President Barack Obama issued an executive order today that bans federal employees from using their cell phones, BlackBerries or other electronic devices to send or receive text messages, read e-mails or perform other electronic tasks while driving .

The order applies to employees behind the wheel of government owned or leased vehicles or those driving their own vehicles while on government business. Agencies also were instructed to encourage federal contractors to enforce similar polices on their own workforces.

Obama issued the order to coincide with a Washington summit organized by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on the dangers of text messaging and other distractions while driving.

The number of crashes attributed to distracted drivers nationally has risen during the past five years, even though the number of crashes overall has dropped, and accounted for 16 percent of crashes and fatalities in 2008, Transportation statistics show.

At 11:59 p.m. Nov. 29 your old SmartPay cards will be useless, so be sure to have the new cards at the ready. That’s what David Shea, director of the General Services Administration’s SmartPay 2 program, tells us here at FedLine.

Shea has these tips for feds who may be working this holiday weekend and need to use their cards:

• Activate the new card in advance of the Nov. 29 deadline.
• If you are going on travel, bring both cards with you to avoid getting stuck with an inactive card.
• Have the number for your agency’s card manager handy in case you run into trouble.

Shea expects that there will be few problems with transition this weekend. The last agencies to make their choice of card providers did so back in July, meaning there was plenty of time for cards to arrive and new accounting systems to be installed. Also, the holiday weekend means there will be little activity over the transition period.

But with more than 3 million purchase, travel and fleet cards mailed to federal employees across the nation, there are likely to be some hiccups along the way, Shea said. That’s why he and his staff will be on call all weekend to put out any major card-related fires.

FedLine suspects he’ll also be collecting the wishbone from his Thanksgiving turkey for luck.

JW Mariott is offering a “build your own inaugural ball” package for the three-day weekend for the mere sum of $1 million at its 14th and Pennsylvania hotel. Here’s what you’d get for your bucks:

• Two Presidential Suites
• Two Vice Presidential Suites
• 300 guest rooms
• $200,000 in food and beverage
• Private access to the 12th floor balcony under a heated framed tent
• Custom tailored events to fit 450 people
• 24-hour Red Coat Service™
• 5% of proceeds will be donated to the Amazona Sustainable Foundation

Oh yeah, and it’s non-refundable. Sorry ’bout that.

Will anyone do it? I’d surely be surprised if they did. But as a marketing move, it’s brilliant: after all, it gets people talking about the brand. Plus it makes other hotels for that holiday weekend seem cheap!

If you have friends coming to the District for the inauguration and want something more reasonable, check out this great Web site for hotels here. The Destination DC site lists plenty of hotels and prices for your perusal, and it includes lots of details about the ceremony and parade.

That’s according to the Transportation Security Administration, which says it’s working to beef up screening processes and speed up airport security lines. Current regulations ban carrying on most liquids, gels and aerosols in containers larger than 3 ounces.

A TSA official told USA Today that the restrictions could be lifted in 2009, though travelers would still need to put any liquid or gel containers in a separate bag for X-ray machines. By 2010, passengers may even be able to keep those liquids in their carry-on bags during the screening process. Better machines are being developed that can differentiate between dangerous chemicals and harmless styling products.

So, when the airlines lose your luggage (that you’ve paid extra to check), at least you’ll have plenty of your own shampoo and toothpaste.

To read the full USA Today story, click here.