Early yesterday, it was reported that a “coalition of industry groups [was] mounting an aggressive lobbying campaign” to persuade conservatives on the House Homeland Security Committee “to oppose an amendment that would require all cargo to be scanned at foreign ports before being shipped to the United States.” By yesterday afternoon, conservatives had fallen in line and announced their opposition to 100 percent screening.
European Parliament investigators report that the CIA has conducted more than 1,000 undeclared flights over European territory since 2001 — a clear violation of an international treaty. Media reports have claimed that the CIA has used international flights to transport terror suspects.
The AFL-CIO’s annual “Death On The Job” report shows that the number who died from workplace injuries increased for the first time in 10 years last year.
Days before Cover the Uninsured Week begins, a new report from the Commonwealth Fund finds that our broken health care system “is increasingly becoming an all-American problem.” According to the report, “the percentage of working-age Americans with moderate to middle incomes who lacked health insurance for at least part of the year rose to 41 percent in 2005, a dramatic increase from the 28 percent in 2001 without coverage.”
President Bush’s latest efforts to lower gas prices “at best are likely to shave a few cents per gallon off the cost of gasoline,” administration officials admit. Said one oil consultant, Bush’s proposals are “more or less like prescribing aspirin to take care of prostate cancer.” Read more
