Homeland Security Secretary Blasts Arizona's New Immigration Law

By Laurel Brishel Prichard University of New Mexico/ Talk Radio News Service

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who served as Arizona's governor prior to joining the Obama administration, voiced her concern Monday over a controversial immigration bill passed in her former home state and recently signed into law.

"That ... is a misguided law," Napolitano told ABC News.

On Friday, President Barack Obama expressed a similar sentiment.

"The recent efforts in Arizona ... threaten to undermine basic notions of fairness we cherish as Americans as well as the trust between police and their communities that is so crucial to keep us safe," Obama said during a naturalization ceremony for immigrants serving in the U.S. military.

Critics charge that the legislation, which allows police officers to request proof of citizenship if an individual raises suspicions over his status in the country, could lead to a wave of civil rights violations.

During a separate appearance Monday before the Aero Club of Washington, a D.C. based aviation organization, Napolitano said that the administration will use the 90 days before the law goes into place to evaluate the bill in depth and possibly take steps to counter the legislation.

"The President has directed the Justice Department to look into what challenges should be made," said Napolitano.

New Bill Could Give Bankrupt College Grads A Break

By Laurel Brishel Prichard -University of New Mexico/ Talk Radio News Service

Some in the Senate are looking to give Americans struggling with bankruptcy a break on their student loans.

Under the current law students are not able to discharge their debt accumulated from private student loans during bankruptcy proceedings. New legislation, the Private Student Loan Bankruptcy Fairness Act of 2010, would take away the favored status of private loan companies and allow for the past due amounts to be forgiven, just like debt from credit cards.

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who are looking into the issue, heard testimony Thursday from Valisha Cooks, a Los Angeles resident burdened by student loan payments.

“I don’t really have very many options,” said Cooks, who filed bankruptcy, due in part, she explained, to her large loan payments. “I continue to pay my loan, even though they are in default. I just can’t afford to pay what they are asking me to pay.”

The Fairness Act would make all loans, government or private, dischargeable during bankruptcy.

Wall Street Bill Will Receive Bipartisan Backing, Predict Democrats

By Laurel Brishel Prichard
University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Ted Kaufman (D-Del.) predicted on Wednesday that Republicans that are retiring or up for re-election later this year will soon be changing their stances on Wall Street reform.

"We would love to see some bipartisanship on this bill," said Brown. "I think we will see it."

Brown added that certain Republicans are already beginning to change their minds about the legislation. As evidence, he cited the decision by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who faces re-election this fall, to vote with Democrats in the Senate Agriculture Committee on a derivatives regulation bill.

"If you look at a list of what Republicans are up for re-election in 2010 you might correspond to bet who ends up voting procedurally to get this bill moving," said Brown.

Senate Confronts Hike In Health Care Premiums

By Laurel Brishel Prichard University of New Mexico/ Talk Radio News Service

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions confronted the issue of ever-rising premiums in the health insurance market and the possible need to enact legislation to block unjustified increases during a hearing Tuesday.

The absence of language specifically barring unfair increases in the health care reform legislation passed last month has prompted Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA.) to propose the Health Insurance Rate Authority Act, which would give the Secretary of Health and Human Services the ability to stop premium or other unjustifiable rate increases.

“Without further legislative action, I am concerned that health insurance companies will continue to do what they have done for far too long: put their profits ahead of people,” Feinstein, who appeared before the committee as a witness, said.

President and CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) Karen Ignagni, who also testified before the committee, stressed that the members of her association were “fully cognizant” of the burden that high insurance premiums place on Americans.

However, “Health care premiums are a symptom, not a cause,” Ignagni said.

Ignagni insisted that the rising cost of premiums is a result of the increase in the underlying costs of health care. According to Ignagni, in order to keep premiums in check, the government needs to look beyond the insurance market and into the health care fields to see why those cost have been elevated.

“That is what our advocacy in health care reform had been all about. We were very, very concerned [when] we saw costs exploding,” said Ignagni.

Dodd Confident Senate Will Make Progress On Financial Reform This Week

By Laurel Brishel Prichard University of New Mexico/ Talk Radio News Service

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) expressed confidence Monday that the Senate will make headway on financial regulatory reform this week, despite mounting challenges from Republicans.

“I'm going to work on the assumption … that when we bring this bill up later this week that we'll have the votes across the board...to allow us to debate this legislation, consider amendments and move forward," said Dodd during a morning press conference.

Dodd added that if Republicans have suggestions for a better strategy toward reforming regulation of the financial industry, then they need to come forward soon. Otherwise, the effort to move forward with the legislation will continue.

“The door has been open … it’s never been closed. My Republican colleagues on the committee and leadership know that,” Dodd explained. “But I’m waiting for the knock on the door.”

The legislation would put a $50 billion fund in place that “too big to fail” banks would pay into in order to ensure that they would receive assistance if they ever came into hardship. According to Dodd, the idea for the program, similar to what smaller banks do with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, came from the Republicans, so their recent opposition was not foreseen.

“This was a Republican suggestion to have a pre-payment in the bill,” said Dodd. “I’m willing to listen to some other ideas, provided we don’t expose the taxpayer [to risk.]”

According to the chairman, reform legislation would have prevented Goldman Sachs Group Inc. from committing fraud, as alleged recently by the Securities Exchange Commission.

“Our bill would have prevented those kinds of events from happening,” said Dodd.