Politicians slow to react as poverty rates grow

As we all know, the unemployment rate is quite high in the US; the article Politicians slow to react as poverty rates grow quotes Deborah Weinstein in saying that it's a "national emergency." It is implied in this article that Barack Obama's plan to give the middle class tax cuts to boost the economy is just a way of avoiding the problems of the lower class. There have been statements made by both the democrats and republicans but no definitive actions taken yet and waiting is the worst thing that can possibly be done at this time. The author sadly believes that part of the reasoning behind this is that the poor are not much of a political constituency. The political system is flawed in the sense that the politicians try to reach the people who affect them. Thus leaving the poor low on the totem pole of government agendas at the worst possible time with millions below the poverty line.

-Sam Livingston

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10262/1088637-84.stm

Senate Bill on Food Safety Is Stalled

It is no secret that food is big business, but this week on the senate floor a bill was pushed to the senate floor after a woman recently died from eating contaminated peanut butter. This isn't the first time we have heard about this. Within recent memory there have been problems within the food industry where it lead to the death of people.

“This is a historic opportunity,” Dr. Hamburg said. “This legislation would provide F.D.A. with important resources and authorities that we really need to be able to do our important job.” Even though this looks good on paper, is this the real issue we need to tackle? There is more of an underlying issue here. The people appointed to monitor the food industry usually have some sort of past connections with the food industry. Regardless there needs to be more man power on the ground testing the sources of our food.

The reason this bill is stalling right now is due to a tight senate schedule and an unusual strong cross party coalition for pro small farmers. With a hazy objection to weather or not the bill would seek to outlaw small organic farms.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/health/policy/19food.html?ref=us

Is Obama Soft on Environmental Crime?

A permanent cement plug sealed BP's well nearly 2.5 miles below the sea floor in the Gulf, five agonizing months after an explosion sank a drilling rig and led to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. We have all heard about the BP oil spill on April 20 in the Gulf of Mexico that leaked 206 million gallons of oil and killed 11 workers; however has anyone heard of what is being done to clean up all the damage. There has been much speculation as to what the proper procedure Obama should take in order to do the job and punish the ones responsible. Right now the EPA is under staffed by nearly 40 Investigators for the Criminal Investigation Division (CID). They are the ones responsible for investigating the most serious environmental crimes and corporate pollution offenses. The U.S. Pollution Prosecution Act of 1990 requires a minimum of 200 CID agents, right now there are only 140. If Obama wants to take the right step at fixing this problem, the CID needs “leadership that helps rather than hinders its special agents in making busts that stick.”

Rebecca Jania

http://environment.about.com/b/2010/09/13/is-obama-soft-on-environmental-crime.htm

The political risks of supporting gay rights

It can be seen historically that political leaders who propose changes that are radical at the time face opposition form not only the general public but also other politicians. The article refers to passing the civil rights act to prove this point. Proponents of civil rights influenced the political policy of the day through protest and they eventually were able to get their issue on the agenda. Today gay rights activists hope to do the same thing. The gay rights movement has gotten more median attention in the past years; because of this the general public is more aware of the issue at hand. Advocates for gay marriage are fighting for what they feel is a civil right that has been denied to them and both sides are arguing on moral grounds.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-klarman-gay-marriage-20100919,0,7513660.story

Kate White

U.S. Says BP Well Is Finally ‘Dead’

According to Henry Fountain of the NY TImes "The U.S. government declared BP’s Macondo oil well dead on Sunday, nearly five months after the environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico began."After remaining the center of everyone's negative attention for quite a while now BP has finally succeeded in killing their damaging oil well. But is this enough? This disaster has just about taken over the public agenda, will the people be forgiving in regards to BP? In my opinion they should be, but to an extent. As long as BP continues to give back outside of just cleaning the oil, and show that they sincerely care, the people should progressively allow their bad reputation to be cleared. But it is definitely a question as to how soon that should be. BP has done their damage have done surprisingly well at cleaning it up, but who knows if that will be enough.

-Jordan Goodman

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/20/us/20well.html?_r=1&hp

Employers Shifting Healthcare Costs to Workers, Survey Shows

The healthcare policy issue continues to be a public problem as the high level of unemployment and the weak economy shifts health care costs to employees. The premiums that employees pay rose and the amount that employers contribute fell. This is a public problem because workers with health benefits are paying more than ever. They are paying 3% more of the premium for family coverage and 2% more for single coverage. To survive this increase, many employers are concluding that one way to make it through this recession and to encourage their employees to stay with them was to pass their health premium increases to their employees this year. The legislation believes that the only thing to do to control costs right now is to shift these costs to people.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/02/AR2010090202265.html

-Kilee Imlay

New Drugs Stir Debate on Basic Rules of Clinical Trials

This article is based on a new drug called PLX4032. It is a new drug that is used to treat melanoma. The article discusses the fact how this new drug is so much more efficient based on trials than the older methods of treating this cancer. However, when doing clinical trials prior to passing the FDA's approval you have to run tests. The tests include patients recieving PLX4032 and a control group recieving the older treatments. The articles argument is why should a drug that makes such a dramatic difference to extend the life of a patient who is terminally ill be withheld from a patient. Doctors say that these sort of drugs need to be analyzed a different way because of the "new waves of drugs." As these drugs continue to be produced, policies must be discussed to get life saving, or life extending drugs out to the public faster.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/health/research/19trial.html?src=un&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fjson8.nytimes.com%2Fpages%2Fnational%2Findex.jsonp