December 22, 2009

A new national poll released today shows strong support for "for-profit" education in this economic decline. The poll conducted by Lake Research Partners for Americans For Democratic Action Education Fund surveyed 1,000 adults with oversamples of 500 African Americans, 500 Latino/as, and 250 lower-income whites. The poll shows that "for-profit education empowers minority groups, and does not hinder them. People believe higher education is more critical now than ever to get ahead and support for-profit education as a way to make Obama's goal of increasing college graduates possible." "Make no mistake, in this tough economy, 'for-profit' education offers the flexibility and opportunity for minorities and low-income individuals to get their college degrees," said Michael J. Wilson the Executive Director of Americans for Democratic Action. "Most of these folks are already working full-time jobs...they want to get ahead but need opportunities that traditional schools don't offer." Full release.

International Brotherhood of Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa today sent letters to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), state Attorneys General, state insurance officials and Congressional leaders on financial industry oversight calling on regulators to review the questionable promotion of credit default swaps for bonds of YRC Worldwide, Inc. (NasdaqGS: YRCW), the country's largest less-than-truckload company. Hoffa urged the oversight bodies to investigate financial firms that are underwriting and/or marketing basis packages that consist of YRC bonds and credit default swaps (CDS). Financial firms such as Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, TD Bank, Barclays and UBS have a history of making markets in these types of derivative financial products. "Certain financial firms, have been or are marketing and/or underwriting a strategy where bonds in YRCW would be bought by investors with the intent of voting against the exchange, thereby triggering a bankruptcy that would pay the investors and possible other financial firms huge profits from the high CDS payments which would be triggered by a YRC bankruptcy or liquidation," Hoffa wrote. "The profit from the YRCW CDSs would far outweigh losses from the failed YRCW bonds." Full release.

Duke Energy, one of the largest electric power companies in the nation, will spend approximately $85 million to significantly reduce harmful air pollution at an Indiana power plant and pay a $1.75 million civil penalty, under a settlement to resolve violations of federal clean air laws, the Justice Department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today. The settlement also requires Duke to spend $6.25 million on environmental mitigation projects. The agreement, filed in federal court in Indianapolis, resolves violations of the Clean Air Act's new source review requirements found at the company's Gallagher coal-fired power plant in New Albany, Ind., located directly across the Ohio River from Louisville, Ky. The settlement is anticipated to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions at the Gallagher plant by almost 35,000 tons per year, an 86 percent reduction when compared to 2008 emissions. This is equivalent to the emissions from 500,000 heavy duty semi trucks, which is more than all the trucks registered in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, and Ohio combined. Sulfur Dioxide harms the environment and human health. Full release.

Goodwill Industries International is America's second largest nonprofit, according to Forbes.com's annual "America's 200 Largest Nonprofits" list. After placing 17th on last year's list, Goodwill(R) shot up to the top echelon in 2009, earning over $2.8 billion in private, non-government support last year. Goodwill joins other household nonprofit names on the top five list, including the United Way, The Salvation Army, Food for the Poor and Feed the Children. The strong ranking for Goodwill(R) reflects its charitable commitment, fundraising efficiency and donor dependency of its 166 local, headquarter agencies in the United States and Canada. "Goodwill fared exceptionally well in Forbes' three financial efficiency ratios to earn revenue for our mission of helping people find good jobs," said Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International. "Goodwill agencies were recognized for their local relationships with businesses and corporations to create fundraising initiatives, as well as for the percent of revenues that are utilized for a charitable purpose versus management or other business expenses." Full release.

Riki Ellison, Founder and Chairman of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA), www.missiledefenseadvocacy.org, explains why and how the President's missile defense plan does not address the Middle East. Ellison is one of the foremost lay experts in the field of missile defense. Ellison's comments include the following: "President Obama's missile defense plan is primarily focused on a four phase timeline approach starting in 2013 and ending in 2020 to protect Europe and US deployed forces needs to adequately address the Middle East Region first as well as increase the urgency to ensure that timelines are met to protect Europe and a significant hedge to deploy missile defenses quicker if required. The Middle East region has not been directly addressed by the President's Plan and would require at least 2 or more forward-based sensors, as well as a complete deployment of a fully layered missile defense of the current systems to be able to handle loft, minimum energy and depressed trajectories of incoming missiles towards the Middle East and Europe." Full release.

The holidays are a time of hustle and bustle - and now AARP is urging Illinoisans to add another critical item to their holiday to-do lists. As families come together for the holidays, AARP is urging people to review their phone bills, particularly bills of elderly friends, family, and neighbors, who may be paying too much -- and needlessly -- for phone services. Many Illinois consumers have paid untold amounts of money for phone services or products they did not even order or authorize -- a growing and illegal practice known as 'cramming.' However, a new Illinois law will help protect consumers against this illegal practice and will help to drive down costs for individuals in a tough economy. "Access to affordable telephone service is critical for older adults, many of whom live alone and may not have access to other forms of communication," said Bob Gallo, AARP Illinois Senior State Director. "That is why it is also critical that older adults, and all consumers, be protected against illegal practices that result in wrongfully inflated phone bills." Full release.

Nearly a quarter million impoverished children - mostly young girls - are forced to work as unpaid domestic servants in major Haitian cities, according to the first major survey of Haiti's human rights situation, the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) announced. Called restaveks, these very poor children are sent by their parents to live in other homes with the idea that they would have access to education and food. PADF's ground-breaking study, which focused on key neighborhoods in five major cities, found that 16 percent of all children are restaveks. "Restaveks are prone to beatings, sexual assaults and other abuses by host families," says Herve Rakoto Razafimbahiny, PADF's Protecting Human Rights in Haiti Program Director. "This major survey is a key tool in our efforts to eliminate this stain on dignity." Full release.

URAC, the nation's leading health care accreditation and education organization, today announced its new Consumer Education Initiative, which teaches consumers about health insurance and identifies ways they can make more informed decisions about their health care. "Many consumers need help navigating through the health care maze. Often they do not understand what their health care plan covers and how to ask the right questions to get the best plan for their individual needs," said Alan P. Spielman, president and CEO of URAC. "Knowing when to select an HMO versus a PPO versus a CDHP plan can be difficult. Our initiative empowers consumers to take responsibility and play an active role in their health by breaking down the complex selection process into more understandable components." Full release.

2009 saw exciting research progress, unprecedented opportunities on the horizon, and more scientists than ever working on resolving important questions. Despite the year's economic and financial challenges, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society continues to propel research forward to end MS. In 2009 the Society provided over $33.5 million to support 345 new and ongoing projects in its research portfolio, plus $1.5 million for Fast Forward, the Society's drug development subsidiary which continues to attract new funding streams. In addition, thanks to the efforts of our MS activists, $5 million was specifically allocated for funding MS research out of the 2009 Department of Defense budget. As 2009 comes to a close, the Society maintains its nimble pursuit of promising research opportunities to end MS and has issued an international call for grant applications to expeditiously examine the potential impact of the chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) hypothesis on disease process in MS. Full release.

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