Though Gov. Pat Quinn won't discuss his proposal for fixing the state's massive deficit until Wednesday, a top Quinn aide told the Associated Press Monday that the state can expect 17,000 teachers to lose their jobs, thousands of poor families to get less help with child care and fewer state troopers to patrol the roads.
Quinn budget director David Vaught told the AP that even if lawmakers agree to Quinn's proposed tax hikes, the state will still face big cuts.
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March 9, 2010
March 3, 2010
Gibbs: ‘There Is No Question’ This Is A Bipartisan Bill
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs declared on Wednesday that President Obama's health care proposal is a "bipartisan bill" -- even if, as is expected, not a single Republican votes for the measure.
"There is no question," Gibbs said on Wednesday. "There is a whole host of ideas that were added during the committee process that were Republican ideas. There were ideas that were added to the proposal the president put up on the website a week ago Monday... that increased the number of Republican ideas."
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"There is no question," Gibbs said on Wednesday. "There is a whole host of ideas that were added during the committee process that were Republican ideas. There were ideas that were added to the proposal the president put up on the website a week ago Monday... that increased the number of Republican ideas."
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Shelly Palmer: Understanding Terms In The National Broadband Plan
Today's most interesting stories in technology, media and entertainment:
The FCC is proposing a new broadband plan that will help roll out high-speed, nationwide broadband. Wireless providers like AT&T and Verizon are championing the $25 billion proposal, which would also increase the wireless bandwidth for emergency services. Making additional spectrum available to wireless companies would give wireless networks more bandwidth to distribute to a greater number of users, as data usage and mobile users increase.
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March 2, 2010
Dodd: Put CFPA Inside Federal Reserve
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) reached out to fellow members of his Banking Committee on Monday to float the latest proposal for a compromise Consumer Financial Protection Agency that would be housed within the Federal Reserve, committee aides said Monday, confirming reports in the Washington Post and Politico.
Dodd and the White House have been signaling for some time that they were less concerned with whether the agency was independent than with its structure and funding stream. Without independent funding, it would be at the whim of lawmakers who might want to block its mission.
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Dodd and the White House have been signaling for some time that they were less concerned with whether the agency was independent than with its structure and funding stream. Without independent funding, it would be at the whim of lawmakers who might want to block its mission.
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February 28, 2010
Consumer Groups Rip Chris Dodd Over Financial Protection Agency Compromise
Consumer advocates are reacting harshly to a compromise Consumer Financial Protection Agency being proposed by Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.).
HuffPost and other media outlets have obtained a copy of a memo outlining the proposal that Dodd sent to committee members this weekend. Read the memo here.
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HuffPost and other media outlets have obtained a copy of a memo outlining the proposal that Dodd sent to committee members this weekend. Read the memo here.
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February 26, 2010
Ecuador: Controversy Over Drilling For Petroleum in the Amazon
When Ecuador's commission arrived in Copenhagen this fall, it had an audacious environmental proposal for the "developed world": make the conservation of the Amazon as profitable as its exploitation. Ecuador's second term President, Rafael Correa, offered to keep the 900 million barrels of oil that lay deep under the country's Yasuní National Park underground if the developed world would pay 350 million dollars for 10 years, a price comparable to the expected returns for the oil's extraction. The plan offered a model solution: protecting the environment would not be an economic burden for the poorest nations alone. Biological wealth could perhaps become economically profitable. It was idealistic and to many, a long shot. However, to some surprise, it also received abundant international support. By mid-January however, Ecuadorians were left doubting Correa's environmentalism and wondering, what happened? The Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini (ITT) section of Yasuní Park, its ecosystem, and perhaps most importantly, its volunatarily isolated indigenous people, are again in danger of confronting irreversible change.
The ITT oil block lies in the Yasuní National Park in the easternmost region of Ecuador. It is known to environmentalists as one of the most biodiverse places on earth. A recent study conducted by the University of Maryland and the University of San Francisco (Quito) discovered that in a single hectare of Yasuní forest, there are some 100,000 different species of insects, 204 species of mammals, 596 species of birds and 382 species of fish. The forest is also believed to contain the greatest diversity of tree species on the planet.
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The ITT oil block lies in the Yasuní National Park in the easternmost region of Ecuador. It is known to environmentalists as one of the most biodiverse places on earth. A recent study conducted by the University of Maryland and the University of San Francisco (Quito) discovered that in a single hectare of Yasuní forest, there are some 100,000 different species of insects, 204 species of mammals, 596 species of birds and 382 species of fish. The forest is also believed to contain the greatest diversity of tree species on the planet.
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February 23, 2010
Sam Stein Talks Health Care And Reconciliation On Countdown With Keith Olbermann (VIDEO)
President Obama released his version of a health care reform bill on Monday. As Huffington Post reporter Sam Stein put it, "The White House took ownership of health care today in a way that actually hasn't been seen to this point."
But, Stein told Keith Olbermann on MSNBC's Countdown, that doesn't mean Obama is going to take the lead on salvaging the public option, an element left out of today's proposal.
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But, Stein told Keith Olbermann on MSNBC's Countdown, that doesn't mean Obama is going to take the lead on salvaging the public option, an element left out of today's proposal.
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February 22, 2010
White House Health Care Reform Proposal
The White House health care reform bill, posted online at 10 a.m. today, is a modest policy proposal based on the senate bill. It frames a bold political gamble that the national summit the president is convening on Thursday will cut through the rabble-rousing rancor that has threatened to kill reform, by challenging the Republicans to consolidate and defend their own proposal in full view of the American public.
White House officials Dan Pfeiffer, Nancy Ann deParle, and Jason Furman gave an early view of the proposal described as the president's "opening bid" for debate at the health care summit on Thursday, Feb. 25. It is ready to go through a reconciliation process in the senate should Republicans choose to filibuster the bill.
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White House officials Dan Pfeiffer, Nancy Ann deParle, and Jason Furman gave an early view of the proposal described as the president's "opening bid" for debate at the health care summit on Thursday, Feb. 25. It is ready to go through a reconciliation process in the senate should Republicans choose to filibuster the bill.
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President Obama, Please Hurry Up
Today President Obama unveiled new healthcare plans, but he will be talking about the details in a couple of days. This proposal supposed to help more than thirty million Americans who need healthcare to survive in the US. Healthcare, one of the President's major presidential component and his pride has been facing challenges ever since first proposed. One of the major obstacles was losing a senate seat to Scott Brown, Massachusetts' Republican Senator. Other challenges are how to convince a capitalist mentality, which has been practiced in the US for decades. Such issues and not moving forward faster than expected with the President's plan has made many, including my family--especially my mother--extremely impatient.
My mother suffers from variety of serious medical problems, and she has not had medical insurance in the past a couple of months. Sarcoidosis, heart disease, and two miner strokes are just the important ones. She also has high blood pressure and cholesterol. Not to forget, my mother is on heavy duty medications such as Methotrexate (a kind of chemotherapy medication) and cortisone to control the Sarcoidosis. These medications generate their own complications. She has lost some of her hair. She is constantly tired. Her face has puffed up to a "moon face," and her back has hunched to a "buffalo hump." These are medical terms used by her doctors. One of the strokes has made her very forgetful. So, she is practically and officially disabled. A disabled woman without health coverage, can you imagine?
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My mother suffers from variety of serious medical problems, and she has not had medical insurance in the past a couple of months. Sarcoidosis, heart disease, and two miner strokes are just the important ones. She also has high blood pressure and cholesterol. Not to forget, my mother is on heavy duty medications such as Methotrexate (a kind of chemotherapy medication) and cortisone to control the Sarcoidosis. These medications generate their own complications. She has lost some of her hair. She is constantly tired. Her face has puffed up to a "moon face," and her back has hunched to a "buffalo hump." These are medical terms used by her doctors. One of the strokes has made her very forgetful. So, she is practically and officially disabled. A disabled woman without health coverage, can you imagine?
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Audio: White House Threatens GOP With Reconciliation, But Won’t Invest in Public Option
In an embargoed conference call with reporters early Monday morning, Obama Administration officials unveiled Obama's new healthcare reform proposal -- the first formal
proposal offered by the White House after a year of Congressional wrangling failed to produce a deal -- and took reporters' questions.
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