It’s time for those New Year’s resolutions and both President Bush and Democrats in Congress have a few to share with the American people. What better way to do it than their weekly radio addresses.
Bush, for instance, has resolved to do something about “wasteful earmark spending.” “In the last election, congressional leaders ran on a promise that they would reform earmarks,” he said. “They made some progress but not nearly enough.” He said he is reviewing options he can take as president to curtail “special-interest items that are slipped into big spending bills like … often at the last hour, without discussion or debate.”
Bush also vowed to submit a budget in February that will restrain spending, keep taxes low and move the nation toward a balanced budget.
On the Democratic side, freshman Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York outlined “a vision to build America’s greatness.” Among other things, the agenda includes a push toward energy independence, advancements in technology that can create jobs, economic policies aimed at helping the middle class, changes to the education and healthcare systems, and efforts to secure the nation against attacks.
“I truly believe that all good things are possible when the American people are heard,” she said.
The American Cancer Society has released an online video that features a woman named Kathy in St. Paul, Minn.
The storyline: Kathy has lost her job and thus her health insurance — and she has breast cancer. The message, one with a subtle policy undercurrent: “Help is available, just not to 47 million Americans without insurance. Are we willing to accept that?”
That’s the satiric message of two online videos that poke fun at the idea of raising cigarette taxes to pay for an expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program — “an idea so dumb only Congress could think of it.”
Rep. Anna Eshoo is becoming a regular at “America’s Business,” the weekly video podcast produced by the National Association of Manufacturers. Last week, NAM aired a segment from the California Democrat about banning taxes on Internet access; this week, Eshoo talked about her bill to foster health information technology in America.
“I don’t think I have to remind the listeners that we live in an information age but that our healthcare system really remains mired in a pen-and-paper past,” Eshoo said. She added, “This is really the last large sector in our nation that for all intents and purposes remains untouched by information technology, so I think it’s about time.”
President Bush moved this week to fill two slots in his Cabinet by nominating people to be secretaries of Agriculture and Veterans Affairs. He picked Ed Shafer today to head Agriculture and announced James Peake as his VA nominee two days earlier.
Bush on Shafer: “He was a leader on agricultural issues during his eight years as the governor of North Dakota. He worked to open new markets for North Dakota farmers and ranchers by expanding trade with China. He oversaw the development of the state’s agricultural biofuels industry. He helped families recover from natural disasters — including drought, fires and floods. And he pioneered innovative programs to increase economic opportunity in rural communities.”
And on Peake: “As a medical officer and combat vet who was wounded in action, Dr. Peake understands the view from both sides of the hospital bed — the doctor’s, and the patient’s. He brought that understanding to many jobs. These jobs include command surgeon in the Army hospitals, commanding general of the largest medical training facility in the world, and Army Surgeon General — where he commanded more than 50,000 medical personnel, oversaw 16 hospitals across the world, and managed an operating budget of nearly $5 billion.”
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