In December 2010, the Obama administration announced its 25-Point Plan to reform federal information technology (IT) management (the 25-Point Plan). As part of the plan, agencies were to implement a “cloud first” strategy when purchasing new IT systems and programs. At the time, there was much head-scratching about how this new policy would be implemented, and whether or not it would save taxpayer dollars and streamline federal IT programs.
Eighteen Years and Counting
On February 8, 2014, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 will turn eighteen years old. For most eighteen year-olds this is a major milestone in life. Gaining a sense of maturity; showing that one is ready to face the world. You even get to vote. However, for a law that regulates an innovative and stunningly evolving […]
Declaration of Dependence
A February 4, 2013 Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report confirmed what taxpayer watchdog groups such as Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) have been warning about for years: Obamacare is an unprecedented disaster for every American’s personal health and the country’s economic health. CBO reported that 2.5 million people, a historically high number, will leave the […]
Disturbing News on Medicaid from Oregon
Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) in 2010 objected to the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of Medicaid, a “partnership” between state governments and Washington to provide healthcare to the poor, knowing at the time that the price tag would be prohibitive and it would put the federal and local governments in charge of millions of Americans’ […]
India Bottoms Out on IP Protection
On January 29, 2014, the Global Intellectual Property Center released its second annual intellectual property index, rating how various countries around the world performed on protecting intellectual property (IP). The points were awarded six categories: Patents, Related Rights, and Limitations (7 points); Copyrights, Related Rights and Limitations (6 points); Trademarks, Related Rights, and limitations (5 […]
Opening up Wi-Fi to the Internet of Things
Over the weekend, a high school freshman printed a history report; a man researched job postings over the Internet on his tablet; a family watched a TV show on their laptop while waiting for an appointment; and, a woman talked to her mother on her home’s cordless phone. All of these actions used unlicensed spectrum […]
In Case You Missed It
Between the three-day holiday weekend and the big snow storm on the east coast, you may have missed this news story from the Jan 17, Wall Street Journal. Titled “Exchanges See Little Progress on the Uninsured” by Christopher Weaver and Anna Wilde Mathews it concerns a survey undertaken by McKinsey & Company of 4,463 consumers between […]
More Transparency for Obamacare
Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed the Exchange Information Disclosure Act (H.R. 3362) by a bipartisan vote of 259 to 154. This is the second of two bills that bring more transparency to exactly what is happening with respect to security and actual enrollment in the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. I wrote […]
Maryland, My Maryland
On Sunday, January 12, the Washington Post wrote a highly critical article of the Maryland Health Connection, the state’s website for its health insurance exchange. The website has been a disaster since October 1, opening day for all the Obamacare exchanges. On the following Tuesday, the government official in charge of implementing the exchange, the state’s Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown […]
What’s the Word? WRDA!
“WRDA,” a legislative acronym pronounced “word-uh” in Beltway speak and not to be confused with Cameo’s 1986 hip-hop hit, “Word Up,” refers to the Water Resources Development Act, the authorization of water-related infrastructure projects, including dams, locks, and other navigational and flood control projects pertaining to the nation’s inland waterways. The last WRDA bill to […]