Postal Service Shipping Rates Increasing

If your business ships documents or products using U. S. Postal Service flat rate boxes, widely advertised as an economical and efficient shipping method on TV, your costs will go up the first of next year. While small flat rate box shipping cost will remain $4.95, medium box rates will increase from $10.35 to $10.70, and large box rated will go up from $13.95 to $14.50.

Express mail envelope rates will increase from $17.50 to $18.30. Standard, parcel post and first class mail rates will remain unchanged.

House Health Care Reform Measure Sharpens Differences

Tuesday night’s release of a 42 page managers’ amendment to the 1990 page House health care reform bill sharpens the focus of Congressmen on the differences within the Democratic caucus which still plague efforts to marshal the required 218 votes to pass the legislation. Still missing from the 2032 page legislative package are the provisions respecting denial of federal funds for abortion coverage, and for excluding illegal immigrants from participation in federally subsidized health insurance.

The fact that these two issues remain the most contentious within the Democratic caucus gives Republican Congressmen hope that there is still a chance to delay or derail health care reform altogether. House Rules Committee Chair Louise Slaughter expects the House floor vote on the health reform measure to take place Saturday, since language for the abortion provision is still being worked out, and will have to be included in the rule on the bill, expected to come up for a Rules Committee vote at 2:00 p.m. Friday. “We’re further trying to craft language,” said Congressman Jim Langevin, leaving House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s office this afternoon. “We don’t want the abortion issue to be the issue that derails universal health care reform.”

Republicans are already bridling at the move to leave the abortion provision to consideration in the vote on the rule, since the proposed language will not be made public for 72 hours before the floor vote. Michael Steel, spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner, complained, “If Speaker Pelosi intends to address critical issues like taxpayer funding for abortion in the rule, they should make it available for the American people to read for 72 hours. Transparency means putting the whole bill online for 72 hours.”

New things which are covered in the terms of the managers’ amendment include a $1 billion dollar fund available to states for use in controlling health insurance premium increases, language forcing insurers to disclose pricing differences between on exchange and off exchange policies, limits on “excessive or unjustified” health premium increases, and an estimated $24 billion “pay for” ending paper mill tax credits for burning “black liquor” as a cellulosic alternative fuel.

In the meantime, in efforts to focus the political differences over health care policy, Republicans have introduced their own 219 page health care reform measure, eliminating mandates for citizens to buy coverage and for employers to offer it, and limiting malpractice damage awards for pain and suffering and impaired quality of life to $250,000 in any case of injury or death.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid predicts debate on health care reform in that chamber will spill over into December, and would not commit to being able to send a bill to the Oval Office before the end of this year. “We’re not going to be bound by any timelines. We need to do the best job we can for the American people,” Reid announced at a news conference.

Text of Managers’ Amendment:
http://docs.house.gov/rules/health/111_hr3962_dingell.pdf

Text of House Bill:
http://docs.house.gov/rules/health/111_ahcaa.pdf

Text of Republican Alternative:
http://rules-republicans.house.gov/Media/PDF/RepublicanAlternative3962_9.pdf

Recovery.gov Numbers Miss By A Mile

Figures don’t lie, and the teacher will check your work. Obama RAT Board officials responsible for reporting on the economic effects of the spring’s stimulus legislation must have missed class the day that lesson was presented. In a rush to produce figures showing a positive effect of the $787 billion appropriation on the American economy and employment, the Recovery.gov website got it wrong – way wrong. Just looking at numbers reported on Recovery.gov and comparing them to what we know about local suburban school districts here shows that “teaching jobs created or saved” as reported on the federal website exceed the total number of teachers employed in the district. Who knows what other mistaken numbers are contained in the federal information?

Recovery.gov says the $1.25 billion in education funding received by Illinois schools from the stimulus package saved or created 14,330 teaching jobs in the state. A quick review of district by district reports demonstrates, however, that the reported number on the website could be off by more than 20%. Some examples:

Dolton/Riverdale: Recovery.gov says 382 teaching jobs were created or saved. The district employs only 240 teachers altogether.

Kankakee: Recovery.gov says 665 teaching jobs were created or saved. The district employs only 600 teachers altogether.

North Chicago: Recovery.gov says 473 teaching jobs were created or saved. The district employs only 290 teachers altogether.

Wilmette: Recovery.gov says 166 teaching jobs were created or saved. The district’s superintendent says there were no teaching jobs created or saved.

The average margin of error in just these four examples is over 22.6%. That’s just not “close enough for government work.”

Chinese Drywall Situation Under Health Scrutiny

Congress, the Consumer Produce Safety Commission, USEPA and the Centers for Disease Control are investigating whether smelly Chinese drywall installed in 100,000 new homes in 30 different states is a health hazard to the families living in the houses. Acknowledging the existence of indoor air contamination in the affected homes, which are the subject of civil lawsuits in Louisiana, Florida and other states, Michael McGeehin of CDC says other contaminants besides sulfurous gasses have been identified in the homes in question, including formaldehyde. Health officials say the formaldehyde does not come from the drywall, and further testing is needed to determine whether the medical symptoms of home occupants are caused by gasses emitted from the drywall.

Federal officials awaiting test results say it may be another month before they have answers to the health issues plaguing people who live in the homes, where dramatic corrosion of copper water pipes and air conditioning coils is just one of the problems the drywall is causing. CPSC head Inez Tenenbaum has talked with Chinese government officials about the drywall issue, but has received no commitments of help in dealing with the problem from China.

Record Hill In Maine Getting Wind Farm Despite Congressional Foot Dragging

Even though the timetable for Congressional action on climate change legislation keeps getting pushed further and further down the calendar, some renewable energy projects are proceeding without waiting to see what Congress has in mind for the future of fuel and power in America. Record Hill Wind, a project being built along a north to south ridge line in Roxbury, Maine, is already under construction. The project will include 22 wind turbine generators along the peak of the ridge line, optimally arranged to catch the prevailing westerly winds from Canada and New Hampshire.

The 50.6 megawatt facility will produce 130 million kilowatt hours of power annually – enough to power every household in Oxford County. Delivery and erection of the turbine generators will start next June, with the facility to be commissioned in early fall 2010.

Union Pacific And CenterPoint Building $370 Million Container Terminal In Joilet

Construction is underway on a 785 acre rail/highway container terminal at the Union Pacific property in Joliet, near I-55 and I-80, with general contractor Ragnar Benson already putting down over 18 miles of railroad tracks. The fast track construction project is expected to create 1,200 construction jobs between now and June 2010.

William Charles construction is the site work contractor, and it will be placing 470,000 tons of ballast underneath the 10 rail tracks in the project. The facility will ultimately handle half a million containers a year.

Mandatory Paid Sick Leave Bill Introduced

House Education and Labor Chairman George Miller is pushing a bill to require employers to grant paid sick leave if they ask workers with the H1N1 flu or other contagious illness to stay home from work. Miller says 50 million Americans have no paid sick leave, particularly in the food service and hospitality industries, and that these workers are the most likely to face employer requirements to stay away from work if they get sick. Employees, Miller insists, should not have to choose between their paychecks and the health of coworkers and customers.

The bill applies to all businesses with 15 or more employees, but exempts any business already providing at least five days of paid sick leave to workers. Miller plans to hold a hearing on the bill this month, and bring it to the floor for a quick vote before the flu season gets info full swing.