By Laura Woodhead – Talk Radio News Service

Health care reform without a public option is not worth the vote House progressive leaders said Thursday. Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Raul Grijalva, (D-Ariz.) warned that a plan without a strong public option does not constitute real reform.

“The line has been drawn,” said Grijalva, during a conference call to discuss why a growing number of House members refuse to support a bill without a public option. “For us to pile on a trillion plus dollars into the same bankrupt system that we have of health care delivery in this country, the same insurance industry, is not worth the vote if it doesn’t have a public option.”

The comments come following a letter sent to Health and Human Service Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Monday, signed by 60 progressive members of congress, stating that there would be no support for a health care bill, either on the House floor or after conference, that contained no public option.

Congressional Progressive Caucus vice Co-Chair Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), warned that attempts at a bi-partisan compromise on the public option would not produce positive votes from Republicans, as it is reform that they oppose, not a public plan.

“Anybody who thinks that the way to get a bill is to abandon the public option better be able to explain, better be able to tell me how many people they think they are going to get from the right side of the aisle,” Ellison said. “We won’t get any. The fact is that we should not count on any Republican votes.”

Joining the Congressmen in the discussion was Jacob Hacker, Stanley Resor Professor of Political Science, Yale University who said that the Senate Finance Committee’s compromise in the form of “untested” consumer co-operative simply did not represent real reform.

“Consumer co-operatives should not be seen as a substitute for a public plan,” said Hacker. “[Co-ops are a] political solution to a political problem unlike the public plan which is a policy solution to a real world problem.”

“They should be understood for what they are, an effort to kill the public plan and with it an effective competitor to consolidated insurance companies.”

By Laura Woodhead – Talk Radio News Service

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Department Of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said that it was imperative that the private sector and the government work together to stop the spread of the H1N1 strain which is expected to make a resurgence in mid September.

“This a real shared responsibility. The federal government is doing our part,” said Sebelius during a joint news conference Wednesday. “But we really rely on the private sector to make sure that Americans are as safe and secure as possible.”

“A little planning now will help ensure that our economy withstands whatever the H1N1 throws us this fall,” said Commerce Secretray Gary Locke.

Secretary Napolitano warned against failing to take immediate action to halt the virus.

“Lets not just play wait and see, lets be proactive,” said Napolitano. “We are being proactive at the level we are at, but now we are asking the business community to be proactive too.”

The new guidelines outline how businesses can help prevent the spread of disease within their workforce, through steps that include enforcing cleanliness standards, encouraging employees to get their regular flu shots and putting plans in place to accommodate the expected absences caused by H1N1.

Secretary Locke said that during the outbreak it would be essential for employers to send their employees home if they showed symptoms and allow them to take time off to recover.

“In America we love to praise puritan work ethic,” said Locke. “But this fall it would serve the country better to praise common sense and responsibility.”

Responding to the claim that the H1N1 vaccine would not be ready in time for the upcoming flu season, Secretary Sebelius said that production is on schedule.

“We are very much on target,” Sebelius said. However, she added, “we never anticipated that all of the vaccine would be available day one, it will be on a role out basis.”

To view the guidelines and for more information of preventing the spread of H1N1 visit www.flu.gov

By Laura Woodhead – Talk Radio News Service

The public option is still on the table Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Tuesday. Speaking at the US Administration on Aging’s annual Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) conference, Secretary Sebelius said that her comment Sunday that the public option was “not an essential element” of health care reform, was misrepresented by the media.

“All I can tell you is that Sunday must have been a very slow news day, because here’s the bottom line: absolutely nothing has changed,” she said. “We continue to support the public option that will help lower costs, give American consumers more choice and keep private insurers honest.”

The Secretary went on to address the scare tactics that she said opponents of health care reform were using in order to frighten the elderly into not supporting the administrations’ proposed changes.

“Lots of information has been circulated causing fear among some seniors about cutting valuable medicare services or rationing care,” Sebelius said. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”

The comments came at the end of the Secretary’s speech on how the administration is taking steps to tackle Medicare fraud. In any system were there was over $600 billion circulating, “you know that there are people around who want to get their mitts on the cash” Sebelius said. Efforts by the SMP would help “save medicare dollars” and cut waste within the health care system but it was reform that would make the real difference.

“Absent health care reform, doctors providing medicare are scheduled to be cut 21%,” she warned. “You talk about losing your doctor. That will happen [unless we pass reform].”

By Laura Woodhead

Consumer protection groups urged the Department of Transportation (DOT) Thursday to investigate scams stemming from the Car Allowance Rebate System, commonly called Cash For Clunkers, in a letter sent to Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood.

According to the groups, some dealers are making customers sign liability waivers that will result in the consumer being held liable if the dealer is not given a rebate by the government, despite being accepted by the dealer as meeting all “Cash for Clunkers” standards. According to these contracts, the consumer would have to pay up the loss or risk losing their new car, even if their old car had already been crushed, said Joe Ridout, spokesman for Consumer Action during a conference call with reporters.

“We are troubled by this disturbing new trend,” said Ridout. “Frankly, we feel that dealers should be bending over backwards in gratitude to car buyers, who in their role as tax payers, provided this financial lifeline to dealerships.”

“The DOT should send a clear message that car buyers should in no way be liable,” he added. “Dealers have reaped the benefits of the program and should be made to play by its rules.”

The letter also called for an investigation into so called “double dipping,” in which dealers deliberately mislead the consumer into paying the “Cash for Clunkers” payment upfront under the promise they will receive the check for $4500 later, only to have the dealer take the money and later tell them that their car did not qualify.

“Some are taking advantage of consumers who are still confused about the program,” Ridout said. This puts consumers “at risk of being charged twice, once as a taxpayer footing the bill for this subsidy to assist car dealerships and the second time as a customer of a dealer known to double dip.”

Rosemary Shahan, President of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, said that she understood the anxiety that was behind the contingency contracts, when many dealers were unsure of how long the program would last or if they would recieve a check. However, it should be them, not the consumer that carried the liability, Shahan said.

“A lot of them have gone out on a limb and entered into a lot of contracts on the promise the money is forthcoming and they are still waiting for the deals to be processed,” Shahan said. “The question is: should consumers take the risk when dealers know what they are getting into?”

“If the dealers decides, given all the unknowns, that they want to go ahead and offer these [Cash for Clunkers] contracts they should be assuming the risks and argue it out with the government,” she said.

In response to the letter, the DOT has placed a warning on the Cash for Clunkers website (www.cars.gov) telling customers that “consumers are not required to sign contingency agreements to pay back the dealer should the cars credit be rejected.”

By Laura Woodhead – Talk Radio News

Health insurance companies are using disinformation to spread lies about health care reform to scare Americans, an industry whistleblower, former CIGNA Vice President Wendell Potter, said Wednesday during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol. Potter warned that Americans need to be alert about tactics the health insurance industry have used in the past to stop health care reform.

“Industry leaders are always full partners in developing strategies to derail any reform that may interfere with insurers ability to increase profits,” Potter said.

Potter claimed that health Insurance firms have a history of “well financed PR campaigns every time Congress has tried to do what it is trying to do right now”. “Its current behind the scenes efforts may well shape reform that will benefit wall street much more than it will benefit average Americans,” said Potter.

While Potter acknowledged that not all outbursts at town halls were a result of insurance companies’ PR campaigns, he said it was important to recognize the covert role that the industry plays in promoting the false information that fuels opponents.

“The playbook is the same and has been the same for many years,” he said. “They are masters of linguistics. They know the hot button issues. They know buzzwords and expressions that get people excited.”

“Americans should realize that when they hear isolated stories about long waiting times in Canada to see doctors or allegations that care in other systems is rationed by government bureaucrats, the insurance industry has written the script.”

Potter claimed that these PR campaigns are payed for by increasingly costly consumer premiums of which only 85 cents of each dollar goes towards medical expenses.

“You can rest assured that’s where all the money comes from,” Potter said. “You can just imagine the amount of money that is being spent right now, millions and millions and millions of premium dollars are being spent to kill health care reform.”

Potter was joined by House Rules Chair Louise M. Slaughter (D- N.Y.), who said that many of the claims being made about the House health care bills were ridiculous and did not deserve the time that was being awarded to refuting them.

“With all the access to information it is simply pointless that we all have to go around seriously and try to refute those things with a crowd of people who are yelling and screaming,” said the Congresswoman.

“It is embarrassing to me as an American that people would even begin believe that their government would be putting people to death,” Slaughter said. “Why in the world would Americans believe this?”

By Laura Woodhead-Talk Radio News Service

Any health care reform legislation must include provisions to help small businesses, create more jobs and stimulate the economy, Senate Democrats said Wednesday.

“More than half of all Americans without health insurance are small business owners, their employees and their dependents,” said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) during a press conference. “We are trying to craft a reform that will make health coverage more stable, more secure and more affordable.”

Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Chair of the Senate Small Business Committee, said that the high costs of health care has been limiting the potential for U.S businesses to create more jobs.

“We are relying on these 27 million businesses to create more jobs, not less,” Landrieu said. “This health care expense is sitting on our Business Committee like a very wet, heavy heavy blanket suffocating their ability to grow and expand.”

Under the current drafts of health care reform legislation, small business risks would be pooled with other small businesses in order to stabilize the system through nationwide or statewide exchanges.

“Insurance companies would have to post their premiums side by side so that [employers] can comparison shop,” Durbin said. “[Small businesses] will have access to every private insurance company in [their] area.”

Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) said it was critical that small businesses were included in health care reform in order to stimulate the economy.

“[Small businesses] are the engines of our economy,” Lincoln stated. “We need to make sure that what we are doing is going to be helping them.”

Durbin admitted that forming the health care bill was a delicate process and that there would be “flash points” along the way, but urged his party’s colleagues to stay united in order to pass reform.

“[While] what is being produced by the bi-partisan group from the Finance Committee is not the bill that I would write, I have urged all my colleagues to stick with this process and realize that the first vote is not the last vote,” Durbin said. “The Republican [minority] want to filibuster us in to failure. We can’t let that happen.”

By Laura Woodhead – Talk Radio News Service

The Democrats’ health care plan is a taxpayer funded abortion mandate said a group of pro-life GOP congressmen Tuesday.

Speaking at a press conference calling for the exemption of taxpayer funded abortion in health care reform, Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) said that the current health care bill contained a hidden abortion mandate.

“History has demonstrated that unless abortion is explicitly excluded in the bill, administrative agencies and the courts will mandate it,” Pitts said. “Abortion will be determined to be an essential benefit. Pro-life Americans will be forced to pay for plans that pay for abortion.”

Pitts was joined by other House Republicans, as well as pro-life leaders from across the country.

“Obamacare is the abortion industry bailout act of 2009,” said Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Chairman of the Pro-Life Caucus. “In 2007 Mr. Obama told Planned Parenthood that reproductive care is essential care…make no mistake, when they use the words reproductive care, what they are talking about is abortion.”

Smith warned his colleagues to be wary of any proposals that appeared to be compromises between pro-life and pro-choice congressmen on the health care bill, calling them “bogus proposals that we have seen so many times in the past,” and arguing that they would turn out to be “pro-abortion.”

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), Chairman of the House Republican Conference, said it was essential that legislation reflects and respects the values of the majority of the American people.

” The legislation before the Congress today, at least in its current form, overrides the values of an overwhelming majority of Americans, who do now and have throughout the history following Roe v. Wade, always opposed taxpayer funding of abortions” he said.

Pitts said he will be offering an amendment during the Energy and Commerce Committee markup that will specifically exclude abortion funding from the bill.

Cruelty to animals creates a lust for violence in society said Rep. James Moran (D-Va.) Monday. Speaking at a rally organized by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to promote animal protection legislation, Rep. Moran said HSUS lobbying would hopefully lead to the “ending [of] needless suffering, senseless violence.”

“When we become desensitized to suffering it creates this almost lust for violence. It kind of gets ingrained in society and kids growing up think this is okay,” Moran said. “Ultimately it adversely effects all of us, our quality of life, our security, who we are as a community of good people.”

“This is what America needs to be about. Not the commercialization of everything, not seeing every living thing as how I can make a profit from it,” he added.

Moran argued that there are loopholes in certain laws that have led to inhumane treatment of animals in the U.S.; Particularly, a nation-wide requirement that only products priced over $150 must contain the label “made from fur.”

“This is about consumers having a choice. It’s a moral decision if someone wants to buy fur. This is a free country, they can do that if they want,” Moran said. “At least give them the information so that they can make the decisions based upon the facts.”

Moran was joined by actress Ginnifer Goodwin and the president and CEO of HSUS Wayne Pacelle in addressing HSUS members who had spent the day lobbying Congressmen and Senators for tighter animal protection laws.

Goodwin praised the HSUS for sparking her interest in animal rights, and urged them to continue being persistent.

“As long as we keep sharing there will be a mass domino effect.” Goodwin said “And only good can come of that.”

Pacelle said that it was essential for the HSUS to take its fight to Capitol Hill in order to effect change and be considered a serious movement by the rest of the country.

“All of the social movements that really make progress to the point of being treated seriously in the world have to have their issues debated in the Capitol,” Pacelle said.

He added that it is the duty of Congress to pass legislation that would protect animals due to an imbalance of power between humans and animals.

“We hold all the cards, we control their destiny,” Pacelle said. “We need standards. We need laws to hold everyone in society accountable to these standards.”

By Laura Woodhead – Talk Radio News Service

Dialogue between the U.S and China is key to solving the most important questions of the 21st century, including environmental, economic, and nuclear proliferation concerns, said President Barack Obama Monday during an address to the first meeting of the U.S – China Strategic and Economic Dialogue.

“We cannot predict with any certainty what the future will bring, but we can be certain about the issues that will define our times,” the President said. “Our ability to partner with each other is a prerequisite for progress on many of the most pressing global challenges.”

The President said it was essential for both the U.S and China to work aggressively to prevent further economic downturn along with following the mandate of “common sense” in order to transform their energy economies.

“The United States and China are the two largest consumers of energy in the World,” Obama said. “Let’s be frank: neither of us profits from a growing dependence on foreign oil, nor can we spare our people from the ravages of climate change unless we cooperate.”

The President also addressed the importance of U.S – China cooperation in preventing rogue nations from gaining nuclear capabilities, particularly Iran and North Korea.

“The more nations acquire these weapons, the more likely they will be used,” Obama warned.

While much of the speech focused on the positive aspects of the U.S – China relationship, including respect for China’s history and culture, the President did address China’s human rights issues. He stressed that it was important that people should be “free to speak their minds.”

“Support for human rights and human dignity is ingrained in America,” Obama said. “Those rights include the freedom to speak your mind; to worship your God; and to choose your leaders. These are not things that we seek to impose, this is who we are.”

Obama outlined his view of the countries’ future relationship.

“I believe in a future where China is a strong, prosperous and successful member of the community.” Obama said. “This is not fixed, but it is a destination that can be reached if we pursue a sustained dialogue like the one we commence today.”

The President said that he was under no illusion that the United States and China would agree on every issue, but that this was what made discussions between the two countries all the more essential.

“[Disagreement] makes dialogue more important so that we can know each other better and communicate our concerns with candor.”

By Laura Woodhead – Talk Radio News Service

Although the Senate may not vote on health care until after the August recess, passing reform is still an urgent priority said top Democrats on Thursday. Speaking at a press conference, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) said while it’s unlikely that a bill would be up for debate on the Senate floor before September, the Senate has no excuse to take its time on finding solutions for our nation’s health care problems.

“That does not excuse our committees from doing everything we can during these weeks before the August break, and during the August break to try and meld our ideas and bills together in order so that when we return in September we will be prepared.” Dodd said. “We do not have the luxury of not dealing with this.”

Dodd said that the President’s leadership on health care reform has been strong.

[President Obama] is committed, as committed as any president I have ever seen to a single issue. He has said over and over again that he will expand whatever capital in order to achieve the goal of national health care reform in the nation” Dodd said.

Sen. Thomas Carper (D-Del.) explained that the health care bill is moving slowly through committee because of the multitude of problems being addressed.

“This is probably the hardest legislative lift that any of us will make whether we are here for four years or forty,” said Carper. “If it takes a couple of extra days, a couple of extra weeks or even a couple of extra months its worth the wait.”

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius joined the Senators, and stressed that health care reform must help not only Americans who are uninsured, but also those who do already have insurance.

“The current cost curve cannot be sustained by business owners or by families,” Sebelius said. “Those who have health insurance are a day, a week, a month away from losing it.”

Dodd said that there would be a bill on the President’s desk by the end of the year.

“We have a mandate from the American people to address this issue,” he said. “I still believe very strongly that we are going to achieve that goal.”

“I’m willing to wait, spend the time, do it right, but we need to get it done.”