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Nation
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Donnelly Renews Call for Congressional Action to End China's Trade War that Costs U.S. Jobs |
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Written by Look Out, Kokomo!
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Tuesday, 14 February 2012 13:17 |
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Washington, D.C. – Tuesday, as Vice President of China Xi Jinping visited President Obama in Washington, D.C., Congressman Joe Donnelly renewed his called for congressional action to end the Chinese government’s unfair practices that make Chinese products artificially cheap, leading to a loss of American jobs.
“We must crack down on the Chinese government’s unfair practices that make their products artificially cheap because this practice leads to a loss of American jobs,” said Donnelly. “Right now, Hoosier manufacturers are at a disadvantage because the Chinese government is not playing by the rules. I firmly believe we have the best workforce and the best products in the world. Now is the time to stand up for the American workforce and American products, especially as Vice President Xi Jinping visits the U.S.”
Donnelly is a co-sponsor of The Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act, H.R. 639, which has 230 cosponsors from both sides of the aisle, but has not yet come up for a vote in the House. Donnelly has urged House Republican leadership to allow a vote on this bill. The Senate version of this bill, The Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2011, S. 1619, passed in October of last year, by a bipartisan vote of 63 to 35.
In September of last year, The Economic Policy Institute released a study showing that between 2001 and 2010, the U.S. lost 2.8 million jobs, including nearly 62,000 jobs in Indiana, due to the expanding trade deficit with China. To read the Economic Policy Institute’s report, click here. |
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 15 February 2012 11:22 |
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Congressman Burton: President’s Budget is Just More of the Same Taxing and Spending |
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Written by Look Out, Kokomo!
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Monday, 13 February 2012 15:17 |
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN-05) harshly criticized the White House budget after President Obama released the details plan.
The plan calls for increased spending for infrastructure as well as tax increases for wealthy Americans, but has drawn criticism from Republicans and even some Deomocrats for failing to close the gap on the nation's $3,000,000,000.00 budget deficit.
“President Obama still doesn't get it," said Burton. "After 1000 days without signing a budget into law and with a National Debt that has eclipsed $15 trillion dollars, rather than even attempt to introduce a budget that could put our economy on a path back towards fiscal sanity the President has chosen to simply rename and re-brand the very same failed policies that succeeded in derailing our once mighty economy during his first term. In short, instead of receiving a tangible budget, Congress has been presented with yet another "ode to self" courtesy of the West Wing."
Burton added sharper criticism for the tax increases that would be focused on job creators.
“Perhaps the most egregious example of this exercise in futility is the President's attempt to resurrect his $1.5 trillion dollar tax hike on the American people. Rather than make a concerted effort to curb his out of control spending, the President would have liked you to pay the bill for his social engineering. Even the President's own party summarily rejected this initial proposal. If there is still any doubt that this budget proposal was anything other than a long and tired campaign mailer, one need look no further than the most recent iteration of the President's failed stimulus package, now in the form of a $476 billion dollar infrastructure monstrosity that is undoubtedly comprised of the same shovel ready projects that have sat unfinished since 2009.
Burton called for a different strategy as the House weighs its options during budget construction.
“Instead of the President's ideologically charged wish list, I believe the American people deserve a bold budget that addresses Washington’s reckless spending, a draconian tax code impacting job growth and drastic entitlement reforms. I look forward to working with my colleagues to make this a reality.” |
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 14 February 2012 13:45 |
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Developing Hardier, Weather-resistant Crops |
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Written by Look Out, Kokomo!
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Monday, 13 February 2012 00:00 |
At first, the back room of plant physiologist Edgar Spalding's lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison might be mistaken for an alien space ship set straight out of a Hollywood movie. It's a room bathed in low-red light with camera lenses pointing at strange looking entities encased in Petri dishes.
A closer inspection reveals the Petri dishes contain nothing alien at all, but rather very down-to-earth corn seedlings. They're grown in red light for optimal growth. They're just one of the plants featured in thousands of time-lapse movies Spalding has created over the past five years. The goal: figure out how to grow crops optimally suited to survive, and thrive.
"We can't hope to improve a plant unless we understand it well," says Spalding. With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Spalding is exploring just what makes plants tick. He says the key is to study the function of each of the thousands of genes that make up the plants' DNA. "One way to do that is to collect images of those plants that have those genes altered in some way. And by measuring how those plants grow and develop differently," says Spalding.
"We are able to infer the function of the gene that's been manipulated," he continues. Researchers have created thousands of genetically different corn plants. Spalding uses specially rigged cameras to snap pictures every 30 seconds or so of the plants' roots as they grow.
He also uses a six-foot high robotic camera that's capable of shooting dozens of roots at once. "We have made hundreds of thousands of measurements from thousands of different plants. Let's say we had a ruler, we'd probably be on number two... maybe," he says with a chuckle. The time-lapse movies are loaded into a computer and an algorithm measures cellular growth rates in the root with pinpoint accuracy, as well as the angle and curvature of the root tip.
"By using this so-called computer vision or machine vision to track [the plants] growth and development, we can get at the genes that control root growth and those hopefully will have fundamental importance to crop improvement. It lays the foundation for discoveries that will help improve plants for human purposes."
Spalding is sowing the seeds for better crops of the future. It's an idea he thinks is worth growing.
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Last Updated on Monday, 13 February 2012 12:16 |
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EDITORIAL: A Call For Civil Rights For All Americans |
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Written by Look Out, Kokomo!
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Sunday, 12 February 2012 17:01 |
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Our View: Human Life is Sacred, And Should Be Protected Everywhere; At Every Stage
A LOK! Editorial
Our nation’s history has been marred by instances of cruel human rights abuses to segments of the population, according to many Americans. Others will say that our country has always been at the forefront of extending these rights to new groups, and stands as a leader in enhancing liberties here and abroad.
While neither group accepts the views of the other as legitimate, both groups are correct, of course.
As we ponder the distinct message associated with Black History Month in America and National Right to Life Sunday, which both occur in February, it becomes clear to us that the two messages are anything but discreet.
For years, our government failed to extend civil rights to African Americans. It took protests, a civil war, and years of national debate in order for these failings to be remedied.
Prior to the Civil War, Slave Owners pointed to property rights laws to defend their continued abuses and mistreatment of their slaves. They were so sure of their position, that they lobbied government to protect their property rights and caused many states to secede from the Union when the movement to abolish slavery finally got traction. After the Civil War and beyond, African Americans found themselves fighting for the rights their neighbors considered unalienable and took for granted. The entire process took way too long, due to human ignorance and the failure to realized that one’s property rights end when they infringe upon someone else’s civil rights.
Similarly, the issue of abortion in America has been debated for years. The Supreme Court has rendered judgements, the congress has passed legislation, and presidential elections have been influenced by this highly controversial topic.
In a remarkable parallel to the slavery issue in America, many “pro-abortion rights” groups have formed to lobby government to protect the rights of the mother ("a woman's right to choose"), while ignoring the unalienable rights that our constitution is designed to protect.
Each year, as we continue this debate, well over a million babies' lives are aborted in the United States. According to Center for Disease Control statistics, about 50 million lives have been destroyed by Abortion. This puts the death toll for the American Civil War to shame.
We believe that it has been clearly documented that life begins at conception, and because of this, a fetus is deserving of the protections that the rest of us enjoy under the constitution. We call for the end of this enduring battle that has taken so many lives of potentially great Americans.
We support a constitutional ammendment that clearly states that "life begins at conception" so that millions of would-be abortion victims can enjoy the opportunities and quality of life our country provides.
We ask those who fight for “a woman’s right to choose” to reconsider their positions and end support for groups who fight for this goal.
For those of you who support a "woman's right to choose" but could never consider having an abortion yourself, rest assured that many in Civil War Era America might have been heard saying, "I personally oppose slavery, but I support the plantation owner's property rights." Today, those same people would be correctly identified as being on the wrong side of the issue.
Finally, if you cannot be swayed, we wonder if it is just because “you own the plantation.”
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Last Updated on Sunday, 12 February 2012 23:10 |
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Rep. Dan Burton Announces He Will Not Seek Re-Election |
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Written by Look Out, Kokomo!
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Tuesday, 31 January 2012 15:01 |
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Voters in Indiana's 5th District will have a new representative when the Congress convenes next year. Rep. Dan Burton announced today that he would not seek re-election to Congress in 2012.
“It has been an incredible honor to serve Hoosiers, first as a State Representative and State Senator at the Indiana State House and then to serve my constituents as a Member of Congress. I want to thank all of those who have given me the great honor to serve in the legislative branch of government for all of these years.
“To go from humble beginnings to meeting with Presidents, Kings, Princes and some of the world’s most powerful leaders, it has been an experience that I cherish. I consider myself to be the luckiest man on the face of the earth!
“I also want to thank all my colleagues who I have worked with. You have made this an experience I will never forget.”
Burton, a Republican, has most recently served as U.S. Representative for Indiana's 5th congressional district, and previously the 6th district, serving since 1983. The Indiana 5th district includes most of the northern suburbs of Indianapolis as well as the southern fringe of the Fort Wayne area: Tipton, Grant, Miami, Wabash, Huntington, Hamilton, and Hancock counties, and parts ofMarion, Shelby, Howard and Johnson counties.
As a U.S. Congressman, Burton served on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Prior to his time in Washington, Burton served in the Indiana House of Representatives as well as the Indiana State Senate. |
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 31 January 2012 15:22 |
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