Politics News

National Journal Online

Senate Majority Leader Reid released an $849 billion healthcare overhaul bill Wednesday that includes a public option and will extend coverage to 31 million uninsured Americans, though a few Democrats are still on the fence over whether they will vote to proceed to the bill.

The bill would extend insurance to 94 percent of eligible Americans.

The measure, which would reduce the deficit $127 billion over a decade, creates an insurance exchange where people can compare and purchase coverage; allows insurance co-ops to be formed; expands Medicaid to those earning 133 percent of the federal poverty level; and offers federal subsidies to help those without employer-sponsored coverage purchase insurance.

The public option would allow states to opt out if they choose. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., shepherded a more comprehensive public option through the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee but called the opt-out version a strong public option.

The overhaul also includes an individual mandate with penalties reaching $750 per person for noncompliance by 2016. Employers that do not offer coverage will pay a fine for each of their employees who receive federal subsidies to purchase insurance in the exchange of as much as $750 per employee at the company, a senior Democratic aide said.

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Congress

It can be scary for adults to change careers, but the recession has handed many American workers no choice. Enrollment at trade schools, community colleges and specialized private colleges has increased all over the U.S.  But whether or not graduates of these programs find work in their new area of competence varies based on the quality of the training, the choice of skills to learn, and whether or not the training suits an industry with hiring needs.

Rep. Walt Minnick, D-ID, has announced his new bill, H.R. 4072 or the American Manufacturing Efficiency and Retraining Investment Collaboration (AMERICA) Works Act. Minnick has spent eight months developing and writing the bill, which is co-sponsored by three Democratic House Members: Frank Kratovil of Maryland, Debbie Halvorson of Illinois, and Bobby Bright of Alabama.

“Thanks to the diverse coalition behind the bill, there will be more co-sponsors of both parties signing on,” said John Foster, Minnick’s spokesperson. That coalition includes the National Association of Manufacturers, Northwest Carpenters, and community colleges and trade organizations.

“American workers are the best in the world,” said Minnick. “They are resilient, innovative and hardworking, as is made so clear by the success of many great companies in my home state of Idaho. We need to make sure that those American workers, many of whom are retraining, are given every opportunity to achieve certifications, degrees and qualifications for the jobs American industry needs to fill.”

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Guest Column from Montana Petroleum Association

The following opinion piece is from the Montana Petroleum Association.

While the U.S. Senate considers a “cap-and-trade” bill that includes creation of a new federal bureaucracy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Montana Petroleum Association (MPA) is becoming more concerned about the toll such a plan would take on our industry and on Montana consumers. The Senate bill, modeled after one that passed the U.S. House of Representatives in June, is nearly 1,000 pages long. We have sifted through most of the proposal, and with each reading it becomes clear what this bill will and won’t do.

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Essay: A week in our national town

Washington, D.C. is a town where an arcane government and a logical street grid are muddled by overlap and diagonal lines. But the reverent preservation and displays of America’s history have a clear and tangible path.

In a town where the ghosts of American history wait for you to discover them, your hosts are cabdrivers, waiters, and doormen from Eritrea, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Somalia. They are a twenty-year wave of immigrants just as the Irish, Italians, and Eastern Europeans who are the backbone of the Eastern seaboard were at the turn of the 20th century, and by working as hard as their role models they remind you why America exists.

In a place where federal buildings are so baffling that in looking for the “Anteroom” you run across a door marked “Not the Anteroom” you can still simply have your bag scanned and then walk straight to your congressman’s office and state your plea.

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Politicos have been trying to figure out just where the Republican Party plans to get the surge for its resurgence. The Republicans have done their damndest to shed independent and Libertarian voters since 2001, ‘and what do they aim to replace them with?’ I ask you. Do the Neoconservatives represent a large enough voting bloc to give them control of the White House and Congress?

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Political Commentary: Heath Haussamen

So in September, State Auditor Hector Balderas publicly shamed 87 government agencies in New Mexico by releasing to the media a list of agencies that hadn’t submitted annual and compliance audits to the state as required by law.

It was the first time the auditor publicly released such a list, and dozens of agencies responded by immediately turning in late audits or at least calling Balderas’ office to make arrangements to get their audits done.

But 34 agencies didn’t even bother to respond, though they’re required by law to submit annual audits. (Check out the list of the 34 agencies, courtesy of The Santa Fe New Mexican’s Kate Nash.) Balderas has basically no recourse to get those agencies to comply with a state law that is designed to help ensure those agencies aren’t rife with fraud, waste and abuse.

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