Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Thurs 10.29.2009
STOP USA from signing the Climate Treaty!!!
Glenn Beck Interviews Lord Monckton On Climate Treaty Part 1
Glenn Beck Interviews Lord Monckton On Climate Treaty Part 2
Facing A Total Breakdown Of Financial Markets Yet another bank bights the dust, stocks have net outflows of capital, big insider sell offs and other bad moves that enable insiders to control the market, biggest S&P rally ever, Plunge protection team working overtime, Gold in a new phase. This is another victim of the FDIC Friday Night Financial Follies. Early Friday morning, state and federal agents walked into the Bank of Elmwood and closed the failed 49-year-old independent bank after a year of struggling to improve a bleak financial situation, officials announced Friday.
Dollar ‘Over-Owned,’ Will Fall to Record, Gross Tells CNBC The dollar is an over-owned currency and likely to fall to an all-time low against major counterparts, Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Bill Gross said in an interview on CNBC. “The Chinese, the Asians, have owned too many dollars for too long,” said Gross, a founder and co-chief investment officer of the world’s biggest manager of bond funds. “The dollar becomes more and more owned and less and less desirable, so ultimately the direction is down. I don’t sense stability in the dollar.”
Fed Up with the FED The political movement to curtail the Federal Reserve goes from fringe to mainstream. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), the libertarian-leaning congressman and failed 2008 GOP presidential candidate, has been suspicious of the Federal Reserve since before first entering Congress in 1976. In a 1981 article that mentioned the then-obscure legislator, United Press International reported that Paul "has proposed abolishing the Federal Reserve, repealing laws which make the dollar legal tender, and switching to currency issued by banks, 100 percent backed by gold."
When Money Dies Bottom line: "When money dies, so do people." Hyperinflation in a modern urban nation would kill people. I think it would kill a lot of people. Why? Because we rely on the social division of labor to feed ourselves, heat our homes, and supply everything else that we buy or sell. This requires a highly complex price system. At the heart of this system is money. It would not exist without money. The free market coordinates the buying selling of billions of products and services. Products are tracked by an identifier called a stock keeping unit, or SKU. In the region around New York City, there are something in the range of ten billion SKUs, according to economist Eric Beinhocker (The Origin of Wealth, 2007, p. 9). This does not count services. The service sector is more than twice the size of the goods sector in the United States.
Death Cometh for the Greenback THE DOLLAR is in trouble. That’s clear, and it’s been true for a while. The cornerstone of the global economic system has long been the greenback. In the aftermath of the Vietnam War and the oil shocks that brought on inflation, the value of the dollar relative to other currencies could not be maintained, so countries moved away from pegging their currencies to America’s. But still, the almighty dollar was used by countries all over the world for their reserves. The reserves provided backing for the currency and the country. They were a bank account that could be drawn upon in times of need. If oil prices shot up, a crop failed or lenders demanded their money back, there was a stockpile of money that could be used.
Peter Schiff talks about the US Dollar
Inflation by Stealth So for now, inflation is like a ninja stalking our economy. It's lurking in the shadows but can't easily be seen. But once its strikes, it will be fast and deadly. Over the past two years, the federal government and the Federal Reserve have dispersed trillions of public dollars, run up enormous deficits, and kept interest rates at zero. In just about any economic textbook, this combination of policies would be described as the perfect recipe for inflation. Yet, with the exception of the usual increases in health care and education, prices by and large are not rising. Many have concluded that our economic leadership has simply outsmarted the textbooks. The benign CPI figures are serving as a rallying point behind which the financial talking-heads are forming a parade of optimism. The low CPI is their 'proof' that inflation is not a pressing concern. This view is two dimensional.
Congress fears risk of economic relapse Eyes housing, jobless aid Fear that the economy might fall back into recession is compelling Congress to extend unemployment benefits and incentives for homebuying that lawmakers hope will help sustain growth. The threat of a relapse in housing has prompted Senate leaders to start negotiating an extension of the first-time homebuyers' tax credit, now set to expire Nov. 30. They hope to attach the measure to legislation extending soon-to-expire unemployment benefits and then pass both by the end of the week.
USD Future and a World Currency Some very big questions With the USD fluttering around 76 on the US Dollar currency basket index, the USDX it’s a good time to pontificate on its near term future, and longer term future. Gold’s big rally since 2002 begs a lot of major questions. The US is now flirting with an immediate debt of around $14 trillion (US Treasury bonds etc, and not including future liabilities like Medicare). The US now passes a key level of indebtedness considered to be a first stage of crisis. That puts US current debt at 100 pct of GDP. Just this week, the US needs to sell a record $130 plus billion of debt, for one week. The US is running a fiscal deficit of about $2 trillion a year, and for the total government budget that amounts to 40% of its budget. Imagine trying to run your own personal life that way.
Power Shift On Monday, November 2nd, it will have been seven months since the G2o met in London to expand the international currency known as the Special Drawing Rights. If you want to brush up on the background of this international currency, our November 2008 newsletter, states: Consider the history of SDRs from the IMF’s own website. The Special Drawing Right (SDR) was created by the IMF in 1969 to support the Bretton Woods fixed exchange rate system. After the collapse of the Bretton Woods system in 1973, the SDR was redefined as a basket of currencies, today consisting of the euro, Japanese yen, pound sterling, and U.S. dollar. The U.S. dollar-value of the SDR is posted daily on the IMF's website. As we read the IMF’s website further, we learn that the IMF has been trying to expand the number of SDRs in circulation for years.
Gold to Rise to $2,000 Amid ‘Massive’ Inflation, Superfund Says Gold may rise to a record $2,000 an ounce in the next three years as investors hedge against “massive” inflation sparked by governments printing money, according to Superfund Financial Singapore Pte’s Aaron Smith. “In the next few years, after the deflation cycle, we’ll see massive inflation,” Managing Director Smith, 30, said in an interview. “Soon, when you go to buy a cup of coffee, you’ll pay $20 or $30 because the dollar won’t be worth anything.”
'Gold to hit $2,000 in three years' Aaron Smith is the managing director of Superfund Financial (Singapore) Pte Ltd with a deep knowledge in the bullion trade. In a recent interview to Bloomberg news agency, Aaron said that gold may rise to a record $2,000 an ounce in the next three years as investors hedge against massive inflation sparked by governments printing money. This prediction by one of the world's leading providers of managed futures funds is not without reason.
Silver Unmasked Hyperinflation Most individuals have no clue about the dynamics of silver, thinking there is an infinite supply of it both above and below ground. But those Savvy investors who incorporate commodity based stocks in their portfolios likely own the silver ETF (SLV) or silver miners with a high degree of leverage to the price of silver. The largest of this group include Silver Wheaton (SLW), Pan American Silver (PAAS), Coeur d'Alene Mines (CDE), Silver Standard Resources (SSRI), Hecla Mining (HL). There are also numerous junior and exploration companies that will provide extraordinary returns over the long term.
Soros: Buy Hard Assets, And Don't Keep Betting On A Weak Dollar This week’s Guru Outlook takes a look inside the mind of George Soros – one of the original masters of the global macro hedge fund universe. Soros, of course, became famous for breaking the Bank of England. Soros made a spectacularly leveraged bet against the British Pound which netted him over $1B in a day. Soros rose to recent notoriety for predicting the financial crisis. He was far more bearish than most others and appeared to have a crystal ball with a play-by-play for each step of the crisis. Like some of the guru’s we’ve spoken of lately, he wasn’t bearish all the way up. Soros saw the decline in markets as a buying opportunity and has taken the liberty to make billions for his investors on both the way down and the way up.
Newcrest Says Gold Outlook Strong on Investor Demand Newcrest Mining Ltd., Australia’s largest gold mining company, said the outlook for the precious metal was strong as the global financial crisis increased demand from investors. “Demand for gold as a store of value has strengthened during the recent global uncertainties,” Chairman Don Mercer said today in a copy of a speech to the company’s annual general meeting in Melbourne. Jewelry demand has been “flat”, he said.
Revival of the Petrodollar Recycling Machine Generally we think of the Federal Reserve as being very queasy, in an old school sort of way, about rising oil prices. But at a time of collapsed trade flows and the attendant reduction in Dollar reserve building, might the Fed secretly welcome an advance in the price of oil? Readers of this site know that in a number of posts this year I’ve laid out the case that recession is bullish for sovereign debt, but collapse is not. In addition, at a time of 1.5 -2.0 Trillion dollar annual budget deficits in the US, I’ve also noted the punk rate of saving here domestically that cannot hope to cover such spending increases. And so, into this gaping maw the Fed itself has been active, buying 300 Billion of Treasury debt so far in 2009. But with the rise in the price of oil, have oil producer recycling flows started back up again.
The dollar's fall is felt overseas Europe, Japan fear fallout Declining value aids U.S. economic recovery The dramatic decline of the U.S. dollar is aiding the American economic recovery but setting off alarm bells overseas, with corporate executives, politicians and pundits calling it among the biggest threats to the rebounds underway in Europe and Japan. Mounting concern abroad over the shrinking dollar underscores how exchange rates have emerged as a growing source of friction, with many countries jockeying for the weakest currency to boost exports and protect their markets from foreign competition.
Bankster Holiday Evidence that the U.S. is a failed state is piling up faster than I can record it. One conclusive hallmark of a failed state is that the crooks are inside the government, using government to protect and advance their private interests. Another conclusive hallmark is rising income inequality, as the insiders manipulate economic policy for their enrichment at the expense of everyone else. Income inequality in the U.S. is now the most extreme of all countries. The 2008 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development report, “Income Distribution and Poverty in OECD Countries,” concludes that the U.S. is the country with the highest inequality and poverty rate across the OECD and that, since 2000, nowhere has there been such a stark rise in income inequality as in the U.S.
Those who cash out 401(k) plans are at risk Younger worker especially ignoring advice to not take money out of plans Millions of workers take a huge chance with their retirement savings every year: They cash out their 401(k) accounts when they lose their jobs or move to new employers. When people cash out, a chunk of their money just disappears. Employers and financial advisers have warned workers about the possibility of retiring poor, something that's more likely to happen when people cash out their accounts. The rhetoric to keep saving ratcheted higher over the past year as stock prices fell and the average retirement account balance fell by a third.
N.Y. Fed pushed AIG on contracts After federal bailout, insurance giant lost its leverage with banks The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Tuesday that it had no choice but to instruct American International Group last November to reimburse the full amount of what it owed to big banks on derivatives contracts, a move that ended months of effort by the insurance giant to negotiate lower payments.
Tim Geithner, Don't You Dare Bail Out GMAC Again Tim Geithner's getting ready to shovel more taxpayer money down the rat hole, this time to GMAC. GMAC, in case you're in understandable denial, has been bailed out twice already. And now Tim Geithner wants to shovel another $2.8 billion in. What is the US taxpayer getting in exchange for all these GMAC bailouts? Preferred stock. Why are we getting preferred stock, which is neither a claim on the future upside of the company's equity, nor a senior debt security that will be completely repaid in the event that taxpayers finally get mad as hell and won't take it anymore?
The Full Story Of How Tim Geithner Secretly Bailed Out Wall Street And Screwed The Taxpayer Last Fall When the historians finally finish sorting through the appalling decisions that have been made in the past two years, this one will probably be at the top of the heap. Last fall, as AIG began to realize how screwed it was, it started negotiating with the counterparties to all the credit default swaps it had written. One of the AIG's goals was to persuade these counterparties--including Goldman Sachs--to accept buyouts discounts of as much as $0.40 cents on the dollar. These sorts of negotiations are exactly what should happen when a company gets in trouble. It goes to its creditors and says, look, we can't pay you everything, so here's your choice: Take something, or take your chances in banktuptcy court. (And, in this case, this wouldn't have been much of a choice, given the standing of CDS holders in the liquidation line).
Dylan Ratigan: Goldman Sachs magic trick
Governments Never in Default Pay More Interest Than Companies California is the world’s eighth- largest economy. Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. is the largest U.S.-based deepwater oil driller. The state known for its wine, Hollywood and earthquakes collected about $80 billion in taxes in the year ended June 30, compared with $3.6 billion in revenue for Houston-based Diamond. The two have similar credit ratings, and the state can rely on its taxing authority to address deficits. Still, the company got a better deal than California when each borrowed money this month.
Will The Government Really Be Able To Keep The List Of Too Big To Fail Firms Secret? Does anyone think that the government's proposal to keep the list of systemically risky firms secret is actually a workable idea? The new proposal (PDF) out of the House Financial Services Committee proposes to create a new framework for identifying financial firms that would threaten financial stability if distressed or have a nature, scope or mix of activities that pose a threat to the economy. The proposal says the new financial regulatory council will make a list of the firms and then periodically revise the list of identified firms, adding or subtracting firms as the market changes. It then goes on to insist that the council may not publicly release the list of companies identified.
A Short History of British Bankruptcy If we manage to escape national bankruptcy, we have set up a slavery far more oppressive than any previous form of bondage..." BRITAIN'S BANKRUPTCY has been a long time coming. "By our political folly we have a put a large part, probably the greater part, of the nation in possession of rights to draw from the public purse," wrote Ernest J.P.Benn in his hilarious Account Rendered of 1930. How hilarious? Forced to live with the "smudge readers" at passport control, policemen demanding to see one's driving license down at the station, and Whitehall drones obsessed with how many pencil sharpeners their department controlled, Britain's moneyed classes knew the lower orders could only travel, drive and wear white-collared shirts if kill-joy regulations applied to the gentry and their staff alike.
Deflation fears as Eurozone and US credit contracts Bank lending to firms and households in the eurozone has fallen for the first time, raising fears of an economic relapse and a slide into deflation next year. Data from the European Central Bank shows that the M3 broad money supply has contracted over the last six months, confounding expectations that ultra-low interest rates would soon boost monetary growth. Loans to the private sector fell 0.3pc from a year earlier, the first such decline since the data started in 1983. The M3 figures include a wide range of bank accounts. They are watched closely by experts for early warnings about the economy a year or so ahead.
Rogoff, Ferguson Say Global Financial Crisis Is Not Yet Over The global financial crisis isn’t over, said Harvard University professors Kenneth Rogoff and Niall Ferguson, who challenged assertions by Group of 20 leaders at last month’s meeting in Pittsburgh. “The G-20 is right that it’s over for all the banks they guaranteed,” Rogoff, former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, said today in an interview with Bloomberg Radio. As a consequence of bailouts and stimulus measures, “the financial crisis may eventually morph into a government-debt crisis.”
Adrian Salbuchi, Argentina is Talking, (1) (NWO SOCIETY/ 'Social Unrest', 'Martial Law' & 'War')
Adrian Salbuchi, Argentina is Talking (2) (NWO SOCIETY/ 'Social Unrest', 'Martial Law' & 'War')
Adrian Salbuchi, Argentina is Talking (3) (NWO SOCIETY/ 'Social Unrest', 'Martial Law' & 'War')
Adrian Salbuchi, Argentina is Talking (4) (NWO SOCIETY/ 'Social Unrest', 'Martial Law' & 'War')
Adrian Salbuchi, Argentina is Talking (5) (NWO SOCIETY/ 'Social Unrest', 'Martial Law' & 'War')
Adrian Salbuchi, Argentina is Talking (6) (NWO SOCIETY/ 'Social Unrest', 'Martial Law' & 'War')
Midnight Candles Bill Gross A cold wind from the future blows into my nighttime bedroom, more often than not during those midnight hours when fear dominates and hope retreats to a netherworld. This wind is a spectre, an oracle of darkness and eventual death, not easily dismissed. Once merely a whisper, its decibels intensify with the advancing years. It will be heard, this reaper – this grim reaper, yet in the nights when it howls the loudest I fight back, silently screaming for it to get out, to leave me alone, to let it all be a bad dream. It never is. Shakespeare’s Macbeth expressed it more subtly: “Out, out, brief candle!” Yet the finer words provide no solace; the final act is always the same.
Bernanke, Shirakawa Trail Gjedrem as World Policy Split Widens The global monetary policy divide is widening as the Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan and major counterparts lag behind Norway and Australia in raising interest rates, a trend that’s set to continue into 2010. While Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa may soon unwind some of their emergency measures, JPMorgan Chase & Co. doesn’t expect a Group of Seven member to lift rates before the third quarter. The divergence may boost the currencies of those nations shifting first, with New York University professor Nouriel Roubini warning low U.S. rates may be generating “huge” bubbles as investors borrow dollars to invest in other assets.
Top China Banker: We Must Raise Rates China must raise interest rates if the country wants to avoid seeing an asset-price bubble burst, says Qin Xiao, chairman of China Merchants Bank, the country's sixth-largest bank. Economic stimulus programs are inflating stock and real estate prices, and the country should not be afraid of tempering its red-hot growth rates. Monetary policy must not neglect asset-price movements, Qin tells the Financial Times. Therefore it is urgent that China shifts from a loose monetary policy stance to a neutral one.
U.S. foreclosures spike in new regions in 3rd qtr U.S. mortgage defaults ebbed in some hard-hit cities in the third quarter, but unemployment created new trouble spots as foreclosures set a record in the quarter, real estate data company RealtyTrac said on Wednesday. Foreclosure activity declined in five of the top 10 metro areas from a year earlier, at least temporarily aided by government programs to modify terms of home loans. Job loss as well and mortgage rate resets, however, are severely curbing the ability of homeowners to make timely payments. Many metro areas with the 50 highest foreclosure rates had sharp increases in filings during the past three months.
City of Houston is Bankrupt (So are California, Oregon, and Pension Plans in General) Houston, we have a problem. We are bankrupt.That is the finding of Bob Lemer, CPA, Retired Partner at Ernst & Young; Aubrey M. Farb, CPA, Retired Partner at Grant Thornton; and Tom Roberts, CPA, Retired Partner at Fitts Roberts.Cover LetterOctober 22, 2009Name, Title and Address [see list below]Subject: Finances of the City of HoustonDear : [see list below]Enclosed is our partial analysis of the very serious financial situation at the City of Houston. We would be derelict if we failed to share this financial analysis with you. This financial heads up will assist you in meeting your fiduciary responsibilities to Houston voters, taxpayers, readers, viewers or investors---as the case may be.We feel a public discussion of the City’s financial situation is necessary and firmly believe that addressing the City’s financial condition is in the best interest of the Houston economy and Houston taxpayers. We believe the sooner the City of Houston addresses the financial shortfall the better.
Credit cards still use practices to be banned Study: Fees, rates increasing ahead of law to stop them taking effect Not only have credit card companies continued to use practices that will be outlawed under a strict law due to take effect in February, in many cases their policies have gotten harsher since the law passed. A review of nearly 400 cards offered by the largest 12 card issuers in the U.S. found nearly all contracts still allow banks to raise interest rates on outstanding balances. Most also still have penalty interest rates that can be triggered with just one or two late payments or overlimit transactions. And most still allow banks to apply payments to the lowest interest portion of balances first.
Foreclosures double in Washington area Subprime borrowers in three counties bear the brunt, report says The number of Washington area homeowners in foreclosure has more that doubled in the past year, according to a report to be released Wednesday that shows the problem remains most acute in a few counties and could get worse as more borrowers fall behind on their payments. About 2.7 percent of local borrowers are in the foreclosure process, meaning that the bank has started the legal process to take back the property, according to the report by the Urban Institute, a nonprofit policy research group based in Washington. That was slightly below the national average of 2.9 percent.
South Florida homeowners walking away from underwater mortgages Andres Duque thought he got a real steal when he paid $125,000 for his Little Haiti condo. But four years later, similar units are selling for $35,000 and even less. And so, faced with the prospect of being underwater on his mortgage - owing more than the unit is worth - for the next 20 years, Duque, 33, made what seemed to him like a rational choice: to cut and run.
Homeowners walking away from underwater mortgages Many South Florida homeowners who can afford to make their mortgage payments are choosing not to, forcing the lender to foreclose. It's called strategic default. Walking away, however, is fraught with financial, legal and ethical dilemmas. Lenders, government and the credit industry are starting to pay more attention to how strategic defaulters think and behave -- in an effort to convince them to tough it out. ``It's a huge problem, and it doesn't get addressed in the process right now,'' said Ron Kaniuk, a Boca Raton foreclosure and bankruptcy attorney. He said lenders are encouraging the trend by primarily offering loan modifications only to those who have fallen behind or are seriously at risk of foreclosure.
Senators agree to extend homebuyer tax credit Senators agree to extend tax credit for first-time homebuyers, expanding it to repeat buyers Senators agreed Wednesday to extend a popular tax credit for first-time homebuyers and to offer a reduced credit to some repeat buyers. The tax credit provides up to $8,000 to first-time homebuyers but is set to expire at the end of November. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that new home sales fell 3.6 percent in September, and some industry representatives blamed uncertainty about the tax credit. Senators agreed to extend the existing tax credit for first-time homebuyers while offering a reduced credit of up to $6,500 to repeat buyers who have owned their current homes for at least five years, said Regan Lachapelle, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
New home sales fall a surprising 3.6 percent September new US home sales post surprise drop as benefit of first-time buyer tax credit wanes Sales of new U.S. homes dropped unexpectedly last month as the effects of a temporary tax credit for first-time owners started to wane. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that sales fell 3.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 402,000 from a downwardly revised 417,000 in August. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a pace of 440,000. It was the first decline since March. Sales in September were off 7.8 percent from a year ago. Despite the surprising decline, the market is up 22 percent from the bottom in January, though down more than 70 percent from the peak in July 2005.
MAX KEISER in Fall of the Republic the Presidency of Barack Obama - all of Max Keiser's clip taken from Fall of the Republic the Presidency of Barack Obama released on October 21st 2009
China to pursue trade case against US automakers China to launch investigation that could result in higher tariffs on US autos China has told the U.S. that it will take steps that could lead to higher tariffs on imports of autos made by GM, Chrysler and Ford. Steve Collins, president of industry trade group the American Automotive Policy Council, said Wednesday that U.S. officials have told the three Detroit automakers that China is expected to begin an investigation under anti-dumping laws into their business practices as soon as next week.
China to launch case against U.S. Big Three automakers China has told the United States that it plans to formally launch an investigation that could lead to new import duties on autos and sports utility vehicles made by Chrysler, Ford and General Motors, a U.S. industry official said on Wednesday. "The documents containing the charges were presented by China to the U.S. government this week, but have not yet been translated. Therefore we are not in a position to comment on the matter at this time," Steve Collins, president of the American Automotive Policy Council, told Reuters.
Treasury, GMAC in talks for 3rd round of US aid Treasury says auto lender GMAC in talks for billions more in taxpayer funds to boost capital GMAC, the former lending arm of General Motors Co., is in talks with the Treasury Department for a third injection of taxpayer aid, a further sign of the U.S. government's entrenchment in the auto industry. The government mandated earlier this year that GMAC Financial Services raise an additional $11.5 billion in capital by early November after undergoing a "stress test" along with 18 other banks. While other banks deemed undercapitalized have been able to raise funds from private investors, GMAC has been forced to go back to the government.
Cash for Clunkers: Good for dealers, automakers, bad for taxpayers Car sales and research site Edmunds.com estimated today that each new car sold under the Cash for Clunkers government subsidy program cost the American taxpayers more than $24,000. Edmunds estimated that 82 percent of vehicle sales during the program would have happened anyway (then or at some point in the near future), so the program only enticed about 18 percent of the buyers who participated in the program, which moved 690,000 new vehicles off the lots of very relieved dealers.
Revelations of the Swine Flu and Forced Vaccinations - Just Say No to the Vaccine
WHO memos 1972 explains how to turn vaccines into a means of killing Two key memorandums from WHO, discovered by Patrick Jordan, prove WHO has intentionally created the three-shot killer vaccine that people in the USA and other countries could soon be forced to take. 1972 WHO Bulletin 47, No 2 Memordanda #1 and #2 Virus-associated immunopathology: Animal models and implications for human disease * technically outline the ability to create biological weapons in the form of vaccines that:
First totally disable the Immune System.
Load every cell of the Victim’s body up with Infection.
Switch the Immune System on causing the host to kill themselves in a Cytokine Storm.
One, Two, Three, Dead. These WHO Memorandas describe the three-stage impact of the three "shots" many people will be forced to take this fall to allegedly treat a virus that WHO also helped create and release.
House to unveil health bill Thursday House Democrats plan to release their health care reform bill Thursday after reaching agreement within their party on how to structure the government-run insurance program. A ceremony is planned for outside the Capitol to release the legislation, which would dramatically alter the nation's health care system. The House and Senate reform bills would create a national health insurance program, but the Senate plan would allow states to "opt out" of the program. Both chambers could begin debate on their bills as soon as late next week.
Joe Lieberman: I'll block vote on Harry Reid's plan Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said Tuesday that he’d back a GOP filibuster of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s health care reform bill. Lieberman, who caucuses with Democrats and is positioning himself as a fiscal hawk on the issue, said he opposes any health care bill that includes a government-run insurance program — even if it includes a provision allowing states to opt out of the program, as Reid has said the Senate bill will. "We're trying to do too much at once," Lieberman said. “To put this government-created insurance company on top of everything else is just asking for trouble for the taxpayers, for the premium payers and for the national debt. I don’t think we need it now."
Amendment Would Let Kansas Opt Out of Potential Health Reforms Kansas Senator Mary Pilcher-Cook of Shawnee, along with colleagues in the Kansas House from Wichita and Emporia, is planning an attempt to amend the Kansas Constitution, should Congress pass health reforms that mandate everyone carry health insurance. The amendment would allow the state to basically opt-out of such legislation. Cook tells KMBZ it would need the support of two-thirds of lawmakers, and then a thumbs up from the Kansas people on the 2010 ballot.
Big U.S. companies balk at healthcare public option Some of the nation's largest companies pushed back against U.S. Democrats' plans to deliver a government-run insurance option in a healthcare overhaul, decrying it as a step backward that would drive up costs for employers and their workers. The Business Roundtable, comprised of chief executives at Verizon Communications, JPMorgan, General Electric, Wal-Mart and other companies that together employ more than 12 million people, said the federal government is inefficient and would underpay providers. That would result in providers boosting prices for private insurers and employers, the group said on Wednesday.
Centrists unsure about Reid's public option Citing principle and pragmatism, moderate Democrats stay on fence Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid's risky decision to bring to the chamber's floor a health-care bill containing a government insurance plan was met with skepticism by moderate Democrats, who said they still do not know whether they could support a public option on a final vote. The latest challenge to the Nevada Democrat's move came from Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), who told reporters that he was "inclined to support" a procedural motion to bring the measure to the floor. But he remains opposed to a government-run insurance plan in any form -- even with an "opt-out" provision for states that Reid said Monday he will include in the legislation.
Sean Hannity And Sen. John McCain On Public Option "Opt-Out" Plan
A good time to be a conservative Bien-pensant conservative elites and establishment-friendly Republican big shots yearn for a more moderate, temperate and sophisticated Republican Party. It's not likely to happen. And probably just as well. The Gallup poll released Monday shows the public's conservatism at a high-water mark. Some 40 percent of Americans call themselves conservative, compared with 36 percent who self-describe as moderates and 20 percent as liberals. The conservative number is as high as it's been in the two decades that Gallup has been asking the question.
Lou Dobbs: U.N. Push For "Climate Change" Stalls
Afghan, Pakistan carnage raises heat on Obama Carnage in Pakistan and America's bloodiest month in Afghanistan are sharpening President Barack Obama's dilemma on troop deployments while stoking political demands for swifter action. "We watch this situation continue to deteriorate while this long protracted process of decision making goes on," Republican Senator John McCain told CBS on Wednesday.
U.S., China trade talks precede visit by Obama HANGZHOU, China (AP) | U.S. officials will raise perennial trade issues, including copyright piracy and Chinese restrictions on U.S. farm products, in talks Thursday that are expected to reduce frictions ahead of President Obama's first visit to China. Before the annual talks, held in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said he hoped for progress on protecting intellectual property, clean energy, medical devices and pharmaceuticals -- the sorts of nuts-and-bolts issues the gathering will focus on.
Bill O'Reilly: "Will Afghanistan Be President Obama's Waterloo?"
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