In speech in Cairo, Barack Obama seeks ‘common ground’ with Islam

The Politico.com, June 4th, 2009

CAIRO – In remarks being translated live for broadcasts and Webcasts
in every major language, President Barack Obama said Thursday that the United States wants “common ground” and “a new beginning” with the Muslim world, where America’s image plummeted with the Bush administration’s response to the 9/11 attacks.

“Much has been made of the fact that an African-American with the name Barack Hussein Obama could be elected President. But my personal story is not so unique,” he said in the Grand Hall of Cairo University. “The dream of opportunity for all people has not come true for everyone in America, but its promise exists for all who come to our shores.” More…

Cuba readmitted to OAS ending cold war policy

Huffington Post, June 4th, 2009

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras — The Organization of American States voted by acclamation on Wednesday to revoke the 1962 measure suspending communist Cuba, overturning a landmark of the Cold War in the hemisphere.

“The Cold War has ended this day in San Pedro Sula,” said Honduran President Manuel Zelaya immediately following the announcement. “We begin a new era of fraternity and tolerance.” More…

Sotomayor Gets High Approval Rating by 3 to 1

Politicalwire.com, June 4th, 2009

Led by large black, Hispanic and Jewish majorities, American voters approve 55% to 25% percent of President Obama’s nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court, according to a new Quinnipiac poll.

Said pollster Peter Brown: “So far the Republicans have barely laid a glove on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. There may be disputes within the Beltway about her nomination, but she is still playing well in Peoria.”

Obama also endorses a “insurance exchange” system that increases portability and competition

The Hill.com, June 4th, 2009

President Obama came off the sidelines Wednesday and laid out his health care reform requirements in a letter to key lawmakers.

He told Democratic Sens. Edward Kennedy (Mass.) and Max Baucus (Mont.) that their legislation must include a government-run insurance option that would compete against the private sector. He also reaffirmed his support for a Massachusetts-style insurance exchange.

By plunging into the details of the reform rather than cheering from the sidelines, as he has done for months, Obama raises the political stakes for the summer’s big legislative battle, and will hearten liberals who have yearned for his intervention to put a public-sector option on the table.

“I strongly believe that Americans should have the choice of a public health insurance option operating alongside private plans,” Obama wrote in the two-page letter.

With the insurance exchange, consumers could choose among health insurance plans, including the public option. Obama also made it plain that low-income people should not have to buy insurance they cannot afford, and that small businesses should be exempt from any mandate that employers offer health benefits or pay a tax to finance government subsidies. More…

Given this failure, let’s hold elections now!

Bloomberg, June 9th, 2009

June 9 (Bloomberg) — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said President Barack Obama’s plan to fix the economy through stimulus spending and government intervention to boost companies like General Motors Corp. has “already failed.”

Gingrich was the keynote speaker at a fundraising dinner for the Republican House and Senate campaign committees, filling a role President George W. Bush had served for the past eight years.

“Bureaucrats managing companies does not work, politicians dominating the economy does not work,” Gingrich told about 2,000 Republicans who attended the event at the Washington Convention Center last night.

Republican leaders hailed Gingrich, the leader of the 1994 “Republican Revolution,” as a de facto head of the party at a time when Republicans are looking for ideas to lead them back to the majority.

In introducing Gingrich, Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin called him the “architect of the last reform movement” and “the man of ideas.” More…

The Hill.com, June 9th, 2009

Hopes have evaporated for passing a bill giving the District of Columbia voting rights in the House, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Tuesday.

The district’s leaders can’t reach consensus on what to do about an amendment that would gut D.C.’s gun laws, according to Hoyer (D-Md.), the bill’s patron in leadership.

“There is not a consensus among leaders in D.C.,” Hoyer said. “I don’t think we’re going to be able to move the bill at this time.”

The bill has been stalled for months, but today represented Hoyer’s most dismal assessment since the Senate passed the bill with the gun amendment attached. Previously, Hoyer had said he was confident the bill could pass this year.

The gun amendment is backed by the National Rifle Association and supported by conservative Democrats, particularly Blue Dogs from the South and the West. Together with Republicans, they form a strong majority in support of gun rights.

The amendment would essentially prevent D.C. from having gun laws stricter than the federal government. More…

It would appear that extremist right-wing activists are focused on violence; goaded on by extremist media hosts.

New York Times, June 10th, 2009

WASHINGTON — An elderly man walked into the Holocaust Museum, one of the capital’s most-visited sites, shortly after 1 p.m. Wednesday and opened fire with a shoulder weapon or pistol, wounding a security guard before being shot himself, officials said.

The gunman was identified by several news agencies as James W. von Brunn, a man in his late 80s. According to a Web site maintained by Mr. von Brunn, he embraces a far-reaching conspiracy theory involving Jews, blacks and other minority groups. Early reports indicated that he lives in eastern Maryland. More…

Lone gunman had lots of anti-abortion company

Kansas City Star, June 6th, 2009

It is believed that the shooter acted alone.

Surely, that’s true. No one else was standing beside the man, thought to be Scott Roeder, when he murdered George Tiller in the sanctuary of his church in Wichita.

But Michael Griffin also acted alone when he killed David Gunn in 1993. Paul Hill acted alone when he killed John Britton in 1994. John Salvi acted alone, and so did Eric Rudolph and James Kopp. This suspect isn’t lonely in this murderous cast of lone actors.

It was an isolated incident.

So it was. There was no grand scheme of assassinations. But it was also an isolated incident when Tiller’s clinic was first bombed in 1986. It was an isolated incident when he was shot in both arms in 1993. Each anthrax threat, each invasion, even the vandalizing that occurred last month at his Wichita clinic were all linked in a daisy chain of “isolated incidents.” More…

Dr. Chris McCoy, Policy Chairman

National Physician’s Alliance

Huffington Post, June 11th, 2009

Dear American Medical Association,

I recently had the opportunity to read your response to the Senate Finance Committee proposal [pdf] for health care reform, and it is clear to me that I cannot remain a member in your organization. Please remove my name from your membership rolls, effective immediately.

In reading the response, I was frustrated and disheartened by the fact that you couldn’t get through the second paragraph before bringing up the issue of physician reimbursement. This merely highlights how the AMA represents a physician-centered and self-interested perspective rather than honoring the altruistic nature of my profession. As a physician, I advocate first for what is best for my patients and believe that as a physician, as long as I continue to maintain the trust and integrity of the profession, I will earn the respect of my community. The appropriate financial compensation for my endeavors will follow in kind. More…

Associated Press, June 18th, 2009

INDIANAPOLIS – Employers who offer health insurance coverage could see a 9 percent cost increase next year, and their workers may face an even bigger hit, according to a report from consulting firm Price-waterhouse-Coopers. [Underlying national inflation is about 2 to 3 percent.]

Costs will rise in part because workers worried about losing their jobs are using their health care more while they still have it, the firm said in the report released to The Associated Press. The report also said rising unemployment is driving up medical costs.

Health care reform legislation currently being hashed out in Congress likely will have little impact on next year’s costs, said PWC principal Michael Thompson. But he noted that the intense focus on health care may slow price increases.

“Nobody wants to be front page news when all the lights are shining on your industry,” he said.

The report projects the expected cost increase per person for employee benefits plans, and it factors in things such as price increases, as well as utilization changes. More…

New Poll shows 76% Support Choice for Public Option; NBC/WSJ

Huffington Post, June 18th, 2009

New poll numbers from NBC/Wall Street Journal produce two major and potentially conflicting story lines when it comes to the Obama administration’s efforts for a health care overhaul. On the one hand, the American public overwhelmingly favors a choice between getting insurance coverage either through the private market or a government run option. Indeed, 76 percent of respondents said it was either “extremely” or “quite” important to “give people a choice of both a public plan administered by the federal government and a private plan for their health insurance.”

With the public option being such a lightning rod in the current health care debate, progressive activists are already emailing around these numbers as evidence that voters are way ahead of the politicians. Certainly, the findings provide a boost of sorts to President Obama, who has stood by the public plan even as Republican opposition has crystallized. More…

Huffington Post, June 19th, 2009

The firm that houses two of the three former Senate majority leaders who proposed a comprehensive health care compromise plan on Wednesday has been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to lobby on behalf of key players in the health care industry. In addition, the company that presented those findings, the Bipartisan Policy Center, counts as a major fundraiser one of the country’s largest pharmaceutical companies.

Former Sens. Tom Daschle, Bob Dole and Howard Baker joined forces this week to put out a health care plan 15 months in the making. The three political gray beards, who co-founded the Bipartisan Policy Center, called for an approach to reform that included state-operated public insurance options as well as individual and employer mandates for coverage. Their proposal was pitched as a bi-partisan effort at solving one of the most complex legislative issue facing the nation. More…