House Dem Urges Supercommittee To Look At Nukes

Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) called on the Super Committee  at a news conference on Tuesday to make extensive cuts from the U.S. nuclear weapons budget over the next decade.

“The Soviets are long gone yet the stock piles remain,” Markey said, pointing out that there are currently 5,000 nuclear weapons in the U.S. stockpile that cost American tax payers $50 billion every year. 

“That makes no sense,” Markey declared. 

When asked by TRNS about the very real threat of Iran developing nuclear weapons, he passed the question along to General Robert Gard Jr., chairman of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.

“We are not going to stop Iran from enriching Uranium by maintaing 5000 nuclear weapons in your stockpile,” Gard explained. “Getting down to 1000 nuclear weapons to deploy ought to be a sufficient warning to them that they probably ought not to imploy the weapons should they develop it.”

“We cannot make ourself any safer with more nuclear weapons,” Markey added. “America needs another nuclear weapon as much as Lady Gaga needs another outfit.” 

Markey advocated that the “excess” money used for nuclear weapons would be better utilized in funding for cancer and heart disease research institutions, healthcare for senior citizens and child nutrition programs.  

65 members of the House of Representatives have joined with Markey in this effort to cut $20 billion annually from the nuclear weapons program so that $200 billion could be used for funding family programs. 

“Simply put,” Markey concluded, “we must freeze the nukes and fund the future.”

Click here to see photos from today’s news conference 

Boehner: Americans Need Certainty, Not More Tax Increases

While addressing reporters at the Republican National Committee (RNC) Tuesday morning, Speaker of the House John Boehner insisted that Americans need certainty about what is going on in Washington for the economy to improve. 

On Monday, President Obama presented his American Jobs Act to Congress, which will provide jobs for Americans and be paid for by permanent tax increases. 

“As a former small businessman myself, I can tell you we have a different approach to creating jobs than our friends across the aisle,” Boehner told reporters.

Boehner then went on to explain how he spoke to thousands of people and employers over the August recess who were seeking greater clarification of legislation in Washington. 

“They want some certainty about what is happening in Washington, certainty about what the tax rates are going to be, certainty about what their healthcare costs and commitments are going to be and certainty about the regulatory onslaught that they are under, ” Boehner stated. “These are the kind of things that need to be addressed if we’re going to create the kind of environment where employers will feel comfortable in adding more employees to their company.”

Click here if you would like to see more pictures from today’s event

Ryan: Where's The President's Budget?

In a hard-hitting, candid editorial in the Wall Street Journal, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) accused President Obama of both failing to produce a budget plan as well as disregarding entitlement spending related to the debt-limit deal.

As outlined in the deal, immediate savings generated through spending caps will total roughly $915 billion over the next decade, with as much as $1.5 trillion more added to that based on the recommendations from a new bipartisan, bicameral committee. Should Congress fail to implement the committee’s proposal by December 23, roughly $1-to-$1.5 trillion worth of domestic and defense spending cuts would be triggered. Meanwhile, the nation’s debt limit increases both times in increments equal to the cuts.

Yet, though he voted for the deal, Ryan, who chairs the House Budget Committee, wrote today that President Obama must do more to reduce the deficit.

“[Obama] has offered a lot of rhetoric but no real plan to avoid a spending-driven debt crisis.” Ryan said.

Ryan explained that while producing a budget is a basic responsibility of a governing party, it has been two years since the Democratically-controlled Senate has passed any budget. 

And to make matters worse, Ryan continued, Obama has not sufficiently addressed federal healthcare spending. While Obama should focus on economic growth, his healthcare law — the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — actually drives up costs, argued Ryan.

“Health-care costs rose about 8% in 2011 and are projected to rise by 8.5% in 2012.”

In order to finance the government’s projected spending path, the CBO’s Long-Term Outlook estimated that total tax revenues would need to double by mid-century. 

“At this rate, taxes would have to rise again and again just to keep up with health-care spending,” wrote Ryan. “Is it any wonder that the president and his party are afraid to produce a budget that requires such ruinous levels of taxation?”

Click here to read more…

Medicare May Be Better Off Despite Cuts, Claims Actuary

By Sarah Mamula - Talk Radio News Service

Although the recently passed health care reform law made $485 billion in cuts to the Medicare program, the social-security safety net may last longer than some have expected.

“We have a far better financial outlook for Medicare than we did a year ago, and that’s a direct result of the patient protection and affordable care act” said Richard Foster, chief actuary of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services, during a panel discussion at the American Enterprise Institute Friday in Washington, D.C.

Foster said that due to improvements in the healthcare system, the trust fund for Medicare hospitals is projected to run out in 2029 contrasting last year’s 2017 projection.

He stressed, however, that projections are unreliable. The success of the Affordable Care Act will depend on how it is implemented. 

“Nobody knows exactly how these things will work,” said Foster.

As Chief Actuary, Foster works to “provide objective technical information on behalf of policy makers” on the annual Medicare Trustees Report. 

FCC, FDA Partner Up

Philip Bunnell - Talk Radio News Service

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held a joint meeting Monday to announce “an unprecedented FCC, FDA partnership,” and the importance of wireless technology being used to improve healthcare and streamlined inter-agency communication.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said that he hopes government can work smartly with industry to “create conditions that encourage the development of cutting edge and life saving technology,” such as the human genome project. Genachowski said that bringing broadband and wireless technology to healthcare would reduce costs, help diagnose diseases faster and, ultimately, save lives.

FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg emphasized that the “benefits of wireless technology to healthcare [are] very clear.”  Hamburg was very complementary of the new FCC/FDA partnership, saying that, coupled with broadband and wireless technology, it could “shift the paradigm, and will eventually change the face of medicine forever.”

The FCC and FDA will have another joint meeting Tuesday, July 27, to further discuss life-saving wireless medical technology.