The WonkLine: March 11, 2009
The WonkLine: March 11, 2009
Welcome to The WonkLine, a daily 10 a.m. roundup of the latest news about health care, the economy, national security and climate policy. This is what we’re reading. Tell us what you found in the comments section below.
National Security
U.S. counterterrorism officials are warning that extremists in Somalia are radicalizing Americans, citing their recruitment of the first U.S. citizen suicide bomber and their potential role in the disappearance of Somali American youths.
On the news that Chas Freeman had withdrawn as head of the National Intelligence Council, Joe Klein writes “Barack Obama should take note. The thugs have taken out Chas Freeman. They will not rest. Their real target is you, Mr. President.”
The Dalai Lama delivered one of his harshest attacks on the Chinese government yesterday, saying that they had transformed Tibet into a “hell on earth” and that Chinese authorities regard Tibetans as “criminals deserving to be put to death.”
Health Care
According to a new RAND Corporation study, “dangling a financial carrot in front of doctors” has changed the way some doctors practice medicine, but has yet to significantly improve quality.”
A new study in Health Affairs “shows how the use of electronic health records and connectivity with patients has made Kaiser Permanente more efficient” but also “points to something of equal importance: why EHRs might not add much efficiency to the rest of the U.S. healthcare system unless it’s restructured.”
A coalition representing 30 health care organizations has asked Congress to suspend pay-as-you-go rules when drafting and passing health care overhaul legislation.
Economy
Sen. Reid (D-NV) said yesterday “that fierce resistance from Republicans and business groups could force him to delay action” on the Employee Free Choice Act.
According to federal data, “higher education’s capacity is growing, albeit too slowly to meet the goal set by the president and others,” while “a disproportionate share of the growth can be attributed to for-profit colleges, which are expanding at a rapid clip.”
Yves Smith on global stimulus: “On the surface, this looks like the Europeans being behind the eight-ball Hooverites, while the US is addressing the crisis. But it isn’t so simple.”
Climate
The House Agriculture Committee is holding a hearing today on the National Animal Identification System, which chair Collin Peterson (D-MN) favors making mandatory, despite the strong opposition of sustainable food and family farm advocates.
Scientists are warning that the IPCC underestimated this decade’s greenhouse emissions, and “the number of heat-related deaths will quadruple in cities such as London by 2080.”
In a confrontation with OMB Director Orszag, Sen. Conrad (D-ND) “said that it would be a ‘distant hope‘ to expect the climate change plan to pass unless it includes help for industries that would be hit hard by limits on carbon emission production.”
The Wonk Room will be interviewing Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD) this afternoon on energy and environmental issues, following today’s hearing on FutureGen and advanced coal technology. Please submit questions for Rep. Edwards in the comments below!
8 Responses to “The WonkLine: March 11, 2009”
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Dr. Carol Turley from the Plymoth Marine Lab recently discussed the very real problems associated with ocean acidification, which are predicted to be a much larger problem in the future, especially for sea creatures that make calcified shells – why does this matter? These creates make up the coral reef that support, through a complex cycle, basically all marine life.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7936137.stm
March 11th, 2009 at 11:02 amDear Congresswoman Edwards:
How many terawatts of wind power is it most economical to build in the next year and the next four years?
March 11th, 2009 at 11:05 amShould we enact McCain’s plan of a DARPA Grand Challenge-style contest for the best batteries?
March 11th, 2009 at 11:07 amDear Congresswoman Edwards;
Thank you so much for cosponsoring the Clean Water Protection Act (HR 1310), which was introduced by Congressman Pallone (D-NJ), along with Congressmen Reichert (D-WA) and Yarmuth (D-KY). The bill already has more than 117 cosponsors in the House.
Mountaintop removal is devastating to our mountains, our economy, and our communities, and HR 1310 will reverse a devastating Bush Administration rule change which allows toxic waste from mountaintop removal mining to be dumped directly into our headwater streams.
Will you help us pass this bill in 2009 by pushing the Water Resources Subcommittee and T&I Committee to hold hearings on HR 1310 and mountaintop removal coal-mining?
Thanks so much.
peace,
March 11th, 2009 at 11:58 amJW
I hate to see that the Dalai Lama is still having to make speeches about how oppressing the Chinese are . I wonder if he will be let back into his country at any point during the rest of his life. For more info on the speech I found this video, http://www.newsy.com/videos/china_and_the_dalai_lama/
March 11th, 2009 at 12:55 pmPresident Obama was elected into office riding a wave of excitement among U.S. youth. This excitement emerged from the honesty and ambition of his ideas, not from his looks, his charm, or his rhetoric. This wave of support will only continue if the upcoming climate bill leaves the committee in the same spirit. A half-measure like the Lieberman-Warner ‘Frankenstein’ bill won’t get the support it needs from the grassroots.
What do you see as the role of young people in passing an honest and just climate bill?
March 11th, 2009 at 1:04 pmElectronic Medical Records: When a patient goes to the same healthcare facility (or branch of that facility), then the EMR can be accessed. The problem will come when different facilities install incompatible systems and if the patient is incapable of authorizing the release for their EMR from another facility, then the HIPPA requirements will block access.
I hear this AM that WalMart was partnering with DELL to come up with an EMR for small medical practices…where, in reality, these facilities need to be included in the bigger picture of ALL Medical Facilities for this EMR system to work efficiently.
But at least the conversation regarding EMRs has started!
There will be a large need trained individuals to install, build individual databases, validate, maintain and update all of these systems and their interconnectivity…so for those of you interested in IT, this will be a career field for the future!
March 11th, 2009 at 2:45 pmA separate study on pay-for-performance schemes in the Annals of Family Medicine, found that doctors resented the intrusion of such plans on the doctor-patient relationship.
In the United States, physicians said they resented the structure of the audit and payment systems, which sometimes distorted the process of care.
Pay for performance will deform health care and education.
March 11th, 2009 at 4:43 pm