Saturday, August 1, 2009

Quick Notes & Articles - August 1

House Energy & Commerce Committee Approves Health-Care Reform Bill - The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved a "sweeping" health-care reform bill on Friday that aims to provide nearly all Americans with health insurance. The vote was a very tight 31 to 28 and was taken after days of intense negotiations with "Blue Dog" Democrats over the cost of the bill. The bill still needs to pass a vote in the House. From there the bill would need to pass the Senate Finance Committee and pass in the full Senate. Negotiations between Senate Democrats and Republicans as well as within the House are on-going.

In the Senate Finance Committee, the chairman has said they will not be able to bring to a vote the bill by the August 7th vacation for Congress. Congress will go "home" for a month and arrive back in session on September 8. The committee will take the bill up again then.

Several groups are preparing media campaigns during the break to help influence constituents to press their representatives to vote for or against the proposal.

Cartoon

This was too good and funny not to pass along.



Articles

Poised for a Rebound - The Wall Street Journal - "The bad news in yesterday’s second-quarter GDP is that the recession was even deeper than previously thought. Or should we say that is the good-bad news. Because that pain is now largely past, the very steepness of the decline means that the economy is now poised for a sharper rebound, or at least it should be if the history of recessions is any guide."

What’s Wrong With a Single-Payer System? - By David Brooks & Gail Collins - The New York Times - "It’s from a section in which the C.B.O. analyzes what the House plan, with the strong public program and all the rest, would do to health care inflation: 'The net cost of the coverage provisions would be growing at a rate of more than 8 percent per year in nominal terms between 2017 and 2019; we would anticipate a similar trend in the subsequent decade.'"

Bruce Springsteen Has Lesson for World’s Jocks - By Scott Soshnick - Bloomberg - Preferences aside, every athlete should download Bruce Springsteen’s 'Glory Days.' Springsteen’s message of living in the past has never been more relevant. As such, it signifies the plight of Michael Vick, the disgraced National Football League star who finally seems to understand that he must nurture the person, not just the player."

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