Obama Care: May 15, 2013

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

South Dakota Now Permits Teachers To Carry Guns In Classroom

On Friday, South Dakota become the first state to enact legislation, in the aftermath of the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, explicitly authorizing teachers and staff in K-12 schools to carry firearms. The measure “leaves it up to school districts to decide whether to allow armed teachers” and requires those who wish to carry guns to “undergo training similar to what law enforcement officers receive.”

Still, the approach, championed by the National Rifle Association as a means to protect students in mass shootings, was widely opposed by school administrators and teachers themselves, who said the legislature missed an opportunity to engage in a broader discussion about gun violence and prevention. The educators don’t expect too many districts to take advantage of the new option:

Educators interviewed earlier this week remained unconvinced the legislation is needed.
Don Kirkegaard, superintendent of the Meade School District, said he has never been in favor of the bill and would have preferred a summer study session on school safety.
“We should be looking at the big picture and that may be part of the big picture, but it’s not something I’m going to promote,” he said.
Kirkegaard said a study session would have allowed educators to explore everything from facility designs to fire safety, all of which play a key role in safety. Such a session would have brought together “all of the players” for a more comprehensive safety plan, he said.
“I just wish … everybody would have talked a little bit together before we started passing legislation,” he said. “I don’t believe there will be very many districts, at least to begin with, who are going to jump at putting sentinels in a school until they’ve done a lot of research.”

South Dakota is not alone in allowing teachers to bring guns into the classroom. Utah permits concealed carry in public schools and several school districts in Texas also allow firearms in the classroom. In the months following the Newtown tragedy, “legislatures in other states, including Georgia, New Hampshire and Kansas, are working on measures similar to South Dakota’s.”

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Fox And Friends: Polar Bears Prove Climate Change Is ‘Not Really Real’

(Photo credit: AP)

Polar bears can’t catch a break anywhere, least of all Fox News.

On Fox and Friends this morning, Fox Legal Analyst Peter Johnson Jr. was asked about last week’s ruling by the D.C. Circuit to uphold the decision to protect polar bears as a “threatened” species. He made the case that environmentalists use polar bears as a fundraising tool, and that the threat to polar bears may be imaginary:

JOHNSON: It really depends upon whether you believe the global warming is real, whether polar bears are actually threatened or not. This has become a big fundraising tool and it’s become a problem, too, for oil interests throughout the world because they have to act in a way that is very expensive in terms of making modifications.… So is global warming real or not real? I’ve heard a lot of people say it’s not really real.

Watch it:

Global warming is undoubtedly real. In fact, the real climate debate has shifted to how much climate scientists have actually underestimated global warming impacts.

With regard to polar bears, the court said that the Fish and Wildlife Service listed the polar bear correctly as “threatened”:

“The Listing Rule rests on a three-part thesis: the polar bear is dependent upon sea ice for its survival; sea ice is declining; and climatic changes have and will continue to dramatically reduce the extent and quality of Arctic sea ice to a degree sufficiently grave to jeopardize polar bear populations…. No part of this thesis is disputed and we find that FWS’s conclusion – that the polar bear is threatened within the meaning of the ESA – is reasonable and adequately supported by the record.” [Page 14]

It went on to say that 13 out of 14 peer reviewers found the rule generally “represented a thorough, clear, and balanced review of the best scientific information available from both published and unpublished sources of the current status of polar bears.”

Polar bears depend on sea ice for feeding. Arctic sea ice volume has collapsed. The question on threats to polar bears is not over whether general population estimates are stable. (Where there is sufficient data, many more subpopulations are decreasing than are increasing.) If Fox and Friends wants to get to the root of the issue, they should host a discussion about whether polar bears should be classified as “threatened” or “endangered.”

Polar bear ranges will only get more crowded by other animals. Under an incorrect-yet-ironic headline (“Study: Global Warming Helps Polar Bears,”) Fox News reported in January that many mammal species will expand their ranges northward as the Arctic warms. As the sea ice melts, the polar bears will surely welcome their new grizzly bear overlords from the south.

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Statement by the President on International Women’s Day

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For Immediate Release March 08, 2013 Statement by the President on International Women’s Day

On International Women’s Day we celebrate the many milestones on the road to gender equality, and recommit ourselves to fight for the rights and opportunities of women and girls around the world.

Empowering women isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s the smart thing to do. When women succeed, nations are more safe, more secure, and more prosperous. Over the last year, we’ve seen women and girls inspiring communities and entire countries to stand up for freedom and justice, and I’m proud of my Administration’s efforts to promote gender equality worldwide.

As a nation, we’ve launched new efforts to promote women’s economic empowerment and political participation, to prevent and respond to gender-based violence, and to strengthen our commitment to helping more women participate in peacebuilding and conflict resolution. We are promoting food security initiatives that recognize the rights and needs of women farmers, and ensuring that women and girls are at the center of global health programs. And we will continue to focus on empowering women and girls at home and abroad.

We’ve also worked with a wide range of partners – from the United Nations and civil society groups to the private sector – to advance this important agenda. Because when it comes to creating a world in which our sons and daughters can reach their potential, we each have a role to play. And we can make even more progress together.

Blog posts on this issue March 09, 2013 5:45 AM ESTWeekly Address: End the Sequester to Keep Growing the Economy

In his weekly address, President Obama says that businesses have created jobs every month for three years straight – nearly 6.4 million altogether, and have added 246,000 new jobs in February. We must keep this momentum going, and that’s why the President recently met with Republican leaders to discuss how we can replace the harmful, arbitrary budget cuts, called the “sequester,” with balanced deficit reduction.

March 08, 2013 6:33 PM ESTFirst Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry Present International Women of Courage Awards

Mrs. Obama and Sec. Kerry celebrate International Women's Day by honoring nine extraordinary women.

March 08, 2013 5:55 PM ESTEmpowering All Women to Reach Their Full Potential

President Obama has made promoting gender equality and advancing the status of women and girls central to our foreign policy and national security strategy, including by leading by example at home.

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Statement from the President on the Confirmation of John Brennan as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency

Statement from the President on the Confirmation of John Brennan as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency | The White House Skip to main content | Skip to footer site map The White House. President Barack Obama Get Email Updates Contact Us Go to homepage. The White House Blog Photos & Videos Photo Galleries Video Performances Live Streams Podcasts 2012: A Year in Photos

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Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release March 07, 2013 Statement from the President on the Confirmation of John Brennan as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency

With the bipartisan confirmation of John Brennan as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Senate has recognized in John the qualities I value so much—his determination to keep America safe, his commitment to working with Congress, his ability to build relationships with foreign partners, and his fidelity to the values that define us as a nation.

With John’s 25 years of experience at the Agency, our extraordinary men and women of the CIA will be led by one of their own. I am especially appreciative to Michael Morell for being such an outstanding Acting Director and for agreeing to continue his service as Deputy Director.

Timely, accurate intelligence is absolutely critical to disrupting terrorist attacks, dismantling al Qaeda and its affiliates, and meeting the broad array of security challenges that we face as a nation. John’s leadership, and our dedicated intelligence professionals, will be essential in these efforts. I am deeply grateful to John and his family for their continued service to our nation.

Blog posts on this issue March 09, 2013 5:45 AM ESTWeekly Address: End the Sequester to Keep Growing the Economy

March 08, 2013 6:33 PM ESTFirst Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry Present International Women of Courage Awards

Mrs. Obama and Sec. Kerry celebrate International Women's Day by honoring nine extraordinary women.

March 08, 2013 5:55 PM ESTEmpowering All Women to Reach Their Full Potential

President Obama has made promoting gender equality and advancing the status of women and girls central to our foreign policy and national security strategy, including by leading by example at home.

En español Accessibility Copyright Information Privacy Policy Contact USA.gov Developers Apply for a Job

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UPDATE 2-U.S. drugmaker admits misbranding AIDS appetite medicine

* $45 mln payout includes criminal, civil penalties

* Par accused of marketing drug for off-label use

* TPG Capital bought Par for $1.9 bln in September

(Adds comments, background, byline)

By Linda Federico O'Murchu and Jonathan Stempel

March 5 (Reuters) - Par Pharmaceutical Cos, a generic drugmaker, has pleaded guilty to improperly marketing a medication intended to address appetite loss in AIDS patients, and agreed to pay $45 million to resolve a federal criminal probe and related civil litigation.

The company pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge for misbranding the drug Megace ES for uses not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, at a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo in Newark, New Jersey.

Private equity firm TPG Capital LP bought Par for $1.9 billion in September.

Prosecutors said Megace ES was meant to treat anorexia and other weight loss in AIDS patients, but that Par deliberately promoted it for off-label uses, such as for elderly nursing home residents who were losing weight.

Tuesday's settlement includes an $18 million fine, a $4.5 million criminal forfeiture, and $22.5 million to resolve civil litigation against the Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based company.

It also resolves three whistle-blower lawsuits brought under the federal False Claims Act, which lets private parties sue on behalf of the United States and share in the government's recoveries.

Par also agreed to enter a five-year "corporate integrity agreement" with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This agreement requires the company to improve oversight, and permits it to take back bonuses from executives who engage in significant misconduct.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced the settlement and the guilty plea, which it said was entered by Par Chief Executive Paul Campanelli on the company's behalf.

Par and its lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

At a press conference, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman in New Jersey said he was unaware of patients who may have been harmed by the improper off-label use of Megace ES, but that this did not excuse Par's marketing efforts.

"We depend on players to play by the rules. When companies take steps to get around that process, the American people lose faith," he said.

Par's improper marketing "made them a lot of money that they wouldn't have made otherwise," Fishman added.

ROLEXES AND MEXICO TRIPS

Par pleaded guilty to a charge of introducing a misbranded drug into interstate commerce.

The alleged improper marketing took place between July 2005 and 2009, according to a court filing describing the government case over Megace ES, whose chemical name is megestrol acetate.

Sales representatives and management at Par "knew that they called on very few, if any, facilities with AIDS patients and very few practitioners that treated AIDS patients," the court filing said.

Par also held contests to spur Megace ES sales, awarding prizes such as Rolex watches and trips to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico to successful sales representatives, the filing said.

Last September, the company said it had set aside $45 million for a possible settlement over Megace ES.

The case is U.S. v. Par Pharmaceutical Cos, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey.

(Reporting by Linda Federico O'Murchu in Newark, New Jersey; and Terry Baynes and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe, John Wallace and Phil Berlowitz)

((jon.stempel@thomsonreuters.com)(646)(223-6317)(Reuters

Messaging: jon.stempel.reuters.com@thomsonreuters.net))

Keywords: PARPHARMACEUTICAL SETTLEMENT/

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MARKET PULSE-Ciena, PetSmart, Meredith, Horizon Pharma, Fidelity National

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March 7 (Reuters) - Some U.S. stocks to watch on Thursday: FUTURES EDGE UP, JOBLESS CLAIMS ON TAP

U.S. stock index futures rose slightly, ahead of data on the jobs market due later in the morning, with investors poised to push the rally to new highs. Futures for the S&P 500 were up 2 points, the Dow Jones up 38 points and the Nasdaq 100 up 4 points.

** DELL INC , Wednesday close $14.32, up 0.49 pct premarket

Dell shareholder Carl Icahn proposed the No. 3 personal computer maker pay out $15.7 billion in a special dividend, becoming the second major investor to oppose a plan by founder Michael Dell to take the company private.

** CIENA CORP , Wednesday close $14.94, up 12 pct premarket

The network equipment maker reported a smaller quarterly loss, helped by a 9 percent rise in revenue.

** PETSMART INC , Wednesday close $66.55, down 7 pct premarket

At least two brokerages cut their price targets on the pet products retailer's stock after the company forecast a full-year profit that missed Wall Street estimates and gave a weak same-store sales outlook.

"Given housing trends and pet adoption rates, softer comps (comparable sales) is a surprise, particularly since we would not expect tax refund delays to affect this type of business," Jefferies & Co said in a note. The brokerage cut its price target on the company's stock to $66 from $71.

Morgan Stanley, which cut its price target on the stock to $77 from $81, said online competition from sites such as wag.com pose a threat to PetSmart.

** BOEING CO , Wednesday close $79.08

U.S. safety regulators are poised to approve within days a plan to allow Boeing to begin flight tests of the 787 Dreamliner with a fix for its volatile batteries, a critical step towards returning the grounded aircraft to service, two sources familiar with the matter said.

** COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP , Wednesday close $102.56 ** LIMITED BRANDS , Wednesday close $45.05

Victoria's Secret parent Limited Brands and Costco reported better-than-expected sales for February, when consumer confidence about an improving job market offset the impact of higher taxes.

** EXXON MOBIL CORP , Wednesday close $89.56

Exxon has launched an auction to sell up to $2 billion worth of shares in a Hong Kong power venture after a year-long effort to offload its holding to its partner yielded no result, sources familiar with the matter said.

** BLACKSTONE GROUP LP , Wednesday close $18.93

Packaged foods maker Pinnacle Foods Inc, backed by private equity firm Blackstone, raised the proposed size of its initial public offering of common stock to as much as $632.5 million.

In another development, Blackstone and TPG Capital have placed separate final bids for Australia's largest poultry producer, Inghams Chicken, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

** TIME WARNER INC , Wednesday close $55.46

** MEREDITH CORP , Wednesday close $40.30, down 7 pct premarket

Time Warner will soon be without the magazine unit that provided the foundation for the company and the first part of its name. Time Inc, the division that publishes titles like Time, Fortune and People, will be spun off into a separate company, Time Warner said late Wednesday, ending weeks of merger negotiations with Meredith.

** FACEBOOK INC , Wednesday close $27.45

Facebook is likely to unveil a new look for its popular 'newsfeed,' which displays an ever-changing stream of the photos, videos and comments uploaded from a user's network of friends. It is the latest move by the Web company to revamp key elements of its one-billion-member social network.

In another development, the company appointed a former Genentech executive to its board of directors on Wednesday, the social networking company's latest move to expand its boardroom following its initial public offering last May.

** HORIZON PHARMA INC , Wednesday close $2.05, up 12 pct premarket

The specialty pharmaceutical company said health regulators in the UK gave marketing approval to its arthritis drug, Duexis.

Horizon also said it was searching for one or more partners to market the treatment in Europe.

** JOHNSON CONTROLS INC , Wednesday close $32.63

Johnson Controls is exploring a potential sale of its automotive electronics business, but has no "current intention" to sell its automotive interiors unit, the company said on Wednesday.

** TIFFANY & CO , Wednesday close $70.06

Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, the largest shareholder of Tiffany & Co, further raised its stake in the U.S. luxury jeweler to 11.27 percent, according to a regulatory filing.

** SUNTECH POWER HOLDINGS CO LTD , Wednesday close $1.17

The solar panel maker said it had settled disputes over a partner's claim that it held German bonds as collateral for its investment in a solar development fund.

** SOLARCITY CORP , Wednesday close $19.27, down 8.3 pct premarket

SolarCity on Wednesday posted a quarterly loss that was steeper than Wall Street expected while revenue missed forecasts.

** JAMES RIVER COAL CO , Wednesday close $2.55

James River Coal said it suspended production at five underground mines and reduced output at three surface mines in Central Appalachia, cutting production capacity by 3 million tons.

** ELI LILLY AND CO , Wednesday close $55.08

Eli Lilly will maintain its dividend despite the erosion of its earnings by generic copies of blockbuster drugs and should be well placed by the end of 2013 to assess the potential of its future medicines, its chief executive said.

** J.C. PENNEY CO INC , Wednesday close $14.43

Two more analysts downgraded ratings on J.C. Penney's stock amid growing uncertainty around the department store chain's turnaround, leaving its shares with only one "buy" rating out of 20 Wall Street investors covering the retailer.

** LOCKHEED MARTIN CORP , Wednesday close $88.36 ** UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORP , Wednesday close $91.07

The head of Pratt & Whitney's military engine business said on Wednesday that driving down the cost of the F-35 fighter jet was "burned in our brain," but cuts sparked by U.S. budget woes could slow the effort.

** DRYSHIPS INC , Wednesday close $1.98, down 7 pct premarket

DryShips reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss as voyage revenue in its drybulk carriers business fell.

** CME GROUP INC , Wednesday close $62.01

CME Group would be open to making a large acquisition should the right target emerge, a top executive said on Wednesday in the latest sign that the company may reverse its longstanding public indifference to mergers and acquisitions.

** HECLA MINING CO , Wednesday close $4.09 ** AURIZON MINES LTD , Wednesday close $4.17 ** ALAMOS GOLD INC , Wednesday close $13.57

U.S. silver miner Hecla Mining said it was confident that its deal with Aurizon Mines would go through, a day after rival bidder Alamos Gold Inc said it was close to blocking Hecla's bid.

** SMITHFIELD FOODS , Wednesday close $22.30, up 5 pct premarket

The largest U.S. hog producer reported third-quarter results that beat Wall Street estimates, helped by higher sales of packaged meat products such as Smithfield bacon and Eckrich and Armour sausages.

** NAVISTAR INTERNATIONAL CORP , Wednesday close $24.96

The truck maker appointed Chief Operating Officer Troy Clarke as its chief executive, effective April 15, replacing interim CEO Lewis Campbell.

** ECOMMERCE CHINA DANG DANG INC , Wednesday close $4.18

The online retailer posted a 31 percent rise in fourth-quarter revenue, helped by strong sales during the holiday season.

** KROGER CO , Wednesday close $29.36

Quarterly results are expected from Kroger, the biggest U.S. supermarket operator. U.S. consumers have been cutting back on spending at restaurants due to the payroll tax hike, rising gas prices and delayed federal tax refunds. Some data suggests that they may have shifted some of that spending to grocery stores like those run by Kroger.

** CANADIAN NATURAL RESOURCES , Wednesday close $30.19

Canada's No.1 independent oil producer reported a 58 percent fall in fourth-quarter profit after booking a foreign exchange-related loss but the company raised its quarterly dividend.

** MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL , Wednesday close $12.21

Asian Coast Development (Canada) Ltd (ACDL), which is developing Vietnam's first large-scale integrated resort, said on Thursday its partner, MGM Resorts, will no longer manage the project, the latest setback to the development.

** FIDELITY NATIONAL INFORMATION SERVICES INC , Wednesday close $38.41, down 3 pct premarket

The payment processor said Warburg Pincus was selling 19.3 million shares, dissolving the hedge funds stake in the company. Pincus owned about 7 percent of the company, as of Feb. 25, according to Thomson Reuters Data.

** ZUMIEZ INC Wednesday close $23.10, down 3 pct premarket

The surfing and snowboarding merchandise retailer reported a 9 percent fall in February same-store sales, wider than analysts expectations of a 2 percent decline, hurt by lesser number of transactions.

(Compiled by Chandni Doulatramani in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel)

((chandni.doulatramani@thomsonreuters.com)(within U.S. +1 646 223 8780)(outside U.S. +91 80 4135 5800)(Reuters Messaging: Reuters messaging: chandni.doulatramani.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

Keywords: MARKETS USA STOCKS/PULSE

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The Difficult Policy Choices of ObamaCare's Medicaid Expansion

credit: Gage Skidmore / Foter.com / CC BY-SAFlorida Governor Rick Scott’s decision to participate in ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion reveals the tough politics of that choice: Scott is not only a Republican but a vocal critic of the health law who spent millions of his own money opposing its passage and vowed that his state never participate in any part of it. Yet last month, after facing pressure from hospital groups and others, he decided to go ahead with an expansion of Medicaid under the law anyway. But now he’s getting pushback on that decision: committees in both houses of the Florida legislature have either delayed or rejected his Medicaid proposal.

But it’s more than tough politics. It’s also tough policy. A new paper from Charles Blahous, one of Medicare and Medicaid’s public trustees and a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center, sheds light on some of the difficult choices that states face in deciding whether or not to expand Medicaid.

Backers of the law have argued that the decision to expand Medicaid should be a no-brainer: The federal government, after all, is paying for 100 percent of the expansion through 2016, and then declining 90 percent by 2020. It’s free money, the argument goes. Why would states turn it down?

For one thing, expanding Medicaid isn’t cost free to states—even during the initial years when the federal government is paying for 100 percent of the cost of the coverage expansion. One reason is what’s known as the “woodwork effect”: Yes, the federal government will initially pay 100 percent of the cost of covering the newly eligible. But there are millions of Americans who were already eligible for Medicaid programs before ObamaCare passed—and yet weren’t enrolled. Thanks to the mandate and the enrollment push, many of those people will become covered following the expansion. And states will have to cover the tab for all of the previously eligible.

More broadly, even if the cost of participating in the expansion is low, it has to be considered in the context of the substantial increase in Medicaid spending that’s projected over the next few years—and the already high share of state budgets the program accounts for. As Blahous points out, the cost of Medicaid is equal to an average of about 24 percent of state budgets, and the bipartisan State Budget Crisis Task Force has warned that it is already “crowding out other needs.”

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, meanwhile, currently expects the state portion of the cost of Medicaid to grow by 158 percent over the next decade, should all states opt in to the expansion.

Credit: Charles Blahous

The federal government will be spending a lot more too. Here’s what that looks like:

Credit: Charles Blahous

The cost of the expansion also has to be considered in the context of the overall federal financial trajectory, which, needless to say, isn’t good. “Given the current state of federal finances,” Blahous argues, “it is unrealistic to assume that the federal government will make all future Medicaid payments now scheduled under law.” Shifting more costs to the states in the future, he says, is “virtually assured.”

Credit: WhiteHouse.govYou can already see this on the horizon. The Obama administration has implicitly admitted that the program’s costs are going to have to be reduced somehow: For the last few years, it’s been fighting a legal battle to ensure that states have an absolute right to cut the program’s reimbursement rates as low as they wish. The Obama administration’s position is that “there is no general mandate under Medicaid to reimburse providers for all or substantially all of their costs.” This is in the health program that notoriously pays the lowest reimbursement rates in the nation.

For states, it’s the medium to long-term fiscal picture that presents the biggest worry. The long-term politics of federal budgeting make short-term state policy choices rather dicey: Who knows what Congress will do as the cost of government health programs rise and the already bad budget situation grows worse? Cost shifting to states may not be inevitable, but it's quite likely, which means that even if expanding Medicaid is essentially free now, it almost certainly won’t be in the future.

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GOP: Democrats' budget will ‘crush American workers’

A senior Republican launched a preemptive political strike Saturday against the budget plan that Senate Democrats will offer next week, alleging it won’t address the national debt or help workers.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, used the GOP’s weekly address to make his party’s case against the 10-year plan that Democrats hope to steer through the committee.

He said that debt is slowing the economy and depressing wages, and that balancing the budget and ending the deficit – which Sessions calls “the great challenge of our time” – can be achieved by holding annual spending growth to 3.4 percent annually.

“But I fear the Democrat proposal will fail this defining test and will never achieve balance. I fear it will crush American workers and our economy with trillions in new taxes, spending and debt,” Sessions said.

“I fear Chairman Murray will follow the President’s lead: raising taxes to enrich the bureaucracy at the expense of the people,” he said, referring to Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray (D-Wash.).

The blueprint to be unveiled Wednesday is the first formal budget plan that Senate Democrats have tried to move through the chamber in several years.

Sessions's remarks are part of intense political positioning on fiscal policy by both parties at a time when Republicans are resisting White House calls for new tax revenues to be included in any deal on spending and entitlements.

The coming week will offer contrasting visions on Capitol Hill because House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who was the GOP’s vice presidential candidate, will unveil the House Republicans’ budget plan.

“Government has never been bigger or more out of control. They say there is no problem with waste, fraud, and abuse; they say the problem is you; they say you are not sending them enough money; they say they have wisely spent every penny. So, you must just send them more. And, if you don’t? Well, they won’t stop spending, they’ll just borrow more,” Sessions said.

“These destructive policies cannot continue. We are at the breaking point,” he said.

Sessions said Republican plans will create jobs and boost pay without adding to the debt.

His address touts an array of plans such as ensuring welfare offices become “employment and job training” offices; making more areas available for oil-and-gas drilling; ending “burdensome” regulations; enforcing an immigration policy that “protects legal U.S. workers from unlawful competition,” and several others.

Sessions devotes much of the speech to alleging that Democratic policies are failing the poor and that federal anti-poverty programs are ineffective, alleging that “Compassion demands that we change.”

“President Obama speaks of his deep concern for struggling Americans, yet his plans are focused on growing government – not the economy. He has no effective plan to create better jobs, more hiring or rising wages."

The comments arrive amid a larger effort by Republicans, following their failed 2012 White House campaign and loss of seats in Congress, to make the case that their policies as helpful to struggling workers.

Republicans plan to move legislation through the House next week called the “Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills (SKILLS) Act,” which would streamline and reorient nearly three-dozen federal job training programs in a way that supporters say will better connect workers to job openings.

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Wednesday, May 15, 2013

South Dakota Now Permits Teachers To Carry Guns In Classroom

Fox And Friends: Polar Bears Prove Climate Change Is ‘Not Really Real’

Statement by the President on International Women’s Day

Statement from the President on the Confirmation of John Brennan as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency

UPDATE 2-U.S. drugmaker admits misbranding AIDS appetite medicine

MARKET PULSE-Ciena, PetSmart, Meredith, Horizon Pharma, Fidelity National

The Difficult Policy Choices of ObamaCare's Medicaid Expansion

GOP: Democrats' budget will ‘crush American workers’

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