Senate Democrats Blame Stagnant Economy On Stalled Congress

Robert Hune-Kalter - Talk Radio News Service

A duo of Senate Democrats pointed their fingers the Republican party Thursday and accused Senate Republicans of stalling an agenda aimed at boosting the economy.

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) posed a simple question to voters heading into the summer recess.

“Whose side are you on?” he asked.

Menendez asserted that more could have been accomplished this year had Republicans not repeatedly stalled legislation and denied the economy of countless beneficial provisions.

“As [Democrats] try to give those small businesses the tax breaks and incentives to be able to grow this economy and hire more Americans, Republicans, every step of the way, are impeding our ability to create those jobs,” he said.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said that it is frustrating to move legislation in the Senate because negotiations get delayed and are not made in good faith.

Menendez agreed, and said Senate Democrats will try to pass energy legislation, repeal tax breaks and help small businesses when the Senate reconvenes in September.

“What we want at the end of the day is to help middle-class families in this country get over this difficult time and realize their hopes and dreams and aspirations,” he said.

However, the lawmakers’ ambitious remarks were met immediately with skepticism.

“Senators Menendez and Whitehouse have imposed an immeasurable burden on small businesses with mountains of new spending and debt and countless new tax hikes under the failed Pelosi-Reid economic agenda,” said Parish Braden, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee (RNC).

In fact, 83,000 total jobs have dissapeared in Rhode Island and New Jersey since one of the Democrats’ biggest legislative achievements - the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act - was passed in early 2009. Both states have also seen their unemployment rates rise considerably in that time.

“Democrat leaders pledge to support small businesses while at the same time are planning yet another job killing tax hike on the same businesses,” Braden added.

Jobs Bill Sees Bipartisan Support, Say Senate Democrats

By Benny Martinez - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Legislation aimed at improving the sluggish employment situation in the U.S. has been met with bipartisan support and should not experience difficulty getting through the Senate, said Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

Joined by Senators Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) at a press briefing Monday, the trio emphasized that the provisions in the jobs bill have seen strong support from both sides of the aisle.

“It’s a good start,” Senator Cardin said. “Leaders particularly picked those provisions that enjoy strong bipartisan support.”

Employer tax credits for new hires, the extension of the Highway Trust Fund, higher tax refunds for small businesses and the Build America Bonds program are key provisions of the bill, according to the three Senate Democrats. They added that the legislation seeks to maintain and create 1.3 million jobs for Americans.

“Each of these provisions has established bipartisan support and at this point, there is no reason beyond politics to obstruct any of these measures,” Whitehouse said.

The three agreed that these provisions serve as a first step in the right direction, but at the same time acknowledged that more needs to be done.

“[This] is a group of four ideas with broad bipartisan support, and then there will be another package a few weeks from now, and then another package,” Merkley said. “This way, we can end the paralysis that has been so deadly in the dialogue in this city.”

Senators, Latino Groups Celebrate Near-Certain Confirmation Of Sotomayor

By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service

Civil rights leaders and Senators joined in a rally on Capitol Hill Wednesday to voice their support for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation.

The familiar phrase from President Obama's campaign, "yes we can," was heard both in English and Spanish at the rally, which was hosted by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) and the National Council of La Raza (NCLR). The atmosphere was extremely celebratory as the crowd loudly responded with cheers each time the name of the historic nominee was mentioned.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) was one of four Senators who spoke at the rally. "There are three words that sum up this nomination: It is time," Schumer declared.

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) also showed their support, adding that they were not pleased with the overall Republican response to the nomination.

"Let us hope that as history looks back on this day, it notes the historic occasion of the confirmation of Justice Sotomayor and ...not the Republicans' strange and strained efforts to impose right-wing political orthodoxy on our courts and judges," said Whitehouse.

Sen. Menendez spoke about the response of the Hispanic community to Sotomayor nomination, but also mentioned the appreciation of the few Republican Senators who have said they will vote yes for her confirmation.

"When she raises her hand and takes that oath of office, the Supreme Court will be better, the nation will be better, and we will have fulfilled our promise as a country," said Menendez.

Civil rights organizations including the Hispanic Federation, the Alliance for Justice, the NAACP and others were also present in support of Sotomayor. Many people held signs with the slogan "I stand with Sotomayor," and at one point, a chant of, "What do we want?-Sonia-When do we want it?-Now," erupted.

First Things First

Coffee Brown, MD, University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News

There are many blocks in the arch of medical reform, but Health Information Technology is the keystone, according to a panel of policy makers who spoke and answered questions at the Brookings Institution. Everything from electronic medical records, to electronic ordering, to integrated billing, to error reduction and decision support, won’t fix medicine by itself, the experts concluded.

Presenters at the event included: U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI); former Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.) and Chairman of Health IT Now! Coalition; and Charles P. Friedman, Ph.D., Deputy National Coordinator for HIT Department of Health and Human Services. to discuss the current administration’s plans to upgrade the use of information technology in medicine.

“We are at a preposterous level of health information primitiveness,” White said.

According to moderator Darrell M. West, Vice President and Director, Governance Studies, Brookings Institution,, only one major business in the U.S. is less computerized than medicine; mining.


West co-wrote Digital Medicine: Healthcare in the Internet Era, published by Briikings. He said only one major business in the U.S. is less computerized than medicine; mining.

"Amazon can tell me what I’ve bought before, what I looked at today, and what I might like to buy tomorrow,” he said, adding that the majority of U.S. hospitals still keep manually-written, and, potentially life-saving, patient records in paper form.

According to the Institute of Medicine, only one in five clinicians in the U.S. are using electronic medical records.

West said the most optimistic projections are for savings of about $120 billion per year, but he believes the figure will be less.

Whitehouse quoted estimated healthcare savings as high as $320 billion per year , and he thinks that number could be a trillion.

The panelists agreed that interoperability is the first hurdle for the technology. Many, or most, of the computerized systems that exist now in hospitals can not share data with other computers.

This is intentional, Johnson said, because the competitive private business model favors a proprietary approach to information.

West said his doctor was using EMR now, but would never integrate the last 26 years of notes, “because that would cost too much.”

"Having HIT on a doctor’s desk is like having a car in the garage. you can enjoy the radio, air-conditioning and cigarette lighter but without a good road, you’re not going anywhere,” Whitehouse said.

The infrastructure, lines, connectivity and hardware all have to support the data flow, he said.

He pointed out that just moving data is not enough, “We need information aggregation, cross-checking, error reduction, decision support” and portability. The patient must be able to take data from system to system when traveling.

“Medicaid alone is approaching a $37 trillion obligation, not counting Medicare, VA benefits, S-CHIP, and similar entitlements. HIT is a necessary first step toward avoiding a healthcare cost tsunami,” he said.

Johnson discussed the tension between making the new healthcare more individuated and patient centered and avoiding the sort of consumerism that lets patients cow doctors into ordering expensive but unneeded tests and procedures.

She also pointed out the enormous proportion of healthcare costs that go to hopeless or marginal care, such as end-of-life care, or the prolongation of the lives of non-viable newborns. “No other country counts one breath as ‘live birth,’” she said. Many require hours, days, up to one year of life before being considered “live births”, she finished.

Friedman said the outlines of healthcare reform are clear and unlikely to change, but many details are still being worked out, not least a carrot and stick program to encourage and/or coerce stakeholders to adopt and “meaningfully use” HIT. “Meaningfully” is still being defined, but refers to applying this technology to actually improve clinical outcomes.

Whitehouse said that Republican opposition to Clinical Effectiveness Research surprised him. “No company would attempt a transformation one one-hundredth this complex” without Quality Assurance and accountability. “Someone has to be in charge."

Dept. of Justice disgraced by hiring discrimination

The Senate Judiciary Committee discussed a report on politicized hiring at the Department of Justice in favor of conservative candidates. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said the report realizes his worst fears - pervasive partisan hiring in the Department of Justice.

Glenn Fine, the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Justice, said his investigation revealed that qualified candidates for hire at the Department were deselected because of liberal political beliefs. Politically conservative or neutral, yet under-qualified and junior applicants, were preferred. Fine said Monica Goodling, the Department’s former White House Liaison, regularly considered political affiliations in making hiring decisions.

Fine said the discrimination performed by Goodling and others in the Department violated the Constitution and civil law, but not criminal law, therefore criminal prosecution is not possible. But, Fine said the actions of those transgressors were revealed, and they have since left the Department so disciplinary actions are impossible as well.

Fine said inadequate supervision of the Department’s hiring practices led to the discrimination and as a result inexperienced candidates were hired into not only intern positions, but career positions as well. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) called the details of the report a “despicable” and “beyond disgraceful.” Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) said he was disturbed that the Department of Justice had become so tainted.