January 21, 2010

Anna Burger, Chair of Change to Win and Secretary-Treasurer of SEIU, released the following statement condemning today's United States Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission: "Today the US Supreme Court lifted the floodgates and started dismantling century-old restrictions on corporate electoral activity in the name of the 'free speech rights' of corporations—meaning if you are a 'corporate person' (aka a CEO or corporate official), you are now free to hit the corporate ATM and spend whatever of your shareholders' money it takes to elect the candidates of your choice. "Unlimited corporate spending in federal elections threatens to drown out the voices of the people who should really be at the center of the political process, i.e., voters and candidates. Unleashing corporate spending will only serve to distort and ultimately delegitimize the electoral process. "Let's be clear: corporations have already been shilling out a lot of cash for political activities, letting their shareholders and managerial employees know exactly which candidates they want to win or lose elections and paying heavy sums for attack ads, direct mail and other forms of public communication through PACs. Full release.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said today that a new poll showing that more than 4 in 10 Americans admit to anti-Muslim prejudice demonstrates the need for increased educational outreach efforts by U.S. Muslims. The survey by the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, called "Religious Perceptions in America: With an In-Depth Analysis of U.S. Attitudes Toward Muslims and Islam," also shows that almost two-thirds of Americans say they have little or no knowledge of Islam. Respondents who did not personally know a Muslim exhibited a greater level of bias. In U.S., Religious Prejudice Stronger Against Muslims http://tinyurl.com/muslimsgallup "The Gallup poll and CAIR's previous research on this subject clearly demonstrate that American Muslims must step up ongoing efforts to educate their fellow Americans about Islam," said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. Full release.

Over the past decade, the American people have witnessed few examples of bipartisanship. Unfortunately, one point on which Congressional Republicans and Democrats agree is spending—the more the merrier. From 2001 to 2008—the years of the George W. Bush administration—the national debt increased from $5.6 trillion to $10.7 trillion. The ascension of President Obama has only exacerbated the country's extravagant spending habits, and familiar faces in Congress continue to pass laws calling for increased spending. Most estimates suggest that the debt will soon rise to 100 percent of GDP—the highest percentage since World War II. Although the current national debt of $12 trillion may seem like imaginary money to our members of Congress, the problems it causes are very real. Interest payments on our debt account for approximately 10 percent of national spending, making debt the fourth largest expenditure behind only defense, social security, and Medicare. Every year, dollars that could be invested in education, economic development, national security, or alternative fuel research are instead sunk into paying for Congressional profligacy. Full release.

The United States today filed two major Clean Air Act settlements to reduce air emissions from container glass and Portland cement plants throughout the country, announced Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division and Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. The settlements cover 15 U.S. plants owned by Saint-Gobain Containers Inc., the nation's second largest container glass manufacturer, and all 13 U.S. plants owned by the Lafarge Company and two subsidiaries, the nation's second largest manufacturer of Portland cement. These settlements are the first system-wide settlements for these sectors under the Clean Air Act and require pollution control upgrades, acceptance of enforceable emission limits and payment of civil penalties. The facilities are estimated to reduce a combined 41,000 tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and particulate matter (PM) each year. SO2, NOx and PM can trigger respiratory difficulties and asthma, and environmental harms such as acid rain, visibility impairments and water quality impacts. Full release.

The following is a statement by Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer: Today's Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case is a disaster for the American people and a dark day for the Supreme Court. The decision will unleash unprecedented amounts of corporate "influence-seeking" money on our elections and create unprecedented opportunities for corporate "influence-buying" corruption. Today's decision is the most radical and destructive campaign finance decision in Supreme Court history. In order to reach the decision, five justices abandoned longstanding judicial principles, judicial precedents and judicial restraint. With the Citizens United opinion, Chief Justice Roberts has abandoned the illusory public commitments he made to "judicial modesty" and "respect for precedent" to cast the deciding vote for a radical decision that profoundly undermines our democracy. Full release.

A report released today by Consumer Watchdog on the financial industry's efforts to neuter the financial reform bill in Congress, and the Senate Banking committee in particular, finds the sector gave $41 million to committee members since 2005 and spent $336 million lobbying Congress in the first three quarters of 2009. Download the full report here: http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/FinancialSectorInvestments.pdf Some senators are interpreting the results of Tuesday's special election in Massachusetts as a sign they should go slow on financial and other needed reforms. "Nothing could be further from the truth," said Carmen Balber, Washington director for Consumer Watchdog. "Senators who have taken millions from the financial industry appear ready to kill proposed consumer protections that would rein in the speculation and greed that cost Americans their homes, jobs and savings. But selling out to Wall Street yet again will do nothing to restore confidence on Main Street. The message for the Senate is to stand up to their financial industry donors or pay the price when the voters lose faith as they did in Massachusetts." Full release.

Value-based insurance design programs — which reduce patient co-payments for highly effective treatments — can break even financially or possibly save money, according to a new study from University of Michigan, Harvard and other researchers. In an article published today by Health Affairs, the researchers analyzed data from a large corporation that implemented a VBID program in 2005. Co-payment rates were reduced for employees using five classes of drugs used to treat several serious but common chronic conditions, including diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. In this VBID program, patients using the specified medications were offered at least a 50% co-payment reduction. The study's authors examined both the amounts spent on the high value services and overall spending by the employer using the VBID plan. "From a total cost perspective, the VBID program likely broke even, and possibly saved money," said A. Mark Fendrick, M.D., co-director of the University of Michigan's Center for Value-Based Insurance Design [www.vbidcenter.org]. Full release.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced today that eligible Haitian nationals in the United States may begin the application process for Temporary Protected Status. Details and procedures for applying for TPS are provided in the Federal Register notice published today. On Jan. 15, 2010, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano designated TPS for eligible Haitian nationals as a result of the catastrophic earthquake that occurred in Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010. The TPS designation for Haiti is effective today and will remain in effect through July 22, 2011. The designation means that eligible Haitian nationals will not be removed from the United States and will also be eligible to apply to work in the United States. The 180-day registration period for eligible Haitian nationals to apply for TPS begins today and will end on July 20, 2010. Full release.

Sri Lanka will now be recognized as a country with a "Middle Income Emerging Market" status with The International Monetary Fund (IMF) graduating Sri Lanka from the list of Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) eligible countries on 11 January 2010. This upgrade would facilitate Sri Lanka to project itself strongly in international financial and capital markets, states the Central Bank. A country graduates from PRGT only if it, (i) has enjoyed income per capita well above the International Development Association (IDA) threshold for a number of years, (ii) has the capacity for durable and substantial access to international financial markets, and (iii) does not face serious short-term vulnerabilities. According to the Central Bank, the Executive Board of the IMF has taken into account the following specific factors in considering of Sri Lanka's graduation. Full release.

According to a new analysis released today, "The Health Case for Reforming the Toxic Substances Control Act," the U.S. has the opportunity to prevent chronic disease and reduce health care costs by overhauling federal chemical policy. Evidence is strong and growing that chemical exposure is contributing to the rise in many chronic diseases, according to this new report. As the U.S. debates the costs of health care and its reform, "The Health Case" documents the enormous health care costs of treating chronic diseases and conditions linked to chemical exposure, according to recent studies. Conservative estimates show that reducing the incidence of these diseases by 0.1 percent could save $5 billion per year in health care costs. The coalition has estimated health care cost savings on a state-by-state basis. The federal chemical safety law, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), has not been updated since 1976. The EPA has identified comprehensive reform of the toxics law as a key priority. Of the 80,000 chemicals used in the U.S., EPA has required safety testing on only 200. And 60,000 chemicals -- including bisphenol A -- were grandfathered in for use without testing for health safety. New legislation to update the toxics law will be introduced by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) in early 2010. Full release.

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