Senate Majority Leader Accuses Republicans Of Trying To Tank The Economy

Robert Hune-Kalter - Talk Radio News Service

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) accused Republicans of trying to tank the economy to undermine the Democrats in the midterm elections.

“They’re betting on failure,” said Reid during a press conference to discuss the small business agenda.  “They think that the worse the economy is come November, the better they’ll do election wise.  We’re not dealing with just numbers here, we talk about the almost two million people who are long-term unemployed.  These are not numbers, they’re people.”

Reid says that the new small business bill currently under Congressional consideration will help small businesses grow and hire.  He pledged that the government will continue cutting taxes, make it easier to get loans and write off investments.

“It does not happen automatically, government must be involved.  More than any other part of our economy, small business fuels our growth,” said Reid.

Today At TRNS

The Washington Bureau will be covering:

Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on "The U.S. China Economic Relationship: A New Approach for A New China."

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.; Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M.; former EPA Administrator Russell Train; Margie Alt, director of the Environment America; and Jonathan Murray, director of advocacy for the Truman National Security Project will hold a news conference to call on the Senate to reject Sen. Lisa Murkowski's (R-Alaska) Environmental Protection Agency disapproval resolution.

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, will hold his weekly briefing.

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn.; Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs ranking Republican Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine; and Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del., will hold a news conference to introduce the "Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010," which will modernize the government's ability to safeguard the nation's cyber networks from attack and bring government and industry together to set national cyber security priorities and improve national cyber security defenses.

The Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents will hold a briefing to introduce a new bipartisan Congressional initiative to encourage the pro-democracy movement in Iran.

The Free Gaza Movement will hold an event where participants will voluntarily make themselves available for arrest at the offices of Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., following Sherman's public call to "prosecute any American involved in what was clearly an effort to give items of value to a terrorist organization," with regard to the flotilla delivering aid to Palestinians in Gaza, which was attacked by Israel on May 31.

Investigation Of Flotilla Raid Is Neccessary Says Expert

By Sarah Mamula- Talk Radio News Service

Shibley Telhami, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, commented on the recent events of the Gaza-bound flotilla, claiming that not enough is known about what he calls, "a disaster," and urges an investigation into Israel's actions.

"For all intents and purposes, all we know is that there were civilians and that they were in international waters," Telhami said. "I think we should have an investigation to find out what exactly happened, who was behind it, and what transpired on board."

Despite the lack of concrete information surrounding the Israeli commando raid, Telhami firmly believes aggressive action was the wrong approach.

"Regardless of the circumstances, confronting a civilian boat in a manner that could lead to the death of civilians is wrong. I think that clearly what transpired here is very hard to explain on the part of the Israelis."

The expert went on to speak about the importance of the United States' diplomatic role in this "immediate crisis," but also emphasized that an alternative to the Gaza blockade must be found.

"Everyone in the international community has been calling for more goods to go into Gaza. Even the U.S. says the blockade is not sustainable the way it is now," Telhami said.

The Geometry Of Hatred

Coffee Brown, University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News

The Council on Foreign Relations hosted a conversation between Former National Security Adviser of Middle East Affairs Elliott Abrams, and senior fellow of the Middle Eastern Studies Council on Foreign Relations and Foreign Affairs Editor Jim Hoge to discuss the meeting between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Wednesday.

Abrams believes the stakes are higher for Netanyahu than for Obama because the U.S. is such a crucial ally, and because Obama seems not to emphasize interpersonal rapport in his decision-making as much as Bush has.

Hoge concurred, “As I recall from the campaign, he did make a point that foreign policy should not be to personally oriented, that it has to be based on interests and strategies that one is following. One comment he made when he met Netanyahu the first time is, ‘You’re coming from the right, I’m coming from the left, but we’re both pragmatists.’”

“Bibi (Netanyahu) has chosen to make the Iran nuclear program an almost all or nothing issue,” Hoge said. For Barack, “getting the peace process started and making some progress is the centerpiece of his whole strategy,” he finished.

“I think they’re going to have to agree to disagree,” Abrams said. He believes that Israel won’t cede any control or territory so long as they feel that Iran might take advantage of such concessions. Abrams doesn’t believe Israel will try to impede any negotiations with Iran, because time is on the side of Iranian nuclear development. Instead, Israel will want what they believe to be a futile process to play out as quickly as possible, so that the U.S. and other nations will move toward sanctions, he predicts.

Hoge said that Netanyahu is temporizing about a two-state solution, and Abrams agreed, saying Palestine won’t be ready until it can unify it’s factions and control acts of terrorism.

Abrams cited a frank commitment to a two-state solution by former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that Netanyahu could use to justify his own support, should he choose to give it.

If Iran elects a new president, Israel may have to wait while other nations give the new leader the benefit of doubt, but Obama has said that if negotiations fail, he is prepared to move to “crippling sanctions,” according to Abrams.

Hoge mentioned an explicit threat by Israel to strike nuclear facilities within Iran and Abrams said that threat should be taken seriously. Israel, he pointed out, “is a one-bomb country” which Iran has already called “a cancerous tumor.”

“Can our attitude make a difference in Iran?” Hoge asked.

Maybe, Abrams replies, “The regime is not that popular, 70 percent of the population is under the age of 30. They seem to want blue jeans more than the denunciation of the U.S. But hatred of the U.S. and of Israel and the oppression of women are the three pillars of this regime.” So it can’t afford to lose one by warming toward America.

No Single Payer System For Healthcare

Coffee Brown, University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News


In what Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee Max Baucus (D-Mont.) called "an historic moment," the full Committee hearing on Comprehensive Health Care Reform held the first of several planned meetings Tuesday. Their task will be to figure out how to pay for universal access.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) wanted the Employer Exclusion of Contributions for Medical Insurance Premiums and Medical Care from employee income taxes on the table.

James Klein, president of the American Benefits Council, described it the Exclusion as progressive and too complex to tamper with.

Jonathan Gruber, professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass., described the Exclusion as unequivocally regressive, amenable to modification, and a key revenue point.

John Sheils, senior vice president of the The Lewin Group, Falls Church, Va., believes that the Exclusion should be modified, but only after protections are put into place to prevent discrimination against the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions.

All of the panelists agreed that there was an enormous amount of potential revenue there. The Urban Institute calls it "the single largest tax expenditure in the federal budget ... worth $112 Billion.”
Gerald Shea, assistant to the president for governmental affairs at the AFL-CIO said, "That would be a radical change. If you're going to go that far, you might as well go to a single payer system. I'm flabbergasted that you would even consider it."

Baucus was clear that "We're not going to repeal the Employer Exclusion or go to universal single payer healthcare. We have to work with what we have. We can't turn on a dime. It's the devil you know vs the devil you don't know."

After Baucus finished speaking, protesters stood up and recited in favor of the single payer system. As each protestor was escorted out by Capitol Police,another stood including at least one physician.
Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) was concerned about a proposal to partially fund healthcare reform by raising taxes on alcohol. He said that thousands of jobs had been lost in the hospitality industry already, and that the last such hike had been followed by a drop in revenue. He asked whether lifestyle taxes couldn't be considered regressive.

Robert Greenstein, executive director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities responded that all industries have lost jobs, losses in the hospitality industry are not attributable to alcohol taxes, and
whether the tax put more money into healthcare, or resulted in diminished alcohol consumption, it would be a win-win strategy.
Other lifestyle taxes discussed included sugary soft drinks, tobacco and trans-fats.

Stuart Altman, professor of national health policy at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass., held that end-of-life care was a significant driver of cost in America vs. peer nations.

Gail Wilensky, Senior Fellow for Project HOPE, Bethesda, said that such costs have held at about 28 percent of lifetime healthcare expenses for 30 years.

Altman said, yes, but that's 28 percent for a growing demographic, as Americans age, and of a much larger absolute cost, as Healthcare costs have inflated much faster than the general economy.

Baucus concluded by saying, "I have a feeling this is not the last discussion on this we're all going to have on this."