A vow of secrecy on defense budget
They long ago pledged honor and duty to country, but this year their spoken word was not enough. Top Pentagon generals and admirals had to sign a letter promising to keep defense budget details secret if they wanted to work on the military's fiscal plan.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates set the rule, and the entire Joint Chiefs of Staff, including Gates, signed, promising not to leak information while the budget was being put together, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Wednesday.
The move allows people to offer their honest opinions without fear of them becoming public, Morrell said of Gates' reasoning.
NEW TWIST TO THE DAILY CIA BRIEFING
The CIA this week began sending the White House a classified daily briefing on the worldwide economic crisis, CIA Director Leon Panetta said Wednesday, underscoring growing concern the global financial meltdown could topple governments, or lead to sharp swerves in the foreign policies of hard-hit nations.
The report, called the Economic Intelligence Brief, is an effort "to make sure that we aren't surprised by the implications of the worldwide economic crisis," Panetta said in his first meeting with reporters since being sworn in Feb. 13.
MIDDLE CLASS GETS SPOTLIGHT FRIDAY
Green jobs -- where are they and how to get them -- will be the focus when President Obama's task force on middle-class working families begins its work Friday in Philadelphia.
The panel, chaired by Vice President Joe Biden, will hear from experts on the potential to create and fill these jobs, for which the economic stimulus legislation provides billions of dollars to promote.
The panel's goal is to recommend ways to boost the nation's middle class. It also will evaluate new and existing policies to determine whether they are helping or hurting the middle class.
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His political views differed from a transgender classmate’s, but they forged a bond that lasted a decade — until Vance seemed to pivot, politically and personally.
