September 21, 2009

Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today following President Obama's speech in Troy, N.Y. on innovation and Energy Secretary Steven Chu's announcement in Washington on funding to modernize our electrical system and build a smart energy grid: "Today, President Obama reiterated a fundamental truth in America's economic history: innovation is the foundation for long-term prosperity. The President eloquently laid out a national strategy that has been lacking for a critical and fast-paced decade. Resting at the center of our recovery efforts, innovation is key to maintaining our nation's global competitiveness, creating jobs, and ensuring economic growth long into the future. "The challenges of the 21st century cannot be met with 20th century solutions, and the New Direction Congress will continue to work with President Obama to ensure that we invest in clean energy industries, promote new technologies, support basic research, and train our students for the jobs of tomorrow. Full release.

Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and The New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) released a new report today featuring a range of evidence-based disease prevention programs that have shown results for improving health and reducing costs in communities. The Compendium of Proven Community-Based Prevention Programs report includes a summary and examples from an extensive literature review that NYAM conducted of peer reviewed studies evaluating the effectiveness of community-based disease prevention programs designed to reduce tobacco use, increase physical activity, and/or improve eating habits. NYAM identified 84 articles with evidence showing how community-based prevention programs can directly reduce disease rates or disease progression. The Compendium report also includes examples of evidence-based community prevention programs that have helped reduce rates of asthma, falls among the elderly, and sexually-transmitted diseases. Full release.

The Tire Industry Association strongly urges Congress to pass the Motor Vehicle Owners' Right to Repair Act (HR 2057) to ensure that car owners and their trusted repair shops have the same access to safety alerts and repair information as the franchised new car dealer network. "Because most new vehicles are equipped with tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) that are controlled by computers, we believe there is a greater urgency to pass Right to Repair than ever before," said Roy Littlefield, executive vice president of the Tire Industry Association. "TPMS systems do not replace regular maintenance on tires, but rather are intended to protect motorists from the dangers of operating a vehicle with underinflated tires. Without ready access to complete and accurate information from the car companies regarding the vehicles they produce, it is very difficult to keep these systems activated and in safe working condition." Full release.

The Committee for Economic Development (CED) today urged the Senate Finance Committee to amend the America's Health Future Act (sponsored by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT)) by adopting the "Free Choice" amendment submitted Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR). The "Free Choice" amendment is a key element of the Healthy Americans Act (S. 391) which was endorsed by CED in June of this year. "Consumer choice among health plans is essential. Senator Wyden's amendment to the Senate Finance Committee bill would add consumer choice and make reform work. Choice would lead to real competition in health care, and that is the only way to bring costs under control for business and consumers," said CED President Charles Kolb. Full release.

Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Joseph M. Demarest, Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the FBI, announced the unsealing of a ten-count indictment charging Vance Moore II and Walter Netschi for allegedly perpetrating an $80 million Ponzi scheme involving investments in Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). Moore was arrested Friday afternoon in Garner, N.C. Netschi is expected to surrender to federal authorities in Manhattan this morning. According to the indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court: From 2005 through January 2008, Moore and Netschi solicited over $80 million dollars worth of investments in ATMs purportedly placed in various retail locations around the country, including convenience stores, gas stations, malls and hotels. Moore and Netschi claimed that the ATMs would generate revenue streams for the victims based on fees charged for withdrawals of cash. In truth and fact, Moore and Netschi did not use the victims' funds to purchase ATMs, but rather used the money to further the fraudulent scheme and to enrich themselves. Full release.

Neurodegenerative disorders called frontotemporal dementias (FTD) are the second-leading cause of early-onset dementia in persons under age 65 and can emerge sometimes as early as age 20. While research over the past 10 years has contributed much to the understanding of FTD, little progress has been made in the development of effective therapies, says a new report by Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation and The Association for Frontotemporal Dementias. "Frontotemporal dementias and Alzheimer's disease share some common disease mechanisms and much of what we learn about Alzheimer's can be applied to FTD and vice versa. That is why our two organizations collaborated on this study," says Howard Fillit, MD, Executive Director of Alzheimer's Drug Discovery foundation. "FTD affects a younger population than Alzheimer's, and in some respects is harder to diagnose." Full release.

Karl W. Miller, a senior energy executive and institutional investor today issued the following statement through his advisors regarding his bi-partisan advice to democrats and republicans regarding implementing an effective and credible U.S. energy policy. Mr. Miller, whom many regard as the de-facto energy czar in the U.S., has a long history of implementing bipartisan energy policy in the U.S. and global energy industry. He has consistently counseled the current democratic administration, republican leadership and industry officials that the multi-billion dollar stimulus and proposed terms of the cap-and-trade bill is leading to disastrous consequences for the U.S. Energy industry and will not have any meaningful effect for the re-powering and re-fueling of the U.S. power generation industry nor will it deliver sustainable efficient energy production. Full release.

As the world's leaders prepare to discuss climate change solutions this week at the UN General Assembly and G20 summit, World Vision is warning that poor communities -- especially children -- are immediately and most seriously impacted by climate change. As one of the world's leading humanitarian organizations working with the poor in some 100 countries, the Christian humanitarian group is calling on the United States government to take a leadership role on climate change that will help the poor adapt to the threats now facing them. "World Vision works among millions of children and their families in poverty who struggle to survive," said Richard Stearns, president of World Vision U.S. "Every year, we see how more frequent and damaging storms, deadlier cycles of flooding and drought and increased conflicts due to decreasing water and food resources are pushing many vulnerable families over the edge." Full release.

Effective October 1, 2009, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will be raising its fees for mortgage and financial companies to authenticate borrower Social Security numbers from $0.56 to $5.00 per verification. This price increase could significantly impair the industry's move to protect itself against identity-based mortgage fraud. According to a letter sent to Michael Astrue, Commissioner of the Social Security Administration by Congresswoman Kay Granger (R-Texas), this fee increase could lead to the de facto cancellation of the CBSV (Consumer-Based Social Security Number Verification) program, as it could significantly lead to fewer and fewer lenders using the program. According to that same letter, the decision to increase fees for the CBSV program was made by the Social Security Administration without collaboration with the U.S. Congress. Mr. Astrue denied Congresswoman Granger's initial request for a 60-day delay to evaluate the necessity of this fee increase. Full release.

Archive of Previous Posts