Four high-ranking federal lab workers found a way to turn “per diem” funds for a temporary assignment into a steady flow of extra income — at taxpayers’ expense. The overpayments, discovered in an inspector general’s audit, boosted the annual pay of some of the employees by as much as $64,000.
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— Ezra is guest-hosting for Rachel Maddow again Friday night. Tune in!
—By 2025, one-third of U.S. cities will have more seniors than children.
—Tokyo’s private rail lines turn a profit largely by owning a lot of real estate and stores.
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Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of Health and Human Services, delivered the commencement address at Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute on Friday. Leaders in the Catholic Church had pressured Georgetown to rescind her invitation, given her key role in implementing the health reform law, which requires employers to cover contraceptives.
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For the past two months, Bob and Sarah Steck have been preparing their 82-year-old Tudor-style home in the District’s Chevy Chase neighborhood for sale.
Bob Steck, a writer and consultant, and Sarah Steck, a psychiatric social worker, have upgraded the home with fresh paint, new kitchen appliances and refinished oak floors. They converted their garage into an office and are marketing the backyard structure as a potential guesthouse, playroom and artist’s studio. For extra measure, they’ve also hired a staging firm to elevate the home’s image with artfully arranged furnishings.
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Thinking of packing up and moving to another state this year? If so, you’re an outlier. Americans on the whole are becoming increasingly less mobile. In the early 1990s, 3 percent of Americans moved across state lines each year. Today, the rate is half that.
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