(OMB Watch will publish a summary and analysis of the new guidelines soon.) From Treasury: The U.S. Department of the Treasury today issued revised Anti-Terrorist Financing Guidelines, Voluntary Best Practices for U.S.-based Charities (Guidelines) to help the chartable sector protect itself from abuse by terrorist organizations. Treasury is releasing for public comment this revised version of the Guidelines to ensure the greatest benefit to the sector, as well as effective application.

A new law review article relevant to the attack on consent decrees is available. The closing thought:

The Internal Revenue Service has posted on its website a memorandum sent to IRS agents and managers in March 2005, instructing them on how to implement the agency's Political Intervention Project (PIP). PIP was created to "fast track" investigations of 501(c)(3) organizations accused of engaging in improper political advocacy. The IRS is currently working on 130 PIP cases from the 2004 presidential election, approximately 50 of which involve churches accused of improper political activity. Read the memo...

In his last speech to the Federal Reserve before retiring, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan again warned about the economic risks posed by long-term budget deficits and an escalating national debt. Greenspan described the risk of sustained deficits on the U.S. economy over the long-term as "severe" and urged swift action to begin instituting policies to correct structural problems.