July 28, 2009

Healthcare reform hopes:

Healthcare reform efforts dominate congressional activity ahead of the scheduled beginning of the monthlong summer break for Congress.

U.S. President Barack Obama heads to an AARP-sponsored town-hall meeting while Blue Dog Democrats in the House of Representatives try to win concessions to make the 1,000-page bill less expensive. There is also, The New York Times reports, a group of six senators who may hold the best chance for reform to pass.

The senators -- three Democrats and three Republicans -- are considering several changes to the House measure, the Times said, including the Obama-supported proposal of a government-run insurance scheme to compete with private insurers.

They are also working to overcome the large hurdle that reform's price tag of at least $1 trillion over 10 years by cutting into some costs and raising possible revenues, perhaps by putting a tax on higher-end insurance benefits.

Congress Daily said one revenue generator under consideration is a 10 percent excise tax on cosmetic surgery.

House leaders said they are hoping to vote on reform legislation before Congress breaks. There have been threats that the summer recess might be delayed to achieve that goal.

Return of Michal Vick:

Former quarterback Michael Vick, having served his time for his guilty plea on dogfighting charges, has been conditionally reinstated by the NFL.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who suspended Vick in August 2007, Monday said Vick could join an NFL team, take part in practices and team's two final preseason games. He would be eligible to play in a regular-season game the sixth week of the season.

It is unclear how many teams would be interested in signing Vick, who has played his entire career for the Atlanta Falcons. That team released him in June. Vick is a three-time Pro Bowl selection.

Vick, 29, pleaded guilty in 2007 to taking part in a dogfighting ring that operated on property he owned in Virginia. Vick and three other men were accused of training dogs to fight and killing, sometimes by drowning or hanging, those that didn't meet their expectations. He served 20 months in federal prison and three months of home confinement in Virginia.

Texting while driving:

A sophisticated study indicates that texting while driving substantially increases the chance of having an accident.

The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute said it carried out a study involving the placement of cameras in vehicles to record drivers' actions, especially how long the drivers' eyes were kept from the road.

A driver using a cell phone is 1.3 times as likely to be involved in an accident as an "undistracted" driver. However, a driver involved in texting is 23.2 times as likely to be in a crash, the VTTI study concluded.

First Sotomayor vote:

The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a vote for Tuesday on whether to suggest Sonia Sotomayor be confirmed as a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Only one Republican on the committee is expected to go along with the Democratic majority in giving that approval. The vote by the entire Senate, expected before the congressional summer recess begins Aug. 7, is expected to be just as partisan but, with the strong Democrat majority in the Senate, isn't considered an obstacle to Sotomayor joining the court.

Republicans' stated concerns about the nominee involve, as Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., put it in an op-ed item in USA Today, Sotomayor's lack of "deep-rooted convictions necessary to resist the siren call of judicial activism."

Strategic and Economic Dialogue:

Tuesday marks the second day of high-level talks between the United States and China.

U.S. President Barack Obama addressed the meeting Monday and said Sino-U.S. relations would "shape the 21st century." Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo said China and the United States were "in the same big boat that has been hit by fierce wind and huge waves, with our interests interconnected, sharing weal and woe."

The United States is seeking Chinese help regarding nuclear issues in North Korea and Iran while trying to reassure the Chinese leadership that their huge investments in U.S. debt are safe.

The Financial Times cited an unnamed U.S. official as saying China brought up its desire to "reform the international monetary system" -- i.e., taking some of the weighty power from the U.S. dollar -- at later closed-door meetings.

Beer call:

U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday will be the host for a discussion on race and police. The menu calls for beer.

Obama said last week he invited Harvard Professor Henry Gates and Cambridge, Mass., police Sgt. James Crowley. Gates was arrested by Crowley after a report of an attempted break-in at Gates' home. Gates had trouble opening his front door and a neighbor called police.

Crowley determined Gates was in his own home but said he arrested the professor when Gates became "uncooperative." Gates said the arrest was race-based. Obama entered the fray last week at a news conference when he said Cambridge police acted "stupidly." He subsequently backed off from that characterization and said the situation should be a "teaching moment."

So on Thursday, the president, professor and police officer will meet at the White House to discuss the issue over a beer.