Recently, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has been issuing reports challenging conventional thinking about the long-term fiscal problem facing the nation, which holds that it is primarily related to the influence of demographic changes on Social Security and Medicare. These reports draw on the work of researchers and writers who found that the long-term fiscal challenge is almost entirely unrelated to demographics and Social Security, and it is mostly confined to inefficiencies in the private and public health care system.

On Nov. 14, the Senate Finance Committee dedicated time to a hearing to investigate uncertainty in estate tax law, despite a plethora of more pressing fiscal issues facing the current Congress.

Stirring up controversy and resentment, the United Nation's terrorist watchlist has led to the release of a critical report from Europe's leading human rights watchdog organization. U.S. watchlists have also caused controversy, including the massive no-fly list and the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list used to shut down charities. A recent hearing in the House Homeland Security Committee examined the extent to which U.S. watchlists infringe on the rights of innocent persons by maintaining inaccurate records and not addressing current security vulnerabilities.

Eight years after proposing it, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has finalized a worker safety rule. The final rule mandates employers pay for worker personal protective equipment (PPE). OSHA published the rule in the Federal Register on Nov. 15, and it is to take effect Feb. 13, 2008.