By Justin Duckham-Talk Radio News Service

For what has been described in the Wall Street Journal as the “worst bill ever,” Congressional Republicans certainly seem to be padding their list of grievances over the House health care bill with things that are less scary and more, well … sensible.

The House Republican Conference has kindly given reporters a directory of provisions in the bill found to be “egregious, questionable, or potentially absurd.”

Included in this list is a reference to page 872-Section 1433, which, in the conference’s words, “requires the director of food services at nursing facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid to hold ‘military, academic, or other qualifications’ as determined by federal bureaucrats.”

Sans the editorial liberty taken to invoke the specter of spooky federal bureaucrats, one is left to wonder what about this requirement is particularly egregious, questionable or potentially absurd. After all, this is a warning from the party that has portrayed seniors as sacred cows throughout the entire health care debate, from threats that Obamacare would pull the plug on grandma to suddenly realizing that Medicare isn’t as bad as it was forty years ago. Wouldn’t it make sense to have the staff that tends dear old granny’s meals be qualified? Especially through an academic or military institution?

When asked for clarification, a staffer for a high-ranking Republican representative simply responded that it is a sign of more government intrusion into the lives of Americans.

Of course, the American people whose lives are being intruded upon by this provision are seniors living in nursing homes funded by Medicare. So to summarize: Medicare is an untouchable institution, but requiring
a director that either directly or indirectly benefits from Medicare funds to be properly trained is an intrusion.

Fair enough, if you perform adequate mental gymnastics. That is, until you consider how closely this resembles a provision included in No Child Left Behind, an act proposed by a Republican President and passed through a GOP-controlled Congress.

According to Part A, Section 119, “Each local educational agency receiving assistance under this part shall ensure that all teachers hired after such day and teaching in a program supported with funds under this part are highly qualified.”

All one needs to do is add “by federal bureaucrats” to the end of this sentence and voila: government intrusion.

In the film Citizen Kane, the character Leland tells Charles Foster Kane “You don’t care about anything except you… you want love on your own terms. Something to be played your way, according to your rules.”

This seems to embody the Republican mentality post-2006. So-called dithering on Afghanistan, appointing high-profile czars or, in this case, requiring recipients of government funds to fit the right
profile is fine if you’re in the right party, but try it as a Democrat and suddenly it’s egregious, questionable, or potentially absurd. It’s a double standard.

Either that, or the Republican Conference is grasping at straws.

By Laura Smith, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

According to Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), who chairs the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, military contractor Kellogg, Brown, and Root [KBR] is continuing to dispose of waste in Iraq using burn pits that reportedly give off toxic fumes.

“The Army and the contractor in charge of this waste disposal Kellogg, Brown, and Root, made frequent and unnecessary use of these burn pits and exposed thousands of U.S. troops to toxic smoke…burn pits are still used at the Balad Airbase in Iraq, which is the largest U.S. base in that country.”

Dorgan went on to list toxins that could be contained within a smoke plume from a burn pit, included carcinogens, respiratory threats, cardiovascular toxins, nervous system toxins and other toxins.

Burn pits have been used since 2003 in Iraq and Afghanistan to dispose of waste and other harmful materials.

Retired Lt. Col. Darrin L. Curtis, Ph.D., P.E. said one of the first things he noticed when he arrived to Balad Air Base was the smoke from a burn pit. “The smell was noxious and looked like a very thick fog hanging low to the ground,” he said.

Curtis said that while he was at Balad Air Base, he conducted sampling of the smoke plumes and “the sample results were used for the U.S. Army’s Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine (CHPPM) health risk assessment published in May 2008 in which CHPPM stated that ‘adverse health risks are unlikely.’”

“Since then, the Department of Defense (DoD) has relied on this report to conclude that ‘long-term health effects are not expected to occur from breathing the smoke’ at Balad Air Base,” he added.

Rick Lamberth, a former KBR employee, returned home from Iraq in July of this year, and said, “since returning home in July, I have suffered from a number of respiratory problems related to the exposure. Now the military will not pay for my medical care. They claim that these conditions are existed prior to service (EPTS).”

Lamberth said he worked with direct contact for the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP) and with KBR. He said, “under the LOGCAP contract, waste disposal by private contractors must comply with Army regulations, federal EPA and the Defense Logistics Agency’s regulations for waste and hazmat removal and disposal.”

Lamberth went on to say that “the LOGCAP Statement of Work explicitly conforms to Army Technical Bulletin 593, which allows for the use of burn pits “only in emergency situations until approved incinerators can be obtained.’”

By Marianna Levyash – Talk Radio News Service

House Republicans expressed concern Friday that the Affordable Health Care for All Americans Act contains loopholes which ultimately could provide government-subsidized health care benefits to illegal immigrants.

“It would cost the American tax payer $30.5 billion for people who have illegally come to this country,” said Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.)

Wilson added that according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), 2.5 million more illegal immigrants would benefit from the legislation.

The GOP members wrote amendments fo the House Health Care Reform Bill that would prevent access to health care benefits by these illegal aliens until they proved citizenship. However, the Rules Committee will reportedly not take any more amendments until the House votes.

“There’s a way to fix this…it should be fixed before the vote is taken,” said Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.)

By Meagan Wiseley – University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said Friday that on the economic front, America received good news and bad news today following the Labor Department’s announcement of a 10.2% unemployment rate.

“Although 190,000 more American’s lost their jobs…that is substantially less than the pace at which they were losing jobs until fairly recently,” Frank said during remarks at a conference sponsored by NoLimits.org, a progressive on-line organization founded by Frank’s sister.

Frank said the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or the stimulus bill, had a positive impact in deterring unemployment, explaining that unemployment rates would be higher if the stimulus bill hadn’t passed.

Frank also said that the lack of regulation in the financial sector, which he contributed to Alan Greenspan, the former Chairman of the Federal Reserve, led to the AIG crisis and the following recession. He praised the current Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke for his willingness to collaborate with Congress over new financial regulatory reforms.

Frank remained positive about the economic outlook.

“We are making progress … things are getting better virtually on every front [and] I am confident that when we are through with financial regulations…the kind of things that got us in trouble in the past won’t get us in trouble in the future,” Frank added.

At 1934 Zulu, there will be a moment of silence to reflect the carnage of the shootings at Ft. Hood. All military personnel will comply even those overseas.

The Army is sending support personnel to Ft. Hood. This includes 13 Ministry Teams, 35 Life Consultants, 13 Behavioral Therapists, 17 Critical Health Specialists and 5 Combat Control Teams. A muslim cleric is part of the Ministry Team.

A general biography on the shooter will be released later today.

The Army CID is currently heading the investigation but the FBI may take over the investigation.

Commanders of all military installations are looking at there Force Protection Procedures.

The shooter was not confirmed dead or alive for 4 hours yesterday. This was due to the fog and friction of the situation.

The Army will be releasing details of the investigation as they see fit to do so.The Army, Pentagon and other investigative bodies will not be releasing any information until they feel ready. Day to day details of the official investigation will not be given.

The shooter had never been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. He was in a deployment window.

An Army ballistics team is currently at Ft. Hood putting together a timeline of the type of weapons used as well as when and where.

By Julianne LaJeunesse, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) spoke with reporters Friday about the newest Democrat health care plan, saying the “Affordable Health Care for America Act” should go to vote by 7 or 8 PM Saturday night.

The bill, which spans nearly 2,000 pages, has garnered the support of the AARP, the American Medical Association, and now, Families USA, a group who joined Hoyer in a teleconference with the press.

Hoyer said the bill is economically sound, despite some Republicans’ impression of the legislation. He said Rep. John Boehner (R- Ohio), who’s been a leader against the costs of the Democrat plan, “would not be for this bill.”

“We have a disagreement, but I think that his proposition is simply that he’s not for the program, irrespective of the economics.”

Hoyer went further on the topic of economics, and said that in light of today’s U.S. Department of Labor announcement of a 10.2 percent unemployment rate, “we’re all disappointed with the job numbers that were released today.” Hoyer added that financial progress has been made in the past few quarters, but said “very frankly, we need to focus on jobs, jobs creation, and jobs sustainment.”

Soon after Hoyer’s remarks, and just after signing a $24 billion bill that will extend unemployment benefits among other measures, President Obama addressed the country, saying, “I’m confident that our economy will recover,” he said. “I’m confident that we’re moving in the right direction. And I promise that I won’t rest until America prospers once again.”

By Leah Valencia, University of New Mexico- Talk Radio News Service

Unemployment increased to 10.2 percent in October, the highest rate since 1983, leaving Americans with 190,000 less jobs, Bureau of Labor and Statistics Commission Keith Hall told Congress in a Joint Economic Committee hearing Friday.

“The declines are much smaller and less widespread than they were last Fall and Winter,” Hall said. “Nevertheless, some industries are still experiencing notable employment decline.”

Hall told the committee that in October the heavy construction, manufacturing and retail industries have had a particularly significant decline in employment losing a combined total of 163,000 jobs.

However, he added that some industries have seen an increase in employment. Health care and help services are among the few that have added jobs, with a much smaller figure of 63,000 combined jobs.

Hall said since the recession began the number of unemployed has more than doubled to 15.7 million.

“The number of long-term unemployed remained high in October,” Hall said. “5.6 million workers have been jobless for 27 weeks or more.”

He said the increasing number of people who have become discouraged in looking for work and therefore remained unemployed have added to the problem. In October there was a reported 808,000 discouraged workers, a figure up from 484,000 last year.

“These are individuals are not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them,” Hall said.

Committee members on both side of the aisle agreed that in terms of job creation, the economy is not where it needs to be. Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) said she believes the nation is on track to recovery, while Republicans argued that the Obama administration has not done enough to facilitate employment growth.

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

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) accused the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats Friday of mishandling the U.S. economy following the Labor Department’s announcement that unemployment has hit 10.2%,

“Today’s report is yet another reminder that American families and small businesses are still struggling, and the White House response is falling short,” said Boehner.

Boehner pointed to failed promises and exorbitant spending, citing the Democrats’ health care reform bill and stimulus plan as steps that will plunge the U.S. further into debt.

“Since the stimulus plan was signed into law, more than three million private sector jobs have been lost,” said Boehner “Now, Speaker Pelosi is pressing ahead with a $1.3 trillion government takeover of health care, endorsed by President Obama, that will destroy 5.5 million jobs according to methodology developed by his own senior economist.”

By Laura Smith – University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

A collection of Republican Representatives urged Congress Thursday to listen to soldiers who have served in Afghanistan.

“This is about Congress being informed about how our decisions affects those people out there fighting … this is not a partisan deal,” said Hunter during a press appearance with the organizations Vets For Freedom. “This is about winning in Afghanistan and then bringing our troops home victoriously. That’s what this is all about.”

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), who joined Hunter, said the appearance was held to back up President Obama, and not in opposition, noting that when Obama was campaigning for President he offered support to the families of those overseas.

“As he was campaigning, he made it very clear that the best way to protect American families was to defeat the terrorists in Afghanistan,” Wilson said.

Pete Hegseth, Chairman and Executive Director of Vets for Freedom, said his organization had one non-partisan message, and that was to “support and listen to the commanders on the ground.”

“You’ve appointed General McCrystal. He’s the smartest guy we’ve got on Afghanistan. He’s lead the counter-terrorism fight for the last five years in Iraq and Afghanistan. If there’s anybody that who knows how to kill bad guys, it’s General Stan McCrystal,” said Hegseth.

“Our message today on the Hill is: ‘Let’s give that commander the assets and resources he needs to finish the job. It’s a very simple message. Give him what he needs to finish the job,” Hegseth added.

By Marianna Levyash- Talk Radio News Service

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Thursday re-introduced the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a bill aimed at ensuring employment opportunity for all Americans and banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

According to Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), about 20 states have already enacted laws banning discrimination on sexual orientation, some of which include gender identity.

“Qualified workers should not be turned away or have to fear losing their livelihood for reasons that have nothing to do with their capabilities, skills or performance. Such practices are un-American and it is time for them to stop,” Harkin stated.

Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.) also showed their support for the legislation.

“We are on the path for a struggle … to have full equality under the law.” said Merkley.

Harkin said he hopes the bill will be signed by President Barack Obama by 2010.