Word: congressed
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Ever since 1978, when President Jimmy Carter signed the Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act (a.k.a. the Humphrey-Hawkins Act) into law, Federal Reserve chairmen have had to troop before Congress twice a year to explain themselves...
...this willingness to explain policies and chat with Congress about them hasn't endeared Bernanke and the Fed to all its members. Far from it. After thanking Bernanke in his opening remarks, Bachus - the ranking Republican on the committee - went on to complain that the Fed had taken on too much authority and should restrict itself in the future to setting monetary policy. Texas Republican Ron Paul, whose calls to abolish the Fed have gotten more attention lately than they used to, claimed that "the Federal Reserve, in collaboration with giant banks, has created the greatest financial crisis ever seen...
...went well beyond the usual Humphrey-Hawkins report on how the Fed is doing in meeting its two congressionally mandated goals of maintaining stable prices and full employment (fine on the first, not so fine on the second) to defend the Fed against the rising tide of criticism in Congress. (Read "The Fed Holds Steady: Mixed Signals on the Economy...
...outcry over the Rosenberg case has opened doors to reform. Guatemala's congress was compelled to pass a law, long resisted by powerful political and business interests, that allows public scrutiny of judicial appointments. This month lawmakers say they're set to convene at least one special session to act on measures such as concealed-weapons laws and the creation of organized-crime and anticorruption courts. Activists like Alfonso Abril, 24, of the civic group ProReforma, want to revise Guatemala's sclerotic constitution to modernize lawmaking and codify individual rights. "I'm from the upper class," says Abril...
What would stepping up look like? For starters, Congress needs to double the federal funding for these schools, according to a May report from the Brookings Institution. But, the report argues, to truly "transform our community colleges into engines of opportunity and prosperity," funding needs to be tied to performance in areas like degree completion - a model some states, including Indiana and Ohio, are already trying. The City University of New York has rigged up an experimental program that requires its community-college students to take intensive remedial courses if they aren't prepared to do college-level work. Begun...