Hello
Tuesday mishmash for the interested.
UPDATE: Edited to change the title.
WH new drug policy: more resources into drug prevention and treatment
WASHINGTON — The White House is putting more resources into drug prevention and treatment, part of President Barack Obama's pledge to treat illegal drug use more as a public health issue than a criminal justice problem.
The new drug control strategy to be released Tuesday boosts community-based anti-drug programs, encourages health care providers to screen for drug problems before addiction sets in and expands treatment beyond specialty centers to mainstream health care facilities.
"It changes the whole discussion about ending the war on drugs and recognizes that we have a responsibility to reduce our own drug use in this country," Gil Kerlikowske, the White House drug czar, said in an interview.
The plan — the first drug plan unveiled by the Obama White House — calls for reducing the rate of youth drug use by 15 percent over the next five years and for similar reductions in chronic drug use, drug abuse deaths and drugged driving.
Kerlikowske criticized past drug strategies for measuring success by counting the number of children and teens who have not tried marijuana. At the same time, he said, the number of deaths from illegal and prescription drug overdoses was rising.
"Us facing that issue and dealing with it head on is important," Kerlikowske said.
The new drug plan encourages health care professionals to ask patients questions about drug use even during routine treatment so that early intervention is possible. It also helps more states set up electronic databases to identify doctors who are overprescribing addictive pain killers...
....The drug control office's budget request does include a 13 percent increase in spending on alcohol and drug prevention programs, along with a 3.7 percent increase for addiction treatment.
Steve Benen:
Ending the war on drugs
...We've already seen some encouraging steps from the Obama administration when it comes to drug policy, including an effort to bring some sanity to the vast sentencing disparities between possession of powdered cocaine and rock cocaine. Obama's team has also stopped targeting medical marijuana patients and caregivers, and the president even repealed a ban on publicly-funded needle-exchange programs.
It's all part of a fundamentally different approach to the issue. A year ago this week, Gil Kerlikowske, the president's new head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said he intended to do away with the "war on drugs" -- not only rhetorically, but also replacing the entire approach of the last few decades.
We're getting a better sense of what the old approach will be replaced with: a far better policy....
President Obama meets with Director of National Drug Control Policy Gil Kerlikowske in the Oval Office, May 10, 2010. May 10, 2010. (Official WH photo by Pete Souza)
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Obama Resubmits US-Russia Nuclear Energy Deal
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama resubmit to Congress on Tuesday a nuclear power pact with Russia that his predecessor angrily canceled two years ago after Russia invaded neighboring Georgia...
...The White House released a letter from Obama to Congress late Monday saying that the situation in Georgia ''need no longer be considered an obstacle'' to the agreement. Obama noted that Russia currently is cooperating with the U.S. in pushing for new sanctions against Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program.
The president also cited the signing April 13 of the New START treaty limiting nuclear arsenals and the creation last year of a bilateral presidential working group on nuclear energy and security as examples of Russia's ''increased cooperation.''
The revived deal would allow the countries to exchange nuclear energy technology, engage in joint commercial nuclear power ventures and collaborate on nonproliferation goals.
President George W. Bush signed and sent the nuclear power agreement to Congress in May 2008, but withdrew it in September, a month after Russia invaded its much smaller, West-leaning neighbor to the south.
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Bunch of excellent economy news:
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Parts suppliers can't meet manufacturers' demand
The manufacturing rebound has been so robust that many factories are struggling to keep up with demand because of bottlenecks in the supply chain.
That's slowing the broader economic recovery and job growth, some economists say.
Employers added 290,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said Friday, far more than expected. After slashing 2 million jobs in the recession, manufacturers have been among the most active hirers, boosting payrolls by 44,000 in April and 101,000 since December.
But the snags likely prevented factories from adding thousands more jobs, says Sung Won Sohn, economics professor at California State University's Smith School.
Manufacturers and their suppliers closed plants, cut staff and slashed inventories in the downturn to reduce costs. Now, some say it isn't so easy to ramp back up quickly. Others hesitate to hire workers or buy equipment despite the growing demand, because they fear it won't last.
"Companies are not convinced how real (the recovery) is," says Tom Murphy of RSM McGladrey, a consulting firm.
Sohn says supply-demand mismatches are pronounced, "because the financial crisis was pretty bad, and no one expected this kind of a rebound."
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Wholesale inventories and sales rise in March
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Inventories held by wholesalers rose for a third consecutive month in March while sales increased by more than double the expected amount. Rising demand is making businesses more confident about the future, a key development needed to sustain the recovery.
Wholesale inventories rose 0.4 percent in March, slightly lower than the 0.5 percent gain that had been expected, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. Sales shot up by 2.4 percent, more than double the 1.1 percent increase economists had forecast....
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Outlook for U.S. Consumer Spending Raised on Jobs
May 11 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. economic recovery is taking on a life of its own as more jobs, rising wealth and easier credit give Americans the means to keep spending, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.
Consumer purchases will grow at a 3 percent annual pace in the second quarter, according to the median estimate of 61 economists surveyed from April 29 to May 10, up from the 2.5 percent clip projected last month. The economic growth outlook for the quarter and the rest of the year also brightened....
..."Everything is cranking up a notch," said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts, who raised forecasts for spending and growth. "Once recoveries build up a head of steam, they tend to become much more self-sustaining."
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HCR: WH released regulations that will allow young adults to stay on their parents’ plans until age 26
Secretary Kathleen Sebelius:
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"....This provision was scheduled to go into effect in September. But we didn’t want any young person to needlessly go without health insurance this summer. So over the last few weeks, we’ve reached out to insurance companies and asked them to make this change immediately. And to their credit, we’ve gotten a terrific response.
So far, every major insurance company – more than 65 in total – and several major self-insured organizations have said they will provide continuous coverage for young adults this summer. That’s great news for graduating seniors and their families who will get added security in exchange for premiums that are only expected to rise by .7%.
...It’s only been seven weeks since President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, but Americans are already seeing the benefits. In addition to this new security for young adults, small business owners have been notified about a new tax credit to help them provide health coverage for their employees.
Seniors who have hit the prescription drug donut hole will begin getting $250 rebate checks next month to help them afford their medications. And we’ve been working closely with states for weeks to develop a new insurance option for uninsured Americans with preexisting conditions..."
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Kerry, Lieberman to Roll Out Comprehensive Climate and Energy Legislation
A joint statement issued by US Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman pledges to unveil their energy and climate change bill tomorrow.
Senators Kerry and Lieberman have been working on the latest draft of the legislation for some months with Senator Lindsey Graham, who recently withdrew his support from the effort because of a disagreement over the timing of immigration legislation.
The bill was scheduled to be launched last month, but was delayed by Senator Graham’s withdrawal of support.
Now, however, Kerry and Lieberman say that they have moved forward with the bill and garnering the necessary support from both Democrat and Republican sides.
"We are more encouraged that we can secure the necessary votes to pass this legislation this year in part because the last weeks have given everyone... a heightened understanding that as a nation, we can no longer wait to solve this problem which threatens our economy, our security and our environment," says the statement.
The Senators believe that they can now get the 60 votes needed to pass the legislation.
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Obama Administration Makes It Easier for Air and Rail Unions to Organize
(Reuters) - U.S. mediators authorized a landmark change in labor law on Monday effectively aimed at making it easier for unions to organize at airlines and railroads, a step expected to be challenged in court.
....The change reverses decades of practice under the Railway Labor Act and currently resonates most forcefully with airlines. Big unions representing thousands of flight attendants and certain ground workers said they plan to test the measure soon at Delta Air Lines, the world's largest carrier that is mostly non-union.
Other airlines potentially affected include JetBlue Airways and AirTran Holdings Inc.
Union leaders said the change will lead to fairer elections because it will now prohibit companies from counting as 'no' votes those not casting ballots in a representation election.
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First Lady Michelle Obama joins Domestic Policy Council Director Melody Barnes and members of the Childhood Obesity Task Force to unveil the Task Force action plan: Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity Within a Generation. May 11, 2010.
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All by AP.
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President Obama talks on the phone to Solicitor General Elena Kagan from the Treaty Room in the White House residence, Sunday night, May 9, 2010.
(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Students at Hunter College High School applaud during a televised speech by U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan.Kagan attended Hunter College High School.
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President Obama meets with Cabinet members and senior administration officials, to review BP efforts to stop the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, May 10, 2010. (Official WH photo by Pete Souza)
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First lady Michelle Obama applauds and addressing graduating seniors at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in Pine Bluff, Ark., Saturday, May 8, 2010.
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The Maglev (magnetic levitation) train carrying US Transport Secretary Ray LaHood speeds during a test run on the experimental track in Tsuru, 100km west of Tokyo, on May 11, 2010. The US transport chief took a test ride on Japan's super-fast magnetic train, a contender for President Barack Obama's multi-billion-dollar national railway project. Japan is up against China, France, Germany and other bidders as it seeks to sell its 'Shinkansen' bullet and magnetic trains for the 13-billion-USD US high-speed national rail grid.