October 08, 2009

Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today after the House passed the conference report for the fiscal year 2010 Defense Authorization bill, which helps improve our military readiness, and supports our troops and their families. The conference report also includes bipartisan provisions to strengthen law enforcement against hate crimes. The bill passed by a vote of 281 to 146: "The Defense Authorization bill reflects Congress' unyielding commitment to our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines. We owe a debt of gratitude to them for their sacrifice, service, courage, and bravery. "This legislation ensures that our military has the resources it needs to defend our nation. It increases pay for the women and men in our armed forces, helps soldiers' families endure the strain of multiple deployments, and invests in state-of-the-art equipment and weapons systems. It further provides for the continued responsible redeployment of our troops out of Iraq, and refocuses our efforts on countering Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Full release.

Developing desperately needed new energy technologies will require not only an increase in funds but also a rethinking of the way government programs are designed and managed, according to one of four articles about energy innovation on the fall 2009 Issues in Science and Technology. But the United States need not reinvent the wheel, says the article, Transforming Energy Innovation, by Venkatesh Narayanmurti and two colleagues at Harvard University. Lessons for what is needed can be drawn from successful efforts by some large U.S. corporate and federal laboratories. According to another article, Stimulating Innovation in Energy Technology, by William Bonvillian of MIT and Charles Weiss of Georgetown University, the most difficult step in the development and deployment of new technology in energy will be the launch of these technologies into extremely complex and competitive markets. Thus, any program of government support for innovations in these technologies should be organized around the most likely bottleneck to their introduction to the market. Full release.

A new poll by WorldPublicOpinion.org (WPO) finds that over the last year, as the health care debate has intensified, a bipartisan consensus that the government is responsible for ensuring access to health care has fractured. Nonetheless, a majority of the public still says the government is responsible for basic health care, and there is bipartisan support for numerous key reform proposals including a limited public option, regulation of the health insurance industry, tort reform, and cross-state purchasing. In 2008, asked whether the US government "should be responsible for ensuring that its citizens can meet their basic need for health care," 77% said that it should be, including clear majorities of all parties. However, the new WPO poll finds that Republican support for the proposition has dropped from 55% support to 29%. Overall, support has dropped 17 points, but 60% still say that government is responsible. Full release.

The hurried review and approval this summer by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Monsanto's SmartStax genetically modified corn has now been called into question by the late September federal court ruling against a genetically modified, herbicide-resistant strain of sugar beets, according to the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), a broad-based coalition of nearly 300 faith-based investors with over $100 billion in invested capital. In March 2008, ICCR led a Web-based campaign targeting 63 leading U.S. restaurant, food, beverage and candy companies -- including such household names as McDonald's, Campbell Soup, Kellogg, Kraft Foods, Sara Lee, PepsiCo, Wendy's and Hershey's -- urging them to weigh in against the planting of genetically modified sugar beets. More than 54,200 emails were sent to companies by consumers participating in the ICCR campaign. The genetically modified sugarbeet crop would be used to make the sugar contained in thousands of the most widely consumed food products in the U.S. Full release.

Debt levels of those in or near retirement age are heading up: Among elderly families -- and especially among the lower-income elderly -- housing debt in particular is rising, according to a study published today by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). For some age groups, a significant percentage has debt levels beyond the threshold considered problematic. A growing share of older American families had incurred debt through 2007, particularly those ages 55-64 -- the ages right before or at the start of retirement, the study reports. The percentage of American families with a head age 55 or older who have some level of debt was 63.0 percent in 2007, almost 3 percentage points higher than in 2004, 7 percentage points higher than in 2001, and up nearly 10 percentage points from 1992. Full release.

NASA begins a series of flights Oct. 15 to study changes to Antarctica's sea ice, glaciers and ice sheets. The flights are part of Operation Ice Bridge, a six-year campaign that is the largest airborne survey ever made of ice at Earth's polar regions. Researchers will work from NASA's DC-8, an airborne laboratory equipped with laser mapping instruments, ice-penetrating radar and gravity instruments. Data collected from the mission will help scientists better predict how changes to the massive Antarctic ice sheet will contribute to future sea level rise around the world. The plane, crew and scientists depart Oct. 12 from NASA's Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif., and fly to Punta Arenas, Chile, where they will be based through mid-November. Seelye Martin of the University of Washington in Seattle leads the mission, with nearly 50 scientists and support personnel involved. The team is planning 17 flights over some of the fastest-changing areas in western Antarctica and its ice-covered coastal waters. Full release.

As members of Congress debate what form a national health care plan should take, older Americans continue to suffer the consequences of a physician shortage that makes accessing basic care a struggle. Barriers to care could be greatly eased, however, by legislation that lifts restrictions preventing physician assistants (PAs) from treating Medicare patients. PAs are licensed health professionals who practice medicine as members of a PA-physician team and are qualified to provide much of the same basic care as physicians. In many underserved communities, PAs are the only health providers for many miles and provide the bulk of primary care to residents. However, current laws limit their ability to provide much-needed services to Medicare patients, like ordering home health care or durable medical equipment. Passing legislation that lifts these restrictions could substantially reduce wait times for medical appointments, reduce travel for seniors who are ill, ease crowded waiting rooms and significantly improve the health of older Americans. Full release.

He originally donated thousands of dollars in support of the National Equality March on Washington, D.C., coming up on Oct. 11, 2009, but today, artist, gay activist and author Charles Merrill (http://www.merrillcharles.com) is calling upon the gay community to cancel the march. Merrill cites several reasons for his surprising change of heart. First, the Respect for Marriage Act was recently introduced by New York Congressman Jerrold Nadler and 91 co-sponsors. If signed into law, the Respect for Marriage Act will repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and give legally married same-sex couples the same rights now enjoyed by heterosexual married couples. "In view of the recent action by Congressman Nadler," explained Merrill, who has protested DOMA and called for its repeal since it was signed into law 13 years ago, "I have no reason to march and do not wish to inflame Congress or the President by doing so." Full release.

Accentmarketing announced its latest release from its Latinas in Charge initiative - "Redefining the Meaning of Well-Being." This release further explores the U.S. Latina mindset on health, healthcare and health insurance - topics at the forefront of this nation's agenda. "We've closed the gap in how previous studies have looked at the Hispanic population from a macro view by taking a closer look at the Latina population in the United States to better understand the dynamic and changing social role given the momentous change," said Maria Romero, President and Managing Partner of Accentmarketing. "This release provides marketers with the 'why' - and what to do about it. This is what we call being 'In Touch.'" Full release.

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