Health care costs “are climbing much more rapidly than incomes or the growth in the overall economy,” according to a new survey from the Commonwealth Fund. “Two-thirds of the working-age population was uninsured, underinsured, reported a medical bill problem or did not get needed health care because of cost in 2007.”
“Prices for goods purchased by American businesses surged more than expected in July and have jumped by nearly 10 percent over the last year — the sharpest increase since 1981,” according to new data released by the Labor Department.
“While conceding ‘there is still much work to do’ three years after Hurricane Katrina, President Bush today will tout hope and progress in his 17th trip to the region since the storm — likely his last as president.” It will be his 13th trip to New Orleans.
“Clean energy will reduce greenhouse gases, protect the environment, create jobs and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. But the federal government needs to lead the way.” That was the message that came out of the Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas yesterday. Former President Bill Clinton spoke of the need to create “energy independent” zones, while oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens highlighted the “Pickens Plan.”
On the trail today: Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) will campaign in Martinsville and Lynchburg, VA. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) will hold a townhall meeting in Las Cruces, NM.
Over the last two days, “Taliban insurgents mounted their most serious attacks in six years of fighting in Afghanistan.” The attacks included an assault “by at least 10 suicide bombers” on a large U.S. military base and another by about 100 insurgents that killed 10 elite French paratroopers — “the deadliest single loss for foreign troops” since 2001.
Yesterday, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit threw out an EPA rule “limiting the ability of states to require monitoring of industrial emissions.” The 2-to-1 ruling “is the most recent in a series of judicial setbacks to the Bush administration’s efforts to reshape federal policies under the Clean Air Act.”
In an increased effort to allegedly “guard against terrorist threats,” the federal government has been “using its system of border checkpoints to greatly expand a database on travelers entering the country by collecting information on all U.S. citizens crossing by land, compiling data that will be stored for 15 years and may be used in criminal and intelligence investigations.”
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg “is seeking to put wind turbines on the city’s bridges and skyscrapers and in its waters as part of a wide-ranging push to develop renewable energy.” The plan, which would “drastically remake New York City’s skyline and shores,” is Bloomberg’s “boldest environmental proposal to date.”
And finally: On Monday, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was rejected for jury duty, “after having spent all day doing her civic duty at the Moultrie Courthouse on Indiana Avenue. She attentively watched ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ as she waited and later told a stranger on the way out, ‘It’s too bad we didn’t both get picked; we could have been friends!’”
What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section.
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