The following is political activity for Wednesday, September 1, 2010, going on in Washington and across the nation. It is courtesy of Scott Wilk, Community Organizer, and Anchor Consulting group. The Beacon will be posting these daily as they become available.

IN THE HOUSE

  • The House is not in session.
  • Lawmakers Face Further Ethics Probe  -  Investigators Cite Fund-Raisers With Financial-Services Interests as House Mulled Wall Street Law (Wall Street Journal)

IN THE SENATE

  • The Senate is not in session.
  • Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski concedes in GOP primary  -  Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski has conceded defeat to upstart Tea Party favorite Joe Miller after a day of counting ballots in their razor-thin Republican primary, the Associated Press reports. (USA Today)

OTHER NEWS

  • Obama looks beyond Iraq  -  Declaring an end to the combat mission, he says the U.S. must now focus its shrunken resources on rebuilding its ailing economy. (Los Angeles Times)
  • Reid hopeful for GOP energy votes after elections  -  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he hoped to pick up Republican votes for a pared-down energy bill after the midterm congressional elections. (Reuters)
  • Florida voters can’t strip down Obama health-care bill, judge rules  -  Florida was one of four states – along with Arizona, Oklahoma, and Colorado – with a ballot initiative this November to potentially override the health-care bill mandate that all Americans must have health insurance. (Christian Science Monitor)
  • Judge Is Asked to Lift Stem-Cell Funds Ban  -  The Obama administration asked a federal judge Tuesday to allow the government to continue funding embryonic stem-cell research while a case challenging the program makes its way through the courts. (Wall Street Journal)
  •  In Wisconsin, an Incumbent Holds Tight  -  Senator Russ Feingold says he should not be considered the front-runner in his bid for a fourth term. If that self-appraisal is true, Democrats face a greater risk of losing their majority in the Senate than they believed when summer began. (New York Times)

FEDERAL GRANT OF THE DAY

  • Small Business Innovation Research Program Phase I Solicitation FY-2011- The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program stimulates technological innovation in the private sector by strengthening the role of small business concerns in meeting Federal research and development needs, increasing the commercial application of federally supported research results, and fostering and encouraging participation by socially and economically disadvantaged and women-owned small businesses.  The SBIR program solicits proposals from the small business sector consistent with NSF’s mission. A main purpose of the legislation is to stimulate technological innovation and increase private sector commercialization. The NSF SBIR program is therefore in a unique position to meet both the goals of NSF and the purpose of the SBIR legislation by transforming scientific discovery into both social and economic benefit, and by emphasizing private sector commercialization. Accordingly, NSF has formulated a broad solicitation topics for SBIR that conform to the high-technology investment sector’s interests.  The four broad topics are: Biotechnology and Chemical Technologies (BC) Education Applications (EA) Information and Communication Technologies (IC) Nanotechnology, Advanced Materials, and Manufacturing (NM) For more information, see NSF.  Application deadline: December 3, 2010

TODAY IN HISTORY

  • September 1, 1985- On this day, a joint American–French expedition located the wreckage of the RMS Titanic.

Source and thanks to www.anchor-consult.com / For more information, contact Anchor Consulting at 703-333-6013