The Political Bridge

Washington Post: EPA Crackdown on Mountain Removal is Being Criticized from Coal Workers and Environmentalists

“…But to many people in Appalachia, the orders coming out of Washington, especially one this month, have appeared contradictory and mysterious, signing off on some mines and blocking others. Environmentalists are unhappy because they fear federal officials are losing their nerve to take on the powerful coal industry. The coal industry is unhappy because it thinks the administration is on the brink of giving in to the green crowd…. “

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From the Rural Blog: Is the Cap and Trade Energy Legislation Dead?

 Now after President Obama's call for climate legislation in the State of the Union address, lawmakers are discussing proposals that would reduce carbon emissions, but not include a cap-and-trade system for emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouses gases, Richard Cowan and Timothy Gradner of Reuters report. "It's open to how you price carbon," Massachusetts Democratic Sen. John Kerry told the reporters. "People need to relax and look at all the ways you might price carbon. We're not pinned down to one approach."

Congressman John Yarmuth's (D-KY) Statement on Supreme Court Decision in Citizens United v. FEC

       
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 21, 2010     MEDIA CONTACT

Trey Pollard 202.225.5401       

(Louisville, KY) Today, Congressman John Yarmuth (KY-3) released the following statement in response to the news that the Supreme Court of the United States – in a 5 to 4 decision – ruled to remove limits on spending in federal elections by corporations and other special interest groups:

“I fear that this decision will be disastrous for our democracy. With so much special interest money already flowing through our system, Americans rightly wonder whether Congress works for them or Wall Street banks, drug companies, and deep-pocketed special interests. Now, the Supreme Court has opened up the floodgates to even more corrupting money. I wonder how long it will be until we have ‘the Senator from Goldman Sachs’ or ‘the Congresswoman from Pfizer

A Statement on Today's Supreme Court Decision from the Executive Director of the Center for Responsive Politics

Now the spigot has been opened even further for corporations, trade groups and unions to use as much money as their hefty bank accounts can muster to aid or attack a federal candidate," said Sheila Krumholz, the Center for Responsive Politics' executive director. "Such action could potentially come in the eleventh hour of a campaign when the target may not be capable of an effective response, for want of time, funds or both."

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Another Billion Dollar Plus Governmental Loan to a Corporate Giant: GMAC Financial Services

NEW YORK, Dec 29 (Reuters) - GMAC Financial Services is close to getting about $3.5 billion in added aid from the U.S. government, on top of the $12.5 billion already received since December 2008, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The announcement is expected within days and will coincide with GMAC taking additional steps to absorb losses related to its mortgage operations, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation

Daily Finance.com: It's Garbage In and Garbage Out for Many Economic Indices

From the December 29, 2009 issue of Daily Finance.Com

Statisticians acknowledge that the collection process overstates both GDP and productivity. Because investors, companies and the government all rely on such statistics, flawed data could result in poor investment and business decisions.

Susan Houseman, senior economist at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, was a participant in a recent conference on the problem. "We don't have the data-collection structure to capture what's happening in a real-time way, or what's being traded and how it's affecting workers.

To read more of what Dr. Houseman has to sayDownload Houseman-kurz-lengermann-mandel-final

Democrats Say Final Health Bill Will Look Like the Senate’s Version

 
Dec. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Any health-care legislation that reaches President Barack Obama’s desk will be close to the version the Senate passed last week, top Democrats said yesterday. Bloomberg's Peter Cook reports.

To watch the accompanying video to this story, click the url below:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5bIohAqK9M

Buried Deep in the Senate's Health Bill, There is a Very Progressive Measure

From the Nation

Without fanfare, the good Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, has continued to work behind the scenes to champion community health centers--something he has done for years (also here). These non-profit, community-based facilities provide primary healthcare, dental care, mental health services, and low-cost prescription drugs on a sliding scale...Sanders made sure that a $10 billion increase in funding for the health centers was included...

To read more click Senator Sanders

 

The AFL-CIO's Problems with the Senate Health Care Revision Bill: "Bailout of the Insurance Industry"

From Workday Minnesota

The federation is frustrated with the health care revision bill for several reasons:

• Gone are cost-control measures such as enactment of a “public option” to compete with private insurers and  letting people aged 55-64 buy in to Medicare.

• Provides a tax on everyone’s health insurance, above a floor of $8,500 for an individual and $23,000 for a family.  

 

Many (labor) leaders now view the developing Senate health bill as “a bailout of the insurance industry."

Sweetners in the Senate's Health Care Vote

Information from the NY Times

A Few of the Giveaways for Votes:

· Increased Medicare payments to States with (at least) 50% frontier counties(less than 6 people per square mile)--presumably Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming

· Additional Medicaid money for Nebraska

· $100 million to an unmanned “health care facility”

· “Doctor-owners can continue to refer Medicare patients to the hospital” in eastern Nebraska.

· Increased Medicare payments to certain “low-volume hospitals” treating limited numbers of Medicare patient

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