Washington, DC:  Former Senator Bob Dole received three separate awards this past week for his work on behalf of hospice, people with disabilities, and nutrition and hunger issues.

National Hospice Foundation Award:  Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Medicare Hospice benefit, the National Hospice Foundation honored Senator Bob Dole on April 18 for his leadership role in enacting that breakthrough legislation.  Senator Dole, along with The Honorable Leon Panetta, The Honorable Bill Gradison, and The Honorable John Heinz (posthumously) were the National Hospice Foundation’s Silver Anniversary Honorees.  Senator Ron Wyden was presented the 2007 NHPCO Public Policy Award on behalf of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.

For more information on the National Hospice Foundation, please visit www.nationalhospicefoundation.org

The Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR):  On April 24, Senator Dole was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by The Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation for his longtime support of people with disabilities.

For more information about CSAVR, please visit www.rehabnetwork.org

Center for Budget and Policy Priorities:  On April 24, Senator Dole was honored by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities for his contributions to strengthening programs that help low-income families, particularly in the area of nutrition, while promoting long-term fiscal discipline.  The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities celebrated its 25th Anniversary and commemorated the 30th anniversary of the reforms achieved by the Food Stamp Act of 1977.  The award was presented by Senator Dole’s former colleague, Senator George McGovern, who was Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs during the late 1960s and ‘70s while Senator Dole served on that committee an the two Senators worked together on key reforms in nutrition and hunger policies.

For more information about the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, please visit www.cbpp.org
To view a video on the history of the Food Stamp Program, please visit http://www.cbpp.org/foodstamp-video.htm

By Michael Gray - University of Kansas

 I have always found this time of year to be interesting politically.  The Governor¹s veto session, in recent years, has been particularly interesting due to the party divide between the Legislative and Executive Branch of the State.  The veto session we are presently in has caused me to step back and think, specifically in regards to Kansas Senate Bill 55.  I am currently a sophomore studying to go to medical school and I am also a Democrat.  These two ³hats² I wear do not typically clash, but in regards to SB 55 problems arise. The Democrat in me wants to see justice for all people.  If there has been a wrongdoing, I most certainly do not want to see the wrongdoer go free on a technicality of the law.  My second ³side,² as a pre-med student, forces me to consider how this will affect the medical field.

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By Nathan Rodriguez - Blog Link 

Only fools believe they have all the right answers.

A more pragmatic approach to dealing with any problem is to either consult an expert or read up on it before you shoot from the hip and land in arrears.

It’s interesting to watch—in a twisted social experiment sort of way—how some major newspapers are tilting at the online windmill in an attempt to relive the glory days of the industry.

“Maybe we should charge for online access?” they think. Think again. Kids these days don’t like paying when they don’t have to. It may have become cliché to claim that the “younger generation” doesn’t read newspapers. That doesn’t mean they aren’t tuned in, they’re simply going elsewhere. And, chances are, they get their information free of charge. Making the decision to charge online readers for content won’t win many eyeballs, let alone the hearts and minds that sustain online communities.

Instead of staring backwards at the past for answers, or shaking down Generation X and Next for loose change—that’s like trying to squeeze blood from a turnip—progressive or fiscally-minded news organizations should look at some successful online companies for answers.

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 April 4, 2007

 Michael Brown

Former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
“Hurricane Katrina: An Insider Tells His Side of the Story”

Nominated by President George W. Bush to several Homeland Security positions, Michael D. Brown was twice confirmed by the United States Senate.   President Bush nominated Mr. Brown as the first Under Secretary in the Department of Homeland Security.  That nomination was preceded by his unique experience as the President’s appointee to lead a White House Transition Planning Office team for the newly created Department, making him the only Presidential nominee to work in a legacy agency (FEMA), on the transition team to the new department, and as one of the four senior leaders of the new department.

 Prior to his nomination as Under Secretary, President Bush appointed him as General Counsel to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.  Shortly after the September 11th terrorist attacks, the President nominated Mr. Brown as the Deputy Director of FEMA. 

 Following the September 11th attacks President Bush named Mr. Brown to the President’s Consequence Management Principal’s Committee, which served as the White House policy coordination group for the federal response to the attacks.  The President later asked him to lead the Consequence Management Working Group to identify and resolve key issues regarding the federal response to future incidents of terrorism. 

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