Word: reforming
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...proposal to slap a 5% tax on wrinkle fillers, Botox shots, breast implants and other elective cosmetic medical procedures as part of President Obama's health care reform package is raising disapproving eyebrows among some groups. A coalition of plastic surgeons, a women's group, medical associations and pharmaceutical makers were distraught when Senate majority leader Harry Reid slipped the so-called Botax levy into the health care bill late last month in hopes of raising $5.8 billion over the next 10 years. The tax would apply to elective but not reconstructive plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures...
Still, Congress faces a heavy burden in searching every nook and cranny for ways to fund the health care reform bill's $849 billion price tag. Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senator Reid, dismisses suggestions that women are being targeted and notes that Senators are looking everywhere for ways to fund the bill. "There was a point a few weeks ago when Senator Reid needed some additional revenue for this bill - the goal was to keep all the financing within the health care arena, and in the end, he decided to include this provision in the bill," says Manley...
...Raffarin agrees with lower taxes in principle, he's been joined by two other former conservative leaders - and most of the 37,000-plus mayors of France - in ridiculing the idea of eliminating one of the main sources of income for regional and local governments before a more general reform of those bodies. Sarkozy risks a similar insurgency over a justice-reform bill which will eliminate the position of independent investigating magistrate and place power in the hands of politically appointed state prosecutors. Read: "Reburying Albert Camus: A Political Ploy by Sarkozy...
Obama is trying to reform education by attracting and retaining high-quality teachers, making preschool universally available and making college affordable to all. America currently ranks 21 out of 27 among advanced economy countries in high-school completion rates—currently 67 percent, down from 77 percent in the 1970s. We can help the children reach for the stars by helping teachers fund classroom projects. The website DonorsChoose.org allows you to give to different classroom projects or needs that teachers list online. Students and teachers will send a personal thank you. You can also donate old computers and books...
...addition, the eco-friendly homes tax credit, affectionately labeled “cash for caulkers,” serves the dual goals of economic stimulus and environmental reform. The program, a brainchild of John Doerr, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, and Bill Clinton, would give households anywhere from $2,000 to 4,000 to pay for weatherization projects. This stimulus is beautifully effective—homeowners are incentivized to carry out renovation projects that generate job growth and create more environmentally friendly homes. By combining green initiatives with fiscal stimulus, Obama’s proposal kills two important birds with...