National Press Club

“We have an uphill battle, but I am optimistic that we will have a strong showing” in the coming election, Virgil Goode, the Constitution Party’s nominee for president, told reporters at a National Press Club Newsmaker on Oct. 12.

Whereas Gov. Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama have based their plans for job growth largely around a combination of tax cuts and stimulus, Goode puts immigration front-and-center in his jobs plan. “Jobs in America, when you’ve got high unemployment, should go first to U.S. citizens,” said Goode.

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Book & Authors, October 10, 2012

"No Lost Causes" by former President of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe Velez.

It was a standing room only crowd that gathered Oct. 10 to hear former President of Colombia Alvaro Uribe Velez tell the riveting story of Colombia’s dramatic turnaround during his years in office, 2002-2010.

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The “insider” attacks against U.S. and Coalition troops in Afghanistan that have killed or wounded 130 military personnel this year alone are not preventable, but will not jeopardize the mission’s overall objective, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey said during a National Press Club luncheon Wednesday.

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Alice Rivlin, former chief of the Office of Management and Budget, advocated addressing the federal deficit with a "some of each" solution -- less spending and more revenues -- at an October 10 Newsmaker.

"The essence of the problem is that, as we look ahead, our debt is growing faster than our economy can grow, " she said.

She cited as reasons more elderly people and the rising cost of medical care. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, under current projections, will drive up spending faster than economic growth, she said.

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The third-ranking Democrat in the Senate, Charles Schumer, voiced opposition in a speech at the National Press Club on Oct. 9 to lowering tax rates for the wealthy as part of any bipartisan compromise on the deficit.

“It would be a huge mistake to take the dollars we gain from closing loopholes and put them into reducing rates for the highest income brackets,” Schumer told reporters at the Newsmaker event. He characterized this approach as similar to “Reagan-style tax reform” put in place by a now “obsolete” 1986 law.

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Secretary of Education Arne Duncan urged Congress not to reduce funding for early childhood education at a National Press Club luncheon on Oct. 2.

"Candidly speaking, however, it's a challenge in the current climate," Duncan told a sold-out Club ballroom. "If some members of the House have their way, programs like Head Start, Title I and IDEA [Individuals With Disabilities Education Act] could take a big hit. So we need to continue to fight hard for these programs that protect children at risk."

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Dr. Harold Varmus, director of the National Cancer Institute and Nobel Laureate, addressed a National Press Club Newsmaker Sept. 25.

Cancer research budgets have remained flat and legislative preference for specific cancers is a slippery slope, Varmus said. For example, the Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act passed by the House of Representatives might redirect funding from the Cancer Institute or earmark it for a specific cancer.

By using genomics the institute is moving closer to cures, Varmus said. He noted, however that specific cancers differ.

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Would legendary newsman Edward R. Murrow be tweeting if he were working in journalism today?

When “The Kalb Report,” the National Press Club’s, radio and television show, launched its 19th season Sept. 22 at the Radio and Television Digital News Association and Society for Professional Journalism convention in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., that was one question host Marvin Kalb lofted to the leading journalists on his panel.

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Innovation is the key to economic progress in the United States and the pharmaceutical industry is the most innovative, said John Castellani, president and chief executive officer of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), at a National Press Club Newsmaker Sept. 20.

The pharmaceutical industry has been the leading generator of patents for the last five years, Castellani said. Innovation in the pharmaceutical industry has also lead to new and improved treatments for diseases such as AIDS and cancer, he added.

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The status of women is the major issue facing a great portion of the approximately 900 million young girls around the world today, said Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of the United Nations Population Fund, at Sept. 21 National Press Club Newsmaker.

Osotimehin recalled his time as Nigeria’s minister of health and seeing girls as young as 12 being placed into marriage. “This is not a Nigerian phenomenon, this is a phenomenon that happens across the world,” he said.

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