On July 17, the National Archives and Records Administration released the draft revision of its 10-year strategic plan, Preserving the Past to Protect the Future: The Strategic Plan of the National Archives and Records Administration, 2006-2016.  The plan incorporates some key changes advocated by the open government community and is open for public comment until August 5.

In yet another example of searching for sinister intentions of the Obama administration that don't exist, the Associated Press reports this morning that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) plans to delay the release of the annual mid-year update of the budget - called the Mid-Session Review - until mid-August.

Hot on the heels of the newly-announced redesign, Recovery.gov today unveiled a new recipient mapping feature. The new map lets users zoom in and out on a map of the country, with each Recovery Act project represented as a dot on the map, and dot size varying based on the number of projects per location. The map also allows users to sort by state (or associated regions, as even the Federated States of Micronesia is on here for some reason), size of contract, grant, or loan, and agency.

Last week, the House Appropriations Committee approved the 2010 fiscal year Financial Services spending bill.  Along the way, one of the amendments that failed to make the cut was to "enact into law H.R. 1557 (the “Securing America’s Future Economy Commission Act”)".  This amendment would've created a 16-member commission charged with creating recommendations to reduce the country's long-term debt.  With a maximum of four members of Congress, this commission would have had the power to create legislation that would be considered by the House and Senate.