Archives: Morning Breakouts

A Seattle Times editorial says a "radical response" to North Korea's rocket launch would be to "[k]eep diplomatic channels open with the 240,000 tons of food aid planned before" the launch. "Providing food aid is wholly apart from maintaining political and economic pressure on the country," the editorial says, adding, "Sending food does not preclude international sanctions to deny North Korea access to electronic technology and military hardware." The editorial suggests "[s]end[ing] the food aid with an insurance policy of sorts. Use the connections and credibility of nongovernmental organizations, including Mercy Corps and World Vision, to track the deliveries. ... Get the United Nations involved as well." The editorial concludes, "Keep diplomatic channels open. Move beyond the provocations and deliver basic food relief" to the more than one-quarter of North Koreans in need (4/15).

A study from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation says that the commonwealth's health law has amounted to only a small increase in spending on health care. In the meantime, some struggling municipalities in Massachusetts have opted out of a new law that reduces local government's share of health care costs for employees.

In the final article of a six-part series titled "Starving in India" in the Wall Street Journal's "India Real Time" blog, series author Ashwin Parulkar of the Centre for Equity Studies writes that the research conducted for the articles shows "that India needs a new legal framework for dealing with chronic hunger and starvation." He notes that "[t]he draft version of the National Food Security Bill that is being considered by India's Parliament would guarantee discounted food-grains to 50 percent of the urban population and 75 percent of the rural population." While "[m]uch of the debate on the measure has been over its cost and scope, ... my biggest problem with the bill is the way it deals with starvation," leaving it up to state governments to identify starving individuals and provide them with two meals a day for six months, Parulkar writes.

News outlets offer a fact check on how some health issues are being characterized in the presidential contest, as well as a report about an attack on the health law in what The Associated Press terms "bizarre videos."

GOP consultant Ed Gillesie says job creation is needed while Democrat David Axelrod says Republican budget cuts will hit safety net programs such as Medicaid.

Nursing aides have the nation's second highest rate of work-related injuries or illness. The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration wants to do something to make the job safer.

Politico Pro examines the reaction to a speech delivered by Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, at a TEDxChange conference in Berlin on April 5. "Gates's speech was primarily focused on explaining why family planning is important in the developing world," according to the news service. Gates said lack of access to modern contraceptives is "a life and death crisis" because with family planning, the lives of hundreds of thousands of women and children could be saved annually, the news service notes. "But multiple global health experts heard her comments as an intentional effort to push back on the politicization of birth control in the United States following the Obama administration's new contraception coverage policy, which they fear could spill over into global health policy," the news service writes. However, "Gates Foundation spokesman Chris Williams said Gates was simply reiterating her long-standing support for family planning and that viewing these remarks in light of domestic politics would be 'using the wrong lens,'" the article notes.

When they return to Capitol Hill next week, Republicans on key House committees are expected to take up earlier proposals as they look for ways to replace some of the automatic budget cuts scheduled to take effect in January. Members of the House Judiciary Committee will make another go at revamping medical liability laws.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius asked civil rights activists to help defend the health law. Meanwhile, other news outlets report on specific aspects of the law, including how contractors have been preparing for its implementation, and the latest on accountable care organizations.

"The U.S. will halt planned shipments of thousands of tons in food aid to North Korea after the reclusive Asian nation's launch of a long-range rocket, two Obama administration officials said," Bloomberg News reports (Talev, 4/13). "Under a recent food deal with the United States, North Korea agreed to refrain from long range missile launches and nuclear tests," CNN's "1600 Report" writes (Yellin, 4/12). "North Korea's rocket launch was a failed effort that nonetheless violated international law and jeopardized regional security, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said," according to Bloomberg (4/13).