News June 3
Senator Sanders
Health Care Aides to Sen. Ted Kennedy gave some details of his upcoming health care
plan in a closed-door meeting Tuesday with Democratic members of the
Senate health committee. Most of the juicy details were not discussed, Investor’s Business Daily reported. According to Sen. Bernie Sanders, "We just talked about preventive care today” Congressional Quarterly said some are pushing for a public plan that would compete with private
insurers “I think you’re going to find [Obama] supportive of it, as he
has been in the past,” said Sanders. LINK and LINK
Single-Payer Senate Finance Committee Chairman Baucus, with a push from Sanders, plans to meet Wednesday with single-payer activists, The Associated Press, Reuters the
Single-Payer Supporters of national health insurance for all citizens are holding rallies in six
Clean Water Sen. Sanders and Rep. Peter Welch were at the
Credit Cards “Sen.
Bernie Sanders suggests credit reform does not go far enough. Then he
hypocritically states: "We need serious and major regulatory reform
over these institutions, or they will continue to rip off people in
every way imaginable…Congress is our problem, not banks. We can choose
to avoid banks, but how can we avoid Congress?” John W. Wehmeier of
International
Obama Visits Saudi King President
Obama is beginning his latest bid to open a dialogue with the Muslim
world by paying a call on Saudi King Abdullah, guardian of Islam's
sacred sites in
National
Obama Urges Quick Action on Insurance President
Obama on Tuesday affirmed his support for the creation of a
government-sponsored health insurance plan, but he acknowledged that
such a plan would sharply reduce the chances for Republican support of
legislation to overhaul the health care system, Democratic senators
said. The senators, who met with Mr. Obama at the White House, said he
also set forth a timeline, calling on Congress to send him a
comprehensive health care bill by October, The New York Times reported. LINK
President Pivots on Taxing Benefits President Obama, in a pivot from some of his harshest campaign
rhetoric, told Democratic senators yesterday that he is willing to
consider taxing employer-sponsored health benefits to help pay for a
broad expansion of coverage, according to The Washington Post.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus said Obama expressed a
willingness to consider changing the existing tax exclusion. LINK
Health Insurers Balk at Some Changes The insurance industry says it wholeheartedly embraces a health care
overhaul, promising Congress and the president that it will make it
much easier for individuals to buy insurance on their own. Insurers,
for example, have agreed to sell policies even to people with
pre-existing medical conditions, and to stop basing prices on how
healthy or sick someone is…but so far, the industry has made no such
promises about the market for small employers, The New York Times reported. LINK
U.S. Releases Secret List of Nuclear Sites Accidentally The
federal government mistakenly made public a 266-page report, its pages
marked “highly confidential,” that gives detailed information about
hundreds of the nation’s civilian nuclear sites and programs, including
maps showing the precise locations of stockpiles of fuel for nuclear
weapons. The publication set off a debate among nuclear experts about
what dangers, if any, the disclosures posed, The New York Times reported. LINK
Congress Helped Banks Defang Key Rule Not long after the bottom fell out of the market for mortgage
securities last fall, a group of financial firms took aim at an
accounting rule that forced them to report billions of dollars of
losses on those assets. Marshalling a multimillion-dollar lobbying
campaign, these firms persuaded key members of Congress to pressure the
accounting industry to change the rule in April. The payoff is likely
to be fatter bottom lines in the second quarter, The Wall Street Journal reported. LINK
Senate Reviews Car Dealer Closings Top executives from General Motors and Chrysler face tough questions
from lawmakers about sweeping plans to close hundreds of car
dealerships as the auto companies undergo government-led bankruptcies.
The executives will appear before a Senate committee Wednesday to talk
about their dealership plans, AP reported. LINK
Bill Proposes Immigration Rights for Gay Couples Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, the powerful chairman of the Judiciary
Committee, has offered a bill that would allow American citizens and
legal immigrants to seek residency in the
Supreme Court Judge
Sonia Sotomayor is racing through a crucial set of meetings with
senators on Capitol Hill, working to reassure Republicans who worry
she'd bring ethnic and gender bias to her decisions. Sotomayor, who
would be the high court's first Hispanic and third woman, is telling
senators in both parties that while her background has shaped her
worldview, she believes in following the law and wouldn't let her life
experiences inappropriately influence her judging, AP reported. LINK
Student Loans The Obama administration has proposed a major revamping of federal
student loans. At issue is whether the government should do away with
Federal Family Education Loans offered by private lenders and public
nonprofits such as the Vermont Student Assistance Corp. and replace
them with direct loans. The Burlington Free Press reported that members of the
Douglas Budget Veto Overridden One day after Gov. Jim Douglas became the first
Swine Flu The Vermont Health Department says another student has tested positive
for swine flu. The most recent case of novel H1N1 influenza was
confirmed in a child who attends
