House GOP'er Advocates Traditional Marriage

By Joseph Russell- Talk Radio News Service

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) decried what he describes as society's "evolving attitude" on marriage Thursday.

“Take a hard look at what marriage means in society, in the law and in the culture,” Pence urged listeners during a speech to the Young America’s Foundation Conference.

Pence stressed that the marriage debate should focus on the traditional values, such as love and trust.

The Young America’s Foundation is a nonprofit organization that focuses on conservative education and advocacy for students around the country.

Energy and Commerce Committee Finalizes Health Care Reform Mark-up

By Joseph Russell- Talk Radio News Service

The House Energy and Commerce Committee finalized a key mark-up on health care reform just hours before the House's summer recess began. However, despite hours of deliberation on the legislation that commenced Thursday evening, continued well past midnight Friday, and resumed during the day on Friday, the committee made no significant changes.

This upset GOP committee members, whose proposed amendments that were aimed at stripping the President's much-desired public option from the plan, were rejected.

Other Republican amendments, including provisions that would encourage citizens to live healthy lifestyles and would provide Americans access to the same insurance plans that members of Congress enjoy, were also thrown out.

Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) said there is no reason for Congress not to offer ordinary citizens the same health insurance it has access to. "We've got competition, we've got affordability, we've got choice," Terry said. "Those are the things that I want and Republicans want for our constituents."

The complete House health care bill will not be voted on until members return from summer break in September.

The fate of the bill, which proposes establishing a government-run health care system as a means of competing with the nation's private health care industry, is unknown. However, GOP'ers and Blue Dog Democrats plan on using the next month to guage their constituents' feelings about the plan.

Waxman Committee Working Overtime On Health Reform

By Joseph Russell- Talk Radio News Service

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) told members of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which he heads, to clear their schedules until late into the night on Thursday.

“I expect we’ll be back here tomorrow,” Waxman said. “We’re not going to close out anybody’s opportunity to offer amendments.”

The committee agreed to limit all debate for amendments to 10 minutes each for both sides in order to save time. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that the mark-up will be finished before the House's recess begins on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, a Republican amendment that would have prevented illegal immigrants from receiving Medicare benefits failed by one vote. The amendment would have required Medicare recipients to prove citizenship in order to get benefits.

An amendment that would prevent federal funding of clinical comparative effectiveness research passed overwhelmingly. Such research evaluates medical care based on cost rather than effectiveness. In England and Canada, federal comparative effectiveness research is used to ration care by preventing certain procedures based on factors such as outside patient needs and requirements.

Debate over mark-ups will continue as the committee works late into Thursday night and early Friday morning.

Hatch Predicts An Elderly Rebellion Over Rationed Care

By Joseph Russell- Talk Radio News Service

Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) appeared perturbed when he argued that senior citizens in the U.S. will rebel against the government if it attempts to over take health care. Hatch, alongside Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), said that there are at least five Republican health care proposals already drafted that are better than the Democrats' plan.

“They’re gonna ration care,” Hatch said. “There’s no use kidding about it, they hate to hear that word on the Democrat side, but how else can it be?” He issued a direct challenge to Democrats, urging them to “prove me wrong.”

Among the many Republican hang-ups over the Democrat proposal is the fate of the elderly and poor. Hatch asserted that Medicaid will go bankrupt as 9 out of every 10 seniors will lose their end-of-life care.

Similarly, the Republicans asserted that poor people will be hit hard due to an employer mandate that will force companies to cut the lowest paying jobs just to stay in business. Hatch said he cannot imagine that Democrats could support a proposal that “would double unemployment in Utah” and other states.

Both senators admitted that reform will be difficult, but as the health care debate continues to heat up, finding solutions to issues has become more complex. Democrats are finding the “best way to go in the wrong direction,” according to Hatch, who later repeated his belief that “the seniors won’t be happy.”

124 Beaches Violated Public Health Standards In 2008

By Joseph Russell- Talk Radio News Service

A new survey by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Water Program on water quality at U.S. beaches found that beach closings due to biohazards surpassed 20,000 for the fourth consecutive year, a rather high, yet steady finding.

“There are 124 coastal beaches in the U.S. that violated public health standards in one out of every four water samples taken last year,” NRDC Co-director Nancy Stoner said during a conference call with reporters. “People swimming at contaminated beaches. . . are pretty likely to get sick.”

A five-star rating was used for the first time this year to judge beach pollution by evaluating each beach's management ability to monitor water quality and communicate to swimmers. While many beaches received five stars, some beaches received four stars because they tested water samples only once per week.

Stoner said that more needs to be done to improve beaches used for swimming. Although current NRDC standards are rather minimal, NRDC is lobbying Congress to pass the Clean Coastal Environment and Public Health Act, which would require states to begin using rapid-water tests and provide funding for studies to identify pollution sources.

NRDC is an environmental activist organization that was founded in 1970 to advocate its overall goal of cleaning-up the ecosystem. For more information on individual beach ratings, visit www.nrdc.org/beaches.