Showing posts with label gregg stimulus bill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gregg stimulus bill. Show all posts

Friday, March 06, 2009

Obama's Speech in Columbus Ohio Video


Obama speaks at a police officer graduation in Columbus. The stimulus allowed laid off police officers to get to work.
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Thursday, March 05, 2009

What's Going On At The Healthcare Summit and Money for Community Health Centers

While detractors continue to say that reforming healthcare is too much too soon, Obama continues to say that reforming healthcare isn't a luxury and it can't happen soon enough.

Our healthcare system costs the most, yet 48 million are uninsured. Not only are people uninsured, but they're underinsured (estimated 25 million). How many times have we heard stories about people who thought they were insured only to find out that their insurance company wouldn't pay the medical bills? Half of the bankruptcies are caused by medical bills. 

Obama seems to view government in a holistic way -- that everything must be tackled simultaneously because healthcare affects the economy and the economy affects national security. All the issues coincide as part of social ecosystem. It's a gigantic puzzle. 

If Obama's goal of getting all Americans insured isn't possible, he's willing to compromise. Today's healthcare summit is an attempt to get all interests on board. See the video below.
The administration's health care summit will focus on reducing and containing costs as well as expanding coverage, one senior administration official said.

Doctors, nurses, pharmaceutical representatives, lawmakers and hospital officials are among the 150 people expected to take part in the gathering, which President Obama sees as a starting point in tackling the overhaul of health care.

"This isn't a luxury; this is a necessity," Melody Barnes, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, told CNN's "American Morning" on Thursday, explaining that health care reform is a must for the U.S. to get its "economic ship steady."

"Health care costs are exploding. Many people are bringing in less income every month and seeing their premiums go up at the same time. It's affecting the bottom line and businesses. It's also affecting the fiscal well-being of our country," Barnes said.

"So this is something we have to do, because of the tough economic times, and we feel like we've learned lessons from the past that are going to help us get health care reform on the president's desk for his signature this year." CNN
Obama's going to need to rally the people on this one. Nothing's happened yet and republicans are already whining "socialized medicine:"
In other healthcare news, stimulus money has been released to community centers across the U.S.
President Obama announced the release of $155 million in Recovery Act grant funds to support 126 Community Health Centers across the country. These grants alone will help provide health services to 750,000 Americans and create 5,500 jobs.
See the map of where the money is going here.

What's going on at the healthcare summit:
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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Colorado Ready To Spend Stimulus

Obama signs the stimulus bill at 12:40 Colorado time at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. I sense some snark from this Denver Post writer:
But Obama will make his grand national gesture in a state where two of his pet industries of the future are thriving

on new ideas and ambition, and which are ready to spend money as soon as he caps his pen.
The stimulus includes billions in credits and grants meant to promote green-energy production and independence from Middle East oil. Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter has long made those ideas key to his vision of creating Western jobs.

Pete Austin of Cañon City is poised to implement the stimulus bill's expanded subsidies for wind energy and business-equipment purchases. He said he will train and hire installers for solar panels and wind turbines and will finally lock up the loan he has been putting off for new trucks.

"I'd like to thank them from the bottom of my heart," said Austin, taking a break from installing a home-based solar array in Pueblo West. "I'm tickled to death that we're moving forward with legislation and policy that directs this country into energy that's diversified. We're very happy they have kept the promise."

Money for health care

Kaiser Permanente Colorado president Donna Lynne might be able to tell Obama the same thing in person. She will be near his elbow for the museum signing. The stimulus includes billions of dollars in grants to help speed patient information among doctors' offices,

Drawing on previous grants, Kaiser linked to Denver Health, University of Colorado Hospital and Children's Hospital to share files. In practice, that might mean an emergency room patient at Children's would avoid the delay and cost of an X-ray if a doctor could quickly download a previous X-ray taken by Kaiser.

"The kind of money being put up in the stimulus bill is hugely significant to both improve the quality of care and reduce cost in the system," Lynne said. "That's an immense commitment to information technology that will really put us on a pathway to improving health outcomes." Read more
Why is Obama signing the bill in Denver? According to Denver officials:
So far, it appears the state is holding up better than most others on measures like unemployment, income gains and job growth. People also continue to move to Colorado; and 4.8 percent of Colorado mortgages were delinquent in the third quarter of 2008, compared with 7.3 percent nationwide.

Colorado's emphasis on alternative-energy development and a perception that local governments will quickly turn the shovel on large infrastructure projects are why Clark said he thinks the stimulus bill is being signed here.

"We are the poster child for the new energy economy and for regional cooperation in doing big projects," Clark said.

By choosing Denver, the president is attempting to cast the stimulus package as an investment in the future rather than a remedy for past failures, said Michael Orlando, an economist with Economic Advisors in Denver.
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Sunday, February 15, 2009

Stimulus Bill A Presidency in a Box

The stimulus bill was a big win for Obama and accomplishes more than what most presidents do in a single term, says writer Ron Brownstein. He calls it a "presidency in a box." That's probably partly why the republicans have backed into a corner. 
Now Obama has the task of managing the tentacled stimulus.  

How much time does Obama have to get the economy working? Years is my answer. Two. Will the bailout be enough? Will the stimulus be enough?

Take Two portion of the roundtable:

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Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Judd Gregg Supports a Stimulus

In this video, he gets accused of not sticking to republican principles:
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