Washington, D.C.

President again touts health care agenda

President Bush, who has made health care a top item in his election-year agenda, used his weekly radio address Saturday to promote his plan to address rising medical costs and the growing ranks of the uninsured.

In his State of the Union address Tuesday, Bush touted his ideas for attacking the problem. He repeated that remedy, for what he termed “a great priority for our nation,” in Saturday’s speech.

The topic also is the focus of a trip Bush is making Monday to Little Rock, Ark.

The president is reviving old proposals for a cap on medical malpractice lawsuit awards, which he says are driving up doctors’ insurance premiums and thus the cost of care, and for tax credits of up to $1,000 for individuals and $3,000 for families to help low-income workers buy health insurance.

Washington, D.C.

Democrat puts priority on economy, education

While Democrats stand with President Bush in support of U.S. troops serving in Iraq, the nation must focus more on domestic issues, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle said Saturday. The economy, education, health care and Social Security led his priorities.

The South Dakota senator, in the Democrats’ weekly radio address, said after listening to the president’s State of the Union address Tuesday he was reminded of the many “good, hard-working people” in his home state.

“They help their neighbors and they want to help others around the world. But they’re asking ‘What about us? When do our priorities become America’s priorities?'”

Democrats would build an “Opportunity Society,” he said, emphasizing the need for a strong economy with good jobs. His party would achieve that through tax cuts and policies that would strengthen the manufacturing sector, he said.

Pennsylvania

Foster dad sentenced for binding children

A Doylestown man who took photos of two foster children wrapped in duct tape in their cribs was sentenced to 12 to 30 months in prison.

In imposing the sentence on Neil Broe, Judge Alan Rubenstein said the 30 pictures depicted “a horrifying image … one that will stay with me for a long time.”

Some of the photos showed the 2-year-old boy and 1-year-old girl wrapped at least six times with duct tape around the chest and legs. One picture showed a child’s bare legs dangling through crib rails, the ankles bound with packing tape and the diaper wrapped with duct tape.

Authorities alleged Broe, 42, and Colleen Broe, 34, bound the children to keep them under control. Colleen Broe was acquitted of child abuse charges in November and accused her estranged husband of staging the photos because the couple were in the midst of a divorce.

Neil Broe pleaded guilty to child endangerment, but denied using duct tape.

Washington, D.C.

Airlines create plans for data disclosure

Major U.S. carriers are scrambling to create disclosure policies that inform customers they might share personal data with the federal government, in response to two highly publicized cases in which airlines secretly handed over private passenger information.

The airlines are working to alert passengers and protect themselves from liability as the U.S. government is poised to force the carriers as early as next month to turn over data as part of a computerized passenger screening program.

The airlines are under pressure because of the disclosure last week that Northwest Airlines failed to inform customers that it gave the government records on millions of passengers for a secret security project. In September, JetBlue also admitted it handed over records for a separate project.