It's no secret that the White House has been hostile to policy proposals addressing the problem of climate change, but in a letter to Sen. John McCain and John Kerry, GAO stated it found the program established by the Bush administration to study climate change has missed important deadlines and has failed to address how climate change will impact the environment and human health, information that is critical for the development of sound policy.

Charities and philanthropies will speak out on ways to have more oversight and governance within the nonprofit sector at a Field Meeting at the Westin - Southfield (1500 Town Center) on April 27 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., in Southfield, MI.

On tuesday, Finance Committee member Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said that both he and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) had "pretty much told the president he's not going to get carve-outs" in regards to Social Security reform. Senate GOP leaders seem to be coming around to the fact that Bush's Social Security plan is not politically popular enough for them to seriously pursue. Hatch, in fact, is promoting a plan that would let people contribute up to $5,000 per year into a personal account, with the government providing scaled matching contributions for those who make less than $80,000 annually. Hatch's proposal also provides financial incentives that would be added to the accounts of those who opt to defer their receipt of Social Security retirement benefits. And the debate for reform continues. Of note: On April 26th, at 10 AM, the Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on sustainable solvency, during which they will look at proposals for reform both with and without private accounts. Robert Pozen, a former member of Bush's 2001 Social Security commission, will testify. His plan for reform has garnered a lot of attention over the past few months.

Recent economic data released by the Labor Department show that steady increases in productivity have resulted in increased profits for businesses, but not increased compensation for the American workforce. This has left CEOs, their boards and shareholders, and their company's bottom line looking good. But the wages paid to average workers have not similiarly improved. Economists at the Economic Policy Institute calculate that during this business cycle, wages have grown less than half as quickly as compared to productivity as in the previous 7 business cycles. And Christian Weller and John Burton at the Center for American Progress note that four years into the business cycle, CEO pay and the pay of average Americans continue to pull farther apart. While economy continues to slog along, the few benefits and increases we are seeing are being concentrated in the hands of only a few.