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Ian Gurvitz: REPUBLICANS REVEAL OBAMA HEALTH PLAN SECRET PLOT TO TURN WHITE PEOPLE BLACK Top
As the arguments over health care rage on, key Senate Republicans opposing the President's plan are about to present a report leaked from the Beck Institute, which might just turn the battle into an all-out firefight. The report will reveal that the President's stated intention to provide all Americans with government-run health care is just a smoke-screen for a plot to darken the skin tone of white Americans, turning them Black. The insidious plot involves putting a government option in place that will be so attractive to struggling Americans that millions of newly insured white patients will begin seeing doctors for the first time in years. Then, under the guise of performing standard diagnostic tests to assess the patient's current health, cadres of specially trained Jamaican nurses will pretend to take their blood but, instead, administer a skin-darkening agent known as Boehner225. The process, referred to in the report as "Negrowing," will be gradual, and as it will commence during the summer, the slowly darkening skin tone will most likely be mistaken for a beach tan, so that people will not instantly panic. But as fall approaches, the patient's skin will continue to darken, as the effects become permanent. And irreversible. A GOP spokesperson is urging all Americans to write their representatives, demanding they resist the government plan at all costs, stating: "Not only would this plot have a disastrous effect on the economy, particularly on the golfing, sailing, and car-racing industries, but with millions of white people having been turned black, the 2012 election would be a slam-dunk." When reached for comment, a White House spokesperson categorically denied the allegations in the report, stating: "It is completely false. The goals of our plan are clear: to provide millions of uninsured Americans with affordable health care. And to kill old people."
 
Health bill inches forward in House Top
WASHINGTON — House Democrats pushed ahead with a compromise health overhaul Thursday over liberals' complaints, intent on achieving tangible – if modest – success on President Barack Obama's top domestic priority ahead of a monthlong summer recess. "We've got to pass the bill. Not only do we have to, but we're going to," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, the last of three House committees to act on the sweeping legislation. There was late-night drama in Waxman's committee as an anti-abortion amendment passed when conservative Democrats joined Republicans to support it – then failed less than two hours later when Waxman used a procedural maneuver to bring it up for a second vote. In the intervening time one conservative Democrat – Rep. Bart Gordon of Tennessee – changed his vote from "yes" to "no." And a second conservative Democrat who hadn't voted the first time – Rep. Zack Space of Ohio – voted "no." It was enough to take the amendment down on a vote of 29 to 30. The measure would have specified that health care legislation moving through Congress may not impose requirements for coverage of abortion, except in limited cases. Across the Capitol, there was more delay as bipartisan Senate negotiators announced they needed additional time to produce any agreement for their committee to review. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman on the Finance Committee, said it would be September before the panel could act. He spoke after a day of uncertainty in which months of negotiations briefly appeared to veer off-course. "The president, Leader (Harry) Reid and I share the goal of a bipartisan bill and we will continue to work toward meaningful, bipartisan legislation that can pass the Senate and become law this year," Baucus said in a statement. Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the lead Republican in the talks, said earlier that the discussions have made very good progress and may result in a deal. "But that'll never happen if Democrat leaders tell Republicans to take a hike by forcing the committee to move on an all-Democrat bill," he said. Reid told reporters during the day that August deadlines were a product of the media, rather than lawmakers or the White House. Republicans swiftly produced a rebuttal, in the form of statements from Obama as well as Reid underscoring the importance of action by early August. Both chambers already had jettisoned plans for floor votes before the summer break, but Democrats had hoped to get bills out of the final House and Senate committees that had yet to act. That would have allowed Democrats to show clear momentum when they returned to their home districts and states in August, so the news out of the Senate Finance Committee was a setback. But in the House Waxman's committee resumed work Thursday, with the goal of finishing Friday, after a week-and-a-half delay caused by objections from fiscally conservative Democrats. That rebellion was quelled at least temporarily with an agreement Wednesday that would protect more small businesses from a requirement to provide insurance to their employees, and restructure a new public insurance plan so it could pay higher rates to doctors and other providers, among other changes. But the concessions Waxman made to the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats infuriated House liberals. They denounced the proposed new structure of the government-run insurance option, which was originally designed to be based on Medicare rates. The new structure says rates would be negotiated with providers as occurs now with private companies, which could result in more expensive care. "This agreement is not a step forward toward a good health care bill, but a large step backwards," 57 Progressive Caucus members said in a letter to House leaders Thursday. "Any bill that does not provide, at a minimum, for a public option with reimbursement rates based on Medicare rates – not negotiated rates – is unacceptable." Liberals threatened to vote against the bill if it comes to the floor without a stronger public plan. Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., an Energy and Commerce member, said they probably had enough votes to block the Blue Dog deal in committee. Some details of the deal remained murky. As part of the agreement the Blue Dogs are insisting they won't vote for a bill that costs more than $1 trillion over 10 years, but that would require Democrats to make more cuts or raise more money. It wasn't clear how much, or how it would be accomplished. As Energy and Commerce lawmakers worked through stacks of Republican and Democratic amendments, Waxman's shaky majority was on display early, when the committee voted 29-28 to defeat a Republican amendment to strengthen ID requirements designed to prevent illegal immigrants from getting Medicaid benefits. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., expressed confidence the committee would approve the bill, and said the full House would follow suit in the fall. She also signaled flexibility on key issues, saying that despite her own backing for abortion rights, she would not allow the issue to torpedo legislation. Abortion has become a flash point in the health care debate. Highlighting the frenetic activity the overhaul has spurred in Washington, health interests have reported spending $262 million lobbying in the first six months of 2009, more than any other portion of the economy, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. That was $23 million more than health-related companies and groups spent lobbying during the first half of 2008. ___ Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Ann Sanner, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and David Espo contributed to this report.
 
Maya Soetoro-Ng, Obama's Sister, Is Moving to Washington Top
WASHINGTON -- The far-flung Obama clan is coming closer together. President Obama's half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, is moving her family here from Hawaii and will spend the next several months living in the nation's capital, White House officials say.
 
Krugman: Government Involvement Is Only Reason Health Care System Works At All Top
At a recent town hall meeting, a man stood up and told Representative Bob Inglis to "keep your government hands off my Medicare." The congressman, a Republican from South Carolina, tried to explain that Medicare is already a government program -- but the voter, Mr. Inglis said, "wasn't having any of it."
 
Shannyn Moore: Palin Can't Quit Quitting Top
It has been reported for weeks Sarah Palin would be speaking at the Reagan Library fundraiser on the eighth of August. With just a week to go, the planners should be calling William Shatner to fill in. This just in from Palin's Facebook : As repeatedly stated to several in the media over the last week, former Governor Sarah Palin is not committed to attend the Simi Valley Republican Women's event at the Reagan Library and in fact is not attending the event. Neither the Governor's state staff nor SarahPAC has ever committed to attending this event or speaking at this event, and even requested that the Governor's name be removed from the invitation several weeks ago. The Governor has other work and commitments to take care of at that time. She looks forward to visiting her friends in California soon. All event requests must be confirmed with Meghan Stapleton of SarahPAC. Additionally, all invitations bearing the Governor's name must be approved by her attorney before proceeding. Thank you. Meghan Stapleton Sound familiar? Last fall, after being booked for 2 months, Palin's appearance was cancelled at a Coalition of Life event. Her husband was sent in her place for the Washington Correspondence Dinner. Palin wouldn't commit to speak at a ceremony honoring the fallen soldiers of Alaska, then demanded to speak and on stage seating the morning of the event. She was replaced with Gingrich at a GOP fundraiser in June, citing her busy job as governor. It's just as well, she may have walked out half way through... Note to Meg, stop calling her governor...she quit. More on Sarah Palin
 
Recession Sparks Rise In Health, Tenant/Landlord Complaints Top
WASHINGTON -- Consumer protection agencies had to cut staff -- and, as a result, help fewer people -- in the midst of a recession that's spawned growth in home foreclosure "rescue" scams and complaints about debt collectors, according to a consumer survey released Thursday. More on The Recession
 
Jack Hidary: Cash for Clunkers Hits Goal in Five Days! Top
As a co-architect of the federal Cash For Clunkers (CFC) program and advisor to various congressional offices on the issue, it is gratifying to see how quickly it has been adopted by the American people. CFC achieves multiple goals -- it stimulates auto sales while increasing the efficiency of the U.S. fleet. Congress passed the program in June of this year and it went into effect this past weekend. The $1 billion has now been used up in one week! That translates to more than 250,000 guzzlers and pick-up trucks traded-in for more efficient cars. In the original bill, HR 520 and S. 247 the sponsors were aiming for higher efficiency gains. Those gains got watered down in the compromise bill of HR 2751. Now that it is clear how popular this program is I urge Congress to re-up the program with increased miles-per-gallon gaps between the vehicles traded in and bought. The Cash for Clunkers program in Germany initially received 1.5 billion euros and when that was used up received another 3.5 billion euros. That translates to a $6 billion CFC program for a country with a much smaller market than the U.S. Prior to the CFC program, automakers were selling cars at an annualized rate of 9.5 million vehicles for 2009. That compares with sales of more than 15 million cars only a few years ago. CFC will boost auto sales if we continue the program. Given the dire state of the automakers in the US and the need to move away from oil before it spikes back to more than $100 per barrel we should add billions to this program. American have voted with their feet and their wheels - they want to dump their clunkers and get more efficient. They want to do their part to stimulate our economy - now it is up to Congress to do its part. The author is Chairman of SmartTransportation.org More on Cars
 
Republicans Plan Brainstorming Session In Colorado Mountains Top
The Democrats have Renaissance Weekend, and now conservatives are trying to catch up with their own weekend of policy brainstorming. Several tell our Suzi Parker that they are planning for the Steamboat Institute Inaugural Freedom Conference, slated for August 28-29 in Colorado.
 
Art Levine: Grassroots Campaign Pushes House on Reform, Fights Lobbyists, 'Granny-Killing' Lies Top
While a key House committee moved to break the impasse on health reform and brokered a deal with health industry-subsidized "Blue Dog" Democrats, labor and grassroots activists kept up the pressure this week on House Blue Dogs and Senate centrists to support genuine reform. That included a national call-in day on Tuesday organized by Health Care for America Now and labor groups that generated 70,000 phone calls to Congress -- and may have helped break the logjam in the House. At the same time, progressives have to work even harder to counter the myths about the proposed health care reform coming from the fringes of the Republican Party now working its way into the mainstream. These include the claim, echoed on the House floor this week by Rep. Virginia Fox, that because a bill would reimburse doctors who offer advice to patients asking about living wills, the government is planning to kill old people to save health-care costs. Of course, it's all a fabrication , but a sign of how important grass-roots activism by progressives will be in August through such organizations as Health Care for America Now and the successor to Obama's campaign operation, Organizing for America . That's supplemented by a new set of TV ads promoting reform, like this one expressing the message, "It's time for health care reform." That urgency hasn't gotten through to the Blue Dogs, yet. Still, "the sky is not falling," notes an AFL-CIO's spokeperson on health care issues, Amaya Tune, about concerns about the deal with the Blue Dogs. "80 percent of what we like has been supported by large majorities in the House, and there's not this acknowledgment that a lot of members have agreed on very important principles. Four committees in the Senate and House have all expressed support for a public option to compete with private insurance." Of course, the deal between some Blue Dogs and House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman came under fire from some liberal groups and legislators for weakening the public option and reducing insurance subsidies. Health Care for America Now's national campaign director, Richard Kirsh, declared Thursday: The demands made by some Blue Dog Democrats will result in higher costs for families. First, they will weaken the public health insurance option's ability to drive down prices, and second, they will shrink the amount of assistance provided to middle-class families who buy health coverage. We are confident that the House ultimately will pass legislation that includes a strong public health insurance option that lowers prices and provides financial assistance so that health insurance is truly affordable to all. Yet some of the most astute observers on reform, such as The New Republic 's Jonathan Cohn, and union lobbyists, see the compromise allowing passage of a bill out of Energy and Commerce as an important first step towards passing meaningful reform. Cohn observes: Waxman has now pried away four Blue Dogs, enough--apparently--to get the bill through his committee. And he did so with what appear to be pretty small substantive concessions, like a slight reduction in subsidies and a modest reduction in the program's overall size. Most of the bill's core elements seem to be intact, including the public insurance option. The big bone Waxman threw to the Blue Dogs--thank you very much, I'm here all week folks--was time. The Blue Dogs didn't want a full floor vote on reform until after the August recess, so Waxman got assurances from leadership that the vote will wait. This is a major setback only if you think there was a chance of an August vote actually happening. At this point, there really wasn't. And why don't the Blue Dogs want to vote now? They want to wait and see what the Senate produces. If they have to take what they consider a hard vote--to raise somebody's taxes, to change the way Medicare pays for medical services, whatever--they don't want to stick their necks out any more than is absolutely necessary. Similarly, the Washington Post's Ezra Klein doesn't see the limitations of the narrow, no-public-option "compromise" being shaped by Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, as dooming the prospects for a stronger plan emerging from both the Senate and the House: This is who is in the room helping Baucus put together his bill. Olympia Snowe, Mike Enzi, Chuck Grassley, Jeff Bingaman and Kent Conrad. In a Senate of 60 Democrats and 40 Republicans, the health-care reform bill is being written by three centrist Democrats, one centrist Republicans, and two conservative Republicans. And until last week, Orrin Hatch was in the room, too. This is not the Finance Committee's bill. This is the Max Baucus Committee's Bill. And there's not a liberal -- or even a Democrat traditionally associated with health-care policy -- working on it. Jay Rockefeller, chairman of Finance's health subcommittee, is not included in the negotiations. Nor is Ron Wyden, who has written the Healthy Americans Act. Chuck Schumer isn't in the room, nor is John Kerry, Debbie Stabenow or Maria Cantwell. The question is whether Baucus's final product will matter. Rockefeller and the other Democrats on the committee have felt excluded from the negotiations and will want major changes before they can sign onto the final product. Then the Finance bill will have to be reconciled with the more liberal legislation built by the HELP Committee. Then it will have to go to the floor, where it will need the support of people like Russ Feingold and Bernie Sanders and Sherrod Brown just as much as it will need Ben Nelson and Evan Bayh. And then, if it passes those tests, it will have to be reconciled with the House's legislation. But will the public or health insurance lobbyists win out? A solid majority of the public still favors the central elements of the President's health care plan, including the public health option. (Here's audio of a press conference call hosted by Americans United for Change). As the pollsters noted: Anna Greenberg, Senior Vice President, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner: "When people are actually presented information about the President's plan, you get majorities of people in different polls saying that they favor the plan. And there has been no increase in any sense that the Republicans have a better alternative." Clear Public Support for Specific Elements of Obama's Proposal for Health Insurance Reform [Despite a downturn of support for reform legislation on Capitol Hill], " there is broad support for many of the core elements of the legislation currently before Congress. Nearly two-in-three (65%) favor requiring that all Americans have health insurance, with the government aiding those who cannot afford it. Nearly as many (61%) favor requiring employers who do not provide insurance to pay into a government health care fund. And there is broad support (79%) for prohibiting insurance companies from denying insurance to people with pre-existing conditions." SOURCE: Pew Research Center, July 30, 2009 TIME Magazine Poll, 7/29/09: "On the details of the plan, respondents remained supportive of many of the rough outlines of the health-reform effort as originally described by President Obama. Sixty-three percent said they would support providing health-care coverage for all Americans, even if the government had to subsidize those who could not afford it. Fifty-six percent said they supported a "public health insurance option" to compete with private plans. Fifty-seven percent support raising taxes on those with annual incomes over $280,000 to pay for the plan. Eighty percent said they would support a bill that required insurance companies to offer coverage to anyone who applies, even those with pre-existing medical conditions." Ultimately, though, as Jacki Schechner, a spokesperson for HCAN points out, the issue will be settled on the political battlefield: "Lawmakers should know that this is about people who need health care reform now, and no about kowtowing to the lobbyists in D.C. And they'll be reminded of that when they go back home."
 
Benicio, Bill Murray, Caan And Duvall In Cuba For Awards Top
HAVANA — Benicio del Toro accepted a new Cuban government award for international artists at a ceremony in Havana on Thursday, while Bill Murray entertained a small audience by crooning from "As Time Goes By. Fellow actors Robert Duval and James Caan were also on hand as the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba gave Puerto Rican-born del Toro the first Tomas Gutierrez Alea Prize for his career body of work, including the lead in "Che." Steven Soderbergh's two-part, 4 1/2-hour biopic on Argentine-born revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who helped Fidel Castro take power in Cuba in 1959, was a hit on the island, often showing in theaters that had not been refurbished since the 1950s. Murray wowed union members packed into a room behind the group's main headquarters, grabbing a microphone, singing and then jokingly passing around a baseball cap to collect tips for the piano player. He said later he was most-taken with another time warp-like aspect of Cuba. "I sure like the cars. I get excited about the cars," Murray said, referring to the hulking 1950s Chevrolets, Fords and other classic American roadsters that still ply Cuba's potholed streets. While the communist system restricts ownership of new vehicles, it allows Cubans to keep models made before the revolution. Del Toro was in Havana on an unrelated trip that overlapped with a separate, 4-day visit by Murray, Caan and Duval, who are here on professional research and were invited to the award ceremony. Cuba is famous for having been a mafia playground before Castro took power, and Duval and Caan both starred in Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 gangster classic "The Godfather." "Caan, he's my godfather, no pun intended!" de Toro joked. Duval – who like Murray was making his first trip to the island – said he was looking forward to getting a taste of authentic Cuban music, including Mambo. "Hopefully we can go out and see some of the guys dance danzon," he said. The Tomas Gutierrez Alea Prize is named for the late Cuban writer and filmmaker who directed more than 20 features and struck a balance between defending Castro's revolution and using wit to criticize it. He died in 1996.
 
Cash For Clunkers To Be Suspended: AP Top
WASHINGTON — The White House said Thursday it was reviewing the government's popular "cash for clunkers" program amid concerns the $1 billion budget for rebates for new auto purchases may have been exhausted in only a week. Transportation Department officials called lawmakers' offices earlier Thursday to alert them of plans to suspend the program as early as Friday. But a White House official said later the program had not been suspended and officials there were assessing their options. The White House said auto dealers and consumers should have confidence that transactions under the program that already have taken place would be honored. The program, called the Car Allowance Rebate System, known as CARS, offers owners of old cars and trucks $3,500 or $4,500 toward a new, more fuel-efficient vehicle. Congress last month approved the program to boost auto sales and remove some inefficient cars and trucks from the roads. The program kicked off last Friday and was heavily publicized by car companies and auto dealers. Through late Wednesday, 22,782 vehicles had been purchased through the program and nearly $96 million had been spent. But dealers raised concerns about large backlogs in the processing of the deals in the government system, prompting the suspension. A survey of 2,000 dealers by the National Automobile Dealers Association found about 25,000 deals had not yet been approved by NHTSA, or nearly 13 trades per store. It raised concerns that with about 23,000 dealers taking part in the program, auto dealers may already have surpassed the 250,000 vehicle sales funded by the $1 billion program. "There's a significant backlog of 'cash for clunkers' deals that make us question how much funding is still available in the program," said Bailey Wood, a spokesman for the dealers association. Alan Helfman, general manager of River Oaks Chrysler Jeep in Houston, said he was worried that the government wouldn't pay for some of the clunker deals his dealership has signed because they aren't far enough along in the process. His dealership has done paperwork on about 20 sales under the clunker program, but in some cases the titles haven't been obtained yet or the vehicles aren't yet on his lot. "There's no doubt I'm going to get hammered on a deal or two," Helfman said. The clunkers program was set up to boost U.S. auto sales and help struggling automakers through the worst sales slump in more than a quarter-century. Sales for the first half of the year were down 35 percent from the same period in 2008, and analysts are predicting only a modest recovery during the second half of the year. So far this year, sales are running under an annual rate of 10 million light vehicles, but as recently as 2007, automakers sold more than 16 million cars and light trucks in the United States. Even before the suspension, some in Congress were seeking more money for the auto sales stimulus. Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., wrote in a letter to House leaders on Wednesday requesting additional funding for the program. "This is simply the most stimulative $1 billion the federal government has spent during the entire economic downturn," Miller said Thursday. "The federal government must come up with more money, immediately, to keep this program going." Michigan lawmakers planned to meet on Friday to discuss the program. Brendan Daly, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said they would work with "the congressional sponsors and the administration to quickly review the results of the initiative." General Motors Co. spokesman Greg Martin said Thursday the automaker hopes "there's a will and way to keep the CARS program going a little bit longer." ___ AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to this report. More on Auto Bailout
 

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