July 15: Texas healthcare improvement faces political battle

HOUSTON – Gov. Rick Perry says Texas will not take part in the federal mandate to expand the Medicaid program in the state saying that he "will not be party to socializing health care and bankrupting my state in direct contradiction to our limited government."

Republican legislators agree while Democrats do not. Dr. Lovell Jones is neither.  He is the director of the Center for Health Equity and Evaluation Research in the Office of the Vice President for Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences.  It's a big title with a wide area of expertise regarding many areas of health care. Dr. Jones says that politics will need to take a back seat if real progress is to be made in improving healthcare services in SE Texas, especially as it concerns the uninsured within our community.

Dr. Jones says it is a matter of national security!  Find out why as he joins Khambrel Marshall for this week's Houston Newsmakers program.

Former HPD Officer Andrew Blomberg was acquitted in the alleged beating of 15-year-old robbery suspect Chad Holley.  The jury in that case was all white, bringing about cries for changes in the Harris County jury selection system

Chris Daniel, Harris County District Clerk, says the original jury pool was quite diverse but jury strikes by the defense and prosecution shaped the final make up.  Daniel says diversity is not the problem but with nearly 40 percent of those receiving summons ignoring them, there clearly is room for improvement.

Daniel outlines his plan for improving jury turnout and saving tax dollars.

The beginning of the end of AIDS?  That's the goal of the ONE campaign, a bipartisan effort to fight global poverty and disease. Former George W. Bush advisor and Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson is a Senior Fellow with the ONE Campaign and has a passionate plea for why eradicating HIV/AIDS is a possibility, why we all should care and what we can do to make a difference.

Gerson's appearance comes as the NAACP this week decided to take on the impact of HIV/AIDS in the Black community as a national initiative. This as Houston and Harris County continue to lead the state in new HIV/AIDS cases in Texas.

Join Khambrel Marshall this week on Houston Newsmakers Sunday at 10 a.m. right after NBC's Meet The Press.

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