Wednesday Roundup: Fiscal slopes, an Obama-tracking app, criticism of FCC data project, and a job-stress reality check

If there is a bright side to the fast-approaching "fiscal cliff," the , it is that the effects of sequestration and expiring tax cuts "would be powerful but gradual, and in some cases, reversible." The Government Printing Office and the National Archives have released a new tool that allows users to better track the president's public activities. The makes available "the president’s speeches, approved acts, nominations for various political posts and...all White House executive orders, statements and press releases," . . Agencies finding it difficult to recruit tech talent are not alone,. Silicon valley companies increasingly resorting to "acqui-hires" -- "buying smaller startups [because] they want key employees." . "House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans are complaining that [FCC] officials spent about $1 million to pay a British company to test American broadband speeds," . "FCC spokesman Neil Grace said the agency is 'mystified by this attack on transparency and consumer empowerment.'" Top execs may think their overscheduled and high-pressure jobs put them in a pressure cooker, but new research that shows senior managers' jobs are more stressful than those at the C-level. "Perhaps senior leaders don't need to learn to manage stress better after all," the article suggests. "They need to learn to recognize and help other people deal with theirs."