Of Consuming Interest

Of Consuming Interest - 02/26/10

2010-02-26T20:16:00Z

Michael Sauvante who has a 30 year background in business and is the Executive Director of the Commonwealth Group. Sauvante was a senior information technology expert at Hewlett Packard Laboratories. Discusses Public Banking. Sauvante works diligently to expand to the other 49 States the model of the North Dakota State Bank and other compatible public banking models. The North Dakota Bank was formed in 1919 in response to its citizens experiencing great credit & financial problems similar to those currently experienced by the rest of the nation. The Bank provides direct loans, collaborative lending and acts as a Central Bank for the community banks of that State. It is not part of the FDIC, because the North Dakota State Bank is self-insured. North Dakota currently has a billion dollar surplus and has the healthiest economy in the US. See more information atwww.commonwealthgroup.net.

Of Consuming Interest - 02/19/10

2010-02-19T14:08:00Z

Robyn O'Brien is the Erin Brokovich of the Food Industry. She has a background in financial services, an MBA, and is the Founder and Director of Research of AllergyKids. Robyn authored "The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food Is Making Us Sick and What We Can Do About It." Discusses the genetical engineering of our food supply to increase profitability for Industry. In the US in1994 a synthetic growth hormone began to be injected into cows to make more milk. Governments around the World refused to do this because it has never been proven safe. Because the US is tied to a for-profit health care system, the US allows things into the food supply until they are proven dangerous. US has the highest rate of cancer Worldwide. Soy and corn are also genetically altered. Kraft and Monsato fund the food allergy non-profits.

Of Consuming Interest - 02/12/10

2010-02-12T19:44:00Z

Dr. Rema Laibow and Atty. Ralph Fucetola are Board Members of the Natural Solutions Foundation which can be accessed at www.healthfreedomusa.org. Dr. Laibow is a 1970 graduate of Albert Einstein College of Medicine who believes the key to good health is supporting the immune and other crucial body systems. Attorney Fucetola is counsel, teacher, health freedom advocate and vitamin lawyer. They discuss Senate Bill 3002 which seeks to import Codex principles into US law. Its companion, Senate Bill 510 attacks the US farming industry. These Bills are part of a conspiracy of a several pronged attack on our health, food and freedom. Codex daily reference value of nutrient levels would enable preventable diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke and obesity to flourish. They also discuss the WHO which receives a large portion of its funding from the Pharmaceutical industry.

Of Consuming Interest - 02/05/10

2010-02-07T20:54:00Z

Sally Fallon Morell is President of the Westin A. Price Foundation which is a world-wide organization dedicated to restoring nutrient dense foods to the human diet through education, research and activism. She is the author of "Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition & the Diet Dictocrats. Discusses going back to eating nutritional foods. Animal fats & cholesterol are not villians but vital factors in the diet, necessary for normal growth, proper function of the brain and nervous system, protection from disease and optimum energy levels. Senate Bill 510, the latest Food Safety Act, is designed to enhance the industrial food supply yet does nothing about on-site inspections of slaughter houses.

Of Consuming Interest - 01/29/10

2010-01-29T21:08:00Z

Ken Feltman was a Congressional lobbyist for 35 years. He is the former Vice President of the National Association of Manufacturers; and the former President of Radnor, Inc. Discusses Healthcare reform. We are at a crossroads in the healthcare debate. The President is not giving up amidst growing doubt for the existence of the requisite number of votes to get a healthcare package through Congress. Americans have a higher expectation for healthcare than most anybody else in the world. Americans think that if treatment is available, then everybody should receive the best available treatment. Most countries want to know how the bill will be paid before they give care. The question is whether Americans will accept that lowering costs will lower the standard of care. Currently 20% of the GNP goes into healthcare. Healthcare innovations are not integrated into the healthcare system. 15% of the population use 50% of healthcare costs.

Of Consuming Interest - 01/22/10

2010-01-22T21:48:00Z

James P. Gelfand is a Senior Manager of Health Policy for the US Chamber of Commerce. Discusses current health care debate and the effect of a Republican win of Ted Kennedy's Senate seat. We were on the cusp of seeing President Obama's top agenda item passed. Now it's a guess as to what will happen. Nancy Pelosi will not try to pass the Senate Bill. Senator Obama recognized that people don't have health insurance because they can't afford it. Now the President supports a mandate. This change is based on the economics involved by including those with pre-existing conditions and preventing people from just opting into the plan on the day they become sick. Massachusetts state run health care plan has a problem with people dropping in and out.

Of Consuming Interest - 01/15/10

2010-01-15T14:15:00Z

Nina Owcharenko is a Senior Policy Analyst for health care at the Heritage Foundation's Center for Health Policy Studies. The Heritage Foundation is a conseervative think tank promoting public policy & analysis based on free enterprise and limited government. Discusses current developments in the health care debate. We are now in the second year of the health care debate. The House & Senate bills didn't have overwhelming support, but they passed. The Bills are currently being rewritten behind closed doors in the White House. We will have to wait and see what's in it and what will be done with the difficult provisions for a public plan and an excise tax on high value plans.

Of Consuming Interest - 12/11/09

2009-12-13T14:00:00Z

Siobhan Reynolds is the Director of the Pain Relief Network. Pain Relief Network (PRN) was formed to oppose the Federal Government crackdown on the treatment of chronic pain. It is a network of pain patients, family members of people in pain, physicians, attorneys, and activists. Discusses Pain Relief Network's efforts in a 2007 Kansas case against a Dr. Schneider who was charge with killing 59 patients with pain medicine. The Judge cut the case down to 14 deaths. But the Prosecutor has gone after Reynolds and the Pain Relief Network and now both are bankrupt. The Sloan Kettering academic community is fighting to be able to fight pain. U.S. government is refusing to recognize that opiates duplicate a chemical found in our spinal cord. One doctor who was prosecuted for providing pain relief medicine, Dr. Ben Moore, committed suicide after pleading guilty to violating the Controlled Substances Act. This is a complex problem.

Of Consuming Interest - 12/04/09

2009-12-04T21:22:00Z

John Berlau is a journalist and author who is the Director of the Center for Investors & Entrepreneurs at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free market think tank. The Competitive Enterprise Institute has been involved in matters of consumer choice for the last 25 years. It works at holding the government accountable by, for example, challenging the over-regulation imposed by Sarbanes-Oxley.

Discusses Health Care reform issues. Health Savings Accounts - the current discussions in the House & Senate contemplate not completely banning them but taxing & regulating health savings accounts out of existence. The cap will be $2500 per year. The House & Senate are also discussing limiting consumer choice for access to complimentary & alternative medicine. Over-the-counter drugs will not be eligible for insurance coverage. Congress seems to be moving towards imposing more expensive solutions on the public as opposed to less expensive solutions.

Of Consuming Interest - 11/20/09

2009-11-23T15:09:00Z

Robert E. Moffitt Ph.D. of the American Enterprise Institute discusses the complexities of Healthcare reform in Congress. A Healthcare Bill passed the House in a close vote. Senator Reid has added provisions of other Bills to create a 2,074 page Bill which is currently before the Senate. If the Reid Bill or a version of it passes the Senate, there will need to be a conference to reconcile the two Bills to make them into a Law. Both House and Senate Bills have employer and individual mandates. The Reid Bill includes a public plan through State based Health insurance exchanges. In the House Bill a public health plan will compete against a private health plan. The community health option will be geographically adjusted. And the rates for hospitals and doctors will be negotiated. There is the estimate that older and sicker enrollees may choose the public plan which would make the rates higher. The enrollment projected for this plan is 3-4 million Americans. The Senate Bill has a different public plan option.

Of Consuming Interest - 11/06/09

2009-11-06T21:44:00Z

Jim Fine is Legislative Secretary for Foreign Policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation, a Quaker organization. Fine coordinates FCNL's Iraq Peace Campaign. He is a Peace Advocate who has lived in several countries of the Middle East.

Discusses the difficult situation which exists in Iran today. Iran is in its worst turmoil since its Islamic Revolution of 30 years ago. There is a rising generation that is dissatisfied with the status quo. Elements of the Religious Establishment are concerned about the drift toward authoritarian power. Results of June election were inaccurately represented. Fine also discusses the positions of Iran's opposition leaders. Leaders in Iran insist that it is seeking a peaceful nuclear program, which is consistent with Islamic law.

Of Consuming Interest - 10/30/09

2009-10-30T19:55:00Z

Twyla Grace is the Head of Citizens Council on Health Care in Minnesota and is a recognized Healthcare expert discusses Congressional healthcare reform activities. The current Congressional discussion is focused on health insurance reform. There are 3,000 "shall"s in the Bill which create an extensive structure of mandates. The individual is to purchase "insurance" as that is defined in the Bill. If he doesn't then he is required to pay a penalty which is enforced by the IRS and may include jail time. The mandates enunciate a standard for healthcare which allows the government to run the insurance industry and medical system. As currently articulated, this Bill will cause the loss of freedom of choice over types of insurance; loss of a citizen's right to control the amount of money spent for a purchase; loss of privacy as a tracking system will be created through a National Medical number; and, a loss of the choice of a health savings account option which was tax free.

Of Consuming Interest - 10/23/09

2009-10-23T19:17:00Z

Attorney Leslie Fourton is General Counsel to Gary Null.

Discusses challenges to FDA approval of Swine Flu Vaccine in New York & Washington DC. In New York, a Judge has granted a TRO for several groups to stop the State from implementing a mandatory requirement to receive the Swine Flu vaccine for State Employees. A Public Employees Union, a Nurses Group and the New York United Teachers Union oppose getting the vaccine as a condition of employment. The New York Health Department intends to vigorously defend its right to impose this requirement. On September 29, 2009, a Federal Appeals court refused to stop mandatory anthrax vaccines for service members. Plaintiffs argued that the information re efficacy obtained by the FDA was not credible. In the DC FDA case the arguments center on safety and efficacy. There is a conflict between the claim that there is a major worldwide pandemic of a new kind of flu on the one hand and the claim that what they're looking at is just another shift in the genetic strain. FDA hasn't looked at the source of this flu or how it began.

Of Consuming Interest - 10/16/09

2009-10-16T19:49:00Z

Mark Lerner is a Co-Founder of the Stop Read Id Coalition and a Spokesperson for Constitutional Alliance.

Discusses Read Id which extends the reach of the government into our lives, the problems involved with it and what we can do about it. After 911 President Bush signed the Real ID Act into law which created new databases and linked all State drivers licenses, so that every individual could only have one license from one issuing State. The need for this came from the fact that the terrorists used counterfeit drivers licenses as a means of identification. The Real ID Act has as its goal to ensure that all Americans are enrolled in its global biometric ID system which allows mechanical facial recognition. This system can be used internationally which goes beyond issues of violation of privacy and actually provides a way for citizens to be tracked. See www.StopReadId.com and

www.ConstitutionalAlliance.org

Of Consuming Interest - 10/09/09

2009-10-13T14:00:00Z

Douglas J. Holtz-Eakin

Former Director of Congressional Budget Office, Chair at Council of Foreign Relations and Senior Fellow at Peterson Institute for International Economics

Discusses Economics of Healthcare Reform Debate. The problem is that 1/6 of our economy is underperforming. The costs outweigh the benefits and longevity and infant mortality suggest we aren't getting high quality outcomes. This has lead a large part of Congress to look at slowing the cost growth of healthcare and the related problems of the rising cost of insurance and the fact that many people are not insured. 50 million are not currently insured. In the last year, 60 million were not insured. Over the past few years, 40 million were not insured. It's a very complicated problem involving so many players that it is difficult to fully understand. History will be the judge as to whether the current Congressional approach is the best route to improving our system.

Of Consuming Interest - 10/02/09

2009-10-05T13:50:00Z

Attorney Andrew Grosso spent 10 years as an Assistant US Attorney in Tampa, Florida, and Boston, Massachusetts before founding a law firm in Washington DC which focuses on whistle blower and federal fraud cases. He also formed the nation's first federal-state health care fraud task force. Discusses health fraud and health reform activities. Grosso talks about the prosecution of health care fraud cases in the late 1980s which began in Florida where there are a large number of retirees. There the fraud involved billing for services that were not provided. In Boston the fraud was more sophisticated and involved manipulating the administration of Medicare. Today most States have False Claims Acts. Around 50% of the claims made under those acts are health care related. In today's health care system, there is a large amount of soft fraud.

Of Consuming Interest - 09/18/09

2009-09-18T19:45:00Z

Victor Schwartz is General Counsel to American Tort Reform Association, author of “Schwartz on Torts,” and an expert on Healthcare.

Discusses the current healthcare debate.

On September 17, 2009 the White House issued a release acknowledging that medical malpractice is a problem and that defensive medicine exists.

It supports caps on pain & suffering damages in medical malpractice lawsuits.Reforming malpractice law is not a silver bullet but may contribute to reducing unnecessary costs.Although the Study puts patient safety first which is an issue that has nothing to do with malpractice, the Study of this issue represents a major offer to Republican critics of the current healthcare debate.

Of Consuming Interest - 09/04/09

2009-09-04T16:04:00Z

Lloyd Morgan is an electronic engineer, lead author and member of the Bioelectromagnetics Society. Morgan has been involved in the EMF area since 1995, the year that a Doctor suggested that EMFs were responsible for Morgan's brain tumor. Discuss the public health and policy issue of the dangers of Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) and the recent report about Brain Tumors and cell phone use in children. Exposure to EMF creates a significant risk of leukemia and brain tumors. Morgan is part of an International EMF Collaborative of scientists from the US and the UK which has recently looked at research in the area which has found an increased effect on children. There is currently a ground swell outside of the US towards real legislative action. In France the proposed legislation would ban cell phones from schools and for use by children. The scientific studies show a higher risk for childen whose cells are still dividing until beyond the age of 18.

Of Consuming Interest - 08/28/09

2009-08-28T14:03:00Z

Jeffrey Smith is a GMO expert and author of the book "Seeds of Deception". He has two websites: SeedsOfDeception.com and HealtheirEating.org. The latter website has a downloadable non-GMO shopping guide. More Doctors are now prescribing non-GMO diets for their patients. In 1996, GMOs were released into the US food supply. This was after the FDA policy decried the existence by scientists of concern for the use of GMOs because of the potential for the dangers in the increase in allergens, toxins, carcinogens and anti-nutrients. The single published human study demonstrated something so dangerous that a follow-up study was not made. It showed that a gene transfer of organisms found in GMO foods to bacteria DNA living inside our intestines continues to function inside of our bodies long after the food is expelled. GMO foods are not tested on humans before they are put on the market.

Of Consuming Interest - 08/14/09

2009-08-14T20:13:00Z

Charlie Brown is the National Counsel for Consumers for Dental Choice. He is also a former Attorney General of West Virginia.

Discuss the FDA's recent developments for use of mercury fillings. The FDA said that animals should not get mercury because it's too dangerous. But for children, it's okay because children don't have a good lobbying group. In a 2006 lawsuit against the use of mercury fillings, a settlement was reached where the FDA posted on its website the information that mercury can cause neurological harm to children and fetuses. As of July 28, 2009, the FDA has removed this information from its website. Mercury fillings contain 50% mercury which is as much as in a thermometer, though they are called "silver" fillings. President Obama has pledged to phase out all uses of man made mercury, but the FDA has placed itself in the position as a marketer of this product. 50% of US dentists do not use mercury fillings.