FAA announces review panel, management shuffle

Three air traffic controllers have been fired for sleeping on the job.The FAA shuffles key management jobs amid controllers controversyIt names four members to a review panel that will evaluate training programs The panel will submit a report to FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt this fallThe controversy includes more than a half-dozen alleged sleeping or inattentive controllers

Washington (CNN) -- The Federal Aviation Administration announced Friday that it had shuffled some key management jobs as it continues its review of the controversy over sleeping and inattentive controllers.

It also named four members to a review panel that will evaluate the FAA's controller training programs to make sure new controllers are properly prepared. The panel will submit a report to FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt this fall.

"We are continuing to do everything in our power to ensure that our nation's aviation system remains the safest in the world," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. He called the changes "just the beginning of the process."

The controversy, which grew in recent weeks to include more than a half-dozen alleged sleeping or inattentive controllers, had already claimed a top FAA official, Henry "Hank" Krakowski, who resigned his post as head of the FAA's Air Traffic Organization.

It has also fired three air traffic controllers in Miami, Knoxville, Tennessee, and Seattle who were found to have slept on the job, and is continuing its review of other controllers.

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In the changes announced Friday, the FAA said it is repositioning three veteran FAA managers to critical roles.

Walt Cochran will oversee terminal operations, where he will be responsible for FAA airport towers and regional radar facilities.

Chris Metts will oversee all of the FAA's "en route" and oceanic operations. Glen Martin will become air traffic manager at the Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center.

The FAA said it also is assessing key mid-level management positions "to ensure that both technical and leadership expectations are being met."

The members of the independent review panel are: Michael Barr, University of Southern California Aviation, Safety & Security program; Tim Brady, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University; Garth Koleszar, National Air Traffic Controllers Association; Michael New, United Airlines; and Julia Pounds, FAA.

Earlier this month, the FAA changed work schedules to allow controllers more time off between shifts, and Babbitt and controller union president Paul Rinaldi toured facilities to send a message to controllers about job expectations.

The FAA said it and union teams have so far visited facilities in and around 20 major U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Sacramento and Salt Lake City.

"The FAA's focus is safety. These changes ensure that we have the right people in the right places to help us carry out our mission," Babbitt said in a statement Friday. "I am confident our top-to-bottom review is making our air traffic system even safer."

CNN

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Obama Seeks Stronger Hand for Medicare Panel

AP2010

Its members haven't been selected, and it doesn't even come into existence for more than a year, but already the oversight panel for Medicare that was created by President Obama's health care reform law is reigniting the fiery debates that preceded the law's passage more than a year ago.

When it springs to life in 2013, the Independent Payment Advisory Board, or IPAB, will field 15 members, all appointed by the president, subject to Senate confirmation. Their mission: to bend the cost curve -- i.e., slow the pace of growth -- for Medicare with recommendations that will carry the force of law -- unless Congress passes its own laws to override them.

On Jan. 15, 2014, IPAB will submit to Congress its first set of recommendations, with more to come on the same date in each of the next four years. Congress can act at any time to adopt those recommendations or pass more stringent laws to achieve the same or more effective ends, where costs are concerned. If that happens, IPAB's recommendations would remain on the shelf. But if Congress does not act within one year of its receipt of a given set of IPAB proposals, then those proposals become law.

During those first four years, IPAB's members will monitor medical data and the Consumer Price Index for signs of inflation in Medicare costs. Then, starting in 2018, the panel will peg its assessments about cost increases to the American economy, with IPAB's recommendations set to take effect if, in that year, the average cost of Medicare for each beneficiary exceeds the country's gross domestic product (GDP) by 1 percent -- and Congress hasn't acted.

The Congressional Budget Office has projected that growth in Medicare costs will not reach that point until a decade from now.

Still, as part of his broader effort to tackle America's looming debt crisis, Obama proposed last week that Congress modify the law to allow IPAB's recommendations to take effect sooner -- namely, if average Medicare costs rise by merely 0.5 percent of GDP. The Congressional Budget Office has not weighed in on how soon it sees that happening.

Critics contend IPAB will, over time, serve to ration health care

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GOP Leaders Name Cantor, Kyl to Deficit Panel

Associated Press

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The No. 2 Republicans in the House and Senate have been named to a deficit panel led by Vice President Biden that is tasked with developing a bipartisan plan to curb federal budget deficits.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia and Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl of Arizona join several Democratic stalwarts on the panel, which meets next month. President Barack Obama set up the panel last week.

It's the second such panel for Obama, who largely ignored the bipartisan but politically painful cuts and revenue increases the first panel came up with last year. The new group comes as must-pass legislation to maintain the government's ability to borrow comes to a head. Both Obama and Republicans say spending cuts must be part of that effort.

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House Panel Passes Bill Cracking Down on Tax Delinquent Federal Workers

FoxNews.com

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A House legislative panel this week approved a crackdown on federal employees who owe back taxes to Uncle Sam.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee passed a bill on Wednesday that would terminate the employment of federal workers who are seriously delinquent on their taxes and another that prevents seriously delinquent taxpayers from getting a job with the federal workforce.

The bills define "seriously delinquent tax debt" as an outstanding debt for which a notice of lien has been filed in the public record. But federal workers who enter installment arrangements to pay off their tax debts would not be affected.

Currently, only IRS employees can be fired for not paying federal income taxes.

The bills now head to the full GOP-led House for a vote. The fate of the bills in the Democratic-led Senate is unclear.

"The bills we reported today further the Oversight and Government Reform Committee's core mission of ensuring that money Washington takes from taxpayers is well spent, and contributes to an efficient and effective government," Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the committee said in a statement.

The panel also passed a bill that increases the probationary period for new hires from one to two years.

Taken together, the bills are part of an effort to hold workers who have better benefits than the private sector to a higher standard.

Nearly 100,00 federal civilian employees owed $1 billion in unpaid federal income taxes in 2009, according to the IRS. The number of delinquent federal employees has remained consistent since 2004, but the amount owed has soared nearly 70 percent from $600 million to $1 billion.

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GE jumps into the solar panel business with plans to build a big plant

s renewable energy business.

The company did not say where the factory would be built. Abate said it would eventually employ 400 people and be producing panels by 2013. The plant would have the capacity to build 400 megawatts worth of panels a year, enough to power about 80,000 homes.

By comparison, First Solar will have 2,300 MW of capacity by the end of this year.

Still, analysts say GE

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