SUNDAY EDITION

President Donald J. Trump’s Weekly Address
Posted on the White House page on 9/ 29/ 17 (link source)

Transcript:

My Fellow Americans,

All American hearts are united with the people of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands who have faced terrible devastation in the wake of two catastrophic hurricanes.  We are working night and day in cooperation with territorial and local authorities to assist those in need, to help save and sustain lives, and to begin the long recovery and rebuilding effort. Our commitment to those affected is this: We are with you, we will stay with you, and we will come back stronger than ever.  We are sending tremendous amounts of supplies, tremendous amounts of food and water, and we are sending great people to help.  I know that it’s been devastating.  I know your police force and everything else has been absolutely hurt, but we’re sending people to help, and it’s getting better on a daily basis.

This week, I traveled to Indiana to announce historic tax reform for the American people. It is based on four key ideas.

First, we will cut taxes on all Working American Families.  People will pay a lot less money.  Single individuals will not be taxed on the first $12,000 of income earned.  And a married couple will pay zero taxes on their first $24,000 of income.  After that, taxable income will be subject to just three tax rates—12%, 25% and 35%, it use to be 7%.  We will also expand the child tax credit, eliminate the credit’s marriage penalty, and provide a new $500 tax credit for elder-care and other adult dependents.  This is the real and lasting tax relief that everyday Americans badly need and truly deserve.  This is what working Americans have been after.

Second, our framework will make the tax code simple, fair, and easy to understand.  Under our plan, the vast majority of families will be able to file their taxes on a single sheet of paper.

As part of simplification, we are also getting rid of taxes that threaten to put family businesses and American farmers out of business.  Julie Ellingson is a 4th generation cattle rancher in Bismarck, North Dakota.  Julie and her family’s legacy of hard work should not be taken away when she dies —we will eliminate the Death Tax and keep her American Dream alive.  Most importantly, her family will long remember, and they’ll be working hard for many, many years on their farm.

Third, we are going to restore America’s competitive edge so that American businesses and workers can win again.  We will cut the corporate rate below the average of our foreign competitors—and we will reduce the top marginal income tax rate on small and mid-sized businesses to the lowest in more than 80 years.  It’s so important because our companies are leaving our shores and when they leave, they let go of the workers.  And then they make their product and they send it back into our country.  We don’t tax them, we don’t do anything.  Those days are over.  We now have a competitive tax where our companies won’t be leaving.  Believe me, it won’t be happening like it has, it’s going to be a big difference.

Finally, our framework encourages corporations to bring back trillions of dollars in wealth parked overseas, and stops punishing companies for keeping their headquarters in the United States.  That’s actually what’s happening.  Companies that stay in our country are being punished by our tax code.  This will switch our current offshoring model—a tax system that drives jobs to other countries—to a new American Model.  Under this plan, we want our companies to hire and grow in America, to raise wages for American workers, and to help rebuild American cities and towns.

This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to pass tax reform and to restore our jobs, our wealth, and our great American Dreams.  We will be able to dream again and those dreams will be met.

Now it is time—finally-- for Congress to deliver.  The problem we have is the democrats don’t want to cut your taxes, they want to actually raise your taxes, and raise them very substantially.  We can’t afford to do that as a country, that’s why our jobs are leaving, that’s why you don’ t have enough left in your pay check.  We want to cut taxes and it’s going to be the biggest tax cut in the history of our Country.
Thank you. God Bless You. And, God Bless America.


WORD FROM OUR GOVERNOR JAY INSLEE
Washington state officials meet with USDOJ to discuss marijuana policy
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 9/29/17 (link source)
Officials from the offices of Gov. Jay Inslee, Attorney General Bob Ferguson, the Washington State Liquor & Cannabis Board and Department of Financial Institutions met today with federal officials at the U.S Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. regarding state and federal marijuana policy.

The meeting came after repeated requests by Inslee and Ferguson to meet with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and discuss Washington state's efforts to safely implement and regulate its voter-approved recreational marijuana market. Washington never received a response to that request, but did receive an invitation to today's meeting with DOJ staff.
State officials discussed numerous topics with emphasis on the state's efforts to eliminate the illicit black market and reduce youth access to marijuana, two issues Attorney General Sessions has expressed concerns about.
State officials also asked for a reaffirmation of USDOJ's enforcement priorities to not seek to disrupt the continued implementation of a safe legal marijuana system. They also reiterated their request for a personal meeting between Inslee, Ferguson and Sessions.

Inslee and Ferguson released this statement following the meeting:
"Our voters asked us to create a safe, tightly-regulated legal recreational marijuana system, and that's exactly what we're doing. We appreciate that our staff were given an opportunity to share our progress and the results of our efforts with USDOJ, and reiterate that we share the goal of keeping our children safe, tightly regulating this market and improving public safety.
"We look forward to continued discussions about a mutually agreeable path forward."

OUR HEALTH & FITNESS

FDA: FDA improves access to reports of adverse drug reactions
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 9/28/ 17 (link source)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today launched a new user-friendly search tool that improves access to data on adverse events associated with drug and biologic products through the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). The tool is designed to make it easier for consumers, providers, and researchers to access this information.
"Tools like the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System are critical to the FDA’s ability to help ensure the greatest level of transparency and help patients and providers make safe use of drug and biologic products after they are approved by the FDA," said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. "The FDA is committed to fully informing patients and providers of adverse events reported with medical products and this enhanced portal now provides patients, doctors and others with easier access to the data they are interested in."

The new dashboard enables users to search for and organize data by criteria such as drug/biological product, age of the patient, type of adverse event, year the adverse event occurred, or within a specific timeframe. In addition to making it easier for consumers to search for adverse events reported with drug or biologic products, the FDA hopes the increased transparency will spur the submission of more detailed and complete reports from consumers, health care professionals and others, by making it easier for people to see other reports that the FDA receives, and search the database for similar observations.( see full statement)

FDA approves new treatment for certain advanced or metastatic breast cancers
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 9/ 28/ 17 (link source)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Verzenio (abemaciclib) to treat adult patients who have hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer that has progressed after taking therapy that alters a patient’s hormones (endocrine therapy). Verzenio is approved to be given in combination with an endocrine therapy, called fulvestrant, after the cancer had grown on endocrine therapy. It is also approved to be given on its own, if patients were previously treated with endocrine therapy and chemotherapy after the cancer had spread (metastasized).
"Verzenio provides a new targeted treatment option for certain patients with breast cancer who are not responding to treatment, and unlike other drugs in the class, it can be given as a stand-alone treatment to patients who were previously treated with endocrine therapy and chemotherapy," said Richard Pazdur, M.D., director of the FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence and acting director of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

FDA approves first continuous glucose monitoring system for adults not requiring blood sample calibration
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 9/ 27/ 17 (link source)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the FreeStyle Libre Flash Glucose Monitoring System, the first continuous glucose monitoring system that can be used by adult patients to make diabetes treatment decisions without calibration using a blood sample from the fingertip (often referred to as a “fingerstick”).
The system reduces the need for fingerstick testing by using a small sensor wire inserted below the skin’s surface that continuously measures and monitors glucose levels. Users can determine glucose levels by waving a dedicated, mobile reader above the sensor wire to determine if glucose levels are too high (hyperglycemia) or too low (hypoglycemia), and how glucose levels are changing. It is intended for use in people 18 years of age and older with diabetes; after a 12-hour start-up period, it can be worn for up to 10 days.

“The FDA is always interested in new technologies that can help make the care of people living with chronic conditions, such as diabetes, easier and more manageable,” said Donald St. Pierre, acting director of the Office of In Vitro Diagnostics and Radiological Health and deputy director of new product evaluation in the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. “This system allows people with diabetes to avoid the additional step of fingerstick calibration, which can sometimes be painful, but still provides necessary information for treating their diabetes—with a wave of the mobile reader.”

People with diabetes must regularly test and monitor their blood sugar to make sure it is at an appropriate level, which is often done multiple times per day by taking a fingerstick sample and testing it with a blood glucose meter. Typically patients use results of a traditional fingerstick test to make diabetes treatment decisions; however, fingerstick testing is not needed to inform appropriate care choices or to calibrate glucose levels with this system.

CDC Is Deactivating the Emergency Operations Center for the Zika Response
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 9/ 29/ 17 (link source)

CDC is deactivating its emergency response for Zika virus (Zika) to transition efforts to normal program operations on September 29, 2017. On January 22, 2016, CDC activated its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in response to the devastating effects of Zika virus infection during pregnancy. A team of experts from across the agency, called the Zika Coordination and Operations Transition Team (ZCOTT), will lead the transition from EOC activation to routine, long-term activities and will ensure timely coordination and collaboration on scientific, communication, and policy activities.

CDC’s EOC is the agency’s command center for monitoring and coordinating emergency response to public health threats and has been activated previously for events such as natural disasters, the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, and the 2014 Ebola outbreak, among others. Since the 2016 EOC activation for Zika, experts from across the agency have worked to protect Americans, especially pregnant women, fetuses, and infants, from the emerging virus and its devastating consequences. CDC will continue its work to protect these groups by providing support for healthcare providers as they counsel pregnant women affected by Zika and provide follow-up care to their infants. CDC recognizes the continued need for coordination among federal, state, and local levels to provide services for families affected by Zika and will provide technical assistance as resources permit.

Deactivation does not mean that the threat of Zika has lessened in importance or that people are no longer at risk of infection. Zika continues to be a public health threat in the United States and internationally. Zika is still a risk for pregnant women, and the continental United States and Hawaii will continue to see some travel-related cases as travelers visit countries and territories with risk of Zika transmission. The possibility of local transmission in the continental United States and Hawaii still exists. CDC remains committed to protecting the health of Americans and will continue working to protect the nation from the threat of Zika.

WORLD AND NATIONAL HEADLINES FROM REUTERS

Defiant Catalans vote on split from Spain despite crackdown
BARCELONA (Reuters) - Spanish riot police burst into polling stations across Catalonia on Sunday, confiscating ballot boxes and voting papers to try to halt a banned referendum on a split from Spain as Madrid asserted its authority over the rebel region.

In change of tone, leader of German FDP calls Macron a 'godsend'
BERLIN (Reuters) - The leader of Germany’s Free Democrats (FDP) called French President Emmanuel Macron a “godsend” on Sunday, welcoming his proposals for more European cooperation in areas ranging from defense and migration to energy and the digital economy.

Italy says to expel North Korea envoy over nuclear, missile tests
MILAN (Reuters) - North Korea’s ambassador to Italy will be expelled from the country in protest over Pyongyang’s recent nuclear and ballistic missile tests, Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano was quoted on Sunday as saying.

NATION
Health and safety rules targeted as Trump begins to slash red tape
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When disaster hits the chemical plants in Port Arthur, Texas, triggering fires like those that flared in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, Hilton Kelley is the man fielding panicked calls from neighbors unsure whether they should evacuate their homes.

Muslim-American Massachusetts activist launches run for Congress
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Reuters) - A two-term Cambridge, Massachusetts, city councilor and founder of an activist group that trains Muslim-Americans to run for office launched a campaign for U.S. Congress on Sunday that could make him the third Muslim in the chamber.

Trump says 'very important' NFL players stand for national anthem Sunday
(Reuters) - On the eve of a host of National Football League games, President Donald Trump on Saturday tweeted that it was “very important” that players stand during the national anthem, following an ongoing controversy over athletes and others kneeling in protest.




WEEKLY BIBLE STUDY
GOSPEL WAY: Are Religious Divisions Ever Justifiable?
According to Galatians 5:20,21, people who are guilty of causing division will not inherit the kingdom of God. Some people, however, look at the divided condition of religion and conclude that no one is right, so they refuse to be part of any group. But is a group necessarily wrong just because it is separated from and disagrees with other groups? Is it possible for one side of a division to be right?
https://www.gospelway.com/topics/church/division-justified.php