RESOURCE CENTRAL: FEDERAL
HOUSE / SENATE VOTES DATABASE:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes.xpd
THE BLUE DOG COALITION
http://www.house.gov/melancon/BlueDogs/
KEEPING TABS ON U.S. CONGRESS
http://www.Govtrack.us
LEGISLATION IN CONGRESS
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/legislation.xpd
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (FCC)
http://www.fcc.gov/
WHITE HOUSE
http://www.whitehouse.gov/
WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL NEWS AND POLICY STATEMENTS
http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
http://www.defense.gov/
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE PRESS RELEASES
http://www.defense.gov/news/
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (FBI)
http://www.fbi.gov/
FBI OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASES
http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel.htm
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
http://www.state.gov/
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes.xpd
THE BLUE DOG COALITION
http://www.house.gov/melancon/BlueDogs/
KEEPING TABS ON U.S. CONGRESS
http://www.Govtrack.us
LEGISLATION IN CONGRESS
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/legislation.xpd
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (FCC)
http://www.fcc.gov/
WHITE HOUSE
http://www.whitehouse.gov/
WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL NEWS AND POLICY STATEMENTS
http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
http://www.defense.gov/
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE PRESS RELEASES
http://www.defense.gov/news/
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (FBI)
http://www.fbi.gov/
FBI OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASES
http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel.htm
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
http://www.state.gov/
BILL TRACKING
Often one will need to understand how to look up the current law to understand pending legislation, as the sections of code modified in a bill need to be taken into context with the entire section or chapter, particularly any definitions. State and local legislative bodies actually do a much better job than Congress of specifying exactly how the code is to be modified, and are often constrained by "single subject" constraints – at least that is the claim (I do not understand how many of the revenue bills coming out of Olympia now are "single subject" when they are 100+ pages effecting all sort of different methods of taxation). While exact procedures differ from legislative body to legislative body, a bill is generally introduced by a member (sponsor) with various co-sponsors and given a "First Reading" when it is introduced. It usually then goes to a Committee where hearings are held. The committee can then allow it to go back to the floor for a "Second Reading," which basically just a reintroduction to the floor. After the "Third Reading" a vote is held. Throughout this process various amendments can be added to the bill to change provisions. After passing one house of the legislature, the bill goes to another, or different forms are enacted in both houses in which case the bills have to be "reconciled" in a committee consisting of members of both houses. The final form of the bill then gets voted on by both houses, and then potentially signed by the President/governor. In states, there usually is a period of delay before the bill becomes law to allow for referendum challenges, unless there is an "emergency" declared, allowing it to go into effect immediately. There are some differences in procedure from the national and state governments depending on the government so the above is somewhat a generality. Local governments are even more unique, depending on the laws of the state or relevant charters. For example, in general a city council can pass ordinances without approval of the mayor, and many times there is no elected mayor (i.e. a city councilman will assume the duties of a mayor).
All bills introduced by Congress can be found at the link below. You can browse "HR" and "S" to see what is being introduced along with titles to keep real time track of what is being introduced, or All bills for Congress to include all the resolutions, etc. If you know the name of the bill you can just type it in the search box – like "H.R. 645" or "S. 6" – be sure to use periods (.) and use "Exact Match Only" which is the default. Alternatively you could search for a term like "firearms."
Search Bill Summary and Status:
http://thomas.loc.gov/bss/111search.html
When you click on the bill number you will get a page which lists the text of the bill, cosponsors, related bills, amendments, a summary (very useful—click "CRS Summary"), committees it was referred to, and Congressional actions. If the bill passes one or more chambers of the legislature a linked Roll number will appear next to the vote ("Roll no. 887" for example on "H.R. 3962"), although this is a bit hard to read. A cleaner version, particularly on the roll call vote, and another resource that is perhaps easier to use for most is govtrack (click on votes to get the votes):
GovTrack Federal Legislation:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/legislation.xpd
GovTrack.us is an INCREDIBLE site to track federal legislation, your Congress Critter in particular. You can sign up to receive updates on legislation you are particularly interested in via email updates or an RSS feed. You can even sign up for live Twitter feeds of real time legislative action! Most government agencies also have email alert features as well which you can find on their websites. Just be aware that if you sign up for all of them, even in just one agency like the FDA, your email could get deluged with information! If you cannot find the link on a site, you can always contact the agency using the information on the website and someone can tell you if such alerts exists and how to subscribe to them.
MORE:
http://www.opencongress.org
http://www.townhall.com
All bills introduced by Congress can be found at the link below. You can browse "HR" and "S" to see what is being introduced along with titles to keep real time track of what is being introduced, or All bills for Congress to include all the resolutions, etc. If you know the name of the bill you can just type it in the search box – like "H.R. 645" or "S. 6" – be sure to use periods (.) and use "Exact Match Only" which is the default. Alternatively you could search for a term like "firearms."
Search Bill Summary and Status:
http://thomas.loc.gov/bss/111search.html
When you click on the bill number you will get a page which lists the text of the bill, cosponsors, related bills, amendments, a summary (very useful—click "CRS Summary"), committees it was referred to, and Congressional actions. If the bill passes one or more chambers of the legislature a linked Roll number will appear next to the vote ("Roll no. 887" for example on "H.R. 3962"), although this is a bit hard to read. A cleaner version, particularly on the roll call vote, and another resource that is perhaps easier to use for most is govtrack (click on votes to get the votes):
GovTrack Federal Legislation:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/legislation.xpd
GovTrack.us is an INCREDIBLE site to track federal legislation, your Congress Critter in particular. You can sign up to receive updates on legislation you are particularly interested in via email updates or an RSS feed. You can even sign up for live Twitter feeds of real time legislative action! Most government agencies also have email alert features as well which you can find on their websites. Just be aware that if you sign up for all of them, even in just one agency like the FDA, your email could get deluged with information! If you cannot find the link on a site, you can always contact the agency using the information on the website and someone can tell you if such alerts exists and how to subscribe to them.
MORE:
http://www.opencongress.org
http://www.townhall.com
FOLLOW THE MONEY
Where is your public money going?
The following resources can be used to pull up budgets, information on the debt, prior years' financial reports, reports on the financial health of the country, etc. The U.S. Treasury is the executive agency who is generally responsible for the nation's finances and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a separate non-partisan body which issues reports on the financial state of the United States. The General Accounting Office (GAO) is the investigative arm of Congress, while the Office of Inspector General (OIG) is the Treasury Department responsible with providing objective reviews of government policy.
United States Treasury
http://www.ustreas.gov/
Budget :
http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/management/budget/budget-documents/
CBO Projections :
http://www.cbo.gov/
Treasury Bulletin (summaries) :
http://www.cbo.gov/
Inspector General Reports:
http://www.ustreas.gov/inspector-general/other-reports.shtml
Public Debt (Up to Minute):
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np
Daily Treasury Statement (gov't account balances) :
http://www.fms.treas.gov/dts/index.html
Monthly Treasury Statement:
http://www.fms.treas.gov/mts/index.html
Social Security and Medicare Reports:
http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/economic-policy/social_security.shtml
TARP Information:
http://www.financialstability.gov/
Detailed Reports on Government Agencies – GAO :
http://www.gao.gov/index.html
Detailed Financial Report for Fed Gov –
http://www.gao.gov/financial.html
Federal Reserve – Money supply (H.6), bank liquidity (H.3), industrial production (G.17), flow of funds data (Z.1), consumer credit (G.19), Fed balance sheet (H.4.1), bank balance sheets (H.8), interest rates (H.15), foreign exchange rates (H.10), etc.
Statistics and Historical Data:
http://www.federalreserve.gov/econresdata/releases/statisticsdata.htm
Bureau of Economic Analysis – GDP, personal income, consumer spending, corporate profits (non-GAAP), balance of payments, international trade, international investments, etc:
http://www.bea.gov/
Gross Domestic Product:
http://www.bea.gov/national/index.htm
GDP Detailed Data (Great Resource!):
http://www.bea.gov/national/nipaweb/SelectTable.asp?Selected=N
If you run a business and want a detailed month by month view of how each specific sector of the economy is doing, including inflation statistics (GDP deflator—a better and more comprehensive measure than CPI, which is calculated for each individual industry) you are going to want to go to this site.
Bureau of Labor Statistics – Inflation, spending, employment, productivity:
http://www.bls.gov/
"Unfudged" statistics – Shadow Stats:
http://shadowstats.com/
Washington State Budget:
http://www.ofm.wa.gov/budget/budgets.asp
FED GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS AND SOLICITATIONS
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=list
(The above link is where it was found and confimed that our government has been stocking up on blankets, food, fuel and underwater recovery body bags. Interesting stuff here.)
The following resources can be used to pull up budgets, information on the debt, prior years' financial reports, reports on the financial health of the country, etc. The U.S. Treasury is the executive agency who is generally responsible for the nation's finances and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a separate non-partisan body which issues reports on the financial state of the United States. The General Accounting Office (GAO) is the investigative arm of Congress, while the Office of Inspector General (OIG) is the Treasury Department responsible with providing objective reviews of government policy.
United States Treasury
http://www.ustreas.gov/
Budget :
http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/management/budget/budget-documents/
CBO Projections :
http://www.cbo.gov/
Treasury Bulletin (summaries) :
http://www.cbo.gov/
Inspector General Reports:
http://www.ustreas.gov/inspector-general/other-reports.shtml
Public Debt (Up to Minute):
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np
Daily Treasury Statement (gov't account balances) :
http://www.fms.treas.gov/dts/index.html
Monthly Treasury Statement:
http://www.fms.treas.gov/mts/index.html
Social Security and Medicare Reports:
http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/economic-policy/social_security.shtml
TARP Information:
http://www.financialstability.gov/
Detailed Reports on Government Agencies – GAO :
http://www.gao.gov/index.html
Detailed Financial Report for Fed Gov –
http://www.gao.gov/financial.html
Federal Reserve – Money supply (H.6), bank liquidity (H.3), industrial production (G.17), flow of funds data (Z.1), consumer credit (G.19), Fed balance sheet (H.4.1), bank balance sheets (H.8), interest rates (H.15), foreign exchange rates (H.10), etc.
Statistics and Historical Data:
http://www.federalreserve.gov/econresdata/releases/statisticsdata.htm
Bureau of Economic Analysis – GDP, personal income, consumer spending, corporate profits (non-GAAP), balance of payments, international trade, international investments, etc:
http://www.bea.gov/
Gross Domestic Product:
http://www.bea.gov/national/index.htm
GDP Detailed Data (Great Resource!):
http://www.bea.gov/national/nipaweb/SelectTable.asp?Selected=N
If you run a business and want a detailed month by month view of how each specific sector of the economy is doing, including inflation statistics (GDP deflator—a better and more comprehensive measure than CPI, which is calculated for each individual industry) you are going to want to go to this site.
Bureau of Labor Statistics – Inflation, spending, employment, productivity:
http://www.bls.gov/
"Unfudged" statistics – Shadow Stats:
http://shadowstats.com/
Washington State Budget:
http://www.ofm.wa.gov/budget/budgets.asp
FED GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS AND SOLICITATIONS
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=list
(The above link is where it was found and confimed that our government has been stocking up on blankets, food, fuel and underwater recovery body bags. Interesting stuff here.)
HEALTH
Food and Drug Administration – Labeling data for drugs, biologics, medical devices, and vaccines.
FDA Home Page:
http://www.fda.gov/
Drug data:
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/drugsatfda/index.cfm
At the above site you can get labels and medical review documents. Most doctors rarely read labels and virtually NEVER read the medical review documents which often contains important tidbits that are left out of the label (i.e. Bextra – original medical review documents posted showed risk of thromboembolic events at higher doses and concerns by FDA reviewers about this – it was approved anyway without concerns reflected in label.)
Vaccine data:
http://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/ucm093830.htm
Centers for Disease Control – Tracking of illnesses, recommendations on prevention, etc.
CDC Home Page:
http://www.cdc.gov/
CDC Flu Activity Reports:
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/fluactivity.htm
FDA Home Page:
http://www.fda.gov/
Drug data:
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/drugsatfda/index.cfm
At the above site you can get labels and medical review documents. Most doctors rarely read labels and virtually NEVER read the medical review documents which often contains important tidbits that are left out of the label (i.e. Bextra – original medical review documents posted showed risk of thromboembolic events at higher doses and concerns by FDA reviewers about this – it was approved anyway without concerns reflected in label.)
Vaccine data:
http://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/ucm093830.htm
Centers for Disease Control – Tracking of illnesses, recommendations on prevention, etc.
CDC Home Page:
http://www.cdc.gov/
CDC Flu Activity Reports:
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/fluactivity.htm
TRANSPARENCY & LAW
General Good Place to Start on Government Transparency
A great resource on public information and general public records information is:
http://sunshinereview.org/
This site is a pretty good all in one resource on public records, freedom of information requests, and elections law. The disadvantage is the same as with wikipedia—since the public is contributing content, you are going to want to double check the accuracy as there could be mistakes that are missed. When in doubt check out the official government sites, many are given below... BUT don't count on them to be up front about everything you are looking for (of course).
How to Look up the Law
When a bill is passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the President it becomes a Public or Private Law. Public laws are the ones that apply to everyone and are published with an identifying number. To find a listing of all Public and Private laws passed in the United States go to:
Public and Private Laws:
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/plaws/index.html
These laws are then taken and integrated into the United States Code (U.S.C.) which is an organized tabulation of all the federal laws in effect. This is the main resource where one would go to look up the law of the land, relative to the federal government. It is organized into Titles, Chapters, Subchapters, Sections, and Subsections. For example Title 26 U.S.C. is the much dreaded, inscrutable Internal Revenue Code. For a complete listing of the United States Code go to:
United States Code (U.S.C.):
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/uscode/browse.html
Whenever reading any section of the code, it is important to read the "definitions" sections as these often differ from section to section, and these distinctions can be quite important (i.e. definition of "taxpayer" in context of Public Laws authorizing the income tax). These codes also need to be read in context of what is called the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR—not to be confused with Council on Foreign Relations). These represent either the interpretations of the law by the executive branch agency responsible for overseeing a particular section of the United States Code, or decisions made by such agency in cases where authority was specifically ceded to them by Congress to make such regulations. For example the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under the Department of Health and Human Services is given the right under the U.S.C. to determine medicare reimbursements, which are published in the CFR. Please note that just because something appears in the CFR, does not make it lawful, as administrative agencies often overstep the boundaries of control established in the U.S.C. in creating such regulations (in the same manner laws codified in the U.S.C. are often outside the bounds of the authority vested to the federal government in the Constitution). To look up items in the code of regulations go to:
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR):
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html
Listing of all Titles on One page:
http://frwebgate1.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=000434433065+0+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve
Click "Browse and/or search the CFR" below the search box in the first link. The chapters are updated each year so you want to click on the most recent version. The titles do not usually correspond to the USC Code (Title 26 being an exception). Of course, everyone should know likewise that all of these codes and regulations should conform to the Constitution, which most of you should have a copy of. If not it can be found here along with the Declaration of Independence (click on "Text" or "PDF" next to S. Doc. 105-11 under search box):
U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Interpretations:
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/constitution/index.html
There are parallel structures of law at the level of state government. In Washington, the analog to Public Laws are called Session Laws, the analog to the United States Code is the Revised Code of Washington, and the analog to the Code of Federal Regulations is the Washington Administrative Code (WAC):
Washington State Constitution:
http://www.leg.wa.gov/LawsAndAgencyRules/Pages/constitution.aspx
Session Laws:
http://www.leg.wa.gov/CodeReviser/Pages/session_laws.aspx
Revised Code Of Washington (RCW):
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/
Washington Administrative Code (WAC):
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/wac/
Local government entities like counties and cities are creations of the state and thus subject to state laws on their governance. Any local laws must thus conform to both state and national constitutions, as well as the state laws governing their conduct (assuming they do not conflict—the constitutions should take precedence). People who want more self government in a county usually form a municipal corporation, better known as a city covering specific boundaries within the county, which can be incorporated or disincorporated according to the laws of the state. The specifics on structure of counties and municipalities in Washington are given below:
Washington Revised Code:
Title 35 – Cities and Towns:
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?Cite=35
Title 35A – Optional Municipal Code:
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?Cite=35A
Title 36 – Counties:
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?Cite=36
At the local level, legislation enacted by a city council or county commissioners is usually referred to as an ordinance which is published in a similar manner to codes at the state and federal level. Local entities can also have their own charters, which function as a sort of constitution for a local government. An example is the City of Spokane, whose charter specifically gives citizens a right to initiative and referendum, not available in non-charter cities. For local governments without charters, the default state code governing the structure of such an entity is in effect. Here are some relevant local government links (if your municipality does not appear below do an internet search on the name of the government and 'ordinances', 'city council', 'county commission', or 'municipal code' or try
http://www.sterlingcodifiers.com/codesonline.php or
http://www.municode.com/ which has a lot of them in one place)
Finally AND sadly, the above is not all that is necessary to understand how a judge will interpret the law, although it should be. Most J.D.s prescribe to the idea or "case law" or that it is the sole right of higher courts to interpret the law, not the common people who are to follow them. If a Supreme Court judge says "1+1=3" then, most lawyers and judges will agree "1+1=3," even if not true because it is now a "case law" precedent (even on 5-4 decisions).
TIP: YOU can make the MOST difference focusing on LOCAL & STATE Levels. That does not mean "Ignore" Federal Bills or Issues - but Focus yourself and Act on something that you have the CONTROL to make a BIGGER IMPACT with. (Remember the 10th Amendment - "Local" is your First & Last line of defense.)
A great resource on public information and general public records information is:
http://sunshinereview.org/
This site is a pretty good all in one resource on public records, freedom of information requests, and elections law. The disadvantage is the same as with wikipedia—since the public is contributing content, you are going to want to double check the accuracy as there could be mistakes that are missed. When in doubt check out the official government sites, many are given below... BUT don't count on them to be up front about everything you are looking for (of course).
How to Look up the Law
When a bill is passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the President it becomes a Public or Private Law. Public laws are the ones that apply to everyone and are published with an identifying number. To find a listing of all Public and Private laws passed in the United States go to:
Public and Private Laws:
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/plaws/index.html
These laws are then taken and integrated into the United States Code (U.S.C.) which is an organized tabulation of all the federal laws in effect. This is the main resource where one would go to look up the law of the land, relative to the federal government. It is organized into Titles, Chapters, Subchapters, Sections, and Subsections. For example Title 26 U.S.C. is the much dreaded, inscrutable Internal Revenue Code. For a complete listing of the United States Code go to:
United States Code (U.S.C.):
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/uscode/browse.html
Whenever reading any section of the code, it is important to read the "definitions" sections as these often differ from section to section, and these distinctions can be quite important (i.e. definition of "taxpayer" in context of Public Laws authorizing the income tax). These codes also need to be read in context of what is called the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR—not to be confused with Council on Foreign Relations). These represent either the interpretations of the law by the executive branch agency responsible for overseeing a particular section of the United States Code, or decisions made by such agency in cases where authority was specifically ceded to them by Congress to make such regulations. For example the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under the Department of Health and Human Services is given the right under the U.S.C. to determine medicare reimbursements, which are published in the CFR. Please note that just because something appears in the CFR, does not make it lawful, as administrative agencies often overstep the boundaries of control established in the U.S.C. in creating such regulations (in the same manner laws codified in the U.S.C. are often outside the bounds of the authority vested to the federal government in the Constitution). To look up items in the code of regulations go to:
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR):
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html
Listing of all Titles on One page:
http://frwebgate1.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=000434433065+0+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve
Click "Browse and/or search the CFR" below the search box in the first link. The chapters are updated each year so you want to click on the most recent version. The titles do not usually correspond to the USC Code (Title 26 being an exception). Of course, everyone should know likewise that all of these codes and regulations should conform to the Constitution, which most of you should have a copy of. If not it can be found here along with the Declaration of Independence (click on "Text" or "PDF" next to S. Doc. 105-11 under search box):
U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Interpretations:
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/constitution/index.html
There are parallel structures of law at the level of state government. In Washington, the analog to Public Laws are called Session Laws, the analog to the United States Code is the Revised Code of Washington, and the analog to the Code of Federal Regulations is the Washington Administrative Code (WAC):
Washington State Constitution:
http://www.leg.wa.gov/LawsAndAgencyRules/Pages/constitution.aspx
Session Laws:
http://www.leg.wa.gov/CodeReviser/Pages/session_laws.aspx
Revised Code Of Washington (RCW):
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/
Washington Administrative Code (WAC):
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/wac/
Local government entities like counties and cities are creations of the state and thus subject to state laws on their governance. Any local laws must thus conform to both state and national constitutions, as well as the state laws governing their conduct (assuming they do not conflict—the constitutions should take precedence). People who want more self government in a county usually form a municipal corporation, better known as a city covering specific boundaries within the county, which can be incorporated or disincorporated according to the laws of the state. The specifics on structure of counties and municipalities in Washington are given below:
Washington Revised Code:
Title 35 – Cities and Towns:
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?Cite=35
Title 35A – Optional Municipal Code:
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?Cite=35A
Title 36 – Counties:
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?Cite=36
At the local level, legislation enacted by a city council or county commissioners is usually referred to as an ordinance which is published in a similar manner to codes at the state and federal level. Local entities can also have their own charters, which function as a sort of constitution for a local government. An example is the City of Spokane, whose charter specifically gives citizens a right to initiative and referendum, not available in non-charter cities. For local governments without charters, the default state code governing the structure of such an entity is in effect. Here are some relevant local government links (if your municipality does not appear below do an internet search on the name of the government and 'ordinances', 'city council', 'county commission', or 'municipal code' or try
http://www.sterlingcodifiers.com/codesonline.php or
http://www.municode.com/ which has a lot of them in one place)
Finally AND sadly, the above is not all that is necessary to understand how a judge will interpret the law, although it should be. Most J.D.s prescribe to the idea or "case law" or that it is the sole right of higher courts to interpret the law, not the common people who are to follow them. If a Supreme Court judge says "1+1=3" then, most lawyers and judges will agree "1+1=3," even if not true because it is now a "case law" precedent (even on 5-4 decisions).
TIP: YOU can make the MOST difference focusing on LOCAL & STATE Levels. That does not mean "Ignore" Federal Bills or Issues - but Focus yourself and Act on something that you have the CONTROL to make a BIGGER IMPACT with. (Remember the 10th Amendment - "Local" is your First & Last line of defense.)
TRAVEL TOOLS & INFO
TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION - PROHIBITED ITEMS
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/prohibited/permitted-prohibited-items.shtm
OFFICIAL INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL WARNINGS
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_1764.html
INTERNATIONAL EMBASSY TRAVEL NOTICES
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1765.html
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION (FAA)
http://www.faa.gov/
FAA AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL COMMAND CENTER: CURRENT AIRPORT ON-TIME STATUS FOR INBOUND AND DEPARTING FLIGHTS
http://www.fly.faa.gov/flyfaa/usmap.jsp
NATIONAL TRANSPORATION SAFETY BOARD
http://www.ntsb.gov/
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/prohibited/permitted-prohibited-items.shtm
OFFICIAL INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL WARNINGS
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_1764.html
INTERNATIONAL EMBASSY TRAVEL NOTICES
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1765.html
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION (FAA)
http://www.faa.gov/
FAA AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL COMMAND CENTER: CURRENT AIRPORT ON-TIME STATUS FOR INBOUND AND DEPARTING FLIGHTS
http://www.fly.faa.gov/flyfaa/usmap.jsp
NATIONAL TRANSPORATION SAFETY BOARD
http://www.ntsb.gov/
EXECUTIVE ORDERS
It is important to understand that a LOT can be done by Executive Order and they must be paid attention to.
In recent years a new and popular trend has occured (most of the damage done by using this routine has been both G.W. Bush and Obama)... Bypassing Constitutional Order. This is done by a) executive order; b) presidential directive; and c) regulation.
There is much debate about whether Executive Orders are even Constitutional. On the one hand - they are useful for certain things, especially in times of war when quick decisions must be made. On the other hand - they are dangerous any time, especially when it is assumed that quick decisions need to be made.
Just Two Examples:
G.W. Bush - Creation of Office of Homeland Security
Obama - Law Of The Sea Treaty (LOST)
You generally have to be familiar with current federal legislation and/or past or current International Treaties or regulations to understand some of the horrible stuff that we get our of Executive Orders, but regardless of what you do or don't know in that respect, the more Executive Orders = the more power the Executive Branch gains = the checks and balances that our founding fathers gave us are thrown off = accountability becomes questionable = the less power the legislative branch has = the less power the people (YOU) have.
Presidential Executive Orders
http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/executive-orders
In recent years a new and popular trend has occured (most of the damage done by using this routine has been both G.W. Bush and Obama)... Bypassing Constitutional Order. This is done by a) executive order; b) presidential directive; and c) regulation.
There is much debate about whether Executive Orders are even Constitutional. On the one hand - they are useful for certain things, especially in times of war when quick decisions must be made. On the other hand - they are dangerous any time, especially when it is assumed that quick decisions need to be made.
Just Two Examples:
G.W. Bush - Creation of Office of Homeland Security
Obama - Law Of The Sea Treaty (LOST)
You generally have to be familiar with current federal legislation and/or past or current International Treaties or regulations to understand some of the horrible stuff that we get our of Executive Orders, but regardless of what you do or don't know in that respect, the more Executive Orders = the more power the Executive Branch gains = the checks and balances that our founding fathers gave us are thrown off = accountability becomes questionable = the less power the legislative branch has = the less power the people (YOU) have.
Presidential Executive Orders
http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/executive-orders