Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

What makes everyone decide to take their money out of a bank at once? In the case of New York’s Bank of United States in 1929, it may have started with a false rumor spread by an unhappy investor, or a ruse by brokers who wanted to earn commissions when stockholders dumped their shares. For one reason or another 2,500 account holders lined up at the bank on December 10, withdrawing $2 million. The next day the bank closed, never to reopen – and the Great Depression was on.

Mass panic and a stable financial system just don’t go together.  So the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) works to instill confidence in banks by insuring deposits up to $250,000. In fact, the agency boasts, “Since the start of FDIC insurance on January 1, 1934, no depositor has lost a single cent... (read more)

Federal Election Commission

The Federal Election Commission oversees the most expensive campaign process in the democratic world. The 2008 election saw the two presidential candidates raise a combined $2.5 billion—a new world record.

It’s the job of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to make sure donations for presidential campaigns are given and spent ethically — a tall order indeed. The commission interprets the campaign finance laws passed by Congress, fleshing out exact rules on how money can be received, how it should be accounted for, and how it may be spent. The FEC also investigates potential violators and oversees the public financing of certain aspects of federal elections (most notably presidential conventions).

The FEC gathers a lot of numbers about campaign finance, and it's not... (read more)

Transportation Security Administration

Ask airline travelers what their least favorite part of flying is and they’ll probably say “security.” The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) would probably agree: waiting in long lines, taking your shoes off, walking through machines that take pictures of you naked, or getting patted down by some stranger in creepy blue nitrile gloves is far from pleasant. But it’s all necessary for your safety, the agency argues.

The TSA was created as part of the Department of Homeland Security after the tragic attacks of September 11th. More than 45,000 Transportation Security Officers, also known as “screeners,” help keep dangerous materials off planes and search suspicious luggage and passengers at airports around the... (read more)

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Meteorologists take more than their share of ribbing, but ask anyone at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and they’d probably say weather forecasters have it easy. They just predict the weather, after all. FEMA has to deal with its consequences.

FEMA is the emergency recovery and response arm of the federal government. When a disaster —whether it’s a tornado, hurricane, earthquake, toxic spill, or even terrorist attack — strains the resources of a city, state, or region, FEMA brings in reinforcements. FEMA employees do damage control, clean up debris, evacuate victims, house the displaced, triage the injured, jumpstart rebuilding efforts, and do whatever else it takes stabilize the area. But FEMA comes only on... (read more)

Federal Bureau of Investigation

You hear a lot about the FBI investigating terrorism, raiding the offices of corrupt politicians, busting interstate crime rings and so forth – but the premier federal investigative agency has also made rich contributions to American culture. After all, what would a gangland movie be without stubble-faced guys hissing “Cheese it! The Feds!”? Not to mention the key roles played by G-men – and G-women – in Twin Peaks, The X-Files, Bones, and countless other TV shows.

... (read more)

Workplace Safety

As the nature of American jobs has changed, workplace safety standards have changed too.

In the early days of the U.S., most people worked on family farms. Safety was the worker’s responsibility and on-the-job injuries were typically treated at home. Even well into the 19th century, as the Industrial Revolution took hold, employers were held to a low standard of accountability. Companies were not... (read more)

Research and Development

“Eureka” moments are not a strictly modern phenomenon: scientific and technical discoveries have been happening in America since long before it was a nation. Ancient Mesoamericans, ranging from the southern U.S. to northern Costa Rica, domesticated corn and invented the rubber ball. American Indians are increasingly recognized for their early understanding of ecology. They kept... (read more)

Immigration

The United States is, of course, a nation of immigrants. Even Native Americans came here from somewhere else; recent evidence suggests they arrived thousands of years ago from Siberia.

The Naturalization Act of 1790 opened citizenship to "free white persons" of "good moral character" who had been living in the U.S. for at least two years. In 1875 Congress barred convicts and prostitutes from naturalization... (read more)

Business

Perhaps no country on earth is identified as closely with free-market economics as the U.S. But the earliest governments in our part of the world – American Indian tribes – preferred bartering, charity, and symbolic gifts to a money-based economy. The first settlers in Puritan New England, for their part, believed government regulation of markets was needed to ensure a “just price.” As... (read more)

Children, Youth and Families

Early American social welfare laws were based on the English system of Poor Laws, under which local governments could take impoverished, abused or neglected children from their families and apprentice them to working adults to learn a trade. There was no separate justice system for juveniles; those who broke the law were locked up with adults and the mentally ill.

In the early 1800s, waves of immigration... (read more)

The Brooklyn Bridge: old, but still standing

One hundred and thirty years ago, President Chester A. Arthur and then New York Governor Grover Cleveland gathered alongside politicians, marching bands and throngs of New York City residents to celebrate the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge. The world’s first steel-wire suspension bridge and its longest suspension bridge at the time, the structure spanned 1,595.5 feet across the East River to... (read more)

Federal officials want to beef up cybersecurity for motor vehicle communication systems

Criminals increasingly are exploiting security weaknesses in technology systems to commit their crimes.  Earlier this month, a 21st-century gang of thieves, which teamed up Internet hackers with small-time street thugs, stole $45 million from thousands of ATMs around the globe in a matter of hours. Some federal officials worry that cyber-criminals could target cars next, as motor vehicles... (read more)

"Go west, young man!"

On May 22, 1843, more than 1,000 U.S. settlers formed a massive wagon train and set out from Independence, Missouri, for the largely unsettled Northwest. Their journey came to be known as the "Great Migration." The men, women and children, along with more than 1,000 head of cattle, completed the 2,000-mile journey along the Oregon Trail in just five months. Along the way, they battled cholera... (read more)

IG criticisms of military sexual assault education efforts don’t go far enough, advocacy groups say

When two military officers responsible for the military’s sexual assault prevention programs were charged with sexual assault just a week apart, the cases made headlines.  They even jolted a jaded Washington, where lawmakers responded with words like “shocking” and “disgusting.” But the news probably didn’t come as a shock to the 26,000 service members who said they were sexually assaulted... (read more)

The Red Cross and the federal government

It's better when the Red Cross stays out of the news. Too often, its inclusion in the headlines means something horrible has happened.  This week the emergency relief organization is lending a helping hand in Oklahoma, where massive tornadoes devastated large swaths of the Sooner State.

But its connection to hard times and lost lives also means that the Red Cross saves lives, and that’s... (read more)

GIMBY