New Health And Human Services Report Claims Health Care Reform Will Create Jobs, Boost Income

By Laura Smith - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius Friday lauded a new report compiled by HHS that claims health care reform will boost employment and raise individual families' incomes.

“Lots of families are looking into the future and asking what is it that happens to them when Congress passes health reform. The biggest change is that under reform families will have a lot more security and stability in the health insurance system than they have today,” Sebelius said.

The new report, entitled “Protecting Families and Putting More Money in Your Pocket: How Health Insurance Reform Will Lower Costs and Increase Choices,” states that "lowering health care costs by one percent will create 320,000 jobs nationwide and raise median family income by $6,800 by 2030."

The secretary also outlined the benefits the Senate's pending health care reform bill will bring to American families.

“If you lose your health insurance, it’s a lot easier to find a new policy. You don’t have to make 25 different phone calls to find coverage. It will be a new market place, called an exchange, where you can compare plans and rates and make some choices,” Sebelius stated.

She added, “there are basic rules that will apply to companies offering plans in the exchange. They can’t deny coverage because of pre-existing conditions, they can’t deny coverage once you have it, you can’t put a cap on benefits. That’s a huge change for American families, even those who have insurance today.”

HHS Secretary Says 100 Million Doses Of H1N1 Vaccine Are Coming

By Laura Smith - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

The H1N1 flu virus is showing no signs of going away anytime soon, but more doses of the vaccine are being produced.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Thursday that 100 million doses of the H1N1 flu virus vaccine will be made available to the American people.

“Our message is take advantage of the increased supply, and get vaccinated as soon as you can,” she said.

"The vaccine was given to the high risk groups first to ensure that the limited vaccine would get to those most in danger of complications, added Sebelius, referring to pregnant women, people with asthma, small children and the elderly.

Sebelius noted that programs such as “Sid the Science Kid” as well as children's television characters like Elmo are teaching kids about how to properly cover a sneeze or cough.

Additionally, social networking websites such as Twitter and Facebook are just a few “unconventional methods” that are helping to get the message out about the vaccine and prevent the spread of the flu, said Sebelius.

“You can’t mount a public response only inside the Beltway. It has to be a collaborative effort with partnerships on the ground, and that’s exactly what this response has been,” she said.

The Secretary urged people to go to www.flu.gov to find out more information about the H1N1 vaccine.

Landmark Gay Rights Bill Passes Through Senate Committee

By Laura Smith - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

The Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009, which would allow federal employees in same-sex partnerships to have the same employment benefits as their married co-workers, was approved Wednesday by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

The benefits would include: health care, retirement and disability plans, family, medical and emergency leave, group life insurance, long-term care insurance and access to worker’s comp.

Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said he and Ranking Member Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) introduced the bill with the purpose of bringing a measure of equality to the federal work force.

“I believe this legislation is really on the right side of history, and it, in a sense, is another expression of a concept we believe in, which is equal pay for equal work, and in this case, equal benefits for equal work,” Lieberman said.

Lieberman noted that federal employees and their domestic partners would have to abide by existing employment related obligations, such as conflict of interest provisions, anti-nepotism rules and financial disclosure requirements.

Rep. Alan Grayson Blasts Afghanistan Strategy As 'Fundamentally Wrong'

By Laura Smith - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) decried the Afghanistan strategy being currently pursued by the Obama administration as “fundamentally wrong” during a press conference Tuesday.

"[The strategy is] based on the premise that our country knows what’s best for other people, it’s based upon the premise that we have to send troops to the other side of the world because that’s the only way to protect ourselves. Those propositions are simply wrong," said Grayson.

Grayson made his statement moments after taking the House floor to urge his fellow Congressmen to oppose troop escalations.

Grayson cast the notion of sending 100,000 servicemen and women 8,000 miles away to protect the U.S. as absurd.

“Why don’t we protect our borders? Why don’t we work with other countries to try to crack down on the terrorists that the bedevil us all. Why is it that we have to occupy another country? This is an 18th century strategy being employed against a 14th century enemy,” said Grayson.

Grayson added that the war is costing too much, in both money and in lives.

“There’s too much blood being shed in Afghanistan, there’s too much blood being shed in Iraq," said Grayson. "There are simply better ways of accomplishing the same goals."

Grayson argued that both the Taliban and al-Qaeda are no longer a threat in Afghanistan, explaining that the Taliban government was kicked out of Kabul within two months after 9/11, and that within an additional month, al-Qaeda was similarly expelled.

The Florida Democrat invoked the ongoing debate over health care reform and said the amount of money being spent in Afghanistan is comparable to the money required to overhaul the U.S. health care system.

“Isn’t it more important to make sure that 47 million Americans can go to see a doctor when they need to than it is to send our young men and women across an ocean or across a continent to fight who knows what?” Grayson asked.

Clinton Defends U.S. Involvement In Honduras

By Laura Smith - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

In remarks given during a conference focused on challenges facing U.S. relations with Latin America, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the United States's position on the political situation in Honduras shows that it is committed to helping Hondurans get back to democratic and constitutional order.

“We condemned President Zelaya’s expulsion, we’ve taken concrete steps to demonstrate unequivocally our opposition. But we’ve continued to try to reach out and work with diverse sectors in Honduras, and along with others like President [Oscar] Arias of Costa Rica, to help the Hondurans themselves chart a new way forward for a peaceful negotiated end to this crisis,” she said.

Clinton was referring to the 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis, sparked by an attempt by the former President of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, to change the constitution in order to stay in power.

On June 28, 100 soldiers came into Zelaya’s home and flew him to Costa Rica. On September 21, Zelaya snuck back into the country, but resorted to the Brazilian Embassy.

“The culmination of what was a year long electoral process occurred on November 29, when the Honduran people expressed their feelings and their commitment to a democratic future,” she said.

According to Clinton, the people of Honduras “threw out in effect” both Zelaya and Roberto Micheletti, the Speaker of Congress, who was sworn is as the interim President in Zelaya's absence. She also said that

Since then, Clinton added, President-elect Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo “has launched a national dialogue, has called for the formation of a national unity government and a truth commission has set forth among the requirements of the Tegucigalpa-San Jose Accord.

“That is an agreement that the Hondurans themselves reached. We helped to facilitate it but the Hondurans decided they wanted a local resolution. In the days and weeks ahead, we want to be [on] the side of the Honduran people,” Clinton said.