The Obama-Biden plan provides
affordable, accessible health care for all
Americans, ... The Obama plan will lower health care costs by $2500
for a
typical ...www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/
–
More information by clicking here
skyrocketing cost of healthcare poses
a serious competitive threat to America’s
small businesses. The Obama-. Biden health care plan will provide
tax ... www.barackobama.com/pdf/issues/HealthCareFullPlan.pdf
–
More information by clicking here
Barack Obama’s health care plan
follows the Democratic template—an emphasis ...
The Obama campaign estimates his health care reform plan will cost
between ...www.thehealthcareblog.com/the_health_care_blog/2008/03/a-detailed-anal.html
–
More information by clicking here
[Why Obama's Health Plan Is Better]
AP. Sustained growth thus requires
successful health-care reform. Barack Obama and John McCain propose
to lead us
in ...online.wsj.com/article/SB122152292213639569.html
–
More information by clicking here
Barack Obama's health care plan would
reduce the number of insured, but it would
not control costs in any significant way. In fact, it would require
...www.heritage.org/research/healthcare/wm2114.cfm
–
More information by clicking here
Senator Barack Obama's health care
plan is laden with new regulations and
government authority that would leave Americans with even less
control of their
...
www.heritage.org/research/HealthCare/bg2197.cfm –
More information by clicking here
Mar 7, 2008 ... The Obama healthcare
plan also calls for expansion of the number of American
people with health insurance coverage. ...www.americanthinker.com/2008/03/obamas_health_care_plan.html
–
More information by clicking here
Nov 5, 2008 ... The plan is a work in
progress--and will be hotly debated before Americans see
major changes in coverage or costs.www.forbes.com/2008/11/05/obama-healthcare-plan-forbeslife-cx_rr_1105health.html
–
More information by clicking here
May 30, 2007 ... But if Obama's new
health-care plan is an example of this new politics, give me
old fashioned partisan bickering and gridlock anytime. ...www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=8266
–
More information by clicking here
A Detailed Analysis of Barack Obama's
Health Care Reform Plan ... Barack Obama’s
health care plan follows the Democratic template—an emphasis on ...healthpolicyandmarket.blogspot.com/2008/03/detailed-analysis-of-barack-obamas.html
–
More information by clicking here
One of the
most important national security decisions facing
President-elect Barack Obama will unfold in this remote
valley of aging factories, where workers enriched uranium
for the first atomic bomb of World War II, USA Today said.
The site is a linchpin in a hotly contested Bush administration
plan to build the first new US warheads since the end of the
Cold War.
Following Congress' demand that decisions on new warheads be
deferred until an assessment of US nuclear weapons needs is
finished next year, the issue is set to come to a head early
in Obama's presidency, it said.
The outcome will determine whether Oak Ridge focuses on maintaining
existing warheads and storing uranium from weapons pulled
out of a shrinking arsenal - or whether it becomes a
cornerstone in a new production enterprise.
The implications go far beyond Oak Ridge and the seven other
research and manufacturing compounds nationwide that make up
the US nuclear weapons production complex. "This is not
just a decision about the future of US nuclear weapons, but
about how the United States will address the challenges of
"nuclear terrorism, nuclear proliferation and our entire
21st-century nuclear strategy," says Clark Murdock, a
senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International
Studies. "These challenges have been maturing for
some time, and the Obama administration is going to have to
deal with them," adds Murdock, a former staffer for the
Pentagon and Congress.
During the campaign, Obama said that he seeks "a world without
nuclear weapons," but he also said that the nation must
"always maintain a strong nuclear deterrent as long as
nuclear weapons exist." He has vowed to seek a verifiable
global ban on production of nuclear weapons material - and
to "stop the development of new nuclear weapons."
Obama's statements offer no definitive stance on the Bush plan to
build a new breed of warheads. His transition office
declined to elaborate further.
Those on both sides of the issue say his comments leave room for
him to support their positions.
The Bush plan focuses on producing a "Reliable Replacement
Warhead," or RRW, which the administration touts as a
better, more durable substitute for warheads in the US
stockpile.
The new warhead would have features to ensure it could not be
detonated if stolen by terrorists or other foes.
The warhead "is about the future credibility of our nuclear
deterrent," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in an
October speech.
Great Britain, France, Russia and China are modernizing their
nuclear arsenals, Gates said, and the United States must
follow suit.
As a signer of the nuclear test ban treaty, the United States
cannot detonate its nuclear weapons to see whether age has
weakened them.
That means, he said, that sharp cuts in US warheads required by
disarmament treaties raise questions about the power of
remaining weapons.
"There is no way we can maintain a credible deterrent and
reduce the number of weapons in our stockpile without either
resorting to testing, or pursuing a modernization program,"
Gates said.
Gates' comments, made before he agreed to stay on as Defense
secretary for Obama, don't necessarily reflect the new
administration's views.
Congress is skeptical. After providing money previously for warhead
research, it refused this year to pay for further
development.
Lawmakers cited recent studies that found no immediate threat that
the aging of warheads and other critical weapons components
has significantly eroded their capabilities.
Members of both parties said it would be wrong to embark on a
major, multibillion-dollar program to produce a new warhead
without determining what sort of nuclear weapons the nation
will need in future years, how many will be required and how
they will be used.
So Congress required the independent review that's due next year.
"We have to make certain that our nuclear deterrent is reliable" but the
decision (on new production) has to be made in the context
of all the national security issues we face, including
non-proliferation," says Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., head of
a Senate appropriations subcommittee that controls nuclear
weapons spending.
Building the warhead could affect Obama's goal of getting other
nations to curb nuclear programs, he says.
"It's our responsibility to be a leader in trying to, first, stop
the spread of nuclear weapons, and second, in reducing the
number of nuclear weapons on the planet."
Indeed, any move on warhead production will come in the context of
several other big, international decisions Obama will face
on nuclear weapons policy during his first term.
Among them: whether to extend or renegotiate the Strategic Arms
Reduction Treaty with Russia, which expires at the end of
2009, and whether to push for ratification of the
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which the United
States complies with voluntarily.
Obama has signaled he will give great weight to the implications
that resuming warhead production might have on his
non-proliferation agenda.
In an article in the July/August issue of Foreign Affairs, then-
candidate Obama wrote of "de-emphasizing" the role of
nuclear weapons worldwide and said "America must not rush to
produce a new generation of nuclear warheads."
More recently, he chose former Georgia senator Sam Nunn, an ardent
advocate of reducing global nuclear weapons inventories, to
advise his transition team.
The question of whether to adopt the Bush administration's plans
"will be one of the most momentous (nuclear policy)
decisions since the end of the Cold War, and Obama has
spoken in support of moving toward a nuclear weapons-free
world," says Susan Gordon, president of the Alliance for
Nuclear Accountability, a coalition of nuclear watchdog
groups.
The new warhead has more capabilities than current warheads, she
adds, and would "move us further down this road of a world
of nuclear haves and have-nots."
Advocates of the new warhead say it can help Obama's agenda to
prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.
"This isn't about building new weapons - exotic bunker busters or
suitcase bombs - but reliable, more secure and less costly
weapons," says Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M. The warhead "would
allow deeper cuts in our nuclear stockpile" because
remaining weapons would be more dependable.
"If you believe nuclear weapons are still relevant, RRW is a good
thing. If you believe they should go away, it's a great
thing," says Robert Smolen, deputy administrator of the
National Nuclear Security Administration, which runs the
weapons complex.
Some lawmakers who will review any decision Obama makes aren't
ready to back that argument.
"My fear is, for all our talk and our actions (on
non-proliferation), the international perception will be
that we simply want to proceed with a new weapon," says Rep.
Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., who chairs a House panel that
oversees the weapons complex.
Obama's challenge is working with Congress to set a weapons policy
that is consistent with US security needs and broader goals
of limiting nuclear weapons, he adds.
"It's not just a burden, it's a fundamental opportunity."
Source:
http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-20/0812105791160622.htm
Russia wants Obama to
wake up the USA Pravda claims you USA citizens have reached the
highest point of hypocrisy in your self-complacency and confidence.
The day when Barack Obama won the
election has been ironically dubbed as ‘Black Tuesday.’ It brings up the idea
that the White House in Washington might be renamed soon too. As a matter of
fact, red is the best color that fits America today. If things continue to
develop like that, the country’s new name will the USSA – the United Socialist
States of America.
Americans have reached the highest
point of hypocrisy in their self-complacency and confidence. It may at
times be very close to absurdity. Just imagine that Governor
Schwarzenegger bans words ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ from California schools just
because of the fact that the words supposedly discriminates gay
families. In America, feeding children with junk food, which is
obviously made only for profit, is considered politically correct. It is
considered politically correct to bomb Iraqi children for seven years
after Colin Powell showed a test-tube with detergent at the UN and said
that it was a weapon of mass destruction. ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ prove to be
politically incorrect. Schwarzenegger might want to have a closer look
into the origin of his last name, for it seems to an extremely incorrect
name. The story of a US congressman suing God made numerous headlines
not so long ago. The politician decided to defend the rights of his
electors against the background of earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes
and other disasters. The claim has been noted, the Lord has been
provided with lawyers but the hearing never took places because it was
impossible to find out the defendant’s address.
Stupid rules can be a lot more important that common sense at
times. Will Obama be able to wake America up? It is not likely that
Obama will become an object of sarcasm and countless jokes, like it
happened with outgoing President Bush (e.g. Bush has lost his entire
library in a fire – all the three books are gone).
Every nation deserves its leader, and this saying matches America
completely. Many Americans were sincerely surprised when they were told
that one of their states – Georgia – exists across the ocean. Some of
them were concerned about Russia attacking the Georgian governor. It
seems symbolic that the name ‘George’ sounds very much like the name of
the country – ‘Georgia.’
Mikhail Zadornov is a well-known Russian stand-up
comedian and writer. Zadornov is particularly famous for his satirical
comparisons of Russians and nationals of other countries, especially
Americans. He has also been known to make fun of any CIS (former Soviet)
country seeking a friendly relationship with the west, but seems to have
no hard feelings against them.
Editor's note: This article is an index
of current and recent members of Congress
currently under investigation by the
congressional
ethics
committees, or under investigation,
indictment, or conviction by law enforcement
authorities, based on credible media
reports. In cases where it is contested
whether or not the member is being
investigated, it is noted in that member's
profile. All information here is taken from
the members' personal profile pages. If you
wish to edit or contribute to this article,
please make sure to first add the
information to those profiles (with a
source).
The White House, though not formally endorsing an
agreement with congressional Democrats, dispatched administration officials to
Capitol Hill to make a case for the rescue package. During a contentious,
closed-door luncheon with Senate Republicans, White House Chief of Staff Josh
Bolten got an earful of criticism from the rank-and-file, some of whom have
already announced plans to block the measure.
"They got a good dose," said opponent Tom Coburn, R-Okla., as he emerged from
the session.
Even auto state Republicans who have pushed hard for a bailout said the measure
needed work. Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., said he wanted to see changes. And Sen.
George V. Voinovich, R-Ohio, said the bill didn't have the necessary Republican
votes to pass Congress.
The Republicans' revolt came as the House began procedural votes on the package.
Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr has
been revealed as the man who Mr Blagojevich claimed sent an emissary to him,
offering campaign cash for the seat.
Of course, Mr Jackson has initially denied any wrongdoing. In transcripts of intercepted conversations released by the FBI
on Tuesday, Mr Blagojevich is quoted saying that a man referred to by officials
as Senate Candidate Five would "raise me 500 grand. An emissary came. Then the
other guy would raise a million, if I made him a senator".
Mr Jackson's lawyer confirmed to reporters on Wednesday that Mr
Jackson was Senate Candidate Five. Source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7773717.stm
Dec 10, 2008 ... Jesse Jackson Jr.
(D-Ill.) is "completely guiltless" in the alleged ... Rod
Blagojevich with trying to sell the Senate seat vacated by ...
www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-jesse-jackson-candidate-5-blagojevich,0,1398555.story
–
Click here for more information
ABC News: Jesse Jackson, Jr. is
“Senate Candidate Number 5″ · AP: Deal reached
on auto industry bailout - “in principle” · Obama’s Senate seat for
sale on ... sistertoldjah.com/archives/2008/12/10/abc-news-jesse-jackson-jr-is-senate-candidate-number-5/
–
Click here for more information
Rod Blagojevich, Congressman Jesse
Jackson Jr. said he was confident in the
process the governor ... ... Obama Senate Seat For Sale? - December
9, 2008 ... beltwayblips.com/story/rep_jesse_jackson_jr_touts_senate_credentials_to/
–
Click here for more information
ABC has the
scoop on the first aspirant for Barack Obama's Senate Seat to ....
Senate Sale. Would it be too much to hope for that Jesse Jackson Jr.
was one ...www.blogrunner.com/snapshot/D/0/0/sources_say_rep_jesse_jackson_jr_is_senate_candidate_5/
–
Click here for more information
Dec 10, 2008 ... Blago's Senate
Candidate #5: Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr ... pay for Obama's vacated
Senate seat was Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. More after the jump. ...
airamerica.com/blog/2008/dec/10/blagos-senate-candidate-5-jesse-jackson-jr
–
Click here for more information
Chicago Congressman Jesse Jackson,
Jr. (D-IL) is the anonymous "Senate Candidate
#5" whose ..... Senate seat up for sale should bring oodles of cash
...www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2146210/posts
–
Click here for more information
Oct 24, 2008 ... Related to:Barack
ObamaJesse Jackson Jr.Senate ... do to try to sabotage Obama
and the Defender wants to reward the son with a Senate seat. ...www.chicagodefender.com/article-2280-if-obama-wins-jackson-jr-should-take-senate-seat.html
–
Click here for more information
1. Banned Partial Birth Abortion — by far the most significant roll-back
of abortion on demand since Roe v. Wade.
2. Reversed Clinton's move to strike Reagan's anti-abortion Mexico Policy.
3. By Executive Order (EO), reversed Clinton's policy of not requiring
parental consent for abortions under the Medical Privacy Act.
4. By EO, prohibited federal funds for international family planning groups
that provide abortions and related services.
5. Upheld the ban on abortions at military hospitals.
6. Made $33 million available for abstinence education programs in 2004.
7. Supports the Defense of Marriage Act — and a Constitutional amendment
saying marriage is between one man and one woman.
8. Requires states to conduct criminal background checks on prospective
foster and adoptive parents.
9. Requires districts to let students transfer out of dangerous schools.
10. Requires schools to have a zero-tolerance policy for classroom
disruption (reintroducing discipline into classrooms).
11. Signed the Teacher Protection Act, which protects teachers from lawsuits
related to student discipline.
12. Expanded the role of faith-based and community organizations in
after-school programs.
Budget, Taxes & Economy
1. Signed two income tax cuts, one of which was the largest dollar-value
tax cut in world history.
2. Supports permanent elimination of the death tax.
3. Turned around an inherited economy that was in recession, and deeply
shocked as a result of the 9/11 attacks.
4. Is seeking legislation to amend the Constitution to give the president
line-item veto authority.
5. In process of permanently eliminating IRS marriage penalty.
6. Increased small business incentives to expand and to hire new people.
7. Initiated discussion on privatizing Social Security and individual
investment accounts.
8. Killed Clinton's "ergonomic" rules that OSHA was about to implement;
rules would have shut down every home business in America.
9. Passed tough new laws to hold corporate criminals to account as a result
of corporate scandals.
10. Reduced taxes on dividends and capital gains.
11. Signed trade promotion authority.
12. Reduced and is working to ultimately eliminate the estate tax for family
farms and ranches.
13. Fight Europe's ban on importing biotech crops from the United States.
14. Exempt food from unilateral trade sanctions and embargoes.
15. Provided $20 million to states to help people with disabilities work
from home.
16. Created a fund to encourage technologies that help the disabled.
17. Increased the annual contribution limit on Education IRA's from $500 to
$2,000 per child.
18. Make permanent the $5,000 adoption tax credit and provide $1 billion
over five years to increase the credit to $10,000.
19. Grant a complete tax exemption for prepaid or college tuition savings
plans.
20. Reduced H1B visas from a high of 195,000 per year to 66,000 per year.
Character & Conduct as President
1. Changed the tone in the White House, restoring HONOR and DIGNITY to
the presidency.
2. Has reintroduced the mention of God and faith into public discourse.
3. Handled himself with enormous courage, dignity, grace, determination, and
leadership in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 hijackings and anthrax
attacks. He almost single-handedly held this country together during those
searing days:
Just three days after the attacks, in his address at the National
Cathedral, the President reassured the nation when he said: "War has been
waged against us by stealth and deceit and murder. This nation is peaceful,
but fierce when stirred to anger. This conflict was begun on the timing and
terms of others. It will end in a way, and at an hour, of our choosing."
On Friday, September 14, 2001, President Bush visited Ground Zero.
Standing on a crushed and burned fire engine atop the smoldering pile at
Ground Zero, he put his arm around a retired firefighter who had volunteered
to help, and began speaking to the crowd. Rescue workers shouted that they
could not hear him. Someone handed him a small American flag and bullhorn.
The President spontaneously shouted: "I can hear you. The rest of the world
hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of
us soon." The crowd roared with cheers and chants of "USA! USA! USA!" Then
he raised that American flag and rallied a nation.
Education & Employment Training
1. Signed the No Child Left Behind Act, delivering the most dramatic
education reforms in a generation (challenging the soft bigotry of low
expectations). The very liberal California Teachers union is currently
running radio ads against the accountability provisions of this Act.
2. Announced "Jobs for the 21st Century," a comprehensive plan to better
prepare workers for jobs in the new millennium by strengthening
post-secondary education and job training, and by improving high school
education.
3. Is working to provide vouchers to low-income students in persistently
failing schools to help with costs of attending private schools. (Blocked in
the Senate.)
4. Requires annual reading and math tests in grades three through eight.
5. Requires states to participate in the National Assessment of Education
Progress, or an equivalent program, to establish a national benchmark for
academic performance.
6. Requires school-by-school accountability report cards.
7. Established a $2.4 billion fund to help states implement teacher
accountability systems.
8. Increased funding for the Troops-to-Teachers program, which recruits
former military personnel to become teachers.
Environment & Energy
1. Killed the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty.
2. Submitted a comprehensive Energy Plan (awaits Congressional action). The
plan works to develop cleaner technology, produce more natural gas here at
home, make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy, improve
national grid, etc.
3. Established a $10 million grant program to promote private conservation
initiatives.
4. Significantly eased field-testing controls of genetically engineered
crops.
5. Changed parts of the Forestry Management Act to allow necessary cleanup
of the national forests in order to reduce fire danger.
6. Part of national forests cleanup: Restricted judicial challenges (based
on the Endangered Species Act and other challenges), and removed the need
for an Environmental Impact Statement before removing fuels/logging to
reduce fire danger.
7. Killed Clinton's CO2 rules that were choking off all of the electricity
surplus to California.
8. Provided matching grants for state programs that help private landowners
protect rare species.
Defense & Foreign Policy
1. Successfully executed two wars in the aftermath of 9/11/01:
Afghanistan and Iraq. 50 million people who had lived under tyrannical
regimes now live in freedom.
2. Saddam Hussein is now in prison. His two murderous sons are dead. All but
a handful of the regime's senior members were killed or captured.
3. Leader by leader and member by member, al Maida is being hunted down in
dozens of countries around the world. Of the senior al Qaeda leaders,
operational managers, and key facilitators the U.S. Government has been
tracking, nearly two-thirds have been taken into custody or killed. The
detentions or deaths of senior al Qaeda leaders, including Khalid Shaykh
Muhammad, the mastermind of 9/11, and Muhammad Atef, Osama bin Laden's
second-in-command until his death in late 2001, have been important in the
War on Terror.
4. Disarmed Libya of its chemical, nuclear and biological WMD's without
bribes or bloodshed.
5. Continues to execute the War On Terror, getting worldwide cooperation to
track funds/terrorists. Has cut off much of the terrorists' funding, and
captured or killed many key leaders of the al Qaeda network.
6. Initiated a comprehensive review of our military, which was completed
just prior to 9/11/01, and which accurately reported that ASYMMETRICAL
WARFARE capabilities were critical in the 21st Century.
7. Killed the old US/Soviet Union ABM Treaty that was preventing the U.S.
from deploying our ABM defenses.
8. Has been one of the strongest, if not THE strongest friend Israel has
ever hand in the U.S. presidency.
9. Part of the coalition for an Israeli/Palestinian "Roadmap to Peace,"
along with Great Britain, Russia and the EU.
10. Pushed through THREE raises for our military. Increased military pay by
more than $1 billion a year.
11. Signed the LARGEST nuclear arms reduction in world history with Russia.
12. Started withdrawing our troops from Bosnia, and has announced withdrawal
of our troops from Germany and the Korean DMZ. 13. Prohibited putting U.S.
troops under U.N. command.
14. Paid back UN dues only in return for reforms and reduction of U.S. share
of the costs.
15. Earmarked at least 20 percent of the Defense procurement budget for
next-generation weaponry.
16. Increased defense research and development spending by at least $20
billion from fiscal 2002 to 2006.
17. Ordered a comprehensive review of military weapons and strategy.
18. Ordered a review of overseas deployments.
19. Ordered renovation of military housing. The military has already
upgraded about 10 percent of its inventory and expects to modernize 76,000
additional homes this year.
20. Is working to tighten restrictions on military-technology exports.
21. Brought back our EP-3 intel plane and crew from China without any bribes
or bloodshed.
Globalization & Internationalism
1. Challenged the United Nations to live up to their responsibilities and
not become another League of Nations (in other words, showed the UN to be
completely irrelevant).
2. Killed U.S. involvement in the International Criminal Court.
3. Told the United Nations we weren't interested in their plans for gun
control (i.e., the International Ban on Small Arms Trafficking Treaty).
4. The only President since the founding of the UN to essentially tell that
organization it is irrelevant. He said: "The conduct of the Iraqi regime is
a threat to the authority of the United Nations, and a threat to peace. Iraq
has answered a decade of UN demands with a decade of defiance. All the world
now faces a test, and the United Nations a difficult and defining moment.
Are Security Council resolutions to be honored and enforced, or cast aside
without consequence? Will the United Nations serve the purpose of its
founding, or will it be irrelevant?" We all know the outcome and the answer.
5. Told the Congress and the world, "America will never seek a permission
slip to defend the security of our country."
Government Reform
1. Improved government efficiency by putting hundreds of thousands of
jobs put up for bid. This weakens public-sector unions and cuts undeserved
pay raises.
2. Initiated review of all federal agencies with the goal of eliminating
federal jobs (completed September 2003) in an effort to reduce the size of
the federal government while increasing private sector jobs.
3. Led the most extensive reorganization the Federal bureaucracy in over 50
years: After 9/11, condensed 20+ overlapping agencies and their intelligence
sectors into one agency, the Department of Homeland Security.
4. Ordered each agency to draft a five-year plan to restructure itself, with
fewer managers.
5. Converted federal service contracts to performance-based contracts
wherever possible so that the contractor has measurable performance goals.
Health<
1. Strengthen the National Health Service Corps to put more physicians in
the neediest areas, and make its scholarship funds tax-free.
2. Double the research budget of the National Institutes of Health.
3. Signed Medicare Reform, which includes:
A 10-year privatization option.
Prescription drug benefits: Prior to this reform, Medicare paid for
extended hospital stays for ulcer surgery, for example, at a cost of about
$28,000 per patient. Yet Medicare would not pay for the drugs that eliminate
the cause of most ulcers, drugs that cost about $500 a year. Now, drug
coverage under Medicare will allow seniors to replace more expensive
surgeries and hospitalizations with less expensive prescription medicine.
More health care choices: As President Bush stated, "…when seniors have
the ability to make choices, health care plans within Medicare will have to
compete for their business by offering higher quality service [at lower
cost]. For the seniors of America, more choices and more control will mean
better health care. These are the kinds of health care options we give to
the members of Congress and federal employees. What's good for members of
Congress is also good for seniors.
New Health Savings Accounts: Effective January 1, 2004, Americans can set
aside up to $4,500 every year, tax free, to save for medical expenses.
Depending on your tax bracket, that means you'll save between 10 to 35
percent on any costs covered by money in your account. Every year, the money
not spent would stay in the account and gain interest tax-free, just like an
IRA. These accounts will be good for small business owners, and employees.
More businesses can focus on covering workers for major medical problems,
such as hospitalization for an injury or illness. At the same time,
employees and their families will use these accounts to cover doctors
visits, or lab tests, or other smaller costs. Some employers will contribute
to employee health accounts. This will help more American families get the
health care they need at the price they can afford.
1. *See Government Reform above. Under President Bush's leadership,
America has made an unprecedented commitment to homeland security.
2. Has CONSTRUCTION in process on the first 10 ABM silos in Alaska so that
America will have a defense against North Korean nukes. Has ordered national
and theater ballistic missile defenses to be deployed by 2004.
3. Announced a 9.7% increase in government-wide homeland security funding in
his FY 2005 budget, nearly tripling the FY 2001 levels (excluding the
Department of Defense and Project BioShield).
4. Before DHS was created, there were inspectors from three different
agencies of the Federal Government and Border Patrol officers protecting our
borders. Through DHS, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) now
consolidates all border activities into a single agency to create "one face
at the border." This not only better secures the borders of the United
States, but it also eliminates many of the inefficiencies that occurred
under the old system. With over 18,000 CBP inspectors and 11,000 Border
Patrol agents, CBP has 29,000 uniformed officers on our borders.
5. The Border Patrol is continuing installation of monitoring devices along
the borders to detect illegal activity.
6. Launched Operation Tarmac to investigate businesses and workers in the
secure areas of domestic airports and ensure immigration law compliance.
Since 9/11, DHS has audited 3,640 businesses, examined 259,037 employee
records, arrested 1,030 unauthorized workers, and participated in the
criminal indictment of 774 individuals.
7. Since September 11, 2001, the Coast Guard has conducted more than 124,000
port security patrols, 13,000 air patrols, boarded more than 92,000 vessels,
interdicted over 14,000 individuals attempting to enter the United States
illegally, and created and maintained more than 90 Maritime Security Zones.
8. Announced the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), an
internet-based system that is improving America's ability to track and
monitor foreign students and exchange visitors. Over 870,000 students are
registered in SEVIS. Of 285 completed field investigations, 71 aliens were
arrested.
9. This week, the US-VISIT program began to digitally collect biometric
identifiers to record the entry and exit of aliens who travel into the U.S
on a visa. Together with the standard information, this new program will
confirm compliance with visa and immigration policies.
10. Eliminated INS bureaucratic redundancies and lack of accountability.
11. Split the Immigration and Naturalization Service into two agencies: one
to protect the border and interior, the other to deal with naturalization.
12. Signed the workplace verification bill to prevent hiring of illegal
aliens.
13. Established a six-month deadline for processing immigration
applications.
14. Information regarding nearly 100% of all containerized cargo is
carefully screened by DHS before it arrives in the United States. Higher
risk shipments are physically inspected for terrorist weapons and contraband
prior to being released from the port of entry. Advanced technologies are
being deployed to identify warning signs of chemical, biological, or
radiological attacks. Since September 11, 2001, hundreds of thousands of
first responders across America have been trained to recognize and respond
to the effects of a WMD attack.
Judiciary & Tort Reform
1. Is urging federal liability reform to eliminate frivolous lawsuits.
2. Killed the liberal ABA's unconstitutional role in vetting federal judges.
The Senate is supposed to advise and consent, not the ABA.
3. Is nominating strong, conservative judges to the judiciary.
4. Supports class action reform bill which limits lawyer fees so that more
settlement money goes to victims.
Politics
1. His leadership resulted in Republican gains in the House and Senate,
solidifying Republican control of both houses of Congress and the
presidency.
2. Signed an EO enforcing the Supreme Court's Beck decision regarding union
dues being used for political campaigns against individual's wishes.
Second Amendment
1. Ordered Attorney General Ashcroft to formally notify the Supreme Court
that the OFFICIAL U.S. government position on the 2nd Amendment is that it
supports INDIVIDUAL rights to own firearms, and is NOT a Leftist-imagined
"collective" right.
2. Signed TWO bills into law that arm our pilots with handguns in the
cockpit.
3. Currently pushing for full immunity from lawsuits for our national gun
manufacturers.
4. *See Globalization & Internationalism.
Traditional Values, Compassion & Volunteerism
1. Endorses and promotes "The Responsibility Era." President Bush often
speaks of the necessity of personal responsibility and civic volunteerism.
He said, "In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take
responsibility for the decisions they make in life. My hope is to change the
culture from one that has said, if it feels good, do it; if you've got a
problem, blame somebody else — to one in which every single American
understands that he or she is responsible for the decisions that you make;
you're responsible for loving your children with all your heart and all your
soul; you're responsible for being involved with the quality of the
education of your children; you're responsible for making sure the community
in which you live is safe; you're responsible for loving your neighbor, just
like you would like to be loved yourself."
2. Started the USA Freedom Corps, the most comprehensive clearinghouse of
volunteer opportunities ever offered. For the first time in history,
Americans can enter geographic information about where they want to get
involved, such as state or zip code, as well as areas of interest ranging
from education to the environment, and they can access volunteer
opportunities offered by more than 50,000 organizations across the country
and around the world.
3. Established the The White House Office and the Centers for the
Faith-Based and Community Initiative — located in seven Federal agencies.
The faith-based initiative supports the essential work of these important
organizations. The goal is to make sure that grassroots leaders can compete
on an equal footing for federal dollars, receive greater private support,
and face fewer bureaucratic barriers. Work focuses on at-risk youth,
ex-offenders, the homeless and hungry, substance abusers, those with
HIV/AIDS, and welfare-to-work families.
4. The White House released a guidebook fully describing the
Administration's belief that faith-based groups have a
Constitutionally-protected right to maintain their religious identity
through hiring — even when Federal funds are involved.
5. Issued an EO implementing the Supreme Court's Olmstead ruling, which
requires moving disabled people from institutions to community-based
facilities when possible.
6.Increased funding for low-interest loan programs to help people with
disabilities purchase devices to assist them.
7. Revised the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Section 8 rent
subsidies to disabled people, permitting them to use up to a year's worth of
vouchers to finance down payments on homes. HUD has started pilot programs
in 11 states.
8. Committed US funds to purchase medicine for millions of men, women and
children now suffering with AIDS in Africa.
9. Heeding the words of our own Declaration of Independence, the president
laid out the non-negotiable demands of human dignity for all people
everywhere. On January 29, 2002, he said, "No nation owns these aspirations,
and no nation is exempt from them. We have no intention of imposing our
culture. But America will always stand firm for the non-negotiable demands
of human dignity." As stated by the President, they are a virtual manifesto
of conservative principles:
Equal Justice
Freedom of Speech
Limited Government Power
Private Property Rights
Religious Tolerance
Respect for Women
Rule of Law
I have often criticized President George W. Bush on
these pages. But now, as we approach the eight-year
anniversary of his appointment to the presidency by the
Supreme Court, it is time to praise his often overlooked
accomplishments.
On the domestic front, President Bush
has restored America’s faith in the Social Security
system. For years those Wall Street types who still
consider the New Deal an assault on their right to
control all of America’s investments have peddled the
false comparison between Social Security retirement
benefits and what the taxes that paid for those benefits
might have earned if invested in the stock market. These
investment gurus conveniently ignored that those taxes
also bought disability insurance and survivor’s
insurance that no Wall Street investment carries.
Nonetheless, Wall Street convinced Bush to choose the
brazen option of attempting to privatize the system in
2005, with promises of glowing returns in the stock
market. Not content with an overwhelming policy defeat
that couldn’t even earn an up or down vote in a
Republican Congress, Bush then presided over a stock
market crash that should bury forever the notion of
letting Wall Street invest our Social Security taxes.
Bush also has helped to rehabilitate the reputation
of former President Nixon. Scores of Democratic friends
have told me that they have begun to rethink their
distaste for our 37th president. In Nixon they now see a
president who actually complied with subpoenas and court
orders, sought to protect the environment, negotiated
with leaders such as Mao Tse Tung, whom he had once
characterized as enemies, and had the wisdom to resign
rather than cause himself, his party, and his country
unending shame. They have fervently wished, without
effect, that Bush could emulate Nixon.
Nixon is not the only president to have had his
reputation enhanced by President Bush. For more than 50
years, Harry Truman’s reputation has been stained by the
ignominy of the lowest public approval rating in the
history of presidential polling. With his 20 percent
approval rating in a recent CBS poll, Bush has moved to
the top, or should I say bottom, of the charts.
Bush’s accomplishments have been even more stunning
on the international stage. Just eight years ago, Iran
was isolated and surrounded. It faced the unfriendly
Taliban to its east in Afghanistan and a
still-threatening Saddam Hussein to its west in Iraq.
Within less than two years, Bush had eliminated both of
these governments and installed a Shiite-dominated and
Iran-friendly government in Iraq. No Iranian Ayatollah
could have accomplished so much.
Bush has also helped redefine the white male brand
when it comes to electoral politics. For more than 200
years the nation had assumed that it was in the safest
hands when those hands were pale with unpainted nails.
But Bush’s eight years convinced Democratic primary
voters quickly to eliminate the presidential candidates
who looked anything like Bush, as the contest narrowed
to Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Republican primary voters had nothing but white males
from which to make what for most was a depressing
choice; only when Gov. Sarah Palin was picked to run as
vice president did Republicans show any enthusiasm. This
became painfully obvious to John McCain, who, in joint
appearances with Palin, saw crowds leave after Palin had
spoken and only a white male was left to talk.
Finally, as our entire financial and industrial
system faces massive restructuring, we should consider
how George W. Bush, in his forced restructuring of the
Republican Party, has set the model for how American
industry and finance might similarly downsize. In the
space of just two national elections he has transformed
the party from a nationwide force into a small regional
party, able to win elections in over a dozen states.
This new Republican Party will be able to field
candidates for the presidency with as much chance for
winning as the boxers Joe Lewis faced in the 30s and 40s
and famously called the “Bum of the Month Club.” A
survey of the Republican Party’s house organs, Fox News
and Rush Limbaugh, suggests that the downsized
Republican Party has found a standard-bearer, Sarah
Palin, who promises the same level of intelligence,
competence and integrity as soon to be ex-President
Bush.
There can be little debate in December of 2008 that
George W. Bush is the greatest president that we have
inaugurated in this century.
Arthur Greif is a lawyer practicing in Bangor.
Washington politicians
will nationalize the USA auto industry
With ethical Democratic politicians in control of the auto industry, our USA
auto industry will prosper. Our auto industry will succeed as much as the
USSR communist politicians lead USSR auto industry succeeded.
We have an interesting situation brewing.
Auto companies are requesting a larger bailout from congress.
Congress is eager to provide, depending on what penalties they
can extract from auto executives. What has brought the
automobile companies to this state? Most recently the
skyrocketing price of gas meant that car buyers suddenly were
not so enamored with their SUVs once they found out how much it
cost to fill up.
Americans had a love affair with
the SUV. It held the whole family and the dog. You could go to
Home Depot and actually get all the stuff into the car. It was
good in bad weather or in the mountains. Suddenly, when gas
topped $4.00 a gallon SUVs sat on the lot, unloved. Of course
there was the credit crunch which left car companies
increasingly struggling to raise money in the credit markets.
But the auto companies had troubles long before the price of
gas went up.
We send our representatives to
Congress, often because they were who was on the ticket and we
didn’t have much choice, or because they looked better than the
other guy. Or perhaps you had someone you could really be
excited about. Did he or she know anything whatsoever about
building cars? Did they have any understanding about running an
automobile company or any company of any size, for that matter?
Do they know anything about managing a group of hundreds of
people or coping with union contracts with very powerful unions?
Didn’t think so.
Congressional incentives come not
from their constituents at home, but from the big groups that
provide them with their financial support. The UAW wants more
power, more members and no free trade. Environmental groups want
to ’save the planet’ by eliminating fossil fuels and putting
everyone in public transportation. Leftist groups want an end to
big business or capitalism. Great recipe for automotive success.
Barney Frank, House Financial
Services Chairman, wants to create a “systemic-risk regulator”
with unprecedented powers over a wide range of financial
institutions with responsibility for protecting the soundness of
the whole financial system, not just one sector. We’ve had lots
of luck with regulatory czars.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D. NY) said
Congress would try to redraw supervision of financial markets
completely in the first six months. According to Democratic
aides, Congress is expected to tighten standards on executive
compensation at firms receiving federal money. I’m sure you can
find the spot in the Constitution that allows Congress to set
the pay of business executives. The problem of course is that
they usually make more than members of Congress do, and are far
more respected.
Nancy Pelosi wants a faster
roll-out of more fuel efficient vehicles. She wants to help
automakers compete “in a green way”. Sigh.
Investors Business Daily said
that:
Automotive chiefs are meeting
with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with their hands out. At issue
are vast pension obligations to 780,000 retired workers that
already add $2,300 to the cost of every new car sold.
Credit-strapped consumers want value, not pension-inflated price
tags. So the bailout is in the works.
Bankruptcy is a better solution,
but if a bailout can’t be stopped, taxpayers are owed a
reckoning about how this industry got into a situation that a
downturn could knock it over. This ought to be a condition for
the bailout.
Unions are at the center of every
problem affecting industry competitiveness. It’s not only the
United Auto Workers’ lavish pensions, generous health care and
leaden bureaucracies, its unions reflexive hostility to free
trade. Yet if profits matter, new markets can return automotive
companies to profitability — and rid the industry of the dead
weight of those pensions….
Unions claim trade brings
deficits, and that’s true in non-free-trade countries such as
China. But the U.S. has trade surpluses among the 14 free-trade
partners — signaling that exports — and U.S. jobs, not
outsourcing , are the basis for the trade.
Holman Jenkins Jr., in the Wall
Street Journal, suggests a better idea, a “curse word seldom
used in the debate over the automakers: deregulation.”
[Washington] would simply have to
allow auto makers to meet the fuel economy standards with any
mix of autos made in domestic or overseas factories.
Under the nonsensical “two fleet”
rule that now applies, manufacturers meet the standards
separately with their “domestically” and “nondomestically”
produced fleets. What does this have to do with making sure
U.S. consumers get good mileage? Nothing. It’s a naked handout
to the UAW at the expense of the companies and their customers….
For 30 years, to make and sell
the large vehicles that earn their profits, the Detroit Three
have been effectively required to build small cars in high-wage,
UAW factories, though it means losing money on every car. (That
— not some perverse desire to make bad cars — is why they
skimped for decades on styling, engineering and materials in
their family sedans).
So as usual, we have Congress
attempting to fix a problem that they were complicit in
creating, without accepting any blame whatsoever. Of course that
applies to the credit crisis too, which they now blame on
“deregulation,” which should make everyone lie down and roll
around on the floor consumed with laughter.
There are reasons why the
approval ratings for this Democrat Congress are the lowest ever
recorded, and they may be aiming for something lower still.