House Democrat Prohibits Congressional Staffers From Texting And Driving

John DuBois - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

House Administration Chairman Robert Brady (D-Penn.) introduced a resolution Wednesday that would ban Congressional staffers from using their cell phones to send text messages while driving while on the job.

"The texting ban applies to House staffers who are operating official vehicles, utilizing-issued devices or conducting official business," said Brady.

This is not the first step Brady has taken to roll back distracted-driving. Brady recently offered legislation to reduce the amount of Federal highway funding available to States that do not enact laws prohibiting the use of certain communication devices while operating a motor vehicle.

“Mobile communications devices are an important and integral part of day-to-day life. My legislation and the committee resolution will encourage people to use common-sense in their operation and help to ensure safer roads. No phone call, e-mail, or text message is important enough to risk your safety and that of other drivers,” Brady said in a statement.

Petraeus, Eikenberry Testify Before Senate Foreign Relations Committee

By Ravi Bhatia - Talk Radio News Service

A day after U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Eikenberry joined General David H. Petraeus and Deputy Secretary of State Jacob Lew to discuss the civilian efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The three testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Committee, chaired by Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.).

Aside from reiterating U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s acknowledgment that U.S. efforts to stabilize Afghanistan and Pakistan would be difficult “but possible,” the three witnesses asserted that the United States would not abandon civilian efforts to stabilize the region, if and when U.S. troops remove the threat of al-Qaeda and the various Taliban networks in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“Many Pakistanis believe that America will once again abandon the region,” Kerry said in his opening statements. “Let me be clear: It would be a mistake for anyone in Pakistan or elsewhere to believe that the President’s words about drawing down troops from Afghanistan mean an end to our involvement in the region.”

President Barack Obama committed 30,000 additional troops to the region, in response to McChrystal’s request for 40,000. Unlike the McChrystal hearings, war protestors were not present in the Dirksen building hallways during Eikenberry, Patraeus and Lew’s testimonies.

None of the three witnesses could confirm Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai’s estimation that the country would not be able to pay for its own security until 2024. Nor could they provide an estimate to the cost of training and deporting civilian troops to the region for another 15 years. However, Eikenberry said there will be almost 1,000 civilians from “numerous government departments and agencies on the ground in Afghanistan” by early 2010, tripling the total number of civilians from early 2009.

“The integration of civilian and military effort has greatly improved over the last year, a process that will deepen as additional troops arrive and our civilian effort expands,” he said.

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), a member of the committee, suggested that the witnesses’ testimonies made him believe that after $13 billion dollars given to Afghanistan for development and infrastructure efforts, “we are basically starting from scratch as it relates to development efforts.”

“We hope that Karzai will do everything right,” he said. “But, you know, we may prod and poke but at the end of the day, this depends on an Afghan government that can ultimately sustain itself.

“At some point we need to get the price tag here,” Menendez continued.

Lew disagreed with Menendez’s notion.

“Before the development assistance that you're describing, there was virtually no access to health care in Afghanistan,” Lew said. “[Now] there’s very substantial access to health care, in the 80-percent range. There were virtually no girls in schools, there are a lot of girls enrolled in schools - more every day, every week, every month. It’s fair to say we have an awful lot of work ahead of us. [But] I don’t think it’s quite the same as starting from scratch.”

Obama Proposes New Economic Recovery Measures

By Ravi Bhatia – Talk Radio News Service

President Barack Obama discussed his administration’s plans to continue accelerating economic recovery Tuesday at the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C. Obama suggested that growth will occur through tax cuts and incentives for small businesses, continued investment in American infrastructure, and job creations through clean energy investments.

The measures, at least in part, would be funded by money saved from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, a program which allowed the U.S. government to purchase assets and equity from troubled financial institutions in order to trigger economic growth after the financial collapse. Administration officials say TARP cost about $200 billion less than expected.

“We are going to wind down [TARP],” Obama said. “There has never been a less loved or more necessary program. It was flawed… but today has served its original purpose and at a much lower cost.”

["This] gives us a chance to pay down the deficit faster than we thought possible and to shift funds that would have gone to help the banks on Wall Street to help create jobs on Main Street,” Obama added.

However, senior administration officials noted that the administration has not determined the minimum costs of the proposed programs, and at a press conference this morning, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Obama’s announcement indicates a “Stimulus 2,” being paid for with TARP money that Boehner says, “was to go to the deficit.” Boehner said the idea of spending money that was intended to be in excess, is “repulsive.”

Obama said that the programs would eliminate a tax on capital gains from new investments in small business stock for one year and expand on the 75 percent exclusion in the Recovery Act. The small business measures would also create a tax cut for small businesses to encourage new hiring next year, and would continue giving companies enhanced expensing provisions through 2010, allowing them to instantly expense up to $250,000 of qualified investments.

Besides investments in bridges, roads and infrastructure, the new economic programs could provide new incentives for consumers who invest in energy efficient retrofits for their homes.

Following the President's speech, top Economic Adviser Christina Romer and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis told reporters during a conference call briefing that the measures align with the administration's continuing plans to end the recession.

“This really is an evolution,” Romer said. “We had done important actions early in the administration to heal the economy...the Financial Stability Plan, the Recovery Act (ARRA), our housing program.”

Romer added that as indicated in Obama’s speech, today’s announcement of tapping into TARP funds isn’t “a sum total of everything that we are considering.” The economic advisor said congressionally extending ARRA provisions is also being considered.

As far as unemployment benefits that are expected to end this month, Solis promised that there will be a discussion on the Hill about extending unemployment insurance and extending certain ARRA provisions that would be applicable.

Financial Lobbyist Group Executives Say Dodd's Proposal Needs Work

Ravi Bhatia - Talk Radio News Service

Bill Himpler, Executive Vice President of the American Financial Services Association (AFSA), a lobbying group based in Washington, D.C., said in a conference call with reporters Tuesday that consumers would face “regulation by anecdote as opposed to by hard, empirical evidence” under Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd's (D-Conn.) proposed Consumer Federal Protection Agency (CFPA).

The CFPA would independently oversee facets of consumer lending beyond just mortgages and credit, offering protections that parallel those offered by a similar proposal in the House Financial Services Committee, which passed its version in October. Dodd has said that he hopes his committee will begin writing a bill by the end of the month.


“What’s probably even more scary is that [the CFPA] creates a whole new category for reigning in products called an abusive standard,” Himpler said. “The problem, though, is that there’s no definition of what is abusive. There’s no standard for how the regulator is supposed to create that standard. Actually, there’s not even requirements for an actual regulatory process.”

AFSA President Chris Steinbert said he thinks introducing the CFPA at this time would create uncertainty in the marketplace.

“Would there really ever be a really good time to introduce this type of legislation?” he asked. “I'm not sure there is. Especially now, when we’re in a very, very sensitive time, when the capital markets are just starting to recover, when the securitization and corporate bonds are finally starting to rebound, when spreads are starting to narrow."

Consumer Product Safety Chair Says Toy Recalls Are Down This Year

By Ravi Bhatia - Talk Radio News Service

Inez Tenenbaum, Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, said Monday that toy recall rates have dropped in 2009 compared to the last two years.

According to Tenenbaum, there have been 38 toy recalls this year, down from 162 in 2008 and 148 in 2007.

“Toys now have to be independently tested and certified by a third party laboratory that they meet the new lead paint limits,” Tenenbaum said. “That’s good for the consumer. There have been 15 recalls involving lead [this year], and that is down from 63 from 2007 and 85 in 2008."

With the hioliday season fast approaching, Tenenbaum urged parents to buy their children age-appropriate toys, even if their child displays the intelligence to play with toys designed for older children.

“Many people will see a label and say that ‘my child is already reading and I’ll get the child something in a higher range group,’” she said. “These are safety standards, [they don’t just measure] cognitive ability. When [a toy label] says three to five, that deals with the safety of your child. Make sure you keep younger children away from the toys of older siblings.”