February 2009

The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) and its National Security Initiative (NSI) convened a high-level foreign policy discussion yesterday titled, "Unclenching the Fist": The Way Forward with Iran. The conversation featured a prominent group of former U.S. officials and national security experts, led by NSI Iran task force members former Senator Charles Robb, General (ret.) Charles Wald, and Stephen Rademaker, former Assistant Secretary of State. Full release.

On the tenth anniversary of the treaty banning antipersonnel landmines, the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines calls on President Barack Obama to work for Senate ratification of the treaty this year. Full release.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today after President Obama delivered a speech at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina on responsibly ending the war in Iraq. Full release.

Residents in Western Pennsylvania and Northeastern Ohio will have access to new workforce development opportunities through the nation's first Interstate Workforce Region that Governor Edward G. Rendell and Ohio Governor Ted Strickland announced today. Full release.

A federal grand jury in the Central District of Illinois has returned a two-count indictment charging Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, 43, with providing material support to al-Qaeda and conspiring with others to provide material support to al-Qaeda, Attorney General Eric Holder announced today. Full release.

Change to Win chair Anna Burger issued the following statement about the first meeting of the Middle Class Task Force today, chaired by Vice President Joe Biden, at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Full release.

The Obama administration's top intelligence chief sits on the board of a major oil company owned by the Chinese government that is widely seen as conducting business deals meant to expand China's influence worldwide, World Net Daily has learned. Full release.

Environmental Defense Fund today released a groundbreaking online map that identifies and profiles more than 1,200 companies in key manufacturing states poised to grow their business and create new jobs when Congress passes a cap on global warming pollution. Full release.

With nearly a third of Americans saying the current recession has made them more likely to consider a home-based business offer, consumer advocates have issued a warning that fraudulent pyramid schemes disguised as legitimate business opportunities are posing a greater threat than ever to consumers' wallets and financial health. Full release

In response to a leader of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) who declared that family breakdown is a triumph for human rights, World Congress of Families Managing Director Larry Jacobs said he was only surprised that UNFPA is now willing to admit what has always been part of its agenda. Full release

American Life League celebrated Thursday the first personhood amendment in the nation's history to pass a state Senate. Full release.

The Concord Coalition said today that President Obama's pledge to cut the deficit in half by 2013 is a positive and achievable goal but warned that it would still leave the nation on an unsustainable fiscal path. Concord praised the administration for improving transparency in the budget by using realistic policy projections and specifying several offsets for new initiatives. It warned, however, that spending cuts and tax increases used to fund new initiatives would no longer be available to close the existing long-term budget gap. Full release.

A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group today called on Attorney General Eric Holder to protect the right of American Muslims to participate fully in the political process and to practice their faith without fear of government intrusion. Full release.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted today to send David Ogden's name to the full Senate for a confirmation vote for the position of Deputy Attorney General. The Committee voted 14-5 in favor of Ogden, despite his long career of defending child pornographers, Playboy Enterprises, and Penthouse. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins urges the full Senate to reject David Ogden's confirmation. Full release.

Karen Ignagni, President and CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans, issued the following statement today in response to the President's budget: "Today's budget submission sends a signal to the American people that this Administration is serious about prioritizing health care. We applaud the President for laying out a bold framework and setting aside significant resources to put our nation on a path towards comprehensive health care reform, which is a goal that has eluded our country for more than a century." Full release

A ruling announced this week by the U.S. Supreme Court gives weight to an argument by The American Legion against the placing of public monuments that could threaten the sanctity of veterans memorials. Justices ruled unanimously that an obscure religious group cannot use a "free speech" argument to force a small Utah city to erect a granite marker in a local park that is home to a long-standing monument to the Ten Commandments. Full release

The number of hate groups operating in the United States continued to rise in 2008 and has grown by 54 percent since 2000 - an increase fueled last year by immigration fears, a failing economy and the successful campaign of Barack Obama, according to the "Year in Hate" issue of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Report released today. Full release

Friday, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) will address the urgent need for Congress to begin transportation finance reforms. Blumenauer, a member of the House Ways and Means and Budget Committees, will lay out necessary finance initiatives to sustain our nation's transportation infrastructure for the future. He will be joined by leaders from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), American Public Transportation Association (APTA), American Institute of Architects (AIA), Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). Full release.

Change to Win and the AFL-CIO filed a joint complaint with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) today against Rick Berman's Center for Union Facts and Bernie Marcus' the Marcus Foundation for violating their "charitable" tax status by engaging in partisan political activity on behalf of Republican Senate candidates during the 2008 election. Full release.

An updated analysis found that the U.S. could receive as much as $51.9 billion in federal revenue over the next decade if Internet gambling is regulated as proposed in legislation introduced by Representatives Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Jim McDermott (D-Wash.). The new revenue estimates are approximately 22 percent larger than those of an earlier analysis prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2007, reflecting the increased online gambling activities of Americans despite attempts to prohibit activity through passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. Full release.

If you're looking for an example of how banks are abusing the Troubled Asset Relief Program, consider Wells Fargo Bank, which has received $25 billion in federal aid. Full release.

A new global policy report estimates that approximately 37 percent of colon cancer cases and 28 percent of breast cancer cases in Brazil and other middle-income countries in South America are preventable through diet, physical activity and weight maintenance. The report also sets out recommendations for policies to reduce the global number of cancer cases. Full release.

he United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Coca-Cola have formed a global alliance -- the Water and Development Alliance (WADA) -- to provide clean, potable water to Mozambique's sixth largest urban region, Chimoio. This alliance brings together funding commitments from all partners totaling about $1.79 million, of which $500,000 comes from USAID. Full release.

Parents of autistic children and their families joined Consumer Watchdog today in warning California regulators not to side with health insurance companies that are scheming to avoid paying for autism treatment that is required by state law. Full release.

In last week's decision in the case of 17 Chinese Uighur Muslims held at Guantanamo, a federal appeals court reiterated the exclusive control over immigration by the political branches of government. The court quoted late Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter that immigration matters are "wholly outside the concern and competence of the Judiciary." Full release

- Disease prevention and health promotion programs provide good value to the health care system, but the Congressional Budget Office has largely overlooked this in its assessment of potential health reforms, according to a white paper released today by Partnership for Prevention. Full release.

A favorable market for U.S. exports proved to be a highlight of an otherwise tumultuous year for small businesses. The Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) report client overseas sales increased over 100 percent in 2008, representing a $52 million boost. Full release.

Penn State's College of Education has found that only 18 of Pennsylvania's 500 school districts - comprising less than 3 percent of the state's total public school enrollment - appropriately measure whether their students can read and do math at the 11th grade level in order to award high school diplomas, according to a study released today. Full release.

Teens are confident that the Obama administration will be able to resolve the current economic crisis, according to a recent study from the Scarborough Kids Internet Panel (S.K.I.P.), an Internet panel tracking youth behavior and sentiment. Three-quarters (75%) of teens in the study said they are optimistic that the new administration will help solve current economic problems. African-American and Hispanic teens appear to be more optimistic than Asian and Caucasian teens. Almost half (46%) of African-American teens are "very optimistic" about President Obama's ability to help the economy, versus 31 % of Hispanic teens, 24% of Caucasian teens and 20% of Asian teens. Full release.

Earlier this month in Munich, Vice President Biden said that it is time for a "reset" of our relationship with Russia. The Partnership for a Secure America (PSA), a bipartisan group of top foreign policy and national security officials has provided a concrete list of steps the Obama Administration can take to renew cooperation between the two countries. Full release.

According to the latest statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, 98 percent of all U.S. firms have less than 100 employees. Ninety percent of all firms in the U.S. have less than 20 employees and are responsible for over 97 percent of all new jobs in America. These 27 million firms employ over 50 percent of the entire private sector workforce. (http://www.inc.com/news/articles/200708/data.html) Full release

Tonight, President Obama laid out his comprehensive vision for addressing the challenges our nation faces, from the economy to energy independence to health care reform, education, and laying the foundation for long-term growth in the 21st Century. As he addressed those challenges, he reminded Americans of the boldness and courage our nation must now summon as we have throughout our history saying, "We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before." Full release

he following statement of NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous was released today by the NAACP: We welcome Rupert Murdoch's statement that the New York Post will endeavor to be more sensitive to the communities it serves, but unfortunately his apology fails to answer how the Post will do so. Mr. Murdoch could resolve this unfortunate situation in 15 minutes by meeting to develop substantive measures to ensure that this type of incendiary incident does not happen again. Full release

Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced today that Mike Sheehy, her National Security Advisor for the past six years, will depart the Speaker's office this week for the private sector after more than 30 years of service in the House of Representatives. Full release

An Egyptian doctor, Mahmoud Fathalla, and a Nicaraguan non-governmental organization, Movimiento Comunal Nicaraguense (MCN), have won this year's United Nations Population Award. The Award is given to individuals and institutions for outstanding work in population and in improving the health of individuals. Full release

The United States Supreme Court today rejected arguments by the gun lobby and convicted wife beater Randy Edward Hayes that federal law allowed Hayes to possess firearms, upholding the broad federal ban on gun possession by convicted misdemeanor domestic violence abusers. The Court cited arguments made by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence about the risks posed by firearms in the hands of domestic abusers. Full release

As Congress and states reconsider funding for abstinence-only programs, the largest study ever of what is taught in sexuality education classes reveals that abstinence programs are plagued with factual errors, use shame and fear to teach about sexuality and actively discourage the use of condoms to protect against pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Full release

Precursor President Scott Cleland released a study today concluding that the ideological tension will only increase between opposing Internet visions: i.e. the call for a government-mandated digital commons vs. defending the existing Internet free market based on property rights. In a first-of-its-kind study, entitled "Neutralism: Identifying the Commons Ideology behind Net Neutrality," Cleland defines, explains and traces the origins of the ideology and economic thought behind the net neutrality issue. Full release

President Barack Obama's address to Congress on Tuesday night will cover a multitude of subjects from the economy to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. One subject that is almost certain to be ignored by President Obama are his plans to bolster the 26 million small businesses that create more than 97 percent of all new jobs. Full release

In a study released today, data shows that countries that protect the physical and intellectual property of their people enjoy nearly nine times higher GDP per capita than countries ranking lowest in property rights protections. The study, the 2009 International Property Rights Index (IPRI), compared the protections of physical and intellectual property to economic stability in 115 countries representing 96 per cent of the world's GDP. Full release

The following is a statement from Betsy McCaughey, Ph.D., Chairman/Founder of Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths: Americans need to know how the health provisions hidden in the recently enacted stimulus package will affect them. To inform the public about these provisions and the dangers, especially for seniors, I wrote an analysis for Bloomberg.com on February 10th. Lori Robertson, an employee of FactCheck.org, challenged the accuracy of my analysis in her February 20 critique posted on Newsweek.com. Readers of Robertson's critique should consider these facts. Full release

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and members of the Congressional delegation to Afghanistan and Italy held a press conference today. Below are the Speaker's opening remarks: Good afternoon. Last evening, we returned from a trip to visit our troops. As Speaker and as leader, my first trip every year is to visit our men and women in uniform to thank them for their courage, their patriotism, the sacrifices that they and their families are making for our country. Full release

Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court wrote Google's CEO Eric Schmidt today questioning the company's priorities following efforts by one of Google's top executives to dissuade a charitable foundation from supporting the nonpartisan group's privacy efforts. "We have tried to constructively engage Google on its privacy problems for about six months now," Court wrote. "So it's remarkable that Google's most rapid and substantive response to our privacy concerns is a letter from your director of Corporate and Policy Communications to the charity funding our work seeking an end to its support. Full release

The world is quickly approaching tipping points for abrupt climate changes, perhaps even within a few years, according to the United Nation's Environmental Program's (UNEP) just-released Year Book 2009. The UN agency warns that urgent action is needed to avoid catastrophic climate events such as major food and water shortages, shifts in weather patterns, and "[destabilization of] major ice sheets that could introduce unanticipated rates of sea level rise within the 21st century." Full release

Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke this morning at the National Clean Energy Project Roundtable, held at the Newseum and hosted by the Center for American Progress Action Fund and chaired by Senate Majority Harry Reid. Other speakers included former President Bill Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Congressman Edward Markey, Chairman of the House Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming. The forum discussed policies and strategies to build a clean energy smart grid and expand the use of domestic alternative fuels. Below are the Speaker's remarks as prepared: "I would like to thank the Center for American Progress Action Fund for hosting the National Clean Energy Project Roundtable and to thank the chair of this event and one of America's boldest leaders in creating a clean energy future, my friend Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid." Full release

The Supreme Court announced today that it will hear the case regarding the Mojave Desert Cross, a memorial to World War I veterans that has been declared unconstitutional by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In November of 2008, Liberty Legal Institute filed an amicus brief asking for certiorari on behalf of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW), The American Legion, the Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH), Veterans of Foreign Wars Department of California, and American Ex-Prisoners of War (AXPOW). Full release

The following is a statement by the American Small Business League: Since 2003, over a dozen federal investigations have found billions of dollars in government small business contracts have been diverted to many of the largest companies in the United States and Europe. Full release

The following was released today by the Republican National Committee: Today, President Obama Will Hold A Fiscal Responsibility Summit To Address Concerns Over Debt And Deficits: President Obama Will Hold A Fiscal Responsibility Summit Today. "President Obama and Vice President Biden plan to convene a White House 'fiscal responsibility' summit Monday afternoon to launch a national conversation on how to put the nation on sounder financial footing." (Ceci Connolly and Lori Montgomery, "Obama 'Fiscal Responsibility' Summit Set For Monday," The Washington Post's "44" Blog, www.washingtonpost.com, 2/20/09) Full release

Amid initial indications that the administration's first budget will flat-line funding for global health, the Global AIDS Alliance is calling on President Obama, Vice President Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to keep their campaign commitments to scale up the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and accelerate efforts to ensure every child around the world gets a free basic education. Full release

Attorney General Eric Holder today announced the appointment of an Executive Director to lead a new interagency task force charged with continued implementation of the President's Jan. 22 Executive Order calling for an immediate review of the status of individuals currently detained at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. Full release.

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