A $4.5 million announcement
Congressman Cleaver is joined by HUD Deputy Secretary Ron Sims (Right) and the co-chairs of the Sustainable Communities Coordinating Committee, Kansas City Councilmember Jan Marcason (Center) and Overland Park Councilmember Curt Skoog. (left)
Yesterday, it was my pleasure to be joined by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Deputy Secretary Ron Sims to announce two grants totaling $4.5 million for planning in the Green Impact Zone and surrounding communities.
The grants, the first of their kind, address an issue raised by the Green Impact Zone to the administration; how can federal departments work together to address community problems and develop plans that cross jurisdictions and agency areas of responsibility? In answer to that question, the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) was awarded a $4.25 million Sustainable Communities grant to study six development corridors connecting over 30 communities in the Metropolitan Area, with the Green Impact Zone at the center of the study. Representatives of all the participating cities were on hand for the announcement. Of the 48 Sustainable Communities grants announced across the nation, only five communities received more than MARC.
The six corridors include:
• North Oak Trafficway in Clay County, Mo.
• U.S. 24/40 in Jackson County, Mo.
• Rock Island Railroad line (from downtown Kansas City, Mo., through Lee's Summit)
• Troost, Main and 71 Highway in south Kansas City, Mo.
• Shawnee Mission Parkway/Metcalf in Johnson County, Kan.
• State Avenue in Wyandotte County, Kan.
I am always happy to host Administration officials. I am especially pleased when they bring large checks. This award announcement is a statement. These are our first post-stimulus community and Green Impact Zone grants. The decisions we have made have put us in position as a region to continue to compete and win competitive federal grants. I am thrilled. The Administration is putting its money where its mouth is.
The Sustainable Communities grants are part of the Obama Administration's Partnership for Sustainable Communities, which brings HUD, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency together to ensure that the agencies' policies, programs, and funding consider affordable housing, transportation, and environmental protection together. This interagency collaboration gets better results for communities and uses taxpayer money more efficiently. Coordinating federal investments in infrastructure, facilities, and services meets multiple economic, environmental, and community objectives with each dollar spent.
The second announcement of the day was a Choice Neighborhoods grant for $250,000 which will begin to transform the Chouteau Courts federal housing development on Independence Avenue in Northeast Kansas City. Chouteau Courts, one of Kansas City's oldest public housing sites, is the last choice of housing for public housing residents. The grant to the Housing Authority of Kansas City will promote a comprehensive approach to transforming this distressed area of concentrated poverty into a viable and sustainable mixed-income neighborhood. Building on the successes of HUD's HOPE VI Program, and the Sustainable Communities grants also announced today, Choice Neighborhoods will link housing improvements with a wider variety of public services including schools, public transit and employment opportunities. Only 17 Choice Neighborhoods grants were awarded nationwide.
The announcements were made at the Mid-America Regional Council office after the inaugural meeting of the Sustainable Communities Coordinating Committee, which both the Deputy Secretary and I were able to join. Both grants will work together to connect housing with good jobs, quality schools and transportation.
More information about the Sustainable Communities grant can be found here >>>
The Kansas City Star's coverage of the announcement can be found here>>>
Photos of the event are available for download here >>>
Health care
Did you know that the Affordable Health Care Act gives you access to the same care I receive as a Member of Congress? I believe the law we passed a year ago gives us all more choices, more access, and more care. But confusion still abounds about what it will mean for you.
Take a moment to take a short, 10-question quiz to test your knowledge of the law, and then find out how you compare to the rest of the country, as represented by the findings of the Kaiser Family Foundation's monthly Health Tracking Poll.
Take Kaiser's Health Reform Quiz here >>>
The above graph and survey is referenced on the front page of today's Kansas City Star. The Star notes: New polls show that the public is still deeply confused about the law and its consequences in their lives a year after President Barack Obama signed it.
A Kaiser Family Foundation survey released this month showed 52 percent of those surveyed still don't think they have enough information to understand how the law affects them. A year ago, 55 percent made the same statement.
Congressman Cleaver joins Rev. Wallace Hartsfield (left of the Congressman) and other community leaders at the Samuel Rodgers Health Center in celebration of the one-year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act.
On Wednesday, I joined members of the community outside Samuel Rodgers Health Center. Literally, we sat in front of the steel and concrete of a new facility under construction that is largely funded by the health care bill and will help the Sam Rodgers Center care for more of our underserved population.
The CEO of the Center, Hilda Fuentes, is quoted in today's paper saying. "The new law means for the first time in the history of this country, we will — maybe — see the end of physical suffering to a large degree." I do hope that is the case.
You can read the full story in the Star here >>>.
The Kaiser poll has many interesting pieces of information, but I would like to point out one more:
The non-partisan PolitiFact is a project of the St. Petersburg Times to help you find the truth in American politics. Reporters and editors from the Times fact-check statements by Members of Congress, the White House, lobbyists and interest groups and rate them on their Truth-O-Meter. The group has tracked down and rated many of the questions related to Health Care, and I would like to share an article they published on Wednesday, March 23, the one-year anniversary of the signing of the Affordable Care Act.
One year later: the falsehoods continue
By Angie Drobnic Holan
St. Petersburg Times: PolitiFact
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on March 23, 2010.
One year ago today, President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law, ending a knock-down, drag-out political fight that lasted more than a year.
If anyone thought the law's passage would end distortions about the health care law, they were seriously mistaken.
We've conducted more than 400 separate fact-checks on health care since 2007, including more than 150 since the law was signed in 2010. Today, to mark the law's one-year anniversary, we're highlighting 10 of the most significant falsehoods we've checked about the health care law in the past year.
Pants on Fire!
First, we'll look at the rogue's gallery of statements that earned our worst rating.
• Under the new health care law, "all real estate transactions will be subject to a 3.8% Sales Tax." This statement comes from a popular chain e-mail that we've seen time and time again. It tells empty-nesters they'll be punished for trying to downsize into smaller homes. But that's not so. There's a new 3.8 percent tax on investment income for the wealthy. If they sell their homes at a substantial profit, it's possible they might get hit with the 3.8 percent tax. Most Americans won't have to worry about this, though. We rated the statement Pants on Fire.
• Starting in 2011, "you will be required to pay taxes" on "the value of whatever health insurance you are given by the company." Another chain e-mail tells people they'll now be taxed on their health insurance benefits. It's not the case. The e-mail even directs readers to a source that directly contradicts the claim. No surprise here: Pants on Fire!
• Those who fail to buy health insurance under "Obamacare" face the threat of jail time. The law does include a mandate that everyone buy insurance. Those who don't will face a fine on their tax returns. But if you don't pay the fine, you won't go to jail. As plainly stated on page 111 of the law, "In the case of any failure by a taxpayer to timely pay any penalty imposed by this section, such taxpayer shall not be subject to any criminal prosecution or penalty with respect to such failure." PolitiFact Virginia gave Republican Del. Bob Marshall a Pants on Fire for this one.
• Under the new health care law, "the first person (a) patient has to go to is a bureaucrat. That is called a panel." There are certainly new boards and bureaucracies that are part of the health care law, particularly those that look at evidence-based medicine and outcomes. But there are no boards before which individual patients must appear. We gave West Virginia Senate Republican candidate John Raese a Pants on Fire for saying this duirng the 2010 campaign.
Other major distortions
We found plenty of distortions from both political parties that merited ratings of False. Here are some of the most significant.
• Twelve judges have thrown out legal challenges to the health care law because they rejected "the notion that the health care law was unconstitutional." President Obama made this statement in defense of the federal requirement that everyone have health insurance. But it vastly overstates what judges have said about the law's constitutionality. Twelve judges have thrown out challenges on procedural grounds. But on constitutional grounds, the tally is two judges who say it's constitutional and two who say it's not. We rated Obama's statement False.
• The health care law is "job killing." Republicans like to repeat this claim, but we found very little substance to back it up. Most nonpartisan analysts say that overall job losses or gains because of the bill will not be significant. "To the extent that changes in the health insurance system lead to improved health status among workers, the nation's economic productivity could be enhanced," said the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. "It is not clear, however, whether such changes would have a substantial impact on overall economic productivity or output." We gave Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., a False for this statement.
• The new health care law crushes small businesses "with billions in penalties." The U.S. Chamber of Commerce made this claim in ads during the 2010 election. It left out the fact that some small businesses will actually get tax credits from the health care law, and that those with fewer than 50 employees are exempt from penalties, whether they offer insurance or not. Some small businesses are larger than 50 employees and could face fines if they don't offer insurance. But the vast majority of U.S. firms are smaller than 50 employees. We rated the Chamber's statement False.
• The health care law includes tort reform. The health care law offers grants to states to start tort reform pilot projects, but it also says states can't take away people's ability to sue. Trial lawyers said the program was nothing to worry about. Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., said the law included tort reform, or changes in the rules for suing for damages. We rated his statement False.
• The health care law is "probably the biggest tax increase ever in the history of our country." The health care law does include new taxes, particularly new Medicare taxes on the wealthy. The new taxes represent the first significant increases since 1993, but they're hardly the largest in U.S. history. Florida's Republican Gov. Rick Scott said this; we rated the statement False.
• Gun ownership information can be recorded and collected by the federal government and insurance companies as part of the federal health care law. This claim is directly contradicted by the health care law, which includes specific protections for gun owners. The law says gun owners won't see insurance premium increases and their information won't be included in a gun owner database or registry. Florida state Rep. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, said this; we rated it False.
Review the article and other ratings of fact from PolitiFact here >>>
Again, this is a non-partisan, independent project of a respected newspaper.
My favorite thing to do
This week, it was my honor to meet with the 8th grade class of Notre Dame de Sion as they prepare for their April trip to Washington D.C. We talked about how government works, the Constitution and I was able to talk about one of my favorite subjects, the US Capitol. I hope to see them again as part of their visit to our nation's capital. They were truly a bright group of young people. There are many parts about my job representing you I truly do enjoy. I know it sometimes sounds like it is full of frustration. A good deal of it certainly is. However, there are amazing parts of the job you elected me to do, and visiting with young people, sharing a little about their government, and talking with them face to face about their dreams is perhaps my favorite part of the job.
The class had lots of great questions and is excited for their trip. I am excited to see them again as well.
Follow me on Twitter!
You can now follow me @repcleaver. As always, I look forward to hearing from you.
Click here to add me >>> https://twitter.com/repcleaver
Emanuel Cleaver, II
Member of Congress
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