By Meagan Wiseley, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

-Recovery Act

Robert Gibbs introduced Jared Bernstein and Melody Barnes to discuss the report released this morning on education-based jobs saved by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Bernstein, the Chief Economist and Economic Policy Advisor to Vice President Joe Biden, said that preliminary recipient data that is coming in to the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board shows 250,000 education jobs saved or created. These jobs are a subset of the 1 million jobs saved or created thus far through the act, which leaves the Economic Council on track to accomplish the stated goal of saving or creating 3.5 million jobs by later next year.

Bernstein added that the data reflects direct jobs, or jobs that are directly created and funded through spending in the Recovery Act. The Council of Economic Advisers has estimated that the Act has saved about 1 million jobs so far, and this estimate includes direct and indirect jobs.

Bernstein said this is clearly the most transparent and accountable treatment of a government program that has ever been seen before.

Barnes, the Director of the Domestic Policy Council, said the Recovery Act has made schools able to avert massive layoffs and also created jobs for educators in the pre-kindergarten, K-12 and higher education fields.

Barnes pointed out that preventing layoffs averted class size expansion, which has been a concern in the educational context.

Additionally, Barnes said reforms have been put in place to increase standards and assessments, teacher effectiveness and student progress tracking. An extended school day and school year for struggling schools has also been implemented.

When asked how the revenues to keep the new jobs in place when the federal dollars from the Recovery Act money are gone, Barnes said the administrations was very cognizant of such a scenario when developing the Recovery Act and that it was created in the context of the economy improving. Thus, states would be able to support these jobs and increases once the economy strengthens.

-Afghanistan

On the possibility of a runoff election in Afghanistan, Gibbs said that, in his assessment, General McChrystal knew the election would be taken into account. Gibbs said a sizable American force in Afghanistan must be met with a credible partner, and that, without a credible partner, no one involved can make a difference. Gibbs said he is supportive of Deputy Chairman of NATO, Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry’s plan to work with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on this matter.

Gibbs refused to comment on hypothetical situations regarding a future election, but did say the administration is encouraging processes by the Afghan people to choose a candidate that is legitimate.

-Health Care Reform

On Heath Care reform, Gibbs said the administration is working to ensure choice and competition in the insurance market. He said the President has been clear on his preference for a public option to be in the final bill.

-Sudan

On Sudan, Gibbs said a comprehensive policy is needed to deal with the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. Gibbs said there is pressure being put on the Sudanese government, and if steps are taken to address components of this issue by the government, there will be incentives.

-Iran

On Iran, Gibbs said that Iran has an opportunity and a responsibility to demonstrate to the world their purpose for a nuclear program. He said the U.S. obligation is to get a sizable amount of low enriched uranium out of Iran in order to make the world more secure.

-Economy


On the financial sector, and Godlman Sachs/JP Morgan executive bonuses, Gibbs said the administration does not want to be in the business of executive compensation. He said last September that the American people went through great lengths to make sure the financial system didn’t collapse. He said the banks are equally as responsible to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.

U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) says human rights advocacy has taken a backseat in Congress, at the White House, and in both parties. He says the President’s decision to not meet with the Dalai Lama is an example of such absence. (0:23)

 

 Standard Podcast [0:23m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) says he sent President Barack Obama a letter urging the administration to refrain from granting the government of Sudan access to a Washington, D.C. lobbyist. (0:25)

 

 Standard Podcast [0:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

TRNS Managing Editor Victoria Jones speaks with Chris de Bono with UNICEF about ways in which his organization is providing humanitarian aid around the globe. (9:28)

 

 Standard Podcast [9:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service

The Congressional Black Caucus welcomed actress and activist Mia Farrow Tuesday for the launch of the Darfur Fast for Life Campaign. According to a press release form Congressman Donald Payne’s office, the campaign calls on the CBC and others “to fast in solidarity with the Darfuri people who are suffering at the hands of the Omar al-Bashir regime in Sudan.”

Farrow discussed her experiences while in the region and said, “I was there when a school on the edge of the Darfur-Chad border was named the Obama school and with it there were so many expressions of hope.”

Farrow also said that as she stood in front of the Capitol she was reminded of how the American people are defining themselves. She commented that Americans are “bystanders to a genocide.”

Farrow is working to change this image and fasted for twelve days to call attention to the problems in Darfur. United States Representative and Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, Donald Payne (D-NJ) began a three-day water-only fast of his own on May 11, 2009, to prompt congressional leaders and the Obama administration to keep Darfur high on their list of priorities.

Omer Ismail, a Sudanese and senior advisor for Enough:the project to end genocide and crimes against humanity said, “We are trying to see to it that the United States is going to help end this tragedy in Darfur and bring peace to the whole Sudan because Darfur is a state or a region in Sudan that is ridded with problems. But it is part of the bigger problem of Sudan that is security, democracy, peace and a rule of law.”

By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service

Actress and activist, Mia Farrow, discusses the significance of calling attention to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, with the U.S. Capitol as a backdrop. (0:20)

 

 Standard Podcast [0:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

By Celia Canon- Talk Radio News Service

Top Senate Democrats and State Department officials reiterated their intent to help Sudan and the DRC with its rape problem.

According to Melanne Verveer, the U.S. State Department Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, “36 women are raped daily” in Sudan.

“This must stop,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). “As colleagues we must come together – across all the lines that normally divide us – to end this madness…If raping an infant is not a crime against humanity, I don’t know what is.”

The attention of lawmakers was piqued after the release of reports by Human Rights Watch, which said that “the number of women and girls raped since January has significantly increased in areas of military operations by armed groups and soldiers of the Congolese Army.”

Boxer explained the need to intervene immediately as one representing more than a humanitarian crisis. “If raping an infant is not a rime against humanity, I don’t know what is” she said.

According to Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), “The United States has an important role to play, in helping to facilitate such initiatives and ensure sound policies are implemented”.

DRC-based journalist Chouchou Namegabe Nabintu said that “The rapes are targeted and intentional, and are meant to remove the people from their mineral-rich land through fear, shame, violence, and the intentional spread of HIV throughout entire families and villages.”

Verveer said that the problem can not be resolved by attempting to prosecute perpetrators. “The law enforcement personnel and magistrates continue to treat rape and sexual violence in general with a marked lack of seriousness,” she said. But, “a solution must be found to stop the war and restore an order that will have to be completely reshaped in order to reduce the power the soldiers now have,” she said.

”Ending the conflict is the most important direct and certain path to ending the violence. Peace negotiations … should remain our highest priority” said Verveer.

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) quoting a Refugees International report which states that rape in Darfur is used by the government as a weapon against society. (0:36)

 

 Standard Podcast [0:36m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Andrew Natsios, former administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, discussing the need for a practical political solution in order to end the violence which has ravaged Darfur (0:38).

 Other Media: Download

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

One week after thirteen international aid organizations were expelled from Darfur, and one day after President Obama named Former General J. Scott Gration as a special envoy to Sudan, Congressman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said that military options to stop the genocide should not be ruled out. These military options could come to fruition as a no-fly zone. McGovern hopes the Obama administration’s diplomacy can prevail, but went on to say that time is running out and that Obama should work with NATO, the African Union, and the Arab League to stop the violence immediately, since more people are dying each day.

The Congressman said, “What we have done up to this point has not worked.” He said that genocide, violence, and rape are continuing, and now the government is “going to starve people to death.” McGovern went on to say that the Sudanese government is “determined to kill the people of Darfur” and drew similarities between the situation and the Holocaust

The Save Darfur Coalition said that since the aid organizations were expelled by President Omar al-Bashir, approximately 1.1 million civilians have been left without food aid, 1.5 million without health care, and almost 1 million without drinking water. In the crisis at large, the United Nations states that since 2003 over 200,000 people have been killed, and over 2 million people have been displaced.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir expelled the aid organizations after being indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. Congressman Jim Moran (D-Va.) charged, “this expulsion of aid workers further confirms the legitimacy of the indictment,” and that the president is guilty as charged.

Congressman Chris Smith (R-N.J.) continued that he thinks there is no “political will” right now to send more troops into harm’s way considering America’s presence in Iraq and Afghanistan and feels that African Union forces should be left to do the job. African Union troops have unsuccessfully tried to quell the violence in the past. Smith said he believes a renewed effort by the African Union forces will yield better results.