- Under Secretary for Domestic Finance
- Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions
- Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets
- Assistant Secretary for of Fiscal Service
- Financial Management Service
- Bureau of Public Debt
- Under Secretary for International Affairs
- Assistant Secretary for International Affairs
- Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence
- Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing
- Assistant Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis
- Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
- Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy
- Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs
- Assistant Secretary for Management
- Chief Financial Officer
- Chief Performance Officer
- Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs
- Direcor of policy planning
- Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy
- Internal Revenue Service
- Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
- Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) Official website
- Office of the General Counsel
- Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
- Office of Thrift Supervision
- Treasurer of the United States
- Deputy Secretary of the Treasury
The Office of the General Counsel is charged with supervising all legal proceedings involving the collection of debts due the United States, establishing regulations to guide customs collectors, issuing distress warrants against delinquent revenue collectors or receivers of public money, examining Treasury officers’ official bonds and related legal documents, serving as legal adviser to the department and administered lands acquired by the United States in payment for debts. This office was preceded by the offices of the (1789–1817), First Comptroller of the Treasury (1817–20), Agent of the Treasury (1820–30), and 1830–1934.
2003 Reorganization
Congress transferred several agencies that had previously been under the aegis of the Treasury department to other departments as a consequence of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Effective January 24, 2003, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), which had been a bureau of the Department since 1972, was extensively reorganized under the provisions of the Homeland Security Act of 2002. The law enforcement functions of ATF, including the regulation of legitimate traffic in firearms and explosives, were transferred to the Department of Justice as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE). The regulatory and tax collection functions of ATF related to legitimate traffic in alcohol and tobacco remained with the Treasury at its new Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB).
Effective March 1, 2003, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the United States Customs Service, and the United States Secret Service were transferred to the newly-created Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”). On March 14, 2003, the United States Coast Guard also became a part of DHS. …”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_the_Treasury
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United States Department of Agriculture
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United States Department of Interior
United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Labor
United States Department of State
United States Department of Transportation
United States Department of The Treasury
United States Department of Veteran Affairs
United States Office of Management and Budget
United States Office of Personnel Management
United States Social Security Administration
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )United States Department of Veteran Affairs
Saddling Posterity with Debt
“We believe–or we act as if we believed–that although an individual father cannot alienate the labor of his son, the aggregate body of fathers may alienate the labor of all their sons, of their posterity, in the aggregate, and oblige them to pay for all the enterprises, just or unjust, profitable or ruinous, into which our vices, our passions or our personal interests may lead us. But I trust that this proposition needs only to be looked at by an American to be seen in its true point of view, and that we shall all consider ourselves unauthorized to saddle posterity with our debts, and morally bound to pay them ourselves; and consequently within what may be deemed the period of a generation, or the life of the majority.”
~Thomas Jefferson to John Wayles Eppes, 1813
US Debt Clock
Department of Veteran Affairs – $55.9 billion + $1.4 billion from the Recovery Act
United States Department of Veteran Affairs
United States Department of Veteran Affairs
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2010/assets/vet.pdf
The United States Department of Veteran Affairs: History
http://www4.va.gov/about_va/vahistory.asp
Department of Veteran Affairs – $55.9 billion + $1.4 billion from the Recovery Act
Over the next 5 years, Obama plans on increasing funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs by $25 billion. Unfortunately the budget does not focus on the exact details of where this $25 billion will go. The budget focuses on increasing high-quality health care for veterans, the developments of Centers for Excellence and increased access to mental and cognitive health care. It also provides for a pilot program with non profit organization to help veterans avoid homelessness.
Major Department of Veterans Budget Expenditures
Increased Funding and Benefit Expansion
- General expansion of services and budget increases – $25billion increase over 5 years
- Restoration on health care eligibility for modest income veterans – no amount provided
- Enhanced outreach and services related to mental health and cognitive injuries for veterans – no amount provided
- Supports quick implementation of comprehensive education benefits – no amount provided
- Supports effective implementation of post-9/11 GI Bill – no amount provided
http://www.onlineforextrading.com/blog/federal-budget-broken-down/
“…Department of Veterans Affairs
The Department of Veterans Affairs is responsible for administering benefit programs for veterans, their families, and their survivors. These benefits include pension, education, disability compensation, home loans, life insurance, vocational rehabilitation, survivor support, medical care, and burial benefits. Veterans Affairs became a cabinet-level department in 1989.
Of the 25 million veterans currently alive, nearly three of every four served during a war or an official period of hostility. About a quarter of the nation’s population — approximately 70 million people — are potentially eligible for V.A. benefits and services because they are veterans, family members, or survivors of veterans.
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs oversees a budget of approximately $90 billion and a staff of approximately 235,000 employees. …”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/executive-branch
United States Department of Veteran Affairs
“…The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a government-run military veteran benefit system with Cabinet-level status. It is responsible for administering programs of veterans’ benefits for veterans, their families, and survivors.
The benefits provided include disability compensation, pension, education, home loans, life insurance, vocational rehabilitation, survivors’ benefits, medical benefits and burial benefits.[1] It is administered by the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
History
The United States has the most comprehensive system of assistance for veterans of any nation in the world. This benefits system traces its roots back to 1636, when the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony were at war with the Pequot Indians. The Pilgrims passed a law which stated that disabled soldiers would be supported by the colony.
The Continental Congress of 1776 encouraged enlistments during the Revolutionary War by providing pensions for soldiers who were disabled. Direct medical and hospital care given to veterans in the early days of the Republic was provided by the individual States and communities. In 1811, the first domiciliary and medical facility for veterans was authorized by the Federal Government. In the 19th century, the Nation’s veterans assistance program was expanded to include benefits and pensions not only for veterans, but also their widows and dependents.
After the Civil War, many State veterans homes were established. Since domiciliary care was available at all State veterans homes, incidental medical and hospital treatment was provided for all injuries and diseases, whether or not of service origin. Indigent and disabled veterans of the Civil War, Indian Wars, Spanish-American War, and Mexican Border period as well as discharged regular members f the Armed Forces were cared for at these homes.
Congress established a new system of veterans benefits when the United States entered World War I in 1917. Included were programs for disability compensation, insurance for servicepersons and veterans, and vocational rehabilitation for the disabled. By the 1920s, the various benefits were administered by three different Federal agencies: the Veterans Bureau, the Bureau of Pensions of the Interior Department, and the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers.
The establishment of the Veterans Administration came in 1930 when Congress authorized the President to “consolidate and coordinate Government activities affecting war veterans.” The three component agencies became bureaus within the Veterans Administration. Brigadier General Frank T. Hines, who directed the Veterans Bureau for seven years, was named as the first Administrator of Veterans Affairs, a job he held until 1945.
The VA health care system has grown from 54 hospitals in 1930, to include 171 medical centers; more than 350 outpatient, community, and outreach clinics; 126 nursing home care units; and 35 domiciliaries. VA health care facilities provide a broad spectrum of medical, surgical, and rehabilitative care. The responsibilities and benefits programs of the Veterans Administration grew enormously during the following six decades. World War II resulted in not only a vast increase in the veteran population, but also in large number of new benefits enacted by the Congress for veterans of the war. The World War II GI Bill, signed into law on June 22, 1944, is said to have had more impact on the American way of life than any law since the Homestead Act more than a century ago. Further educational assistance acts were passed for the benefit of veterans of the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam Era, Persian Gulf War, and the All-Volunteer Force.
In 1973, the Veterans Administration assumed another major responsibility when the National Cemetery System (except for Arlington National Cemetery) was transferred to the Veterans Administration from the Department of the Army. The Agency was charged with the operation of the National Cemetery System, including the marking of graves of all persons in national and State cemeteries (and the graves of veterans in private cemeteries, upon request) as well and administering the State Cemetery Grants Program.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was established as a Cabinet-level position on March 15, 1989. President Bush hailed the creation of the new Department saying, “There is only one place for the veterans of America, in the Cabinet Room, at the table with the President of the United States of America.”
Function
The primary function of the Department of Veterans Affairs is to help veterans by providing certain benefits and services.
Veterans Benefits & Services include: Health Benefits, Services Appeals, Burial and Memorial Benefits, Compensation for injury and Pension Benefits, Education Benefits, Home Loan Guaranty Services[2], Insurance Benefits, Vocational Rehabilitation, Employment Services and Veterans Small Business Loans.
The medical aspect of the VA is a health-care system,[3] the American government’s second largest department, after the United States Department of Defense.[4] With a total 2009 budget of about $87.6 billion, VA employs nearly 280,000 people at hundreds of Veterans Affairs medical facilities, clinics, and benefits offices.
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs lists several benefits for veterans including education, home loans, deferred compensation, pension, survivors’ benefits, burial, vocational rehabilitation, employment, and life insurance.
Organization
The Department of Veterans Affairs is headed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. The current Secretary of Veterans Affairs is Ret. General Eric Shinseki.
The Department has three main subdivisions, known as Administrations, each headed by an Undersecretary:
- Veterans Health Administration – responsible for providing health care in all its forms, as well as for medical research, Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs), and Regional Medical Centers.
- Veterans Benefits Administration – responsible for initial veteran registration, eligibility determination, and five key lines of business (benefits and entitlements): Home Loan Guaranty, Insurance, Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment, Education (GI Bill), and Compensation & Pension
- National Cemetery Administration – responsible for providing burial and memorial benefits, as well as for maintenance of VA cemeteries
Costs for care
As is common in any time of war, recently there has been an increased demand for nursing home beds, injury rehabilitation, and mental health care. VA categorizes veterans into eight priority groups and several additional subgroups, based on factors such as service-connected disabilities, and one’s income and assets (adjusted to local cost of living).
Veterans with a 50% or higher service-connected disability as determined by a VA regional office “rating board” (e.g., losing a limb in battle, PTSD, etc) are provided comprehensive care and medication at no charge. Veterans with lesser qualifying factors who exceed a pre-defined income threshold have to make co-payments for care for non-service-connected ailments and pay $8 per 30-day supply for each prescription medication.
VA dental and nursing home care are more restricted. Reservists and National Guard who served stateside in peacetime settings or have no service-related disabilities generally do not qualify for VA benefits.[5] VA in recent years has opened hundreds of new convenient outpatient clinics in towns across America, while steadily reducing inpatient bed levels at its hospitals.
VA’s budget has been pushed to the limit in recent years by the War on Terrorism.[6] In December 2004, it was widely reported that VA’s funding crisis had become so severe that it could no longer provide disability ratings to veterans in a timely fashion.[7] This is a problem because until veterans are fully transitioned from the active-duty TRICARE healthcare system to VA, they are on their own with regard to many healthcare costs.
The VA has worked to cut down screening times for these returning combat vets (they are now often evaluated by VA personnel well before their actual discharge), and they receive first priority for patient appointments. VA’s backlog of pending disability claims under review (a process known as “adjudication”) peaked at 421,000 in 2001, and bottomed out at 254,000 in 2003, but crept back up to 340,000 in 2005.[8]
No copayment is required for VA services for veterans with military-related conditions. VA-recognized service-connected disabilities include problems that started or were aggravated due to military service. Veteran service organizations such as the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Disabled American Veterans, as well as state-operated Veterans Affairs offices and County Veteran Service Officers (CVSO), have been known to assist veterans in the process of getting care from the VA.
In the United States Federal Budget for fiscal year 2009, President George W. Bush, requested $38.7 billion – or 86.5% of the total Veterans Affairs budget – for veteran medical care alone.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Veterans_Affairs
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United States Department of Agriculture
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United States Department of Defense
United States Department of Education
United States Department of Energy
United States Department of Health and Human Resources
United States Department of Homeland Security
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
United States Department of Interior
United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Labor
United States Department of State
United States Department of Transportation
United States Department of The Treasury
United States Department of Veteran Affairs
United States Office of Management and Budget
United States Office of Personnel Management
United States Social Security Administration
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )United States Department of Interior
Saddling Posterity with Debt
“We believe–or we act as if we believed–that although an individual father cannot alienate the labor of his son, the aggregate body of fathers may alienate the labor of all their sons, of their posterity, in the aggregate, and oblige them to pay for all the enterprises, just or unjust, profitable or ruinous, into which our vices, our passions or our personal interests may lead us. But I trust that this proposition needs only to be looked at by an American to be seen in its true point of view, and that we shall all consider ourselves unauthorized to saddle posterity with our debts, and morally bound to pay them ourselves; and consequently within what may be deemed the period of a generation, or the life of the majority.”
~Thomas Jefferson to John Wayles Eppes, 1813
US Debt Clock
United States Department of Interior
United States Department of Interior
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2010/assets/int.pdf
The United States Department of Interior: History of Interior
http://www.doi.gov/whoweare/history.cfm
Department of the Interior – $12billion + $3 billion from the Recovery Act
The U.S. Department of the Interior budget supports programs that expand environmental education activities, strengthen Native American communities and promote renewable energy. Obama’s budget also includes provisions to close loopholes that give oil companies excessive royalty relief.
Major Programs Receiving Money From U.S. Department of Interior Budget
US Natural Resources
- National Park Service will receive funds to protect and maintain natural resources – $25 million
- Land and Water Conservation Fund – $420 million
- Create a dedicated funds to fight wildfires – $75 million
Clean Energy
- Research and testing for renewable energy – $50,000,000
- Wetlands conservation – $10,000 budget increase
Strengthening Native American Communities
- Increase funding to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for law enforcement and education – $100 million
http://www.onlineforextrading.com/blog/federal-budget-broken-down/
“…Department of the Interior
The Department of the Interior (DOI) is the nation’s principal conservation agency. Its mission is to protect America’s natural resources, offer recreation opportunities, conduct scientific research, conserve and protect fish and wildlife, and honor our trust responsibilities to American Indians, Alaskan Natives, and our responsibilities to island communities.
DOI manages 500 million acres of surface land, or about one-fifth of the land in the United States, and manages hundreds of dams and reservoirs. Agencies within the DOI include the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Minerals Management Service, and the U.S. Geological Survey. The DOI manages the national parks and is tasked with protecting endangered species.
The Secretary of the Interior oversees about 70,000 employees and 200,000 volunteers on a budget of approximately $16 billion. Every year it raises billions in revenue from energy, mineral, grazing, and timber leases, as well as recreational permits and land sales. …”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/executive-branch
United States Department of Interior
“…The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is the United States federal executive department of the U.S. government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and the administration of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians, and to insular areas of the United States.
The Department is administered by the United States Secretary of the Interior, who is a member of the Cabinet of the President. The current Secretary is Ken Salazar of Colorado.
Despite its name, the Department of the Interior has a different role from that of the interior ministries of other nations, which are usually responsible for functions performed in the U.S. by the Department of Homeland Security primarily and the Department of Justice secondarily.
History
A department for domestic concern was first considered by the 1st United States Congress in 1789, but those duties were placed in the Department of State. The idea of a separate domestic department continued to percolate for a half-century and was supported by Presidents from James Madison to James Polk. The 1846-48 Mexican-American War gave the proposal new steam as the responsibilities of the federal government grew. Polk’s Secretary of the Treasury, Robert J. Walker, became a vocal champion of creating the new department.
In 1849, Walker stated in his annual report that several federal offices were placed in departments which they had little to do with. He noted that the General Land Office had little to do with the Treasury and also highlighted the Indian Affairs office, part of the Department of War, and the Patent Office, part of the Department of State. Walker argued that these and other bureaus should be brought together in a new Department of the Interior.
A bill authorizing its creation of the Department passed the House of Representatives on February 15, 1849, and spent just over two weeks in the Senate. The Department was established on March 3, 1849, the eve of President Zachary Taylor’s inauguration, when the Senate voted 31 to 25 to create the Department. Its passage was delayed by Democrats in Congress who were reluctant to create more patronage posts for the incoming Whig administration to fill. The first Secretary of the Interior was Thomas Ewing.
Many of the domestic concerns the Department originally dealt with were gradually transferred to other Departments. Other agencies became separate Departments, such as the Bureau of Agriculture, which later became the Department of Agriculture. However, land and natural resource management, Native American affairs, wildlife conservation, and territorial affairs remain the responsibilities of the Department of the Interior.
As of mid-2004, the Department managed 507 million acres (2,050,000 km²) of surface land, or about one-fifth of the land in the United States. It manages 476 dams and 348 reservoirs through the Bureau of Reclamation, 388 national parks, monuments, seashore sites, etc. through the National Park Service, and 544 national wildlife refuges through the Fish and Wildlife Service. Energy projects on federally managed lands and offshore areas supply about 28% of the nation’s energy production.
Native Americans
Within the Interior Department, the Bureau of Indian Affairs handles some federal relations with Native Americans, while others are handled by the Office of Special Trustee. The current acting Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs is George Skibine. The Department has been the subject of disputes over proper accounting for Indian Trusts set up to track the income and pay-out of monies that are generated by trust and restricted Native American lands. Currently there are several cases that seek accountings of such funds from the Departments of Interior and Treasury.
Operating units

- Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management, and Budget
- Deputy Assistant Secretary for Law Enforcement, Security, and Emergency Management (DAS-LESEM)
- Office of Law Enforcement, Security, and Emergency Management (OLESEM)
- Deputy Assistant Secretary for Law Enforcement, Security, and Emergency Management (DAS-LESEM)
- Bureau of Indian Affairs
- Bureau of Land Management
- Bureau of Reclamation
- Federal Executive Boards
- Interior Museum
- Minerals Management Service
- National Park Service
- Office of Insular Affairs
- Office of Surface Mining
- United States Fish and Wildlife Service
- United States Geological Survey
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_the_Interior
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United States Department of Agriculture
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United States Department of Interior
United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Labor
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Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )United States Department of Commerce
Saddling Posterity with Debt
“We believe–or we act as if we believed–that although an individual father cannot alienate the labor of his son, the aggregate body of fathers may alienate the labor of all their sons, of their posterity, in the aggregate, and oblige them to pay for all the enterprises, just or unjust, profitable or ruinous, into which our vices, our passions or our personal interests may lead us. But I trust that this proposition needs only to be looked at by an American to be seen in its true point of view, and that we shall all consider ourselves unauthorized to saddle posterity with our debts, and morally bound to pay them ourselves; and consequently within what may be deemed the period of a generation, or the life of the majority.”
~Thomas Jefferson to John Wayles Eppes, 1813
US Debt Clock
United States Department of Commerce
United States Department of Commerce
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2010/assets/com.pdf
The United States Department of Commerce–Milestones
http://www.commerce.gov/About_Us/Milestones/index.htm
Department of Commerce – $13.8billion+$7.9billion from Recovery Act
To help the Department of Commerce with its mission to create jobs, Obama’s proposes a budget increase for the Department of Commerce from $9.3 billion in 2009 to $13.8 billion in 2010. Money will be divided among several projects like an increase in funding for weather satellites and climate centers, Technology Innovation Program and Manufacturing Extension Partnership to fund regional economic development and entrepreneurship in distressed areas.
Expenditure Highlights
Competitiveness and Innovation
- Technology Innovation Program – $70,000,000
- Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership – $125,000,000
- Initiative to create new businesses in distressed areas – $50,000,000
Environmental Monitoring and Management
- Weather forecasting and global climate monitoring – $1,300,000,000
2010 Census
- Resources to conduct Census efficiently – $7,000,000,000
http://www.onlineforextrading.com/blog/federal-budget-broken-down/
Department of Commerce
The Department of Commerce is the government agency tasked with improving living standards for all Americans by promoting economic development and technological innovation.
The department supports U.S. business and industry through a number of services, including gathering economic and demographic data, issuing patents and trademarks, improving understanding of the environment and oceanic life, and ensuring the effective use of scientific and technical resources. The agency also formulates telecommunications and technology policy, and promotes U.S. exports by assisting and enforcing international trade agreements.
The Secretary of Commerce oversees a $6.5 billion budget and approximately 38,000 employees.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/executive-branch
United States Department of Commerce
“…The United States Department of Commerce is the Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with promoting economic growth. It was originally created as the United States Department of Commerce and Labor on February 14, 1903. It was subsequently renamed to the Department of Commerce on March 4, 1913, and its bureaus and agencies specializing in labor were transferred to the new Department of Labor.
The organization’s mission
The mission of the department is to “promote job creation and improved living standards for all Americans by creating an infrastructure that promotes economic growth, technological competitiveness, and sustainable development.” Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for business and government decision-making, issuing patents and trademarks, and helping to set industrial standards.
Administration
The Department of Commerce is administerred by the United States Secretary of Commerce, the office of which is currently held by Gary Locke. Locke is the first Chinese American Secretary of Commerce, and the third Asian American in President Barack Obama’s cabinet, joining Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Veteran Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, the most of any administration in United States history. From 1903 to 1913, it was administered by the United States Secretary of Commerce and Labor.
Employees of the Department serve under the Competitive Service and Excepted Service. Most domestic positions are Competitive Service and most foreign positions are Excepted Service. In accordance with the Foreign Service Act of 1980, the Secretary is entitled to use the Foreign Service personnel system for positions that require service abroad.
Operating units
- Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)
- Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA)
- Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
- Bureau of the Census
- Economic Development Administration (EDA)
- International Trade Administration (ITA)
- Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA)
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
- National Weather Service (NWS)
- Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR)
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps (NOAA Corps)
- National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)
- Patent and Trademark Office (PTO)
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
- National Technical Information Service (NTIS)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Transportation
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Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
Saddling Posterity with Debt
“We believe–or we act as if we believed–that although an individual father cannot alienate the labor of his son, the aggregate body of fathers may alienate the labor of all their sons, of their posterity, in the aggregate, and oblige them to pay for all the enterprises, just or unjust, profitable or ruinous, into which our vices, our passions or our personal interests may lead us. But I trust that this proposition needs only to be looked at by an American to be seen in its true point of view, and that we shall all consider ourselves unauthorized to saddle posterity with our debts, and morally bound to pay them ourselves; and consequently within what may be deemed the period of a generation, or the life of the majority.”
~Thomas Jefferson to John Wayles Eppes, 1813
US Debt Clock
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2010/assets/hud.pdf
HUD History
http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD/about/hud_history
Department of Housing and Urban Development – $47.5billion+$13.6billion from the Recovery Act
“…The Department of Housing and Urban Development has a lot of ground to cover with its $47.5billion budget. Key goals for the money include creating sustainable communities, combating mortgage fraud and predatory lending and fully funding the Community Development Block Grant program. The budget also provides initial funding for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
Budget Highlight from the U.S. Department of Housing ad Urban Development
Safe and Affordable Housing
- Through the Affordable Housing Trust fund, the Obama budget tackles development, rehabilitation and preservation of affordable housing for very low-income residents – $1 billion
- Increase government funding for rental assistance – no monetary value given
- Combat mortgage fraud – no monetary value given
- Help communities to invest in and expand economic opportunities for low-income families – $4.5billion
http://www.onlineforextrading.com/blog/federal-budget-broken-down/
“…Department of Housing and Urban Development
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is the federal agency responsible for national policies and programs that address America’s housing needs, that improve and develop the nation’s communities, and that enforce fair housing laws. The Department plays a major role in supporting homeownership for lower- and moderate-income families through its mortgage insurance and rent subsidy programs.
Offices within HUD include the Federal Housing Administration, which provides mortgage and loan insurance; the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, which ensures all Americans equal access to the housing of their choice; and the Community Development Block Grant Program, which helps communities with economic development, job opportunities, and housing rehabilitation. HUD also administers public housing and homeless assistance.
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development oversees approximately 9,000 employees on a budget of approximately $40 billion. …”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/executive-branch
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
“…The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, also known as HUD, is a Cabinet department in the Executive branch of the United States federal government. Although its beginnings were in the House and Home Financing Agency, it was founded as a Cabinet department in 1965, as part of the “Great Society” program of President Lyndon Johnson, to develop and execute policy on housing and cities.
History
The department was established on September 9, 1965, when President Lyndon Johnson signed the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act[1] into law. It stipulated that the department was to be created no later than November 8, sixty days following the date of enactment. The actual implementation was postponed until January 13, 1966, following the completion of a special study group report on the federal role in solving urban problems.
HUD is administered by the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Shaun Donovan, a former New York City housing commissioner and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, is the current Secretary, having been confirmed by the United States Senate unanimously on January 22, 2009.[2]
- July 1947 – The Housing and Home Finance Agency established
- July 1949 – The Housing Act of 1949 is enacted to help eradicate slums and promote redevelopment
- September 1959 – The Housing Act of 1959 allows funds for elderly housing
- September 1965 – HUD is created as a cabinet level agency by the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act
- April 1968 – The Fair Housing Act is made to ban discrimination in housing
- August 1969 – The Brooke Amendment establishes that low income families only pay no more than 25 percent of their income for rent
- August 1974 – Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 allows community development block grants and help for urban homesteading
- October 1977 – The Housing and Community Act of 1977 sets up Urban Development Grants and continues elderly and handicapped assistance
- July 1987 – The Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act gives help to communities to deal with homelessness
- February 1988 – The Housing and Community Development Act provides for the sale of public housing to resident management corporations
- October 1992 – The HOPE VI program starts to revitalise public housing and how it works
- October 1992 – The Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 codifies within its language the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 that creates the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, and mandates HUD to set goals for lower income and underserved housing areas for the GSEs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
- March 1996 – The Housing Opportunity Program Extension Act give public housing authorities the tools to screen out and evict residents who might endanger other existing residents due to substance abuse and criminal behavior
- October 1998 – Government laws are proposed which would allow local housing authorities to open up more public housing to the middle class
- November 2007 – HUD initiates program providing seller concessions to buyers of HUD homes, allowing them to use down payment of $100
Operating units
HUD has experimented with Enterprise Zones granting economic incentives to economically depressed urban areas, but this function has largely been taken over by states.
The major program offices are:
- Community Planning and Development: Many major affordable housing and homelessness programs are administered under Community Planning and Development. These include the Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), the HOME program, Shelter Plus Care, Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG), Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy program (Mod Rehab SRO), and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA).
- Housing: This office is responsible for the Federal Housing Administration; mission regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; regulation of Manufactured housing; administration of Multifamily housing programs, including Supportive Housing for the Elderly (Section 202) and Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities (Section 811); and Healthcare facility loan insurance.
- Public and Indian Housing: This office administers the public housing program HOPE VI, the Housing Choice Voucher Program (formerly – yet more popularly – known as Section 8), and housing block grants for Indian tribes, Native Hawaiians and Alaskans.
- Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity: This office enforces Federal laws against discrimination against minority households, families with children, and persons with disability.
- Policy Development and Research (PD&R): This office is responsible for maintaining current information on housing needs, market conditions, and existing programs, as well as conducting research on priority housing and community development issues through the HUD USER Clearinghouse.
- Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae)
- Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control.
- Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (developed in 1998)
Programs
The 203(k) program offers low-cost loans to allow low-income participants or nonprofit groups to buy and renovate a house. A scandal with the program arose in the 1990s in which at least 700 houses were sold for profit by real estate speculators taking the loans; at least 19 were arrested,[3] and the situation devastated the housing market in Brooklyn and Harlem and resulted in $70 million in HUD loans going into default.[4] Critics said that HUD’s lax oversight of their program allowed the fraud to occur.[5] In 1997, the HUD Inspector General had issued a report saying: “The program design encourages risky property deals, land sale and refinance schemes, overstated property appraisals, and phony or excessive fees.”[6]
One of the most successful HUD programs over the years has been the Multifamily Housing Service Coordinator Program. Each year since 1992, HUD has included in its Notice of Fund Availability (NOFA), a specific allocation of dollars to allow sponsors and owners of HUD multifamily housing for the elderly the opportunity to hire a Service Coordinator. The Service Coordinator provides case management and coordinative services to elderly residents, particularly to those who are “frail” and “at-risk” allowing them to remain in their current residence. As a result, thousands of senior citizens throughout the United States have been given the opportunity to continue to live independently instead of in an institutional facility such as a nursing home. Professional organizations such as the American Association of Service Coordinators provide support to HUD Service Coordinator through education, training, networking and advocacy.
Due to HUD’s lending practices, it occasionally takes possession of a home when a lender it insures forecloses. Such properties are then generally sold off to the highest bidder through the HUD auction process. Buyers of HUD homes as their primary residences who make a full-price offer to HUD using FHA-insured mortgage financing receive seller concessions from HUD enabling them to use only $100 down payment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Housing_and_Urban_Development
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United States Department of Justice
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Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )United States Department Of Health And Human Resources
Saddling Posterity with Debt
“We believe–or we act as if we believed–that although an individual father cannot alienate the labor of his son, the aggregate body of fathers may alienate the labor of all their sons, of their posterity, in the aggregate, and oblige them to pay for all the enterprises, just or unjust, profitable or ruinous, into which our vices, our passions or our personal interests may lead us. But I trust that this proposition needs only to be looked at by an American to be seen in its true point of view, and that we shall all consider ourselves unauthorized to saddle posterity with our debts, and morally bound to pay them ourselves; and consequently within what may be deemed the period of a generation, or the life of the majority.”
~Thomas Jefferson to John Wayles Eppes, 1813
US Debt Clock
United States Department of Health And Human Resources
United States Department of Health And Human
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2010/assets/hhs.pdf
Historical Highlights
The roots of the Department of Health and Human Services go back to the earliest days of the nation:
http://www.hhs.gov/about/hhshist.html
Department of Health and Human Services
$76.8billion+$22.44billion from the Recovery Act
We all know that the US health care system is broken. Obama’s 2010 budget attempts to lay the groundwork for a full scale American health care reform. Major points in his plan are: aligning incentives towards quality health care, promoting efficiency and accountability, encouraging shared responsibility. Obama also sets up a $630 billion 10year reserve fund to help finance the reform. Interesting provisions include several billion dollars to improve Alaskan Natives health care.
Highlights from the Department of Health and Human Services Budget
More Effective Health Care
- Increase health care providers in certain areas – $330 million
- Increase resources to detect, prevents and treat HIV/AIDs domestically – no monetary value stated
Funding for Research
- Support and eventually double cancer research withing the National Institutes of Health (NIH) – $6 billion
- Increase funding for research into cause and treatments for Autism Spectrum Disorders – $211 million
Support for Families and Youth
- Additional funds for the President’s Zero to Five plan which provides health care to children in need – $1.1 billion
- Expand the Head Start program – $1 billion
- Expand the Child Care and Development Block Grant – $2 billion
- Help low-income families heat and cool their homes – $3.2 billion
Additional Provisions
- Improvement of Native American and Alaskan Natives healthcare – $4 billion
- Improve access to and quality of health care in rural areas – $73 million
http://www.onlineforextrading.com/blog/federal-budget-broken-down/
“…Department of Health and Human Services
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the United States government’s principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves. Agencies of HHS conduct health and social science research, work to prevent disease outbreaks, assure food and drug safety, and provide health insurance.
In addition to administering Medicare and Medicaid, which together provide health insurance to one in four Americans, HHS also oversees the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services oversees a budget of approximately $700 billion and approximately 65,000 employees. The Department’s programs are administered by 11 operating divisions, including 8 agencies in the U.S. Public Health Service and 3 human services agencies. …”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/executive-branch
United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
“…The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a Cabinet department of the United States government with the goal of protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is “Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America”. Before its education functions were spun off in 1979, it was called the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
President Harding proposed a Department of Education and Welfare as early as 1923, and similar proposals were also recommended by subsequent presidents, but for various reasons was not implemented.[1] It was only enacted thirty years later as part of the Reorganization Plan Number 1 of 1953, transmitted to Congress by Dwight D. Eisenhower on March 12, 1953. This was the only department of the U.S. government to be created through presidential reorganization authority, in which the president was allowed to create or reorganize bureaucracies as long as neither house of Congress passed a legislative veto. This power to create new departments was removed after 1962, and in the early 1980s the Supreme Court declared legislative vetoes unconstitutional.
The department was renamed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in 1979,[2] when its education functions were transferred to the newly created United States Department of Education under the Department of Education Organization Act.[3] HHS was left in charge of the Social Security Administration, agencies constituting the Public Health Service, and Family Support Administration.
In 1995, the Social Security Administration was removed from the Department of Health and Human Services, and established as an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States Government.
HHS is administered by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, who is appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. The United States Public Health Service (PHS) is the main division of the HHS and is led by the Assistant Secretary for Health. The United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, the uniformed service of the PHS, is led by the Surgeon General who is responsible for addressing matters concerning public health as authorized by the Secretary or by the Assistant Secretary of Health in addition to his primary mission of administering the Commissioned Corps. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigates criminal activity for HHS. The special agents who work for OIG have the same title series “1811”, training and authority as other federal criminal investigators, such as the FBI, ATF, DEA and Secret Service. However, OIG Special Agents have special skills in investigating white collar crime related to Medicare and Medicaid fraud and abuse. Organized crime has dominated the criminal activity relative to this type of fraud.
HHS-OIG investigates tens of millions of dollars in Medicare fraud each year. In addition, OIG will continue its coverage of all 50 States and the District of Columbia by its multi-agency task forces (PSOC Task Forces) that identify, investigate, and prosecute individuals who willfully avoid payment of their child support obligations under the Child Support Recovery Act.
In 2002, the department released Healthy People 2010, a national strategic initiative for improving the health of Americans. …”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Health_and_Human_Services
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