Most diverse Congress in history with the largest black Republican class in Congress since the Reconstruction era
By Peter Sullivan – 01/05/15 05:35 PM EST
A wave of new lawmakers is arriving on Capitol Hill, with the most diverse Congress ever set to take power.
Republicans swell the ranks following their midterm gains, but there is more to members than just party affiliation. In that spirit, The Hill took a look at the composition, attributes and quirks of the voting members in the new 114th Congress.
There is a record number of female lawmakers at 104, alongside 430 men, following the departure of former Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.).
Rep.-elect Mia Love (Utah) is making history as the first black Republican woman in Congress. Love, fellow Rep.-elect Will Hurd (Texas) and Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) also are part of the largest black Republican class in Congress since the Reconstruction era. There will be 46 black lawmakers in the new Congress.
Hispanic lawmakers will number 33, with 30 in the House and three senators. Twelve Asian-Americans will also serve, with 11 in the House and Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) in the upper chamber. There are two lawmakers of Native American ancestry, both from Oklahoma, Reps. Tom Cole (R) and Markwayne Mullin (R).
Lawmakers have an average age of 57. The Senate is older than the House, with an average age of 61 to the lower chamber’s 57. Democrats on average are older than Republicans in both chambers, at 62 to 60 in the Senate and 59 to 54 in the House.
Investor rush to artificial intelligence is real deal
Richard Waters in San Francisco
Silicon Valley loves a new fad. To judge by the spate of fundraising by start-ups in recent weeks, it has found one in an idea that is more than half a century old: artificial intelligence.
“This is the hot place to be at the moment,” says Stephen Purpura, whose own AI company, Context Relevant, has raised more than $44m since it was founded in 2012. By his reckoning, more than 170 start-ups have jumped on the AI bandwagon.
The newcomers to AI believe that the technology has finally caught up with the hopes, bringing a heightened level of intelligence to computers. They promise a new way for humans to interact with machines — and for the machines to encroach on the world of humans in unexpected ways.
“Technologically, it’s a paradigm shift from putting commands into a box to a time when computers watch you and learn,” says Daniel Nadler, another of the AI hopefuls. His company, Kensho, raised $15m recently in pursuit of an ambitious goal: to train computers to replace expensive white-collar workers such as financial analysts.
What True Health Care Reform Would Look Like
January 5, 2015Matt Battaglioli
With the relatively recent passing of America’s new healthcare law; the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), the topics of healthcare, health insurance, prices and reform have been particularly hot lately. This of course does not mean that the controversies surrounding the American healthcare system are anything new. Healthcare prices are getting higher with many hospital visits for certain conditions totaling bills of millions of dollars. Also, the laws regulating the industry are getting heavier by the day. People have known for a while that a solid reform of the system has been in order, though it is unfortunate that most of these people calling for reform have a tendency to find their influence for such reform across the ocean.
What is “Fairness” in Health Care?
Many Americans are so fed up with the American healthcare system, that what seems too many to be the most sensible thing to do is to follow the European model and nationalize the entire industry. With a quick glance at some snapshot statistics, it doesn’t seem to be a crazy idea. After all, according to the WHO (World Health Organization), the United States ranks only no. 37 in quality of healthcare worldwide. Look a little closer though, and one will find that this data does not tell the whole, unbiased story. It turns out that the WHO uses “fairness” as one of its criteria for evaluating nation’s healthcare systems. In fact, a number of the criteria used by the WHO are not that relevant to healthcare itself, such as how much patients pay out of pocket for healthcare. Factoring all criteria together, the US ranks no. 37, however even the WHO ranked the US as no. 1 worldwide in “responsiveness to patients’ needs in choice of provider, dignity, autonomy, timely care, and confidentiality.”
Dr. Timothy Terrell, associate professor of economics at Wofford College, gives some insight into why the US tends to do so much better than other nations in those particular categories. He says:
If you tell people … that medical care is going to be zero cost out of pocket, then at a zero price, the quantity of demand is going to be [all the way to the right] (of a supply and demand graph). You can’t provide that much medical care. … You could have everybody in the country working in the medical care field and you wouldn’t be able to provide as much as people will want if the price is truly zero. So what the government will then do is start to ration medical care according to some criteria of its own.
Arbitrary Criteria for Distribution
Of course, this criteria would have to be arbitrary. Political authorities have no profit or loss; no cost-benefit analysis to aid them in resource allocation as would be the case in a free-market healthcare system. Certainly, evidence of this is prevalent. To give an anecdotal example, a 2007 study found that as many as 6 percent of English patients have treated themselves for dental care due to not being able to find a NHS (National Health Service) dentist. Also, a poll of patients that had sought private dentistry in England revealed that 78 percent had done so because their dentist refused to take NHS patients or an inability to find an NHS clinic.
How To Get More, High-Quality Care
What Americans actually need to do to reduce costs and even improve the quality of their healthcare system is very counterintuitive. It would involve dismantling their Medicare and Medicaid programs, as well as eliminating occupational licensing requirements for the medical field. It is true that the prices of US healthcare really took off after the enactment of the programs in 1965, and it is not difficult to see why that is. When the price of a commodity like healthcare becomes too high, healthcare providers actually lose money due to there being so few people who can afford their service. They then have an incentive to lower prices to a more consumer-friendly rate. However, Medicare and Medicaid eliminate that feature of the market as it pertains to healthcare because they make it so that people will have money for healthcare regardless of the price, via subsidy. Providers realize this and then raise their prices knowing they’ll be able to get whatever price they charge.
Economist Milton Friedman pointed this out in an analysis of the post-WWII and post-Medicare/Medicaid American healthcare system in 1991. He wrote:
From 1946 to 1989, the number of [hospital] beds per 1,000 population fell by more than one-half; the occupancy rate, by one-eighth. In sharp contrast, input skyrocketed. Hospital personnel per occupied bed multiplied nearly seven-fold and cost per patient day, adjusted for inflation, an astounding 26-fold. One major engine of these changes was the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. A mild rise in input was turned into a meteoric rise; a mild fall in output, into a rapid decline.
Stop Limiting Supply
Competition in the medical field is one thing that could curtail this effect, though that is drastically hampered by strict occupational licensure requirements. These requirements alone almost exclusively enable the seemingly monopolistic power of the American Medical Association (AMA). It is projected that about one-third of doctors will leave the medical profession within the next decade, much to do with certain new regulations of the industry. What’s more, when in 2010 it was recommended that nurses be able to practice “to the full extent of their education and training” regardless of their specific legal licensing, the AMA (arguably the group most benefiting from these requirements) quickly opposed the notion. Allowing easier entry into the medical field would cause a rise in the supply of labor in that field, and naturally increase competition between medical practitioners and ultimately yield lower prices for the consumers, as well as a better service.
Policies such as opposing the AMA are certainly not politically profitable, but then again, how often is good economics also good politics? Not very. Americans have shown time and time again that they desire a more affordable, more efficient healthcare system; they can have it.
Eliminating subsidies and licensing requirements would go a long way toward reducing costs. Reducing the bureaucratic nature of the healthcare system in general would undoubtedly provide America with more physicians and a more efficient system overall. The most commonly stated reform though; the European model, is nothing more than all of the problems the US already has, doubled down and taken to a whole new extreme; minus most everything that is actually good about it. Hopefully, since the passing of the ACA, Americans will be able to see more clearly the negative effects of government intervention in the healthcare market. Although if not, it can and will only get worse from here.
Menendez says Senate likely won’t confirm U.S. ambassador to Cuba
WASHINGTON — President Obama will find it “very difficult” to get an ambassador to Cuba confirmed, outgoing U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said today. (Salant/NJ.com)
How to make the most out of the parent-teacher relationship
JANUARY 5, 2015 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, JANUARY 5, 2015, 1:21 AM
BY TOBY SORGE
SPECIAL TO THE RECORD |
THE RECORD
Beginning today, Raise Your Hand will appear every other Monday, focusing on issues that face students, teachers and parents. If you have questions, email them to: [email protected] and write “Raise Your Hand” in the subject line.
As an inexperienced teacher early in my career, I noticed that engaging with parents was often tricky. Giving feedback or suggestions to a parent could be nerve-racking.
Trying to work through this, I realized that the relationship between student and teacher is critical. Unfortunately, sometimes the connection between parent and teacher is overlooked. For students to succeed, parents and teachers must have a working relationship that emphasizes student growth. Many times, teachers ask students to work collaboratively; it’s only natural that parents and teachers do the same.
There are a few simple ways to foster a successful relationship and some values to keep in mind when trying to engage teachers:
The Reorganization/Regular Public Meeting of the Ridgewood Board of Education will be held on Monday, January 5, 2015 at 7:30 p.m.
The public is invited to attend the meeting at the Ed Center, 49 Cottage Place, Floor 3. The meeting will be aired live on FiOS channel 33 and Optimum channel 77. Or it may be viewed live via the district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us using the “Link in Live” tab.
Click here to view the agenda for the January 5, 2015 Reorganization/Regular Public Meeting.
Valley’s Research Center Participates in International Trial of New Bypass Device
December 31, 2014
Ridgewood NJ, The Valley Hospital Heart and Vascular Institute is one of 17 preeminent cardiac surgery centers in the United States and Europe selected to participate in a clinical feasibility trial of a new implant designed to support vein grafts used in performing a cardiac bypass procedure. The trial is included among a robust list of clinical trials currently underway through The Valley Hospital Okonite Research Center.
Alex Zapolanski, M.D., Director of Cardiac Surgery, and Juan B. Grau, M.D., Director of Cardiac Translational Research and site principal investigator of the trial at Valley, recently performed their first implant of an eSVS® Mesh as part of the Kips Bay Medical eMESH I clinical feasibility trial.
The Company expects to enroll up to 120 patients at 10 European and seven U.S. sites. In addition to The Valley Hospital, the U.S. sites include the Cleveland Clinic, Emory University Hospital Heart and Vascular Center, the Mayo Clinic, the Lenox Hill Hospital, Northeast Georgia Medical Center and the Texas Heart Institute.
“After completing my first case, I found the eSVS Mesh to be remarkably easy to implant and feel very comfortable with the device” Dr. Zapolanksi said. “I am pleased that we are able to be part of the eMESH I trial and it is my hope that this device will open the door to improved long-term outcomes for CABG surgery patients.”
An estimated 82 million Americans suffer from one or more types of cardiovascular disease. It is the cause of 1 out of every 6 deaths in the U.S., and every year more than 395,000 Americans undergo coronary artery bypass surgery to mitigate its effects.
The Kips Bay Medical eSVS Mesh is designed to address the limitations of saphenous vein grafts used in coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. The eSVS Mesh is fitted like a sleeve on the outside of saphenous vein grafts to strengthen the grafts. By strengthening the graft and preventing the damaging expansion of the vein graft, Kips Bay hopes to reduce or prevent the resulting injury which can lead to graft failure and potentially costly and complicated re-interventions for patients undergoing CABG surgery. This innovative design is also intended to ensure that blood flow is faster and more laminar, by reducing the diameter mis-match between the graft and target artery.
For more information about open clinical trials, including trials at The Valley Hospital, please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov.
Scott Garrett U.S. Representative for New Jersey’s 5th congressional district, senior member of the House Budget Committee
Republicans take the reins in Congress with Commanding Majorities
By Alexander Bolton – 01/05/15 06:00 AM EST
It’s game time for Mitch McConnell and John Boehner.
For the first time since 2006, Congress is convening this week under full GOP control, with McConnell (Ky.) reaching the pinnacle of Senate majority leader and Boehner (Ohio) poised to win a third term as Speaker.
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With a 54-46 majority in the Senate, and an expanded majority in the House, Republicans are under pressure to deliver on their promises and move a raft of legislation to President Obama’s desk in the first few months of the year.
But in order to achieve that goal, McConnell and Boehner will need to unify their troops around a shared agenda — a task that will begin in earnest later this month, when House and Senate Republicans will hold a joint retreat in Hershey, Pa., to prepare for what one GOP aide described as the “frictions that will inevitably arise.”
Right off the bat, Boehner will have to deal with the political fallout from the revelation that House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) spoke to a white supremacist group in 2002, which has cast a cloud over the new session. The Chicago Tribune and conservative commentator Charles Krauthammer have called on Scalise, the No. 3 ranking House Republican, to step down.
Boehner has stood behind Scalise, putting his clout on the line ahead of Tuesday’s vote for Speaker. Defections are expected, but Boehner can afford to lose up to 28 Republicans before the Speaker vote would go to a second ballot.
Once the pageantry of Congress’s opening days is through, Republican leaders are hoping to get off to a fast start.
McConnell and Boehner, who consult weekly, set the tone after the midterm elections with an agenda that emphasizes jobs and the economy.
“That means a renewed effort to debate and vote on the many bills that passed the Republican-led House in recent years with bipartisan support, but were never even brought to a vote by the Democratic Senate majority,” Boehner and McConnell wrote in a joint op-ed in The Wall Street Journal.
The bicameral retreat, meanwhile, will give House and Senate Republicans an opportunity to coordinate their strategy for 114th Congress, which is likely to be dominated as time goes on by the politics of the 2016 presidential race.
My family and I would like to offer our most heartfelt gratitude for the support that has been shown to us during these difficult days since our house fire on the day after Thanksgiving. Living in Ridgewood for over 20 years, we have always known our community to be extremely special and we now know just how blessed we are to be counted among you.
In the bleary-eyed days after our fire, my family was deeply touched by people dropping off gift cards, bags of bedding, clothing and necessities, hugging us, crying with us, and offering anything to help ease our losses. These were not empty gestures, the concern and the tears in their eyes helped us realize we were not alone and had the support of an entire community – whether close friends, I taught their child, or we see each other in the supermarket. My family knows now, more than ever, what an exceptional community we have and how lucky we are to be among such gracious and caring people.
We know we are incredibly blessed to have been shown such kindness and concern. Whether people cooked and delivered a meal, brought much-needed clothing, donated a gift card, treated our dog to a toy she lost, or just hugged me and cried with me on our dear friends’ porch, please know that none of us will ever forget what was done to help ease our transition through this turmoil. We will continue to pay this kindness forward and continue to support community members in need, in the ways that have bolstered us, whether it was through RHS Cares, Benjamin Franklin Home & School Association, Ridgewood Veterinary Hospital, BF staff (where I am lucky enough to work!), Ridgewood Lacrosse Association (which replaced equipment for my son so that he could play that weekend!) or through an individual gesture.
JANUARY 2, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JANUARY 2, 2015, 12:31 AM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Leaf removal was better this year
To the Editor:
The leaf removal was very successful this year, thanks to our new village manager.
The only problem is the fact that some residents still placed leaves on the street after the final removal. The removal dates published for each area should have mentioned that the actual removal could be done as early as the first day mentioned. Or simply it may be better not to indicate several days, but only the first day for each area, as was done in prior years.
According to the dictionary, “civility” means being polite and courteous.
So, really, most everything we know about acting polite and courteous we learned in kindergarten, so to speak, as kids learning how to get along in school and entering the adult world.
In England in the House of Commons, known for its loud unrestrained behavior, recommendations to enforce civility were defeated last year and in years past.
Why? Members of the House believe that uninhibited speech helps to ensure the continuation of a flourishing democracy because it encourages the free expression of ideas.
Yet their society has a much lower incidence of violent crime.
Are we to expand the definition of civility to include illegal acts, or are we going to limit civility to mean acting polite and courteous?
And how about our town meetings? How restrained do we want members of the public to be in their speech?
What is the relationship between civility and a civilized society?
These are questions we have to ask ourselves as we think about civility.
Readers look to rename Village as council sells out to developers
Absolutely dead on regarding the Village ( https://theridgewoodblog.net/ridgewood-will-pay-the-price-if-zoning-changes-are-approved/ ) — our so-called planner sat on the witness stand dithering about how the “devil is in the details” but how conceptually this is great for some undefined state goals about putting housing on rail road tracks. Its appalling and pathetic that we have a council in place that will allow the Village’s demise.
Perhaps we should have contest for the new name of the Village once our master plan is ditched because council members don’t have the back bone to stand up to the developers, or they are being guided by their own self-interest to sell out the Village.
Reader says why not a word from Mrs. Hauck or Mr. Pucciarelli to defend their constituents from the Hospital’s lawsuit
I wonder when the Council members with close ties to Valley are going to have a comment on plans to defend their constituents from the Hospital’s lawsuit against us. Not a word from Mrs. Hauck or Mr. Pucciarelli. Not even the usual “We plan to vigorously defend the Village against this lawsuit” type of rhetoric. Makes me wonder if there is any defense planned at all or if some sort of back room deal is in the works to give Valley what it wants.
This is such a classic conflict of interest and nobody has said a word about it. Even our Chief Civility Officer Mr. Aronsohn has been silent. Hmmm.
Unlike the ARC tunnel the Gov Christie cancelled the Gateway Project will go direct to Penn Station and will not be entirely funded by NJ tax payers
N.J. lawmakers present a united front for new rail tunnel
JANUARY 4, 2015, 10:32 PM LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, JANUARY 4, 2015, 10:39 PM
BY HERB JACKSON
RECORD COLUMNIST |
THE RECORD
With both houses of Congress about to be controlled by Republicans, whose hard-liners denounce expensive federal projects as wasteful pork and have banned lawmakers from earmarking funds for pet projects, a bipartisan delegation from New Jersey is gearing up to win support for a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River.
Both Sen. Bob Menendez, a Democrat, and Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, a Republican, said they are hopeful they can get a commitment at least to start Amtrak’s Gateway project when Congress takes up a multiyear transportation financing bill next spring.
Frelinghuysen, of Harding, said he thought the chances of some success are “pretty good.” Menendez, of Paramus, said he was “cautiously optimistic.”
“I’m not saying it’ll be the whole kit and caboodle … but once we are committed to the project, then we have a better chance to ensure its totality,” Menendez said.
Rail access to New York City has taken on a new urgency following Amtrak’s revelation last year that the existing two-track tunnel, built 104 years ago, will fail within 20 years because of damage from Superstorm Sandy flooding. Before then, delays will become common for Amtrak and NJ Transit, which uses Amtrak’s Hudson tunnel, because of periodic closures to stabilize it.
Gateway calls for a new two-track tunnel under the river and other construction, including new or rebuilt bridges in the Meadowlands, to provide four tracks between Newark and New York City. The next few months will be critical in determining whether the project moves off the drawing board, because Congress faces a May deadline for a new transportation bill.
This much is true: Both President Obama and top Republicans are saying the right things about tax reform right now.
Whether that means that the two sides will make the progress in 2015 necessary to overhaul the tax code before Obama leaves office is another question entirely.
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At his year-end news conference, Obama insisted that he would put out more specific tax reform proposals in the coming months, answering GOP critics who’ve said the White House hasn’t put in the necessary work on rewriting the code.
Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), has said that tax reform is on the short list of issues – also including trade and infrastructure improvements – with the best chance for bipartisan cooperation once Republicans take full control on Capitol Hill in January.
And Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who will be the House’s top tax writer next year, has said he’s willing to compromise on one of the GOP’s top priorities for reform – that the individual and corporate systems be revamped together.
