Thomas Bjorn Zeltner, Director-General of the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health, talks about the importance of developing a long-term health care plan. (1:25)

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

House Republicans held a press conference today calling for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to allow a vote on comprehensive energy reform. Speakers said the Republican strategy would solve America’s energy crisis by developing renewable and alternative fuels, using clean coal and nuclear energy, and increasing the levels of American-produced oil and gas.

Rep. Thad McCotter (R-Mich.) attacked the “do-nothing, don’t-care” Congress via phone, saying Pelosi has allowed Congress to stay on vacation while the energy crisis remains unsolved.
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) outlined the Republican standpoint on energy, saying that “energy security is in effect national security.” Boehner also said that revenues gained by the US government from increased oil exploration would be used to fund renewable sources of energy. He concluded his statement, asking Pelosi to “give [Congress] a chance to show the American people we can produce what they want.”

Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said that by 2030, America’s energy needs will have increased by 30 to 40 percent. He adds that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has discussed the need to increase the US’ nuclear energy supplies by 50% by that time, which the Arizona Senator believes would create 750,000 new jobs. “We cannot stay at home with [this] job undone,” Upton said.

This morning, “Time to Choose: Children or Bureaucracy” a panel on education reform was held at the Marriot Hotel in Minneapolis. It featured presentations from several distinguished speakers, including documentary director Bob Compton, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and the Rev. Al Sharpton. All participants spoke about reaching across party lines and acting on education reform as soon as possible.

Rev. Sharpton said, “The fact of the matter is that all of us, whatever we believe, whatever our party, our philosophy, our religion or our ideologies, all of us will leave behind a world that somehow our kids must go through.” Much of Sharpton’s focus on reform was aimed towards making parents more responsible for and involved in their children’s education.

Speaker Gingrich had a more dramatic approach, one that appeared to be popular with the crowd. “I believe we have to elevate math and science education to a matter of national defense,” he said. “We must improve it greatly to increase our security and secure our future.”

Major General Robert W. Cone of the Combined Security transition command - Afghanistan (CSTCA) says that the Afghan police are several years behind the Afghan army in terms of capabilities and trust of the Afghan people. Cone cites changes such as pay reform and rank reform to ensure greater accountability in the police force. (0:34)

 

 Standard Podcast [0:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) spoke today at the League of United Latin American Citizens about the founding of LULAC. He said that American’s have a fundamental belief that American’s rise and fall together, so they need to work together in orders to succeed. (0:36)

 

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

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and Ambassador for ASEAN Affairs Scot Marciel discusses the importance of promoting reform in Southeast Asian countries as one of the aspects that the U.S. can engage in with Southeast Asia (0:36)

 

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

Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and current senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute of Public Policy Research (AEI), gave a speech today focused on the problems America faces domestically and his thoughts about correcting such problems.

Gingrich’s speech was critical of Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic Party, and American culture in general. Gingrich expressed a desire for America’s poor to learn to bring wealth into their communities for themselves, not by doing so with the benefits of government programs.

Gingrich criticized Obama’s plans to improve urban education, even opining, “no one on the left is prepared to rebuild Detroit,” a city the former member of Congress was particularly adamant about rebuilding.

Gingrich’s plan to rebuild America focused primarily upon improving the cultural values that dominate our society today. Also, Gingrich praised former Mayor of New York City Rudy Guliani for his efforts to curtail crime in New York. Gingrich explained that American education must be reformed for our students to be able to compete with Chinese and Indian students.