NADA Says EPA Decision to Grant Calif. Waiver is Troubling

/PRNewswire/ -- In response to the action taken today by the Environmental Protection Agency to allow California and 13 other states to implement their own fuel economy and greenhouse gas program, John McEleney, chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association, issued the following statement:

"EPA's decision to reverse its 2008 denial of California's request for a pre-emption waiver is sadly a triumph of politics over good common sense.

"NADA has commended President Obama for his announcement last month recognizing and addressing the 'patchwork' aspect of California's greenhouse gas rules. We also recognize that California has stated its willingness to conform its rules to the President's forthcoming national program.

"However, NADA remains concerned that today's action risks a series of negative results if that conformity never occurs. These include the potential for triple regulation of major manufacturers such as General Motors and Toyota.

"Moreover, with its action today, the Obama administration has effectively ceded the long-term setting of national fuel economy standards to unelected California regulators. The administration has now created the framework for three fuel economy standards, administered by three different agencies and under three different sets of rules. As a result, consumers in the future risk facing significantly reduced new vehicle choices and substantially higher new vehicle prices."

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New Bill Could Divert Billions in Small Business Contracts to Corporate Giants

/PRNewswire/ -- For the second time in the last year, the House of Representatives Small Business Committee has passed legislation that will change the definition of a small business to give some of the nation's wealthiest investors billions of dollars in federal small business contracts.

The bill, H.R. 2965, the Enhancing Small Business Research and Innovation Act of 2009, was introduced to reauthorize the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, which is set to expire on July 31st of this year. However, language in H.R. 2965 will change the definition of a small business from the current definition of "independently owned" to include businesses owned up to 49.9 percent by a single venture capital firm, or 100 percent owned and controlled by multiple venture capital firms or syndicates. (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-2965)

H.R. 2965 is almost identical to similar legislation introduced last year to reauthorize the SBIR program, and again is being quarterbacked by House Small Business Committee Chair, Nydia Velazquez (D-NY). (http://www.allbusiness.com/company-activities-management/business-climate-con ditions/9077284-1.html)

The legislation is being supported and pushed by groups like the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), but for the second time, not one single small business organization supports this legislation. Small business groups like the American Small Business League (ASBL) are outraged that the committee has again ignored the voice of small businesses and passed legislation that will divert billions of dollars from small businesses and the middle class economy. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZdI0Tw_n_Y)

Critics of Chairwoman Velazquez point to the fact that since 2003, a series of over a dozen federal investigations have shown that Fortune 500 and other clearly large firms are the actual recipients of billions of dollars in small business contracts, yet she has never introduced and pushed for legislation to address the ongoing abuses in small business contracting programs. (http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html)

"H.R. 2965 is the most disgusting example of what is wrong with our government today," said ASBL President Lloyd Chapman. "Groups like the NVCA and BIO give large campaign contributions to members of Congress, like Velazquez, and now we see them being paid back with legislation that will give them billions of dollars in small business contracts. I have never seen a more blatant example of Congress selling legislation."

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CREW Requests Ethics Investigation of Gov. Sanford

(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint against South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford with the South Carolina Attorney General and the State Ethics Commission, requesting an investigation into activities surrounding a surreptitious trip the governor made to Argentina. Earlier this week, Gov. Sanford publicly admitted that he visited a woman with whom he has been engaged in an extramarital affair, now-reported as Maria Belen Chapur. Gov. Sanford said he has known the woman for eight years, and the two began a sexual relationship approximately a year ago.

In its letter, CREW alleges Gov. Sanford may have violated the South Carolina law in conducting his affair.

Gov. Sanford apparently did not apprise any South Carolina officials, including Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, of his whereabouts or provide truthful information to his staff, his security detail, or any responsible state government official regarding his destination, nor was anyone able to reach him by telephone or electronically for at least five days. According to Gov. Sanford, he “creat[ed] a fiction” by telling members of his staff that he planned to go hiking on the Appalachian Trail when he was actually traveling to Argentina.

By leaving the state without informing Lt. Gov. Bauer he had the authority to act as governor, Gov. Sanford may have endangered the state and violated the South Carolina Constitution, which provides “in the event of the temporary absence of the Governor from the State, the Lieutenant Governor shall have full authority to act in an emergency.”

Based on reports the governor used a state vehicle to reach the Columbia airport to catch his flight and that a government aide picked him up from the Atlanta airport upon his return, CREW also asked for an investigation into whether Gov. Sanford illegally used additional state funds, equipment, or personnel to conduct the affair.

Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, said today, “The only sound decision Gov. Sanford appears to have made recently was to resign his post as chair of the Republican Governors Association. Why is the governor incapable of leading the RGA, but still fit to lead the state of South Carolina? Clearly, Gov. Sanford should resign, but whatever he does, it is incumbent upon South Carolina’s Attorney General and the State Ethics Commission to hold the governor accountable.”

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Top 10 Facts on Why Speaker Pelosi's National Energy Tax Is a Bad "Deal" for America

Democratic leaders have announced a so-called “deal” to bring House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) national energy tax up for a House vote on Friday. Senior Democrats have already started to tout a number of trivial concessions and compromises that made this “deal” possible. But, the fact is, the consequences of this “deal” are no different from the consequences of the initial legislation introduced by Democrats earlier this year. It still amounts to jobs-killing policy that will increase costs for every American and will further harm our economy and American workers at a time when they can afford it least. Following are the Top 10 Facts about the House Democrats’ so-called “deal” to bring Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax to the House floor later this week:


1. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Impose a National Energy Tax on Every Single American. If you drive a car, buy food or a product manufactured in America, or have the audacity to flip on a light switch, you’ll pay more under Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax. Here’s what Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) had to say about the tax: “Nobody in this country realizes that cap and trade is a tax. And it’s a great big one.” And of course, President Obama agrees, saying that electricity rates will “skyrocket” under this scheme.

2. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Cost American Jobs, Shipping Them Overseas to China & India. According to a study by the National Black Chamber of Commerce, Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax will cost 2.3 to 2.7 million jobs each year, even after the creation of new “green” jobs. It will impose tough new requirements and increased costs on American manufacturers – higher costs that they won’t face overseas, in places like China, India, or Mexico. This will cost American jobs in two ways: either domestic manufacturers will move overseas directly, or American companies in energy-intensive industries will be driven out of business by overseas rivals that undercut their prices. These job losses, and their ripple effects throughout our economy, were excluded from an incomplete analysis recently completed by the Congressional Budget Office. The Brookings Institute recently released a report that confirmed a national energy tax would reduce economic growth, increase costs, and kill jobs.

3. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Cause Electricity Bills to “Skyrocket.” Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax will increase electricity bills for every American and small business. President Obama even admitted that it would cause electricity rates to “necessarily skyrocket.” And Duke Energy, a major utility company that would receive free allowances under the Democrats’ plan, has already requested a rate hike of 13.5 percent in anticipation of the energy tax.

4. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Hurt Family Farmers & Rural America. Rural Americans would be disproportionately impacted by this burdensome, jobs-killing tax. They travel 25 percent farther than urban residents to go to work and run errands. They spend 58 percent more on fuel than urban residents as a percentage of their income. And electricity is far more costly to deliver to rural households than to urban homes across America. The end result: if Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax becomes law, family farmers and rural small businesses will pay much, much more. That’s why an increasing number of rural organizations are opposing this harmful policy.

5. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Not Improve the Environment. Even supporters of the national energy tax concede that unilateral American action will do nothing to improve Earth’s environment unless global competitors like China and India curb their emissions, too. The response from overseas? Don’t hold your breath. According to the Washington Post, “But, after their talk this week, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said China would not agree to reduce its emissions… Spokesman Qin Gang said…“[I]t is natural for China to have some increase in its emissions, so it is not possible for China in that context to accept a binding or compulsory target.’” And according to Xinhua News, Shyam Saran, India’s principal negotiator on climate change, discussed India’s reluctance to capping its greenhouse gas emissions, saying, “[W]e don’t want to announce targets which we have no intention of achieving.”

6. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Cause Gasoline and Diesel Prices to Spike Further. Gasoline prices have spiked in recent weeks, yet Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax will make gasoline and diesel even more expensive for families and small businesses. The Heritage Foundation estimates that it will raise inflation-adjusted gasoline prices by 58 percent. Not only is that troubling to middle-class families trying to make ends meet, but small businesses – such as America’s truck drivers who are responsible for transporting food and other products across the country – are especially vulnerable during an economic recession. In fact, Tommy Hodges, First Vice Chairman of the American Trucking Association, recently warned that Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax on America’s truck drivers will leave America’s truck drivers, exposed to dramatic and sudden fuel price spikes.

7. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Be A Bureaucratic Nightmare. Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax is a bureaucratic nightmare that would create a slew of new government programs overseen by a long and confusing web of government agencies. At the center of this web is the Environmental Protection Agency along with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Commodities Future Trading Commission, the Department of Energy, the Department of Agriculture, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Labor, the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Treasury, the Department of State, the Forest Service, the Fish & Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U.S. Geological Society, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Bureau of Land Management – all with a hand in taking and redistributing trillions of dollars from family budgets and workers payrolls.

8. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Send Billions of US Taxpayer Dollars Overseas. In addition to sending American jobs overseas, under Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax, between 2012 and 2019, the United States will send $302 billion in taxpayers’ money directly to foreign countries for international offsets, international tropical deforestation, international adaptation, and international technology transfer. American taxpayers are tired of the bailouts. Why do Washington Democrats want to force them to bankroll another global bailout too?


9. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Raise Food Prices. Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax will drive up costs for gasoline and energy used by farmers and businesses across the country. One of the most troubling results? The cost to produce and transport food will be driven higher than ever. The Heritage Foundation says “The cost of producing everything from wheat to beef will increase. Indeed, the price deflator for private farm inventories goes up over 20 points by 2035. This increase gets quickly translated into much higher food prices for consumers at the grocery stores.” During a severe recession and further job losses, is this really the news small businesses and middle-class families want to hear?

10. Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax Will Set the Stage for Another Market Meltdown. Mother Jones recently warned that if Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax “is signed into law, it will generate, almost as an afterthought, a new market for carbon derivatives. That market will be vast, complicated, and dauntingly difficult to monitor. And if Washington doesn’t get the rules right, it will be vulnerable to speculation and manipulation by the very same players who brought us the financial meltdown.” Taxpayers have paid dearly as a result of the financial crisis. Are Democrats setting them up to pay once again?

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White House Meeting on Immigration 'Reform' Likely to Leave Out Interests of the American Public, Cautions FAIR

/PRNewswire/ -- Tomorrow's long anticipated and oft-delayed White House meeting on immigration will likely produce a blueprint for a massive illegal alien amnesty in exchange for hollow promises of future enforcement, warns the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). The plan being promoted by President Obama and Democratic congressional leaders is essentially the same one that the American people rejected in 2006 and 2007.

The American people have little reason to believe that any commitments to protect their interests would be honored. Since taking office, the Obama administration has all but abandoned enforcement of U.S. immigration laws. Worksite enforcement has been dramatically curtailed, implementation of E-Verify requirements have been scuttled, cooperation with state and local law enforcement has been scaled back, while the Department of Justice has made it easier for illegal aliens to remain in the country. Ironically, tougher enforcement efforts implemented during the final 18 months of the Bush administration had, for the first time, begun to reverse the flow of illegal immigration.

"The only thing comprehensive about so-called comprehensive immigration reform would be the amnesty for people who have violated our laws," observed Dan Stein, president of FAIR. "While millions of illegal aliens would be rewarded, struggling American workers and overburdened taxpayers would pay a heavy price were Congress and the administration to repeat the mistakes of the 1986 amnesty."

Some of the questions likely not to be addressed at tomorrow's White House summit include:

-- What impact would a massive amnesty have on already soaring
unemployment?
-- How would a repeat of the massive fraud that took place in 1986 be
prevented?
-- How would adequate background checks be carried out on the estimated
12 to 15 million illegal aliens who would be eligible?
-- How many additional relatives, now living outside the U.S., would be
eligible for amnesty?
-- How would future illegal immigration be averted when the
administration refuses to implement existing systems to prevent
employment of illegal aliens?
-- How would state and local governments - some already teetering on
bankruptcy - pay for services required by newly legalized aliens and
their families?


"The American people have some very clear ideas about the priorities President Obama and Congress need to address - and a massive illegal alien amnesty isn't one of them," said Stein. "The public wants our immigration system fixed, but they expect their interests, not the interests of the people who broke our laws, to be paramount. Unfortunately, the public interest will at best be an afterthought as the president and congressional leaders pursue a politically driven, narrow interest immigration agenda," concluded Stein.

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Americans Fear the Consequences of a New Government-Run "Public" Health Plan

Democrats who support a government takeover of health care are citing the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, which they claim shows support for a government-run system. Yet that very same poll shows widespread concern about potential consequences of a government-run health plan on the relationship Americans have with their doctor and the quality of care they receive – facts which have been reflected in other polls. For example, the New York Times/CBS News poll shows that:

63 percent were concerned that their own health care would get worse under a government-run system of health care;
68 percent believed a government-run system would limit their access to treatments and quality care; and
53 percent were concerned they would have to give up their own doctor under a government-run system.
What’s clear is that Americans overwhelmingly oppose the consequences of a government-run health system. They want access to their doctor, they want access to the quality care they are accustomed to, and they want access to the medical treatments they need when they need it rather than being subject to the whims of a government bureaucrat that makes health care decisions at the expense of patients and doctors. All would be jeopardized under a government-run scheme being proposed by congressional Democrats.

Here are the Top 10 facts about the House Democrats’ health care proposal and the consequences it will have for the American people and their health care:

Costs Middle-Class Families and Small Businesses Billions
Forces Tens of Millions Out of their Current Health Care Coverage
Destroys Millions of American Jobs
Puts Bureaucrats in Charge of Key Medical Decisions
Costs Future Generations Money They Don’t Have
Cuts Seniors’ Key Medicare Benefits and Limits Choices
Places a New Mandate on Individuals
Raises Taxes on Families, Small Businesses
A Missed Opportunity to Reduce Health Care Costs
Harms Small Businesses, Costs Jobs

Congressional Democrats can continue to ignore these consequences if they choose, but the facts are not on their side. The House Democrats’ plan could force more than 100 million Americans off of their current health care plan and onto the government rolls, according to a Lewin Group study published earlier this year. A Congressional Budget Office report said a similar plan authored by Senate Democrats that would force at least 23 million Americans off of their current plans. And according to the Associated Press, even the White House admits that the President’s promises about allowing the American people to keep their health care shouldn’t be taken literally.

House Republicans have a better solution: a plan that ensures all Americans who like their health care coverage can actually keep it. The plan outlined by the House GOP Health Care Reform Solutions Group, led by Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), is designed to:

Make quality health care coverage affordable and accessible for every American, regardless of pre-existing health conditions.
Protect Americans from being forced into a new government-run health care plan that would eliminate the health care coverage that more than 100 million Americans currently receive through their job.
Let Americans who like their health care coverage keep it, and give all Americans the freedom to choose the health plan that best meets their needs.
Ensure that medical decisions are made by patients and their doctors, not government bureaucrats.
Improve Americans’ lives through effective prevention, wellness, and disease management programs, while developing new treatments and cures for life-threatening diseases.

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Americans United for Life: Obama's Disbanding Bioethics Council Raises Troubling Questions

/PRNewswire/ -- Americans United for Life (AUL) criticized President Obama's recent decision to disband the President's Council on Bioethics and replace it with a new bioethics commission having a mandate to offer "practical policy options."

The President's Council on Bioethics was created in November 2001 by President Bush after his decision to allow human embryonic stem-cell research for the first time while limiting the research to existing cell lines.

"Why try to fix something that wasn't broken?" said AUL's President & CEO Charmaine Yoest.

Daniel McConchie, AUL Vice President of Government Affairs said, "This was the most balanced bioethics council in history with two leaders, Leon Kass and Edmund Pellegrino, who went out of their way to ensure the council was reflective of all the major perspectives on the issues," he said. "We have to ask why the President has disbanded this effective and well-regarded council. Is this a move toward a council that is more of a rubber stamp of his administration's priorities, rather than a group that actively debates current issues with all perspectives having a seat at the table?"

AUL Senior Counsel Clarke Forsythe said it was "a shame" that the council was dismissed. "The council leaves a rich legacy of reflection on the ethical and legal aspects of the most important questions of biomedicine and biotechnology facing the country. But despite the council's balance -- or perhaps because of it -- many liberals and libertarians never appreciated the important books and reports published by the Council. When it conducted wide-ranging discussions of important bioethical issues, they dismissed it as a 'debating society.' And when, after such discussions, they issued policy recommendations, they dismissed it as 'political.'"

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