Article Title: Federal retirements may not come in a wave
Snippet of Article: "...The GAO report similarly tied economic conditions to retirement decisions. It noted that the overall retirement rate averaged about 3.5 percent in 2004-2007, fell to 2.5 percent in 2008-2010, then rebounded to pre-recession rates starting in 2011...."
Article Title: Premature motion: PRC dismisses bid to view non-public Amazon docs 
Snippet of Article: "...The deal to deliver for Amazon on Sunday thus raises several questions. Why is the deal being offered only to Amazon and its customers? How is it appropriate for a government monopoly and a giant corporation to broker a secret deal? Why should the Postal Service be making special deals like this one — or the NSA that gave Valassis special breaks — that favor certain large commercial entities? How does this NSA conform to the promise of uniform service under the universal service obligation? ..."
Article Title: OPM undecided whether to suspend, debar USIS after DoJ complaint
Snippet of Article: "...DoJ's complaint alleges USIS began "dumping" or "flushing" cases — transmitting cases to OPM and falsely representing them as completed — in 2008 to maximize the company's revenues and profits. ..."
Article Title: Obama to raise minimum wage for some federal workers
Snippet of Article: "...I'm proud to have a president who will stand up for a living wage because the workers themselves decided to take a stand."..."
Article Title: Military Deposits
Snippet of Article: "... the payments for the military deposit have to be made to the agency and they can be done in a lump sum or installments, and again, I will be harping on this -- because this has to be made at the agency, you cannot walk in the month before retirement and expect to do installments on a military deposit. It will not work out. If you are moving into retirement, or you're within six months of retirement, you will have to make a large installment, or lump sum payment, because it has to be finalized before that date...."
Article Title: Fewer Jobs, Longer Wait Times: The New Postal Service Slogan?
Snippet of Article: "...The proposal would keep the Monday delivery day for mail dropped off on Thursday. But mailed dropped off on Friday at such post offices would be delivered on Tuesday, while the Postal Service would deliver Saturday drop-offs on Wednesday...."
Here is a horrific story about an agency that pretends to support veterans. The Postal Service employs a huge number of veterans, of course only because they are forced to do so due to military veteran preference rights afforded veterans seeking employment. However, the agency is obviously veteran unfriendly and non-supportive. Here is just one example of that:
Article Title: Postal Service ordered to reinstate Purple Heart recipient fired for ‘excessive military leave,’ report says
Snippet of Article: "...The U.S. Postal Service was reportedly ordered by a federal board this week to reinstate a National Guardsman and give the man $2 million in back pay after he was fired from his job for taking "excessive military leave."..."
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| Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War |
Article Title: 35% Think U.S. Government Should Consider Selling the Postal Service
Snippet of Article: "...The U.S. Postal Service has been plagued with financial problems for years, but fewer adults now believe the federal government should sell the Postal Service...."
Article Title: VIDEO: American held hostage by Al Qaeda for two years begs U.S. for help
Snippet of Article: "...“Nine years ago I came to Pakistan to help my government and I did so at a time when most Americans would not come here,” said Weinstein, sporting a beard and appearing lethargic. “And now when I need my government it seems I’ve been totally abandoned and forgotten.”..."
Article Title: Brothel tax breaks and $124,995 pizza: How your tax money was (mis)spent this year
Article Title: Residents report late mail deliveries
Snippet of Article: "...Willard Lemonds of Cape Girardeau has not seen his mailbox flag pushed down over the last couple days because his mail has not been delivered. He recalled seeing a mail truck broken down on a road near his home during the recent winter weather. Lemonds worried about the delivery of his bills and leaving undelivered mail in his mailbox overnight. ..."
Article Title: Federal Employee Unions Gain Members Post-Shutdown
Snippet of Article: "...The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employee union, gained about 1,100 members in November, after suffering a net membership loss during the shutdown itself...."
Article Title: Federal employee advocates: No pension hikes in budget deal
Snippet of Article: "...one proposal involves hiking federal employees’ share of their pension contributions by 1.2 percentage points over three years...."
Article Title: Microsoft blasts "government snooping," pledges to enhance encryption
Article Title: System for Award Management (SAM)
Snippet of Article: "...The System for Award Management (SAM) is combining federal procurement systems and the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance into one new system. This consolidation is being done in phases...."
Article Title: NSA spied on porn habits, HuffPo reports
Article Title: Bill would ensure blue-collar federal workers get 1 percent pay raise in January
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| bitcoin.org |
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| FERS |
Article Title: NSA’s Keith Alexander questions Washington Post report
Snippet of Article: "... the NSA secretly mined the connection between Google’s and Yahoo’s data hubs. The project, code named MUSCULAR and targeting data centers located around the world..."
Article Title: Young workers souring on federal careers
Snippet of Article: "...No one has compiled statistics on the number of federal workers quitting their jobs or looking to do so. But public employees say the chorus of dissatisfaction among young people is reaching record decibels...."
Snippet of Article: "...Most federal employees who filed for unemployment compensation while they were furloughed are being asked to pay that money back..."
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| Federal Furlough News |
Article Title: Many Unpaid Federal Workers Applying For Unemployment
Snippet of Article: "...Now four days into the shutdown, many unpaid federal workers are applying for unemployment...."
Article Title: Government shuts down after Congress fails to pass spending bill
Snippet of Article: "...WASHINGTON —The federal government shut down for the first time in nearly two decades following more than a week of legislative jockeying ..."
Article Title: Government shutdown: Get up to speed in 20 questions
Snippet of Article: "...(CNN) -- Let's start with the obvious question: Will the government shut down this week? Most likely. Republicans and Democrats can agree on that...."
Article Title: House sets vote on funding bill; agencies brace for shutdown
Snippet of Article: "...Nationwide, 400,000 civilian Defense Department workers would be furloughed. Maryland and Virginia would be hurt more by a shutdown..."
Article Title: OPM Announces 2014 Federal Employees Health Benefits Program Premium Rates
Washington, DC – The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has announced the average premium rate for the 8.2 million people covered by the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program will increase by 3.7 percent in 2014. That percentage is only slightly higher than last year’s increase of 3.4 percent and less than the national average increase in 2013. The average premium increase for the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) will be under one percent for dental coverage and average premiums for vision benefits will decrease by 1.3 percent.
“For the third year in a row, OPM has kept the average premium increases for the FEHB Program under 4 percent, continuing our commitment to provide federal employees, annuitants and their families with the best possible coverage options,” said OPM Acting Director Elaine Kaplan. “The FEHB Program delivers competitive rates and benefits through an efficiently run program to attract and retain top-talent in the federal service.”
There are no significant benefit changes for 2014 and more plan choices: 256, up by over 10 percent from 2013.
On average, FEHB Program enrollees with self only coverage will pay $3.28 more per bi-weekly pay period, and enrollees with family coverage will pay $7.90 more. Premiums for Health Maintenance Organizations will increase an average of 6.5 percent, while Fee-for-Service plans will see an average increase of 3.1 percent.
The 2013 Open Season for health, dental, and vision insurance and flexible spending accounts will be held from November 11, 2013 to December 9, 2013. The annual Open Season gives federal employees and retirees the opportunity to review their health plan choices and make changes for the following year. It also allows eligible employees to enroll for coverage. FEHB Program enrollees should review the benefits and premiums for their health plan choices and decide what coverage will best fit their healthcare needs in the coming year.
Established in 1960, the FEHB Program is the largest employer-sponsored health benefits program in the United States. The government provides a weighted average contribution of 72 percent of premiums with a cap of no more than 75 percent of total premium cost. Approximately 90 percent of all federal employees participate in the Program.
The OPM website provides a detailed breakdown on the FEHB Program premium rates and the FEDVIP rates.
Article Title: Most government employees would work through shutdown
Snippet of Article: "...An estimated 59% of non-defense federal employees would be exempt from the shutdown and would go to work as usual, according to a USA TODAY..."
