Walberg Weekly Wrap-Up

WALBERG WEEKLY WRAP-UP

Ronald Reagan famously once said, "We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone."

One of the core values we in south-central Michigan take pride in is that we frequently use our gifts, abilities and time to work together and ensure that needs in our communities are met.

In that spirit of brotherly love, I bring to your attention two issues affecting our state that require compassionate and swift action.

A January 28, 2007 article in the Lansing State Journal stated that Michigan's statewide blood inventory levels "have remained below an adequate supply for all negative blood types since early January."

The article goes on to state that a 72 hour supply of blood is typically necessary for the needs of patients in Michigan's 127 hospitals, but the inventory level of certain blood types in Michigan has dropped to just a 12- to 24-hour supply.

Recently, I had the opportunity to participate in the St. Gerard Blood Drive held in Delta Township in Eaton County. While I confess I have never been a fan of needles, the feeling of civic duty experienced by myself and all the donors that day far outweighed any temporary pain we may have felt as a result of a needle.

Approximately five million people receive blood transfusions each year, and every single blood donation literally can be the difference between life and death.

I urge all Michiganders to make appointments at local blood donation centers and give organizations like the Red Cross the necessary resources to assist those in need.

The American Heart Association brought another health-related issue to my attention this week.

The AHA designated this past Friday, February 2, as National Wear Red Day, a day dedicated to building awareness of a dangerous condition many women suffer from.

Statistics show that only 13 percent of women in our country see heart disease as a serious health threat, and heart disease actually claims the lives of more women than the next four causes of death in women combined.

The encouraging news is that heart disease for the most part is preventable if a woman makes healthy lifestyle choices and actions.

For more information, please visit www.americanheart.org and learn how you can empower yourself and those closest to you to beat heart disease.

On the legislative front, this week I voted against the Washington-centered new leadership's $463.5 billion spending measure for the remainder of this fiscal year.

I came to Congress not to maintain the status quo in Washington, D.C., but to work for real, meaningful reform on how Congress spends taxpayer dollars.

This budget bill, which some dubbed "a spendathon," contained numerous examples of egregious and wasteful spending, including funding for an indoor rainforest in Iowa, the continuation of funds for the Bridge to Nowhere in Alaska and dozens of other pork barrel spending projects.

Business as usual is not good enough. To enact meaningful reforms that grow our economy and lead to a balanced budget, I co-sponsored legislation to reform the earmark process and give the president line-item veto authority to strike out pork-barrel spending. I will continue to champion these reform ideas in the upcoming discussion over the 2008 budget.

My wife Sue and I look forward to listening to your ideas and concerns about these topics and others as we travel across the district in the coming weeks.

http://walberg.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=56979