September 08, 2009

The consumer group that pioneered the most successful insurance premium regulation law in the nation, which has saved California drivers $62 billion on auto insurance rates since 1988, released a report today outlining the deep flaws in the proposed Senate Finance Committee health reforms. The report calls on Congress to adopt "prior approval" health insurance rate regulation and block insurance industry efforts to gut state consumer protection laws. Full release.

Concord Coalition Co-Chairs Warren B. Rudman and Bob Kerrey today called on President Obama to push for concrete measures, including a federal health care budget, to curb runaway medical costs. Full release.

Key to a child's successful education is an environment in which he or she can learn safely. According to a report released today by the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health, only 26 percent of parents would give their child's high school an "A" for preventing bullying and school violence, and 38 percent of parents would give their child's elementary or junior high an "A." Full release.

As a new school year gets underway, President Obama launched a major back-to-school campaign today aimed at keeping kids in the classroom. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) new Chairman Inez Tenenbaum carried the President's message to South Carolina where she met with students and faculty at Rosewood Elementary School in Columbia. Full release.

As President Obama addresses the nation on health care reform, a new analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies estimates that 6.6 million uninsured illegal immigrants could receive benefits under the House health reform bill (H.R. 3200). While the bill states that illegal immigrants are not eligible for the new taxpayer-funded affordability credits, there is nothing in the bill to enforce this provision. Congress defeated efforts to require the use of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program. More than 70 other programs of this kind use SAVE. Full release.

Throughout the month of September, public transit users will receive an important education on the realities of child sex slavery in America. This week, Shared Hope International will unveil End Child Sex Trafficking: Kids are NOT for Sale in D.C., a campaign that aligns with D.C. Human Trafficking Awareness month. Bright yellow signs in Metro buses, bus shelters and Metro stations scream messages, including "13 is the average age children are forced into prostitution." With D.C. Acting U.S. Attorney Channing Phillips, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, the District's Office of the Attorney General, and D.C. City Councilman Phil Mendelson, Shared Hope International Founder and President Linda Smith will highlight the reality of child sex slavery in America and in the D.C. Metro area in particular at a 10:00 AM press conference on September 9, 2009 at the Washington D.C. United States Attorney's Office. Full release.

With the next stage of international negotiations over climate change action set for Copenhagen in December, a bipartisan group of top U.S. foreign policy and national security leaders will issue a statement today urging Congress and the Administration to "transcend the political issues that divide us - by party and by region" because of national security concerns. The group, convened by the Partnership for a Secure America (PSA), calls for "a clear, comprehensive, realistic and broadly bipartisan plan" that will allow the U.S. to lead the development of a global strategy to mitigate and adapt to the climate change crisis. Full release.

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