By Leah Valencia, The University of New Mexico- Talk Radio News Service
A poll commissioned by Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.) showed that he trails Gov. Charlie Crist (R-Fla.) in the race for the state’s Senate seat by a margin of 47-31 percent.
According to the Sept. 23-28 poll of 800 likely Florida voters, 47 percent said they believe Crist is doing a good job, but only 27 percent say they are certain to vote for him on election day.
Crist’s public support has recently declined and many Florida voters have claimed that he is putting his own personal ambition ahead of his state by running for Senate mid-term.
Meek’s campaign is trying to capitalize on Crist’s vulnerability, saying that Florida voters can be swayed and that, given his background of service, Meek has a good chance of winning.
During a press briefing hosted by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Wednesday, Meek said he plans to gain momentum with the support of notable Democrats such as former President Bill Clinton and Senator Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) in his corner.
“I will be a stronger and stronger David in this David-versus-Goliath battle,’’ Meek said.
U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) says that the stimulus package “has been a flop”, basing his criticism on the rise of unemloyement in his home state of Florida. (0:36)
By Aaron Richardson and Sam Wechsler – Talk Radio News Service
The Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2009, which has recently been introduced to the House and Senate, would raise the cap on the number of resident physicians created by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. The bill is backed primarily by Representatives Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) and Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) and Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).
The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 only permits a certain number of Medicare supported resident physicians in each state. Under current conditions, if a hospital hires more than the capped number they will not be paid back for the surplus of residents.
While the population of the country has risen significantly in the last 12 years, the amount of resident physicians has not. This has resulted in a higher patient to physician ratio.
If health reform legislation is passed, then there will not be enough physicians to care for the newly insured. “Covering 45 million uninsured individuals is going to place an incredible burden on an already stressed out system,” said Crowley.
The act sets out to increase the number of young primary care physicians. This is especially important to Florida, where 25 percent of primary care physicians are 65 years of age or older.
“I believe this is a health access crisis” said Stephen Klasko, Dean of the University of South Florida College of Medicine, during a press conference with Castor and Crowley.
By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service
Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Keith Hall testifies before Congress on the nation’s unemployment numbers from March 2009, and how the recession has affected employment.
Hall said that unemployment numbers have climbed from 8.1 percent to 8.5 percent, and that the industries hardest hit are manufacturing, construction, and temporary services.
By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service
A day after President Barack Obama’s budget was passed by a Congress boiling with partisanship, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report showing unemployment at its highest since 1983. There are now 13.2 million Americans out of work.
The pouring rain in Washington mirrored the sobered mood in the room, as the Joint Economic Committee heard the testimony of Keith Hall, the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
March was one of the worst Months on record for unemployment, and when asked outright, Hall told the committee that there were no “bright spots” in the report.
National unemployment climbed to 8.5 percent in March, rising from the level of 8.1 percent in February and 7.6 percent in January.
Hall said that two-thirds of the job loss has happened in the past 5 months. Every state is in recession for the first time in 30 years, according to Carolyn Maloney (D-NY).
Official unemployment numbers do not encompass underemployed Americans or those who have officially left the workforce. It is reported that 16 percent of the country is out of work or underemployed. One in four of those unemployed have been out of work for more than six months, and of those, half have been looking for work for over a year, Hall said.
Maloney highlighted that last month, 8,000 jobs were lost in the news publishing industry. Those losses total 70,000 job cuts since Dec. 2007, Hall said, adding that most job losses have been see in the manufacturing, construction, and temporary services industries. The only area to see any growth in March was the Healthcare industry, Hall said.
Ranking Committee member Senator Sam Brownback (R-KA) noted that the impact of the ongoing recession was not severe for almost a year after it began in December 2007. Brownback attributed recent dramatic jumps in job losses over the past five months to the lockup in the credit markets and the government bailouts that followed.
The Federal Reserve believes that unemployment will peak at 8.8 percent this year, but Ranking House Committee Member Kevin Brady (R-TX) said that the unemployment rate is already higher than what the administration anticipated for 2009. Brady said that the Obama Administration’s “optimistic assumptions” would not get the country out of its current mess.
President Obama’s Economic Stimulus package was passed by Congress earlier this year, and saw an unprecedented amount of money placed into public works meant to put people back to work. Obama has pledged the legislation will save or create three to four million jobs over the next two years.
By Suzia van Swol-Talk Radio News Service, University of New Mexico
Congressman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) talks with TRNS correspondent Suzia van Swol at the 2009 House Republican Radio Row about the budget and federal spending. He says that we need to get taxes under control and that the best way to do that is with a fair tax. Miller says that even though the American middle class is making sacrifices now, they won’t even know sacrifice until the President gets this budget passed and he tries to start funding some of the issues that are in it. (9:41)
by Christina Lovato, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service
“In the years I’ve been with the FRA [Federal Railroad Administration], I never thought I’d see the day when a strong and decisive commitment would be made on behalf of Amtrak,” said Jo Strang, the Acting Federal Railroad Administrator at a press conference where Vice President Joe Biden and members of Congress announced that Amtrak would be receiving $1.3 billion in grant funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to expand rail capacity.
Vice President Joe Biden who has been a passenger on Amtrak for over 7,000 round trips said that Amtrak has been neglected in funding. “Amtrak relies on some subsidies. Every, every, every, every passenger rail system in the world relies on subsidies. We subsidize our highways and airports more than we subsidize Amtrak….Amtrak has been left out much too long in my humble opinion,” he stated. Biden also expressed that the $1.3 billion will nearly double Amtrak’s investment program over the next two years. “It is work that will take care of critical, long neglected needs. It will put people to work immediately and it’s an investment of dollars that will not only create jobs now but yield benefits for our economy for years to come. It will begin to build a platform for the economy in the 21st century.”
Amtrak depends on American tax funds and employs more than 19,000 Americans. 500,000 Americans use Amtrak a week, which amounts to 80,000 passengers a day. In the fiscal year of 2008 Amtrak set a record by transporting 28.7 million people, the most in Amtrak’s history.
Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) who attended the conference said “We lose about 4.2 billion hours a year to congestion on our roads….We lose close to 3 billion gallons of gasoline, just people sitting there going nowhere in congestion.” Kerry said that this money will help not only Amtrak but it will help better the environment as well. “It’s going to make America more productive. It’s going to make us more environmentally friendly, it’s going to increase the productivity, it’s going to create jobs, and it’s going to create a sustainable economy,” he concluded.
Some of the funding will go towards the replacement of the movable bridge over the Niantic River on the northeast corridor in Connecticut, for repairing damaged passenger cars, repairs to Amtrak facilities nationwide, and construction of a new station for the auto train in Sanford, Florida.
by Christina Lovato, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service
“Firearms from the United States civilian gun market are fueling violence on both sides of our border with Mexico…The United States, it doesn’t just make trafficking military style weapons to them easy it practically compels that traffic.” said Tom Diaz, a Senior Policy Analyst at the Violence Policy Center and author of “Making a Killing: The Business of Guns in America.” at a Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing titled “Money, Guns, and Drugs: Are U.S. Inputs Fueling Violence on the U.S.- Mexico Border?”
Last year an estimated 6,290 drug-related murders occurred in Mexico and the death toll is still rising. Congressman John Mica (R-Fla.) said. “We’ve got to help them regain control with a plan and a policy of that country. It’s totally out of control, it is a slaughter house and its on our borders and it’s spilling into our cities.”
“Mexico matters to the United States…not just because Mexico is our neighbor…it is an issue where we are both deeply involved…U.S. drug sales account for as much as $10 to $25 billion each year that is sent back to Mexico to fuel violence and to support the cartels,” said Andrew Selee, the Director at the Woodrow Wilson Center Mexico Institute. Selee offered three recommendations on how to stop the flow of guns and drugs between Mexico and the United States. Selee expressed that the U.S. should reduce the consumption of drugs by investing in drug prevention programs; second, to disrupt the billions of dollars that flow from drug sales in the U.S. and back to drug trafficking organizations in Mexico by developing the intelligence capabilities to detect where the money is being transported from and to where. Third, to limit the flow of high caliber weapons from the United States to Mexico by increasing the number of ATF inspectors at the border and to increase cooperation with other law enforcement agencies.
Jonathon Paton, Arizona State Senator gave his thoughts on how to stop drug and gun trafficking as well and said, “the other thing we could do is to look at comprehensive immigration reform…which will allow us to focus on the real problem at hand which is the smugglers and not the people that are trying to find employment in the United States.”
Other representatives expressed their thoughts on the issue like Congressman Dan Burton (R-Ind.), who said, “I think drugs are the scourge of the Earth, I think that anybody that deals in drugs ought to be put in jail permanently or killed. That’s how bad I think drugs are.”
