One could argue that the "Beer Summit" is a joke. The only reason he did this is because
he got heat from the European community for condemning police in
general for being racists. And, his popularity dipped. He got caught up
in police and European American bashing. He needs the European American
community to get reelected in 2012.
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama hoisted a beer with a white policeman and a black professor Thursday evening, aiming to cool a dispute between them that had ignited a national debate and threatened to damage his reputation as a politician whose appeal transcends race.
It appears from the preliminary reports on the budget, Medicare reimbursements would be reduced for doctors and hospitals. And, some procedures would be need additional approval like hip replacements, kidney replacements, and heart bypass for seniors.
I think a good program based on a non-profit Kaiser Medical model might work well. The idea that a one payer nationalized health program is the best model is folly indeed. One could argue that King - Drew in LA, which provided health care to primarily the uninsured, until it was closed, is an example of what health care would look like in a national plan.
We will see what comes out in the final version. One thing for sure, President Obama does not what too much publicity and debate about the final ObamaCare program, because he is trying to rush it through quickly. Time will tell if the public will buy off on ObamaCare.
WASHINGTON -- Support for President Barack Obama's health-care effort has declined over the past five weeks, particularly among those who already have insurance, a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found, amid prolonged debate over costs and quality of care.
In mid-June, respondents were evenly divided when asked whether they thought Mr. Obama's health plan was a good or bad idea. In the new poll, conducted July 24-27, 42% called it a bad idea while 36% said it was a good idea.
President Obama is trying to sell the idea that cutting billions from Medicare will not impact senior health care. This seems like a hard sell. And in reality, cutting billions from Medicare will impact senior health care.
It is kind of like cutting back on car maintenance. You can stop changing the oils and fluids in the car, and eventually, your car will stop running. You will save money at first, but in the long run it will cost more.
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama on Tuesday sought to reassure senior citizens that squeezing billions of dollars from Medicare spending won't hurt their benefits. He also defended a proposal aimed at encouraging Americans to make plans in advance for end-of-life medical care.
Wringing savings from Medicare, the federal health-care plan for the elderly, is key to lawmakers' efforts to cover the roughly $1 trillion cost of expanding health insurance to nearly every American. The House version of health-care legislation calls for a net $246 billion in cuts to Medicare spending over a decade.
Let me see if I have this right. B of A received billions in bailout money to stay afloat. Then, they are given Country Wide, Then, they take over a large investment firm. Then, they make their executives rich. And now, they are going to close 10% of their branches.
This will probably lead to a 10% reduction in personnel. This will require more lay offs. This is not good news. Shame on B of A's executives for being extremely greedy.
Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis told investors last week he is planning to shrink the company's 6,100-branch network by about 10%, a pullback from the two-decade expansion that took the bank from coast to coast.
Banks continue to hide their bail out money. This is a shame. The taxpayers have bailed out the banks in order to improve the economy, but the banks have decided that hiding the bail out money is more important than lending the money. This is a sad state of affairs.
Washington was foolish to hand the banks billions of dollars with no controls or oversight. Shame on Washington and double shame on the banks.
Lending continues to slow as bankers and borrowers refrain from taking risks, in a bearish sign for the economy.
The total amount of loans held by 15 large U.S. banks shrank by 2.8% in the second quarter, and more than half of the loan volume in April and May came from refinancing mortgages and renewing credit to businesses, not new loans, an analysis by The Wall Street Journal shows.
Sarah Palin steps down with class. It is time for Sarah Palin to establish a third party. Because, the Republican elites are ethically bankrupt.
FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- Sarah Palin stepped down Sunday as Alaska governor to write a book and build a right-of-center coalition, but she left her long-term political plans unclear and refused to address speculation she would seek a 2012 presidential bid.
ObamaCare is in for a rough ride and a political time bomb for the President. This is a poor strategy for his early venture into cost cutting. Even though Medicare does cost a lot, it is important to note that Americans want to have good health care in retirement. President Obama is making a mistake by pushing retirees into thinking that they will receive less care as they grow old.
The idea that ObamaCare is promoting physician-assisted suicide for old people, or encouraging them to forgo medical care late in life, has made its way into partisan rhetoric among the bill's opponents."[The bill] would require every senior to have a mandatory counseling session with a government bureaucrat every five years on ways to 'die with dignity;' starvation, dehydration, stuff like that," Republican strategist Lawrence Lindsey wrote in a memo.
Hillary Clinton tried to clean up after Joe Biden shot his mouth off again. VP Joe Biden implied that Russia is not a great power and Russia was offended by his remarks. So, Hillary is trying to clean up another mess created by a guy that just does not know how to keep his mouth shut.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the Obama administration considered Russia a "great power" and wanted it to be a strong and prosperous country, in an apparent effort to reassure Moscow that the White House remains committed to efforts to "reset" bilateral relations.
Mrs. Clinton made the remarks in response to a question about Vice President Joe Biden's suggestion, during a Wall Street Journal interview published on Saturday, that Russia's weakening economy was likely to make it more amenable to cooperate with the West on national security issues.
California's IOUs are not so bad. It could be worse. During the Great Depression, many governments were issuing their own version of IOUs. How would California creditors like getting a bunch of ply-wood as IOUs. Things could be worse.
To creditors of the state of California who got paid in IOUs instead of money, take it from historians -- things could be worse. You could be getting clamshells. Or chunks of plywood.
During the Great Depression, hundreds of communities as strapped for cash as California is today circulated their own temporary currencies. An estimated $1 billion in this scrip was issued by towns and counties, not to mention corporations, school boards, newspapers and a few wealthy individuals.
Most promissory notes looked like paper currency, but scrip was also printed on leather, metal, fish-skin parchment and, in Tenino, Wash., on slabs of two-ply Sitka Spruce.
Joe Biden cannot help himself. He blasts off like a space ship most of the time. This time, he is insulting the Russians. It is helpful to appease a power like Russian. But, Joe decided to ridicule Russia. Joe does not have a clue about worldwide diplomacy. Wonders never cease.
WASHINGTON -- Vice President Joe Biden said in an interview that Russia's economy is "withering," and suggested the trend will force the country to make accommodations to the West on a wide range of national-security issues, including loosening its grip on former Soviet republics and shrinking its vast nuclear arsenal.
