Those who know me understand that there are certain things I simply will not do. One is use a chain saw (too many bad things can happen with a simple slip-up). Two is use a straight razor (I saw too many “gotcha” commercials as a child). A new one has recently crept on to the list — I will not shop on Black Friday!

(This story is excerpted from the Dec. 5 issue of Local/State Funding Report.) The week before Thanksgiving, the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction – also known as the “super committee” – formally announced what many observers had feared and predicted over the preceding weeks: that it had been unable to come to an agreement about how to cut $1.2 trillion in spending in order to reduce the federal deficit.

You may have noticed that Funding Attractions had a couple of days off over the Thanksgiving holiday.  We hope that you were also able to get a little downtime with your nearest and dearest.

Remember when you were a kid and your parents would decide where you should go and what at you should do, even though you’d like to have a little say-so in the matter. That must be how state and local government grantees feel sometimes. I’m glad to see they are trying to find a way to make their voices heard when it comes to the future of grants management streamlining and reform.

(This story is excerpted from the Nov. 28 issue of Local/State Funding Report.) The Federal Trade Commission won a $29.8 million judgment in November against a company accused of peddling fake grants and other bogus services. Grant Connect had been charged with making misleading claims about getting free government grants for consumers.

On random weekends, one of my favorite things to do is order pizza, get a DVD and have “movie night” with my family. Always seeking to find family-friendly films, this week’s show was “Annie.” I had seen the play many years ago, and watching the movie brought back some of the fun and heartfelt songs that I had totally forgotten about.

(This post originally appeared on Title I-Derland, Thompson’s blog on federal K-12 education and was written by Chuck Edwards, senior executive director for Thompson’s education products.) Responding to the Supreme Court’s Nov. 14 decision to consider a constitutional challenge to the new health care law, the media have focused on the law’s controversial requirement that everyone buy health insurance (the so-called “individual mandate”). But they have generally overlooked an even more momentous question that is part of the same case: the power of the federal government to require states to perform actions as a condition of federal aid.

Here is Funding Attractions' regular rundown of events, news and insight you may have missed this week.

Washington state financial management officials plan to post best practices and tools online to help its state agencies encourage grantee compliance and reduce grantee internal control weaknesses.

During my recent one-on-one interview with former Grants Policy Committee co-chairman Tom Cooley, which will be featured in a two-part article in upcoming issues of the Federal Grants Management Handbook, he brought up a critical point that makes each grant unique, yet complicates attempts to make them more uniform.