Congress and the President

Let’s see what has been happening with Congress and the President lately.

On October 28, 2011 it was reported that Medicare premiums are to rise less than expected for next year. And, Congress failed to pass the Jobs Act portion to improve infrastructure along with the portion to hire teachers, firefighters, and law enforcement.

Too often a shortage of necessary drugs and/or antibiotics has been reported. Months ago there were reports saying that some of the chemicals for Leukemia and cancer medicine come from other countries (putting us in their hands) and some manufacturers couldn’t keep up with demand, had production problems or chose not to make generic drugs that are less profitable. There is a shortage of 209 critical drugs on the FDA list; the number has tripled in the last 5 years. This shortage is forcing some hospitals to buy their drugs from profiteers charging 650% over the normal price and hire a full time pharmacist solely to track (maintain a daily inventory of) the drugs; this takes away from the patients. The shortage is accredited with 15 deaths. The medical community thought the government should stockpile critical drugs and give incentives to manufacturers; I don’t think either of these options is good. I think slightly raising the price of the generics and low or no cost loans to resolve production problems would be better. Congress proposed a requirement for drug companies to notify the medical community if they foresee a problem/shortage. According to ABC News, at least this would give the medical community a heads up and allow them to purchase more drugs from oversees and see if they’re safe prior to widespread use. On October 31^st, the President announced he was signing an Executive Order directing the FDA to expand on how it reports drug shortages, to speed up drug reviews and to work closely with the Justice Department to monitor price gouging in an effort to help reduce and prevent drug shortages.

On November 1^st, Good Morning America reported that the Congressional ‘Super Committee’ is striking out in its efforts to come up with budget savings by November 23^rd. On November 2^nd, it was announced that a group of Senators will unveil a proposal to overhaul the USPS; a date for them to reveal their proposal was not given.

On November 4^th, the Senate rejected the $60 billion Jobs Act portion for construction and this lack of progress shows on November 7^th as 62% of Americans disapproved of the President’s handling of the economy. On November 12^th, the President is hosting an economic summit in Hawaii with Asia-Pacific leaders; on November 13^th, he announces a new Pacific Free Trade Agreement and Canada and Mexico are interested in joining.

On November 10^th, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics - 12.1% of the military is unemployed (national average 9%) and 20,000 are homeless. A program, Joining Forces, sponsored by First Lady Michelle Obama and the Vice President’s wife, Dr. Jill Biden, has gotten American corporations to pledge to hire 100,000 veterans by 2014. On November 11^th, the Senate passes a portion of the Jobs Act bill that gives companies tax credits for hiring veterans. This is the only portion of the Jobs Act that has made progress.

It was reported on November 11^th, that a Senate Committee repealed the law defining marriage as between a man and a woman. And on November 15^th, it was reported that the House and Senate negotiators agreed on cuts to NASA and community development programs; just as NASA is looking for its next astronaut class.

On November 18^th, it was reported that the President is encouraged by a democratic reform movement by Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, will be the first US Secretary to visit the country in 50 years. Congress again approved a bill to avert a government shutdown – nice of them to do it quietly this time but I don’t like this scare every couple of months.

I think the President has been doing some hustling to improve the economy. Congress seems to be stopping improvements and/or not taking positive steps to pass a bill for him to sign. On November 1, 2011, I heard Tom Brokaw say that baby boomers promised a change and then decided they like all the toys. We’re on a different playing field now and we haven’t learned the lessons of other countries; we need to compromise.