In the Loop: Did SSA's Management Tango Cost Too Much?

He said he had no objections to Perciasepe, the chief operating officer of the Audubon Society. But he wants the EPA to alter its analysis of a bill, aiming to lower greenhouse-gas emissions, that passed the House in June

The EPA analysis said the legislation would cost each household $80 to $111 per year. In his letter, Voinovich said he thinks EPA made overly optimistic assumptions about the future. With more realistic projections fed into the analysis, a Voinovich spokeswoman told our colleague David A. Fahrenthold, the cost is likely to go up.

A Hostile Situation

Not often there's a ruckus at something like a joint conference on Iran sponsored by the U.S. Central Command and the Brookings Institution. And even rarer to see the normally unflappable and courteous Gen. David H. Petraeus, the guy who turned around Iraq, lose his usual cool.

But Wednesday, just as the morning session was beginning, attendees were stunned to see a red-faced Petraeus, furious about a Washington Times article that morning, scolding the writer, Assistant Managing Editor Barbara Slavin. (The article said that some Iranians, released after being detained by U.S forces in Iraq for more than two years, had been in effect held "hostage.")

Everyone could hear him lecture Slavin about irresponsible journalism, questioning her sources and saying the article was factually wrong and so on. An unflappable Slavin insisted that her sources were rock-solid and suggested that, if he had a problem, he could come to an editorial board meeting any time.

New Personnel Person

Word is that Nancy D. Hogan, chief of staff for the presidential personnel office, is picking up new best friends all over the country these days. She's replacing Donald Gips as director of the office, a critical but grueling and thankless job that often has a high turnover.

In this case, Gips vacated after less than six months, opting to take a posting as ambassador to South Africa. The job is, as one office veteran put it, "a constant jigsaw puzzle, constantly poring over lists" of candidates, trying to please multiple constituencies and inevitably saying "no" to applicants many more times than saying "yes."