Wednesday, September 22, 2010 at 11:11AM | Geoff Holtzman | Share Article | Email Article | Print Article The White House has posted on its website a list of healthcare reforms that will take effect nationwide starting tomorrow…
The NOAA announced in a bulletin, Tuesday, that they plan to reopen 8,084 square miles of Gulf of Mexico waters previously closed to fishing for concerns due to the BP-Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
In the release, the NOAA stated their rationale on a number of criteria, including the fact that no oil or sheen has been observed in the area since July 21st, and trajectory models show low risk for future exposure to oil.
In addition, the federal agency conducted extensive sensory testing as well as chemical analysis of 92 finfish, which all tested “well below levels of concern for oil.”
31,801 square miles - 13% of Gulf of Mexico exclusive economic zone - remain closed to fishing because of safety and public health concerns.
BP, Deepwater Horizon, Gulf Coast, Gulf of Mexico, NOAA in Quick News Tuesday, September 21, 2010 at 5:15PM | Geoff Holtzman | Share Article | Email Article | Print Article The White House announced today that National Economic Council Director Larry Summers will step down at the end of the year. Summers, assistant to the president for Economic Policy, will return to teach at Harvard University.
In a statement today, Obama praised Summers for his service.
“I will always be grateful that at a time of great peril for our country, a man of Larry’s brilliance, experience and judgment was willing to answer the call and lead our economic team. Over the past two years, he has helped guide us from the depths of the worst recession since the 1930s to renewed growth. And while we have much work ahead to repair the damage done by the recession, we are on a better path thanks in no small measure to Larry’s wise counsel. We will miss him here at the White House, but I look forward to soliciting his continued advice and his counsel on an informal basis, and appreciate that he has agreed to serve as a member of the President’s Economic Advisory Board.”
Said Summers, “I will miss working with the President and his team on the daily challenges of economic policy making. I’m looking forward to returning to Harvard to teach and write about the economic fundamentals of job creation and stable finance as well as the integration of rising and developing countries into the global system.”
Summers becomes the third prominent member of the president’s economic team to leave, joining recently resigned OMB Director Peter Orszag and Council of Economic Advisors Chief Christina Romer.
Larry Summers Tuesday, September 21, 2010 at 4:22PM | Justin Duckham | Share Article | Email Article | Print Article Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) issued a statement Tuesday chiding Republicans for blocking the advancement of the Defense Authorization bill, claiming that their opposition could hinder soldiers’ abilities to do their jobs.
“Republicans are again playing politics with our national security,” Reid said. “They blocked the Senate from debating a bill that would give our troops the resources they need to keep America safe … stopping not only funding for combat vehicles and bulletproof vests or measures to improve our military’s readiness.”
Reid also noted that the failure to open the bill up for debate also delays a pay increase for U.S. servicemen.
Senate Democrats failed to secure the 60 votes needed to sidestep a Republican filibuster based primarily on a provision within the $726 billion appropriation bill that would grant the President the authority to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
By Kyle LaFleur -Talk Radio News Service
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) applauded the upper chamber Tuesday for passing the Small Business Lending Act last week.
“We are very pleased that the Senate finally came up with the two Republican votes so that this bill could pass the Senate,” Hoyer told reporters. “It’s a shame it didn’t pass many, many months ago. We believe it will, in fact, stimulate small business.”
The act would create a $12 billion tax cut for small businesses and set up a fund for community banks with the hopes of spurring lending at the local level. According to a release by Hoyer, the act is predicted to create and save as many as forty to fifty thousand jobs this year through improvement of the Small Business Administration’s trade and export finance programs.
“The continuing focus of this small business lending bill and our activities have been to create jobs to replace the 8 million jobs that were lost in the last administration,” said Hoyer. “We will continue to work on that.”
The bill comes as part of the Democrats “Make It In America” agenda, which Hoyer claims will ultimately expand the manufacturing sector in the United States.
