Government Documents in the News: 2011 Archive

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These are some government reports and other publications that you may have heard mentioned recently on television or on the radio, or read about in the newspapers. Many of these documents are in PDF format and require the Adobe Reader.

• Budget
• Depository Libraries
  
• Economy
• Government Efficiency
• Nutrition
• State of the Union Address
• Tobacco Warnings

For older items, see the following archived “Government Documents in the News” pages:

• 2010
  
• 2009
  
• 2008
  

Budget

The authentic, electronic version of President Obama's Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2012 is now available from the United States Government Printing Office (GPO) through their Federal Digital System (FDsys).

Issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Budget of the United States Government is a collection of documents that contains the budget message of the President, information about the President's budget proposals for a given fiscal year, and other budgetary publications that have been issued throughout the fiscal year. Other budget items, such as related publications and supporting materials, are included, which may vary from year to year.

FY 2012 Budget documents are available in PDF, with many of the tables also available for separate viewing and downloading as spreadsheets in xls and comma delimited formats.

GPO has signed and certified the PDF files to assure users that the online documents are official and authentic. The digitally signed PDF files should be viewed using Adobe Acrobat or Reader version 7.0 or higher.

The President's budget documents for FY 2012 will be distributed to Federal depository libraries in paper format under the following Superintendent of Documents (SuDoc) numbers:

• Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2012
  PREX 2.8:2012
• Appendix, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2012
  PREX 2.8:2012/APP
• Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2012
  PREX 2.8/5:2012
• Historical Tables, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2012
  PREX 2.8/8:2012
  

Additionally, copies of the FY 2012 Budget are available for purchase from the U.S. Government Online Bookstore at <http://bookstore.gpo.gov/collections/budget.jsp>.

 Read GPO's press release about the President's FY 2012 budget at <http://www.gpo.gov/pdfs/news-media/press/11news12.pdf>

Economy

Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission spent more than a year studying the causes of the financial crisis. See the Financial Crisis Inquiry Report, the conclusions, transcripts, recordings, and other research materials created by the Commission throughout its investigation.

Depository Libraries

Recently several national organizations have started letter writing campaigns to express their dissatisfaction with GPO regulations. Some depository librarians are concerned that the current sentiments of these large academic institutions leading the campaigns against the Government Printing Office are going to cause Congress to eliminate funding for the Federal Depository Library Program entirely. They are already significantly reducing funding for essential services like FDSys. 

For additional background information and opportunities to express your opinion regarding this issue, see the Free Government Information (FGI) Web site.

Government Efficiency

Campaign to Cut Waste (White House)

President Obama and Vice President Biden have launched the Campaign to Cut Waste, which will hunt down and eliminate misspent tax dollars in every agency and department across the Federal Government. This page includes a link to Obama's Executive Order Delivering an Efficient, Effective, and Accountable Government, his Executive Order Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review, and information on how the various executive agencies have been implementing initiatives to reduce burdens and save money.

Nutrition

MyPlate (USDA)

The USDA has replaced the Food Pyramid, in use since 1992, with a new visual aid called MyPlate, which uses a pie chart shaped like a dinner plate to help Americans visualize the proportions of different types of food in a healthy diet. This Web site includes the new logo, as well as a more detailed explanation of the components of a healthy diet.

Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010 (USDA)

This document is the cornerstone of Federal nutrition policy and nutrition education activities. The Dietary Guidelines are jointly issued and updated every 5 years by the Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS). They provide authoritative advice for Americans ages 2 and older about consuming fewer calories, making informed food choices, and being physically active to attain and maintain a healthy weight, reduce risk of chronic disease, and promote overall health.

State of the Union Address

The State of the Union is an annual address presented before a joint session of Congress and held in the House of Representatives Chamber at the U.S. Capitol. The address not only reports on the condition of the nation, but also allows the president to outline his/her legislative agenda and national priorities to Congress.

President Barack Obama presented his 2011 State of the Union Address to Congress on January 25, 2011. The White House Web site has an enhanced version that features charts, graphs and other visual aids that accompany the President's speech. You can see just the visual aids, with corrections, at the Fast Fedora Web site.

A Fact Sheet providing a brief summary and analysis of the Presiden'ts speech appears on the Newswire.com Web site.

Inside the White House: The State of the Union Address provides a glimpse into the process of preparing the State of the Union address.

Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin delivered the Republican response following the speech. There were also responses from Michelle Bachmann of the Tea Party movement, from the Libertarian Party, and from the Socialist Party USA.

Texts of earlier State of the Union addresses back to 1992 can be found at the GPO Access Web site. State of the Union addresses from 1790 to 2006 can be found on the USA Presidents Web site. The State of the Union Address Library contains texts of all the State of the Union addresses given from 1790 to the present.

Tobacco Warnings

Cigarette Health Warnings (FDA)

Beginning September 2012, FDA will require larger, more prominent cigarette health warnings on all cigarette packaging and advertisements in the United States. The final set of cigarette health warnings contains nine different text warnings and accompanying color graphics to increase awareness of the specific health risks associated with smoking, such as death, addiction, lung disease, cancer, stroke and heart disease; encourage smokers to quit; and empower youth to say no to tobacco. This Web site includes full text of the final rule, with illustrations; press releases; and answers to frequently asked questions.