Podcasts about reinvestment act

It's hard to overstate how consequential President Trump's “Liberation Day” tariffs have been for American economic policy. While the administration has paused the steep reciprocal tariffs it announced on trading partners other than China, a flat across-the-board 10% tariff remains. And China has raised tariffs on all U.S. goods to over 100% in retaliation.  Some economists fear this trade war could have a seismic impact across the American economy, including on clean energy. The exceptionally high tariffs on China in particular could have a significant bearing on clean tech products — things like batteries, solar panels, and wind turbines. So what are the possible outcomes? Do our trade deficits or national security imperatives necessitate this trade war? What would a turn away from globalization mean for efforts to confront climate change? And what does all of this mean for the future of industrial policy in the U.S.? This week, Jason Bordoff talks with Jason Furman about the flurry of Trump administration tariffs and how they could play out for the energy industry. Jason Furman is Aetna professor of the practice of economic policy at Harvard University. Prior to his appointment at Harvard, he served as a key economic advisor to President Obama, including as the chair of the Council of Economic Advisors. Jason played a key role in implementing the major economic policy initiatives of the Obama administration, including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the Affordable Care Act.  Credits: Hosted by Jason Bordoff and Bill Loveless. Produced by Mary Catherine O'Connor, Caroline Pitman, and Kyu Lee. Additional support from Trevor Sutton. Engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive producer.

Send us a textOn the nostalgic grounds of their shared alma mater, Wharton, Simi speaks with Dilawar Syed, the Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). A role he was nominated into by President Biden, Administrator Syed was the highest-ranking Muslim official in the U.S. Government at the time of this recording. WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE.Syed came to the SBA from the State Department where he served as Special Representative for Commercial & Business Affairs. As the State Department's top commercial diplomat, Deputy Administrator Syed advocated for U.S. companies to compete and win abroad and helped ensure U.S. competitiveness in markets across the globe. Before joining the Biden Administration, Syed held the roles of CEO at Lumiata, an AI healthcare company, and President at software company, Freshworks.  Earlier in his career, Syed oversaw business operations for Yahoo!'s platforms and infrastructure and was a product manager at Siebel Systems and SAP. His transition to public service is marked by civic efforts at the federal, state, and local levels. He was the founding Chair of the California Entrepreneurship Task Force with the Governor's Office, served on President Obama's White House Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs), and chaired the White House Initiative on AAPIs' Economic Growth Committee. In that role, Syed led the administration's engagement with small businesses across the U.S. after the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. In 2020, Syed was tapped by San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo to help lead Silicon Valley's pandemic recovery as a member of the Silicon Valley Recovery Roundtable. Syed holds an M.B.A. from Wharton and earned a B.A. in Economics and Computer Science from The University of Texas at Austin.South Asian Trailblazers is an award-winning media platform, community, and agency dedicated to elevating leading South Asians. Join our community at SouthAsianTrailblazers.com. Subscribe to our newsletter to get new episodes and updates on our latest events in your inbox. Follow us @southasiantrailblazers on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Youtube, and all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify.

Sign up for our free March 24 webinar right here: https://event.webinarjam.com/register/27/l3k2rby6Another bazooka, this time from Germany, of all places. The mere thought of it has been enough to send the German bond market into a tailspin and sending yields to nearly their highest in fourteen years while also pulling other parts of the marketplace into it, too. Does the selloff signal inflation, success, or something else entirely? What are the implications for everyone else?Eurodollar University's Money & Macro AnalysisPolitico Germany moves to overhaul debt rules to unleash major defense spendinghttps://www.politico.eu/article/germany-unveils-e500-billion-defense-plan-as-security-threats-mount/Roberto Perotti What Do We Know about the Effects of Fiscal Policy?https://www.siepweb.it/siep/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/1397925830013.pdfWilson, Daniel J.. 2012. "Fiscal Spending Jobs Multipliers: Evidence from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 4 (3): 251–82.https://www.aeaweb.org/articles/pdf/doi/10.1257/pol.4.3.251https://www.eurodollar.universityTwitter: https://twitter.com/JeffSnider_EDU

Thank you, everybody.  Please have a seat.  You guys can sit down, too.  (Laughter.) Let me begin by saying thank you to a few people -- first of all, your outstanding Governor, Bill Ritter.  Please give Bill a big round of applause.  (Applause.)  Lieutenant Governor Barbara O'Brien.  (Applause.)  Secretary of State Bernie Buescher.  (Applause.)  Your outstanding Mayor, John Hickenlooper.  (Applause.)  Your new Senator, Michael Bennett.  (Applause.)  Your old senator, now my Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar.  (Applause.)  Mark Udall is not here, but give him a round of applause anyway.  (Applause.) One of the outstanding leaders who helped shepherd this process through in record time -- please give Max Baucus of Montana a big round of applause.  Thank you, Max.  (Applause.)  To Secretary Federico Pena, one of my national co-chairs -- I would not be here if it were not for Federico.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  To Representative Diana DeGette, who is a -- we are in her district.  So, thank you so much.  (Applause.)  Representative Betsy Markey.  (Applause.)  Representative Jared Polis.  (Applause.)  Representative Ed Perlmutter.  (Applause.) To all the other elected officials and outstanding leaders who are here.  And to the whole Namaste family and Mr. Jones for outstanding work, congratulations.  Give them a big round of applause.  (Applause.)  And to the best Vice President that we've had in a long time -- Joe Biden.  (Applause.)It is great to be back in Denver.  (Applause.)  I was here last summer -- we had a good time -- (laughter) -- to accept the nomination of my party and to make a promise to people of all parties that I would do all that I could to give every American the chance to make of their lives what they will; to see their children climb higher than they did.  And I'm back today to say that we have begun the difficult work of keeping that promise.  We have begun the essential work of keeping the American Dream alive in our time.  And that's why we're here today.  (Applause.)Now, I don't want to pretend that today marks the end of our economic problems.  Nor does it constitute all of what we're going to have to do to turn our economy around.  But today does mark the beginning of the end -- the beginning of what we need to do to create jobs for Americans scrambling in the wake of layoffs; the beginning of what we need to do to provide relief for families worried they won't be able to pay next month's bills; the beginning of the first steps to set our economy on a firmer foundation, paving the way to long-term growth and prosperity.The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that I will sign today -- a plan that meets the principles I laid out in January -- is the most sweeping economic recovery package in our history. It's the product of broad consultation and the recipient of broad support -- from business leaders, unions, public interest groups, from the Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, as well as the AFL-CIO.  (Applause.)  From Democrats and Republicans, mayors as well as governors.  It's a rare thing in Washington for people with such diverse and different viewpoints to come together and support the same bill.   And on behalf of our nation, I want to thank all of them for it, including your two outstanding Senators, Michael Bennett and Mark Udall, as well as all the members of your congressional delegation.  They did an outstanding job and they deserve a big round of applause.  (Applause.) I also want to thank Joe Biden for working behind the scenes from the very start to make this recovery act possible.  I want to thank Speaker Pelosi and Harry Reid for acting so quickly and for proving that Congress could step up to this challenge. I have special thanks to Max Baucus, who's the Chairman of the Finance Committee.  Without Max, none of this would have happened.  He had to work overtime, and push his committee to work overtime.  And I want to thank all the committee chairs and members of Congress for coming up with a plan that is both bold and balanced enough to meet the demands of this moment.  The American people were looking to them for leadership, and that's what they provided.Now, what makes this recovery plan so important is not just that it will create or save 3.5 million jobs over the next two years, including 60,000-plus here in Colorado.  It's that we're putting Americans to work doing the work that America needs done –- (applause) -- in critical areas that have been neglected for too long; work that will bring real and lasting change for generations to come.Because we know we can't build our economic future on the transportation and information networks of the past, we are remaking the American landscape with the largest new investment in our nation's infrastructure since Eisenhower built an Interstate Highway System in the 1950s.  (Applause.)  Because of this investment, nearly 400,000 men and women will go to work rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, repairing our faulty dams and levees, bringing critical broadband connections to businesses and homes in nearly every community in America, upgrading mass transit, building high-speed rail lines that will improve travel and commerce throughout our nation.Because we know America can't out-compete the world tomorrow if our children are being out-educated today, we're making the largest investment in education in our nation's history.  (Applause.)  It's an investment that will create jobs building 21st century classrooms and libraries and labs for millions of children across America.  It will provide funds to train a new generation of math and science teachers, while giving aid to states and school districts to stop teachers from being laid off and education programs from being cut. In a place like New York City, 14,000 teachers who were set to be let go may now be able to continue pursuing their critical mission.  It's an investment that will create a new $2,500 annual tax credit to put the dream of a college degree within reach for middle-class families and make college affordable for 7 million students -- (applause) -- helping more of our sons and daughters aim higher, reach further, fulfill their God-given potential.  (Applause.)Because we know that spiraling health care costs are crushing families and businesses alike, we're taking the most meaningful steps in years towards modernizing our health care system.  It's an investment that will take the long overdue step of computerizing America's medical records to reduce the duplication and waste that costs billions of health care dollars, and medical errors that cost thousands of lives each year.Further, thanks to the actions we've taken, 7 million Americans who lost their health care along the way will continue to get the coverage they need, and roughly 20 million more Americans can breathe a little easier knowing that their health care won't be cut due to a state budget shortfall.  And a historic commitment to wellness initiatives will keep millions of Americans from setting foot in the doctor's office in the first place -- because these are preventable diseases and we're going to invest in prevention.  (Applause.)So taken together with the enactment earlier this month of a long-delayed law to extend health care to millions more children of working families -- (applause) -- we have done more in 30 days to advance the cause of health care reform than this country has done in an entire decade.  And that's something we should be proud of.  (Applause.)Because we know we can't power America's future on energy that's controlled by foreign dictators, we are taking big steps down the road to energy independence, laying the groundwork for new green energy economies that can create countless well-paying jobs.  It's an investment that will double the amount of renewable energy produced over the next three years.  Think about that -- double the amount of renewable energy in three years.  (Applause.)  Provide tax credits and loan guarantees to companies like Namaste, a company that will be expanding, instead of laying people off, as a result of the plan that I'm about to sign.And in the process, we will transform the way we use energy. Today, the electricity we use is carried along a grid of lines and wires that date back to Thomas Edison -- a grid that can't support the demands of this economy.  This means we're using 19th and 20th century technologies to battle 21st century problems like climate change and energy security.  It also means that places like North Dakota can -- that can produce a lot of wind energy can't deliver it to communities that want it, leading to a gap between how much clean energy we are using and how much we could be using.The investment we're making today will create a newer, smarter electric grid that will allow for broader use of alternative energy.  We will build on the work that's being done in places like Boulder -- a community that's on its -- that's on pace to be the world's first Smart Grid city.  (Applause.)  This investment will place Smart Meters in homes to make our energy bills lower, make outages less likely, and make it easier to use clean energy.  It's an investment that will save taxpayers over $1 billion by slashing energy costs in our federal buildings by 25 percent; save working families hundreds of dollars a year on their energy bills by weatherizing over 1 million homes.  And it's an investment that takes the important first step towards a national transmission superhighway that will connect our cities to the windy plains of the Dakotas and the sunny deserts of the Southwest.Even beyond energy, from the National Institutes of Health to the National Science Foundation, this recovery act represents the biggest increase in basic research funding in the long history of America's noble endeavor to b

Dr. Lynn Webster is a Senior Fellow at the Center for U.S. Policy; Associate Editor, Special Populations Section, Pain Medicine; Chief Medical Officer for PainScript; Author of the award-winning book, The Painful Truth Documentary; and Co-Producer of It Hurts Until You Die. Dr. Webster is the principal investigator for the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) award 5RC2DA028984-02, which is issued under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Webster is board certified in pain medicine, addiction medicine, and anesthesiology. He is also a senior editor of Pain Medicine and a peer reviewer for several professional journals. The Opioid Risk Tool he developed can be found at the following link: https://nida.nih.gov/sites/default/files/opioidrisktool.pdf #DEA #pain #addiction #health #policy #patient #care #research

BronxNet executive director, Michael Max Knobbe, joins HMM producer KP Holler to discuss the importance of the Community Media Reinvestment Act, a proposed bill that would establish a tax on direct broadcast satellite services and video streaming services and establish the community media reinvestment fund in NYS.

The Honorable Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, visits the U.S. Naval War College (NWC) on board Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island Feb. 22, 2024. During the visit Amb. Emanuel met with NWC President Rear Adm. Pete Garvin before addressing students, staff, and faculty on U.S., Japanese relations. Ambassador Emanuel became the 31st U.S. Ambassador to Japan in December 2021, prior to his current role he served as the 55th Mayor of the City of Chicago.About the Speaker:Rahm Emanuel was confirmed in a bipartisan vote as the 31st United States Ambassador to Japan on December 18, 2021. Previously, Ambassador Emanuel was the 55th Mayor of the City of Chicago, a position he held until May 2019. During that time, he made the critical choices necessary to secure Chicago's future as a global capital.As Mayor, the Ambassador added four years to a student's education. He increased the school day by 75 minutes and added more than 200 hours to the school year, marking the largest single increase in educational time by any city and taking Chicago from having the least educational time of any large school district in the country to being on par with its peers. He implemented universal pre-kindergarten and full-day kindergarten for every Chicago child, and made Chicago the first city in America to provide free community college.The Mayor's comprehensive public safety strategy focused on expanded prevention programs for at-risk youth, smarter policing strategies, and empowering parents and communities to reduce violence. The Ambassador made it a priority to bring global companies to the city, helping Chicago to lead the U.S. in corporate relocations and foreign direct investment for seven consecutive years. His administration invested in infrastructure, public transportation, open space, and cultural attractions. From the $8.5 billion O'Hare International Airport modernization program that is cementing Chicago's status as a global leader in travel, tourism, and trade to the development of the iconic 1.25-mile Chicago Riverwalk, the City's investments are creating thousands of good-paying jobs and making Chicago a better place to live, work, and play.Prior to becoming Mayor, from November 2008 until October 2010, Ambassador Emanuel served as President Barack Obama's Chief of Staff. In addition to being the President's top advisor, the Ambassador helped the Obama administration secure the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the landmark Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.Ambassador Emanuel was elected four times as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 5th Congressional District (2002-2008). As Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, Emanuel helped pass legislation to raise the minimum wage and authored the Great Lakes Restoration Act.From 1993 to 1998, Ambassador Emanuel was a key member of President Bill Clinton's administration, rising to serve as Senior Advisor to the President for Policy and Politics. During this time, Emanuel served as a legislative liaison to Congress and spearheaded efforts to pass several of President Clinton's signature achievements, most notably the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, and the historic Balanced Budget Act, which created the Children's Health Insurance Program that expanded health care coverage to 10 million children. The Ambassador also worked closely with President Joseph R. Biden Jr., then a U.S. Senator, to shepherd the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 through Congress.As a former Senior Counselor at Centerview Partners and former Managing Director at Wasserstein Perella & Co., Emanuel brings a depth of financial experience to the post.Ambassador Emanuel graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1981 and received a Master's Degree in Speech and Communication from Northwestern University in 1985. He is...

The Community Media Reinvestment Act in NYS would help fund Public, Educational and Governmental (PEG) community media access centers around New York State. The bill would impose an excise tax on large streaming and satellite corporations, with part of the revenue going to PEG, similar to fees presently charged for cable television.Anthony Arrien, Chairman of the Alliance for Community Media of NY, talks with Mark Dunlea for Hudson Mohawk Magazine.

We cover two rallies at the State Capitol on January 29. The first, called for the “Home Care Savings & Reinvestment Act.” We hear from Assemblymembers Sarah Clark, Jeff Dinowitz, and Harvey Epstein, and Senator Rachel May. Then before a rally for the Climate Superfund Act, we talk with Anshul Gupta of Clean Power NY. Next, Blair Horner of NYPIRG and Assemblymember Jeff Dinowitz.

Point-of-Care Partners (POCP) Dish on Health IT hosts, Pooja Babbrah and Jocelyn Keegan welcome special guest Laura McCrary, President and CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of KONZA National Network. KONZA was recently designated as one of the first five Qualified Health Information Networks, or QHINS (Qualified Health Information Networks), to participate in the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA)Laura McCrary speaks with hosts about: Why KONZA pursued QHIN statusInsight into the QHIN processHow KONZA's status as a Health Information network since 2010 forms their approach as a QHINKONZA's initial Membership mix, and What's new or surprising in the TEFCA Common Agreement version twoBefore digging into the meat of the episode, Jocelyn Keegan introduced herself briefly as the payer practice lead at POCP, program manager of HL7 Da Vinci Project and devotee to positive change building and getting stuff done in healthcare IT. She added that her focus at POCP is on interoperability, prior authorization and the convergence of where technology, strategy, product development and standards come together.Jocelyn ended her introduction by saying that she has had the honor of seeing Laura McCrary present on several occasions and that her pragmatic approach is refreshing and that she is looking forward to hearing how KONZA will be building on their already vibrant HIE (Health Information Exchange) footprint as a QHIN. Next Laura introduced herself sharing that she has been working on interoperability strategy in Kansas and then expanding to nationwide over the last 4 decades. She started her career as a special education history teacher. Early in her career she realized that while these children were in her care, she should have some basic information about medications or conditions so she could be informed and able to ensure everyone was well cared for. Of course, nobody shared medical records with teachers and parents didn't have access to their kid's patient records either. Making sure special education teachers or at the very least the school nurse could access necessary clinical information at the point of care became a passion of hers which led to an early success in her career which was working with the University of Kansas Medical Center setting up one of the first telemedicine programs in the public-school systems. Because of this work, since the early 2000's, elementary kids in Kansas City, KS inner-city public-school systems have had access to basic health and telemedicine services. The telemedicine project helped Laura realize that technology really could bridge access gaps if we built and employed a robust technology infrastructure.When asked about KONZA's mission and reasons for becoming a QHIN, Laura shared that the name “KONZA” is named after a Kansas prairie that is one of the most beautiful prairies in the nation. The way KONZA originated in Kansas around 2010 is a bit different than how other HIEs started. Most states at that time received federal funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to establish health information exchanges.Kansas was different in that instead of standing up a state-sponsored exchange, they actually encouraged a private-public partnership and opened the floor for any organization who wanted to do business as a health information exchange in Kansas could so as long as they meet a set of very rigorous accreditation requirements, which included some pretty innovative ideas for that time.For example, one of the things that was required was that the health information exchange needed to share all information with patients. As early as 2012, Kansas HIEs were required to have a personal health record for patients where they could access any data that was in the health information exchange. QHINS must also do this by offering “individual access services” and KONZA has already been doing this for over a decade. In addition to sharing data with patients, Kansas also required data sharing of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability) approved treatment, payment, and healthcare operations data with payers as it relates to their members.  Laura continued by sharing that today, 4 exchanges do business in Kansas, and they all work together as well as connect to other exchanges. KONZA also expanded to be able to serve patients across state lines as Kansas residents cross over into Missouri quite often to consume healthcare. Because of this history and background, Laura shared that becoming a QHIN was a natural progression and a way to support their mission to make sure all participants have access to their own or their patient's data. Pooja asked Laura about the process of becoming a QHIN. Pooja acknowledged the stringent requirements for QHINs and mentioned challenges discussed at the ONC Annual meeting in December.Laura shared KONZA's experience, saying they initially thought it would be like Kansas certification requirements. However, the application process involved demonstrating sustainability, financial viability, high trust certification for security, and proper information sharing using IHE protocols. KONZA became a candidate QHIN in February of the previous year, requiring the development of a project plan addressing technology conformance testing and demonstrating business viability.Laura emphasized the challenge of meeting high-level requirements, including safety, security, project management, and board governance. Notably, QHINs must have 51% of their Board of Directors as members, ensuring those participating in the network make decisions about the business model. KONZA reached 49% and welcomed a new member from a public health organization in January. The ongoing process involves meeting the remaining requirements to become a fully certified QHIN.Laura said the process of becoming a QHIN is a continuous work in progress. While they successfully crossed the finish line and are in production, she emphasized the need for ongoing changes to advance interoperability and data sharing. Laura highlighted the importance of QHINs working together as colleagues and federal leadership setting expectations for the national network. After four decades of working on the project, she expressed great satisfaction with the current state of progress.Pooja inquired about the impact of the diverse functional areas of the first group of QHIN designees on their operations. She expressed curiosity on behalf of Point of Care Partners, highlighting KONZA's background as a health information exchange in Kansas and seeking insights into how this background influenced KONZA's role as a QHIN.Laura responded by emphasizing the significance of diversity among QHINs as a valuable asset. She expressed excitement about the potential for innovative solutions to emerge from the diverse backgrounds of QHINs, enabling a departure from a one-size-fits-all approach. Laura expected the development of exciting and innovative solutions unique to each QHIN's diverse background.Pooja then invited Jocelyn to share her thoughts. Jocelyn expressed appreciation for Laura's insights, noting that knowing more about Laura's background made sense. She highlighted the importance of Laura's background in approaching long-term transformation. Jocelyn commended the incremental progress and permanent change advocated in the industry, aligning with Laura's pragmatic approach.Jocelyn acknowledged the mix of QHINs as fascinating and emphasized the importance of meeting people where they are. She recognized the relay race nature of the journey, with December marking the start of a new phase. Jocelyn predicted the challenge of creating compelling business cases and exploring the evolving business model for QHINs. She expressed interest in seeing the progress reports as end users transition from the HIE world to the TEFCA world.Laura emphasized the importance of KONZA serving as the QHIN for Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) and growing out of the HIE space. She expressed the belief that onboarding HIEs to their QHIN is crucial for expanding access to a broader set of data, benefiting patient care. Laura highlighted the critical role HIEs play in meeting the healthcare needs of communities, states, and regions.To ease this onboarding process, KONZA actively reached out to HIEs. Laura shared her personal commitment by mentioning that she had personally spoken with every HIE in the last six months. Additionally, KONZA planned to initiate HIE office hours to engage with HIEs and discuss the onboarding process to the QHIN. Laura conveyed a strong sense of responsibility, stating that if HIEs were not successfully onboarded to QHINs, she would personally feel like they had failed. She recognized the significant value and commitment HIEs have provided to their communities and stressed the importance of building upon their established connections and capabilities.Jocelyn initiated a discussion on expanding endpoints and the role of payers in TEFCA. She acknowledged Laura's insight into the base requirement in Kansas that involved having payers at the table, filling gaps in understanding about payer participation in national programs. Jocelyn expressed interest in understanding the implications of active payer participation, especially with recent rules requiring payers to provide data to providers.Laura provided a comprehensive response, highlighting the common inclusion of payers in HIE networks and the evolving landscape outlined in TEFCA requirements. She emphasized that recent rules, including prior authorization, point towards increased payer participation in the QHIN model. Laura praised ONC's efforts and leadership, acknowledging the challenge of absorbing the vast amount of information released.Laura discussed the significance of two specific SOPs (Standard Operating Procedure) dropped on Friday related to delegation of authority and healthcare operations. She encouraged stakeholders to focus on these documents, emphasizing the critical role they play in bringing clinical and claims data together. Laura outlined the historical challenge of integrating clinical and claims data, noting that TEFCA offers an opportunity to bridge this gap.Notably, Laura highlighted the requirement for payers participating in the QHIN model to provide adjudicated claims. She acknowledged that while this transformation may take time, conversations with payers indicated openness to sharing crucial data that providers might not have. Laura expressed excitement about the groundwork laid in the SOPs, anticipating an amazing transformation in healthcare. She encouraged innovative companies to explore the delegation of authority, foreseeing its profound impact on healthcare transformation.Pooja highlighted the collaboration between CMS and ONC in recent rule drops and mentioned the inclusion of FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resource) in the latest regulations. Jocelyn asked for comments on this, pointing out varying levels of maturity in QHINs' FHIR programs. She emphasized the shift towards API (Application Programming Interface) and codified data over documents, aiming for automation and reducing human involvement. Jocelyn expressed interest in Laura's perspective, considering the existing collaborations and partnerships.Laura explained the importance of EHRs (Electronic Health Records) being FHIR-enabled for effective data sharing with QHINs. She clarified that while QHINs can be FHIR-enabled, the critical factor is whether EHR vendors support FHIR. Laura highlighted the necessity for EHR systems to have FHIR endpoints and publish them in the RCE (Recognized Coordinating Entity) directory for effective data retrieval. She stressed that both FHIR endpoints and resources are crucial for successful data exchange. Regarding facilitated FHIR, Laura expressed excitement about its implementation by the end of Q1. She mentioned the role of facilitated FHIR in responding to payers and highlighted the importance of the healthcare operations SOP. Laura also discussed the bulk FHIR initiative by NCQA, expressing enthusiasm for participation. She emphasized the significance of FHIR in sharing minimum necessary data, addressing the challenges posed by lengthy patient care documents. Laura underscored FHIR's role in providing relevant information to physicians and caregivers based on their specific needs.Pooja, the host, moves to the closing segment, asking cohost Jocelyn and guest Laura for final messages or calls to action. Jocelyn commends Laura on FHIR progress and highlights the importance of maturity and bulk FHIR for automation. She mentions an upcoming Da Vinci Community Roundtable discussion on the clinical data exchange FHIR guide and encourages engagement with Laura for early participation in payer use cases.Laura emphasized the profound opportunities with QHINs, including potential in public health and COVID response. Laura invites those interested in discussing the future of healthcare data and transforming patient care to reach out via LinkedIn, email, or to call her. Pooja expressed gratitude to guest, Laura McCrary for joining The Dish on Health IT and to listeners for tuning in. 

Zeb Schmidt and Jeremy Clowe, from Open Stage Media in Schenectady's Community Media Center at Proctors, spoke about the Community Media Reinvestment Act and about keeping local free speech alive with Hudson Mohawk Magazine's Andrea Cunliffe. The Community Media Reinvestment Act is a bill, currently introduced to New York State Senate as S 2581 and A 5900, which will help to continue supporting media centers like Open Stage Media that serve communities across the state with local content on important issues, media workforce development opportunities for youth and partnerships with social service, cultural, and educational organizations that help contribute to community building through media.

Governments around the world are increasingly turning to “industrial policy” in pursuit of stronger climate action such as the Inflation Reduction Act. These targeted economic measures can build domestic clean energy industries and increase security and resilience. But there are risks to this approach, including higher costs and trade tensions. In the years ahead, policymakers will face a difficult balancing act as they work to expand the availability of low-cost clean energy while boosting their own domestic economies.  What does the shift towards green industrial policy mean for the energy transition? How has this shift manifested in the Biden administration's approach to climate action? And what new climate policies might be on the horizon? This week host Jason Bordoff talks with Jason Furman about the rise of green industrial policy, the outlook for the Inflation Reduction Act, and how economists think about climate change. Furman is the Aetna professor of the practice of economic policy at Harvard University. He is a former colleague of Jason Bordoff in two different capacities, both in the Obama White House and at the Brookings Institution's Hamilton Project. Prior to his appointment at Harvard, Furman served as a key economic advisor to President Obama, including as the chair of the Council of Economic Advisors. He played a key role in implementing the major economic policy initiatives of the Obama Administration, including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the Affordable Care Act. 

In this episode of Smart Energy Voices, host Debra Chanil shares a keynote from Smart Energy Decisions' recent Net Zero Forum presented by Chandra Farley, Chief Sustainability Officer for the City of Atlanta. Chandra talks about the importance of public-private partnerships, the value of positive pressure, and viewing sustainability through the lens of environmental justice. You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in... Science-based and community-informed [03:20] The Grants to Green program [12:13] Climate and environmental justice [17:30] Atlanta's Year of the Youth [22:00] Improving quality of life in the city [25:21] Positive pressure The City of Atlanta Office of Sustainability and Resilience focuses on clean energy, waste diversion, and food waste recovery. Atlanta has around 200 municipal buildings, which must partner with the Office of Sustainability and Resilience. While the Office of Sustainability and Resilience sets policies, priorities, targets, and goals, those goals are operationalized through the city's departments. The Director of Urban Agriculture and Food Systems has three or four people who sit on the Department of City Planning. That interdepartmental relationship gives the Office of Sustainability and Resilience direct access to the resources necessary to make programs work. Atlanta's Grants to Green program Grants to Green provided technical assistance and funding to nonprofits for energy and water efficiency upgrades. The program funded engineers to go out and do building assessments. The community foundation partner gave nonprofits grants to implement the list of recommendations. This program proved that the more money a nonprofit saves on operations, the more money it has for programs and services. The Grants to Green program has worked with the Boys and Girls Club to save them $12,000 annually by changing their LED lighting. That equates to an additional 300 kids whom clubs can serve every year. Some clubs could also afford to hire more teachers for their summer programs. Without these efficiency upgrades and the resulting savings, people would've been left behind. Impact beyond the city Atlanta's community clean energy programs have helped in more rural areas where many contractors hadn't yet experienced some of the newer, more efficient technologies. Thanks to the City of Atlanta's strong partnerships with its lighting contractors, mentorships grew between them and the rural companies.  Working together and supporting the community with green energy projects is a way to promote environmental justice. Not only do people see a reduction in their utility bills and reduced greenhouse gas emissions, but financial benefit is delivered directly back into the communities. These communities can then offer more programs and services.   Resources & People Mentioned American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Grants to Green - CFGA Southface Institute Better Buildings Challenge Atlanta Year of the Youth Connect with Chandra Farley On LinkedIn On Twitter Chandra Farley serves as Chief Sustainability Officer for the City of Atlanta. In this role, Chandra leads expansion of the City's resilience and sustainability efforts through a lens of equity, including implementation of the city's 100% clean energy plan, creating the City's first comprehensive food systems plan, delivering on waste diversion goals, and leveraging federal resources from the Inflation Reduction Act.  Connect With Smart Energy Decisions https://smartenergydecisions.com   Follow them on LinkedIn Subscribe to Smart Energy Voices If you're interested in participating in the next Smart Energy Decision Event, visit smartenergydecisions.com or email our Community Development team at attend@smartenergydecisions.com Audio Production and Show notes by PODCAST FAST TRACK https://www.podcastfasttrack.com

HMM Occasional Correspondent Garrett McCarey speaks with Anthony Riddle, from BRIC Arts Media Center in Brooklyn, about the proposed Community Media Reinvestment Act legislation which would benefit local media centers and local producers. For additional information go to Alliance for Community Media New York at acmny.org. Be sure to ask your State Senator or Assemblyperson about the Community Media Reinvestment Act.

Like many of our episodes, this topic drives our hosts to use some salty language. Use your best judgment if you're listening near someone with tender ears. Hike up your trousers and throw on some long socks. We're getting into the weeds on this one. Ben and Gillian discuss the digitization of our healthcare system and its far-reaching impacts on data privacy and patient health outcomes. We trace the rise of Electronic Health Record (EHR) management systems and the corresponding $13-billion-per-year industry that emerged in the wake of the Affordable Care Act. Electronic systems that were meant to “modernize” the healthcare industry have actually led to rampant inefficiency, inflated costs, and negative health outcomes for patients. Big Healthcare and Big Tech - it's a match made in hell! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSvDBcGItTk&t=1272s Show Notes History of Electronic Health Records Prior to the ACA, the HITECH Act (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health - part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) created huge financial incentives for providers to transfer to EHRs. Incentives worked - in 2008, 9% of hospitals used EHRs; in 2019, 96% of hospitals use EHRs. Medical data underwent a massive transformation after the passage of the ACA in 2010. Under the ACA, the federal government invested around $36 billion to incentivize creation of Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems. The intent was to modernize and “digitize” healthcare industry by improving patient access to information, coordinating care, and reducing disparity between healthcare providers by providing access to information. Now, more healthcare data is being collected than ever before, but the systems for actually MANAGING that data are a huge mess. Digitization could have created a much more efficient system - if it had been centralized, as it is in countries where they have a single-payer healthcare system. Many countries that have single-payer healthcare systems also have one universal electronic records system. Instead of one streamlined system for managing medical records, a myriad of different EHR “vendors” flooded the market post-ACA, resulting in a patchwork, Frankenstein system where there are many different databases holding people's medical records, none of which are interoperable. This is massively infuriating, inefficient, and bad for patients. Just ask Joe Biden - he agrees! “At a 2017 meeting with health care leaders in Washington, he railed against the infuriating challenge of getting his son Beau's medical records from one hospital to another. ‘I was stunned when my son for a year was battling stage 4 glioblastoma,' said Biden. ‘I couldn't get his records. I'm the vice president of the United States of America.  … It was an absolute nightmare. It was ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous, that we're in that circumstance.'" Why are American EHRs so bad? In countries with national health programs EHRs are built to drive better quality care. In the American healthcare system, EHRs' #1 priority is driving profits. This means that EHRs were not created to support many of the things that physicians, patients, and policymakers value: better care experiences, reduced costs, or improved care quality and population health management. They were not created to make physicians better diagnosticians or more cost-effective prescribers. The reason: our health care system has mostly not rewarded these activities. They have not been mission-critical for providers or, therefore, EHR designers.  What are the negative effects that digitization/EHRs have on patients and physicians? Clinician busywork: In one study, physicians reported that they spend 4.5 hours per day completing electronic health records - time that could be spending tending to patients. Opportunity for fraud: EHRs are really optimized for billing, NOT for patient care,

Barack Hussein Obama II (/bəˈrɑːk huːˈseɪn oʊˈbɑːmə/ (listen) bə-RAHK hoo-SAYN oh-BAH-mə; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. He was the first African-American president of the United States. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a U.S. senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004.Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. After graduating from Columbia University in 1983, he worked as a community organizer in Chicago. In 1988, he enrolled in Harvard Law School, where he was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. After graduating, he became a civil rights attorney and an academic, teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. Turning to elective politics, he represented the 13th district in the Illinois Senate from 1997 until 2004, when he ran for the U.S. Senate. Obama received national attention in 2004 with his March Senate primary win, his well-received July Democratic National Convention keynote address, and his landslide November election to the Senate. In 2008, a year after beginning his campaign, and after a close primary campaign against Hillary Clinton, he was nominated by the Democratic Party for president. Obama was elected over Republican nominee John McCain in the general election and was inaugurated alongside his running mate Joe Biden, on January 20, 2009. Nine months later, he was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, a decision that drew a mixture of praise and criticism.Obama signed many landmark bills into law during his first two years in office. The main reforms include: the Affordable Care Act (ACA or "Obamacare"), although without a public health insurance option; the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act; and the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act served as economic stimuli amidst the Great Recession. After a lengthy debate over the national debt limit, he signed the Budget Control and the American Taxpayer Relief Acts. In foreign policy, he increased U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan, reduced nuclear weapons with the United States–Russia New START treaty, and ended military involvement in the Iraq War. In 2011, Obama ordered the drone-strike killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, a US citizen and suspected al-Qaeda operative, leading to controversy. He ordered military involvement in Libya for the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1973, contributing to the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. He also ordered the military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden.After winning re-election by defeating Republican opponent Mitt Romney, Obama was sworn in for a second term on January 20, 2013. During this term, he promoted inclusion for LGBT Americans. His administration filed briefs that urged the Supreme Court to strike down same-sex marriage bans as unconstitutional (United States v. Windsor and Obergefell v. Hodges); same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide in 2015 after the Court ruled so in Obergefell. He advocated for gun control in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, indicating support for a ban on assault weapons, and issued wide-ranging executive actions concerning global warming and immigration. In foreign policy, he ordered military interventions in Iraq and Syria in response to gains made by ISIL after the 2011 withdrawal from Iraq, promoted discussions that led to the 2015 Paris Agreement on global climate change, oversaw the deadly Kunduz hospital airstrike, drew down U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2016, initiated sanctions against Russia following the Annexation of Crimea and again after interference in the 2016 U.S. elections, brokered the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal with Iran, and normalized U.S. relations with Cuba. Obama nominated three justices to the Supreme Court: Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan were confirmed as justices, while Merrick Garland was denied hearings or a vote from the Republican-majority Senate. Obama left office on January 20, 2017, and continues to reside in Washington, D.C.During Obama's terms as president, the United States' reputation abroad, as well as the American economy, significantly improved. Scholars and historians rank him among the upper to mid tier of American presidents. Since leaving office, Obama has remained active in Democratic politics, including campaigning for candidates in the 2018 midterm elections, appearing at the 2020 Democratic National Convention and campaigning for Biden during the 2020 presidential election. Outside of politics, Obama has published three bestselling books: Dreams from My Father (1995), The Audacity of Hope (2006) and A Promised Land (2020).

In this episode, the team at Tomorrow, Today is joined by Marisa Renee Lee, author of "Grief is Love", to discuss the impacts of Covid-19 & death under quarantine will have on the future of how we relate with the process of death. In Grief is Love, Marisa reveals that healing does not mean moving on after losing a loved one—healing means learning to acknowledge and create space for your grief. It is about learning to love the one you lost with the same depth, passion, joy, and commitment you did when they were alive, perhaps even more. She guides you through the pain of grief—whether you've lost the person recently or long ago—and shows you what it looks like to honor your loss on your unique terms, and debunks the idea of a grief stages or timelines. Grief is Love is about making space for the transformation that a significant loss requires. Marisa's background: In 2010, Marisa joined the Obama Administration first as an appointee at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and later joined the White House Domestic Policy Council and the White House Office of Public Engagement where she ultimately served as President Obama's Deputy Director of Private Sector Engagement. During her time in the administration Marisa focused on a variety of issues including entrepreneurship and access to capital in underserved communities, implementation of the Small Business Jobs Act and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and developed a variety of public-private partnerships with the business community on behalf of President Obama. You can find her book at marisareneelee.com and her social medias @MarisaReneeLee

Barack Hussein Obama II (/bəˈrɑːk huːˈseɪn oʊˈbɑːmə/ (listen) bə-RAHK hoo-SAYN oh-BAH-mə; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. He was the first African-American president of the United States. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a U.S. senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004.Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. After graduating from Columbia University in 1983, he worked as a community organizer in Chicago. In 1988, he enrolled in Harvard Law School, where he was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. After graduating, he became a civil rights attorney and an academic, teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. Turning to elective politics, he represented the 13th district in the Illinois Senate from 1997 until 2004, when he ran for the U.S. Senate. Obama received national attention in 2004 with his March Senate primary win, his well-received July Democratic National Convention keynote address, and his landslide November election to the Senate. In 2008, a year after beginning his campaign, and after a close primary campaign against Hillary Clinton, he was nominated by the Democratic Party for president. Obama was elected over Republican nominee John McCain in the general election and was inaugurated alongside his running mate Joe Biden, on January 20, 2009. Nine months later, he was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, a decision that drew a mixture of praise and criticism.Obama signed many landmark bills into law during his first two years in office. The main reforms include: the Affordable Care Act (ACA or "Obamacare"), although without a public health insurance option; the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act; and the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act served as economic stimuli amidst the Great Recession. After a lengthy debate over the national debt limit, he signed the Budget Control and the American Taxpayer Relief Acts. In foreign policy, he increased U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan, reduced nuclear weapons with the United States–Russia New START treaty, and ended military involvement in the Iraq War. In 2011, Obama ordered the drone-strike killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, a US citizen and suspected al-Qaeda operative, leading to controversy. He ordered military involvement in Libya for the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1973, contributing to the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. He also ordered the military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden.After winning re-election by defeating Republican opponent Mitt Romney, Obama was sworn in for a second term on January 20, 2013. During this term, he promoted inclusion for LGBT Americans. His administration filed briefs that urged the Supreme Court to strike down same-sex marriage bans as unconstitutional (United States v. Windsor and Obergefell v. Hodges); same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide in 2015 after the Court ruled so in Obergefell. He advocated for gun control in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, indicating support for a ban on assault weapons, and issued wide-ranging executive actions concerning global warming and immigration. In foreign policy, he ordered military interventions in Iraq and Syria in response to gains made by ISIL after the 2011 withdrawal from Iraq, promoted discussions that led to the 2015 Paris Agreement on global climate change, oversaw the deadly Kunduz hospital airstrike, drew down U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2016, initiated sanctions against Russia following the Annexation of Crimea and again after interference in the 2016 U.S. elections, brokered the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal with Iran, and normalized U.S. relations with Cuba. Obama nominated three justices to the Supreme Court: Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan were confirmed as justices, while Merrick Garland was denied hearings or a vote from the Republican-majority Senate. Obama left office on January 20, 2017, and continues to reside in Washington, D.C.During Obama's terms as president, the United States' reputation abroad, as well as the American economy, significantly improved. Scholars and historians rank him among the upper to mid tier of American presidents. Since leaving office, Obama has remained active in Democratic politics, including campaigning for candidates in the 2018 midterm elections, appearing at the 2020 Democratic National Convention and campaigning for Biden during the 2020 presidential election. Outside of politics, Obama has published three bestselling books: Dreams from My Father (1995), The Audacity of Hope (2006) and A Promised Land (2020).

This week's special double episode features two interviews: my conversation with Jim Papa, who runs the Washington, D.C. office of Global Strategy Group (GSG), where he guides operations and strategy for GSG's public affairs, communications, and research practices, and Jim's interview of me for GSG's podcast, STAFFER.  As Partner at GSC, Jim advises CEOs and other C-suite executives grappling with public affairs challenges and opportunities across multiple industries. Prior to joining GSG, Jim was Special Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs in the Obama White House from 2009-2012, where played an important role in the enactment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Affordable Care Act, and other landmark laws.  Former Chicago Mayor and current U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel had this to say about Jim: “Papa is someone you want in the trenches with you.” Prior to serving in the White House, Jim earned a reputation as a top flight communications and political strategist on Capitol Hill. He served as a senior advisor to Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel and Chief of Staff to Rep. Rush Holt, one of only three scientists serving in Congress at that time, among other key senior roles. Jim is an experienced spokesman and media trainer who has prepared clients for broadcast appearances ranging from "Meet the Press" to "60 Minutes". He has guest lectured at Georgetown University, George Washington University, and American University. Jim earned his J.D. from Georgetown Law and an undergraduate degree from Cornell University. Topics covered in the double episode include: - Some of the common missteps Jim encounters as he guides and counsels clients and Members of Congress in effective communication and how he addresses and remedies them Lessons Jim learned from U.S. Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ) when Jim served as Holt's Chief of Staff, including the role of data and information as a persuasive lever in moving public policy forward.  The communication tools Jim brings to the table when advising clients or directly advocating, including those JIm feels are often overlooked or underutilized. Examples of particularly powerful communications that moved an audience or listeners when Jim was working at the WHite House What role - in terms of persuasive power or influence-building - does Jim think the delivery of the message plays in the ability to hit the mark as well as characteristics of the messenger. A book Jim recommends to listeners interested in improving the way they communicate their research, priorities, or policy issues.

Eric Thorson has extensive experience exercising federal government oversight, including  as Treasury IG for 11 years, a Congressional oversight Investigator serving on 3 different committees over 10 years. His perspective is also deepened by having been a successful entrepreneur. He is now lecturer at College of William & Mary.We discuss the importance of oversight in the context of government spending anticipated with the Biden administration's infrastructure bills, and how things can go wrong quickly when safeguards are bypassed, as they appear to have been in the case of Solyndra, a solar panel manufacturer that was given a $1/2 billion loan guarantee as part of the Obama administration's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.Support the show

On this Sunday Discussion edition of The Soule of Wisdom, Dan and Producer-Wife Beth tackle the topic of CRT training at Walmart. Course documents have been made available online, so we all have access to see what they are teaching their management. Is this training a good idea for a corporation? Dan and Beth break down the matter and debate its usefulness. Today's source material: https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/walmart-stands-by-crt-training-as-thought-provoking-and-instructive https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21085119-walmart-original-source-material https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_California_Proposition_13 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Recovery_and_Reinvestment_Act_of_2009#Healthcare

Rick C. Wade is senior vice president of Strategic Alliances and Outreach at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Wade develops and implements programs and initiatives to help the Chamber create new business relationships and partnerships across diverse audiences. He also provides counsel on policy issues and leads special projects. Wade's wealth of knowledge and experience in both the public and private sectors enable him to give a megaphone to the voice of business across the country and share the positive impacts of the free enterprise system. Before joining the Chamber, Wade was principal of The Wade Group, a strategic communications and global business development firm, and was a partner at Harves Investment Group, a consultancy that facilitated foreign direct investment into the U.S. Previously, Wade was a senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to former Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke where he was a liaison to the White House, businesses, trade associations, civic organizations, and local governments. He was a member of the White House task forces on Puerto Rico, Small Business Contracting, Automobile Recovery, Military Families, and Historically Black Colleges & Universities. He also served on the Interagency Business Council and former Vice President Joe Biden's Task Force on Middle Class America and worked with the White House on implementing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Wade received his B.S. from the University of South Carolina and an M.P.A. from Harvard University. He was awarded honorary doctorates from Benedict College and South Carolina State University and has received numerous awards for exemplary leadership and public service. Help us grow! Leave us a rating and review - it's the best way to bring new listeners to the show. Don't forget to subscribe! Have a suggestion, or want to chat with Jim? Email him at Jim@ThePoliticalLife.net  Follow The Political Life on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter for weekly updates.

Welcome to Part 2 of the Exploring North Carolina Lookout Towers with Peter Barr. If you missed Part 1, I really encourage you to check out that episode where Peter and I discuss the history and backstory of Forest Service lookout towers and how a lifechanging trip on the AT and sketchy climb up his first lookout tower completely changed the trajectory of Peter's life. We talk about a lot of other cool things too, but I won't spoil that for you. You'll definitely want to check out that episode.In Part 2 we go in depth with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act which led to the complete restoration of most of the US Forest Service towers in North Carolina and we talk about how the draw to the mountains led to a thru-hike of the AT and ultimately a career in and for the mountains. In this episode we pick right up where we left off talking about the specific towers that were preserved thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.Buy The Book: https://nclookouts.comThe Author: https://nclookouts.com/author/The Photographer: https://www.kadamsphoto.comAwesome Maps Provided By Jack Henderson, Pisgah Map Companyhttps://www.pisgahmapcompany.comConserving Carolina: https://conservingcarolina.orgMike Andress, HostExploration Local PodcastEmail: mike@explorationlocal.comWebsite: https://explorationlocal.com/Instagram: explorationlocalFacebook: https://m.facebook.com/explorationlocal/

Derek Smith, Executive Director of Resource Innovation Institute joins Tony P for an informative discussion about sustainable and efficient growing  in our new episode entitled, "Sustainability in Cannabis Cultivation."Some of the topics in this episode will include: energy requirements in cannabis cultivation, energy savings and rebates for cultivators, benefits of using LED lighting as well as monitoring and control data to help save energy and much more. Derek will also talk about benchmarking your cannabis facility to help you grow efficiently using Resource Innovation Institute's free Power Score  benchmarking platform, which helps provide cultivators performance rankings based on industry-standard key performance indicators (KPIs) on energy, emissions, water and waste and helps you learn how to be more efficient while growing better plants. If you are a cultivator, facility owner or anyone interested in growing, you won't want to miss this exciting episode.About Derek SmithExecutive Director, Resource Innovation InstituteAs Executive Director, Derek provides overall leadership and strategic direction. Derek engages RII's advisory bodies, including the Strategic Advisory Council and Technical Advisory Council Leadership Committees, develops global partnerships and oversees the organization's policy work.Before RII, Derek led Clean Energy Works, recognized as one of the most successful American Recovery & Reinvestment Act ("stimulus") programs. He has directed energy programs for the City of Portland, managed operations for a VC-backed start-up and created an award-winning corporate sustainability program for a national retailer. Derek has testified to the US Senate Energy Committee and briefed the US Secretary of Energy.Derek enjoys playing and listening to a range of music, soccer (especially his hometown Portland Timbers), hiking and travel.To learn more about Resource Innovation Institute and their free resources available to cultivators, please visit www.resourceinnovation.org.

The HITECH Act, part of the broad American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, ushered in major changes for health care's information and informatics landscape. The legislation may best be known for "meaningful use" requirements attached to hospital and/or physician funding to support the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs).The law also greatly boosted health information exchanges, or networks that share clinical information across different health care settings.On today's episode of A Health Podyssey, Dr. Julia Adler-Milstein, director of the Center for Clinical Informatics and Improvement Research at the University of California San Francisco, joins Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil to discuss a survey of health information exchange organizations she and colleagues published in the May 2021 issue of Health Affairs. The survey reveals a level of maturity in the field of health information exchange, but a few critical issues continue to threaten the ability to achieve the potential and promise of EHRs. Listen to Alan Weil interview Julia Adler-Milstein on the evolution of health information exchange organizations, TEFCA, and health data governance.Subscribe: RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts

Barack Obama, Last Speech as President, Farewell, January 20, 2017 You can also watch this speech on YouTube (foreign language subtitles available) here: https://youtu.be/3zK9N4Xz6Qg And the other best speeches from Barack Obama: https://youtu.be/YomJnbTi4yQ https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3hSWhVWtSrperVzosrBxa6cLNTMFBtrU Barack Obama, 44th U.S. President | Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the United States. He previously served as a U.S. senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004. Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. After graduating from Columbia University in 1983, he worked as a community organizer in Chicago. In 1988, he enrolled in Harvard Law School, where he was the first black person to be president of the Harvard Law Review. After graduating, he became a civil rights attorney and an academic, teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. Turning to elective politics, he represented the 13th district from 1997 until 2004 in the Illinois Senate, when he ran for the U.S. Senate. Obama received national attention in 2004 with his March Senate primary win, his well-received July Democratic National Convention keynote address, and his landslide November election to the Senate. In 2008, he was nominated by the Democratic Party for president a year after beginning his campaign, and after a close primary campaign against Hillary Clinton. Obama was elected over Republican nominee John McCain in the general election and was inaugurated alongside his running mate, Joe Biden, on January 20, 2009. Nine months later, he was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Obama signed many landmark bills into law during his first two years in office. The main reforms that were passed include the Affordable Care Act (commonly referred to as ACA or "Obamacare"), although without a public health insurance option, the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 served as economic stimuli amidst the Great Recession. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama Foreign Languages: استمع إلى باراك أوباما বারাক ওবামার কথা শুনুন 听巴拉克·奥巴马（Barack Obama） Slušajte Baracka Obamu Poslechněte si Baracka Obamu Lyt til Barack Obama Kuuntele Barack Obama Écoutez Barack Obama Hören Sie Barack Obama Ακούστε τον Μπαράκ Ομπάμα બરાક ઓબામાને સાંભળો האזינו לברק אובמה बराक ओबामा की सुनो Hallgassa meg Barack Obamát Dengarkan Barack Obama Ascolta Barack Obama バラク・オバマに耳を傾ける 버락 오바마 듣기 Dengarkan Barack Obama ബരാക് ഒബാമ പറയുന്നത് ശ്രദ്ധിക്കുക बराक ओबामा यांचे ऐका Lytt til Barack Obama ବାରାକ ଓବାମାଙ୍କ କଥା ଶୁଣ | به باراک اوباما گوش فرا دهید Posłuchaj Baracka Obamy Ouça Barack Obama ਬਰਾਕ ਓਬਾਮਾ ਨੂੰ ਸੁਣੋ Ascultă-l pe Barack Obama Слушайте Барака Обаму Vypočujte si Baracka Obamu Poslušajte Baracka Obamo Dhageyso Barack Obama Escuche a Barack Obama Dangukeun Barack Obama Msikilize Barack Obama Lyssna på Barack Obama பராக் ஒபாமாவைக் கேளுங்கள் ฟังบารัคโอบามา Barack Obama'yı dinle Послухайте Барака Обаму باراک اوباما کی بات سنو Nghe Barack Obama --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/henry-gindt/support

Prager University Part 42.  Price Transparency: How to Fix Healthcare What's Wrong With The 1619 Project? Be Brave - Nikki Haley What Is Big Green? What I Can Teach You About Racism How the Left Sees the World: Power, Race, and Class   Price Transparency: How to Fix Healthcare https://youtu.be/vYwR-DTzKr0 PragerU How can a simple blood test cost $30 at one lab and $300 at another across the street? The answer to this question could save billions, as well as make healthcare more accessible and affordable for everyone. Will Bruhn, co-founder of Restoring Medicine, explains. Script: How messed up is our healthcare system? This messed up.  Researchers compared prices amongst 53 hospitals for a standard heart procedure, called a CABG, or coronary artery bypass grafting. Not only did the researchers find a 10-fold difference in price for the same procedure across hospitals — from $44,000 dollars to $448,000 dollars; but they also found no correlation between higher prices and better quality of care.  Other studies have shown there can be up to a 39-fold variation in price for a simple blood test across medical centers in the same metro area.  Here's the punchline.  We have no idea how much we're paying for healthcare services.   Why is it that when you need to get a surgery or medical test, you can't get a price the same way you can when you shop for, say, an airline ticket?  Imagine if the airlines didn't post prices. Instead, when you bought your ticket, Delta just said, "we'll bill you after your flight because we don't know what the cost of fuel will be that day." Then a week later you get a bill for $4,000. You'd scream bloody murder and rightly so. Yet this is precisely what we are dealing with in American healthcare. With rare exceptions, when you go in for back surgery or a thousand other kinds of medical procedures, you have no idea how much it's going to cost you. Worse, no one would be able to tell you if you bothered to ask. That's because medical billing is a ridiculously complex dance between hospitals, insurance companies, and various middlemen. The hospitals charge crazy prices — $100 for aspirin, for example — and the insurance companies and middlemen agree, through special, often secret deals, to pay some percentage of that.  That's how your knee replacement which the hospital says costs $50,000 on its itemized bill, actually costs you $5,000 — after your deductible.  Out of all this confusion, one thing is crystal clear: medical costs are skyrocketing.   And, Americans are having more and more trouble paying the bill.  Nearly 1 in 5 of us has medical debt in collections.  If you think this problem doesn't apply to you because you have insurance through your employer, and therefore your costs are covered, think again.   Over the past five years, employees have had to increase their contribution to their premiums by 15%, in addition to a 36% increase in deductibles. Meanwhile, wage increases have not kept up, rising 14% over the same period.  Yes, that salary increase you so richly deserved was eaten up by the increased insurance premium you had to pay.  If the ever-increasing cost of medical care was reflected in the quality of the care you were getting — that is, if you were paying more to get better care — maybe this would make some sense, but, as we saw in the coronary bypass example, there is little or no correlation between what you pay and what you get.  So how do we get out of this mess?  A big part of the answer is price transparency — something almost every American wants. Even in our era of political polarization, almost 9 out of 10 Americans say they favor price transparency for medical services.  Makes sense.  Markets only work when consumers have the proper information to make purchasing decisions. And the two most important pieces of information are the price and the quality of a good or service. As it relates to health care, Americans don't have access to either of those. For the complete script visit https://www.prageru.com/video/price-t...​   https://youtu.be/OrqFbyTABmQ What's Wrong With The 1619 Project? PragerU In August of 2019, the New York Times published The 1619 Project. Its goal is to redefine the American experiment as rooted not in liberty but in slavery. In this video, Wilfred Reilly, Associate Professor of Political Science at Kentucky State University, responds to The 1619 Project's major claims.    Script: Have you heard of The 1619 Project? It was published by the New York Times in August of 2019. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2020. Its thesis: The United States was founded in 1619, when the first slave was brought to North America. Wait—that brings up some questions… What happened to 1776? To July 4th? The Declaration of Independence? George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison? According to The 1619 Project, the Founding Fathers pushed for all that “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” stuff to protect their slave holdings. Independence from England? That was just a smoke screen. To them, everything that's wrong with America is tied to her “original sin” of slavery: from segregation to traffic jams (yes—traffic jams!). For The 1619 Project authors, racism is not a part of the American experience; it is the American experience. Is this true? Let's look at three of the project's major claims: 1. Preserving slavery was the real cause of the American Revolution. If you asked the Founders why they no longer wanted to be a British colony, they would have given you a long list of reasons: Taxation without representation, conflicts over debts from the French and Indian War, and the Stamp Act would be just a few. Probably most important was the burning desire to be free—to chart their own destiny as a sovereign nation. Protecting slavery? Slavery was not under threat from the British. In fact, Britain didn't free the slaves in its overseas colonies until 1833—57 years later, after the Declaration of Independence. Yes, the subject of slavery was hotly debated at the Constitutional Convention, but that was after the war was won. 2. Slavery made America rich. Slavery made some Americans rich—true enough. Eli Yale, for example, made a fortune in the slave trade. He donated money and land for the university that is named after him. But the institution of slavery didn't make America rich. In fact, the slave system badly slowed the economic development of half the country. As economist Thomas Sowell points out, in 1860, just one year before the Civil War began, the South had only one-sixth as many factories as the North. Almost 90% of the country's skilled, well-paid laborers and professionals were based in the North. Banking, railroads, manufacturing—all were concentrated in the North. The South was an economic backwater. And the cost of abolishing slavery was enormous—not merely in terms of dollars (Lincoln borrowed billions to pay for it), but also in terms of human life: 360,000 Union soldiers died in order to free 4 million slaves. That works out to about one soldier in blue for every ten slaves freed. It's hard to look at that butcher's bill and conclude that the nation turned a profit from slavery. And many things have happened since 1865. In the almost 200 years since the Civil War, the population of the country has grown almost 900% and our national GDP has increased 12,000%. Slavery did not make America rich. 3. Racism is an unchangeable part of America. This argument is more philosophical than scholarly, but it undergirds the entire 1619 Project. It's also pernicious because it suggests that the United States is an inherently racist country that can't overcome its flaws. Yet that's exactly what it's done. Today, America is the most successful multi-racial country in history, the only white majority country to elect a black President—twice. Of course, progress has not always been smooth. There have been terrible setbacks. But to compare American attitudes about race today to America a hundred years ago, let alone to 1619, is absurd. For the complete script visit https://www.prageru.com/video/whats-w...​   https://youtu.be/bOhI_DlT5FM Be Brave - Nikki Haley PragerU Free speech and intellectual freedom are the civil rights issues of our time. Are you ready to defend them? That's the question that former US Ambassador Nikki Haley poses in this challenging video. This video was made possible by a generous grant from Colorado Christian University (CCU). PragerU subscribers may be eligible for a $1,000 scholarship for courses taken through CCU Online. Learn more at prageru.com/ccu.   Script: I know what it's like to walk into a room where plain truth seems like a foreign concept. Where just speaking your mind can feel daunting. Where the founding principles of The United States of America are openly ridiculed. For two years, I served as the US Ambassador to the United Nations. Just to give you an idea of how strange things can get at the UN, consider that the Human Rights Council is dominated by some of the world's worst human rights offenders—countries like China, Cuba, and Venezuela. True democracies, like Israel, are routinely abused. And America, the nation that has protected the God-given rights of hundreds of millions of people all over the globe, is openly criticized. Why am I telling you this? Because most college campuses have become as anti-American—which is to say morally backward—as the UN. And the only person who can set it right side up is you. If that sounds like I'm asking you to shoulder a heavy burden, that's because I am. I wouldn't be asking if I didn't think you were up to it. I fully believe that you are. I've spoken at a lot of colleges. I'm convinced that most of the students still have a strong, intuitive love of our country. That's why I'm optimistic about America's future. But I know that it's hard to speak out. I know the academic establishment is against you. I didn't say this was going to be easy. It is, however, going to be necessary. So, what is it that I'm asking you to do? Be brave. Defend your right to speak out. Defend America. To your friends. In class. Around campus. Wherever you go. Speaking out doesn't mean being rude and, of course, it never means resorting to violence. It means, having the facts and saying the truth with clarity and purpose. And, if you're saying the truth, don't back down, even if your classmates or professor—or, in my case, the representatives of 193 governments—try to make you look foolish. Defending America means you need to know American history. Given how poorly that history is taught these days, you might have to supplement your education. Start with the primary sources: The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Federalist Papers, George Washington's farewell speech, the Gettysburg Address and Lincoln's second inaugural. And build out from there. Discover America's history for yourself. Make up your own mind. Always remember that you're comparing America to reality, not to utopia. Also remember that you have to judge people in the context of their time, not by the standards of our time. If you do that, I have every confidence you'll find yourself loving this country as much as I do. America has a great story to tell. But first you have to have the courage to tell it. What the fight for racial equality was to prior generations, the fight for free speech and intellectual freedom is to your generation. You are on the front line. You are the rebel. Never before, in my lifetime, can I remember when more Americans were as stifled or as constantly told what they're allowed to think and what they're allowed to say. And what are we allowed to say in America? What sorts of fashionable ideas are considered sophisticated by our top universities? So often, they're the very same ones espoused by the thugs on the Human Rights Council: That America is racist, that capitalism—the only economic system to lift billions of people out of poverty—is the source of our problems, that socialism is bliss, that freedom of speech is not that important. These are very bad ideas. They're also dead wrong. There is no question that America can and should improve. That's the hard work we have in front of us. But the constant slandering of... For the complete script visit https://www.prageru.com/video/be-brave​   https://youtu.be/CeMwlhV443k What Is Big Green? PragerU You hear lots of dire predictions these days -- the planet is burning, the seas are rising, and so on. But what is the real purpose of all this doom and gloom? Is it to protect the environment? Or is there a different motive? Rogan O'Handley, aka DC Draino, gets to the bottom of these questions in this important video.   Script: You've heard a lot about Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Tech, and all the other big bad players out there. I want to talk to you about the biggest, baddest one of them all. This Goliath doesn't deal in billions. It deals in trillions. I'm talking about… Big Green. Yes, the Environmental Movement. It's the richest, most powerful "Big" in the world right now. Nothing else even comes close. Until we see it for what is and reign it in, it's going to get even bigger. And as is usually the case, bigger is not always better. You see, Big Green wants to take over your life. It has to. This makes perfect sense. Big Green, after all, intends to save the planet from oblivion. Your freedom would seem to be a small price to pay. To accomplish its mission Big Green needs two things: Money. And power. It already has a lot of both. But it's hungry for much more. Who do we mean when we say Big Green? We mean the major organizations that set the agenda for the movement. This would include, among dozens: Greenpeace. 350.Org. Nature Conservancy. Sierra Club. World Wildlife Fund. And, of course, the politicians, bureaucrats, corporations, and media outlets who support and promote their agenda. Before we get any deeper into this, let's stipulate a few things. The climate is changing. It appears, though we can't be sure, to be slowly warming. If it continues to warm, it could cause serious environmental problems sometime in the distant future. Industrialization probably plays a role in this warming process. Reasonable people should be able to agree on this. Democrat leader Nancy Pelosi and Republican leader Newt Gingrich actually once sat down together and said as much in a public service ad they made in the 1990s. But Big Green has no interest in being reasonable. Reasonable doesn't get you money. Reasonable doesn't get you power. So, let's talk about the money. Greenpeace, Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, and Sierra Club all have financial assets in the $100 to $300 million-dollar range. Name a Fortune 500 company and chances are they're writing big checks to Big Green.   Banking giant, Citigroup, for example, has committed $100 billion to "combat climate change." But the real money is at the government level. In 2009 the Obama Administration directed more than $110 billion to be spent on renewable energy "investments" under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act alone. What the taxpayer got for this investment other than long-forgotten $500 million-dollar boondoggles—like Solyndra—is hard to say. According to the best economic models, the Paris Climate Accord will cost the world $1 to 2 trillion every year. Total cost for The Green New Deal $52 trillion—minimum. But money is only a means to an end. The end is power. The power to transform society into what they think it should be. That's what this is really about. Here's how Saikat Chakrabarti, the architect of the Green New Deal described it to the Washington Post: "…it wasn't originally a climate thing at all…we really think of it as a how-do-you-change-the-entire-economy thing." Maybe you like all this. That's fine. But don't pretend it's about protecting the environment. Chakrabarti was being honest. You should be, too. It's about transferring more and more power to the government—at every level: federal, state, local. And the way to get the power is to gin up scary scenarios. The planet is burning. The seas are rising. We're all going to be dead soon unless we listen to those masters of disaster, Al Gore, Bill McKibben, and Greta Thunberg. And what have all their horror stories led to? For the complete script visit https://www.prageru.com/video/what-is...   https://youtu.be/Htm8TuB-5Hc What I Can Teach You About Racism PragerU Renowned political science professor Carol Swain started out life with every possible disadvantage. She ended up teaching at two of the most prestigious universities in the country. How did she do it? She shares her story and her wisdom in this inspiring video.   Script: Let me tell you how my story ends: I become a tenured, award-winning professor of political science at an Ivy League university and then at one of the leading universities in the South. Now let me tell you how my story begins: I grow up in rural Virginia literally dirt poor. I drop out of school in the eighth grade and have three children by the time I'm 20. I consider myself to be a reasonably modest person, but even I have to admit that's quite a journey. How did I do it? I worked hard. Not crazy, 24/7 hard. Just hard. I made good decisions. Not brilliant, three-dimensional chess decisions. Just good ones. I met people along the way who helped me and sincerely wanted to see me succeed, not because they had something to gain, but because they were decent people. Almost all of these individuals, by the way, were white. But mostly, I think I was blessed in one crucial way. I was born in America, a true land of opportunity for anyone of any color or background. In this country, where you start your life does not determine where you end up. That works in both directions, by the way. You can start out with every advantage and waste them all. Or start out with nothing and become a success. It all depends on you. Your attitude is far more important than your race, gender, or social class in determining what you will accomplish in life. When I hear young blacks, or anyone for that matter, talk about systemic racism, I don't know whether to laugh or cry.  I want to laugh because it's such nonsense. I want to cry because I know it's pushing untold numbers of young blacks into a dead end of self-pity and despair.  Instead of seizing the amazing opportunities America offers them, they seize an excuse to explain why they're not succeeding. I was born into a world where systemic racism was real — no fooling, outright bigotry, back-of-the-bus real. But here's what you need to know: yes, that racism shaped the black experience, but even then it did not define it. Change was in the air. Call it systemic reform. The modern civil rights movement was in its infancy, and the leaders who fought for equal rights for blacks were men and women of all races. They believed in America and were determined to see it live up to its highest ideals — ideals manifest in the Declaration of Independence, and the US Constitution. Did I know growing up that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson owned slaves? I don't think I ever thought about it. If I did, I'd like to think that I would have had enough common sense to know that we can't judge men who lived 250 years ago by the moral standards of our own day. But I know that Jefferson wrote the words in the Declaration of Independence that made slavery ultimately impossible; that all men are created equal. And, I know that Washington, Hamilton, Franklin, Adams, and the rest of the Founders risked everything to make my world, my America, possible. How could I not be grateful for that and for the sacrifices so many others have made to preserve it? The truth is, I cannot remember a time when I did not love America and feel pride in the belief that I live in the greatest country in the world. I knew if I diligently pursued my ambitions, I could leave the poverty of my early years, with all its abuse and depression, behind me. I was fortunate in another way. I was spared the life-sapping, negative messages about America that are crippling a generation of young people. These ideas are poison: White privilege. Whiteness as a form of property. Unconscious racism. Reparations. Microaggressions.  Police have it out for blacks.  That the United States was created to protect and promote slavery.  These are the ideas young people are told they must accept.  For the complete script visit https://www.prageru.com/video/what-i-...​   https://youtu.be/jAAIekJB3wk How the Left Sees the World: Power, Race, and Class PragerU How do those on the Left determine right from wrong? Since Marx, they've relied on a formula based on status, skin color, and wealth. But is that the way to reach a moral conclusion? Dennis Prager uses Israel and the United States to provide an illuminating perspective on this question.   Script: Why does the left hate Israel? On the surface, it doesn't make sense. Israel is a liberal democracy. It extends full rights to women, to gays, and to its many Arab citizens. Like all countries, which are made up of flawed human beings, Israel is flawed. But compared to most countries, not to mention its neighbors, it is a civil rights paradise.  So, why does the left hate Israel? The reason is that the left — and as I always emphasize, I am talking about the left, not about liberals — is not guided by a moral compass. It is guided by three other compasses:  A power compass, a race compass, and a class compass. Let's begin with the power compass. Instead of evaluating people and nations on the basis of right and wrong or good and evil, the left evaluates them on the basis of weak and strong. If you're weak, you're good. If you're strong, you're bad. Israel is strong. Therefore, it is bad. America is strong. Therefore it is bad. The Palestinians are regarded as weak. Therefore, they are good. When you are guided by a moral compass, you don't ask, "who's strong and who's weak?" You ask, "who's morally right and who's morally wrong?" Fifty years ago, Israel was not a big issue for the left. Why? Because it was perceived as weak. But after the 1967 Six Day War in which Israel achieved a stunning military victory, it all changed. Israel became strong, so Israel became bad. And the Palestinians were weak, so they became good.  So, no matter how much terror Palestinians engaged in — hijacking airplanes, murdering eleven Israeli athletes and coaches at the 1972 Munich Olympics, blowing up Israelis in pizza parlors and at weddings — the left's position never changed: Palestinians good. Israel bad. Because the Palestinians were weak. And Israel was strong. That's one of the three ways the left judges the world. You can test this theory in other ways. Why is the United States bad? Because it's strong. And Third World countries that oppose the United States are good.  Cuba, for example, has been adored by the left for decades. Never mind that Cuba's communist party has ruined Cuba, that Cubans have no civil rights, and Cuba is one of the poorest countries in the world. Since Cuba is weak, to the left, Cuba is good.  The same was true with North Vietnam in the 1960s. It was considered weak, so it was good. The US was strong, so it was bad. It didn't matter that America was trying to preserve the freedom of the South Vietnamese, exactly as it had preserved the freedom of the South Koreans. The US was strong. So it was bad.  Which brings us back to Israel. The stronger Israel gets — as it effectively defends itself, as its economy grows, and its diplomatic position improves — the more the left hates it.  The second of the left's compasses — the race compass — is another reason the left hates Israel. Just as it substitutes weak and strong for good and evil, the left substitutes non-white and white for good and evil. The left doesn't judge people by their actions, but by their race. That's why, for example, the left asserts that a black person cannot be a racist, only a white person can be s racist. And that provides the second reason Israel is labeled evil: Israelis are considered white and Palestinians are not white. Never mind that more than half of Israel's population is not white. The result: the left essentially ignores Palestinian terror and loudly condemns Israel's responses to terror.   FOLLOW us! Facebook:

Prager University Part 42. Price Transparency: How to Fix HealthcareWhat's Wrong With The 1619 Project?Be Brave - Nikki HaleyWhat Is Big Green?What I Can Teach You About Racism How the Left Sees the World: Power, Race, and Class Price Transparency: How to Fix Healthcarehttps://youtu.be/vYwR-DTzKr0 PragerUHow can a simple blood test cost $30 at one lab and $300 at another across the street? The answer to this question could save billions, as well as make healthcare more accessible and affordable for everyone. Will Bruhn, co-founder of Restoring Medicine, explains. Script: How messed up is our healthcare system? This messed up.  Researchers compared prices amongst 53 hospitals for a standard heart procedure, called a CABG, or coronary artery bypass grafting. Not only did the researchers find a 10-fold difference in price for the same procedure across hospitals — from $44,000 dollars to $448,000 dollars; but they also found no correlation between higher prices and better quality of care.  Other studies have shown there can be up to a 39-fold variation in price for a simple blood test across medical centers in the same metro area.  Here's the punchline.  We have no idea how much we're paying for healthcare services.   Why is it that when you need to get a surgery or medical test, you can't get a price the same way you can when you shop for, say, an airline ticket?  Imagine if the airlines didn't post prices. Instead, when you bought your ticket, Delta just said, "we'll bill you after your flight because we don't know what the cost of fuel will be that day." Then a week later you get a bill for $4,000. You'd scream bloody murder and rightly so. Yet this is precisely what we are dealing with in American healthcare. With rare exceptions, when you go in for back surgery or a thousand other kinds of medical procedures, you have no idea how much it's going to cost you. Worse, no one would be able to tell you if you bothered to ask. That's because medical billing is a ridiculously complex dance between hospitals, insurance companies, and various middlemen. The hospitals charge crazy prices — $100 for aspirin, for example — and the insurance companies and middlemen agree, through special, often secret deals, to pay some percentage of that.  That's how your knee replacement which the hospital says costs $50,000 on its itemized bill, actually costs you $5,000 — after your deductible.  Out of all this confusion, one thing is crystal clear: medical costs are skyrocketing.   And, Americans are having more and more trouble paying the bill.  Nearly 1 in 5 of us has medical debt in collections.  If you think this problem doesn't apply to you because you have insurance through your employer, and therefore your costs are covered, think again.   Over the past five years, employees have had to increase their contribution to their premiums by 15%, in addition to a 36% increase in deductibles. Meanwhile, wage increases have not kept up, rising 14% over the same period.  Yes, that salary increase you so richly deserved was eaten up by the increased insurance premium you had to pay.  If the ever-increasing cost of medical care was reflected in the quality of the care you were getting — that is, if you were paying more to get better care — maybe this would make some sense, but, as we saw in the coronary bypass example, there is little or no correlation between what you pay and what you get.  So how do we get out of this mess?  A big part of the answer is price transparency — something almost every American wants. Even in our era of political polarization, almost 9 out of 10 Americans say they favor price transparency for medical services.  Makes sense.  Markets only work when consumers have the proper information to make purchasing decisions. And the two most important pieces of information are the price and the quality of a good or service. As it relates to health care, Americans don't have access to either of those. For the complete script visit https://www.prageru.com/video/price-t...​ https://youtu.be/OrqFbyTABmQ What's Wrong With The 1619 Project?PragerUIn August of 2019, the New York Times published The 1619 Project. Its goal is to redefine the American experiment as rooted not in liberty but in slavery. In this video, Wilfred Reilly, Associate Professor of Political Science at Kentucky State University, responds to The 1619 Project’s major claims.   Script: Have you heard of The 1619 Project? It was published by the New York Times in August of 2019. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2020. Its thesis: The United States was founded in 1619, when the first slave was brought to North America. Wait—that brings up some questions… What happened to 1776? To July 4th? The Declaration of Independence? George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison? According to The 1619 Project, the Founding Fathers pushed for all that “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” stuff to protect their slave holdings. Independence from England? That was just a smoke screen. To them, everything that’s wrong with America is tied to her “original sin” of slavery: from segregation to traffic jams (yes—traffic jams!). For The 1619 Project authors, racism is not a part of the American experience; it is the American experience. Is this true? Let’s look at three of the project’s major claims: 1. Preserving slavery was the real cause of the American Revolution. If you asked the Founders why they no longer wanted to be a British colony, they would have given you a long list of reasons: Taxation without representation, conflicts over debts from the French and Indian War, and the Stamp Act would be just a few. Probably most important was the burning desire to be free—to chart their own destiny as a sovereign nation. Protecting slavery? Slavery was not under threat from the British. In fact, Britain didn’t free the slaves in its overseas colonies until 1833—57 years later, after the Declaration of Independence. Yes, the subject of slavery was hotly debated at the Constitutional Convention, but that was after the war was won. 2. Slavery made America rich. Slavery made some Americans rich—true enough. Eli Yale, for example, made a fortune in the slave trade. He donated money and land for the university that is named after him. But the institution of slavery didn’t make America rich. In fact, the slave system badly slowed the economic development of half the country. As economist Thomas Sowell points out, in 1860, just one year before the Civil War began, the South had only one-sixth as many factories as the North. Almost 90% of the country’s skilled, well-paid laborers and professionals were based in the North. Banking, railroads, manufacturing—all were concentrated in the North. The South was an economic backwater. And the cost of abolishing slavery was enormous—not merely in terms of dollars (Lincoln borrowed billions to pay for it), but also in terms of human life: 360,000 Union soldiers died in order to free 4 million slaves. That works out to about one soldier in blue for every ten slaves freed. It’s hard to look at that butcher’s bill and conclude that the nation turned a profit from slavery. And many things have happened since 1865. In the almost 200 years since the Civil War, the population of the country has grown almost 900% and our national GDP has increased 12,000%. Slavery did not make America rich. 3. Racism is an unchangeable part of America. This argument is more philosophical than scholarly, but it undergirds the entire 1619 Project. It’s also pernicious because it suggests that the United States is an inherently racist country that can’t overcome its flaws. Yet that’s exactly what it’s done. Today, America is the most successful multi-racial country in history, the only white majority country to elect a black President—twice. Of course, progress has not always been smooth. There have been terrible setbacks. But to compare American attitudes about race today to America a hundred years ago, let alone to 1619, is absurd. For the complete script visit https://www.prageru.com/video/whats-w...​ https://youtu.be/bOhI_DlT5FM Be Brave - Nikki HaleyPragerUFree speech and intellectual freedom are the civil rights issues of our time. Are you ready to defend them? That’s the question that former US Ambassador Nikki Haley poses in this challenging video. This video was made possible by a generous grant from Colorado Christian University (CCU). PragerU subscribers may be eligible for a $1,000 scholarship for courses taken through CCU Online. Learn more at prageru.com/ccu.  Script: I know what it’s like to walk into a room where plain truth seems like a foreign concept. Where just speaking your mind can feel daunting. Where the founding principles of The United States of America are openly ridiculed. For two years, I served as the US Ambassador to the United Nations. Just to give you an idea of how strange things can get at the UN, consider that the Human Rights Council is dominated by some of the world’s worst human rights offenders—countries like China, Cuba, and Venezuela. True democracies, like Israel, are routinely abused. And America, the nation that has protected the God-given rights of hundreds of millions of people all over the globe, is openly criticized. Why am I telling you this? Because most college campuses have become as anti-American—which is to say morally backward—as the UN. And the only person who can set it right side up is you. If that sounds like I’m asking you to shoulder a heavy burden, that’s because I am. I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t think you were up to it. I fully believe that you are. I’ve spoken at a lot of colleges. I’m convinced that most of the students still have a strong, intuitive love of our country. That’s why I’m optimistic about America’s future. But I know that it’s hard to speak out. I know the academic establishment is against you. I didn’t say this was going to be easy. It is, however, going to be necessary. So, what is it that I’m asking you to do? Be brave. Defend your right to speak out. Defend America. To your friends. In class. Around campus. Wherever you go. Speaking out doesn’t mean being rude and, of course, it never means resorting to violence. It means, having the facts and saying the truth with clarity and purpose. And, if you’re saying the truth, don’t back down, even if your classmates or professor—or, in my case, the representatives of 193 governments—try to make you look foolish. Defending America means you need to know American history. Given how poorly that history is taught these days, you might have to supplement your education. Start with the primary sources: The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Federalist Papers, George Washington’s farewell speech, the Gettysburg Address and Lincoln’s second inaugural. And build out from there. Discover America’s history for yourself. Make up your own mind. Always remember that you’re comparing America to reality, not to utopia. Also remember that you have to judge people in the context of their time, not by the standards of our time. If you do that, I have every confidence you’ll find yourself loving this country as much as I do. America has a great story to tell. But first you have to have the courage to tell it. What the fight for racial equality was to prior generations, the fight for free speech and intellectual freedom is to your generation. You are on the front line. You are the rebel. Never before, in my lifetime, can I remember when more Americans were as stifled or as constantly told what they’re allowed to think and what they’re allowed to say. And what are we allowed to say in America? What sorts of fashionable ideas are considered sophisticated by our top universities? So often, they’re the very same ones espoused by the thugs on the Human Rights Council: That America is racist, that capitalism—the only economic system to lift billions of people out of poverty—is the source of our problems, that socialism is bliss, that freedom of speech is not that important. These are very bad ideas. They’re also dead wrong. There is no question that America can and should improve. That’s the hard work we have in front of us. But the constant slandering of... For the complete script visit https://www.prageru.com/video/be-brave​ https://youtu.be/CeMwlhV443k What Is Big Green?PragerUYou hear lots of dire predictions these days -- the planet is burning, the seas are rising, and so on. But what is the real purpose of all this doom and gloom? Is it to protect the environment? Or is there a different motive? Rogan O’Handley, aka DC Draino, gets to the bottom of these questions in this important video. Script: You've heard a lot about Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Tech, and all the other big bad players out there. I want to talk to you about the biggest, baddest one of them all. This Goliath doesn't deal in billions. It deals in trillions. I'm talking about… Big Green. Yes, the Environmental Movement. It's the richest, most powerful "Big" in the world right now. Nothing else even comes close. Until we see it for what is and reign it in, it's going to get even bigger. And as is usually the case, bigger is not always better. You see, Big Green wants to take over your life. It has to. This makes perfect sense. Big Green, after all, intends to save the planet from oblivion. Your freedom would seem to be a small price to pay. To accomplish its mission Big Green needs two things: Money. And power. It already has a lot of both. But it's hungry for much more. Who do we mean when we say Big Green? We mean the major organizations that set the agenda for the movement. This would include, among dozens: Greenpeace. 350.Org. Nature Conservancy. Sierra Club. World Wildlife Fund. And, of course, the politicians, bureaucrats, corporations, and media outlets who support and promote their agenda. Before we get any deeper into this, let's stipulate a few things. The climate is changing. It appears, though we can't be sure, to be slowly warming. If it continues to warm, it could cause serious environmental problems sometime in the distant future. Industrialization probably plays a role in this warming process. Reasonable people should be able to agree on this. Democrat leader Nancy Pelosi and Republican leader Newt Gingrich actually once sat down together and said as much in a public service ad they made in the 1990s. But Big Green has no interest in being reasonable. Reasonable doesn't get you money. Reasonable doesn't get you power. So, let's talk about the money. Greenpeace, Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, and Sierra Club all have financial assets in the $100 to $300 million-dollar range. Name a Fortune 500 company and chances are they're writing big checks to Big Green.   Banking giant, Citigroup, for example, has committed $100 billion to "combat climate change." But the real money is at the government level. In 2009 the Obama Administration directed more than $110 billion to be spent on renewable energy "investments" under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act alone. What the taxpayer got for this investment other than long-forgotten $500 million-dollar boondoggles—like Solyndra—is hard to say. According to the best economic models, the Paris Climate Accord will cost the world $1 to 2 trillion every year. Total cost for The Green New Deal $52 trillion—minimum. But money is only a means to an end. The end is power. The power to transform society into what they think it should be. That's what this is really about. Here's how Saikat Chakrabarti, the architect of the Green New Deal described it to the Washington Post: "…it wasn't originally a climate thing at all…we really think of it as a how-do-you-change-the-entire-economy thing." Maybe you like all this. That's fine. But don't pretend it's about protecting the environment. Chakrabarti was being honest. You should be, too. It's about transferring more and more power to the government—at every level: federal, state, local. And the way to get the power is to gin up scary scenarios. The planet is burning. The seas are rising. We're all going to be dead soon unless we listen to those masters of disaster, Al Gore, Bill McKibben, and Greta Thunberg. And what have all their horror stories led to? For the complete script visit https://www.prageru.com/video/what-is... https://youtu.be/Htm8TuB-5Hc What I Can Teach You About RacismPragerURenowned political science professor Carol Swain started out life with every possible disadvantage. She ended up teaching at two of the most prestigious universities in the country. How did she do it? She shares her story and her wisdom in this inspiring video.  Script: Let me tell you how my story ends: I become a tenured, award-winning professor of political science at an Ivy League university and then at one of the leading universities in the South. Now let me tell you how my story begins: I grow up in rural Virginia literally dirt poor. I drop out of school in the eighth grade and have three children by the time I'm 20. I consider myself to be a reasonably modest person, but even I have to admit that's quite a journey. How did I do it? I worked hard. Not crazy, 24/7 hard. Just hard. I made good decisions. Not brilliant, three-dimensional chess decisions. Just good ones. I met people along the way who helped me and sincerely wanted to see me succeed, not because they had something to gain, but because they were decent people. Almost all of these individuals, by the way, were white. But mostly, I think I was blessed in one crucial way. I was born in America, a true land of opportunity for anyone of any color or background. In this country, where you start your life does not determine where you end up. That works in both directions, by the way. You can start out with every advantage and waste them all. Or start out with nothing and become a success. It all depends on you. Your attitude is far more important than your race, gender, or social class in determining what you will accomplish in life. When I hear young blacks, or anyone for that matter, talk about systemic racism, I don't know whether to laugh or cry.  I want to laugh because it's such nonsense. I want to cry because I know it's pushing untold numbers of young blacks into a dead end of self-pity and despair.  Instead of seizing the amazing opportunities America offers them, they seize an excuse to explain why they're not succeeding. I was born into a world where systemic racism was real — no fooling, outright bigotry, back-of-the-bus real. But here's what you need to know: yes, that racism shaped the black experience, but even then it did not define it. Change was in the air. Call it systemic reform. The modern civil rights movement was in its infancy, and the leaders who fought for equal rights for blacks were men and women of all races. They believed in America and were determined to see it live up to its highest ideals — ideals manifest in the Declaration of Independence, and the US Constitution. Did I know growing up that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson owned slaves? I don't think I ever thought about it. If I did, I'd like to think that I would have had enough common sense to know that we can't judge men who lived 250 years ago by the moral standards of our own day. But I know that Jefferson wrote the words in the Declaration of Independence that made slavery ultimately impossible; that all men are created equal. And, I know that Washington, Hamilton, Franklin, Adams, and the rest of the Founders risked everything to make my world, my America, possible. How could I not be grateful for that and for the sacrifices so many others have made to preserve it? The truth is, I cannot remember a time when I did not love America and feel pride in the belief that I live in the greatest country in the world. I knew if I diligently pursued my ambitions, I could leave the poverty of my early years, with all its abuse and depression, behind me. I was fortunate in another way. I was spared the life-sapping, negative messages about America that are crippling a generation of young people. These ideas are poison: White privilege. Whiteness as a form of property. Unconscious racism. Reparations. Microaggressions.  Police have it out for blacks.  That the United States was created to protect and promote slavery.  These are the ideas young people are told they must accept.  For the complete script visit https://www.prageru.com/video/what-i-...​ https://youtu.be/jAAIekJB3wk How the Left Sees the World: Power, Race, and ClassPragerUHow do those on the Left determine right from wrong? Since Marx, they’ve relied on a formula based on status, skin color, and wealth. But is that the way to reach a moral conclusion? Dennis Prager uses Israel and the United States to provide an illuminating perspective on this question.  Script: Why does the left hate Israel? On the surface, it doesn't make sense. Israel is a liberal democracy. It extends full rights to women, to gays, and to its many Arab citizens. Like all countries, which are made up of flawed human beings, Israel is flawed. But compared to most countries, not to mention its neighbors, it is a civil rights paradise.  So, why does the left hate Israel? The reason is that the left — and as I always emphasize, I am talking about the left, not about liberals — is not guided by a moral compass. It is guided by three other compasses:  A power compass, a race compass, and a class compass. Let's begin with the power compass. Instead of evaluating people and nations on the basis of right and wrong or good and evil, the left evaluates them on the basis of weak and strong. If you're weak, you're good. If you're strong, you're bad. Israel is strong. Therefore, it is bad. America is strong. Therefore it is bad. The Palestinians are regarded as weak. Therefore, they are good. When you are guided by a moral compass, you don't ask, "who's strong and who's weak?" You ask, "who's morally right and who's morally wrong?" Fifty years ago, Israel was not a big issue for the left. Why? Because it was perceived as weak. But after the 1967 Six Day War in which Israel achieved a stunning military victory, it all changed. Israel became strong, so Israel became bad. And the Palestinians were weak, so they became good.  So, no matter how much terror Palestinians engaged in — hijacking airplanes, murdering eleven Israeli athletes and coaches at the 1972 Munich Olympics, blowing up Israelis in pizza parlors and at weddings — the left's position never changed: Palestinians good. Israel bad. Because the Palestinians were weak. And Israel was strong. That's one of the three ways the left judges the world. You can test this theory in other ways. Why is the United States bad? Because it's strong. And Third World countries that oppose the United States are good.  Cuba, for example, has been adored by the left for decades. Never mind that Cuba's communist party has ruined Cuba, that Cubans have no civil rights, and Cuba is one of the poorest countries in the world. Since Cuba is weak, to the left, Cuba is good.  The same was true with North Vietnam in the 1960s. It was considered weak, so it was good. The US was strong, so it was bad. It didn't matter that America was trying to preserve the freedom of the South Vietnamese, exactly as it had preserved the freedom of the South Koreans. The US was strong. So it was bad.  Which brings us back to Israel. The stronger Israel gets — as it effectively defends itself, as its economy grows, and its diplomatic position improves — the more the left hates it.  The second of the left's compasses — the race compass — is another reason the left hates Israel. Just as it substitutes weak and strong for good and evil, the left substitutes non-white and white for good and evil. The left doesn't judge people by their actions, but by their race. That's why, for example, the left asserts that a black person cannot be a racist, only a white person can be s racist. And that provides the second reason Israel is labeled evil: Israelis are considered white and Palestinians are not white. Never mind that more than half of Israel's population is not white. The result: the left essentially ignores Palestinian terror and loudly condemns Israel's responses to terror.  FOLLOW us! Facebook:

In All4Ed's final Federal Flash of the year, we’ll provide a summary of the COVID-19 relief bill and the U.S. Department of Education’s funding for 2021. We’ll also discuss the likely nominee for the position of Secretary of Education.  Congress' Long Awaited COVID-19 Relief Bill   At long last, Congress finally passed a COVID-19 relief bill in both the House and the Senate and it will be signed into law by the president. As has been reported, the bill totals about $900 billion. It includes $600 direct payments to individuals and families and restores $300 per week in additional unemployment insurance. It also includes $82 billion in education funding, of which $54.3 billion will support K-12 education, $22.7 billion will support higher education, and $4 billion will go to governors.   The CARES Act vs. the Heroes Act vs. the Skinny Bill This bill looks a lot like the CARES Act that passed last spring. Funds will be allocated to states and districts based on Title I, just like the CARES Act. That said, there are a few important differences. First, this bill provides 4 times the amount of funding for education than the CARES Act. That’s a lot of money, but it’s a little disappointing because it’s less than both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Heroes Act and the “skinny” bill proposed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.   Second, this bill carves out funds for private schools. Governors will give state departments of education $2.75 billion from their $4 billion to administer to private schools. This provision replaces the equitable services provision that you may recall was included in the original CARES Act. This is the provision that Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos tried to use to send more money to private schools, but ultimately got shot down in court.  Third, this bill includes a few additional allowable uses of funds. To be clear, the bill maintains the CARES Act’s flexibility – any use of funds allowed under the Every Student Succeeds Act, Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Assistance Act, and several other laws – is allowable under this bill. In addition, Congress added allowable uses for addressing learning loss and for school facility repairs to reduce the risk of virus transmission and support student health.   Significant Omissions in the New COVID Relief Bill No bill is perfect, and there are a few important items missing from this legislation. You may have read that the bill omits the Democratic priority of funding for state and local governments as well as the Republican priority of liability protections. Those were each poison pills for the other party, so they left them off the table. But other items were left off the table as well.  First, the bill provides no funding to school districts to address the Homework Gap. Thankfully, the bill does create a new program out of the Federal Communications Commission that will provide low-income families with a discount on home internet access and a subsidy for one low-cost device per family. This program received $3.2 billion, which is only about one-fourth of what the Heroes Act proposed to address the Homework Gap.   The bill also left out homeless children. Emergency spending bills, such as the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, often target funding to students experiencing homelessness. It was especially important for this bill to provide funds for these students because evidence from SchoolHouse Connection suggests that 420,000 fewer children who are experiencing homelessness have been identified and enrolled in school so far this year, even though homelessness is on the rise due to the economic downturn.   A summary of the bill is available here.   Congress' Annual Appropriations Bills At the same time as Congress passed the COVID-19 relief bill, they also passed the annual appropriations bills funding the federal government.   The Department of Education received a modest 1.

James E. Clyburn is the Majority Whip, the third-ranking Democrat in the United States House of Representatives, and currently serves as the Chairman of the House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis. He is also the Chairman of the Rural Broadband Task Force and Democratic Faith Working Group. When he came to Congress in 1993 to represent South Carolina's sixth congressional district, Congressman Clyburn was elected co-president of his freshman class and quickly rose through leadership ranks. He was subsequently elected Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Vice Chairman, and later Chairman, of the House Democratic Caucus. He previously served as Majority Whip from 2007 to 2011 and served as Assistant Democratic Leader from 2011 to 2019. As a national leader, he has championed rural and economic development and many of his initiatives have become law. His 10-20-30 federal funding formula was included in four sections of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Congressman Clyburn is also a passionate supporter of historic preservation and restoration programs. His efforts have restored scores of historic buildings and sites on the campuses of historically black colleges and universities. His legislation created the South Carolina National Heritage Corridor and the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, elevated the Congaree National Monument to a National Park, and established the Reconstruction Era National Monument in South Carolina's Lowcountry. Congressman Clyburn's humble beginnings in Sumter, South Carolina as the eldest son of an activist, fundamentalist minister and an independent, civic-minded beautician grounded him securely in family, faith and public service. His memoir, Blessed Experiences: Genuinely Southern, Proudly Black, was published in 2015, and has been described ‎as a primer that should be read by every student interested in pursuing a career in public service. Congressman Clyburn and his late wife, Emily England Clyburn, met as students at South Carolina State and were married for 58 years. They are the parents of three daughters; Mignon Clyburn, Jennifer Reed, and Angela Hannibal and four grandchildren. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/patricia-bligen-jones/message

Dodge Data and Analytics Chief Economist Richard Branch joined the Engineering Influence podcast to discuss his 2021 economic and construction market forecast. Host: Welcome to the Engineering Influence podcast sponsored by the ACC Life/Health Trust. With us today is Richard Branch, chief economist for Dodge Data and Analytics. A couple of weeks ago, Richard released Dodge's 2021 economic and construction market forecast. And he's joined us to delve into the numbers. Richard, welcome to the podcast. Click here to purchase the  Dodge Construction Outlook 2021.Branch: Thanks. Great to be here.Host: To start, can you give us a broad sense of what the engineering industry can expect in 2021?Branch: Sure. I think the simplest thing to say is that we do expect construction activity to improve next year. We do expect it to grow, but that pace of growth is going to be fairly modest. It's going to be fairly moderate. Of course, given everything that the industry and we as individuals have been through in 2020, that is certainly good news. But we need to keep in mind here that there are significant headwinds at play as we move into 2021 that make this recovery much more tenuous.Host: In your forecast, you mentioned several times that it depends on the widespread adoption of a vaccine by the middle of the year and the passage of a substantial stimulus package in the range of $1.5 trillion in the first quarter of the year. Have you ever had a forecast that faced such stark deal-breakers and how stark are they?Branch: Pretty unique, I'll say that. I think the closest parallel that I can think of is if we go back to 2009 during the Great Recession as Congress was weighing passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. If we think back to that time, it passed both the House and the Senate pretty much along party lines, but getting it to that point, it was touch and go and it was unclear right up until the last couple of days of how much sacrifice would need to be made in terms of the overall amount in the ARRA funding to get the support needed to get through Congress. Obviously, it ended up passing and it had a tremendously positive influence on the economy in the wake of passage.Branch: So now we've got not only the uncertainty regarding the passage of further fiscal stimulus, but I would offer it's happening in a much more sensitive political environment. We're currently in a transition period between two administrations and between two congresses because there will be changes in the house and the Senate as well,. Then we need to layer on top of that when we can expect not just the vaccine to be ready, but when we see it adopted widely across the country. Of course, there's been a lot of good news recently with regards to efficacy rates of the vaccines as they make their way through trials. So that certainly good news. And I think at least that knowledge does or should provide a sense of stability in terms of the underpinning of the forecast.Host: What are your thoughts on that stimulus package? Do you see it going through in the first part of the year?Branch: So when we did our forecast, we assumed that $1.5 trillion would be adopted in the first quarter. And we were using that 1.5 trillion as I'll call it a median. It could have been a little bit higher, could have been a little bit lower depending upon what the final makeup of Congress was going to be. The Democrats lost a good chunk of their majority in the House. It looks like they're on track to lose about 10 seats of their majority, if not more--there are still a few races where they're counting--and the Senate is still up for grabs. We've got those two run-offs in Georgia to get through, but if you look at just how much split-ticket voting there was in this election, it's probably reasonable to assume that the Republicans will maintain control of the Senate, but it could go either way. Short story long, given that reduced majority in the House, though, I think we can probably expect that $1.5 trillion is a maximum dollar amount instead of a median. That's good news and bad news, right? The good news is a lower dollar value means it's probably going to get through Congress much quicker. So we might see it sooner rather than later. The bad side is the reduced dollar value means less support for individuals for businesses and of course, state and local governments.Host: Looking at the specific sectors, the warehouse sector is thriving. You mentioned in your forecast that there were 38 warehouses over 1-million-square-feet built in the first nine months of 2020. And then looking at 2021, you forecast a strong market for this sector. How resilient is the warehouse sector?Branch: Backing up to 2019 in terms of warehouse construction, it set a record in terms of our data, both in dollar value and square footage, and our data goes back to 1967. We do expect it to break a record again this year and next. So over the short term, through 2021and even into 2022, I think this market's fairly resilient. Online shopping is going to continue to gain market share over bricks-and-mortar. And then we layer onto that consumer behavior and consumer attitudes towards shopping and our expectations on delivery--I don't want to wait a week, I want my stuff now. So we're seeing the build-out of these large facilities, and there have been several this year that have been in the 3 to 4 million-square-foot range.Branch: But I think you get to a point where, within the next handful of years, the market gets a little bit saturated in the sense that you're going to get to a point where the buildup of those large facilities has occurred along most major transportation routes and within a short drive to the major metropolitan areas in the country. So what happens after that? I think the market starts to shift into a more spoke-and-hub approach and you get more suburban/urban development of warehouses. These are smaller facilities, for Amazon and these other distributors, to help them satisfy that last mile of delivery.Host: Is the data center market a similar type of market or does it have more long-term potential?Branch: We capture data centers under the office market, so they're not part of the warehouse market, but it's a very similar dynamic except the upside potential in terms of longevity is more powerful on that data center side. As companies and as individuals, our data use increases exponentially, with virtually no limit on the amount we want to stream and the amount of data that gets transferred on a minute-by-minute basis across the U.S. economy. So over the longer term, the data center market is much more resilient.Host: The situation for public construction is dire in your forecast. You quoted a Kroll Bond Ratings Agency report that projects $690 billion in state and local government revenue losses in the coming fiscal year. Yet you only project a 1% drop in the value of public building starts. So how do those jive?Branch: Our public building category includes prisons, courthouses, local police and fire stations, armories and military buildings, and whatnot. So as part of our forecast process, we include large projects that we expect to break ground. We include those explicitly in the forecast years, and as we look into 2021, there are several that we expect to break ground. There's a $300 million courthouse that we expect to break ground in Norristown, Pennsylvania, and a handful of similarly sized projects across the country. And when you look at the entire category of all the 22 that we forecast, this is on the smaller side. It's around a $9 to $11 billion per year market. So those large projects have much more of an outsized influence in terms of the direction of the forecast.Host: I noticed that also in airports. I don't remember the numbers, but there was the projection for the entire market, and the work at JFK was going to account for about 60% of that.Branch: That's pretty much it. If you look at our transportation building forecast in 2021, it's an 11% gain, which is a pretty bold prediction to make given where transportation is headed currently. But as you said, we do expect those early stages of JFK to break ground in New York City in 2021. That's going to be a multi-year multi-billion dollar project. But it goes without saying that if that project were to be delayed or canceled or scaled back, that could very easily take that 11% gain and shift it to the negative. It's a very similar story with the public construction in that it's about a $10 to $11 billion per year market. So if you take out a billion or two from JFK, if that were to be delayed, scaled back or, or canceled, that would shift that entire market to the negative.Host: The streets and bridges construction sector is looking at a slight increase in activity. I think it was about 1% or so. How much of that is due to the FAST Act extension and how important is getting a five-year transportation program in place to the resilience of the sector.Branch: In a word critical. If we recall the FAST Act expired at the end of September 2020,. As part of the continuing resolution that's keeping the government open through December 11th, they extended the FAST Act through the end of September 2021. So that's good news. It did keep however funding flat, so the funding level for fiscal year 2021 is the same as the funding level for fiscal year 2020. That's why our forecast for streets and bridges is showing a fairly tepid gain. In terms of the importance of getting that reauthorized, it's critical given that the dire need of infrastructure in this country in terms of road and bridge work.Branch: The good news, though, is we're optimistic that the reauthorization of the FAST Act will occur in the summer of 2021. Congress made good progress on it before the election. the Senate Public Works Committee released a plan in the spring or summer that was unanimously... Let me say that again, the Senate Public Works Committee unanimously approved their plan to reauthorize it at around $320 billion. The House, as part of HR-2, or the Moving Forward Act also authorized a five-year plan that would have been an excess of the FAST Act. So the good news is the underlying support for an increase in transportation funding is there and once we get into the new Congressional year, the inauguration takes place, and everybody has a chance to sit back and breathe, we think that goes forward. In our forecast, we've built in $300 billion for the core highway portion or highway bridge portion. That's more than what's under the FAST Act, but that's not going to help us until we get into 2022.Host: Not surprisingly given the state of the nation's water and wastewater infrastructure, you project a healthy increase in this sector. How do you see that being funded?Branch: I don't know if I'd use the word healthy. When we look at our environmental public works category--that's the summation of sewer systems, water systems, as well as dams and reclamation projects--we're looking at a 1% gain for that entire sector. In terms of what drives that funding, it's usually through that the Corps of Engineers, the EPA construction budget, as well as state revolving funds. And in general, the appropriation process has been fairly positive to those budgets. And when we look at what the House and the Senate were saying just before the election, we're looking at funding being fairly flat to a slight positive overall for the EPA, for the Corps, and for the State Revolving Funds budget. So that gives us that just a little bit of an increase. We're also looking at the two-year update to the Water Resource Development Act. Again, there was broad bipartisan support for that before the election in both the House and the Senate, so we think that in short order, once we get into 2021, that we'll get that authorized by Congress. And that's likely to be an $8 to $9 billion program over two years.Host: The power market is remarkably volatile. Going back a few years, the value of starts was up 123% in 2019, then down 48% in 2020, and you forecast a 35% jump in 2021. Why is it so volatile?Branch: It's essentially the presence, or the absence, of these large LNG import and export facilities. Those projects are measured in the billions of dollars, between $1 and $5 billion per project. So having one of those start in a year, skews the data, because it's not there the next year and pushes it down. When we look at the forecast for 2021, the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee has approved 15 LNG facilities all in the Gulf coast, except for one that's up in Portland, Oregon. Again, multi-billion dollar facilities. So they've approved 15, we're expecting one or two of those will break ground in 2021. And again, at a billion or a couple billion dollars, they certainly will cause that 35% gain.Branch: But I think if you go broader than just that LNG import and export facility, renewables is also a growth market in the electric power sector. If you look at all electric generation starts over the past 10 years--coal, natural gas, nuclear, utility-grade solar, and utility-grade wind--wind and solar combined have accounted for about 60% of the total. As those technologies come closer and closer to grid parity, where a kilowatt-hour from one is the same as a kilowatt-hour from the other, they're just going to keep ramping up.Host: What about the transmission line market within the power market? What do you see there?Branch: I think they go in lockstep. If you think about where these wind and solar projects are, they're not in midtown Manhattan or downtown Boston. They're in Wyoming and Texas and out Wes and generally not in populated areas. As part of building up that renewable infrastructure, you need to build the high-speed transmission lines to get them from Wyoming or Texas into the major markets across the country. So they absolutely move in lockstep.Host: Finally, you reported in your forecast that the office vacancy rate moved higher in 55 of the 63 metropolitan markets in the third quarter, yet you expect the market to grow in 2021. What's behind your optimism.Branch: I think there are three reasons here. Despite the fact that vacancy rates are moving higher, and despite the fact that COVID has pushed us all out of our offices and into our living rooms and whatnot, there will still be projects that move forward. I'm not 100% on board with the office-market-is-dead storyline. I think companies will continue to invest in office space. Amazon has been very upfront about that. There is actually a $2 billion office project that broke ground in New York just within the last couple of weeks. So those projects will continue to move ahead, not to the same pace as they've done in previous years, but the office market will continue to move forward. Second, we include renovation dollars in our office data. So if you think about maybe an open space office, cubes and whatnot and converting that back to traditional offices and improving air handling and HVAC that boosts the dollar value as well. And as we previously discussed, we include data centers in our office market. Over the past couple of years, it's ranged between 15% to 20% of total office construction. And I think that's an incredible growth market over the next several years,Host: If I may just tag onto that. One of the other things besides the death of the office that people have talked about has been the movement of people from living in cities to moving to the suburbs. Do you see that as a continuing trend?Branch: Absolutely. When you look at our residential data by county and you look outside of the large central metros, like downtown Phoenix and downtown New York, and out in the fringe metro or fringe areas, which are basically the suburbs or even beyond that into micropolitan areas or rural areas, we are starting to see residential activity pick up significantly there. Of course, that creates incredible spinoffs. It'll pull some commercial construction with it, although it'll be a different kind of commercial construction than we've seen, with fewer urban towers and maybe more flat flexible space. It'll pull institutional construction with it, schools and healthcare, and it'll pull infrastructure construction with it. You need roads, you need bridges, and new water. So I think that movement is definitely a silver lining for the construction sector in 2021.Host: Great. Well, thanks so much for sharing your expertise with us today.Branch: Happy to do it. Anytime. 

Time  Red Pill Topics & Headlines 6:03am cst Welcome to the Mike Church Show on www.crusadechannel.com Call the show            844-5CRUSADE   Make Canon212 your first place to get news each day. Canon212 - News of the Church and the World.   HEADLINE RUNDOWN -  24m Who Killed Jeffery Epstein HEADLINE: New Doc 'Who Killed Jeffrey Epstein?' Will Examine The Billionaire Paedophile's Mysterious Death by Mary-Jane Wiltsher Just a few corrections if you guys ever stumble across this documentary type show here. They put President Donald Trump in this documentary as a confidant of Epsteins which we know isn’t true.   Military State -  Mask Mandates Covid Police Crusader Stadium IMAGE: Victoria, Australia (8pm curfew, 1hr allowed outside): police knock a man down with their car, and stomp on his head. He's now in a coma.  State premier Dan Andrews comments: "all of this can be avoided if people don't protest."  38m HEADLINE: My daughter was “positive” for Covid…without ever being tested by Helen Ilitha      47m  HEADLINE: Federal Judge Says Pennsylvania Democrat Governor’s Lockdown Orders Are Unconstitutional by Tristan Justice  The lawsuit, brought by Butler, Fayette, Greene, and Washington counties joined by Pittsburg-area Republican Congressman Mike Kelly and several state representatives, was filed in May arguing Gov. Tom Wolf’s orders implemented with state Health Secretary Rachel Levine to shut down businesses violated constitutional liberties. Seven businesses that included several hair salons and an appliance store had also joined the suit. We all know this #Rona will magically go away if Joe Biden wins, we all know this.   49m HEADLINE: President Donald Trump Expands Executive Order Defunding International Planned Parenthood by Micaiah Bilger  Michael Hichborn and the Lepanto Institute - CRS and USCCB   HEADLINE: Censoring Scott Atlas Should Be The Last Straw For Big Tech’s Censorship by Jonathan S Tobin HEADLINE: YouTube’s Political Censorship by The Editorial Board    COVID-19 Virus Origin -    If you have any issues that need to be resolved, please email Maggie O'Connell directly at sales@mikechurch.com or Candace her personal email candace@mikechurch.com   Do business with those that do business with us. BullDog Kia have been with us since day one of Veritas Radio Network and the Crusade Channel. Get your Kia today from the fine folks at BullDog Kia in Atlanta Georgia.   BRAVE BROWSER: Now you can support the Crusade Channel without spending a DIME! Simply use the url to download the BRAVE browser and WE get credit: http://brave.com/mik060 We can earn up to $50,000 for the downloads if our listeners use this browser.   If you like what you are hearing here on The Crusade Channel, please consider making a one time donation. https://crusadechannel.com/donate-to-the-crusade-channel/ 7:15am cst Welcome back to The Mike Church Show! Call the Crusade Channel at 844-5CRUSADE! Join our FREE LIVE chatroom where you can chat with fellow Crusaders.    AUDIO/VIDEO: President Trump in Las Vegas NV - This anti-police crusade has got to stop. These big corporations should be giving the money to the victims and fallen officers instead of these liberal organizations.”    AUDIO/VIDEO: Joe Biden talks about Obama/Biden rescuing the auto industry then says….”if we get reelected” like him and Obama are running for reelection! Porkulus Stimulus Bill = American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 TRIVIA QUESTION:    50m  AUDIO: OWNER OF SAMMY’S RESTAURANT -  I’d bring this guy on tour with the Trump Train. What it takes to be a REAL man! We need to do a much better job at raising our children. Don’t bring your BLM signs to me when your children are 25 and you never were a parent to your own children. 56m

Back in 2004, on the very day that Ormat Technologies, Inc., began trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Eyal Hen began working in as an assistant controller for the geothermal energy company in Israel. The transition to being a public company opened a transformative chapter not only for Ormat but also for Hen, who—after having been with the firm for only a few short weeks—agreed to relocate to company’s new Reno, Nevada, headquarters. “It was a very small office at that time, with only seven people,” recalls Hen, who would for the next 11 years help to build out a U.S. finance team while accruing growing worldwide responsibilities for Ormat’s electricity-segment. Along the way, Hen says, a number of unforeseen developments helped to advance Ormat’s steady U.S. expansion, including the U.S. government’s response to the 2008 financial crisis. “Ormat benefited from the response after it received $600 million in cash grants to build renewable energy power plants,” explains Hen, while citing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which stipulated that energy companies be offered government grants instead of tax credits. “This was an enlightening moment for me, as it demonstrated how much impact a government can have when a company is prepared,” remarks Hen, who says that Ormat went on to build renewable energy plants in rural parts of Nevada and southern California. After serving several years as a vice president of finance, Hen would leave Ormat and step into the CFO office for the first time at a life sciences company before being named finance chief for Rekor Systems. –Jack Sweeney

On Friday, March 27th, 2020, Donald Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act. This is a $2 trillion stimulus package, which is the largest relief bill ever passed in the United States. It surpasses the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which was signed by President Obama in 2009 as a response to the Great Recession, and the National Industrial Recovery Act that was signed in 1933 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression.To give you the highlights, here's what you can expect:You Likely Have a Check Coming In the MailYou Don’t Have to Pay Federal Student Loans for Six MonthsYou Can Get More Money Through UnemploymentYou Don’t Have to File Or Pay Your Taxes Until JulyYour Health Insurance Company Must Cover COVID-19 Testing, Treatments, and VaccinesTo talk to Maggie about financial coaching, schedule a free discovery call. For any one-time financial coaching sessions booked within the next 6 weeks, you can get a $50 discount.Related links:What’s Inside The Senate’s $2 Trillion Coronavirus Aid PackageF.A.Q. on Stimulus Checks, Unemployment and the Coronavirus PlanStimulus checks: How much money will you get, and when?High Schoolers & College Students May Not Be Eligible For Stimulus ChecksCoronavirus Tax ReliefWhat you need to know about student loans and the coronavirus pandemic2020 Tax Deadline Extension: What Is and Isn’t Extended?Calculate how much you’ll get from the $1,200 (or more) coronavirus checks–To learn more about Maggie and her coaching and speaking services, visit www.maggiegermano.com.To get more involved with Money Circle:Join the free Facebook groupCome to an in-person event in DCFollow Maggie on Instagram and Twitter!The theme music is called Escaping Light by Aaron Sprinkle. The podcast artwork design is by Maggie’s dear husband, Dan Rader.

Show #728   Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Wednesday 25th March 2020. It’s Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story to save you time.   Welcome to a new PRODUCER PETER BØDKER   LG CHEM SUSPENDS EV BATTERY FACTORY IN MICHIGAN "Korean battery makers based in the US are also temporarily reducing factory operations. Upon the stay-at-home order of the Michigan state government issued on Tuesday, LG Chem and Samsung SDI have nearly closed their electric vehicle battery factories there." reports Korea Herald: "LG Chem has limited its production battery cells for EVs with limited staff in Holland. Samsung SDI has a battery pack plant in Auburn Hills, and has temporarily suspended operations as local employees have been ordered to stay at home. As the state order is valid for three weeks, both battery plants are expected to shut down for the next three weeks. Meanwhile, the companies’ battery factories in Poland and Hungary are operating as usual."   http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20200325000738   CORONAVIRUS MAY GET AMERICA TO PASS ITS BIGGEST CLIMATE BILL YET "Action on climate change in Washington, DC happens in tiny, arcane steps" says Quartz today, pointing out that this crisis could result in a moonshot piece of lawmaking which benefits the environment: "as Congress tries to resuscitate the economy, the bills that follow have the potential to include the first big climate legislation since the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009. Democrats in the Senate held up a public health and disaster relief bill this week by demanding accountability for how the money will be spent. They called for attaching conditions to industry bailouts, including greenhouse gas emission reductions from airlines."   Quartz explains how it worked last time: "Starting in 2008, GM and Chrysler took about $80 billion from the US Treasury before declaring bankruptcy and restructuring operations. The Obama administration used the moment to curb the industry’s emissions, implementing strict new fuel efficiency standards. By 2025, the 54.5-miles-per-gallon standard will roughly halve emissions from cars and light trucks. Airlines and cruise lines may be next."   https://qz.com/1824804/coronavirus-could-lead-america-to-pass-its-biggest-climate-bill-ever/   And from Climate Change News: "For example, an automotive company could be bailed out on the condition it accelerates the electrification of the fleet when the immediate crisis passes. NGO Transport & Environment has urged EU governments to make any financial aid to airlines conditional on carriers paying taxes and starting to use low-carbon fuels once conditions improved. While stabilisation packages might not immediately assist the clean energy transition, the extraordinary scale of the response by governments and central banks is setting a precedent for similar measures to be rolled out to tackle the climate crisis."   https://www.climatechangenews.com/2020/03/23/governments-urged-attach-green-strings-long-term-coronavirus-recovery-plans/   MODEL Y HAS RADAR HEATER TO SOLVE AUTOPILOT ISSUES @greentheonly This just in, Model Y has radar heater outlined on the wiring diagrams.   Johannes Brorsson Can you tell if Model Y has the new 100M wiring?   @greentheonly it does not.   From CNET: "If your car has any sort of active safety or driver assist features, you probably know they may go offline should snow or ice cover their radar and other sensors. It's not a problem exclusive to Tesla, but the electric carmaker has installed a nifty system in its latest vehicle to help Autopilot operate in the coldest conditions. On Wednesday, a Twitter user published a wiring diagram for the Tesla Model Y that shows the electric SUV comes with a radar heater. With heat sent to the radar unit, it should help Autopilot operate even if the rest of the Model Y becomes caked with snow or ice."   https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/tesla-model-y-heated-radar-autopilot-cold/   WASHINGTON CHARGES UP FOR ELECTRIC CARS "Amid the devastating pandemic gripping the state of Washington, the state government is working hard to support healthcare providers, assist workers and businesses, and educate the public about keeping safe and healthy in these unprecedented times" reports NRDC.org: "ZEV requires automakers to ensure that at least 7 to 8% of new passenger vehicles are partly or fully zero-emitting by 2025, which will double the options Washington consumers will have available to them.  The program is in place in eleven other states across the country, including most recently Colorado. Together those states  comprise 30% of the U.S. auto market."   https://www.nrdc.org/experts/simon-mui/washington-charges-electric-cars   THIS $200,000 ELECTRIC SPORTS CAR COMES WITH A HOLOGRAPHIC DRIVING INSTRUCTOR "UK-based boutique carmaker Apex Motors unveiled its latest electric supercar, the AP-0 concept, earlier this month. The concept car boasts a carbon-fiber body and wheels, a feet-forward driving position, and a bumper-shredding ground clearance of just 3.7 inches. A beefy, 650-horsepower electric motor powers the rear wheels and sends the lightweight car to 62 mph in just 2.3 seconds, and the AP-0's design is dominated by a giant tail fin that Apex says is a nod to the styling of Le Mans and Formula One racers." says Business Insider: "Looks aside, the AP-0 does offer up some impressive features, if they ever make their way into a production model. The car promises a feet-forward driving position — where the feet stretch out in front of the hips, as opposed to having them below the waist like in most passenger cars — and an augmented-reality race instructor."   What else do you want for $173,000!   https://www.businessinsider.com/the-apex-ap-0-is-an-electric-race-car-streets-2020-3?r=US&IR=T   TESLA MAY EXPAND EV PRODUCTION IN CHINA, SAYS REPORT "Tesla has suspended electric vehicle (EV) production at its two US facilities in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, but may expand the capacity at its Gaigafactory 3 in Shanghai, eastern China, according to media reports from China." and reported by DigiTimes: "With production suspended in the US, the importance of the Shanghai plant is increasing, and Tesla may further expand its capacity, the reports said, speculating Tesla may let it produce Model Y ahead of schedule.The Shanghai plant was also shut down on January 31 due to the outbreak, but resumed production on February10, with 91% of worker having returned to work since March 6, the reports noted. Gigafactory 3 turned out 2,625 Model 3 cars in January 2020 and its weekly capacity has been hiked to more than 3,000 cars at present, with a target output of 150,000 Model 3 cars for 2020."   https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20200324PD207.html   NEW UK TEST FACILITY TO STREAMLINE EV BATTERY DEVELOPMENT AND OPTIMISATION TIME "Mahle Powertrain has opened a new, dedicated facility for the extensive testing of battery modules as a response to the growing time and cost pressures facing vehicle manufacturers seeking to develop latest generation automotive electrification technologies." writes Renewable Energy Magazine:L " the battery pack assembly and testing facility enables testing under simulated drive-cycle conditions to evaluate the performance of battery systems in real-use environments. Included within the testing remit is the ability to assess cells, modules and battery packs for steady state testing of open circuit voltage, storage capacity and thermal characteristics, including voltage response under high discharge, thermal behaviour and internal resistance.. The facility can conduct tests within the temperature range of -40oC to 100oC with precise humidity control."   https://www.renewableenergymagazine.com/electric_hybrid_vehicles/new-uk-test-facility-to-streamline-ev-20200324   NEW EMISSIONS RULES PUSHES GERMANY TO EVS "Under Europe's new CO2 rules, Germany has seen a spike in fully electric and hybrid vehicle sales." says Stuff.co.nz: " battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) jumped in volume by 76 per cent year-on-year for February sales. This is a good increase but it's nothing compared to how much the German market has embraced plug-in hybrids, which has grown by a whopping 279 per cent. In total, February saw record electrified sales of 16,508 units. All in, electric and electrified vehicle sales accounted for 6.9 per cent of the market for February and 6.7 per cent for the year so far. Volkswagen e-Golf took the top step in Germany, selling 1475 units over February. It was trailed by the Renault Zoe (1352) while the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV took a distant third with 821 sales."   https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/120495796/new-emissions-rules-pushes-germany-to-evs   5 APPS FOR FINDING EV CHARGING STATIONS PlugShare shows the locations of over 300,000 charging stations worldwide. ChargePoint is both an app and a network of over 100,000 charging points that are not listed on any other station finding apps. However, the app does allow users to find charging points from other networks. NextCharge is available in eight languages, including: English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Romanian and Finnish and offers over 200,000 charging points. Chargemap is now among the favourite charging station finders in Europe, adopting a similar ‘community’ feel with over 330,000 EV drivers registered and a database of 166,000 charging locations. Owned by Shell, Greenlots enables EV drivers to find public charging stations nearby that are open, available and ready to use.   https://www.fleeteurope.com/en/new-energies/europe/features/5-apps-finding-ev-charging-stations   QUESTION OF THE WEEK   How can the EV community all come together at this time to support each other?   I want to say a heartfelt thank you to the 242 patrons of this podcast whose generosity means I get to keep making this show, which aims to entertain and inform thousands of listeners every day about a brighter future. By no means do you have to check out Patreon but if it’s something you’ve been thinking about, by all means look at patreon.com/evnewsdaily   [mention for Premium Partners]   You can listen to all 727 previous episodes of this this for free, where you get your podcasts from, plus the blog https://www.evnewsdaily.com/ – remember to subscribe, which means you don’t have to think about downloading the show each day, plus you get it first and free and automatically.   It would mean a lot if you could take 2mins to leave a quick review on whichever platform you download the podcast.   And if you have an Amazon Echo, download our Alexa Skill, search for EV News Daily and add it as a flash briefing.   Come and say hi on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter just search EV News Daily, have a wonderful day, I’ll catch you tomorrow and remember…there’s no such thing as a self-charging hybrid.     PHIL ROBERTS / ELECTRIC FUTURE (PREMIUM PARTNER) BRAD CROSBY (PREMIUM PARTNER) AVID TECHNOLOGY (PREMIUM PARTNER) BRIGHTSMITHGROUP.COM – FOR CLEANTECH TALENT (PREMIUM PARTNER) NEW! 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Ep. 231 - Stephen Moore, Trump Economic Adviser, (Heritage Foundation, Wall Street Journal, and Cato Inst.) joins Dave to discuss how bad the economic fallout will be as businesses shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Will banks clampdown lending? How can we reopen the economy? What will the impact be on Election 2020? Why Donald Trump would be wise learning the lessons from Barak Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and a couple of questions from Ricochet members. Find Stephen on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StephenMoore.https://youtu.be/w16E6IGdOV0Subscribe to Whiskey Politics on YouTube.Please Support #WhiskeyPolitics at http://paypal.me/mywhiskeypolitics. Cheers!Please subscribe to Whiskey Politics on YouTube, The Ricochet Audio Network and your favorite podcast application including TuneIn, GooglePlay, Stitcher, and Apple Podcast where your 5-star rating will be greatly appreciated!Find us at DaveSussman.com, Dave on Twitter, Whiskey Politics on Facebook, Dave Sussman Show on Facebook, and our newest platform, Maven.io.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 included a requirement that Medicare-participating providers use electronic health records by January 1, 2014, or face financial penalties. Passed and signed into law just four weeks after the inauguration of President Obama, this expensive requirement, which had almost no public debate, forced hospitals, doctors, and clinics to move confidential patient information into digital format.Twila Brase, author of the 2018 book Big Brother in the Exam Room: The Dangerous Truth about Electronic Health Records, says the electronic health record (EHR) is not what patients think it is. It interferes with patient care, is being used to violate patient rights, it makes sensitive data vulnerable to hackers, and it is threatening patient safety and medical excellence. She claims that what the government calls privacy rules are actually data-sharing rules. Furthermore, standardized treatment protocols and burdensome data-entry requirements are causing physician burnout and physician exodus from the practice of medicine. Government-mandated EHRs are an untested experiment that gives government and other self-interested parties outside the exam room significant control over private medical decisions. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Nancy Pelosi is the current Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and Leader of the House Democratic Caucus. The first and only woman to be nominated Speaker, she is the highest-ranking elected woman in U.S. history and one of the most powerful leaders in American politics. Born and raised in Baltimore to a political family, Pelosi was involved in Democrats politics from an early age. Her father served as a Democratic Congressman from Maryland for nearly a decade and became Mayor of Baltimore when Nancy was seven years old. Growing up, she helped her father at his campaign events and supported her mother’s efforts to organize Democratic women. Upon moving to San Francisco after she graduated college, Pelosi started working her way up in the Democratic Party. She was elected as a Democratic National Committee member from California in 1976 and was selected to head the California Democratic Party only five years later in 1981. Pelosi was first elected to Congress in 1987 in a special election, narrowly defeating San Francisco Supervisor Harry Britt. She won reelection in the regular election in 1988 and has since been reelected 16 times with no substantive opposition, winning an average of 80 percent of the vote each election. In 2003, after Democratic House Leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri’s resignation, Pelosi took over as Minority Leader and became the first woman to lead a major party in the House. Following the 2006 midterm election, in which Democrats took control of the House, she became the first woman, the first Californian, and the first Italian American to hold the speakership. In President Bush’s second term, Pelosi distinguished herself as a major opponent of the Iraq War as well as the President’s attempt to reform Social Security. She strongly opposed the 2007 troop surge, joining with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to write a letter to Bush in which they claimed, “there is no purely military solution in Iraq. There is only a political solution. Adding more combat troops will only endanger more Americans and stretch our military to the breaking point for no strategic gain.” Pelosi also helped successfully defeat Bush’s Social Security plan, imposing intense party discipline to coordinate near-unanimous Democratic votes of opposition to the proposal. When President Obama took office in 2008, Pelosi played an instrumental role in passing many landmark bills. She spearheaded the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 despite widespread concern from other Democratic leaders that the bill could not pass, leading President Obama to call her “one of the best speakers the House of Representatives has ever had.” Additionally, she provided key leadership in passing the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and 2010 Tax Relief Act. In the Trump era, Pelosi has led Congressional opposition to the President’s agenda. She thwarted his attempt to build a wall on the U.S./Mexico border during the 2018-2018 shutdown and has aggressively sought to expand federal gun control laws. Additionally, she has led efforts to investigate Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and Trump’s role in the scandal. While controversial among Republicans and Democrats alike—Republicans for having passed key progressive legislation and Democrats for having worked to rein in the progressive wing of her party—Pelosi is widely recognized as one of the most important and effective Congressional leaders in modern American history. As written in a well-known 2010 Christian Science Monitor article, “make no mistake: Nancy Pelosi is the most powerful woman in American politics and the most powerful House Speaker since Sam Rayburn a half-century ago.”

What do we know about the Santa Susana Field Lab? It depends who you ask. In this episode I interview Denise Duffield, Associate Director of Physicians for Social Responsibility. There are a few PDFs I was not able to attach to these notes. I did offer to have Boeing part of the show and they declined. Please find links where you can do further research. The timing of the show is critical as NASA wants to break out of the cleanup agreement they entered in 2010. Info on public hearings is: Best Western Posada Royale, Wednesday, November 20th, 2019 from 6:30–8:30 p.m., 1775 Madera Road, Simi Valley, CA 93065 Corporate Pointe at West Hill, Thursday, November 21st, 2019 from 6:30–8:30 p.m., 8411 Fallbrook Avenue, West Hills, CA 91304 The notice says that written comments due around Dec. 9, via email to msfc-ssfl-eis@mail.nasa.gov     This website from 2017 has good background on SSFL history (and history of cleanup agreements) as well as Boeing's greenwashing, (Boeing's effort to claim that cleaning up the site will do more harm to the environment) and also a map that shows the operational areas of the site for DOE, NASA, and Boeing see https://www.protectsantasusanafromboeing.com/faq/   Another good article for background on SSFL's nuclear past, and on the Woolsey Fire, is https://thebulletin.org/2019/02/a-failure-of-governmental-candor-the-fire-at-the-contaminated-santa-susana-field-laboratory/   And here is the Parents vs SSFL Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/PARENTSvsSSFL/ which will always have the most current news and actions. On Boeing's website, they write "Since acquiring its portion of the Simi Hills site from Rocketdyne in 1996, Boeing has made significant progress with cleanup and restoration. The company secured the future of nearly 2,400 acres as permanent open space habitat to benefit wildlife and the community, fulfilling a commitment made 10 years ago. The transformation of Santa Susana from field laboratory to open space is well underway, with native plants and animals reclaiming most of the previously developed areas of the property." In disagreement with this statement, a year ago, Pacific Magazine wrote, "Fifty years later, the contaminated site has yet to be cleaned up, although this month two federal agencies promised to plow ahead without the site's current owner, Boeing. And in March, the Department of Energy provided $38.3 million in funds to complete the radiologic survey of "Area IV" as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act." This isn't accurate today, as Boeing continues to dodge cleaning up the site to high standards, and the Department of Energy and NASA want out of their agreement from 2010 Administrative Orders of Consent since Boeing is fighting to live up to those standards. Boeing is proposing to clean the site to a "recreational" standard, which could leave up to 98% of the contaminants, as opposed to a "residential" standard, clean enough to build homes on. If you want to take action, you can attend the public meetings in November, contact government officials Henry Stern, Christy Smith, Brad Sherman and Julia Brownley. You can also get information from Parents vs. SSFL and Rocketdyne Clean Up Coalition.      

Rosie Rios served as the 43rd Treasurer of the United States, under President Barack Obama. Sworn in as Treasurer in 2009, she was part of the team that implemented the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a stimulus package developed in response to the Financial Crisis and Great Recession. Given her experience during one of the most volatile times of our nation’s economic history, it is no surprise that Rios was selected as the keynote speaker for the Tuesday Luncheon at the Executive Institute at AFP 2019. In this interview with the AFP Conversations podcast, Rios looks back on her impressive career and shares what she learned about how markets, policy and business strategy are intertwined. She also provides treasury and finance leaders with advice on how they can support continued stability. AFP 2019, this October in Boston, is where treasury and finance professionals separate the hype from the reality. Visit www.afp2019.org/register to sign up and use discount code PODCASTAFP2019 at checkout to save $100.

Part 1 with University of Tennessee-Martin Music Department Chair Julie Hill, as she talks about getting the percussion job there, further building the program and her chair responsibilities (03:00), being a member of the Caixa Trio as well as other ensembles (33:00), growing up in Martin, TN (43:00), her undergrad years at UT-Martin and going to LHS’s Summer Marimba Seminar (55:20), and a brief note about her time at Arizona State for her Master’s (01:13:20).Finishing with a Rave on the film The Last Black Man in San Francisco (01:20:10).Links:Julie Hill’s UT-Martin pageJulie Hill’s Innovative Percussion pageJulie Hill’s RowLoff pageJulie DavilaAmy SmithCaixa TrioShane JonesChelsea Tinsler JonesJames CampbellJ.B. SmithSarcoidosisAmerican Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009Colin HillEric WillieAndy BlissChris HanningJulia GainesJeff MooreThom HasenpflugJames MoyerRich HollyDeveloping a Comprehensive Faculty Evaluation System - Raoul ArreolaLalo DavilaJi Hye JungDan PiccoloGregg AllmanLH Stevens Summer Marimba Seminar“Rhythm Song” - Paul Smadbeck“Four Movements for Marimba” - Michael BurrittJim PetercsakRaves:The Last Black Man in San Francisco trailer

William Barr speaks out And We Love What He's Saying, Do You?William Barr speaks out in Fox News exclusive; Trump immigration overhaul plan pushbackIn an exclusive interview with Fox News, Attorney General William Barr explained that he is trying to get to the bottom of whether or not “government officials abused their power and put their thumb on the scale” during the early stages of the Russia probe. "I’ve been trying to get answers to the questions and I've found that a lot of the answers have been inadequate and some of the explanations I've gotten don't hang together. In a sense I have more questions today than when I first started," Barr told Fox News' Bill Hemmer in an interview set to air Friday on "America's Newsroom."Hemmer conducted the interview with Barr in El Salvador, where he will address the crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border, MS-13, drug trafficking and human trafficking with officials.Op-ed: Bill de Blasio 2020 - A 'farce' of a candidacyNew York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announcedThursday that he will seek the Democratic nomination for president in 2020, becoming the 23rd Democrat to officially announce a bid for the White House and the second this week following Montana Gov. Steve Bullock’s announcement on Tuesday. De Blasio took direct aim at President Trump, calling him a “bully,” adding that “I know how to take him on.”Still, even de Blasio's hometown was not impressed. A recent Quinnipiac University poll found 76 percent of New York City voters said they believed de Blasio shouldn’t run and gave the mayor “an anemic 42-44 percent job approval rating.” In an editorial, the New York Post called de Blasio's candidacy a "complete farce" and gave reasons why "why Democrats across America shouldn’t waste time or money on this guy." Trump called de Blasio "the worst mayor in the US." And the blast-a-thon on de Blasio will likely go on and on.Trump unveils immigration overhaul planPresident Trump on Thursday unveiled a long-awaited immigration overhaul that would dramatically alter how the U.S. accepts people into the country, upending the system in order to favor admissions based on merit rather than family ties. The proposal would judge immigrants with a points-based system that would favor high-skilled workers -- accounting for age, English proficiency, education and whether the applicant has a well-paying job offer. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., warned Trump's plan would have a "devastating effecton millions of people" and renewed her call to abolish ICE (the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency). Fox News host Laura Ingraham said on "The Ingraham Angle" on Thursday that the plan "makes sense" for America.California's high-speed rail project stopped in its tracksThe Trump administration is withdrawing nearly $1 billion in federal money for California's high-speed rail project. The Federal Railroad Administration announced Thursday it will not give California the $928,620,000 it was originally promised, saying the state “repeatedly failed to comply with the terms” of its grant, “failed to make reasonable progress on the Project,” and “abandoned its original vision” for a train connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco. The administration will also be seeking to recover an additional $2.5 billion in funds from the state that were allocated to the project through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a move that the California Rail Authority pleaded against in March.This image released by HBO shows Emilia Clarke in a scene from "Game of Thrones," that aired Sunday, May 12, 2019. (HBO via AP)It's 'GoT' finale weekendThe series finale of "Game of Thrones" will air on HBO this Sunday and "GoT" fans - enamored and disgruntled alike - will likely give the cable channel blockbuster, perhaps record-setting, ratings. Besides the fates of Jon Snow, Daenerys, Arya and the Iron Throne, there are other questions that will need to be answered: Will more Starbucks cups or other "GoT" editing blunders be noticed by eagle-eyed fans? Will any more NFL quarterbacks make cameo appearances? Will even more viewers join the 350,000-plus disgruntled  faithful who have signed a petition demanding that HBO remake the final season "with competent writers"? Stay tuned.Chelsea Manning will go back to jail after refusing to testify to grand jury probing WikiLeaks.Sebastian Gorka decries PBS cartoon show 'Arthur' over gay wedding.Follow @PeterBoykin on Social MediaTwitter: Suspended Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Gays4TrumpInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterboykin/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/PeterBoykinReddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/peterboykinTelegram: https://t.me/PeterBoykin https://t.me/RealPeterBoykinParler: https://parler.com/profile/peterboykin/postsPolitiChatter: https://politichatter.com/PeterBoykinGab: https://gab.com/peterboykinDiscord: https://discordapp.com/invite/pyuPqU9Periscope: https://www.periscope.tv/peterboykinSupport Peter Boykin's Activism by DonatingPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/peterboykinPayPal: https://www.paypal.me/magafirstnewsCash App: https://cash.me/app/CJBHWPS Cash ID: $peterboykin1Listen to #MagaOneRadiohttps://magaoneradio.net/Join the #MagaNetworkhttps://themaganetwork.com/Read the Latest #MagaFirstNewshttps://peterboykin.com/https://magafirstnews.com/https://magaone.com/https://us1anews.com/Support Donald Trumphttps://votefordjtrump.com/http://trumploveswinning.com/https://marchfortrump.net/https://gaysfortrump.org/Join Our Groups on Facebook:MarchForTrumphttps://www.facebook.com/groups/MarchForTrump2020/https://www.facebook.com/groups/MarchForTrump/MagaOneRadiohttps://www.facebook.com/groups/MAGAOneRadio/https://www.facebook.com/groups/MagaOneRadioNet/https://www.facebook.com/groups/MAGARadio/https://www.facebook.com/groups/MagaFirstRadio/https://www.facebook.com/groups/MAGA1Radio/https://www.facebook.com/groups/MagaFirst/TheMagaNetworkhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/theMagaNetwork/GaysForTrumphttps://www.facebook.com/groups/gaysfortrump/https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheGayRight/https://www.facebook.com/groups/LGBTexit/https://www.facebook.com/groups/gaysfortrumporg/https://www.facebook.com/groups/DeplorableGays/https://www.facebook.com/groups/GaysForTrumpParty/Americans With Trumphttps://www.facebook.com/groups/AmericansWithTrump/North Carolina MAGA Networkhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/northcarolinamaganetwork/NC Trump Clubhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/NCTRUMPCLUB/Exit Extremismhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/EXITEXTREMISM/Vote For DJ Trumphttps://www.facebook.com/groups/VoteForDJTrump/Trump Loves Winninghttps://www.facebook.com/groups/TrumpLovesWinning/Straights For Trumphttps://www.facebook.com/groups/StraightsForTrump/US1ANewshttps://www.facebook.com/groups/US1ANews/https://www.facebook.com/groups/US1ANewsGroup/MyNCGOPhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/MyNCGOP/Grab them by the P***Yhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/GrabThemByTheP/Join Our Pages on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/TheMAGANetwork/https://www.facebook.com/MAGAFIRSTNEWS/https://www.facebook.com/pg/MagaOneRadio-778327912537976/https://www.facebook.com/North-Carolina-MAGA-Network-307617209916978/https://www.facebook.com/GaysForTrumpOrg/https://www.facebook.com/LGBTExit-2340621102644466/https://www.facebook.com/Take-Back-Pride-American-Pride-Rally-386980035391880/https://www.facebook.com/PeterBoykinMAGA/https://www.facebook.com/MarchForTrumpUSA/https://www.facebook.com/VoteForDJTrump/https://www.facebook.com/US1ANews1/https://www.facebook.com/MYNCGOP/https://www.facebook.com/trumploveswinning/Contact Email:Peter.Boykin@TheMagaNetwork.comPeterBoykin@Gmail.comGaysForTrump@Gmail.comMagaFirstNews@Gmail.comTelephone Number:1-202-854-1320

In this week's Tax Credit Tuesday Podcast, Michael J. Novogradac, CPA, talks about factors affecting the timing of tax reform. He also shares the results of Novogradac'stax reform Twitter poll.After that, he has updates from the House Appropriations Committee. In low-income housing tax credit news, he outlines the FHFA's proposed annual housing goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Next, he shares news about Novogradac & Company's updated Rent and Income Limit Calculator. Then, he outlines the Public Housing Tenant Protection and Reinvestment Act of 2017.Next, he talks about the updated Section 8 Renewal Policy Guide .After that, he briefly discusses California S.B. 2.In new markets tax credit news, he shares an invitation for comment on the NMTC application. Then, he shares about upcoming deadlines for the Capital Magnet Fund. In historic tax credit news, he talks about the future of the state low-income housing tax credit and the state historic tax credit in Missouri. He closes with Michigan, S.B. 469.

Designer Chris Glass (chrisglass.com) intended to go to school to study film, but wound up in Visual Communication, transitioning from analog to computer-based work on the cusp of the digital revolution. We talk about how he progressed from creating CD-ROMS (remember those?) to designing the logo for the Obama administration’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, how taking daily photos turned into a motivator to lead an interesting life, and why the Beliebers came after him on Twitter. We also discussed: - How being attracted to a “rock sensibility” led him to design everything from album covers to t-shirts - Finding the rhythm and the beauty of having mundane rest days - His Haile Foundation Fellowship focused on learning more about photography and celebrating the way it can bring people together - The importance of physically meeting in a space and exploring it together - Launching the new PhotoScouting Cincinnati book (available April 3rd!) and Pixels & Ink co-working space Visit: chrisglass.com http://chrisglass.com PhotoCorps.org http://www.photocorps.org/ pixelsand.ink http://www.pixelsand.ink wireandtwine.com http://wireandtwine.com @glass on Twitter @thephotocorps on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thephotocorps/ PeoplesLiberty.org Head to CreativeCityPodcast.com for links and previous episodes, and sign up for the mailing list to keep up with Cincinnati’s amazing community of creatives. Music by The Passion HiFi

Rachel Leiser Levy is principal at Groom Law Group, Chartered, where she advises clients on a wide range of federal tax issues affecting health and welfare plans and retirement plans. Ms. Levy specializes in all tax aspects of the Affordable Care Act, including the “Cadillac Tax”, employer shared responsibility, the new tax reporting requirements of the Internal Revenue Code sections 6055 and 6056, and premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions. Ms. Levy also works with cafeteria plans, tax nondiscrimination rules and VEBAs. Ms. Levy’s expertise extends to retirement plans, where she advises clients on executive compensation, qualified plans and pension plan funding issues. Ms. Levy provides advice to employers, service providers and trade associations on legislative and regulatory strategy. Immediately prior to joining Groom Law Group Ms. Levy was Associate Benefits Tax Counsel in the Office of Tax Policy at the US Department of the Treasury. As Associate Benefits Tax Counsel, Ms. Levy helped develop tax policies and guidance related to the taxation of employee benefits with a primary focus on implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Her work included guidance on the employer mandate, the premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions, and the new tax reporting requirements of Internal Revenue Code sections 6055 and 6056. In her role at Treasury, she coordinated with IRS, DOL, HHS, and the White House Domestic Policy Counsel on all aspects of health care reform implementation, and advised the Office of General Counsel and the Department of Justice on a range of litigation related to the Affordable Care Act. Prior to her time at the Treasury Department, Rachel was Legislation Counsel at the Joint Committee on Taxation, where she assisted in the development and drafting of numerous pieces of legislation, including the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, the American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010, the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, and the Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008 among other legislation.

Bill Maruca provides insight into the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, passed as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Welcome back to ControlTalk NOW. This week’s edition features interviews and articles with Mike Welch, Control Network Solutions who provides insight to the success (and still untapped potential) of DALI Lighting and the “Up-skilling” of the traditional systems integrator; Ken Sinclair, Automatedbuildings.com explains the origin and evolution of the oBIX Standard; Brian Turner,Controlco, reviews the limits and possibilities of wireless technologies; and OME Facility Solutions’, Rick Werner discusses a variety of relevant industry issues. Enjoy. “Statement on Target Data Breach” Released by Fazio Mechanical. ControlTrends thanks Paul Burke, VP, M&M Controls out of Timonium, MD for passing along Fazio Mechanical’s Official Statement on the Target Data Breach. Fazio Mechanical wasn’t monitoring any of Target’s facilities remotely; rather, the data connection exclusively for (Target’s) electronic billing, contract submission and project management. HVAC Superstars on The Red Carpet at the 2013 ControlTrends Awards: Thanks to Stromquist & Company’s, Bill jones, for putting this video together. Our Mr. Jones, was working hard at the ControlTrends Awards to make sure the rest of the world got to see how the HVAC Stars shine. Watch Bob Light off a Maxon Burner…….Boom!!! Stromquist & Company’s Bob Koch demonstrates in a very effective simulation how a typical commercial burner operates, using real and fully functioning parts and pieces (quite professionally, we might add) that create the safest burner environment possible and assure that there is NO BIG BOOM! Bob walks through every aspect of the combustion train, from the main gas pressure and Maxitrol appliance regulators,to the Antunes high-low gas pressure switches, to the MAXON double block and bleed gas safety shutoff valves, to the Honeywell UV scanner and RM7800 series flame safeguard controller with its display module used for start-up and trouble-shooting. Great job Bob! Lynxspring Adds to JENEsysONE Controller Portfolio with New JO-PC3-MC Controller: February 20, 2014 Lee’s Summit, MO – Lynxspring, a premier developer and provider of open platform control solutions for building automation, energy management, cyber security and edge-to-enterprise integration today announced the market availability of the availability of the JENEsysONE JO-PC3-MC controller. JENEsysONE is part of Lynxspring’s portfolio of JENEsys® branded internet based automation technology and edge to enterprise solutions for Building Automation, Energy Management, Cyber Security, Equipment Control and Specialty Applications. 2013 ControlTrends Awards Highlight: Honeywell wins Building Automation System of The Year Sean Johnson interviews Honeywell’s Tom Rosback after Tom received the coveted 2013 ControlTrends Awards Building Automation System of the Year on behalf of Honeywell at the BB King Blues Club. Congratulations to Honeywell! Ken Sinclair, Building Automation’s Emeritus Extraordinare, Shares Deep Insight on ControlTalk NOW: Thanks once again to Ken Sinclair for appearing on this week’s ControlTalk Now. This video is the just 12 minute segment of Ken’s part of the show. Please watch — and share this video with others, so that our industry may better understand and appreciate what Ken Sinclair, and his wife Jane and automatedbuildings.com has done, and continues to do, for our industry. Johnson Controls Reaches Out to All Distributors: MERCURY THERMOSTAT COLLECTION: Subject: MERCURY THERMOSTAT COLLECTION. Johnson Controls requests your support to establish a collection point at all your business locations for waste mercury containing thermostats. Dear Distributor: Johnson Controls requests your support to establish a collection point at all your business locations for waste mercury containing thermostats. All states require the proper handling of waste mercury containing thermostats in accordance with state and federal “universal wastes” regulations in order to streamline their collection and transport. Furthermore, many states have gone beyond the federal requirements and are requiring thermostat manufacturers to implement collection programs. Niagara Summit 2014 Powered By Possibilities! Did We Mention it’s in Vegas? This is one event Niagara users can’t miss. In Vegas, baby! Tracks: Business // Applications // Developer // Technology Trends. What can you expect from the Niagara Summit? Amazing keynotes from industry leaders and experts. Relevant and helpful brainstorming sessions. Valuable networking opportunities. Thoughtful discussions about next-generation solutions for automation infrastructure technology. Did we mention it’s in Vegas? REGISTER NOW! Chattanooga has the World’s Only “Innovation Accelerator” — GIGTANK and Next-Gen Businesses. February 24, 2014: DOE believes an “All of the Above” Energy strategy must be pursued with an “All of the Above” Innovation Strategy. As we have demonstrated through our investments in fundamental research and development, ambitious deployments under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and public-driven activities like the American Energy Data Challenge, we are committed to supporting public and private innovation to build a smarter, cleaner and more resilient grid. WattStopper Introduces Their NEW Wireless RF Occupancy Sensors & Switches: WattStopper is pleased to announce the launch of their new Wireless RF Occupancy Sensors and Switches, available individually or in kits. The following marketing tools and resources are available: Flyer, WattStopper.com, and Press Release. ControlTalk NOW’s first guest, Mike Welch from Control Network Solutions (CNS), Global Suppliers of Smart Products and Solutions for Intelligent Buildings since 1996. Mike is bona fide expert and industry leader in Digital Addressable Lighting Interface. CNS is a Niagara AX® Developer, Tridium and Honeywell Partner. It has a successful track record of creating both client specific and off the shelf web based solutions to the SMART buildings control environment world. They are based upon open standards network communication protocols and compatible with the “Internet of Things” (IoT) and demands for “big data” cloud based analytics. CNS is the creator of the world’s first web DALI intelligent lighting control solution called elitedali and EnOcean Ethernet wireless/batteryless device network solution called CNS-Enocean. Johnson Controls’ Chris Lane Wins at The 2013 ControlTrends Awards: Congratulations to Chris Lane from Johnson Controls. Chris was Co-winner of the 2013 ControlTrends Best Technical Support Person of The Year. This is quite an honor as Chris was chosen by the world-wide ControlTrends community for his dedication and excellence Rick Warner Shares His Knowledge on ControlTalk: A special thanks to the very knowledgeable and informative Rick Warner from OME Facility Solutions. Ken and Eric talk to Rick about a variety of relevant topics, from the systems integrator of the future, to the must read book on innovation, to how to find and hire the right talent to be successful in today’s competitive building automation, and the DDC controls market. Rick is one of the brightest minds in our industry and we are very grateful for his willingness to share his expertise and insight. Limits and Possibilities of Wireless Technologies: Exploring this trend with a critical eye Wireless Technologies: Limits In this new digital age, wireless technologies can’t help but sound sexy. Where would you be now if you had to plug your computer into an Ethernet cord every time you wanted to watch a movie on Netflix? But while there are extremely useful consumer applications for wireless technologies, building automation systems are not always one of them. Tim’s Tech Tips: Understanding Chiller Surge: “Just the Facts ma’am.” No, it’s not Joe Friday from the 70’s television series Dragnet, it’s Stromquist & Company’s Tim Chamblee. Tim in addition to being a super star salesman for Stromquist & Company is one of the best trainers in the country. 2013 ControlTrends Awards HighLight: Congratulations to Ed Merwin from Tridium and Mike Marston from Easy IO, co winners of the 2013 ControlTrends PID Award. The PID Award is an honor bestowed on an individual(s) that consistently exhibit the qualities of Professionalism, Integrity, and Dedication by the world wide ControlTrends community. Great job Ed and Mike! ControlTrends Award Highlight: On The Red Carpet With EASY IO:Check out Mike Marston and the team from Easy IO as they walk the Red Carpet at the 2013 ControlTrends Awards at BB King’s Club in New York City. Congratulations to Ed Merwin from Tridium and Mike Marston from Easy IO, co winners of the 2013 ControlTrends PID Award. The PID Award is an honor bestowed on an individual(s) that consistently exhibit the qualities of Professionalism, Integrity, and Dedication by the world wide ControlTrends community. oBIX Redux, ControlTalk NOW’s second guest is AB’s Ken Sinclair, who traces the Life Cycle and Refresh Cycle of a XML Standard: It was in January 2002, that automatedbuildings.com first sensed the tremors conveying both the direction and impact (Information Model: The Key to Integration) of the coming IT-quake that the internet and Web Services would have on the building automation industry. AutomatedBuilding’s rich archives contain the evolving history of a standard that begins with the Open Letter, and the first oBIX chairman, Paul Ehrlich’s interview and continues on to present times, with the 30-day Public Review and oBIX’s 1.1 refresh cycle and automatedbuildings.com’s contributing editor, Toby Considine’s oBIX, Smart TVs, and Commercial Buildings. Make sure you read! “oBIX & Project Haystack — Understanding where each fits.” ControlTalk NOW will continue to provide a weekly episode featuring the people, products, and the News of the Week shaping our world of controls, building automation, and the HVAC industry. The post ControlTalk NOW for Week Ending March 1, 2014 appeared first on ControlTrends.

Five years ago. It was the early days of the Obama presidency. And it was a panicky moment in what came to be called the Great Recession. Congress already had bailed out Wall Street’s most troubled companies with a program called TARP – the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Now Congress was desperately trying to find a way to pump some blood into a very sick economy. The markets, the experts, the country wanted action. 

In the House of Representatives, the man in the middle of coming up with stimulus plan fast was David Obey, a longtime Democratic congressman from Wisconsin who chaired the Appropriations Committee. Obey was known for his mastery of the appropriations process and his blunt talk. He retired in 2011, and now he is really blunt about what went on in the smoke-filled rooms five years ago and about today’s bitter budget battles. With the economy in free fall, Obey met with his Republican counterpart Jerry Lewis of California to start writing a bill. “And Jerry just grinned and said ‘Dave, I’m sorry, but we’ve got orders from headquarters, we can’t play, we can’t play,’” Obey recalls. “He said it twice.”

 Whatever Republicans thought privately – some of them told Obey they agreed that Congress needed to pass a stimulus bill – they weren’t going to publicly help the new president help the economy. But that wasn’t the scariest thing, Obey says. He realized many fellow House members – Democrats and Republicans – simply lacked a sophisticated understanding of the economy and government spending policy.

 “One of the problems that you have today, is that a lot of members of Congress just don’t know a hell of a lot anymore,” Obey says. 

Eventually, the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was born. But “it was about half the size it should have been,” Obey says. “So we were from day one … we were trying to row the rowboat with only one oar.” In other words, according to Obey, the size was a result of stubborn politics and many lawmakers who struggled to comprehend what was going on. 
If bipartisanship in Congress needed a stimulus then, it needs a bailout now, Obey says. The biggest culprit: Gerrymandering that creates one-party districts and safe seats for members. “I mean you wouldn’t have such idiotic statements coming out of members of Congress if they had to be taken seriously by a majority of people across the political spectrum,” Obey says. “All you have to do is appeal to the most extreme 25 per cent. How in the hell do you bring this country together?” Exactly.

As the Obama Presidency transitioned into a second term in January, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood announced his resignation. In a little over four years as SecTrans, LaHood oversaw the implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which poured billions of dollars into all modes of transportation across the country, as well as helping lead the way toward the adoption of unprecedented driver safety laws, including laws against distracted driving in 39 states. I spoke with the Secretary recently on his time in office and what work he feels still needs to be done.

RightPatient recently attended the Healthcare Information and Management Systems conference 2013 in New Orleans, where we had the opportunity to speak with Sharon Canner, Director of Public policy for CHIME. We have talked with Sharon about the changing role of Chief Information Officer in today's healthcare industry. We have also talked about The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the incentive established by it to modernize the way of collecting and sharing medical data to increase patient safety. Finally we asked about her opinion on the takeaways from this year's HIMSS conference & best technology showcased there. Healthcare Technology Podcast Brought to You by RightPatient.com

$800 billion is a lot of money. That is the amount of cash the Obama administration pumped into the American economy through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Ever wonder what happened to all that dough? In The New New Deal: The Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Era (Simon & Schuster, 2012), Michael Grunwald offers a readable yet painstaking account of the “Stimulus” bill’s significance. Based on interviews with White House insiders, readers get a front row seat for the deliberations and sausage making which led to this gargantuan bill. Countering conventional wisdom, Grunwald claims the Stimulus package successfully kept the economy out of depression and has established the groundwork for new industries. In effect, Obama has updated liberalism for a new era. Hope you enjoy my conversation with Michael Grunwald. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

$800 billion is a lot of money. That is the amount of cash the Obama administration pumped into the American economy through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Ever wonder what happened to all that dough? In The New New Deal: The Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Era (Simon & Schuster, 2012), Michael Grunwald offers a readable yet painstaking account of the “Stimulus” bill’s significance. Based on interviews with White House insiders, readers get a front row seat for the deliberations and sausage making which led to this gargantuan bill. Countering conventional wisdom, Grunwald claims the Stimulus package successfully kept the economy out of depression and has established the groundwork for new industries. In effect, Obama has updated liberalism for a new era. Hope you enjoy my conversation with Michael Grunwald. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

$800 billion is a lot of money. That is the amount of cash the Obama administration pumped into the American economy through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Ever wonder what happened to all that dough? In The New New Deal: The Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Era (Simon & Schuster, 2012), Michael Grunwald offers a readable yet painstaking account of the “Stimulus” bill’s significance. Based on interviews with White House insiders, readers get a front row seat for the deliberations and sausage making which led to this gargantuan bill. Countering conventional wisdom, Grunwald claims the Stimulus package successfully kept the economy out of depression and has established the groundwork for new industries. In effect, Obama has updated liberalism for a new era. Hope you enjoy my conversation with Michael Grunwald. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael J. Novogradac, CPA, discusses the fiscal cliff and the sequestration transparency act as well as the latest Basel III updates. In low-income housing tax credit news, he talks about the Internal Revenue Service's utility allowance, proposed U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development proposed 2013 fair market rents, the Affordable Housing for Moderate-Income Seniors Act and the latest developments in the Texas fair housing case. In new markets tax credit news, he alerts readers to a new Office of the Inspector General of the Treasury's audit of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act new markets tax credit allocations, new community development entities and the approaching 2012 allocation round deadline. In renewable energy tax credit news, he discusses the Office of Inspector General's latest Section 1603 project audits. Mr. Novogradac wraps up with some disappointing historic tax credit news about the Massachusetts historic tax credit program.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act allocated $19.2 billion for health information technology. (June 10, 2010)

The unprecedented federal investment in education through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is raising questions about the proper role of the federal government in local education policy. In this segment, four of our educational leaders share their views.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has put health care organizations under pressure to adopt electronic medical record systems (EHR) by 2014, but many health organizations are nowhere near ready to convert their existing systems to an EHR system. What are the challenges to this goal, and are there any ways to fast track the effort? Once all hospitals have an EHR system, will the advantages they provide also improve patient healthcare and delivery?

In October, I joined other academic medicine leaders at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, to thank the Obama Administration, Congress and the American taxpayers for the much-needed $10.4 billion in medical research funding included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Patricia Guard from the U.S Department of Education discusses strategies for using funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to get the most bang for the buck while avoiding potential liabilities for misuse.

Lisa Cohn of EE Markets continues her interview with Mark Sinclair, head of the Clean Energy States Alliance, about how states can create effective clean energy programs using funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In Part One, he explained how and when the states will use the money--and what restrictions the government has placed on the money. In Part Two, he describes some of the clean energy best practices implemented by forward-looking states.

Lisa Cohn of EE Markets interviews Mark Sinclair, head of the Clean Energy States Alliance, about how states can create effective clean energy programs using funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In Part One, he explains how and when the states will use the money - and what restrictions the government has placed on the money. In Part Two, he describes some of the clean energy best practices implemented by forward-looking states.

Today is Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009. This week we will review the new markets tax credit awards that were announced last week as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. We will also examine a legislative proposal to prohibit tax patents. And finally, we will discuss an invitation to comment about using FHA-insured multifamily mortgages with low-income housing tax credits and tax-exempt bonds. Let's  get started with a look at last week's new markets tax credit allocation announcement.

What does it mean for your organization?Learn about the stimulus/recovery act that has been signed into law and about the many different funding flows that are related to it.  This session will give you a basic understanding of how your organization can utilize the funding coming from the stimulus package in order to best serve your customers.Neil Bergsman from the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations speaks about the state's budget and how nonprofits will be affected. Representatives from Maryland Governor's Grants Office, Volunteer Maryland, Department of Labor Licensing and Regulation, Department of Housing and Community Development, Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention, and the Maryland Energy Administration were also present to speak about funding through their agencies.Download the Presentation Slides.Recorded On: Wednesday, May 20, 2009

A Continuing Series Of Podcasts From Perot Systems On The Impact Of Technology On Healthcare

Today is Tuesday, March 24th, 2009.' This week we have several exciting developments to discuss. First, we will share the Treasury Department's plans to allocate the $3 billion in additional new markets tax credit' authority provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, or the Recovery Act. We will also outline the changes in the 2009 income limit data released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. And finally, we will update listeners on the California housing tax credit allocating agency's plans for the LIHTC provisions of the Recovery Act.

Today is Tuesday, March 24th, 2009.  This week we have several exciting developments to discuss. First, we will share the Treasury Department's plans to allocate the $3 billion in additional new markets tax credit  authority provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, or the Recovery Act. We will also outline the changes in the 2009 income limit data released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. And finally, we will update listeners on the California housing tax credit allocating agency's plans for the LIHTC provisions of the Recovery Act.

Today is Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009. This week we will talk about two of the renewable energy provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, or ARRA for short, and also known as the Recovery Act. We also have some updates regarding the implementation of the LIHTC provisions of the Recovery Act.

Today is Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009. This week we will talk about two of the renewable energy provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, or ARRA for short, and also known as the Recovery Act. We also have some updates regarding the implementation of the LIHTC provisions of the Recovery Act.

TEAM of Experts & Guests o Your Host, Robert Helms o Co-Host and Financial Strategist, Russell Gray o The "Godfather" of Real Estate, Bob Helms On this week's show we'll discuss: o Stimulus or Spending? Examining the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act o Understanding Important Market Fundamentals o Sustainable vs. Temporary Jobs o Direct and Indirect Benefits to Real Estate Investors o Overview of the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan Please give us some feedback - write a review and rate us on our Itunes page!

Please click on the POD button to listen to the latest Atlanta Business Radio  show podcast broadcasting live each Wednesday at 10am EDT from the Business Radio X studio in Atlanta, GA, USA.   Here's how to listen to the podcast of our show. First click on the title of the show you are interested in. Then there should be a player in the upper right hand corner of the screen. Now just press play and the show you chose should start playing. You can also download the show to listen on your mp3 player. We are now available on iTunes, click this link and you can find all our past shows. Press SUBSCRIBE and you will automatically get the latest show when you sync your iPod to your computer.Today we explained some of the tax ramifications of the federal government's various stimulus plans including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act from Corey Sutton who is with H&R Block. Corey explained (in laymen's terms) that most of the tax effects of these plans will occur down the road but there are some things that you take advantage of for your 2008 tax return. Some of the things to be aware of are: new home buyer credit, one time social security payments and even some increased tax credits to encourage you to make your home more energy efficient. To learn more please go to www.hrblock.com. They have a lot of current information there as well as the locations of all the convenient H&R Block offices around the metro Atlanta area. Also if you know of a business in Atlanta that we should know about please email Amy Otto at Amy @ atlantabusinessradio.com and we will try and get them on the show

Today is Tuesday, February 24th, 2009. This week we will talk about some of the responses from the housing, energy and community development industry to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, commonly referred to as ARRA or the Recovery Act.

Today is Tuesday, February 24th, 2009. This week we will talk about some of the responses from the housing, energy and community development industry to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, commonly referred to as ARRA or the Recovery Act.

What are the best ways get the information to students to be strong advocates in their communites for good design with the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Here is a brief overview of the efforts of the AIA's Rebuild and Renew program.

Day in Washington explores and discusses various aspects of disability policy. Each episode covers a specific issue within disability, and/or a disability-related news article. These 6 minute podcasts offer an easy to understand analysis of current disability policy and politics. You can find the text of each podcast in the comments. If you have difficulty downloading a podcast, please right-click and save it to your computer for playback. Episode Summary: This episode offers a closer look at the disability policy in the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (H.R. 1) and also comments on the politics behind the bill. Audio File: Day in Washington #33 (Economic Stimulus, Recovery and Disability) Resources: New York Times Coverage of the Economic Stimulus Legislation Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Economic Recovery Watch Special Series Disability Scoop - Economic Stimulus Compromise Bill Day In Washington Podcast #27 (Medicaid Moratorium)

It is my first blog in last two weeks so i believe my nation is assuming that it should definitely be special one. In my opinion, this is the special blog but the main reason for the absence is that i was busy in some educational and my crazy socio-political activities. Anyway, it is time to address my nation.Stimulus Bill! this makes me think of some kind of plan to improve the economy of any country or state. Trust me don't look at it's cover page because all you are going to see the reminder of some change/hope rhetoric that obama used during his election campagin. Look inside! it seems boring as you look at its thickness (8-inch thick packet and 1171 pages) but it is full of jokes and some unnecessary items as you read it.Before Obama sworn in for the office of US president, he already pressured congress to pass this trillion dollar spendings and pork bill before presidential day break in Congress. On January 23, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said that the bill was on track to be presented to President Obama for him to sign into law before February 16, 2009.Therefore, The House version of The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Obama's stimulus package), H.R. 1, was introduced on January 25, 2009. It was sponsored by Representative David Obey of Wisconsin, the House Appropriations Committee chairman, and was co-sponsored by nine other Democratic representatives. Although 206 amendments were scheduled for floor votes, they were combined into only 11, which enabled quicker passage of the bill. As a result, on January 28, 2009, the House passed the bill by a 244-188 vote. All but 11 Democrats voted for the bill, and 177 Republicans voted against it (one Republican, Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL), did not vote).The Senate version of the bill, S. 1, was introduced on January 6, 2009. It was sponsored by Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Senate Majority Leader, co-sponsored by 16 other Democratic senators and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats. The Senate called a special Saturday debate session for February 7 at the urging of President Obama. With a vote of 61-36 (with 2 not voting) the Senate voted on February 9 to end debate on the bill and advance it to the Senate floor to vote on the bill itself. On February 10, the Senate voted 61-37 (with one 1 not voting). All the Democrats voted in favor, but only three Republicans voted in favor (Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, and Arlen Specter). Sen. Judd Greg (R-NH) did not vote.On February 12, 2009, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer scheduled the vote on the bill for the next day, before wording on the bill's content had been completed and despite House Democrats having previously promised to allow a 48-hour public review period before any vote. The bill was not completed and posted on a House website until 10:45 PM on February 12. The next day, the House passed a revised version of the bill by a vote of 246-183, with no Republicans voting in favor and 7 Democrats voting against. The interesting part about this version of the bill is that no law maker or congressman made an attempt to read this bill. However, Democrats still voted for the bill that they don't even know what the contents of this bill are. On the same day, the Senate passed the bill by a vote of 60-38, with all Democrats and Independents voting for the bill along with three Republicans. The remaining thirty-eight Republican senators voted against the bill. (Due to his illness, Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) was unable to vote; there is one senate vacancy, for Minnesota.)The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 became a part of history as Obama signed the bill into law at an economic forum he was hosting in Denver, Colorado on Tuesday, February 17, 2009, upon returning to work after a 4-day weekend in his hometown of Chicago.Just for reminder, many congressmen and senator from the right called this porkulus bill, in another words, full of unnecessary spending that in no way on this earth stimulating economy or bringing jobs to unemployed Americans. I also agree with that opinion of Republicans' about the gist of this bill. Let's go through some provisions from this bill that are total pork and unnecessary legislation for stimulating economy:-->$4.2 billion to repair and modernize Department of Defense facilities-->$100 million to improve facilities of the National Guard-->$6 billion for renewable energy power generation loans-->$5 billion for weatherizing modest-income homes-->$4.5 billion for state and local governments to increase energy efficiency in federal buildings-->$3.4 billion for carbon capture experiments-->$2.5 billion for energy efficiency research-->$2 billion for car battery research-->$300 million for reducing diesel fuel emissions-->$6 billion for the cleanup of radioactive waste-->$600 million to cleanup hazardous waste that threaten health and the environment-->$200 million to cleanup petroleum leaks from underground storage tanks-->$500 million to update the computer center at the Social Security Administration-->$290 million to upgrade IT platforms at the State Department-->$50 million for IT improvements at the Farm Service Agency-->$1 billion in preparation for the 2010 census-->$650 million for DTV conversion coupons and DTV education-->$8 billion for high-speed rail projects-->$6.9 billion for new equipment for public transportation projects-->$1.5 billion for competitive grants to state and local governments for transportation investments-->$1.3 billion for Amtrak-->$750 million for the construction of new public rail transportation systems-->$750 million for the maintenance of existing public transportation systems-->$240 million for the maintenance of United States Coast Guard facilities-->$5.5 billion to green federal buildings-->$50 million for new TSA uniforms-->$198 million to design and furnish DHS headquarters-->$1.2 billion for summer jobs for youth-->$50 million for creating Frisbee parks-->$71 million for altering vehicle parks-->$1.2 billion for modernizing club houses and golf courses-->$246 million for tax-breaks for Hollywood film-makers-->$150 million for parking lots for dogs-->$2.7 billion for creating or renovating urban canalsThis list goes on but i have to finish somewhere so i believe they are the most important ones that my nation should be aware of. People believe me this is not it. The final version of the bill just includes $787 billion but White House has intentions to use more money than that they might use executive power to get $1 billion- $2 billion from federal reserve in this bill. Timothy Geithner, Secretary of Treasury, one who does not pay taxes because he is the head of the tax collecting agency, proposes to create one or more "bad banks" to buy and hold toxic assets, using a mix of taxpayer and private money. He also proposes to expand a lending program that would spend as much as $1 trillion to cover the decline in the issuance of securities backed by consumer loans. His announcement on the same day took DOW Jones 400 points down and it keeps going on since that day. Today, i read that this current stock exchange crash is the worst since the one in 1987.A February 4, 2009, report by the Congressional Budget Office said that while the stimulus would increase economic output and employment in the short run, the GDP would, by 2019, have an estimated net decrease between 0.1% and 0.3%. The CBO estimates that enacting the bill would increase federal budget deficits by $185 billion over the remaining months of fiscal year 2009, by $399 billion in 2010, by $134 billion in 2011, and by $787 billion over the 2009-2019 period.On January 28, 2009, a full page advertisement with the names of approximately 200 economists who are against Obama's plan appeared in The New York Times and The Wall St. Journal. The funding for this advertisement came from the Cato Institute. The ad stated, "... we the undersigned do not believe that more government spending is a way to improve economic performance. More government spending by Hoover and Roosevelt did not pull the United States economy out of the Great Depression in the 1930s... To improve the economy, policymakers should focus on reforms that remove impediments to work, savings, investment, and production. Lower tax rates and a reduction in the burden of government are the best ways of using fiscal policy to boost growth." On February 8, 2009, it was reported that a different petition, also signed by approximately 200 economists, but this one being in favor of Obama's plan, had been created. This petition was written by the liberal Center for American Progress Action Fund. The petition said that Obama's plan "proposes important investments that can start to overcome the nation's damaging loss of jobs," and that it would "put the United States back onto a sustainable long-term-growth path."Even Gallup poll showed that 22% of America accept the bill the way it is, 37% accept it with some major changes and 32% say that there is nothing about this bill that is stimulative. Rasmussen poll stated that 42% American do not support this bill, 36% support this bill and 22% are undecided.I hope you will love this new blog and i will wait for your feedback for this blog. I hope what ever decision Americans made in Presidential elections work out well in future. I pray that these porks will not even become a part of real life and save this economy simply by just using tax-cuts that are just 37% of this bill. Barack Obama definitely needs to take this stimulus bill under microscope because his presidential regime depends upon this economic plan.God bless America and people all around the worldThank you!© 2009 Syed Rizvi – Time To Bring Things Around All Rights Reserved

The 158th edition of America's Debate Radio with Mike and Jaime. During the first hour, we discussed the recently passed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the related issues arising from the legislation, and the money to be spent on it. During the second hour, we spoke with 3 callers. We discussed the growing size of our federal government, more on the stimulus package, citizen involvement in government, and inflation. During the final hour, we discussed odd and unusual news. Submit your own stories at AllegedlyNews.com. We welcome your feedback! Have your email read on the air-- click here to use the email form. Or, call 888.DEBATE.5 now and leave a message-- we'll play it on the next show. Thanks for listening!

The 155th edition of America's Debate Radio with Mike and Jaime. Due to technical difficulties beyond our control, this broadcast was shorter than usual, and we took no calls. During the show, we discussed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that passed the House, and also covered some of the executive orders signed by President Obama this week. We apologize for the shortened show, and assure you the problems have already been rectified. We welcome your feedback! Have your email read on the air-- click here to use the email form. Or, call 888.DEBATE.5 now and leave a message-- we'll play it on the next show. Thanks for listening!