Congress

CARSON CITY – With U.S. Sen. Harry Reid’s 5^th annual National Clean Energy Summit set to kick off today in Las Vegas, the debate over alternative energy development and the government’s role in its future rages on.

CARSON CITY – A pair of Nevada small business owners today said the federal government needs to ease off on its excessive regulatory efforts under the Obama administration if it wants to encourage job growth here and around the country.

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Julius Genachowski, will visit Barton Memorial Hospital in South Lake Tahoe on Monday as part of a tour visiting health care facilities in California and Nevada. The visit coincides with the FCC's Rural Healthcare Pilot Program, in which Barton Health received funding.
More information on the visit is forthcoming. Check back later today at www.SouthTahoeNow.com. Here is a bio on Genachowski found on the FCC's website.

A Face in the Crowd, a film debuting Andy Griffith in his first major role, will be presented at 6:00 p.m., Wednesday, August 1st, at the Carson City Library.

The film will be hosted by former state archivist Guy Rocha and Reno News and Review editor Dennis Myers. The movie was directed and produced in 1957 by Elia Kazan, and written by Budd Schulberg. This film, which launched Griffith into stardom in the lead role as Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes, also stars actors Patricia Neal, Anthony Franciosa, Walter Matthau, and Lee Remick.

RENO – Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney went on the attack against President Obama today in a speech to attendees of the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention here, criticizing him for national security leaks, weak foreign policy and a failure to seize on political opportunities in such countries as Iran.

Romney, speaking to the same group that Obama addressed on Monday, spent his 27-minute talk focusing on his foreign policy views and the need to maintain a strong military presence.

RENO – President Obama told members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars today that he has fulfilled the promises he made four years ago to make America safer, strengthen jobs programs for returning military personnel and fight homelessness, suicide and posttraumatic stress disorder among the nation’s veterans.

LAS VEGAS – State senate Majority Leader and 4th Congressional District candidate Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas, said he supports the federal health care law that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in late June.

Dating back to Republican President Theodore Roosevelt (1904) he and every president since has toyed with some kind of a health care plan, but none have had the appetite to place their political careers on the line for it with the exception of President Barrack Obama.

CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval said today he needs a lot of questions answered before he can decide whether to expand Medicaid eligibility in Nevada, and that it could take several months to resolve all the uncertainties.

“There’s no specific time schedule,” he said. “I mean I understand right now we’ve had the Supreme Court decision. Everyone has been waiting for that. I think there are still people that are trying to interpret it.

CARSON CITY – Nevada officials are busy preparing cost and enrollment estimates so Gov. Brian Sandoval will have reliable information before deciding whether to expand Medicaid following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month upholding much of the Affordable Care Act.

CARSON CITY – A letter from 12 U.S. Senators and 61 members of the House to the nation’s governors asking them to oppose the creation of health care exchanges under the Affordable Care Act comes too late to have any effect in Nevada.

CARSON CITY – U.S. Senate candidate and Rep. Shelley Berkley defended her efforts to preserve a kidney transplant program in Nevada in 2008, saying she never advocated for anything that was not in the best interests of patients and patient care.

Berkley, D-Nev., defended her role in preserving the program in response to questions in an interview on the Face To Face television program.

CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval said today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Arizona immigration law case points out the need for Congress and the president to come together and reform the country’s immigration laws.

CARSON CITY – The House of Representatives today passed H.R. 4039, the Yerington Land Conveyance and Sustainable Development Act, the first piece of legislation introduced by Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., since taking office after a special election in September 2011.

Dear Editor:

It's time to make it easier for millions of homeowners around the country to refinance their mortgages and save hundreds of dollars each month.

Cutting through the red tape will be good for families, good for communities, and good for the country at large. Interest rates are at historic lows, yet millions of homeowners have not taken advantage of these rates, either because it's too expensive, or because banks and regulations make it hard or impossible. This month, Congress has a chance to pass real home mortgage relief.

LAS VEGAS — Six-hundred or so of the state’s Democratic party faithful this morning attended their annual state convention at the Bally’s Hotel conference center in Las Vegas. Five-hundred sixty-two delegates were credentialed but about two dozen vendors lined both sides of the room and guests were also welcomed.

CARSON CITY – Washoe County Republican and Democratic Party leaders may disagree on who the best choice is for president, but they agree on one point – Washoe is the “battleground” county in the battleground state that is Nevada.

Clark County is expected to go big for Democrats and President Obama, while Nevada’s rural counties are expected to go strong for Mitt Romney. But Washoe County, where Republicans lead in voter registration by 3,700, has gone for both parties in past elections.

CARSON CITY – The National Retail Federation has launched a nationwide 60-day campaign to raise awareness among lawmakers and the public on how what it calls a loophole exempting online sales from sales tax is hurting local communities and job creation.

If Nevada’s five-member Congressional delegation is any indication, the group has its work cut out for it, with three members opposed and two supportive of the idea to allow states to tax online sales.

CARSON CITY – Two years ago it was the metric system. Now it’s communists.

The Legislative Commission today took the first step towards repealing several antiquated statutes, including a provision of state law dating to the “Red Scare” days of the 1950s directed at the Communist Party.

The Carson City Democratic Women's Club Meeting will be meeting Saturday June 9, at Grandma Hatties Restaurant. Lunch may be ordered off the menu between 11:15 Am and noon. Or persons may come at noon for just the program.

At noon, the program begins with a presentation from Janice Ayres of RSVP who will speak on "What's Up With Social Security and medicare and How RSVP Has Been Affected by the Economy and Congress".

CARSON CITY – Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., said today he agrees with his congressional colleague in opposing federal legislation requiring online merchants to levy sales taxes on purchases.

Heck, interviewed on the Face To Face television program, said he agrees with U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., in opposing such legislation in Congress.

RENO – President Barack Obama made a brief stopover here today, visiting with a couple who refinanced their home through a White House initiative helping underwater homeowners who have government-backed loans.

After meeting with Paul and Valerie Keller, Obama urged Congress to expand the Home Affordable Refinancing Program (HARP) to other mortgages as well.

CARSON CITY – Assembly Speaker and 3^rd Congressional District candidate John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, declined today to say whether he supports the federal health care law now under review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Oceguera, who is termed out of office in the Assembly, said it is premature to comment on the law given the fact that it is awaiting a decision on its constitutionality by the nation’s high court.

CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval said today that a recent deal announced with Amazon.com to collect sales taxes from on-line purchases in Nevada beginning in January 2014 is only the tip of the iceberg.

CARSON CITY – U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., today sent a letter to the chairmen and ranking members of both the Senate and House Committees on Appropriations asking them to continue defunding the proposed high level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.

CARSON CITY – Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval announced today that the state has reached an agreement with on-line retailing giant Amazon to begin collecting Nevada sales tax on purchases.

At the urging of Congressman Tom McClintock, R-Calif., a committee has been formed to find an unnamed mountain peak seen from South Lake Tahoe that will be dedicated to fallen U.S. soldiers from the area.
Congressman McClintock's office approached the U.S. Forest Service about opportunities for a memorial. Forest Supervisor Nancy Gibson came up with the idea of naming an unnamed peak as one of the options for a memorial on National Forest System lands.

CARSON CITY – U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., today downplayed the notion of any disagreement with GOP Gov. Brian Sandoval arising from their opposing views on the Small Business Jobs Act passed by Congress in 2010.

Reading over the coverage of the Supreme Court's oral arguments over the fate of ObamaCare, you might get the impression that the conservative-leaning court will strike this law down.

While those people on each side of the political divide will have their opinions about this, I, as a person whose profession is all about writing and words, am struck by how the future of this law seems hinged on the wording in the legislation.

The major argument against ObamaCare has to do with the requirement that everyone must buy health insurance, otherwise known as the individual mandate.

The Copper Mountain Solar 1 facility in Boulder City that President Obama visited Wednesday is certainly impressive. With nearly 1 million solar panels, the nation’s largest operating solar facility can provide power for about 17,000 homes without producing any harmful emissions or sending any money out of state for dirty coal or foreign oil.