Washington Watch
(By Gaylen Webb)
Health Info Network Advancing
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt’s efforts to create a public-private
collaboration on the electronic exchange of health information is
gaining momentum. Federal
Computer Week and Government
Computer News both published stories yesterday about legislation
in the House and Senate that would advance Leavitt’s initiative.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn) and Sen. Hillary
Clinton (D-NY)—an unlikely pair—plan to introduce comprehensive
legislation to encourage development of an interoperable health
IT network. In the House, Reps. Tim Murphy (R-Pa) and Patrick
Kennedy (D-R.I.) have introduced the “21st Century Health Information
Act…which mirrors health IT developments that HHS is implementing.”
Meanwhile, Leavitt has been traveling in the Ukraine and Russia
of late. Today he meets with Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. The
Sidney Morning Herald covered Leavitt’s recent meeting
with Russian counterpart, Mikhail Zurabov, the predominant
subject being Russia’s growing AIDS epidemic. The Herald reports
that AIDS experts believe by 2008 as many as 1 million people in
Russia could die because of AIDS.
Griffith Gets the Go
A lot of national coverage (Wired
News and Washington
Post) of Senate action placing Thomas Griffith of Utah,
on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The vote
was 73-24 and every opponent was a Democrat. Griffith was criticized
for not having a Utah law license while serving as a lawyer for
BYU and for losing his license in D.C. for failure to pay his Bar
Association dues. FYI: Griffith served as Senate counsel during
the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton.
Resurrect Hatch’s ‘Dream Act’?
Civilrights.org
is encouraging Sen. Orrin Hatch to reintroduce his “Dream
Act” legislation, which was introduced last Congress and had bipartisan
support, but never came up for a vote. Civilrights.org says the
Dream Act (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) would
“pave a road to legalization for immigrant students that meet certain
requirements” and “return to states the right to extend in-state
tuition relief to immigrant students regardless of their immigration
status.”
Violence Prevention
Meanwhile, Senators Hatch, Biden, and Specter
have introduced for reauthorization the Violence Against Women Act
2005. First passed by Congress and signed by Pres. Bill Clinton
in 1994, the Act will expire in September if Congress fails to reauthorize
it. Says Ms. Magazine.com:
“A landmark piece of legislation for women’s rights, VAWA provides
federal funding and protections for the prevention of domestic violence
and sexual assault and assistance to victims. VAWA also includes
critical provisions for improvements in law enforcement and judicial
response to violence against women.”
Honoring the Flag
Flag Day was yesterday, but I just came across these interesting
historical facts: On June 14, 1777, the Marine Committee of the
Continental Congress adopted a resolution, which gave birth to our
National Flag. The resolution read: "Resolved that the Flag of
the United States be made of 13 stripes, alternate red and white,
that the union be 13 stars, white in a blue field, representing
a new constellation."
General George Washington explained: "We take the stars
from heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white
stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white
stripes shall go down to posterity representing liberty."
On May 30, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson announced during
his Memorial Day address, that June 14th of each year would be celebrated
as Flag Day. "This flag, which we honor and under which we serve,
is the emblem of our unity, our power, our thought and purpose as
a nation. It has no other character than that which we give it from
generation to generation....Though silent, it speaks to us -- speaks
to us of the past, of the men and women who went before us, and
of the records they wrote upon it." (Source:
The Federalist Patriot)
Ronald Reagan on the Stars & Stripes
"[O]ur forefathers were motivated by something bigger than themselves.
From the harsh winter of Valley Forge to the blazing night above
Fort McHenry, those patriot soldiers were sustained by the ideal
of human freedom. Through the hardships and the setbacks, they kept
their eyes on that ideal and that purpose, just as through the smoke
of battle they kept a lookout for the flag. But with the birth of
our nation, the cause of human freedom had become forever tied to
that flag and its survival. ... And let us never forget that in
honoring our flag, we honor the American men and women who have
courageously fought and died for it over the last 200 years -- patriots
who set an ideal above any consideration of self and who suffered
for it the greatest hardships. Our flag flies free today because
of their sacrifice." (Source: The Federalist
Patriot)
People Watch
25 Years of Political Research I stopped for a few minutes Tuesday
evening at a very nice party at Red Butte Gardens celebrating the
25th anniversary of Dan Jones & Associates. Twenty-five years
of political polling is quite a remarkable record, and the firm
is still going strong. Pat Jones reminisced about the very
first focus group she conducted back in 1980. She plumbed the depths
of participants’ attitudes and knowledge about turkeys, doing research
for Norbest. She’s done work for a few political turkeys since then.
Who’s Afraid of Global Warming?
The debate over global warming is going to just get hotter. The
New York Times delights
in beating up on the issue. I don’t doubt that global warming
is real. There’s plenty of evidence for that. But I am a long way
from being convinced that humans are causing it and that it’s going
to be harmful. Most of the truly catastrophic environmental disasters
in the geologic history of the world have been Mother Nature-caused,
not human-caused. The asteroids, the gigantic volcanic eruptions,
the immense floods (like when Lake Bonneville drained), the earthquakes
and tsunamis, and the heating and cooling of the earth over millions
of years, with ice ages replacing tropical rain forests, have wiped
out numerous species and dramatically altered entire ecosystems.
By comparison, the impact of humankind has been puny. I’m all for
protecting the environment, but before we slow economic growth and
increase costs for everyone, we ought to really know first, if global
warming is actually going to be hurtful and, second, whether there’s
anything we can do about it. The scientists are still dueling on
those two issues.
– LaVarr Webb
Reader Response
Is Congressional Seat Worth Violating Constitution?
(From Raymond Takashi Swenson, an attorney
from Idaho Falls)
I receive your publication. I am a Utah native and a member of
the Utah State Bar. I also lived and worked in the Washington DC
area for three years, including attending George Washington University.
I can understand the frustration of DC residents over not having
a true voting member of Congress, when Congress makes the laws for
their city. However, I sincerely believe the bill now in Congress
to give Utah an additional seat in the House, and balance it with
a permanent seat for DC, is flatly unconstitutional with respect
to the DC representative.
The constitution clearly says that members of the House are elected
from "States." If one dies or resigns, the election to replace him
is to be organized by the governor of his "State." Yet nothing could
be clearer that the District is NOT a State and is outside the jurisdiction
of any State. The 23rd Amendment, granting DC three votes in presidential
elections, simply affirms that fact. So giving DC a member of Congress
is simply and blatantly unconstitutional.
- (Read
More)
Time For Public Campaign Financing?
(From Craig Axford & Laura Bonham, co-chairs,
Utah Democratic Progressive Caucus, www.udpc.org)
We are writing in response to "Views on Campaign Finance"
printed in the Tuesday, June 14th Utah Policy Daily. In it the author
states "I say allow anyone to contribute whatever they like, but
require both candidates and donors to disclose all contributions
immediately on the internet for all to see."
While we agree in principle with full disclosure, the problem
with money in politics isn't disclosure but the amount now required
if an individual is to have a reasonable chance of getting elected.
Based on FEC data analyzed by Opensecrets.org, as of 2002 the average
House candidate spent approximately $900,000 and the average US
Senate candidate spent just over $4.8 million. Major donors consistently
favor incumbents over challengers, and open races are far more expensive
for serious competitors than other races.
- (Read
More)
National Politics
Bush Not in Such Bad Shape
In his Tuesday e-mail column (subscribe
here), National Journal’s Charlie Cook says that
President Bush’s low poll numbers aren’t likely to contribute
to many congressional seat losses next year. The reason: Bush is
holding on to his base of support among GOP voters. Some excerpts:
"Think about all the problems for Republicans and the White
House to worry about: Americans are increasingly pessimistic about
the economy, with concerns about jobs clearly trumping strong economic
growth numbers; as American casualties in Iraq are mounting, public
opinion surveys show patience for the war wearing thin; President
Bush's Social Security proposal is, it seems, dead, and his political
capital is suffering from far more withdrawals than deposits; more
and more legislative proposals are getting to be heavy lifts for
the Bush administration, with the pending Central America Free Trade
Agreement among the toughest.
"Combine all of that with the historical pattern for presidential
party losses in midterm elections -- particularly bad in the second
term -- and this looks troubling for the GOP.
- (Read
More)
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