Webcast Health Forums

Former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) will be the first of at least nine presidential candidates to participate in a series of webcast forums on healthcare reform co-sponsored by a liberal advocacy group, Families USA and a hospital lobbying organization, Federation of American Hospitals.

Each event will feature a single candidate discussing healthcare for one hour. The candidate will make opening remarks, then take questions from a panel of journalists from PBS, NPR, The Wall Street Journal and ABC News.

The groups behind the events say their intention is to get the presidential candidates to offer detailed prescriptions for how they would reform the healthcare system.

“Rather than brief or meaningless sound bites, the forums will allow the candidates to explain how America’s healthcare system will change if they are elected in 2008,” said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA.

Schedule
Go here to see webcast http://presidentialforums.health08.org/

Submit your question for the forum:

Former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.)
Monday, September 24, 2007 at 11 a.m. ET

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio)
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 8:30 a.m. ET

Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.)
Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 11:30 a.m. ET

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)
Wednesday, October 31, 2007 at 10 a.m. ET

Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.)
Thursday, November 1, 2007 at 11 a.m. ET

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.)
Wednesday, November 7, 2007 at 10 a.m. ET

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.)TBA

Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.)TBA

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas)TBA

Gov. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.)TBA

The Bush Cash "COW"

The Bush Cash "COW"
16 Sep 2007

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) requested that the Department of Education’s Inspector General (IG) investigate why federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) funds are being spent on educational products sold by Ignite! Learning, a company founded and headed by Neil Bush, President Bush’s younger brother.

Neil Bush, who has no education background, is best known for his role in the failure of Silverado Savings and Loan, which cost taxpayers $1.6 billion. CREW is asking the IG to discover why federal money is being funneled to a company with no proven track record of effectiveness, but so happens to be run by the president’s brother.

Congress has set rigorous standards for the types of educational approaches and products on which NCLB funds can be spent, but CREW’s research shows that Ignite! products do not meet those criteria. In fact, there is no scientific data, as defined by NCLB, supporting the effectiveness of Ignite!’s products.

CREW’s three-month investigation revealed that school districts are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, including NCLB funds, on Ignite!’s Curriculum on Wheels (COW), a cart-mounted video projector and hard drive loaded with a year’s supply of Ignite!’s social studies, science, or math curricula. At a standard price of $3,800-$4,200 per unit, the COW is a very expensive device with limited use.

Adding to the initial expense, schools must pay an annual $1,000 licensing, upkeep and upgrade fee in order to retain the COW for more than one year.

In Houston, Barbara Bush donated money to a hurricane Katrina relief fund, but mandated the money be used to buy her son’s Ignite! program for schools.

Ask yourself (and your government) why schools would invest money in this product?

References:

The Raw Story

chron.com

campaignwatch.org

austinchronicle.com

mediatransparency.org

businessweek.com/magazine/

Americanfreepress.net/

washingtonpost.com

motherjones.com

associatedcontent.com

citizensforethics.org

Ignite Learning

Wikipedia

Why Is Bush's Kid Brother Neil Getting Federal Funding? Posted by Liliana Segura at 12:06 PM on September 13, 2007. Alternet

Gov. Easley Signs Bill on Hog Lagoons

Michael F. Easley, Governor, 08/31/2007
State of North Carolina, Office of the Governor


GOV. EASLEY SIGNS BILL TO BAN NEW HOG WASTE LAGOONS
New Regulations Will Encourage Improved Standards To Protect The Environment

Raleigh - Gov. Mike Easley today signed into law Senate Bill 1465: ''An act to 1) codify and make permanent the Swine Farm Animal Waste Management System Performance Standards that the General Assembly enacted in 1998, (2) provide for the replacement of a lagoon that is an imminent hazard, (3) assist farmers to voluntarily convert to innovative animal waste management systems, and (4) establish the Swine Farm Methane Capture Pilot Program.'' The law bans new hog waste lagoons and launches programs to convert and modernize current lagoons to meet stricter standards to protect the environment.

''We do not have to choose between a strong economy and a clean environment,'' said Easley. ''This legislation provides assistance to hog operators who invest in the new technologies with a payoff for all of us that protects our rivers and streams.''

The new law prohibits the construction of new hog waste lagoons and sprayfields as primary methods of waste management. New waste management systems must adhere to stricter environmental regulations. The legislation will help provide grants to farms to aid in closing current systems and begin using modern waste management technology.

The law also creates the Swine Farm Methane Capture Pilot Program to generate electricity from methane gas collected by animal waste management systems. It creates a cost-sharing program for farmers to covert to the new technologies with the state covering 90 percent of the cost, or up to $500,000 for each applicant over the next five years. The state share will be 80 percent in 2012 and 75 percent in 2017.

''This is a major step forward for our state and our farmers as we try to ensure the long-term sustainability of the hog industry,'' said state Sen. Charles Albertson (D-Duplin, Lenoir, Sampson), the bill’s sponsor. ''I am sure our regulators and those in the industry will work cooperatively to protect our rivers and streams.''

''With this new law, North Carolina also is taking an innovative step to see if we can economically generate electricity from the methane gas from these waste management systems,'' said state Rep. Russell Tucker (D-Duplin). ''This pilot program could save millions on utility bills, particularly in rural areas.''

Section Three of the law became effective July 1, 2007 retroactively. All other sections are effective September 1, 2007. The legislation passed the Senate on a 48-0 vote and passed the House 108-0.