Republicans Boycott Climate Change Markup

Travis Martinez, University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Republican Senators on the Environment and Public Works Committee Tuesday are boycotting the first session of the committee’s markup of the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, or Kerry-Boxer bill, in an effort to urge the committee to submit the legislation to the Environmental Protection Agency for economic analysis.

Democrats on the committee expressed their displeasure with the absence of the Republican members, with Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) dubbing the missing Republican members as being “AWOL."

"Frankly, I’m shocked these Republicans have evaded this markup,” Lautenberg said.

The only Republican Senator who appeared with the committee was Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio). The Senator spoke as a "mock spokesman," as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) put it, explaining that he, along with his Republican colleagues, are ready to work with the committee and the EPA in a bipartisan fashion under proper circumstances.

“As the leader of this committee, I hope you will make the right decision, for the sake of my constituents, for the sake of bipartisanship and for the future of this country,” Voinovich told Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).

Voinovich stressed the importance of putting the bill through a full economic evaluation with the EPA before the markup process continues.

“While I believe that S.1733 will likely move forward with policies that I oppose, I can’t imagine why we would move ahead without the best information possible from the agency that will be charged with implementing the legislation,” said Voinovich.

At the close of Voinovich’s remarks, in a sign of bipartisanship, Voinovich shook hands with Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and offered to work with the majority party through the markup process.

Boxer reiterated throughout the markup that Republicans will be more than welcome to join the committee later today and through the rest of the process.

"The door will be open, and I encourage the Republican members to join us at work to get the job done," said Boxer

The committee will stop the markup at 2:30 to allow testimony to be heard from EPA officials.

House Panel Approves Bill Creating Consumer Protection Commission

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

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce voted 33-19 on Thursday to pass H.R. 3126, otherwise known as the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009. The legislation would oversee mortgages and other financial products and would strengthen the Federal Trade Commission's role in the financial industry.

Lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted to make two major changes to the bill. The first amendment, offered by Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), would first rename the agency, as written in the mark, as a new government commission. The amendment also provided a restructured panel of five members to the commission, with a limit of three commissioners from any particular political party. This would give the commission the same structure as the Federal Trade Commission, or Federal Communications Commission.

Several businesses, either in full or in part, would be exempt from the legislation. This list includes auto dealers, credit, mortgage and title insurers, banks with less than $10 billion in assets, and credit unions with less than $1.5 billion in assets.

Waxman acknowledged the long list of exemptions as a possible problem, but said that he would wait to address any issues he had.

"I am concerned that too many exemptions and exclusions were put into the bill... I will want to examine them closely as we move toward consideration on the floor," said Waxman.

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) offered numerous amendments that were subsequently shot down after discussion with the panel. However, in a show of bipartisanship, Waxman offered to work with Barton on re-wording the offered amendments so that they could be possibly brought to the floor at a later date for full consideration.

Waxman recognized the original bill's sponsor, House Financial Services Committee Chair Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) for his committee’s work on promoting the expanded authority of the FTC over the financial sector.

“I am pleased that he made many essential changes, particularly in regard to the impact of the FTC, which will preserve the FTC’s authority to provide and aggressively enforce against financial fraud,” said Waxman.

Many Things To Like About House Health Bill Says Reform Advocate

Travis Martinez - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Following the release of the House Democrats' health care reform bill, Larry McNeely with the U.S. Public Interest Research Group expressed his support for the legislation.

McNeely said that he believes the House version is strong in that it will develop a national health insurance exchange that will allow customers throughout the nation to negotiate better health care rates for themselves.

“Our hope is that in conference, it leans more towards the house bill [that] is going to be a national exchange, which is important because attached to the exchange is a pool of all participants in that exchange to negotiate better deals. This pool is going to be a lot bigger nationally,” said McNeely.

McNeely lauded the House's inclusion of a public option, or government-run insurance plan, which, in his opinion, will "[provide] a competitor for states with one or two providers that dominate the insurance markets.”

He also delighted over a provision in the bill that would ban the private insurance industry from dropping patients or refusing coverage to them based on their having a preexisting medical condition.

“It’s really an incredible step forward. Not only does the...bill ban preexisting conditions abuses...consumers and families can finally have the security of knowing their insurance will be there when they expect to,” said McNeely.

House GOP'ers Fight To Save Senior Benefits

Travis Martinez - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and fellow Republicans argued on Wednesday against cuts in benefits for Medicare and Medicare Advantage recipients.

“Poll after Poll shows that America’s seniors are the group that has the greatest concerns about government takeover of health care, that’s because proposals cut Medicare benefits that seniors rely on,” said Boehner.

The Republican Leader used Wednesday's press conference to promote the his party's healthcare website, healthcare.gop.gov, where users can view “better solutions” to fix the nation's health care system.

House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), who also attended the press conference, invoked words from President Barack Obama’s campaign.

Responding to then-Senator Obama's pledge that Americans who like their health care plan would not be forced to give it up, Pence said, “ I guess he wasn’t talking about American senior citizens," adding that "under recent legislation, $162 billion will be cut from the popular Medicare Advantage."

Obama Honors Nation's First Popularly Elected Black Senator

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

President Barack Obama along with congressional leaders awarded former Senator Edward William Brooke with the Congressional Gold Medal on Wednesday. Brooke was recognized for the years of work he did on civil rights issues, and for being the first popularly elected African-American senator in U.S. history.

"It is a great privilege to be here today as we confer the Congressional Gold Medal on a man who's spent his life breaking barriers and bridging divides across this country," said the President.

Brooke served in the Senate from 1967 until 1979. During this time, he became known as a leading advocate for affordable housing, and against discrimination in housing. A 25-year military veteran, Brooke also served as the Attorney General of Massachusetts prior to his career in Congress.

The ceremony also included a tribute to the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, who lost his battle with cancer two short months ago. Kennedy served side by side with Brooke in the Massachusetts U.S. Senate delegation. Members of Kennedy's family, including his wife Victoria, and son, current Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy (D), attended the ceremony.