The Kaiser Family Foundation has compiled masses of information on the money flowing to state and local government coffers — as well as employers and nonprofits — under the auspices of the Affordable Care Act. Check out details of Tennessee's take here. On a per-capita basis, we rank in the bottom dozen.

For his latest ditty, Merle Hazard — aka local investment manager Jon Shayne — has applied a little Beach Boys flavor to the debate about federal spending and the upcoming budgetary showdown. Check out "Fiscal Cliff" here and keep an eye out for the contest that could get your idea made into the next Merle song.

The General Services Administration conference spending brouhaha has severely chilled the already cool meeting climate for government agencies of all stripes and could lead to stiff spending limits being imposed. A drop in agency meetings was a big reason for the weaker performance of Gaylord Entertainment's National resort in 2011. HotelNewsNow.com has the latest on the impact of the GSA scandal.

Reza Sheybani, founder and principal of Bethesda, Maryland-based Conference Planning International, who has 30 years experience in government meeting planning, has had three major meetings cancel so far — in Washington, Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina. “They all said, ‘Everything is being put on hold,’” Sheybani said, adding that Las Vegas is the major victim of the chilling effect. “You can’t even mention Las Vegas as a government meeting destination anymore. And I think that for the next year or two, the impact of all this is going to be serious.”

A silver lining: If Sin City is out completely for a while as a destination, Gaylord's properties outside D.C. and in Nashville, Orlando and Dallas could benefit.

The FDIC Inspector General recently released a report on spending by the regulator's staff at various conferences and seminars around the country. Among the highlights of a mostly squeaky-clean report is news that staffers spent too much on food and drink at two separate events in Nashville. The report doesn't detail where in town an executive dinner worth $195 per person (pre-tax and pre-tip) took place, but we'll gladly take your guesses in the comments box below. You could also tell us where you'd like to go if you had that money to spend...

The tide has turned dramatically at Universal Safety Response, the Franklin-based manufacturer of security barriers that sold itself to Smith & Wesson in the summer of 2009. On track to add "substantial ongoing growth" to its parent last summer, the business is now struggling with lower sales, lower margins and government customers who don't have money to spend. Smith & Wesson yesterday told investors it will take a $51 million impairment charge related to USR — on top of the $39.5 million it wrote down three months ago — and change the division's name to play off the mothership's heritage.

SEE ALSO: Smith & Wesson buying Franklin firm in a deal valued at about $80 million