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I only recently found out about this wonderful woman's passing and it feels like losing a friend. She held my hand when I cried about losing my fourth baby to HLHS and prematurity soon after delivery. Dr. Coltrin was able deliver a healthy child to me when I had not been able to before that. My daughter is now a happy, healthy seven-year-old and my husband and I could not thank Doctor Coltrin enough for what she gave us. My condolences go to her family and friends.
I have just heard of the lost of DR.
Coltrin.I offer my condolences to the family.I was aware of her illness, but not her death.I saw her 4 yrs. for GYN, I would sing one line of the song Their's a Pawn Shop on the corner in Pittsburg,PA
and she would finish it,each year.
We were both from PA. and we would laugh. May she rest in Peace. Shirley Burgin-VA BCh. VA
I am very saddened today to hear of Dr Coltrin's passing. I was her patient until I moved in 2005. She helped me deliver my son & daughter now ages 11 & 7. I just moved back to the area & was hoping to have her again as a doctor. She was so warm, patient & kind. I used to love going to her office & seeing all the quilts. She had a nurturing spirit & her office gave you a down home feeling thats hard to find now days. My condolences goes out to the family.
Although i knew that the office was closing i was unaware that Dr. Coltrin had passed. I was a patient in the office for 4 years. Dr. Coltrin helped to bring my bundle of joy into the world and i am forever grateful for the care, patience and support she and her staff provided while my husband and i were pregnant. I am so sorry to hear of your loss. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
Lexi told me of your mom's passing. Please accept my heartfelt sympathies for your loss. I didn't know your mother, but from what Lexi and Mrs. Bittinger told me, I know you are a reflection of her in your kindness and warm spirit. Wishing you peace and strength during this dificult time.
Phoebe Hitson (Norfolk Collegiate Class of 2009)
My heart dropped when I heard the sad news about such a wonderful Dr. and women. She was my Dr. my moms and my sisters. We all love her. She was the first person to ever touch my son. I am so sorry to her husband and daughter. I am so sorry for your loss.There are never enough words to express .... I know she topped the charts of excellence as a wife and mother. You guys are her pride n joy n i think her love 4 you and from u both was what made her such a nurturing dr. My family has been seeing her since 03 her smile and passion just as present last time my mom saw her on the 10th of dec i think it was, as was when we first met her. Thru her struggles herself she put everyone first. God put her on this earth w/ a intelligent mind, heart of gold, n healing hands. She did what God called her to do and she did it amazingly! The world definately needs more people 2 b just like Dr.Coltrin. She'll always have a special place n my heart. My heart n prayers r w/ her loved ones.
My thoughts and prayers go out to Dr. Coltrin's family. She was very dedicated to her profession and will be truly missed. Michelle Moore/Anthem Provider Network Manager
Life.....so fragile, Loss....so sudden, Heart....so broken,...in the wake of such a loss, we are haunted by things we dont, and may never understand. Yet the solace we seek may not come from answers. So we look for comfort in the belief of love's everlasting connection. May that love lift you and hold you close, and give you peace.
I am so grateful to have been one of Dr. Coltrin's many patients. She brought both of my children into this world. I will truly miss her! Fly with the angels Doc and be free.
I was a patient of Dr. Coltrin's for 13 years. Her office, with wicker chairs, quilts and beautiful pictures immediately put me to ease. She was an excellent doctor and a warm and caring person. She often spoke warmly of her daughter as we are both mothers of artists. Her caring presence brightened this corner of the world. She will be missed by many.
On behalf of MedCommEx Physician Answering Service please accept our most heartfelt condolences at the passing of your wife and mother. We feel blessed to have worked for Dr. Coltrin and her practice for many years. She will definitely be remembered by us as a very compassionate doctor and woman that cared deeply for her patients. Keep your memories of her close as they are truly a gift from God.
Dear Dana and Elizabeth,
My heartfelt sympathy on the loss of your beloved wife and mother. I met Diane when she and Dana moved into our neighborhood in 1983, and we became instant friends, sharing a love for pets, gardening, cooking and women's health care.
She was an extraordinarily kind and generous woman. The happiest I ever saw her was the day she called to tell me she was the mother of a baby girl, and could I go buy some diapers ASAP.
She left a lasting impression and I will hold her in my heart always.
I worked with Dr Coltrin at SLH for fourteen years. I am holding her family close in my prayers. God be with you.
I would like to share my thoughts and prayers with Dr. Coltrin's family today. She brought my two beautiful children into this world which were the two most special days of my life. Thank you Dr. Coltrin for your dedication to women and the community. I will be forever grateful and you will remain in my heart forever.
Dr. Coltrin holds a special place in our family's memory. She helped me through a difficult pregnancy with wisdom, love, and humor, and delivered our son in 1997. She was a gift to many people, including us.
Dr.Coltrin delivered my daughter in 2009 and i couldn't have asked for a better doctor. My heart is saddened for your loss and its my prayer for the family that God will give you all peace surpass all understanding
Dr. Coltrin will be sorely missed by all who knew and loved her. She helped me to learn how to cope with a chronic disease never letting on that she too was ill.
May you rest in peace, Dr. C.
I am sorry for your loss. Dr. Coltrin helped precept me as a nurse practitioner student while at VCU. She will be missed, she was a very kind provider. Heather Hallberg, WHNP
I am deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Dr. Coltrin. I remember first meeting her nearly 9 years ago and instantly being at ease in her office. She delivered my son in February 2010 and I could not have asked for a better doctor.
To Elizabeth, I know your mother loved you and was so proud of you. I remember being in Leigh L&D just after my son was born and she was telling me how excited she was to be seeing you the next week. Her eyes lit up any time she mentioned you.
Your family is in my prayers,
Valerie Sabo
We're very sorry for your loss. Dr. Coltrin was a very caring, giving, & spunky woman. I couldn't have had a more wonderful dr when she delivered my son this past summer on 6/21/12. My family has Diane & her family in our hearts. She gave us the most wonderful gift when she brought Austin out into the world. Your family has our condolences. We wish you the best.
My sincerest condolences to Dr. Coltrin's family. I used to work at Sentara Leigh L&D as a care partner. She was always so cheerful no matter what time of day or night. She was always kind and pleasant to work with. she will be greatly missed.


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Overcome was the cornerstone of success for Facedown in its early years with their 5 song CDep The Life Of Death. Prior to that, Overcome released a split 12″ with Clay and N.I.V. on Boot To Head Records, a full length on Tooth and Nail Records (Blessed Are The Persecuted), a 7″ on Life Sentence Records, and another full length on Tooth & Nail (When Beauty Dies). Overcome went on to record the album Immortal Until Their Work Is Done which was released in December of 1999 on Facedown Records. The band broke up in 2000 and did one final summer tour with Figure Four. Overcome re-united for 2 re-union shows for the 2003 Facedown Fest.
After Overcome broke up, 3 of the members went on to form the death metal band Indwelling. Indwelling signed with Facedown for the release of their debut and only album And My Eye Shall Weep.
Overcome has now returned in 2010. But, this is not a reunion. This is a new era of the band. As time moves on life will always have its challenges and changes. Jason Stinson the front man and main song writer for Overcome lead the band through 7 years of these challenges and changes. All of them rewarding. For the last several years it was time to focus and do life apart from this band. Now a new opportunity has once again become a reality and Overcome has returned with new members and new music. More important than all of this isnt what has changed, but what hasnt and will never change. That is our purpose and our message. Be ready
a new flame is burning.
For Fans Of: Living Sacrifice, Zao, A Plea For Purging

subset: commoncrawl


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Welcome to gardeners, growers of veggies, fruits, flowers, and trees!
Welcome backyard hen enthusiasts, worm farmers, beekeepers & composters!
Location: Planet Earth
Members: 179
Latest Activity: 12 hours ago
If you like to dig in the dirt, plant & prune, grow food & flowers, or sit and watch as someone else does your landscaping, you'll find something here to discuss!
Selected topics, in sort of alphabetical order:
Aging. Gardening with an older body.
bees. insectary. insects. bee gardening. Beneficial insects. insects drive evolution.
Compost. here. contaminated compost.
Backyard Chickens here. here. here. here.
Edible yard. here urban farm. front yards.
Growing Fruits
Fragrance and Scent. here.
Fruit growing. in a small space, by backyard orchard culture.
Frugal gardening. labels.
Gardening for future generations. also permaculture, trees, historic varieties, soil
Heritage and historic varieties. here. sources.
locally grown plants to prevent blight transmission here.
Moon Phase Widget here. Moon phase topic here.
Peppers. Hot peppers.
Permaculture Mollison, Falk Liu, Joan's Intro, Transformation in 90 days, Perm Principles at work. Food forest, Holzer
Potatoes. here.
Rooftop gardening. here.
Seed starting. starting spring crops.
Scientific Gardening. The Informed Gardener. The truth about garden remedies.
Soil and soil building - healthy soil microbes, mycelium, dirt is everything, soil analysis. soil pH.
Tomatoes. Myths and truths.
Trees. Tree tunnels. Ancient tree planting. Plant commemorative trees.
Started by Joan Denoo. Last reply by k.h. ky Nov 21. 14 Replies 2 Likes
Started by Joan Denoo. Last reply by Idaho Spud Oct 8. 4 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Joan Denoo. Last reply by Daniel Wachenheim Sep 28. 2 Replies 2 Likes
Started by Ruth Anthony-Gardner. Last reply by Daniel Wachenheim Sep 22. 6 Replies 1 Like
Whoa Spud! Did you use backhoe to dig hole? :)
I've finally got over my winter laziness. I spent the last week preparing the soil in the area between the sidewalk and road and planting a Harcot Apricot tree.
I decided to buy the best looking one at the new nursery. It cost $100. Hope it's worth it.
It had a large matt of roots on the bottom, so I trimmed one-half inch off before planting.
I agree with Spud. Mulch, mulch and more mulch. I too rototilled my first year here. I really think the heavy mulch I put on my beds in the Fall served more good than the tilling.
Randy, Since this is really my first year of growing things I'm glad I mulched heavily last Fall. I just brought home several bags of fine mulch from recycling center and will be applying it today around perennials, in herb garden, etc. It will keep the soil cooler and maybe a bit moist during the coming heat - and keep out the weeds. Most of my beds now have fluffy soil, whereas the walkway with no mulch is very compacted - it gets mulch today. My comfrey is up and growing pretty good, I will be using it to mulch and feed all of my plants in a few months.
Tilling is probably necessary if the soil is compacted. From what I read, the no till method is the best method, but it needs the soil to be covered with organic matter most of the time, to keep it soft.
Joan, I wish I had one or two of those beautiful Bengals!
Daniel, your forsythia has that wonderful yellow that gives me a lift as no other plant can, and in the spring when I need it!
Patricia, I think you might be the farthest north of this group. Your husband's greenhouse beautifully lengthens your growing season.
Randy, if it were not for the garden, I would feel pure joy with all those critters, except the ones that burrow under your plants. I will design a vegetable garden for Laura and Larry. They want one and spend way too many hours making their businesses profitable. My plan is to fence off the vegetable and fruit area to protect it from the deer, turkeys, rabbits, skunks and raccoons that regularly come. My grandson already built the raised beds, and we will have screening on the bottom to prevent moles.
Bertold, my granddaughter, who has a home on her mom's property, has a mother cat who is a Bengal. She is a holy terror and does not allow moles escape her fast action and swift dispatch of small critters. The little things become sacrifices to her skills and intentions, even as she is an excellent cat, playful, loving, and extremely active. She had beautiful babies until they had her neutered. She loves attention and will get it one way or another.
She is a perfect company for me being able to pet and brush her all she wants.
This cat is not hers; it is a stock photo of a Bengal
Chris, I look forward to following your progress through the season. You have a green thumb. Courgette, I like the sound of it!
@ Daniel - guess it cuts its babies in half. (Don't you see the white tusks?)
© 2016 Atheist Nexus. All rights reserved. Admin: Richard Haynes. Powered by


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This video takes us behind the scenes of Killing Kennedy, a new TV movie telling the story of the last few years of John F. Kennedy's life.
The story of John F. Kennedy, the charismatic U.S. President who was assassinated in 1963, has been told countless times before.
However, with this being the 50th anniversary of the year he was killed there are a new collection of films, mini-series, and documentaries out telling the story once again.
Killing Kennedy is the version of events as told by right-wing political commentator Bill O'Reilly. It just regurgitates the official account which has a politicized Lee Harvey Oswald as the shooter.
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Wii U download software
Wii U (European version)
Release date
English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Russian
Download size
We sincerely thank you for your continued support of our company's products and services. We would like to remind Wii U owners that as previously announced, the Wii Street U powered by Google service will be discontinued on March 31st 2016, at 23:59 local time. Once the service is discontinued, this software will not be usable.
To prepare for this, the software will be removed from Nintendo eShop at 23:59 local time on January 31st 2016. Users who have already purchased the software will be able to re-download it until 23:59 local time on March 31st 2016.
We apologise to those of you currently using this service, and we ask for your understanding as we focus our resources in other areas.
Pick up your Wii U GamePad and head out on a fascinating tour of the world with Wii Street U powered by Google. Take a trip down the road or hike the Grand Canyon, all without leaving your living room. Wii Street U powered by Google is available to download from Nintendo eShop for a limited time*.
Use the Wii U console's unique controller, the Wii U GamePad, to give you a fresh perspective on the world. Simply type in a location and you'll be transported there – virtually, of course – with an overhead map on the TV giving everyone in the room a fascinating bird's-eye view of the world. Then switch to Street View and use the Wii U GamePad's 6.2-inch screen and intuitive motion controls to look around and explore the world.
If you can't think of anywhere you'd like to visit, why not take a tour and check out some Recommended Tour Spots? These spectacular scenes from all over the world are just a few seconds away. You can even talk about your favourite spots with other users on Miiverse, and check out their suggestions too.
Update your software by starting it from the Wii U Menu while connected to the Internet, which will add the following features to make your globe-trotting experience even more exciting!
Automatically move along recommended routes, letting you take in the scenery while you move between spots. You can even search, bookmark and post your favourite routes, making it easier than ever to discover new sights around the world. And speaking of discovering new sights, use cryptic clues to seek out special characters hidden around the world. It's a global treasure hunt in the palm of your hand!
Step onto your Wii Balance Board and start walking around places all over the world. Walk on the spot to move forward, and shift your weight to change direction and explore the scene around you. As you take steps on the balance board, the screen will move up and down as though you're walking in real life, to help immerse you in the scene more than ever.
Write about your favourite spots on Miiverse, and post or view screenshots, from within Wii Street U powered by Google itself**. On top of bookmarking favourite routes, you can also create bookmarks for spots that you'll want to come back to at the touch of a button, add Miiverse-supported tags to your bookmarks, see a location's elevation, and even check which way is north using the on-screen compass! It's even easier to explore on the ground because the handy Street View Guide (the line that shows all the paths you can follow) will turn a darker shade when you've already been somewhere.
* The application is currently planned to be available for download and use until 31st March 2016. Please note: a broadband Internet connection and Nintendo Network ID are required to use this software.
** Screenshots from this software that are attached to Miiverse posts can only be viewed within Wii Street U powered by Google.
© 2013 Nintendo. Google and Google Maps are trademarks of Google Inc.
© 2016 Nintendo.


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For decades now, the Democrat Party has been engaged in a war – with reality. Everybody connected to reality understands that unless Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid undergo major reforms, they will be bankrupt – and will bankrupt the country. That's reality.
Add to that, the Democrats' "War on Poverty," which is still going on. Under the guise of compassion – of lifting up the less fortunate – the U.S. government has spent trillions of dollars in welfare redistribution – which has cost society much more than just wasted money. Food stamps, health care for uninsured children, subsidies for single parents, extended unemployment benefits, business loans, college grants, college loans, volumes of grants for everything under the sun – including broadcasters, performance artists, grants to retrain workers who were never trained in the first place. The list is endless.
Those who demand we "means test," or bring scrutiny to the billions of dollars flowing out of Washington, are demonized – their called heartless, bigoted, or worse.
The reality is, this government – our government – does not have the trillions of dollars Obama and the Democrats have spent these past two and a half years. We didn't have the money to spend on LBJ's "Great Society," or on FDR's Social Security.
So now, this decades-old war that Democrats have been waging on the American taxpayer, and on reality, is coming to a head. We cannot endlessly spend ... what we don't have. That's reality. And the day is finally here – when even Democrats have to face it!


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Cooling System and PCB Design
Despite our suppositions, the GeForce 7800 GT graphics adapter doesn't use the same PCB as GeForce 7800 GTX is based on. The newcomer is based on a specifically designed PCB, which should probably boast lower production cost.
The graphics processor and graphics memory voltage regulator circuitry of the GeForce 7800 GT is much simpler than those of the GeForce 7800 GTX and GeForce 6800 Ultra. There are fewer electronic components involved than in case of the other two graphics solutions. Since the voltage regulator design is simpler and the load-bearing elements have been moved to the other side of the PCB, the board is overall shorter than the PCB of GeForce 7800 GTX, although it is not so compactly built as the solutions from ATI Technologies.
There are very few components onboard of GeForce 7800 GT, which may indicate that there is enough room for further price reduction.
The reference GeForce 7800 GT card uses 256Mbit GDDR memory chips from Infineon with 2.0ns access time. The nominal working frequency of this memory is 1000MHz. the graphics card can accommodate up to 16 memory chips, which allows using up to 512MB GDDR. Note that NVIDIA refused to equip its GeForce 7800 GT with 256MB of memory on both sides of the PCB to ensure better cooling of the memory chips: the not very high working frequency of the GDDR memory they use doesn't require very powerful heat-spreaders.
The cooling system of GeForce 7800 GT has also changed compared with what we see on GeForce 7800 GTX. The cooler of the new GeForce 7800 GT is much more compact than the one used on GTX model, the fan is also smaller, and its rotation speed doesn't change. From the conceptual point, the cooling system of NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT inherited a lot from its predecessor: the chip cooling system is built with heatpipes, and the fan is installed in such a way that the chip heatsink could receive best cooling.
As for the additional features of GeForce 7800 GT, I would like to mention the VIVO controller – SAA7115HL from Philips, which was also installed on GeForce 7800 GTX. It looks like the video capturing features have become standard for all NVIDIA based high-end solutions.


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Are you a die-hard JPK Paris fan? Could you always use another vibrant and stylish bag in your closet? Or can you simply not pass up a great sale? Then check out our JPK Paris sale going on right now.
For a limited time, you can save up to 60% (or more) on JPK Paris handbags, ladies wallets, totes, and more. This sale includes chic styles that are not only trendy for fall/winter, but will also take you into spring thanks to bold colors, fine fabrics, and beautiful hardware.
Don't know JPK Paris? Now's your chance to get to know them at a great price. Founded in 2007 by Jean Pierre Klifa, JPK Paris (also known as JPK Paris75) offers bags and accessories for the stylish, on-the-go woman. Known for being functional AND fashionable, JPK bags are carefully crafted with the kind of attention to detail you'd expect from a designer label but are priced much more reasonably than your average designer bag. You'll love how their fun yet elegant designs will add that head-turning element to any outfit from casual to businesswear.
Check out our top JPK Paris sale bags below:
Prices listed were good on 12/2/12 before tax and shipping. Subject to change and availability. Sale ends 12/31/12.


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Down to the Wire Shoe designers craft their work around an idea, not a foot. Nike's big brainstorm, Flywire, replaces all of a shoe's heavy structural materials with support threads that resemble the steel cables on a suspension bridge. But the Vectran filaments may also soon help replace Nike factories in China. The see- through shoe is reportedly so inexpensive to make that Nike may move some manufacturing back to the United States. The Flywire-based ZOOM VICTORY (1) middle-distance spike weighs only 93 grams, or 3.28 ounces. The HYPERDUNK (2) will help Chinese star Yi Jianlian get an even bigger vertical edge. NBA MVP Kobe Bryant will have his own version of the shoe.
A version of this article appeared in the July/August 2008 issue of Fast Company magazine.


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|Cato Policy Analysis No. 19
|October 21, 1982
by James T. Bennett and Thomas J. DiLorenzo
James T. Bennett is Professor of Political Economy and Public Policy, and Thomas J. DiLorenzo is Assistant Professor of Economics, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia.
Executive Summary
In recent years both academics and the popular press have shown a growing interest in the "underground economy" -- the volume of transactions that involve payment in money or in other goods (barter) but which are not recorded in official statistics. The transactions may not be recorded because they are illegal, such as narcotics and prostitution, or because taxpayers simply refuse to pay in full their ever-increasing tax bills. The growth of the underground private economy is perhaps the ultimate stage of the "tax revolt of the '70s." Numerous constitutional and statutory limitations were imposed on state and local government taxing and spending powers, and 31 state legislatures voted to convene a convention to adopt a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Tax-imposed constraints on one's ability to accumulate wealth (or to just break even) have induced American taxpayers to conceal literally hundreds of billions of dollars from the purview of the tax collector. Some of the policy implications of the recent excavations of the underground private economy are both powerful and straightforward: We have grossly under-stated actual levels of employment, income, output, savings, and productivity, which renders various "stimulative" spending policies misdirected at best. The economy may be far healthier than generally believed.
Much of the writing and research on the tax revolt of the 1970s has focused on the "first stage" of the revolt -- Proposition 13-type tax limitations -- and the second stage -- growth of the underground economy. There is a third stage, however, that has received much less attention. It involves the question of how politicians, who are, of course, every bit as calculating as the ordinary citizen, have responded to recently imposed constraints on their abilities to accumulate wealth and power through the political process. In general, for nearly a century state and local governments have responded to various taxpayer revolts and the accompanying spending, taxing, and borrowing limitations by giving lip service to fiscal responsibility while simultaneously creating scores of "off-budget enterprises" (OBEs) through which they can conduct "business as usual." Taxpayer demands for fiscal responsibility have also spawned the growth of the off-budget activities of the federal government. In short, just as tax-imposed constraints on individual incomes have created a burgeoning underground private economy, taxpayer-induced constraints on the politician's ability to parlay the public sector to his personal advantage, at taxpayer expense, have generated the growth of an "underground government" at all levels. Thus, the size and influence of the public sector of the economy is much larger than generally believed. This paper examines the activities of the underground federal government in particular, and discusses the implications of "off-the-books" government activity for efforts to secure a balanced-budget amendment.
There are three basic ways in which, through the credit markets, federal spending is kept off the budget. First, numerous agencies are simply not included in the budget. Second, government control is extended over resource allocation by guaranteeing loans made to specially privileged individuals, businesses, and governments. Third, there are numerous privately owned, but federally sponsored and controlled, enterprises such as the Federal National Mortgage Association, that are also off-the-books borrowers.
In addition to manipulating credit market activities, politicians have increasingly recognized that, in principle, anything that can be accomplished through taxing and spending can also be accomplished with regulation. All of these activities must be taken into account to assess accurately the role of the federal government in the economy.
The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 has been praised by U.S. News & World Report as a "revolutionary budget reform intended to give Congress a tighter grip on the nation's purse strings."[1] The Budget Reform Act emerged from a recognition that existing budgetary procedures generated a bias toward overspending and budget deficits. Prior to 1974, the total amount of federal spending was the product of many individual appropriations decisions; no explicit limit was ever placed on the total amount of public expenditure. Each congressman had then, as he does now, a very strong incentive to maximize spending for his own voting constituency, but no congressman was required to take responsibility for the total amount of federal spending that resulted from the appropriations process. The Budget Reform Act created a budget committee for each house responsible for setting overall targets for revenues, expenditures, and the resultant deficit (or surplus). The Congressional Budget Office was created to assist in this process.
The main impact of the Budget Act is to make taxing, spending, and deficit levels explicit and to hold Congress accountable for them; the Act itself does nothing to curb spending. In keeping with the traditions established at the state and local levels of government, the relatively mild budgetary discipline of the Budget Act elicited a great deal of "back-door spending" at the federal level. In the wake of the Budget Act, numerous agencies have been and continue to be placed off-budget and beyond the purview of any appropriations process. Thus, while the Congress was publicly proclaiming a need for fiscal discipline in federal budget matters and enacting legislation to deal with the problem of "uncontrollable" spending, it was simultaneously establishing mechanisms through which spending could be placed off-budget. Off-budget federal outlays, by agency, since 1973 are shown in Table 1. Although the estimated $32.2 billion in off-budget outlays in 1981 was only about 5 percent of the federal budget, this amount has increased by an astounding 32,200 percent since 1973.
Most recently, the Synthetic Fuels Corporation, which began operations in 1981, was also placed off-budget. Congress had previously authorized $20 billion for the development of this "industry." The penchant for back-door federal spending is obviously nonpartisan. Both the Democratic-controlled House and the Republican-controlled Senate, at the insistence of the Reagan administration, voted to place the Strategic Petroleum Reserve "off-the-books." There have even been bipartisan proposals for dealing with the social security crisis by placing the Social Security program, with over $220 billion in expenditures in 1982, off-budget!
Off-Budget Outlays by Agency
($ Billions)
|Federal Financing
Bank (1974)
|Rural Electrification
and Telephone Re-
volving Fund (1973)
|Rural Telephone Bank (1973)
|Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (1974)
|United States Postal Service Fund (1974)
|United States Railway Association (1973)
|Total Off-Budget Outlays
eOffice of Management and Budget estimate in fiscal 1982 budget document. *less than $50 million Source: Budget of the United States Government, Office of Management and Budget, 1982.
As is evident from Table 1 the Federal Financing Bank (FFB) is by far the most active off-budget agency.[2] The FFB, part of the Treasury Department, does business with both on- and off-budget agencies. The predominant activity of the FFB is the purchase of agency debt from funds obtained by borrowing directly from the Treasury. FFB borrowing is not, however, included as part of the Treasury's budget outlays; interest payments from the FFB to the Treasury are, nevertheless, counted as deductions from Treasury outlays. Consequently, FFB borrowing actually results in a reduction in outlays reported by the Treasury Department. In essence, the FFB serves as an intermediary which permits the spending of federal agencies to be place off-budget.
A second type of FFB activity is the purchase of agency loans or loan assets. When a federal agency sells a loan to a private entity, the loan is considered repaid for budgetary purposes. Loans made by federal agencies are afforded the same treatment when the FFB is the purchaser. Proceeds from the sale are counted as loan repayments rather than as a means of financing and thus are an offset to the agency's gross expenditures. An agency's on-budget loan can therefore be converted to an off-budget loan by selling it to the FFB. In 1981, about 90 percent of all federal agency loans and loan asset sales were sold to the FFB.
Rather than selling individual loans an agency can sometimes pool its loans and issue securities backed by the pooled loans. These securities, known as "Certificates of Beneficial Ownership," are then turned over to the FFB for cash, placing them off-budget. The agency has cash to loan again, and can repeat the process as many times as it chooses. This procedure allows federal agencies to make loans to privileged customers with virtually no budgetary limit.
Another type of FFB activity is the granting of off-budget loans to guaranteed borrowers. Typically, a loan guarantee occurs when a federal agency sanctions a loan between a private lender and a private borrower. The result is an interest subsidy to the borrower at no explicit cost to the Treasury unless a borrower defaults. Frequently, however, an agency will ask the FFB to act as the private lender and purchase the borrower's note. In this case the loan guarantee becomes, in effect, a direct loan from the government which is not reflected in the budget. In 1981 FFB purchases of loan guarantees amounted to over $10 billion.
The outstanding holdings of the FFB in 1981, by type of activity, are shown in Table 2. As seen there, total outstanding holdings as of 1981 exceeded $107 billion. The primary beneficiaries have been the Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) and, to a lesser extent, many other agencies which can transfer enormous sums off-budget. The FmHA increased its loans by over 500 percent in the first five years after the establishment of the FFB.[3]
In sum, the activities of the FFB give federal politicians and bureaucrats a virtual blank check, with no direct budgetary consequences, with which to dispense rapidly growing amounts of loans and subsidies to their constituent interest groups.[4] The political cost of federal largesse are effectively reduced by the FFB. As an indication of the political bonanza being enjoyed by various politicians and their supporting federal agencies, Table 3 lists outstanding FFB loans to guaranteed borrowers during the 1980-82 period. At a time when the Reagan administration and many congressmen are calling for fiscal restraint, FFB loans outstanding to guaranteed borrowers are expected to double in just two years, with one category, loans for low-rent housing, increasing by 340 percent.
In essence, the loan guarantees administered by the FFB constitute the "back-door financing" of additional governmental control and regulation of the economy's resources. Government agencies can grant special privileges to select groups of individuals, business firms, foreign governments, or even other
FFB Outstanding Holdings, 1981
($ Billions)
|Agency Debt
|Export-Import Bank
|Tennessee Valley Authority
|Loan Assets*
|Farmers Home Administration
|Rural Electrification Administration
|Direct Loans to Guaranteed Borrowers
|REA loans to rural electric cooperatives
|DOD loans for foreign military sales
|Total FFB Outstanding Holdings
*Primarily Certificates of Beneficial Ownership Source: Joint Economic Committee, U.S. Congress, "The Underground Federal Economy," Staff Report (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, April 20, 1982), p. 12.
Outstanding FFB Loans to Guaranteed
Borrowers, Fiscal Years 1980-82
|Agency and Borrower
|REA guaranteed loans to rural electric cooperatives
|DOD guaranteed loans for foreign military sales
|HUD guaranteed loans to low-rent public housing
|TVA guaranteed loans to Seven States Energy Corporation
|Total Loans Outstanding
*estimates Source: Joint Economic Committee, U.S. Congress, "Underground Federal Economy," p. 13. government-sponsored enterprises (e.g., the Tennessee Valley Authority) without being subjected to congressional scrutiny and, theoretically, without budgetary limit. The FFB, therefore, provides federal agencies with a powerful potential for wide-scale intrusion into credit market decision-making.
Economic Implications of FFB Guarantees
Many advocates of free enterprise have objected to congressional action that granted New York City and the Chrysler Corporation several billion dollars in highly publicized loan guarantees. The New York City loan guarantee does little to address the city's fiscal problem -- deficit spending -- and encourages other cities to follow the same route to bankruptcy, with hopes of being "rescued" by the taxpaying public. The Chrysler loan guarantee, its critics observe, simply bails out an inefficient business enterprise by siphoning over a billion dollars in credit that would be put to more highly valued uses by more credit-worthy borrowers. The consequences of subsidizing failing businesses are well-known and are diagnosed worldwide as the "British Disease." Great Britain's anemic industrial performance of the past several decades is due largely to the fact that the British government forces taxpayers to subsidize on a wide scale failing or grossly inefficient business enterprises. The Chrysler loan guarantee is a step in this direction, and has been denounced by both conservatives who favor free enterprise and oppose subsidies to business, and by liberals who proclaim a fear of the powers of "big business." Nevertheless, the Chrysler and New York City loans pale in comparison with the off-budget guaranteed loans administered by the FFB. These two loan guarantees were subjected to congressional oversight and subsequently received much media exposure, but FFB loan guarantee decisions are made by a few nonelected bureaucrats in a small office at the Department of Treasury.[5] This system provides opportunities for "social engineering" by nonelected bureaucrats that the Chrysler loan does not. Consider the $2 billion in off-budget loans recently extended by the FFB to the Tennessee Valley Authority, a federally sponsored off-budget enterprise.[6]
In 1979 the TVA decided that its nuclear fuel inventory had become excessive due to nuclear power plant construction delays. To remove the burden of excessive inventories from its books, the TVA created a wholly owned subsidiary -- the Seven States Energy Corporation -- with which TVA could enter into a leaseback arrangement. Seven States would purchase TVA's nuclear fuel inventory and then lease it back as needed. To finance the arrangement, TVA originally approached a private investment banking firm, which suggested a $1 billion line of credit. Before the agreement was completed, however, the Treasury Department suggested that the FFB could provide the credit, and would increase the amount of the loan to $2 billion. Thus the TVA, in effect, extended a $2 billion line of credit to itself -- more than either the Chrysler or New York City loan guarantees -- and Congress had not been involved at all. This has far-reaching implications for the future role of the federal government in allocating credit -- a role which has, in the past, had unfortunate consequences in terms of both equity and efficiency. According to the FFB Act any entity wholly owned by the federal government has this access to off-budget federal financing. Several such entities do exist and have the legal authority to order the FFB to lend money to anyone, provided that they guarantee the loan.[7]
In addition to substituting inefficient and inequitable political resource allocation for the more efficient market allocation of capital, the existence of the FFB also increases the borrowing costs to the federal government, despite the argument that by pooling agency borrowing, financing costs are reduced. The reason for this is that the increased interest rate on federal debt resulting from FFB borrowing from the Treasury is far more expensive than the minimal savings to federal agencies. Agency debt appeals to a different market than does Treasury debt, as the difference in interest rates attests. When the Treasury issues more debt (to finance the FFB), it crowds the market segment to which its issues appeal, and that forces rates up on Treasury debt. One would think that this invalidates the entire economic (but not the political) rationale for the FFB.[8]
Loan Guarantees and the Allocation of Credit
In addition to the loan guarantee and other functions of the FFB there are over 150 federal loan guarantee programs administered by federal agencies that comprise yet another category of off-budget operations. Loan guarantees to individuals, businesses, state and local governments, or foreign governments are only reflected in the budget if the borrower, dealing through a private bank, defaults. In that case, the federal government is liable for part or all of the principle and interest on the loan. Although not reflected in the budget document, loan guarantees serve the same purpose as direct, tax-financed appropriations: They provide transfer payments to select groups at the expense of the general public. The major difference, of course, between tax-financed subsidies and loan guarantees is that the latter are far less visible and do not arouse as much taxpayer resistance. For example, a tax-financed subsidy to a college student whose parents earn $100,000 per year will surely meet more resistance, especially from the less wealthy, than will a guaranteed loan which most people think does not involve a subsidy. The partial or full guarantee of such loans does, however, permit the favored borrowers to borrow at reduced interest rates. Because of the hidden nature of these "interest subsidies," loan guarantees have become the largest component of federal credit activity. This is shown in Table 4, which lists the growth of federal loan guarantees, as well as on- and off-budget loans, from 1974 to 1982. The data indicate that loan guarantees comprise over 65 percent of all credit activity and about four times the volume of direct, on-budget loans. They are also the fastest-growing type of federal credit activity, having increased by 320 percent since 1974
The major costs of federal loan guarantee programs, like the benefits, are indirect. A major difference, however, is that the benefits of loan guarantees accrue to well-organized interest groups, but the costs are widely dispersed among the general public. The predominant indirect cost of federal loan guarantees is borne by less-favored borrowers who are crowded out of the credit market or who must pay higher interest rates on the loans that are obtained. Loan guarantees tend to increase the overall demand for credit while at the same time reducing the supply of credit available to nonguaranteed borrowers. The effect is to increase the rates charged to nonguaranteed borrowers to levels higher than they would otherwise be, which crowds out much private borrowing by businesses, individuals, and state and local governments. This process seriously distorts the market process whereby unregulated markets allocate credit to its most highly valued uses -- enhancing economic growth.
Annual Federal Credit Outlays,
Fiscal Years 1974-1982
($ Billions)
|Loan Category
Direct Loans, Direct Loans, Guaranteed
|Direct Loans, On-Budget
|Direct Loans,Off-Budget
|Guaranteed Loans
|$ 3.5
*estimates Source: Budget of the U.S. Government, Special Analyses various years.
Credit markets serve the role of evaluating the riskiness of alternative projects, and those with higher probabilities of failure (to meet consumer demands) are charged higher borrowing costs. In this way, the credit markets provide consumers and producers with invaluable information about the most productive uses of resources. Loan guarantees, by socializing risk, make it impossible for consumers and producers to make accurate benefit-cost calculations, and resources are put to lower-valued, not higher-valued, uses once politics rather than the market is used to allocate credit. At times when high interest rates force private firms to invest in only the most productive projects promising very high yields, federally assisted borrowers may continue to invest in projects which yield only a fraction of the nonguaranteed investments. Thus, the federal government is actively subsidizing inefficient investments. This reduces the productivity of the nation's capital stock and consequently lowers the rate of economic growth. The slower rate of economic growth is, of course, accompanied by higher inflation and higher unemployment.
As an example of how private sector investments are crowded out in favor of government-sponsored investments, consider the following: In 1980 when a 20 percent prime rate and 16 percent consumer loan rate contributed to the bankruptcy of thousands of small businesses such as auto dealerships and grocery stores, the Rural Electrification Administration began a new program to provide 35-year loans at 5 percent interest to finance rural cable television systems; rural home mortgages were available at 3.3 percent; and insured student loans went for 7 percent, to name just a few. Also during that year, while many private utilities were paying 16 percent on their long-term bonds, the TVA was borrowing at a rate several percentage points lower. As a result of this and other subsidies, the cost of electricity supplied by the TVA is lower than in many areas served by less favored private companies. In 1979, for example, TVA rates were about 50 percent lower than in such "frost belt" states as New York and Massachusetts and were about 38 percent below the national average.[9]
It is very difficult, if not impossible, to gauge the extent of crowding out caused by federal loan guarantees, but some preliminary estimates have been made. Economist Herbert M. Kaufman of the University of Arizona conducted an empirical study of federal loan guarantees in which he estimated that for every $1 billion in loan guarantees, between $736 million and $1.2 billion in private investment is crowded out.[10] These are rough estimates, but they nevertheless indicate that loan guarantees, which are being extended at a rate of over $100 billion per year, are sure to have a profound negative impact on economic growth, employment, and inflation. The effect on inflation is not likely to be very significant, however, since changes in aggregate output occur relatively slowly as a result of reductions in private investment spending. However, the potential exists that the upward pressure on interest rates caused by federal intrusion into the credit markets via loan guarantees may bring pressure to bear on the Federal Reserve to "accommodate" the Treasury by expanding the money supply, thereby "reinflating" the economy.
A somewhat more subtle way in which the federal government uses loan guarantees to control the allocation of resources is with its influence over the recipients. For example, the Federal Housing Administration, which administers the largest loan guarantee program, attempts to implement various social policies by vetoing a loan application if a builder does not comply with FHA's regulations regarding marketing to minority groups, environmental impact statements, architectural review, underwriting minimum wages, and so on. Because of the division of responsibility for all these objectives, considerable confusion and delay arises, which increases the cost of housing construction. Further, once a firm or an industry is dependent upon financial assistance from the government, the dependence is often used as a lever to impose additional regulatory controls which may be totally unrelated to the government's contingent liability. Current administration and congressional efforts to deregulate the private sector in order to foster more rapid economic growth are sure to be confounded by the regulatory requirements that accompany the rapidly growing volume of loan guarantees.
A closer look at the pervasive influence of the federal government through its loan guarantee programs is provided by the data in Table 5, which show the guaranteed loan transactions of the federal government in 1980 by agency or program. Housing and agriculture, two of the strongest political constituencies in the nation, dominate the field, accounting for over 80 percent of all loan guarantees. The use of guaranteed loans for housing was nine times greater than the direct loan program in 1980 and contained 43 separate programs. The Export-Import Bank (which subsidizes selected American exporters), student loan programs, and the Small Business Administration also administers a large volume of guaranteed lending, which amounted to approximately $16 billion in 1980.
Equity Aspects of Federal Loan Guarantees
In addition to fostering a less efficient allocation of resources and hindering economic growth, many of the loan guarantee programs listed in Table 5 would be considered by many to be inequitable. An extreme case in point is the student loan program which, with few eligibility requirements,
Guaranteed Loan Transactions of the Federal Government: 1980
($ Millions)
|Agency or Program
|Guaranteed Loans
|International security assistance
|International development assistance
|Farmers Home Administration
|Commodity Credit Corporation export credit
|Rural Electrification Administration
|Economic development assistance
|National Oceanic and Atmospheric
|Energy research and technology
|DEFENSE: military
|Health programs
|Subsidized low-rent public housing
|Federal Housing Administration
|Community development
|GNMA: mortgage-backed securities
|Indian programs
|Rail programs
|Washington M.T.A. bonds
|Federal ship financing fund
|Aircraft loans
|Guarantees of New York City notes
|Chrysler Corporation loan guarantee program
|Biomass energy development
|NASA: Long-term satellite leases
|VETERANS ADMINISTRATION (housing)
|Guarantees of SLMA debt issues
|Student loan insurance form
|Government Services Administration
|Business loan guarantees
|Business loan guarantees
|Disaster loan fund
|Pollution control bond guarantees
|Tennessee Valley Authority
Source: Budget of the United States Government, Special Analyses, Federal Credit Programs," Appendix F, 1982. creates generous subsidies for higher-income households With such loans available to students and their parents at 7 percent interest regardless of financial need, the high market interest rates of the late 1970s and early 1980s have provided many lucrative investment opportunities for wealthy families. As the spread between interest rates on student loans and market rates widened, new student loans rose from $2.7 billion in 1979 to $7.2 billion in 1981, reflecting a widespread recognition of the opportunities to borrow thousands of dollars at 7 percent and invest the proceeds in long-term bonds or money market funds paying 14-16 percent.[11] Furthermore, hundreds of millions of dollars in student loans are now in default, rendering these loans outright gifts to the students and their parents.
The vast majority of federal loan guarantee programs provide subsidies to individuals who are not generally considered to be financially disadvantaged, regardless of the rhetoric associated with such programs. There is a very strong incentive for the administrators of loan guarantee programs to subsidize politically powerful groups, regardless of income, who will, in return, provided support for the agency at appropriations time. Consider the fact that even though HUD's chief goals are supposedly "the elimination of substandard and inadequate housing through the clearance of slums and blighted areas..." it has established hundreds of programs which have nothing to do with slum clearance. For example, HUD's housing rehabilitation loan program has extended 3 percent guaranteed loans to individuals earning over $50,000 per year to finance skylights and greenhouses.[12]
In sum, if there is a pattern of behavior guiding the granting of federal loan guarantees, it is based on the ability of the subsidized group to provide political support for the agency and not on efficiency or equity considerations.[13] Eliminating many, if not all, loan guarantees would inflict short-term losses on specially privileged groups, but would increase the productivity of the nation's capital stock and limit the negative-sum transfers of wealth to higher-income groups, which come at the expense of the general public.
Debt Collection, Default, and Debudgeting the Budget
The huge indirect costs of federal loan guarantees and off-budget lending are accompanied by billions of dollars of direct costs in the form of loan defaults. When a borrower defaults, the loan or loan guarantee then becomes a gift to the borrower and a way in which the federal largesse can be distributed without undergoing the scrutiny of the appropriations process. History shows that many federal credit programs appear to be designed to do exactly that. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to obtain an accurate account of the volume of loan defaults, for federal agencies are reluctant to make such data available. GAO conducted a limited survey of debts owed the federal government in 1979 and found that by the end of 1978 over $140 billion in overdue loans were outstanding, a $22 billion increase over the previous year.[14] One GAO auditor stated, "I'd say we're losing about a half billion dollars a year in bad debts that go uncollected."
GAO surveyed 12 federal agencies and found that most do not even attempt to collect many of their debts: Nine major agencies simply wrote off $428 million in uncollected debts in 1978, and many agencies don't even report their "uncollectibles" at all. When federal agencies do attempt to collect their debts, they are notoriously inefficient and slow in doing so. For example, GAO found that one federal agency, which kept data on debt collection costs, spent $8.72 per account in 1976 compared to a large commercial agency in the U.S., which averaged $3.50 per account for the same function. Private firms surveyed by GAO stated that it is profitable to attempt to collect debts as small as $25 to the point in the collection process where a decision is made on whether to seek a court judgment. By contrast, in 1977 most federal agencies simply wrote off debts up to $600. In one instance, an individual could afford a $17,000 mortgage, but the VA wrote off his $638 debt as "uncollectible." Whenever the federal government does follow through with seeking a court judgment, it takes a minimum of one year to reach the court stage, compared to about five months for private firms surveyed by GAO. Among the agencies failing to collect debts are the Small Business Administration, the Veterans Administration, and the Farmers Home Administration, which wrote off $274 million in bad debts in 1978, a 66 percent increase from 1976 figures. SBA has a particularly high default rate, and for good reason -- a loan applicant must prove that he is not credit-worthy in order to qualify! That is, a borrower is eligible for a direct SBA loan only if he can prove he was turned down by at least two banks and that his loan is too risky for even SBA's loan guarantee program. The SBA direct loan program wrote off $166 billion in loans in 1980, which was topped by the SBA's $368 million in guaranteed loan defaults during that year.[15]
The Office of Education (now the Department of Education) was another agency surveyed by GAO which had severe debt-collection problems. Defaulted guaranteed student loans soared from $52 million in 1974 to $1.7 billion in 1982, a 3,300 percent increase in just eight years. The Education Department also has a collection problem with direct loans. As of July 1982, an estimated 1.2 million students had defaulted on direct loans amounting to about $600 million. The federal government has actively encouraged students to believe in the student loan Santa Claus with a new law making it illegal for personal credit checks to make any mention of student loan defaults. Surely if the Congress had any intention of collecting these debts, it would not have passed this law. It also would not permit the SBA to virtually guarantee itself a high default rate.
In sum, billions of dollars of loans and loan guarantees which distribute indirect off-budget subsidies are being turned into direct gifts by simply not enforcing the terms of the loan. Furthermore, it is difficult to believe that members of Congress did not intend for the system to work that way, for it is in their self-interest that it do so
Federally Sponsored Off-Budget Enterprises
A third category of federal off-budget operations is "government-sponsored enterprises," most of which engage in credit activity. Included are the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), the Farm Credit Administration (FCA), the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), and the Student Loan Marketing Association (SLMA). These agencies were at one time on-budget, but their large and rapidly expanding borrowings became an embarrassment to some member of Congress and were therefore omitted from the budget in 1968.[16] They were originally char- tered by the federal government but are now privately owned. They are, however, subject to government supervision and by law must consult with the Treasury Department in planning the marketing of their debt. In addition, many of their board members are presidential appointees, and various decisions must be cleared by other government agencies as well as the Treasury. For example, many of FNMA's decisions must be approved by the Secretary of HUD.
These agencies are also granted special preferences and certain tax exemptions which permit them to borrow funds for governmentally authorized purposes at rates only slightly above the Treasury's own rates and lend the money to certain specified groups. Thus, federally sponsored enterprises are private in name only, and are yet another way in which the federal government directs the allocation of billions of dollars of credit without being subject to the federal budget review process.
The special assistance granted federally sponsored enterprises also hinders the development of private firms which would compete in performing these same tasks more efficiently. A case in point is FNMA, which in 1980 owned $56 billion of mortgages with an average life of over 14 years and an average yield of about 9.5 percent.[17] While betting on long-term rates to drop, "Fannie Mae" relied heavily on short-term financing, accumulating $17 billion in short-term debt that must be rolled over within a year. About half of that $17 billion was costing Fannie Mae 17 percent, with the rest at around 9.7 percent, but that would have to be refinanced at about 17 percent. Consequently, Fannie Mae lost $146 million in the first half of 1981. Despite these huge losses, it has had no trouble in rolling over its debt, which has been trading at less than a percentage point above short-term Treasury bills. The reason for this, of course, is the implicit (and explicit) guarantee of the federal government. Unlike a private firm, which bears the brunt of hundreds of millions of dollars in losses, Fannie Mae and the other federally sponsored OBEs are protected by law from such losses and therefore have weak incentives to do anything about them.
Borrowing by Federally-Sponsored Enterprises
($ Millions)
|Borrowings or repayment (-) Debt
|Housing and Urban Development:
|Federal Nat'l. Mortgage Assoc.
|Farm Credit Administration:*
|Banks for cooperatives
|Federal intermediate credit banks
|Federal Land Banks
|Federal Home Loan Bank Board:
|Federal home loan banks
|Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation
|Foundation for Education Assistance:
|Student Loan Marketing Association
*The debt represented by consolidated bonds is attributed to the respective Farm Credit Banks. Source: Budget of the U.S. Government, Special Analyses, Appendix E, "Borrowing and Debt," 1982.
The total estimated volume of borrowing by federally sponsored enterprises during 1980-1983 is shown in Table 6. Estimated borrowing is expected to nearly double by 1983, to a total of over $52 billion, with $315 billion in debt outstanding at that time. This would continue the recent trend of a very rapid expansion in borrowing by federally sponsored enterprises which, up until 1974, had never borrowed more than $14.9 billion annually. This amount increased sharply to $24.1 billion by 1978, to $27.5 billion in 1980, and exceeded $38 billion in 1981. Thus, during periods of high and rising interest rates which crowded out many private-sector borrowers, federally sponsored and controlled borrowing expanded at a rapid pace. Nearly three-fourths of all federally sponsored borrowing during the 1981-83 period will be used to support the mortgage market. As one senator recently said, it seems as though the federal government is trying to make everyone a "preferred borrower" of some sort these days.
There are also numerous other federally sponsored enterprises throughout the country which provide various services to federally specified constituent groups but bypass the federal appropriations process. Two of the best-known examples are the TVA and the Bonneville Power Administration, both federally chartered OBEs, which obtain most of their funds by issuing revenue bonds but are also the recipients of federal grants and some appropriations.
Fiscal Discipline and Government Regulation
Off-budget activities are by no means the only way in which balanced budget or tax/expenditure limitation requirements have been evaded by politicians. Politicians can subsidize a particular group without resorting to the appropriations process by enacting various forms of "sweetheart legislation." For example, import quotas on automobiles (or any other product) would restrict the supply of automobiles, increasing the prices paid by consumers and the profits of the owners of the auto industry. The effect is the same as a tax-financed subsidy -- a special-interest group benefits at the expense of the general public. Government regulation provides myriad ways to conduct "business as usual" regardless of budgetary restrictions.
Another example is the direct regulation of industry by various agencies such as the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Politically influential groups such as the trucking industry, the airline industry, and labor unions have used these agencies to restrict competition and increase profits and wages. For example, with the sanction of the ICC, trucking firms have been able to act as a cartel in setting their rates. Representatives of the regulated firms meet periodically to set freight rates. These "rate bureaus" have been specifically exempted from the antitrust laws regarding price fixing. The Teamsters union has also benefited from the ICC's policies of entry restriction because such restrictions prevent nonunion firms from entering the industry and competing for traffic carried by union- ized firms. Consequently, the Teamsters have been able to raise the wages of their drivers to a level about 50 percent higher than those in the unregulated sector.[18] Regulation of this sort, which is quite pervasive, imposes great burdens on taxpayers and consumers even though there are no budgetary entries to reflect such costs. In addition, special interest groups spend millions of dollars each year lobbying for preferential treatment; such expenses are an additional cost to society since the resources could have been used to produce additional goods and services, rather than merely redistributing income.[19]
Another way in which government conducts its business without explicitly taxing or spending is by regulating the day-to-day activities of businesses, including working conditions, finances, consumer safety, the environment, and hiring practices. Although these regulatory activities may or may not result in diminished competition in various industries, they surely impose enormous costs on taxpayers in return for sometimes questionable benefits. Economist Murray Weidenbaum conservatively estimated that the direct, measurable cost of federal regulation of business was $102.7 billion in 1979, of which only $4.8 billion, or approximately 5 percent, was budgeted as administrative costs; the remaining $97.9 was the cost of compliance, which was largely paid by consumers.[20]
Regulation and Labor
Government regulation has major allocative and distributive effects not only on product markets, but also on labor markets.[21] Occupational licensing requirements, for example, are a means of subsidizing special interest groups without resorting to explicit taxation. One well-known example of the effects of licensing is the regulation of the taxicab business. In New York City a license costing $65,000 must be purchased to own and operate a cab. Consequently, the supply of taxi services is severely restricted, increasing cab fares to the benefit of existing drivers at the expense of potential drivers and customers. Similar inequities occur in other industries as a result of more than 3,000 statutory provisions requiring occupational licenses for such diverse professions as fortune tellers, funeral directors, and doctors.[22]
A second way in which government regulation of labor markets redistributes wealth is through enforcement of the minimum wage law. It is a well-established empirical fact that, regardless of good intentions, the effect of the minimum wage law is to hurt precisely the group that the law is supposed to help -- those with the least skills, seniority, and income.[23] If an unskilled worker, for example, can contribute $2.50 per hour to a firm's profits, and the law mandates a $3.50 per hour minimum wage, it will be more profitable for the firm not to hire the unskilled worker. Thus, increases in the minimum wage are accompanied by increased unemployment of unskilled workers, predominantly teenagers. The major beneficiaries of the minimum wage law are politicians who can convince people they are doing something positive about unemployment and poverty, relatively skilled workers who retain their jobs at the higher (minimum) wage, and members of labor unions who, being relatively skilled, compete with unskilled, nonunion labor. It is difficult to believe that labor unions in California, for example, advocate the enforcement of minimum wage laws to nonunion migrant workers because of altruism rather than a desire to price migrant workers out of the market.
"Equal employment opportunity" regulation also affects the allocation of labor resources. The "equal-pay-for-equalwork" rule, for example, most likely increases employment discrimination. If an employer discriminates by paying male workers $10 an hour and equally qualified female workers $5 an hour, in a competitive labor market the firm's female workers will be bid away at wages greater than $5 an hour. Eventually, all of the firm's female labor will be bid away, leav-ing the firm at a competitive disadvantage, reducing its profits. Thus, in an unregulated labor market, discrimination is costly to employers. Equal-pay-for-equal-work rules lower the cost of discrimination in employment since an employer's profits are no longer lowered by passing over equally qualified women to hire men. Therefore, enforcement of such laws will more likely lead to more, not less discrimination. American labor unions comprised mostly of white males are among the most vocal advocates of equal-pay-for-equal-work laws, and it is hard to believe that this concern is based on altruism. Labor unions in South Africa have similarly lobbied intensely for such laws, and openly admitted that the reason for doing so is because government programs "no longer protected the white worker. [24]
Finally, government also influences labor market outcomes by enhancing the market power of labor unions through actions of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). A recent study has shown that the NLRB's regulation of collective bargaining has greatly enhanced the power of labor unions at the expense of those who are barred from employment by unions as well as consumers who pay the price of reduced economic efficiency and higher inflation.[25] The social cost of NLRB regulation was estimated to be at least $22 billion in 1979. Overall, the total social cost of labor market regulation was estimated to have been $170.3 billion in 1979
In summary, it is important to recognize that in addition to off-budget activities, existing regulatory mechanisms permit politicians to affect the allocation of hundreds of billions of dollars of resources without taxing or spending. The predominant activity of government, the redistribution of wealth from the general public to special interest groups, is conducted through extensive regulation of product and labor markets. The administrative costs are trivial when compared to the social cost of regulation, and is carried on at all levels of government.
Some Concluding Observations
Following the precedents established at the state and local levels of government, the federal government has evaded constraints on its spending and taxing activities largely through the credit market activity of off-budget agencies such as the Federal Financing Bank, the issuance of hundreds of billions of dollars in loan guarantees, and the activities of privately owned, but governmentally controlled, enterprises such as Fannie Mae.
The advent of the Budget Reform Act of 1974 and the taxpayer revolt of the 1970s has led to a tremendous expansion in the off-budget activities of the federal government so that of total federal credit outlays of $155.8 billion in 1982, fully 82 percent ($127.7 billion) was in the form of either off-budget loans or guaranteed loans, neither of which are fully reflected in the budget document or undergo budgetary review by the Congress. In addition, borrowing by "government-sponsored enterprises" is estimated to approach $50 billion in 1982 so that the federal government will be responsible for over 40 percent of all credit advanced in U.S. credit markets in that year, compared to an 11 percent participation rate in 1969.[26]
Even though many have treated off-budget federal credit activity as though it constituted the proverbial free lunch, the crowding out of the private sector and the subsidization of economically inefficient, but politically popular, investment projects will surely lead to slower economic growth, higher unemployment, and, possibly, higher inflation. In addition to the off-budget credit activities, federal regulation provides another way of accomplishing the ends of politicians without explicitly appropriating funds. In principle, anything that can be accomplished through the taxing and spending aspects of the budget can be accomplished instead through government regulation.
As pressures for a balanced budget and restrictions on federal spending mount, one may expect an accelerated use of the federal government's off-budget mechanisms. The proposed balanced budget amendment to the Constitution (S.J. Res. 58) does take into consideration the activities of the FFB and proposes to include them within the budget. The proposed amendment does not, however, address the larger problems created by loan guarantees, federally sponsored enterprises, and regulation and should therefore be seen as only a first step in the direction of fiscal responsibility, but not necessarily a major one.
Some attempts have been made to reduce the extent of off-budget credit activity, but these have had little success. In the 1981 credit budget, President Reagan proposed that direct loans increase by only 1.7 percent and loan guarantees by 8.3 percent. By the time the President's 1982 budget was published, however, it showed that loans had increased by 21 percent, while loan guarantees rose by an estimated 31 percent. Formally including all federal credit activities in the congressional budget process is likely to improve our ability to put a cap on seemingly runaway federal spending and borrowing, although even more imaginative financing schemes would surely follow.
Even when federal loan guarantees are effectively curtailed, there is the possibility that the cost of these programs will merely be shifted to lower levels of government rather than reduced. Recently, the Reagan administration proposed cutting the federal government's $6 billion student aid program by limiting loan guarantees to lower- and middle-income families earning less than $30,000 per year. In response, Dartmouth College, Harvard, Northwestern University, and over 100 other universities have either created off-budget "educational finance authorities" or made use of existing OBEs, which have issued revenue bonds to finance student loans.[27] At least five states -- New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, Illinois, and Iowa -- have established newly created OBEs, and four other states -- New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Florida -- have legislation pending that would establish more of such authorities. Tactics such as this are sure to confound attempts to constrain governmental credit activity and should be considered by citizens and policymakers seeking to do so.
[1] As quoted in James M. Buchanan and Richard E. Wagner, Democracy in Deficit: The Political Legacy of Lord Keynes New York: Academic Press, 1977), p. 156.
[2] For background information on the FFB see Congressional Budget Office, Loan Guarantees: Current Concerns and Alternatives for Control (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1979).
[3] Joint Economic Committee, U.S. Congress, The Underground Federal Economy, Staff Report (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, April 20, 1982), p. 12.
[4] There is no free lunch, of course. The economic effects of the FFB are discussed shortly.
[5] The authors attempted to contact FFB officials, but found that their agency is neither in the District of Columbia phone book nor in the current listings of federal agencies.
[6] TVA is a regional OBE, obtaining most of its revenue from the sale of revenue bonds. It does, however, receive federal aid in the form of appropriations, grants, and guaranteed loans. The following example is found in C. Hardin and A. Denzau, The Unrestrained Growth of Federal Credit Programs (St. Louis: Washington University Center for the Study of American Business, December 1981).
[7] There are at least 20 such agencies, including the Commodity Credit Corporation, the Export-Import Bank, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Government National Mortgage Association, Community Development Corporation, U.S. Railway Association, Revision Benefit Guarantee Corporation, Legal Services Corporation, and others.
[8] This point was brought to our attention by Professor Yale Brozen of the University of Chicago in personal correspondence.
[9] As cited in R. Utt, "Federal Lending Programs," testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, October 7, 1981.
[10] Herbert M. Kaufman, "Loan Guarantees and Crowding Out," Economics of Federal Credit Activity (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Budget Office, April 1980), pp. 35-39.
[11] Budget of the U.S. Government, Special Analyses, various years.
[12] As reported in D. Lambro, Fat City: How Washington Wastes Your Taxes (South Bend, Indiana: Regnery Co., 1980), p. 128.
[13] When both inefficiency and inequity are widely acknowledged, loan guarantees are often justified on "national security" grounds. In hearings before the Senate Banking Committee on October 7, 1981, on the subject of loan guarantees to Exxon and Tosco Corporations for a shale oil project, a Department of Defense official testified that shale oil development and, consequently, the loan guarantee for Exxon and Tosco, was urgently needed to enhance the strategic oil reserve. Senator Harrison Schmitt of New Mexico discredited that viewpoint, however, by mentioning that shale oil was far more expensive than "conventional" oil, and was therefore a bad deal from a national defense standpoint.
[14] U.S. General Accounting Office, The Government Can Be More Productive in Collecting its Debts by Following Commercial Practices (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, February 23, 1979). GAO recently reported that the number of foreign governments in default for loan guarantees to purchase military supplies increased from two in 1978 to 13 as of February 1982. This type of guarantee permits Congress to extend military aid to selected countries without going through the appropriations process and being subjected to wide publicity. See D. Morgan, "13 Arms Buyers in Default on Interest to U.S.," Washington Post, July 17, 1982, p.1.
[15] C. Hardin and A. Denzau, p. 25.
[16] Budget of the U.S. Government, Special Analyses, Appendix E, "Borrowing and Debt," 1982.
[17] A. Sloan, "Saving Fannie," Forbes, October 26, 1981, pp. 54-55.
[18] Rayburn M. Williams, Inflation: Money, Jobs? and Politicians (Arlington Heights, Ill.: AHM Publishers, 1980), p. 105.
[19] These lobbying activities have been termed "rent-seeking" and are discussed in detail in James Buchanan, Robert Tollison, and Gordon Tullock, eds., Toward A Theory of the Rent-Seeking Society (College Station: Texas A&M Press, 1980).
[20] Murray Weidenbaum, The Future of Business Regulation (New York: American Management Association. 1979).
[21] For a discussion of labor market regulation see James T. Bennett, Dan C. Heldman, and Manuel H. Johnson, Deregulation Labor Relations (Dallas: The Fisher Institute, 1981).
[22] Walter E. Williams, "Government Sanctioned Restraints That Reduce Economic Opportunities for Minorities," Policy Review, Fall 1977, pp. 1-29.
[23] Bennett, et.al., pp. 86-98.
[24] Walter E. Williams, p. 11.
[25] Bennett, et.al., pp. 112-119.
[26] "Federal Credit Programs," Budget of the U.S. Government, Special Analyses, Appendix F, 1982, p. 6.
[27] R. Bucklin, "Colleges Aid Students With Bonds," Washington Post, July 2, 1982, p. C-9.
� 1982 The Cato Institute
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text:
Walk With a Doc may be the answer. The nationwide program features free 30- to 45-minute walks in parks and
malls, led by doctor volunteers who chat with participants about
health, fitness or life in general. More than 70 percent of the walkers
are 50 or older. Ohio cardiologist David Sabgir, M.D., founded Walk
With a Doc in 2005 to help people battle conditions such as diabetes and obesity, which are linked to sedentary lifestyles. "You realize there's a really easy fix," Sabgir says. "All you have to do is walk."
The nonprofit program receives funding from Anthem Blue Cross/
Blue Shield. There are nearly 100 U.S. locations, plus programs in
Australia, Canada and Russia. To join a walk or start a new one,
call 614-714-0407 or go to walkwithadoc.org. —Stephanie Stephens
David Sabgir,
above, walks
what he talks.
Boomer Suicide Rates SurgeNew government figures show a surprising jump in suicides for adults ages 50 to 64. ; The suicide rate in this age group rose 45percent between 1999 and 2010, with even higher increases for men intheir 50s (a 48 percent rise) and women 60 to 64 (a 60 percent rise),according to an AARP analysis of a report from the Centers forDisease Control and Prevention. ; Why the rise? Besidesfinancial woes, boomers also face being squeezedbetween caring for their own parents and sup-porting their adult children, says CDC PrincipalDeputy Director Ileana Arias. —Candy Sagon
Listen to the Bulletin on NFB-NEWSLINE, a free service of the NationalFederation of the Blind. Call 1-866-504-7300 toll-free or go to nfbnewsline.org.
What an Outrage
What a Difference One Digit Can Make
Charles Covill of Austin, Texas, was born on March 2, 1920, and has a birth certificate to prove it. But even that apparently
wasn't good enough for the Social Security
Administration, which, after somehow changing his date of birth to March 20, refused
for months to correct the mistake. The
93-year-old World War II veteran first learned
that something was wrong when a pharmacy
rejected his Medicare card. He ended up paying an extra $150 out of pocket for his prescriptions. Because SSA maintains Medicare
eligibility records, Covill took a copy of his birth
certificate to his
local Social Security
office to straighten
things out. After
spending four
hours there, all he
got was a plea for
patience. Before
long, Covill received
an unsigned form
letter from the
agency. "We cannot
overturn our original determination that the correct
date of birth is March 20,
1920," it said. "Please use the date of birth we
have already established." At that point,
Covill was more than just a little bit angry. "I
wasn't going to take this lying down," he says.
Covill and his daughter, Diann Hill, turned to
KVUE, a local TV station, for help. As reporter
Andy Pierrotti was preparing his story, Covill
received another unsigned form letter from
Social Security, this one saying that the mistake had been fixed and noting, "We are sorry
for any inconvenience this has caused you."
Mary Ellen Felps, a Social Security lawyer
in Austin, says the SSA should take problems
like Covill's more seriously. "It just makes
me furious," she says. "He was really in danger
of not even being able to get hospital treatment." —Bill Hogan
Covill fought
for birth date.


text:
David Burliuk papers, 1926-1980
Burliuk, David, b. 1882 d. 1967
Painter, Poet
Active in New York, N.Y.
Collection size: 0.6 linear ft.
Collection Summary: An almost complete run of COLOR AND RHYME; writings; letters; printed material; and a photograph.
Included are: 61 issues of the magazine COLOR AND RHYME, 1931-1970, edited by Burliuk and published by his wife, Marussia. (Nos. 63-65 were not published, and nos.10 and 59 were not included in the gift.) The magazine is a chronicle of Burliuk's life and activity in the field of art. Also included are a letter, 1961, from Kenneth Lloyd regarding Color and Rhyme; writings by and about Burliuk, including "The Fauves in Russia," 1965, a collection of poems, undated, and two booklets, Memories of My Father, David Davidovich Burliuk and Mother, Marussia Yelenevskaya, Who Was Always At Father's Side, by Nicholas Burliuk and Poems and Fragments, David Davidovich Burliuk, translated by Nicholas Burliuk and Henry Gilfond; a photograph of Burliuk and his father, 1946; and printed material, including exhibition catalogs and announcements, 1930-1978, clippings, 1948-1980, and postcard reproductions of Burliuk's work.
Biographical/Historical Note: Painter, poet, and editor; New York, N.Y. b. 1882 Died Jan. 1967, at age 84.
Donated by Burliuk's son, Nicholas Burliuk, 1983-1985.
How to Use this Collection
- Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
- For more information on using the Archives' resources, see the FAQ or Ask Us.
Also in the Archives
- David Burliuk interview, 1965
- Image and Media Gallery items from other collections related to Burliuk, David


text:
Snack icons get twist overseas
Russians prefer their Lay's potato chips dusted in caviar and crab flavors. The Chinese like their Oreos stuffed with mango and orange cream. And in Spain, Kellogg's All-Bran cereal is served floating in hot coffee instead of cold milk.
American snack makers increasingly are looking for growth in other parts of the world as sales slow at home.
The challenge is that people in other countries have different tastes. Consider the Oreo, which Kraft Food Inc. introduced in China in 1996. Sales of the vanilla cream-filled chocolate cookie sandwich were respectable there, but the Chinese didn't completely take to it.
Kraft worked with a panel of consumer taste experts from around the world to identify the characteristics of the Oreo – including color, crunchiness, bitterness, color – likely to appeal to Chinese tastes. Executives learned through research that the Chinese don't like their treats as big or as sweet as Americans do. So the company re-jiggered the recipe to create a cookie that was a tad smaller and a touch less sweet.
To test the new recipe, hundreds of Chinese consumers tasted the new Oreo. It was a hit. But the company wasn't finished. After noticing sales of Oreos were lagging in China during the summer, Kraft added a green-tea ice-cream flavor. The cookie combined a popular local flavor with the cooling imagery of ice cream.
The version sold well, and a year later, Kraft rolled out Oreos in flavors that are popular in Asians desserts: raspberry/blueberry and mango/orange.
The result? Over the past five years, Kraft said, sales have grown an average of 60 percent a year, although the company declined to give revenue amounts.
Kraft, which operates in more than 80 countries, is taking a similar approach with other snacks. In Saudi Arabia, Kraft offers its Tang powdered drink mix in a lemon-pepper flavor.
— The Associated Press
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text:
AARP Driver Safety program offered
The AARP Driver Safety program, a classroom driver refresher course, will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Aug. 12 at the Upshur County Senior Center.
The course explains the changes that occur in hearing, vision and reaction time as we age, and it provides tips for handling those changes.
For reservations, call 304-472-0528. The cost for the course is $14, and AARP members are eligible for a discount when they present their membership card.
Persons who are 55 years of age or older may become eligible for a reduction in their insurance rates.


text:
CHILD: "Can I go out after dinner to play?"
PARENT: "No, dear, you still have homework to do."
CHILD: "I'll do it when I come back in, I promise."
PARENT: "Get your homework done first, and then you can go out. If you work hard, it shouldn't take more than half an hour."
CHILD: "Why can't I just go out now!? I'LL DO MY STUPID HOMEWORK LATER!"
PARENT: "That's 1."
CHILD: "I can't wait to grow up and move away so you can't
PARENT: "That's 2."
CHILD: "All right, all right, all right." (He sits down to start his homework.)
Adapted from 1-2-3 Magic, by Thomas W. Phelan, Ph.D. (Parentmagic, Inc.)
This article comes from the April/May 2006 issue of ADDitude.
To read this issue of ADDitude in full, purchase the back issue and SUBSCRIBE NOW to ensure you don't miss a single issue.


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New York, June 25, 2013—The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday directed lower courts to re-examine whether a race-based admissions policy at the University of Texas at Austin should survive constitutional scrutiny.
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text:
Associate Scientist II – Cancer Cell Biology - 12 Month FTC
- Employer
- MedImmune
- Location
- Cambridge
- Salary
- Competitive
- Posted
- Dec 11, 2012
- Closes
- Jan 08, 2013
- Ref
- 6930
- Discipline
- Life Sciences
- Result Type
- Jobs
- Position Type
- Contract
- Hours
- Full Time
MedImmune's Oncology Innovative Medicines Unit (iMed) is working to create new therapies for unmet cancer needs. Our pipeline is focused on several key areas including immune-mediated therapy for cancer (IMT-C), tumor-associated antigens, armed antibodies and derivative technologies.
MedImmune's Oncology Research in Cambridge is focussed on tumour immunology and building an understanding of how the tumour microenvironment plays a significant role in how cancer develops and responds to treatment.
We are looking at cancer from all possible angles and are developing deep and robust technology-based platforms to drive cancer treatment forward. Working in a fast-paced science-driven environment, we are seeking motivated and skilled scientists to help us realise our ambition in advancing MedImmune's cancer research program.
Core responsibilities will include:
- This is a lab based role to develop, design, run and analyse in vitro and ex vivo experiments.
- Contribute to the validation of new targets for antibody drugs, through development and implementation of relevant in vitro models to test efficacy and mechanism of action of drug candidates.
- Investigate the effect of specific biologics efficacy and mechanism of action in in vitro cell based experiments and by analysis of ex vivo samples.
- Contribute to project progression through the implementation of cellular assays as part of a multi-disciplinary team.
- Implement and contribute to the development cell based assays for use in medium throughput screens and for the secondary testing of leads.
- Contribute to the development of more complex cancer cell models and mechanism of action studies
- .Work with a variety of cell-based and molecular based assay formats, detection technologies and laboratory automation to maximize efficiency.
- Analyze results and compile data summaries for project and team meetings..
- Communicate results, conclusions and recommendations to colleagues and team meetings..
- Acquire and maintain relevant technical and intellectual expertise in cancer biology and cellular assays
- Be a highly organized, self-motivated individual with a strong lab/practical background.
- BSc or MSc in a relevant biological scientific discipline with a focus on cancer cell biology or cancer research supported with experience in a research environment.
- PhD in biology, oncology, cell biology, pharmacology or relevant subject.
Current skills and abilities should include:
- Practical experience of cell biology assays and techniques including working with primary cells, culture of cell lines, proliferation assays, ELISA assays, flow cytometry.
- Demonstrate strong experience and comfort at the bench. Either gained from a research based MSc or PhD closely aligned with the role or a research setting.
- Good understanding of tumour cell biology, tumour microenvironment and cell signalling pathways.
- Evidence of design, implementation, analyses and interpretation of techniques appropriate to drug discovery and evaluation. Techniques may include:
- Tissue culture and/or primary cell isolation (tumour cell lines)
- Cellular read-outs e.g. proliferation, apoptosis, chemotaxis, cell signaling, adhesion, migration or cell activation assays.
- Techniques e.g. Cell imaging, immunoassays, flow cytometry, RNA isolation
- Secondary characterization of actives (e.g. IC50 determination, lead profiling)
- 2D and 3D, and co-culture models
- Lentiviral or retroviral transduction
- Data processing, analysis and interpretation
- Ensure all work is performed in accordance with all relevant company policies and procedures.
- Experience and knowledge of Oncology in vitro models e.g. clonogenic assays, angiogenesis assays, cell cycle analysis would be advantageous.
- Practical experience in genetic manipulation of cells (transfection cDNA , siRNA and shRNA,) possibly including viral transduction (adeno-, retro- or lentiviral systems), RNA isolation, PCR-based assay would be beneficial.
Please note this post is available on a 12 month fixed term contract.