Dr. Boozman's Check-up
KASU's Morning Show - 9/1/11
Sep 02 2011
Video: Fox16 News Interview
Aug 26 2011
Yesterday I visited with Fox16 anchor Donna Terrell and answered questions during the 5 o’clock newscast. In case you missed it we discussed the events in Libya, our tax structure, Washington’s spending problem and the debt negotiation deal. Thank you to Fox16 for inviting us to be part of your Thursday newscast. If you missed the interview you can watch it here.
Disaster Assistance Deadline Near
Aug 25 2011
The registration deadline is Sept. 6.
To register or check a registration status, you can go online to www.disasterassistance.gov or m.fema.gov. If you would rather, call dial 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or TTY 1-800-462-7585. FEMA phone lines are open from 6 a.m. to midnight seven days a week; multilingual operators are available.
To date, nearly 400 individuals and families in the two counties have registered with FEMA, opening the door to potential Individual Assistance grants from FEMA or low-interest loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).
After registering with FEMA, you may receive a loan application package from the SBA. FEMA officials request that you fill out and return the applications.
Bad Medicine
Aug 25 2011
“If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan,” President Obama said in a town hall meeting in August of 2009. I, like most Americans, was dubious of his claim at the time and we have even more evidence now that shows his statement is not entirely accurate. As the consulting firm Towers Watson found through a recent survey, some employers don’t expect the health care initiative to contain costs and may force them to eliminate or reduce their health care coverage option.
We have already begun to see these take place and, as a result, the Department of Health and Human Services has begun picking winners and losers by offering some companies relief from the requirements. With its latest round of waivers, HHS once again acknowledges that their mandate of “robust coverage” would lead many businesses to stop offering coverage altogether instead of providing more.
So when you get down to it, you can keep your health care plan, but only if President Obama says it’s alright by him.
This article by the Associated Press shows the difficulties businesses face and what they’re likely to do to comply with the health reforms supported by President Obama.
Finally...FCC Eliminates the Fairness Doctrine
Aug 24 2011
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to abolish the Fairness Doctrine more than two decades ago but it never omitted the language. The rule, implemented following WWII, essentially required broadcasters to provide every point-of-view to controversial discussions on the air. With widespread availability of public opinion offered by more popular media outlets such as the internet and cable television today, this needed to be taken off the books.
I have been in favor of scrapping this outdated doctrine, and am pleased with the FCC’s decision to effectively eliminate the language. I believe that we must uphold the First Amendment and ensure that not only broadcasters, but all Americans continue to have the freedom and protection to express themselves. To read the FCC Chairman’s remarks about eliminating the Fairness Doctrine click here.
In Case You Missed It: Touring Arkansas
Aug 22 2011
The August Congressional recess allows me to spend the month learning about Arkansans views of Washington legislation, how it impacts our state and what can be done to implement rules and regulations that can help us all. My calendar is full of events, meetings and tours. We spent much of last week on an agriculture tour in Southwest Arkansas travelling to El Dorado, Magnolia and Hope. In case you missed our visits, I want to share the articles about our stops.
El Dorado News-Times
Boozman opens El Dorado office
Magnolia Reporter
(With video) Sen. Boozman tours Albemarle, Amfuel plants in Columbia County
Hope Star
Boozman on agriculture tour,on the farm in SW Arkansas
The regulations imposed by the Obama administration are hurting our economy, hampering job growth and forcing businesses to comply with burdensome rules that bypass Congressional approval. This is a topic of a recent article by Investor’s Business Daily that I recommend reading.
To prevent this overreach by the Administration I cosponsored the REINS Act that provides a check-and-balance between Congress and the executive branch and allows business to focus on growth instead of how to comply with demanding regulations.
Yesterday I visited with Talk Business’ Roby Brock and answered your questions that Roby received over twitter and facebook. These questions ranged from my recent visit to Heifer International to address food security issues to tax rates to the Global War on Terror. Thanks to Roby for inviting me to participate and thank you for your questions. I appreciate the thoughtful questions posed by the people of Arkansas. If you missed the interview, you can watch it here or read about our conversation here.
I will be joining Governor Beebe, Senator Pryor, Congressman Womack and Fort Smith area officials at the unveiling of a 5-year strategic plan of the Fort Smith Regional Alliance later this morning.
This 8-county plan is aimed at bring economic development and jobs to Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Logan, Sebastian and Scott counties in Arkansas; as well as Le Flore and Sequoyah counties in Oklahoma.
Similar regional development alliances in Little Rock and Northwest Arkansas have shown to be effective, so today's announcement holds a great deal of promise for the Fort Smith area.
The event begins 11:30 a.m. today at the Reynolds Room of the campus center at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith.
You can read more about it in this story from Talk Business.
