Sunday, September 27, 2009

Romney a victim in health care debate - Andy Barr - POLITICO.com


Romney a victim in health care debate - Andy Barr - POLITICO.com

I thought about his a few months ago. I theory this guy would be the SME,,right. But if the Republican position is against goverment mandated healthcare like Romney-care.


The national health care reform debate is far from settled, but one of the casualties is already clear: former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Three years ago, Romney was heralded for his innovative effort to institute near-universal health care in his state. But now that the issue has emerged as a partisan fault line and the Massachusetts plan has provided some guidance for Democratic reform efforts, Romney finds himself bruised and on the defensive as the GOP rallies around opposition to President Barack ObamaĆ¢€™s plans.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27610.html#ixzz0SM3qxBRl



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Thursday, September 24, 2009

The first US President to led - U.N. Security Council Adopts Measure on Nuclear Arms

President Obama, in his first visit to the opening of the United Nations General Assembly, made progress Wednesday on two key issues, wringing a concession from Russia to consider tough new sanctions against Iran and securing support from Moscow and Beijing for a Security Council resolution to curb nuclear weapons.

The successes came as Mr. Obama told leaders that the United States intended to begin a new era of engagement with the world, in a sweeping address to the General Assembly in which he sought to clearly delineate differences between himself and the administration of President George W. Bush.
One of the fruits of those differences — although White House officials were loath to acknowledge any quid pro quo publicly — emerged during Mr. Obama’s meeting on Wednesday afternoon with President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia, the first between the two since Mr. Obama decided to replace Mr. Bush’s missile defense program in Eastern Europe with a version less threatening to Moscow.
With a beaming Mr. Obama standing next to him, Mr. Medvedev signaled for the first time that Russia would be amenable to longstanding American requests to toughen sanctions against Iran significantly if, as expected, nuclear talks scheduled for next month failed to make progress.

“I told His Excellency Mr. President that we believe we need to help Iran to take a right decision,” Mr. Medvedev said, adding that “sanctions rarely lead to productive results, but in some cases, sanctions are inevitable.”

U.N. unanimously backs Obama's nuclear disarmament goal


With President Barack Obama in the chair at an unprecedented meeting of the U.N. Security Council, major world powers on Thursday endorsed his goal of a nuclear weapons-free world and pledged to strengthen the shaky international system for preventing the spread of nuclear arms.

The Security Council unanimously passed a U.S.-drafted resolution that endorses the eventual goal of "a world without nuclear weapons." It lays out steps for nuclear powers to trim their arsenals, while making it harder for other nations to convert civilian nuclear programs to military ones. - Miami Hearld

Obama Makes Gains at U.N. on Iran and Proliferation



Sunday, September 20, 2009

Big Oil Goes Green for Real (Newsweek)

In July, ExxonMobil announced big plans to grow green algae to fuel cars; last week, Chevron unveiled the world's largest carbon-sequestration project in Australia; and in recent months, Valero, Marathon, and Sunoco carried out a series of acquisitions that resulted in Big Oil controlling 7 percent of the U.S. ethanol business.

94 Banks - The Trend Continues

Irwin Financial’s 2 Bank Units Seized, Pushing U.S. Toll to 94

The move comes after their parent firm - Irwin Financial - was unable to meet an FDIC demand to boost their capital.

Irwin Union Bank based in Louisville was closed by the Office of Thrift Supervision and Columbus-based Irwin Union Bank and Trust Co. was shut by the Indiana Department of Financial Institutions, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said yesterday in a statement. First Financial Bank of Hamilton, Ohio, agreed to assume the deposits and take over 27 offices, the FDIC said.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

US Household Net Worth Up 3.9% To $53.14 Trillion In 2Q

US Household Net Worth Up 3.9% To $53.14 Trillion In 2Q



Household wealth rose in the second quarter at a 17% annual rate, or $2 trillion, to $53.1 trillion after falling at a 13% rate in the first quarter, the Fed said. It was the first time since the second quarter of 2007 that wealth had increased. Net worth is down $12.2 trillion from the peak in 2007, an indication of how much the collapse in stock prices and home prices have hurt. Read the full report.

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Monday, September 14, 2009

He could not leave a comrade behind - The Boston Globe

He could not leave a comrade behind - The Boston Globe



Moving low and fast, according to the testimony of his fellow soldiers, Monti got within less than a dozen feet of Bradbury before he had to dive behind the low stone wall where Lybert lay dead. After a brief pause, he made another attempt but the shooting was even more intense. He scrambled back behind the low wall.

He prepared to make another attempt to save Bradbury, this time asking some of his men to cover him with more gun fire trained on the woods. But as he lunged toward Bradbury the third time, an RPG exploded in his path.

The blast blew off his legs, but Monti struggled to get back to the stone wall, his men calling out in encouragement. With his last breaths, his soldiers later reported, Monti said he made his peace with God. And right before he died he asked them to tell his family he loved them.

As darkness fell over the valley, the mortar rounds Monti called for began to hit the enemy positions. US aircraft also dropped several bombs into the woods.

“Monti’s selfless act of courage rallied the patrol to defeat the enemy attack,’’ the Army concluded.


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Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Rep. Joe Wilson - You lie!

Rep. Joe Wilson (R - S.C.) -- drawing a second "It's not true,"

Monday, September 7, 2009

Florida GOP Chair - TPM

There is so much money being made off of these believers that it floors me.

White House Rewrote School Speech After Conservatives Caught Them Indoctrinating Children!
Florida GOP chairman Jim Greer appeared on CNN today, and accused the White House of changing the content of President Obama's stay-in-school speech in the wake of conservative outrage at political indoctrination -- outrage that he was instrumental in mobilizing, by the way -- and that the original would have been much more politically-oriented.

Florida GOP Chair - TPM

There is so much money being made off of these believers that it floors me.

White House Rewrote School Speech After Conservatives Caught Them Indoctrinating Children!
Florida GOP chairman Jim Greer appeared on CNN today, and accused the White House of changing the content of President Obama's stay-in-school speech in the wake of conservative outrage at political indoctrination -- outrage that he was instrumental in mobilizing, by the way -- and that the original would have been much more politically-oriented.

Florida GOP Chair on Obama's Speech to Students:

Florida GOP Chair on Obama's Speech to Students: "It's a Good Speech, I'll Let My Kids Watch" - The Note
ABC News' Steven Portnoy reports: The Florida Republican party chairman who last week accused the president of trying to “indoctrinate America’s children to his socialist agenda” now says he’ll let his children watch what he calls a “good speech,” one the president “should give.”

“It’s a good speech,” Florida GOP chairman Jim Greer said Monday. “It encourages kids to stay in school and the importance of education and I think that’s what a president should do when they’re gonna talk to students across the country.”


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Senate has sent a bipartisan framework for health care legislation

 

It’s finally coming together.  In a last minute push to get a Senate plan in front of the White House a bill has been suggested. 

Although we would think that people don’t like paying extra money to companies just for the sake of doing it, this bill creates a foundation for an overdue healthcare bill.  My example are healthcare and oil\gas.

This healthcare has taken way to long to get done.  As known by everyone, there is a disparity of care based on economic status that is as old as the nation but for this point I’ll say a century.  If a person has money they get preventive healthcare, for others they get emergency care at the ER – Trauma center.  The care is not preventative and it is too late.  Maybe this will bring the equity that the ‘founders’ were thinking about and not writing about.  If only the clarity of their thoughts were written so there would be no questions today.


After months of deliberations, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus has distributed a plan to overhaul the health system that would cost less than $900 billion over a decade and expand insurance coverage to tens of millions of Americans.

Tennessee mayor defends sending out false anti-Muslim email.

The mayor of Clarksville, Tenn., is under fire for forwarding an e- mail blasting a U.S. postage stamp celebrating Muslim religious holidays, which was created in 2001.

The mayor forwarded the e-mail to city council members, department heads and to a city e-mail list that goes to every employee with an e-mail account.

Piper defended his actions. He said the e-mail is not anti-Muslim and he forwarded it to provide "information."

The e-mail says incorrectly that the stamp was developed under the administration of President Barack Obama. The stamp was first issued in 2001 and reissued in 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Video - Olbermann calls out conservative media for "urging America to just stay home from school"

I can't help it, it's so very funny.



Olbermann calls out conservative media for "urging America to just stay home from school"




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US Share of Worldwide Arms Market

US Share of Global Arms Sales

Russia was far behind in 2008 with $3.3 billion in weapons sales to the developing world, about 7.8 percent of all such agreements. The report notes that while Moscow continues to have China and India as its main weapons clients, Russia’s new focus is on arms sales to Latin American, in particular to Venezuela.

France was third with $2.5 billion in arms sales to developing nations, or about 5.9 percent of weapons deals with these countries.

The top buyers in the developing world in 2008 were the United Arab Emirates, which signed $9.7 billion in arms deals, Saudi Arabia, which signed $8.7 billion in weapons agreements, and Morocco, with $5.4 billion in arms purchases.

ArmorGroup: US Guards 'Drunk At Obscene Kabul Parties' - video

Eight civilian security guards at the United States Embassy in Afghanistan were fired and two resigned following accusations of lewd behavior and sexual misconduct at their living quarters.

The Kabul senior management team of ArmorGroup North America, the private contractor that provides guards for the State Department, was also “being replaced immediately,” the embassy said Friday in a statement.






Fifty-seven companies abandon Glenn Beck, should Fox do the same? -- DailyFinance

Fifty-seven companies abandon Glenn Beck, should Fox do the same? -- DailyFinance

Eleven new companies whose ads were recently seen during Beck’s program—Binder & Binder, Capital One, The Dannon Company, Discover, HSBC, ICAN Benefit Group Insurance, Infiniti, Jelmar (manufacturer of CLR All-Purpose Cleaner), Jordan McKenna Debt Counseling Network, Mercedes-Benz and Simplex Healthcare (creator of the Diabetes Care Club) —have pledged to ColorOfChange.org to take steps to ensure that their ads don’t run on Beck’s show. Fifty-seven companies have now committed not to support Beck’s show since ColorOfChange.org launched its campaign four weeks ago after the Fox News Channel host called President Obama a “racist” who “has a deep-seated hatred for white people” during an appearance on Fox & Friends.

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Glenn Beck wins a big one


Glenn Beck's all out campaign to attack ColorOfChange.org has gotten a win by getting the resignnation of a founder and advisor to the President: Van Jones.

No matter what position one my have about him, Jones was wrong in signing a questionaire about 9/11/2001. Although this may be seen as a matter of Beck stating (exposing) that Jones is a - well see the following: On July 23rd, Glenn Beck began his crusade against Van Jones, calling him “a communist-anarchist radical.” He went on to rail against Jones approximately 20 times on Fox News in the past couple of months. Last Friday, Beck cited “former black nationalist, avowed communist Van Jones” as an example of “the true danger”...

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Prediction and Analysis: President Obama and Health care

Healthcare will pass this year, for a number of different reasons. First, Dems can't afford to lose this one. If this president loses this one, like Pres Clinton lost his battle in '93, he and the Dems will lose a lot more then a bill. They will lose the control of the congress - which they might lose anyway because conservatives are geeked up now.

The discipline of the new Dems is that they learned from history. Their history of division and infighting is well known, but in case no one was watching they've passed everything that they wanted. Right? They've won the youth vote for three elections and the general populous for two. They've won the Latino vote - for a generation with the appointment of Sotomayor. Latinos are very, very loyal. By contrast, the opposition has blown up: governors quitting, having affairs, and being the leaders of the resistance.

Second, with the harsh polorized nature in the US any lean towards one side will tilt the balance of power with the help of Independents.

Third, power doesn't come often. The dems have had power since 2006, which is long enough, but not long enough to seal change. So the dems need to extend their leadership for a few more elections with wins and caluclated losses. The dmes will buck up to the pres and the dems will try to hole the repubs into blockers of change. People are still irratated with the 2000-2006 control structure. - CMP