Washington, D.C. – Massive cuts for Medicare providers and doctors who treat Medicare patients are coming, warns Idaho Senator Mike Crapo, who says a letter from the Congressional Budget Office proves his point that those cuts are the only way the new health care bill can improve the national debt. Crapo, a member of the Senate Finance Committee and Health Care Subcommittee, argued throughout the health care debate that claims the legislation would reduce the deficit were bogus because the bill cuts Medicare by nearly $500 billion, raises taxes and fees by nearly the same amount and fails to address payments to doctors serving Medicare patients.

“The only way proponents of this bill were able to argue they were saving money was to cut Medicare by nearly a half-trillion dollars, raise taxes and fail to address the compensation issue for doctors,” Crapo said. “I wrote the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office to try and answer the question about deficit reduction. The CBO’s review shows that the claims for deficit reduction are false.”

Crapo said many in Congress expect physicians to drop Medicare patients if they continue to face massive payment cuts. Seniors on Medicare will react negatively once they learn that the Medicare cuts in the bill will likely result in fewer providers in the program and decreased access to care. When you add these factors together, he said, Congress will likely prevent the Medicare cuts and physician payment cuts from occurring, further exacerbating the deficit reduction issue.

A report issued this month by Medicare’s own trustees backs Crapo’s assertions. Rick Foster, the Chief Actuary of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), said the Medicare cuts mandated in the new health care law are unrealistic, would threaten access for seniors and likely result in higher federal spending than what had been projected. His report said the savings provisions in the law were unsustainable and likely to be overridden by Congress.

Crapo stressed that his letter did not, as critics have claimed, ask for the costs of a “full repeal” of the health care bill. He wrote the letter to show the effects on the national debt, should Congress act to prevent the scheduled cuts from taking effect. He said the findings of the CBO and the Medicare trustees make clear that there are huge problems ahead for the health care legislation.

Pocatello – Efforts to cut taxes and increase employment for small craft breweries in Idaho and other states are gaining momentum, according to the Idaho Senator Mike Crapo. Legislation introduced by Crapo and three original co-sponsors on May 11 now has six times the co-sponsors in recent weeks.

Crapo joined Senators John Kerry (D-Massachusetts), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) to introduce legislation that would cut in half the federal excise taxes for smaller breweries, saving money the small businesses can put back into the hiring of new workers and purchase of agricultural products like hops and barley used in the production of their products.

Crapo noted the larger number of bipartisan co-sponsors will make it easier to move the legislation. What started out as a bill with four original sponsors now has 24 co-sponsors and an improved chance for consideration and passage in the Senate.

Crapo will visit the Portneuf Valley Brewing Company in Pocatello on Saturday to discuss the legislation. He was invited to tour the brewery and discuss the tax proposal by owner Penny Pink. Crapo will also discuss the legislation with Idaho Grain Producers Association President and barley farmer Scott Brown of Soda Springs and Dan Kopman, representing the Brewers Association, based in Boulder Colorado. All four will tour the brewery and meet with local media to discuss the tax relief and job-creating legislation, S. 3339.

“In the past year I have invested tens of thousands of dollars into expanding my brewing capacity at Portneuf Valley Brewing,” said brewery owner Penny Pink. “The proposed Excise Tax Reduction bill will definitely help my business, as well as more than 1500 other small craft brewers in the United States, by allowing us to reinvest the $3.50 per barrel excise tax reduction back into our businesses to improve our operations by adding to or improving our existing brewing equipment and hiring new employees to run that equipment. Reinvestment of the tax savings by America's craft brewers will generate jobs and ultimately additional tax revenues at many levels.”

“The Idaho Grain Producers Association is thankful for Sen. Crapo’s leadership in bringing farmers, brewers, and consumers together under one roof to pass this legislation”, said Brown. “Idaho’s barley growers are proud of what they do, and they realize the value of the entire industry chain.”

News Conference and brewery tour:
Saturday, August 28
2:00 p.m.
Portneuf Valley Brewing Company
615 South 1st Avenue
Pocatello

Boise – The land management and access partnerships envisioned under the Owyhee Initiative will take a big step tomorrow as the first two major land management transactions are completed to open critical public access into the new Owyhee wilderness areas created under the legislation. Idaho Senator Mike Crapo, who convened the eight-year collaborative effort resulting in the Owyhee Public Lands Management Act, will join Owyhee County rancher Mike Hanley and local conservation and sporting interests to discuss the land transactions. Visuals of the transactions, including maps, will be present at the news conference.


WHO: Idaho Senator Mike Crapo
Mike Hanley, Owyhee County Rancher
Lou Lunte, The Nature Conservancy
David Kirk, The Wilderness Land Trust
Herb Meyr, Idaho Sportsman



WHEN: Thursday, August 26, 11:15 a.m.
Idaho Senator Mike Crapo’s Boise Office
251 E. Front Street, Suite 205, Conference Room

Washington, D.C. – Idaho Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch have written U.S. Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar, asking that his agency appeal a recent decision by a federal district court in order to restore state control over the management of grey wolves. A federal judge recently ruled against state management despite the fact Idaho has reached and exceeded recovery goals set for wolves under the Endangered Species Act. Crapo and Risch’s letter follows:


The Honorable Ken Salazar
Secretary
United States Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20240

Dear Secretary Salazar:

We write to once again express our appreciation for the Department of the Interior’s decision to delist the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in Idaho. As you know, the good work of state and federal wildlife managers, scientists and local communities made it possible for wolves to not only be recovered, but to achieve healthy populations in the northern Rockies. These levels of success were at one time considered unattainable, but our state, through close work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), showed otherwise.

We are deeply concerned, however, with a recent decision in the United States District Court for the District of Montana, to relist the wolf under the ESA for procedural reasons. This ruling entirely ignores the successful recovery of the gray wolf in Idaho, as well as our state’s strong wolf management plan, which, as you know, has been approved by the FWS and has demonstrated Idaho’s role as a responsible and effective manager of gray wolf populations within our boundaries. This was a most unfortunate decision, which will provide no certainty for states and will undermine state and local confidence in collaborative species recovery efforts.

It is vital that Idaho be permitted to manage its wildlife populations. As such, we request that the Department of the Interior vigorously appeal the District Court’s decision to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. It is imperative that the Department of the Interior put forth any and all necessary resources in order to successfully appeal and overturn the District Court’s decision.

Again, we thank you for the good efforts that you and your employees have put forth over the last several years to help find a way forward on this difficult issue. We look forward to our continued work together.
Sincerely,

Senator Mike Crapo
Senator Jim Risch

Boise – More than 380,000 potential jobs could be created or saved if the United States implements pending trade agreements, according to a study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. To discuss the impact on Idaho jobs is the reason Idaho Senator Mike Crapo is working with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to bring together experts from the U.S. Chamber, the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Agriculture, Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce and other local financial leaders for a forum on jobs and trade Wednesday in Boise.

“Chamber studies show how critical trade is; there are more than a hundred market-opening trade agreements under negotiation around the world and the United States is at the table in only one of these,” Crapo said. “At the same time, our nation faces higher tariffs against our goods than nearly all of our trade competitors. Trade is a critical issue to create and maintain jobs.”

The roundtable is entitled “Business Opportunities for Idaho: Growing through Exports and Trade,” and is scheduled from 8:00 to 11:00 a.m. at the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce’s Basement Conference Room, 250 South 5th Street in Boise.

Among the headliners are Crapo, the Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee’s Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs and Global Competitiveness; Renee Radcliff Sinclair, Executive Director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; U.S. Chamber Director Liz Reilly; USDA Deputy Undersecretary for Farm and Foreign Agriculture Darci Vetter; U.S. Department of Commerce Export Assistance Center Director Amy Benson; U.S. Small Business Administration District Director Norm Proctor; and Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce Chairman David Terrell and President & CEO Bill Connors. More than one hundred Idaho business leaders are also expected to attend the event.

“The current focus is on the U.S. – Korea Free Trade Agreement, which could increase exports of U.S. goods to Korea by $11 billion and expand markets for two-thirds of our agricultural base,” Crapo said. “Just last month, Korea opened its market to Idaho potatoes again and Idaho beef exports have nearly doubled over last year.”

“Another study revealed that between 2004 and 2008, trade-dependent jobs in the U.S. increased by more than 22 percent, compared with just 7 percent for employment overall,” added Crapo, who has served as a delegate to several World Trade Organization meetings.

Washington, D.C. – Idaho Senator Mike Crapo’s record of supporting families and family-friendly work practices has garnered a national award. Crapo is one of 29 Members of Congress receiving the “Best of Congress Award” from Working Mothers Media and Corporate Voices for Working Families. In announcing the awards, the partnership said that Crapo and other recipients “practice what they preach—employing family-friendly policies in their own offices.”

Crapo is one of three Republican Senators honored with the groups’ Best of Congress Award, which will be presented on September 22nd in Washington, D.C. In all, ten Senators were honored. A full list of the recipients is being listed in the Working Mother magazine and at http://www.workingmother.com/BestCompanies/2010/07/2010-best-of-congress-member-profiles-republicans

“As I developed working policies for my office, I wanted to make sure that families and quality of life issues received fair attention and that I set a good example,” Crapo said. “There are many workplaces that could improve in these areas with just a few modifications, and both employer and employee would benefit through more productive and happier workers.”

Corporate Voice for Working Families describes itself as the “leading national business membership organization representing the private sector on public and corporate policy issues involving working families.” The nonprofit, nonpartisan group strives to “improve the lives of working families by developing and advancing innovative policies that reflect collaboration among the private sector, government and other stakeholders.” The group’s membership includes 50 partner companies that employ more than four million individuals throughout all 50 states.

Working Mother Magazine reaches two million readers and notes that it is the “only national magazine for career-committed mothers.” The group says that among its missions are to “serve as a champion of culture change.”

In honoring Crapo, the partnership noted: “Crapo has used his strong background and interest in finance to help working families. As a member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, he has made significant contributions to expanding homeownership. He voted in favor of the Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act, which was signed into law last year and provides for additional temporary emergency unemployment compensation to help families weather the economic storm.

“He also sponsored a resolution to create National Work and Family Month to recognize the importance of flexible work schedules that allow employees to spend time with their families, perform their jobs productively and keep themselves and their loved ones healthy. The resolution urged public officials and employers to work together to achieve more balance between work and family. Crapo also helped create and chaired the Senate Workplace Flexibility Study Group to break the political stalemate surrounding the policy debate on flexibility in the workplace. The group’s goal is to examine the relevant data, policy models and case studies and to hear from different stakeholders to help develop consensus-based, bipartisan solutions to promote a better work/life balance for families.”

Twin Falls – Improvements in health care benefits for veterans and an update on federal gun issues and Second Amendment rights are among the topic that Idaho Senator Mike Crapo will focus on next week in the Magic Valley. Crapo will meet with local veterans, veterans groups, the Veterans Administration and the Idaho Division of Veterans Services to review changes in health care programs for veterans. Federal treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has now been authorized as part of the health care package for veterans and the VA will also announce new efforts to streamline the application process for benefits. Crapo sponsored legislation seeking improved long-term care for PTSD and related health issues for veterans, and has urged the VA to prioritize the issue.

Crapo will also meet with local gun owners and gun dealers to discuss Second Amendment rights in light of recent court cases and federal legislation. Crapo led efforts to restore uniformity to Second Amendment rights on public lands. He has also blocked the nomination of a former nominee to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms over agency policies including the treatment of independent firearms dealers. Crapo also led legislation to reform tax burdens on the manufacturers of sporting arms and ammunition.

Area sugar growers concerned over trade issues and a recent court case on genetic seed will meet with Crapo. He will also hold a business roundtable with industry and manufacturing leaders in Twin Falls and speak at the Mini-Cassia Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Heyburn.

Crapo will also visit local talk radio stations, including a first-ever appearance at the local Spanish language station in Rupert.

Crapo’s Magic Valley schedule on Monday, August 23rd and Tuesday, August 24th includes:

Monday, August 23:

10:45 a.m. Twin Falls Meets with gun owners and dealers on Second Amendment rights,
Hilton Garden Inn, 1741 Harrison Street North.

1:00 p.m. Twin Falls Receives updates on federal programs from South Central Community
Action Partnership, 550 Washington Street South.

2:30 p.m. Twin Falls Speaks to Industry and manufacturing roundtable, Idaho Joe’s
Conference Room, 598 Blue Lakes Boulevard North.

3:15 p.m. Twin Falls Discusses improvements in veterans health programs,
American Legion Hall, 447 Seastrom.


Tuesday, August 24:

11:00 a.m. Burley Visits High Desert Milk, 1033 Idaho Street.

Noon Heyburn Speaks to Mini-Cassia Chamber of Commerce luncheon,
Heyburn Riverside Park, 1177 7th Street.

2:15 p.m. Burley Discusses water issues with local water and soil conservation leaders,
FSA/NRCS Conference Room, 1351 E. 16th Street.

3:00 p.m. Burley Meets with local sugar producers and the Idaho Sugar Beet Growers,
Cassia County Farm Bureau Offices, 444 E. 5th Avenue North.

Wallace – Idaho Senator Mike Crapo will participate in several events in Wallace this Saturday. Crapo will serve as official starter for the Huckleberry Festival’s 5K Fun Run, participate in Pancake Breakfast events and attend a commemorative event on the centennial of the 1910 Fires that devastated the area. He will also participate in the Pinehurst Days Parade.

Crapo in Wallace and Pinehurst on Saturday, August 21:

9:00 a.m Wallace Fires the starting gun officially starting the Huckleberry Festival 5K Fun
Run and Walk. At the Wallace Junior/Senior High School, #1 Miners Alley

9:30 a.m. Wallace Participates in the Huckleberry Festival Pancake Breakfast. At the
Wallace Junior/Senior High School


10:45 a.m. Pinehurst Walks in the Pinehurst Days Parade, Downtown Pinehurst

12:45 p.m. Wallace Attends the Commemoration events for the Centennial of the 1910 Great
Fire. At the Wallace Visitors Center, 10 River Street

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia), John Thune (R-South Dakota), Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma) and Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia) today called on Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to end the continued taxpayer bailouts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by the current administration.

In the letter, the senators remind Secretary Geithner of the more than $148 billion that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have already cost the taxpayers. The recent news from these two entities of more quarterly losses means this figure will continue to rise, adding not only to our country’s deficit, but also destroying any chance of rebuilding a stronger economic foundation.

“This puzzling practice of repeating past mistakes which contributed to the housing bubble and the current state of our economy must end. Real ideas for reform exist and must be considered immediately”, the letter states. “Further, the persistent treatment of the issue of the government’s role in the housing industry of this country as a political football has only exacerbated the economic volatility rampant in our capital markets. As we approach the two year mark since Fannie and Freddie were placed in conservatorship, and with concerns growing over our nation’s record level debt, how much longer will this administration ignore the budgetary effects of continuing to extend taxpayer assistance to these GSEs by refusing to account for their expenditures in federal budget projections?”


This letter corresponds with the Treasury Department’s conference on the future of Fannie and Freddie being held today.

The text of the letter is below:


Dear Secretary Geithner:

We are distressed to learn of the continued taxpayer bailouts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by this Administration, for which there appears to be little to no accountability. These two catalysts of the mortgage meltdown over the last several years have now cost the taxpayers upwards of $148 billion. And given the Administration’s decision to avoid addressing this enormous problem during consideration of the larger financial regulatory overhaul, this figure is expected to rise in the coming months, with no end in sight.

It is estimated the federal government provides financing for roughly 90 percent of home loans issued in the U.S. This is yet another example of this Administration’s seemingly endless desire to extend its reach into all facets of our economy, maintaining a steering-grip on the wheel of free markets. Recent news from these two bailout-behemoths of more quarterly losses, and the inevitable subsequent call for additional billions in taxpayer assistance, demonstrates that simply maintaining the current structure of Fannie and Freddie moving forward – and the government’s current role in the mortgage business – is destructive to the rebuilding of a stronger economic foundation, and ignores the lessons of the financial collapse.

The announcement that this Administration has seen fit to walk in the footprints of the unsustainable path that led to the housing collapse by enabling Fannie and Freddie to extend financing to homeowners with up to 25 percent negative equity all but ensures further losses for these already hemorrhaging institutions. Continued subsidization of the housing market by placing these underwater mortgages on the government’s books in an attempt to temporarily resuscitate the economy will only lead to an artificial economic recovery, destined to collapse yet again, and further ensnare the taxpayer.

This puzzling practice of repeating past mistakes which contributed to the housing bubble and the current state of our economy must end. Real ideas for reform exist and must be considered immediately.

Like many of our colleagues, we are extremely disappointed to see the lack of commitment by this Administration and Democrats in Congress to deal seriously with the giant drain these two entities place on our economic recovery. The Treasury Department has failed to acknowledge that the continued operation and organization of these two entities under the status quo prevents the market correction necessary to emerge from the recent economic downturn stronger, and more stable. Further, the persistent treatment of the issue of the government’s role in the housing industry of this country as a political football has only exacerbated the economic volatility rampant in our capital markets.

With repeated losses by both Government Sponsored Enterprises -- 12 consecutive quarters – what rationale is behind this Administration’s belief this pattern will cease? The Congressional Budget Office estimates that bailing out Fannie and Freddie will cost taxpayers $389 billion between 2009 and 2019. As we approach the two year mark since Fannie and Freddie were placed in conservatorship, and with concerns growing over our nation’s record level debt, how much longer will this Administration ignore the budgetary effects of continuing to extend taxpayer assistance to these GSEs by refusing to account for their expenditures in federal budget projections? What is this Administration’s timeframe for implementing significant reform of these two entities? In the interim, what kind of restrictions is Treasury placing on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as a condition of receiving more and more taxpayer dollars?

We look forward to your timely responses to the above questions.

Sincerely,

Saxby Chambliss
John Thune
Mike Crapo
Tom Coburn
Johnny Isakson

Nampa – The future of boating on Lake Lowell south of Nampa will be the focus of a meeting Saturday at the lake. Idaho Senator Mike Crapo has called for a meeting of recreational users, local officials, residents and others to seek an update from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Service is in the process of creating a new comprehensive management plan for the Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge on Lake Lowell. Some lake users are concerned that the process could restrict or ban power boating on the lake, a popular recreation area in Southwest Idaho.

“Recreation is a vital part of our lifestyle and our economy, as well as a historical use of Lake Lowell,” Crapo said. “I am encouraged by the strong response to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s call for public comment, but the comment period for the new management plan is scheduled to close in mid-September. Now is the time for recreationalists and residents to weigh in and let our elected leaders, as well as the Service, know their feelings about the future use of Lake Lowell.”

Crapo noted local irrigators helped create Lake Lowell, which is fed by canals supplying water to local agricultural users and property owners. Irrigators, recreational groups and elected officials will all be in attendance for the lake meeting, scheduled for Saturday morning on the west end of the lake at the lower dam. County commissioners, members of the Idaho House and Senate, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Officials, boaters and recreational interests and businesses will attend.