A Telephone Seminar

Rules and regulations governing the contents and consideration of the budget resolution. Topics include:

• Enforcement by points of order
  
• Implementation
  
• The budget resolution in relation to other budgetary legislation
  
• Reserve funds

Open Q&A with the faculty included: Roy Meyers.

• Thursday, August 21, 2008
• 2 pm ET/1 pm CT/12 noon MT/11 am PT
• More information here

The Budget Resolution in a Nutshell Capitol Learning Audio Course Includes seminar materials. Audio Course on CD: $47 plus shipping and handling

"The Eureka Hunt: Why do good ideas come to us when they do?" by Jonah Lehrer, The New Yorker, July 28, 2008

Hat tip: Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution

More

• Mann Gulch fire of 1949 - from Wikipedia
• "Mann Gulch Fire: A Race That Couldn't Be Won," by Richard Rothermel,General Technical Report INT-299, US Forest Service, May 1993 (14-page pdf )
• Mark Jung Beeman, Northwestern University
• John Kounios, Drexel University
• Earl K. Miller, MIT
• Jonathan D. Cohen, Princeton

This definition is from our Pocket Dictionary of Legislative Terms. Perfect reference tool of Congressional jargon and procedural terms. Learn how to translate words that are used every day on Capitol Hill. 4 x 9 inches, 16 pages The cover and inside pages of this booklet can be customized with your logo and information. For more information, see our Booklets page. The Pocket Dictionary is based on the Congressional Deskbook, by Michael Koempel and Judy Schneider.

TheCapitol.Net offers training and a Certificate Program in Congressional Operations and Federal Budgeting, and is the exclusive provider of Congressional Quarterly Executive Conferences.

A Telephone Seminar

Are you interested in learning about congressional pay and perks? This program will provide an overview of congressional pay and pay increases; retirement benefits, including pension plans; and perquisites. Topics covered include:

• Current pay for Senators and Representatives and the three basic ways members can adjust their pay
  
• Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), Federal Employees Retirement Act of 1986 (FERS), and Social Security
  
• Retirement under CSRS and FERS
  
• House and Senate perquisites such as parking privileges, free outpatient care at the Naval Medical Center, and the franking privilege
  
• An insider's look at the "small cities" on the House and Senate sides of the Capitol and in the House and Senate Office Buildings

Open Q&A with the faculty included: Ida Brudnick.

• Thursday, August 14, 2008
• 2 pm ET/1 pm CT/12 noon MT/11 am PT
• More information here

Congressional Pay and Perks Informed Citizen Series Audio Course Includes seminar materials. Audio Course on CD: $27 plus shipping and handling

This tip is from our booklet, Media Relations Tips: 102 Secrets for Finding Success in Public Relations. Practical tips for anyone who works with the media, works with someone who works with the media, or who works at an organization that is covered in the media.  An easy handout for everyone in your group to make sure that they are prepared and confident if they ever have to deal with the media. 4 x 9 inches, 15 pages Based on the Media Relations Handbook, by Brad Fitch. The cover and inside pages of this booklet can be customized with your logo and information. For more information, see our Booklets page.

TheCapitol.Net offers Media Training and Communication and Advocacy Training, and is the exclusive provider of Congressional Quarterly (CQ) Executive Conferences.

A Telephone Seminar

Learn how to search more efficiently and effectively in this course designed for professionals who want practical techniques for conducting Web research on the job. In this course, you gain an overview of:

• How search engines work, and how to make them work for you
  
• Advanced, but easy, search techniques
  
• How to use the best of the free websites for legislative, legal, regulatory, factual, state, and international information
  
• What to do when you do not know where to start
  
• What you will not find on the Internet

Open Q&A with the faculty included: Peggy Garvin.

• Tuesday, August 12, 2008
• 2 pm ET/1 pm CT/12 noon MT/11 am PT
• More information here

Practical Web Research in a Nutshell Capitol Learning Audio Course Includes seminar materials. Audio Course on CD: $47 plus shipping and handling

This advanced 3-day course in Washington, DC builds on the skills of those who have already learned the legislative process and basic congressional operations. In this course, participants learn how to develop high-level strategies and tactics to help educate Congress and influence legislation.

• August 6-8, 2008
• 9:00 am to 4:00 pm all three days
• More information here

This definition is from our Pocket Dictionary of Legislative Terms. Perfect reference tool of Congressional jargon and procedural terms. Learn how to translate words that are used every day on Capitol Hill. 4 x 9 inches, 16 pages The cover and inside pages of this booklet can be customized with your logo and information. For more information, see our Booklets page. The Pocket Dictionary is based on the Congressional Deskbook, by Michael Koempel and Judy Schneider.

TheCapitol.Net offers training and a Certificate Program in Congressional Operations and Federal Budgeting, and is the exclusive provider of Congressional Quarterly Executive Conferences.

Time for Some Campaignin' - from JibJab on YouTube

• Capitol Hill Workshop: 2008 Election, November 12-14, 2008, in Washington, DC - from Congressional Quarterly (CQ) and TheCapitol.Net
  
• The New Congress 2009: Understanding The 111th Congress, January 27, 2009, in Washington, DC
  
• The President's Budget, February 24, 2009
  
• The Defense Budget, February 27, 2009
  

Jim Bayless (bio), a veteran legislative and regulatory attorney who has lived in Washington for more than 25 years, shares his favorite books and movies. (You can see some of Jim's favorite things about living in our nation's capital here.)

Favorite Books

• Manhunt, a thrilling, detailed account of the assassination of President Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth and his several co-conspirators, aiders, and abettors and the frenzied chase and capture.
• Team of Rivals, a masterpiece of how Abe Lincoln prevailed against his much more qualified rivals for the presidential nomination and integrated this extraordinarily accomplished group of political adversaries into his own Cabinet.

Favorite Movies

• Mr Smith Goes to Washington-a Frank Capra-produced classic starring Jimmy Stewart and portraying the fundamental role and operation of the U.S. Senate.
• Advise and Consent (1962)-a classic political novel portraying zealots in the president's party resorting to blackmail to insure the approval of their nominee for Secretary of State; demonstrates the advise-and-consent role of the U.S. Senate; starring Henry Fonda.
• The Seduction of Joe Tynan-another portrayal of the ideological and moral conflicts of being a member of the U.S. Senate; straining his already part-time family life. But it could be a big boost to his career, so he takes it on. Starring Alan Alda.
• No Way Out-a tense thriller starring Kevin Costner and Gene Hackman; a tale of national security and blackmail filmed at the Pentagon and elsewhere around Washington.
• Executive Action (1973)-A group of powerful and wealthy men hires mercenaries to assassinate John F. Kennedy.
• All the President's Men (1976)-True story of how two Washington Post reporters uncovered the Watergate scandal that led to the resignation of President Nixon; starring Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford.

For more, also see our Political and Government Classics page.

A Telephone Seminar

If you want to take your PAC to the next level, this program is for you. Topics covered include:

• Competitor / Benchmark Analysis
  
• Champion Development
  
• Differentiation among candidates
  
• Finding and implementing effective ways to measure and perhaps predict contribution performance
  
• Top ten strategies

Open Q&A with the faculty included: DSteven Billet.

• Thursday, July 31, 2008
• 2 pm ET/1 pm CT/12 noon MT/11 am PT
• More information here

PAC Management: Advanced PAC Strategy Capitol Learning Audio Course Includes seminar materials. Audio Course on CD: $47 plus shipping and handling

This tip is from our booklet, Media Relations Tips: 102 Secrets for Finding Success in Public Relations. Practical tips for anyone who works with the media, works with someone who works with the media, or who works at an organization that is covered in the media.  An easy handout for everyone in your group to make sure that they are prepared and confident if they ever have to deal with the media. 4 x 9 inches, 15 pages Based on the Media Relations Handbook, by Brad Fitch. The cover and inside pages of this booklet can be customized with your logo and information. For more information, see our Booklets page.

TheCapitol.Net offers Media Training and Communication and Advocacy Training, and is the exclusive provider of Congressional Quarterly (CQ) Executive Conferences.

In this 2-day course in Washington, DC you learn how the federal budget process really works from faculty members with years of subject-matter expertise. Study important terminology and get tips to protect your budgetary interests.

We provide a comprehensive overview of current budget politics and the federal budgeting process, so you gain the awareness and guidance necessary to increase your chance of boosting funds and minimizing cuts. Understand the budget resolution process as well as the differences between authorizations and appropriations.

Learn how to recognize various budget documents so you can use them most effectively. Students also discover performance-based budgeting principles and issues and OMB's tools for program performance assessment. Finally, we explore professional online budget research tips.

• August 4-5, 2008
• 8:30 am to 4:00 pm both days
• More information here

A Telephone Seminar

Phil Joyce provides an introduction to the federal budget process. Topics covered include:

• Federal budget process chronology
  
• The President's budget
  
• Players in the congressional budget process
  
• Key federal budget terms
  
• Three different processes
  
• The budget resolution and reconciliation

• Tuesday, August 5, 2008
  
• 2 pm ET/1 pm CT/12 noon MT/11 am PT
  
• More information here

The Federal Budget Process Capitol Learning Audio Course Includes seminar materials. Audio Course on CD: $47 plus shipping and handling

You know your issue better than anyone else. This 1-day course in Washington, DC, gives you the information and confidence necessary to testify before Congress, effectively presenting your case to Congress.

Our experienced faculty explores all aspects of testimony preparation including research, persuasion and the proper structure of both written and oral testimony. Participants learn delivery and listening techniques, ways to deal with anxiety and best practice techniques for addressing both Q&A sessions and challenging situations. You learn how to prepare congressional testimony and how to testify before Congress.

This course provides ample time to discuss concerns with faculty members while helping participants feel at-ease as they prepare testimony or actually deliver testimony on the Hill.

• Wednesday, July 30, 2008
• 9:00 am to 4:30 pm
• More information here