D.C. Officials Prepare For Major Hurricane

By Janie Amaya

The D.C. Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEMA) sponsored a city-wide full-scale natural disaster exercise at RFK Stadium on Wednesday.

The purpose of the simulation was to play out emergency plans in the event of a category two hurricane.

The event tested the District’s roles, responsibilities, authorities, and capabilities for an all-hazards event. The simulation was staged at the recovery phase of “Hurricane Zoe,” as they called it, two days after it had presumably hit the area.

Several federal and non-governmental organizations such as the Department of Health, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and Department of Public Works, The Red Cross, among others, took part in the event playing out their own internal plans.

HSEMA Director Millicent West said the simulation will help the HSEMA prepare for unforeseen challenges in a real-case scenario.

“If there are gaps [in the plans] we’re gonna make the investment to patch what needs to be patched. So if there are issues with radios, we’ll make sure that we’re putting the investments in place- money, time, training- to ensure that the patches are in place so there aren’t breaks in communication,” West said.

Participants from across the District took time off of their daily schedules to role play in the simulation. Station observers looked for inconsistency in procedures. The observations will eventually comprise a report suggesting improvements.

West also said the simulation helps in creating back-up plans when challenges are faced. Alex Narr with the Office of National Capitol Region Coordination at FEMA, said simulation exercise have revealed several gaps in the plans and are needed for future preparedness.

“Emergency planning and response and recovery is on-going process and your always doing corrective action planning and corrective action work,” Narr said.

Based on the gaps found in today’s exercise, HSEMA will conduct follow-up exercises this March and next September.

WMLA Radio- September 28, 2011

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http://www.wmal.com/article.asp?id=2297282&SPID=39884

Shared Sacrifice To Balance Budget, Says Heinrich

Rep. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) reacts to President Obama’s deficit-reduction plan saying it is common sense to ask higher paid individuals to pay higher taxes in order to balance the economy. (1:09)

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Talk Radio News Service

Tuesday, September 20, 2011 At 1:50PM

Reusable Spacecraft Key For Human Space Exploration

By Janie Amaya

SpaceX Founder and CEO Elon Musk addressed a small audience at the National Press Club Thursday to offer his expertise on the future of human space flight exploration.

In the attempt to make the human race a multi-planetary species, Musk said SpaceX has created some of the world’s most reliable and economical launch vehicles and spacecraft. Some, including the Falcon 9 rocket and the Dragon, have gained high global recognition for abilities such as carrying payloads to space at 30-50 percent of the cost of its competitors.

“The pivotal breakthrough that’s necessary, that some company has to come up with to make life multi-planetary, is a fully and rapidly reusable forward-class rocket,” Musk said. The Dragon, he said, fits this description.

The Dragon is SpaceX’s fully reusable spacecraft and is set to launch to the International Space Station on November 3. During that mission the company will be monitoring the reusability for future launches. However, Musk said the company is aware of the various engineering problems, such as spacecraft weight accuracy and engine efficiency.

“If your rocket ends up being just a little bit heavier, you get nothing to orbit,” he said. However, he said, this is a risk the company is willing to take to create for the future of human space flight.

“SpaceX is going to try to do it. We could fail; I’m not saying we have certain success here but we are gonna try to do it,” Musk said.

Musk said SpaceX has been working hard in creating a reusable spacecraft and said it is the key to dramatic cost savings enabling innovative U.S. space exploration programs.

Elon Musk is also the co-founder of Paypal, which he sold to Ebay in 2002 for $1.5 billion which allowed him to start SpaceX.

Talk Radio News Service

Thursday, September 29, 2011 At 4:36PM

Lawmakers Want To Abolish Debt Ceiling

By Janie Amaya

Reps. Jim Moran (D-Va.) and Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) today introduced The Full Faith and Credit Act of 2011, aimed at eliminating the federal debt ceiling.

Earlier this summer, the government came close to shutting down when lawmakers nearly missed a deadline to raise the debt limit from its then-$14.3 trillion level. President Obama and Senate Democrats reached an agreement with House Republicans at the last minute to reduce the deficit and assign a committee of twelve to make further recommendations aimed at cutting the budget.

At a news conference on Capitol Hill, Moran noted how the nation survived being on the brink of a self-inflicted economic catastrophe and argued that eliminating the debt limit would prevent lawmakers from using it for political leverage.

Moran called it an “unnecessary and a counter productive legislative hurdle that has proven to be a both an ineffective means to controlling deficits and a danger to this country’s standing in the financial markets.”

According to the lawmakers, among other democratic nations, only Denmark has a debt ceiling and that alone should send a strong message about financial debt ceilings.

“You would think that what the rest of the world has figured out may mean something to the United States,” Moran said.

With an urgent tone, Johnson expressed the need to pass the the bill along with President Obama’s proposed America Jobs Act to improve the nation’s economy. He referred to the debt ceiling as a barrier that was put in place for political reasons, and called for its removal.

A similar bill was unveiled back in January by conservative Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), though that legislation was not intended to do away with the debt limit, according to an aide to McClintock.

Later today, the GOP-led House is expected to vote for a resolution expressing disapproval over raising the debt ceiling by $500 billion.

*This story was updated at 1:25 pm to reflect the difference between Moran and McClintock’s bills, and again at 2:07 pm.

Talk Radio News Service Wednesday, September 14, 2011

GOP'ers Tout Anti-EPA Bill, Assail Obama's Tax Plan

By Janie Amaya

Republicans gathered today to voice support for the TRAIN Act, which would commission a new panel to study the cost-benefit analysis of new air pollution regulations imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The bill’s author, Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.), said the legislation would allow businesses to add to their payrolls.

“The politicians, we don’t create jobs,” he said. “But what we can do is get the heck out of the way. That’s why it’s so important that we address these government regulations.”

The bill is expected to hit the House floor tomorrow. While it has a good chance of passing through the lower chamber, the White House has issued a veto threat against it, arguing that it would “slow or undermine important public health protections.”

Obama, himself, has publicly championed his administration’s efforts to roll back rules and regulations, and earlier this month delayed the EPA’s ability to move forward with a key air pollution rule that Republicans said would hurt businesses badly struggling to help reduce the current 9.1 percent unemployment rate.

On Tuesday, Senate Democrats wrote to the President, urging him to not give in to GOP-led efforts to weaken the EPA’s power to regulate the environment.

GOP lawmakers also blasted President Obama’s latest proposal to raise taxes on top earners in order to pay down the nation’s debt and deficit.

“Unfortunately, what we’ve seen is that the President has made a decision; that he’s gonna go into full campaign mode now, 14 months before the election,” said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.).

Talk Radio News Service Wednesday, September, 21 2011

Hoyer Calls For Urgent Action On CR

After the House passed a short-term spending plan Friday, House Minority Whip Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said in order to move forward and talk about a compromise the Senate needs to act.

“The Senate has to act first to see what they can do over there,” Hoyer told reporters. “Then I think we’ll talk about compromise.”

Hoyer added that both chambers need to act with a sense of urgency.

“We believe, if [House Republicans] are really interested in getting this job done and figuring out what the Senate’s gonna do and are concerned about both the government staying open, but as importantly the emergency aid getting out as quickly as possible, they ought to get that bill over to the Senate now,” Hoyer said.

The bill, which would prevent a government shutdown by continuing federal funding through November 18th, passed the House with a close vote of 219-203.

Talk Radio News Service Friday, September 3, 2011