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  May 10, 2013, 6:39 pm

Business groups prod Obama to go further on landmark export policy revamp

By Ben Goad

The Obama administration’s historic overhaul of Cold War-era export controls should go even further to lighten the burden on companies who sell there wares overseas, a coalition of business groups said.

The Coalition for Security and Competitiveness, a group of 18 trade associations, said a massive regulatory undertaking now under way “should not be the final step” toward loosening the flow of items deemed sensitive under outdated rules.

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Archived under: Business
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  May 10, 2013, 6:38 pm

Business Roundtable: ObamaCare wellness program at risk

By Megan R. Wilson

Chief executives are urging President Obama to preserve a "wellness program" in ObamaCare that they say is critical for improving public health.

The Business Roundtable said on Friday it has been in talks with the White House since last week about an ObamaCare provision requiring workers to provide “wellness programs” for employees, in an attempt to lower overall healthcare costs.

The group – which boasts members such as the chief executives of Boeing, Dow Chemical, 3M, JPMorgan Chase, Time Warner Cable, among others – told the president it wants the rules to contain both participation and “contingent-based” wellness programs.

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Archived under: Lobbying
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  May 10, 2013, 6:34 pm

Former Afghanistan ambassador nominated to oversee government news outlets

By Julian Hattem

President Obama is nominating the former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq to serve as a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG).

Ryan Crocker, who spent 37 years in the foreign service before leaving government to teach at Yale University, would oversee broadcasting organizations like the Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, which are supported by the government but run by civilians and offer news to international audiences.

The BBG, which is an independent agency that requested $731 million for fiscal 2014, has been responsible for non-military government broadcasting since 1999. Its network of seven broadcasters reach more than 165 million people each month, the agency claims.

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Archived under: Policy & Strategy, Other
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  May 10, 2013, 4:17 pm

Obama orders new strategy to boost federal pay equality

By Julian Hattem

The president is asking federal officials for a new strategy to reduce the discrepancy between what men and women earn.

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Archived under: Administration
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  May 10, 2013, 3:28 pm

Study finds broad frustration with higher ed regulations

By Megan R. Wilson

The majority of experts say federal regulations for higher education are too burdensome, according to a study released on Friday.

In a yearlong survey, the Government Accountability Office held meetings and interviews with nearly 70 education experts, trade association representatives, researchers and school officials. Participants generally concluded that higher-education regulations as a whole were “costly, vague, complicated or unnecessary.”

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Archived under: Administration
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  May 10, 2013, 2:32 pm

Dem: Clothiers will have ‘blood on their labels’ if they resist Bangladesh reforms

By Ben Goad

Rep. George Miller is pressing the fashion industry to accept binding safety standards in Bangladesh following a deadly building collapse.

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Archived under: Labor
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  May 10, 2013, 1:28 pm

IRS: 'Perseverance' led to increase in tax crime convictions

By Megan R. Wilson

Despite a dwindling enforcement staff, the Internal Revenue Service investigated more tax fraud and convicted more criminals than in recent years, a new report says.

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Archived under: Domestic Taxes, International Taxes, Administration
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  May 10, 2013, 11:36 am

Taiwanese firm sanctioned for aiding North Korea

By Julian Hattem

A Taiwanese company and its chief executive are being sanctioned for helping to support North Korea's weapons regime.

According to the Treasury Department, Trans Multi Mechanics has been used to negotiate contracts for the regime and ship equipment worth thousands of dollars to North Korea.

The department claims that the company was used by a Taiwanese man and his son who were arrested in Estonia and Illinois in recent weeks for attempting to export American machinery that could be used for producing weapons of mass destruction. Since the late 1990s, that man, known as Alex Tsai, had been allegedly providing or attempting to provide North Korea with items that could be used to advance the country's weapons program.

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Archived under: Global Trade & Economy, Finance
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  May 10, 2013, 10:17 am

Monday's meeting announcements: Discussing HVAC rules

By Julian Hattem

Meetings, teleconferences and webinars of all kinds will be announced in the Federal Register on Monday. The new sessions are below:

The Department of Energy's working group on commercial heating, air conditioning and refrigeration is meeting on May 14 and 15 to negotiate new certification and compliance rules. 

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Archived under: Other
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  May 10, 2013, 9:41 am

New regs for Monday: Preventing infestation spread

By Julian Hattem

On Monday, a bunch of new rules on plants, animals and certifications will be issued or proposed in the Federal Register. Here they are:

Animals and Plants:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is quarantining a county in Ohio to prevent the spread of Asian longhorned beetles to other parts of the country and allowing varieties of two shrubs to cross states without restrictions. 


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Archived under: Pending Regs
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