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Displaying results 1621 - 1630 of 2062
NPC book club brunches with 'Amsterdam' author
Some 30 members of the National Press Club's Books & Brunch group and guests turned out April 19 to brunch with author Russell Shorto, to ask questions and discuss at length his highly-enlightening light bulb-popping book "Amsterdam: the Most Liberal City In The World." An American journalist and contributing editor for the New York Times Magazine, Shorto first revealed the largely-forgotten early history of New York City, originally known as New Amsterdam, and the founding Dutchmen who created a brand new progressive American culture in his book Island in the Center of the World,…
Type: News
Air Force chief describes budget constraints at National Press Club Breakfast
Air Force Chief of Staff Mark Welsh described his service's adjustments to budget constraints under sequestration at an April 23 National Press Club Breakfast. The Air Force fiscal year 2015 budget is $20 billion less than projected in 2012, requiring significant adjustment, not just making changes "around the edges," Welsh said. Welsh focused on the decision to eliminate the entire fleet of A-10 fighter planes, saying that cutting a whole fleet was more effective than partially reducing several because cutting a whole fleet saves infrastructure costs. Cutting the A-10 saves $4.2 billion and…
Type: News
Outgoing NTSB chairman uses Press Club Breakfast to advocate for preventive safety
Deborah Hersman, outgoing chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said proactive solutions to safety problems should be found to prevent accidents before they happen. In a breakfast speech at the National Press Club on April 21, Hersman said that technology is likely to provide the resolution to safety issues. The primary function of the NSTB “is to investigate to reduce future risk,” Hersman said. “I would like to talk about risk, especially unlikely risks, and why we pay attention to them.” Hersman framed the safety issues by illustrating the problem with a story about a…
Type: News
McCurry regales Communications and Marketing dinner
Former Clinton Press Secretary Mike McCurry delivered a candid talk at a National Press Club Communications and Marketing Committee dinner April 10 and predicted Hillary Clinton may not run for president in 2016. McCurry waxed eloquent on aligning faith and politics in today’s Washington and the lack of civility in our discourse. Veteran communicators asked questions that cut across McCurry’s storied career in Washington. Members seemed most intrigued by McCurry’s work at the White House and how he handled crisis, international press and transitioning to the private sector. But one guest,…
Type: News
Justices Scalia and Ginsburg talk about NSA on 'The Kalb Report'
In a far-ranging conversation with host Marvin Kalb April 17, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said the high court is the least qualified of the three branches of government to decide whether the National Security Agency should be allowed to maintain surveillance on the American people but Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the court had no option but to rule on whatever comes before it. “We can’t run away and say we don’t know much about that issue,” Justice Ginsburg said. Scalia and Ginsburg, who are polar opposites on many of the major issues that come before the court, joined Kalb for…
Type: News
Comedian Lewis Black jokes about politics, childhood, entrepreneurship and more
In a revealing and sometimes angry routine featuring anecdotes from his childhood and a tribute to his parents, comedian Lewis Black entertained the crowd at a National Press Club luncheon Monday. The self-proclaimed socialist, in his trademark comically serious style, railed against small government conservatives and incompetence in Washington. “You’re going to make government smaller, watch what happens to Washington D.C, watch it!,” said the native of Silver Spring, Md. “What do you think the motor is behind all those restaurants? It’s the government. The federal government combined with…
Type: News
PM: Grenada primed for new era as sustainable nation
Grenada, an island national in the south Caribbean Sea, wants to boost its use of solar power and other renewable energy to end a costly electricity monopoly and launch the country on a path to sustainable development, Prime Minister Keith C. Mitchell said Friday at a National Press Club Newsmaker. Mitchell opened the event by signing an agreement with Carbon War Rooms, an international non-profit and think tank that is developing market-based solutions to halt climate change. Mitchell, elected prime minister in 2013, spent last week in Washington meeting with International Monetary Fund…
Type: News
IRS head says agency strives to regain public confidence
The nation's tax collection agency must regain the confidence of the American people, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said at a National Press Club luncheon on April 2. He took office about three months ago, as the IRS was embroiled in a controversy over how it determined which social welfare organizations can attain tax exempt status. Conservative groups claimed the IRS was biased against them. "One of the most important things we have to do is restore public trust in the agency," Koskinen said. The IRS will treat people fairly no matter what political party they favor, "what organizations…
Type: News
Democratic campaign leader: Republican budget will define midterm elections
The Republican budget proposal introduced this week "will define the next seven months" of Democratic campaigning before the congressional midterm elections in November, the leader of the House campaign arm said at a Newsmaker press conference on April 2. The spending plan threatens students and senior citizens, said Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Not only do they slash $5 trillion, but they make the middle class do with less so the special interests still get rewards," Israel said. "While they cut student loans, the largest tobacco…
Type: News
Deeds: More mental health care reform needed in Virginia, nationally
Recent legislation passed by the Virginia General Assembly to improve the state’s troubled mental-health system is only the first step in reform that is necessary not only in Virginia, but nationally, former Democratic gubernatorial nominee Creigh Deeds told a National Press Club luncheon March 31. “Now the real work begins. We’ve addressed the easy things,” said Deeds, a Virginia state senator who has led the push for stronger mental-health legislation following the suicide of his 24-year-old son last November. His son's death helped shine a national spotlight on mental-health treatment. A…
Type: News