On NBC's Meet the Press, Boehner Discusses Health Care, Dems' Push for Bigger Government, War in Afghanistan

In an appearance this morning on NBC’s Meet the Press, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) discussed health care, the War in Afghanistan, and the dramatic expansion of the size of government under the current Administration. Leader Boehner highlighted House Republicans’ better solutions on health care – including allowing the American people to buy insurance across state lines and enacting medical liability reform – and called on the President to scrap his costly government takeover of health care and hit the “reset” button so Republicans and Democrats can work together on a bipartisan bill that reduces health care costs, expands coverage, and doesn’t break the bank. Following are highlights of Boehner’s appearance and video of the interview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-wppn6_hiQ&feature=player_profilepage

BOEHNER ON DEMOCRATS’ GOVERNMENT TAKEOVER OF HEALTH CARE AND GOP BETTER SOLUTIONS:

“We’ve outlined a number of ideas to make the current system better. Why not allow small employers to group together through national associations so they can buy health insurance for their employees like big companies and unions can today? Why not allow the American people to buy health care plans across state lines? Why not get serious about medical malpractice reform and more importantly the defensive medicine that doctors practice because we haven't reformed our tort system? There are ideas I outlined some of these ideas in a letter to the President back in may, asked to sit down with him and his Administration, and we got a nice polite letter back that says thank you for your ideas, we'll see you at the end. I’ve not been to the White House since late April, early may. There’s been no bipartisan conversation on Capitol Hill about health care, at some point when these big-government plans fail, and they will, the congress will not pass this, it's really time for the President to hit the reset button and stop all of this and sit down and start over in a bipartisan way to build a plan that Americans will support.”

BOEHNER ON RADICAL GROWTH IN SIZE AND SCOPE OF GOVERNMENT UNDER DEMOCRATIC-CONTROLLED WASHINGTON:

“Let's remember something. The debate that we're in here is not just about health care. It’s about the trillion dollar stimulus bill that was supposed to be about jobs and turned into nothing more than spending, spending and more spending. It’s about a budget with a nearly $2 trillion deficit this year and trillion dollar deficits for as far as the eye can see. It’s a cap-and-trade system, this big giant tax on the American people that this week we just find out the Treasury Department said will cost the average family $1,700 per year. You add to that this whole question of health care and the government option and the government involvement, and Americans today are getting more news about what's happening in their government than they have ever gotten before, and Americans are generally scared to death…

“What’s going on here is unsustainable. Our nation is broke, and at a time when we've got the serious economic problem and near 10 unemployment, we ought to be looking to create jobs in America, not kill jobs in America. Their cap-and-trade proposal, all this spending, all of this debt and now their health care plan will make it more difficult for employers to hire people, more difficult, more expensive to have employees which means we're going to have less jobs in America - but Americans are scared and that's why they are speaking up and that's why they are engaging in their government.”

BOEHNER COMMENTS ON WAR IN AFGHANISTAN, CALLS ON GENERAL MCCHRYSTAL TO TESTIFY BEFORE CONGRESS:

“I said during the year, if the President listened to our commanders on the ground and to our diplomats, that I’d be there by his side, and I supported his strategy in Iraq. I’ve supported his strategy in Afghanistan, but it's pretty clear based on what I heard this morning that the President is changing the goals here. All he talked about was going after al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan. What happened to the statement earlier this year when the President said we cannot allow the Taliban and al Qaeda to have a safe haven from which to train, operate and organize to go after Americans? That is a very big change, and so I’m really concerned. We’ve been asking for general McChrystal to come to Capitol Hill and testify. The request -- we haven't heard anything. There's reports out all last week that the White House has asked general McChrystal to wait four to six weeks before sending his request in, and so there's something -- there's something amiss here, and I am highly skeptical of the debate that we're going to have here over the next couple of months.”

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Westmoreland Supports House Vote Against ACORN

Congressman previously led effort against group’s involvement with Census

As a congressional leader in the fight to sever federal ties to ACORN, U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland joined an overwhelming House majority in voting for a bill to cut all federal funds given to the group.

“Today’s vote marks a rare victory for American taxpayers in this Democratic House, but ACORN’s abuses now are so well documented and so well known that even Democrats can’t defend them,” Westmoreland said. “Undercover videos of numerous ACORN offices giving advice on avoiding taxes and hiding an underage prostitution ring are only the latest examples of this group’s illegal behavior. I hope the Senate will follow the House by passing this legislation and sending it to the president for his signature.”

As chairman of the House Republicans’ Census Task Force, Westmoreland led a successful lobbying effort with the director of the Census Bureau to prevent ACORN from partnering with the bureau on the 2010 Census. The bureau announced last week that ACORN would be dropped from the bureau’s partnership program.

“Republicans didn’t take up this fight because it’s recently become a hot topic on cable news,” Westmoreland added. “In fact, last year, we sounded the alarm about ACORN’s voter fraud activities. In 2007, we started the fight to stop HUD from funding ACORN’s housing activities. Today’s victory has been a long time coming. ACORN’s work will continue even without federal funding and I encourage federal law enforcement authorities to investigate the group’s illegal actions.”
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President Bush on Economy, Oct. 10th

Rose Garden

10:25 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Over the past few days, we have witnessed a startling drop in the stock market -- much of it driven by uncertainty and fear. This has been a deeply unsettling period for the American people. Many of our citizens have serious concerns about their retirement accounts, their investments, and their economic well-being.

Here's what the American people need to know: that the United States government is acting; we will continue to act to resolve this crisis and restore stability to our markets. We are a prosperous nation with immense resources and a wide range of tools at our disposal. We're using these tools aggressively.

The fundamental problem is this: As the housing market has declined, banks holding assets related to home mortgages have suffered serious losses. As a result of these losses, many banks lack the capital or the confidence in each other to make new loans. In turn, our system of credit has frozen, which is keeping American businesses from financing their daily transactions -- and creating uncertainty throughout our economy.

This uncertainty has led to anxiety among our people. And that is understandable -- that anxiety can feed anxiety, and that can make it hard to see all that is being done to solve the problem. The federal government has a comprehensive strategy and the tools necessary to address the challenges in our economy. Fellow citizens: We can solve this crisis -- and we will.

Here are the problems we face and the steps we are taking:

First, key markets are not functioning because there's a lack of liquidity -- the grease necessary to keep the gears of our financial system turning. So the Federal Reserve has injected hundreds of billions of dollars into the system. The Fed has joined with central banks around the world to coordinate a cut in interest rates. This rate cut will allow banks to borrow money more affordably -- and it should help free up additional credit necessary to create jobs, and finance college educations, and help American families meet their daily needs. The Fed has also announced a new program to provide support for the commercial paper market, which is freezing up. As the new program kicks in over the next week or so, it will help revive a key source of short-term financing for American businesses and financial institutions.

Second, some Americans are concerned about whether their money is safe. So the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the National Credit Union Administration have significantly expanded the amount of money insured in savings accounts, and checking accounts, and certificates of deposit. That means that if you have up to $250,000 in one of these insured accounts, every penny of that money is safe. The Treasury Department has also acted to restore confidence in a key element of America's financial system by offering government insurance for money market mutual funds.

Thirdly, we are concerned that some investors could take advantage of the crisis to illegally manipulate the stock market. So the Securities and Exchange Commission has launched rigorous enforcement actions to detect fraud and manipulation in the market. The SEC is focused on preventing abusive practices, such as putting out false information to drive down particular stocks for personal gain. Anyone caught engaging in illegal financial activities will be prosecuted.

Fourth, the decline in the housing market has left many Americans struggling to meet their mortgages and are concerned about losing their homes. My administration has launched two initiatives to help responsible borrowers keep their homes. One is called HOPE NOW, and it brings together homeowners and lenders and mortgage servicers, and others to find ways to prevent foreclosure. The other initiative is aimed at making it easier for responsible homeowners to refinance into affordable mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration. So far, these programs have helped more than 2 million Americans stay in their home. And the point is this: If you are struggling to meet your mortgage, there are ways that you can get help.

With these actions to help to prevent foreclosures, we're addressing a key problem in the housing market: The supply of homes now exceeds demand. And as a result, home values have declined. Once supply and demand balance out, our housing market will be able to recover -- and that will help our broader economy begin to grow.

Fifth, we've seen that problems in the financial system are not isolated to the United States. They're also affecting other nations around the globe. So we're working closely with partners around the world to ensure that our actions are coordinated and effective. Tomorrow, I'll meet with the finance ministers from our partners in the G7 and the heads of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Secretary Paulson will also meet with finance ministers from the world's 20 leading economies. Through these efforts, the world is sending an unmistakable signal: We're in this together, and we'll come through this together.

And finally, American businesses and consumers are struggling to obtain credit, because banks do not have sufficient capital to make loans. So my administration worked with Congress to quickly pass a $700 billion financial rescue package. This new law authorizes the Treasury Department to use a variety of measures to help bank [sic] rebuild capital -- including buying or insuring troubled assets and purchasing equity of financial institutions. The Department will implement measures that have maximum impact as quickly as possible. Seven hundred billion dollars is a significant amount of money. And as we act, we will do it in a way that is effective.

The plan we are executing is aggressive. It is the right plan. It will take time to have its full impact. It is flexible enough to adapt as the situation changes. And it is big enough to work.

The federal government will continue to take the actions necessary to restore stability to our financial markets and growth to our economy. We have an outstanding economic team carrying out this effort, led by Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, SEC Chairman Chris Cox, and FDIC Chair Sheila Bair. I thank them and their dedicated teams for their service during this important moment in our country's history.

This is an anxious time, but the American people can be confident in our economic future. We know what the problems are, we have the tools we need to fix them, and we're working swiftly to do so. Our economy is innovative, industrious and resilient because the American people who make up our economy are innovative, industrious and resilient. We all share a determination to solve this problem -- and that is exactly what we're going to do. May God bless you.

Rep. Gingrey speaking on the gas price situation

Gingrey has co-sponsored a bill – H.R. 3089, the No More Excuses Energy Act of 2007 – which "will require the federal government to get serious about increasing domestic energy production that will lead to a decrease in the amount we pay at the pump".

http://www.cq.com/floorvideo/play.do?id=185b649ee920485e3e8476775e7bd791547f6f160522da861e39907f3e9766eac9175bed86fe51749e8569ca09d9f94113b21fa3efce182a319c437e2076d45de963b5d8b8f11981

Bush signs into law Sudan divestment measure

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Monday signed into a law a measure aimed at allowing states, local governments, mutual funds and pension funds to divest from Sudan businesses, particularly its oil sectors.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080101/pl_nm/sudan_usa_divestment_dc