By Marianna Levyash – Talk Radio News Service

Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) displayed concern over the high cost of the Senate health care bill during a press conference Thursday.

According to statistics Gregg obtained from the Senate Budget Committee, the bill increases federal spending by $1.2 trillion between now and 2019, and if fully implemented, it would cost over $2.5 trillion over the next ten years.

“This representation that it’s an $850 million dollar bill is simply wrong,” said Gregg.

Republicans opposed to the legislation say taxes will go up by nearly $500 billion, Medicare will be cut by $465 billion and that 24 million people will still be left uninsured.

“Revenues shouldn’t go to create a new entitlement, they should go to reduce the out-year already contingent unfunded liability that we have in Medicare,” stated Gregg.

The Senate is expected to vote on the bill this coming Saturday.

By Ravi Bhatia – Talk Radio News Service

In a news conference Monday, Sens. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) introduced their alternative to the Kerry-Boxer climate bill. The “Clean Energy Act of 2009” would allocate $100 billion in loans for technology-neutral, carbon-free electricity over the next 20 years, with the goal of doubling nuclear production during that time.

The legislation would invest $1 billion over five years on enabling the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to review new nuclear reactor designs. Hitachi and General Electric are two companies that have worked on a design that would create reactors that use fewer pumps and would cut the construction time of a nuclear power plant to 42 months.

Both senators argued that their bill could easily attract bipartisan support, unlike the cap and trade plan, which they said encourages the outsourcing of American jobs. Webb said he was particularly concerned with the complexity of cap and trade, claiming that that there is “no way to fully measure [its] potential impact on the economy.”

“[Our bill] is measurable, achievable, targeted,” Webb said.

While the Webb-Alexander bill primarily focuses on nuclear energy, it would also fund what Alexander calls five “Mini-Manhattan Projects,” which would invest in clean coal, advanced biofuels, advanced batteries, solar power, and nuclear fuel recycling.

Webb, whose opposition to the Kerry-Boxer legislation is a serious blow to the oft-debated bill, said that he and Alexander would continue to oppose it even if their legislation was included.

By Marianna Levyash – Talk Radio News Service

In a news conference on Wednesday, Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) said that they are fully prepared to block any Democratic efforts to end debate on the Senate’s healthcare reform bill.

“It looks like the next vote will be a vote to move to the bill and that will be the first vote for or against the bill that will, as presently constructed, raise premiums, raise taxes, cut medicare…and create a new government-run insurance program,” said Alexander.

The Tennessee Republican stated his belief that each member of the Senate “will be looking at this vote in terms of having consistency…and whether they’ll vote for the final bill.”

“60 votes would end the debate…and that is an important thing to keep in mind,” added Johanns.

Both Alexander and Johanns repeated the GOP’s message that the Democratically-backed legislation is “fundamentally flawed.”

By Joseph Russell- Talk Radio News Service

Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) appeared perturbed when he argued that senior citizens in the U.S. will rebel against the government if it attempts to over take health care. Hatch, alongside Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), said that there are at least five Republican health care proposals already drafted that are better than the Democrats’ plan.

“They’re gonna ration care,” Hatch said. “There’s no use kidding about it, they hate to hear that word on the Democrat side, but how else can it be?” He issued a direct challenge to Democrats, urging them to “prove me wrong.”

Among the many Republican hang-ups over the Democrat proposal is the fate of the elderly and poor. Hatch asserted that Medicaid will go bankrupt as 9 out of every 10 seniors will lose their end-of-life care.

Similarly, the Republicans asserted that poor people will be hit hard due to an employer mandate that will force companies to cut the lowest paying jobs just to stay in business. Hatch said he cannot imagine that Democrats could support a proposal that “would double unemployment in Utah” and other states.

Both senators admitted that reform will be difficult, but as the health care debate continues to heat up, finding solutions to issues has become more complex. Democrats are finding the “best way to go in the wrong direction,” according to Hatch, who later repeated his belief that “the seniors won’t be happy.”

By Courtney Ann Jackson- Talk Radio News Service

Republican Senators reiterated Wednesday their desire to let the public to see the health care bill before Congress considers passing it, adding that if a bipartisan bill couldn’t be created that included the key elements of their proposals such as cutting costs and coverage for everyone, they should just start over.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) argued that attempting to pass a health care bill before the August recess creates a “false deadline.”

“My recommendation to the President is to back off on that [deadline]. He’s going to find plenty of us to work with on a common sense proposal,” said Coburn. “Back off…and take us at our word that we truly want to work to solve this problem and I think that’s reflective of the vast majority of our conference.”

Coburn was joined by Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) to discuss the Republican health care agenda. Both Coburn and Barrasso are the Senate’s only two doctors.

Barrasso said physicians know we need health care reform. He also noted that we must get the costs under control and improve patient care.

“We’re here as two doctors to say we want to make this system better for all Americans,” said Barraso.

Coburn highlighted the need for Republicans to continue working and not slow down or lose focus as they continually push for their proposals to be seriously considered.

Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) says that the United States needs leadership from the President in order to promote nuclear energy (0:30).

 

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By Justin Duckham-Talk Radio News Service

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) believes that congressional Democrats have taken the wrong approach to health care reform and suggests hitting the proverbial reset button.

“My advice would be that we start over,” Alexander said during a pen and pad session with reporters. “The main focus should be on the cost of health care for the 250 million Americans who already have it and on the cost of their government once we get through this legislation.”

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), who also attended, took issue with the optimistic language the Obama administration has been using to describe the effects of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

“It’s becoming increasingly apparent to the American people that this administration and House Democrats are out of touch with this economy,” Pence argued. “The President on July 1st actually said that the stimulus bill had ‘done its job’.”

Alexander agreed, comparing the statement to a much derided misstep from the previous administration.

“I think his comment…sounds an awful lot to me like ‘Mission Accomplished’, and President Bush was held accountable for that and I think President Obama should be held accountable for this,” Alexander said, referencing former President Bush’s 2003 appearance in front of a banner marked “Mission Accomplished” prior to the worst days of the Iraqi insurgency.

By Sam Wechsler- Talk Radio News Service

Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) announced Monday his plan to build 100 new nuclear power plants in the next 20 years in order to create jobs, clean the air, and solve global warming. His blueprint is part of Senate Republicans’ fourfold plan for more clean energy: 100 new nuclear power plants, electric cars and trucks, offshore exploration of natural gas and oil, and doubling energy research and development to make renewable energy affordable.

Alexander criticized the Waxman-Markey Bill by saying, “What started out as an effort to address global warming by reducing carbon emissions has ended up as a contraption of taxes and mandates that will impose a huge and unnecessary burden on the economy.”

Alexander expects the 100 nuclear reactors to cost $700 billion in total, less than the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act cost. He also expects almost all of the money to come from private investment, some from foreign governments and manufacturers. Only the first dozen reactors would be with government money via loan guarantees, which would cost taxpayers no money at all.

He believes that nuclear energy is the best option for clean energy, partially due to its lack of interference with the ecosystem. “The great American outdoors is a revered part of the American character. We’ve spent a century preserving it; there is no need to destroy the environment in the name of saving the environment,” he said. The Senator later argued that a one square mile nuclear power plant would produce the same amount of energy as a 30 square mile solar plant, or 270 square miles of 50 story wind turbines.

According to Alexander, an exaggerated fear of nuclear technology and a failure to appreciate the density of its energy are holding back nuclear energy’s progression.

“Nuclear power is the obvious first step to a policy of clean and low-cost energy,” said Alexander.

By Annie Berman – Talk Radio News Service

At a hearing Thursday, the Senate Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety discussed the most cost-effective way for Congress to regulate toxic emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NOx) and mercury.

“We need Congress to develop a comprehensive three-pollutant bill that provides protective and reasonably attainable reductions of SO2 and NOx emissions, incorporates the regulation of mercury and other hazardous air pollutants,” said Randall R. LaBauve, Vice President of Environmental Services for the Florida Power & Light Company, who testified at the hearing.

A “cap and trade” policy continues to be a controversial issue regarding the regulation of toxic emissions. Though almost all of the witnesses at the hearing were in favor of a cap and trade policy, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) was clearly against it.

“We’ve had testimony before this committee by Oak Ridge scientists, that cap and trade was a very inefficient way to deal with fuel because it raises the price, that’s for sure, but it doesn’t reduce the carbon. It only raises the price by 10 or 20 cents, but that’s not enough to change behavior,” said Alexander.

John B. Stephenson, Director of Natural Resources and Environment at the United States Government Accountability Office was one of several at the hearing who recommended using sorbent injections to reduce mercury emissions. Sorbent injections function essentially like a filtering system to remove mercury from releasing into the air.

“When the results of 50 tests of sorbent injection systems at power plants [were conducted]…mercury reductions of at least 90 percent [had] been achieved,” said Stephenson.

Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) also shared some alarming statistics regarding toxic pollutants in an attempt to demonstrate the urgency of this issue.

“More than 24,000 Americans die a year from sulfur dioxide emissions alone. Unfortunately, many of our fellow Americans are exposed to these pollutants every day. Six out of 10 Americans – more than 186 million people – live in areas where air pollution levels endanger lives.”

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) urges for quick action to reduce sodium dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NOx), and mercury emissions from polluting the air. These emissions are released when coal is burned. (0:48)

 

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