ShareThisWASHINGTON - A new government audit shows that the axiomatic connection of the words "military-base closing" with "cost overruns" continues to be justified.
The Government Accountability Office, which has tagged the Pentagon with more than a decade of inflated savings estimates that were supposed to result from shutting down hundreds of military facilities, says the most recent round of closings is following suit.
The cost of the closures mandated by a Base Realignment and Closure Commission vote in 2005 -- which are now under way at more than 800 locations across the country -- has mushroomed by 67 percent, from an estimated $21 billion to $35 billion, the GAO auditors found.
And the projected savings from the closures have now plummeted to about $11 billion, a 70 percent decline from the original estimate of $36 billion.
Among the reasons given by the Pentagon: increased costs for construction, environmental remediation and consolidating facilities and personnel.
The terms "mentally retarded" and "mental retardation" may soon disappear from federal law books.
Several Senate Democrats and Republicans want to replace those words with "individual with an intellectual disability" and "intellectual disability" in all pertinent education, health and labor statutes, such as the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act and the No Child Left Behind law.
The purpose, say Sens. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., is to help erase the stigma that is attached to the long-used terms. The lawmakers say the change shouldn't cost taxpayers anything.
Critics call it a politically correct gesture of little consequence, while supporters say it shows compassion and respect.
American Indians now have an embassy in Washington. Earlier this month, the National Congress of American Indians bought a $7.7 million building in the Dupont Circle part of the city that will house the Embassy of Tribal Nations. Whether it will ever be officially recognized by the State Department remains to be seen.
The National Science Foundation reported this past week that America's push to turn out more highly skilled professionals armed with doctoral degrees in scientific and high-tech fields has made some progress. In 2008, an NSF survey found, nearly 49,000 research doctorates were awarded, a 1.4 percent increase over those handed out in 2007.
The survey shows that foreign students are accounting for a growing proportion of the Ph.D.s awarded by U.S. universities. Last year, those holding temporary student visas represented 33 percent of the doctorate recipients. In 1998, they were 23 percent.
The survey also found that 78 percent of the foreign Ph.D.s in 2008 reported having definite job offers in the United States and intended to stay.
Best idea of the season: Declare the day before Thanksgiving as "Complaint-Free Wednesday."
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Ill., is asking fellow lawmakers to sign on to a resolution that would do just that. The idea comes from a group in his district called "A Complaint-Free World," which is dedicated to reminding us that we in America are among the most privileged people ever to walk the planet, and encouraging us to quit our whining for one day, at least.
Amen.
(SHNS science and health correspondent Lee Bowman contributed to this column. E-mail Lisa Hoffman at hoffmanl(at)shns.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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