First of all, can anyone explain to me Obama’s claim that the budget deficit would have been 9.3 trillion over ten years, if he had done nothing, as opposed to the mere 7.1 trillion he claims it will be because of the the changes he made in his massive government expanding stimulus package? Does that make any sense at all? Seriously…I’m trying to understand. But I’m not seeing it:
I need a Keynesian economist to explain that to me.
Gabe at AoSHQ put up a quick list of Obama’s biggest gaffes at the presser.
The AP fact checked him, believe it or not, there were some…er…inconsistancies.
Here’s what I found on Obama’s 9.3 trillion dollars claim. Back in March, the CBO projected that Obama’s budget would total 9.3 trillion dollars over ten years:
Compared to the $4.4 trillion projected under the “current-law assumptions embodied in CBO’s baseline”.
He said that it was going to be 9.3 trillion if they had done nothing; 7.1 due to his heroic actions.
And this guy wants us to trust him when he says he can reduce health care costs with a government run plan? He wants us to trust him when he says we can keep our plans and choose our own doctors?
The president said he had “inherited” a 1.3-trillion-dollar deficit upon taking office in January — but Republicans quickly shot back that Obama’s economic stimulus and an emergency war spending bill had sent current estimates for the year’s deficit to about 1.8 trillion US dollars.
Grassley said he spoke with a Democratic House member last week who shared Obama’s bleak reaction during a private meeting to reports that some factions of House Democrats were lining up to stall or even take down the overhaul unless leaders made major changes.
“Let’s just lay everything on the table,” Grassley said. “A Democrat congressman last week told me after a conversation with the president that the president had trouble in the House of Representatives, and it wasn’t going to pass if there weren’t some changes made … and the president says, ‘You’re going to destroy my presidency.’ “
Ouch!… Most Americans Trust Their Own Economic Judgement Over Obama’s
See Gateway Pundit for pie chart. At least most people realize “it’s not all about him”…but the 29% who trust Obama more than themselves? Those people scare me.
As the prospects for passing health reform by the time Congress leaves for its August recess look bleaker, Democratic grumbling about President Obama is growing louder. One Democratic senator tells CNN congressional Democrats are “baffled,” and another senior Democratic source tells CNN members of the president’s own party are still “frustrated” that they’re not getting more specific direction from him on health care. “We appreciate the rhetoric and his willingness to ratchet up the pressure but what most Democrats on the Hill are looking for is for the president to weigh in and make decisions on outstanding issues.
The health care reform legislation working its way through Congress has lost support over the past month. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 44% of U.S. voters are at least somewhat in favor of the reform effort while 53% are at least somewhat opposed.
“The Foreign Ministry has requested the honorable embassy of Venezuela the withdrawal of its administrative, technical and diplomatic staff in a term of 72 hours due to the threats of using force, the interference in internal issues as well as the lack of respect to the territorial integrity,” Deputy Foreign Minister Martha Lorena Alvarado said.
The request, however, was turned down by Venezuelan diplomats who said they would not leave Honduras and would not obey the order of any coup government not recognized by Venezuela.
“We do not recognize the government led by Roberto Micheletti. It is a coup government, supported by bayonets,” Uriel Vargas, the first secretary from the Venezuelan embassy in Honduras, told local radio station HRN.
Since the June 28 coup in which Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was deposed by force, Venezuela has shown full support for the ousted leader and condemned the post-coup government as “usurpers” and “coup-mongers.”
Chavez expressed that the expulsion of Zelaya was also an “attack on Venezuela and regional leftist countries”.
I’d call it more of a rejection, than attack. Like the expulsion of the diplomats.
And Chavez repeated Tuesday what he has said on several occasions: ” his country would not use force to meddle in Honduras’ internal affairs”.
Let’s pray he keeps that promise.
The European Union on Monday suspended 65.5 million euros (93 million U.S. dollars) in aid to Honduran institutions, saying that the bloc would continue to restrict political contacts with Honduras’ de facto government “until a peaceful negotiated solution has been found.”
How’s this for a peaceful solution? Zelaya stays away from Honduras, the U.S. stops meddling, and the rest of the Commie countries in the region leave them the hell alone. What’s so difficult about that?
The Honduran interim Foreign Ministry on Friday sacked 16 diplomats amid an ongoing political crisis in the Central American country. In a statement, the foreign ministry accused these diplomats of engaging in malpractice and embezzlement of state wealth and said will probe into the case together with the judiciary.
Local media reported that all the sacked diplomats have expressed their support for ousted President Manuel Zelaya.
Because Zelaya so often plays both sides, it is difficult to infer what his true intentions and motives are. He has complained about American dominance and publicly railed against the dangers of northern imperialism, and almost in the same breath blamed his nation’s problems on American indifference. Zelaya claims that he wants to have a “frank, open, comprehensive dialogue [with the U.S.], about the problems facing us mutually.”[19] His actions, however, represent a clear willingness to follow the model of his new mentor, Hugo Chavez. When Bolivia and Venezuela expelled the American ambassadors from their borders in September 2008, he quickly followed suit by obsequiously refusing to allow the arrival of a new ambassador; he quickly changed his mind, however, and allowed the ambassador to arrive. Additionally, his rhetoric has grown increasingly socialist in nature. At the 11th International Encounter of Economists on Globalization and Development Problems held in Havana, Zelaya discussed the collapse of world capitalism and argued that the global economic downturn represented the resounding failure of the neo-liberal model.[20]
There has also been a noticeable breakdown in the freedom of the press in Honduras. Zelaya has often blamed the media for his low approval ratings and accused them of having a bias against him. In 2007 he ordered the country’s private broadcast media to devote ten two-hour long segments to airing government programs in order to “counteract the misinformation of the news media about our 17 months in office.”[21] After a reporter at a radio station known to have been critical of the government was killed, the UN Special Reporter for Freedom of Expression visited the country and issued a statement of concern. “The murder of Carlos Salgado confirms the deterioration in press freedom in Honduras (87th in RSF world press freedom rankings). The worsening and terrible climate between the government of Manuel Zelaya and the media, unfortunately, contributes to this situation,” the worldwide press freedom organization reported.[22] Zelaya informed that same radio station correspondent that he would no longer grant her interviews. “You spend your time criticizing me,” he said. “If I was Hugo Chávez, I would have had this radio station shut down a long time ago.”[23]
Perhaps the most disturbing element of Chavez’s influence is the spread of Iranian power in Central America. Since coming to power Chavez has worked hard to establish close ties with Iran. He has developed a close working relationship with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and together they have launched a number of initiatives. The main commonality between the two men and in their foreign relations is an opposition to the United States. In the spirit of Chavez, Honduras has taken the first steps in developing ties with Iran. The Vice Minister of Iranian Foreign Relations, Alireza Salari Sharifabad, traveled to Honduras where he met with Patricia Rodas the Honduran Minister of Foreign Relations. Rodas who is well known for leftist affiliations said that the goal of meeting with Sharifabad was to establish closer relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran.[24] The spread of Iranian influence in Central and South America is a genuine security threat to the United States.
The Obama administration is pressuring Honduras to welcome this Marxist creep back to his position of power because “he was Democratically elected”, which no one disputes. And oh. He was taken away by government forces in the dead of night in his PJs. Big whoop. Like that’s a bad thing, considering what he had been doing to the country, and the illegal sham he was trying to perpetrate.
The US government warned Monday that stalled talks would have real consequences for the impoverished Central American nation, as aid freezes accompanied diplomatic isolation.
Washington has frozen military aid to Tegucigalpa, but it has also warned Zelaya against rash moves that might jeopardize dialogue.
What is there to talk about?! They just want to talk until Honduras agrees to take him back. The left just never stops until they get the result they want.
Honduras claims Zelaya stole millions before being deposed
The controversy over deposed President Manuel Zelaya took a bizarre turn overnight, at least here in the US. The Washington Times viewed security tapes from the Central Bank of Honduras showing officials from Zelaya’s staff withdrawing almost $3 million, which got driven to the house of Zelaya’s chief of staff. Did Zelaya intend the money to fund his illegal referendum to keep himself in office past the constitutional term limits — or did he have something more personal in mind?
Read the whole thing.
You know…I think I preferred it when “the international community” supposedly hated us. At least we never betrayed our allies.
The foreign relations minister in Honduras’ interim government says he has sent a letter to Barack Obama apologizing for a racial comment he made about the U.S. president.
Enrique Ortez says the letter expresses “his most profound apologies” for “an unfortunate comment.”
In a TV interview, Ortez said Obama “is a little black man who doesn’t know where Tegucigalpa is located.”
Obama says talking time over, but has no clue what’s in ObamaCare; Update: Obama admits bill needs more work
Morressey links to this Foundry post about Obama not knowing what’s in the House bill:
During the call, a blogger from Maine said he kept running into an Investors Business Daily article that claimed Section 102 of the House health legislation would outlaw private insurance. He asked: “Is this true? Will people be able to keep their insurance and will insurers be able to write new policies even though H.R. 3200 is passed?” President Obama replied: “You know, I have to say that I am not familiar with the provision you are talking about.”
Er, what? Obama has insisted repeatedly that the bill would not force people out of their private health insurance plans, which have over 80% of Americans satisfied at the moment. Now we find out that Obama hasn’t read the section of the bill that pertains to the issue? It shows that Obama has been talking out of his hat the entire time, and has become so disengaged from the process that he’s not bothering to keep up with the legislative changes.
Abolfazl Abdollahi (21 years Diploma in EE June 30 2009)
Neda Aghasoltan (Student Tehran 20 June 2009)
Vahed Akbari (34 years married with a 3-year-old girl Tehran June 30 2009)
Kaveh Alipour(Tehran15 June 2009)
Naser Amirnejad (Aerospace PhD student Tehran U.14 June 2009)
Sohrab Arabi(Tehran June 2009)
Mohammad Asgari (IT department Interior Ministry TehranJune 2009)
Kianoosh Assa (chemistry student at Elm va Sanaat University Tehran June 2009)
Fatemeh Barati (Tehran June 20)
Yagoub Barvayeh( masters degree student in Theater at Tehran University June 2009)
Sarvar Boroumand (Tehran June 25 2009)
Mobina Ehterami (Tehran June 20)
Mostafa Ghanian (Graduate student Tehran U.14 June 2009)
Mohsen Hadadi (24-year-old computer programmer Tehran June 30 2009)
Iman Hashemi (Tehran June 30 2009)
Masoud Hashem-Zadeh (Tehran June 30 2009)
Farzad Hashti( Tehran June 2009)
Mohammad Hossein Barzegar (Tehran June 27 2009)
Mohsen Imani ( Tehran June 20)
Seyed-Farzad Jashni (Abdanan from Ilam province lost in Tehran June 30 2009)
Bahman Jenabi (Shop worker Tehran20 June 2009)
Mehdi Karami( killed in Jonat Abad Street Tehran15 June 2009)
Shalar Khazri (Tehran June 2009)
Masoud Khosravi (Tehran June 25 2009)
Parisa Koli (25-year-old general Graduated literature Tehran June 31 2009)
Hamid Maddah Shorcheh (Mashhad June 2009)
Iman Namazi (student at Tehran University June 25 2009)
Nader Nasseri (Tehran June 30 2009)
Mohammad Nikzadi ( 22 year old graduate in Civil Tehran June 26 2009)
Fatemeh Rajabpour and Her daughter (Tehran15 June 2009)
Davood Sadri (Karaj June 2009)
Fahimeh Salahshoor ( 25 years Tehran June 24 2009)
Ali Shahedi ( 24 years Tehranpars after arrest June 31 2009)
Kasra Sharafi (Tehran June 20)
Kambiz Shojaii (Tehran June 20)
Ashkan Sohrabi Student (Tehran20 June 2009)
Seyed-Reza Tabatabaii ( 30-year accounting degree Tehran June 30 2009)
Vahid-Reza Tabatabaii (29 years BA in English Tehran July 3 2009)
Salar Tahmasbi (27 years student of Business Administration Rasht June 30 2009)
Hossein Tahmassebi (25 was beaten to death in Kermanshah 20 June 2009)
For the longer lists of arrested students, professors, journalists, Reformist members and politicians, and the shorter list of those arrested and released, see Revolutionary Rd.
Saeed also posted this kick-A open letter to the Iranian regime from an “older American woman”.
Someone named Mosa keeps sending me great videos from the uprising in Iran. Here’s one of the latest:
Thanks Mosa.
I have a quibble with a couple of the cartoons in this video… the ones that mention “stolen elections”. I suspect they’re wrong headed digs at the 2000 election of George W. Bush, which all but the most BDS besotted moonbats accept was won fair and square. Come on. Bush was pulling for you guys, unlike our current Commander in Chief. Even if the cartoons are referring to Obama and ACORN, few people believe the vote fraud in the 2008 Presidential election amounted to enough votes to swing the election. So enough with that.
Also, I’ve noted that the Communist Worker Party of Iran is behind some/many/most(?) of the students protesting in Iran, including Saeed, which I can’t endorse. What sense is there in going from one totalitarian system to another? Are you guys for Democracy or not?
MORE:
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter of MI took to the House floor to address Khamenei: Your Referendum Has Been Held and You Have Failed Your Test.
McCotter is a conservative Republican, by the way. Obama, who has been ignoring the ongoing conflict in Iran, is a far left Socialist Democrat who doesn’t want to upset the mad Mullahs by saying anything too damning about the regime he wants to negotiate with.
In the wake of Iran’s crackdown on election protesters, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton concedes that neither she nor US President Barack Obama hold “any illusions” that direct talks with Iran will work.
But she says the offer is still on the table.
“We remain ready to engage with Iran, but the time for action is now, the opportunity will not remain open indefinitely,” she said.
Harry Alford, the chair of the National Black Chamber of Commerce, shot to internet stardom on July 16 when he appeared before Barbara Boxer in the House. Sen. Boxer’s condescending attitude agitated Alford, who came to discuss energy policy, but instead was confronted with racial politics, which made for some highly entertaining youtube moments. Since then he has appeared on numerous talk shows where his blunt, plain spoken manner never disappoints.
Naturally he was destined to appear on the O’Reilly Factor at some point:
“She loves poor black folks, and she loves black folks in their place”.
OUCH!
I may not agree with Alford, a Democrat, on everything, but I sure do appreciate his outspokenness , and intellectual honesty.
This is not going to end well. The Honduran government is adamant. They do not want the would be dictator/cheat/thug back, but the US State Dept is turning up the heat on the interim government, to force them to reinstate him as President against their will:
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called interim President Roberto Micheletti to say there would be serious consequences if his government ignores international mediation for Zelaya’s return.
Her call on Sunday came as talks mediated by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias stalled due to the refusal of Micheletti’s delegates to accept demands for Zelaya’s return.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said that Clinton helped “helped him understand the potential consequences of a failure to take advantage of this mediation.”
Honduran business leaders, meanwhile, say U.S. Ambassador Hugo Llorens has called them into meetings to warn that Honduras – impoverished and highly dependent on exports to the United States – could face tough sanctions if the interim government continues to refuse Arias’ compromise proposal for Zelaya to return as head of a coalition government.
The European Union added to the pressure on Monday by announcing it was suspending $93.1 million (65.5 million euros) in aid to Honduras.
No government has recognized Micheletti, and the United Nations and Organization of American States have called for the return of Zelaya, who was arrested and hustled out of the country by the army on June 28.
But Micheletti vowed not to stand down – and implied that the United States is betraying one of its staunchest allies.
Yes, we are, and what a disgrace it is.
Cardinal Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, the archbishop of Tegucigalpa quipped, when he was asked why the American government was publicly supporting Zelaya — “in perfect harmony with Chavez and his followers” :
“A lot of Hondurans would like to know that. But nobody can explain it to us.”
Congressman Mike Castle’s orderly town hall was disrupted when a woman brought up the Obama birth certificate issue, and the assembled citizen’s launched into an impromptu recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance:
This is what I meant the other day, when I said that Obama has an obligation as President of all of the citizens of these United States, to put this question to rest. That was a whole room full of people who doubt his citizenship, people who probably weren’t there to discuss that issue, but when it was brought up, exploded with approval. If he’s playing games, as some conservatives have argued, “When your political enemies are making fools of themselves, why stop them?”, shame on him. A significant number of Americans, including members of the military question the legitimacy of Obama’s Presidency. He should put a stop to it and produce his certificate. Otherwise, it looks like he has something to hide.
Health policy expert and former Lt. Governor of New York State, Betsy McCaughey has been on a mission to expose ObamaCare to the masses. She’s read through these bills, cover to cover, and wants to get the word out – ObamaCare would be hazardous to your health, especially the elderly’s. I listened to substitute host, Raymond Arroyo interview her, this morning on the Laura Ingraham Show, and she didn’t mince words – Obama is lying about ObamaCare. (Shut up! Obama’s lying?!) You will NOT get to keep your health care if you’re satisfied with it. It’s a point she’s making on talk show after talk show. She also said that the AARP is doing seniors a huge disservice in its avocation of nationalized health care. She says the rationing that will take place will hurt them the most. These bills do little to cut waste and fraud as promised but would throw billions of dollars toward shady and undefined enterprises such as “community reinvestment”. IYKWIMAITYD.
Here, she appears on the Fred Thompson Show, after reading the new House bill, which she characterizes as a vicious assault on the elderly and boomer generation:
“On page 425, the Congress would make it mandatory, absolutely required that every five years, people in Medicare have a required counseling session that will tell them how to end their life sooner: how to decline nutrition, how to decline hydration, how to go into hospice care…and by the way, the bill expressly says that if you get sick, somewhere in that five year period, if you get a cancer diagnosis, for example, you have to go through that session, again….all to do what’s in societies best interest, or your family’s best interest and cut your life short…these are such sacred issues of life and death – government should have nothing to do with it”.
I’m sorry about the Nazi imagery in the second video, but there really is something deeply wrong with the worldview of people who have that much disregard for the sanctity of life. Add Obama’s choice for “Science Czar”, John Holdren, a man who has advocated forced abortions, and sterilizations, and a truly ghastly and alarming picture emerges.
THE PRESIDENT: So that’s where I think you just get into some very difficult moral issues. But that’s also a huge driver of cost, right?
I mean, the chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives are accounting for potentially 80 percent of the total health care bill out here.
So how do you — how do we deal with it?
THE PRESIDENT: …you have to have some independent group that can give you guidance. It’s not determinative, but I think has to be able to give you some guidance. And that’s part of what I suspect you’ll see emerging out of the various health care conversations that are taking place on the Hill right now.
Is Euthanasia Included in National ‘Health Care’ Reform? By Deacon Keith Fournier
Betsy McCaughey is a patient advocate, the founder of the “Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths” and a former lieutenant governor of New York. She was interviewed Monday morning by former Senator Fred Thompson. In that interview she claimed that this same “Health Care Reform” would require that anyone on Social Security undergo a mandatory counseling session every five years.
After receiving that ninth E-mail on this matter, I actually listened to the entire interview. Frankly, it was deeply disturbing. Her further claim is that this mandatory counseling would include a discussion of what are euphemistically called “end of life” options.As a pro-life lawyer of several decades, I know what that phrase entails.
A quick search of Dr. McCaughey on the internet revealed a flurry of attacks on her claims that this National Health Reform encourages euthanasia. However, it was interesting that none of the attackers refuted her specific claims as they related to the legislation and her references to page numbers in the voluminous bill. They all sought to destroy her credibility through the use of guilt by association tactics.
Therefore, the question still remains on the table. Will this National “Health Care” Plan encourage our elderly to take their own lives rather than somehow become a “drain” on the rest of us? Will it withhold medical care from them based upon a bureaucrat’s decision regarding so called “quality of life” issues? Will it encourage the rationing of medical services? Will it counsel the withdrawal of nutrition and hydration in order to expedite their death? In short, is Euthanasia included in this National ‘Health Care’ Reform?
Dastardly Obamacare Plan Seeks Government Control of Life, Death
RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, we have found something else in the health care bill. Page 425 to page 430. The House version of the health care bill is going to require mandatory counseling for all seniors at a minimum of every five years, more often if the senior is sick or in a nursing home. Just how many government trained counselors will that put into the workforce? With an over-65 population of 38 million according to the US Census 2007, if you have an over-65 population of 38 million people you’re going to need four counseling sessions daily, that’s 37,000 at a minimum counselors plus their supervisors, then the people who read their reports, and the oversight agency. You know what we ought to do? We ought to put together a single page cut-and-paste fact sheet at RushLimbaugh.com that people could cut and paste and fax to the White House so that Obama will know what is in the bill.
I’ll bet he doesn’t know that there is end-of-life counseling for senior citizens on page 425 to 430. What is this counseling going to be? Why would you need mandatory counseling for all seniors, and who’s going to pay for this? Mandatory counseling for all seniors at a minimum of every five years, more often if the seasoned citizen is sick or in a nursing home. And as Don Parker writes here at the American Thinker, “Don’t even think that anyone should receive mandatory counseling regarding the end-of-life issues surrounding abortion.” That’s an invasion of the right to privacy. We can’t have counseling for mothers who are thinking of terminating their pregnancy, but we can go in there and counsel people about to die. I’m sure you could get some counselors from the Hemlock Society to go in and do this. Kevorkian might want to come back to life and handle this. End-of-life counselors, end-of-life treatment for senior citizens, mandatory.
UPDATE II:
NRO’s Freddie Freddoso says the claims about concerning page 425 in the health care bill are bit overwrought:
A breathless e-mail is circulating the Internet about ObamaCare’s attempt to badger senior citizens into offing themselves. Here is an example:
On Page 425 of Obama’s health care bill, the Federal Government will require EVERYONE who is on Social Security to undergo a counseling session every 5 years with the objective being that they will explain to them just how to end their own life earlier.”
As with many Internet rumors, this is not true. But it does have elements of truth to it.
The House Democrats’ health care bill does not compel counseling sessions. It does authorize Medicare to pay for one end-of-life care consultation every five years.
That is very different from the Betsy McCaughey’s characterization of page 425. Here are the relevant pages from the bill:
P. 425
”(FF) advance care planning consultation (as defined in subsection (hhh)(1));”; and
(B) by adding at the end the following new subsection: ”Advance Care Planning Consultation ”(hhh)(1) Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4), the term ‘advance care planning consultation’ means a consultation between the individual and a practitioner described in paragraph (2) regarding advance care planning, if, subject to paragraph (3), the individual involved has not had such a consultation within the last 5 years. Such consultation shall include the following:
”(A) An explanation by the practitioner of advance care planning, including key questions and
considerations, important steps, and suggested people to talk to.
”(B) An explanation by the practitioner of advance directives, including living wills and durable powers of attorney, and their uses.
”(C) An explanation by the practitioner of the role and responsibilities of a health care proxy.
”(D) The provision by the practitioner of a list of national and State-specific resources to assist consumers and their families with advance care planning, including the national toll-free hotline, the ad-
P. 426
advance care planning clearinghouses, and State legal service organizations (including those funded through the Older Americans Act of 1965).
”(E) An explanation by the practitioner of the continuum of end-of-life services and supports available, including palliative care and hospice, and benefits for such services and supports that are available under this title.
”(F)(i) Subject to clause (ii), an explanation of orders regarding life sustaining treatment or similar orders, which shall include–
”(I) the reasons why the development of such an order is beneficial to the individual and the individual’s family and the reasons why such an order should be updated periodically as the health of the individual changes;
”(II) the information needed for an individual or legal surrogate to make informed decisions regarding the completion of such an order; and
”(III) the identification of resources that an individual may use to determine the requirements of the State in which such individual resides so that the treatment wishes of that individual will be carried out if the individual is un-
P. 427
able to communicate those wishes, including requirements regarding the designation of a surrogate decisionmaker (also known as a health care proxy).
”(ii) The Secretary shall limit the requirement for explanations under clause (i) to consultations furnished in a State–
”(I) in which all legal barriers have been addressed for enabling orders for life sustaining treatment to constitute a set of medical orders respected across all care settings; and
”(II) that has in effect a program for orders for life sustaining treatment described in clause (iii).
”(iii) A program for orders for life sustaining treatment for a States described in this clause is a program that–
”(I) ensures such orders are standardized and uniquely identifiable throughout the State;
”(II) distributes or makes accessible such orders to physicians and other health professionals that (acting within the scope of the professional’s authority under State law) may sign orders for life sustaining treatment;
P. 428
”(III) provides training for health care professionals across the continuum of care about the goals and use of orders for life sustaining treatment; and
”(IV) is guided by a coalition of stakeholders includes representatives from emergency medical services, emergency department physicians or nurses, state long-term care association, state medical association, state surveyors, agency responsible for senior services, state department of health, state hospital association, home health association, state bar association, and state hospice association.
”(2) A practitioner described in this paragraph is–
”(A) a physician (as defined in subsection (r)(1)); and
”(B) a nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant who has the authority under State law to sign orders for life sustaining treatments.
”(3)(A) An initial preventive physical examination under subsection (WW), including any related discussion during such examination, shall not be considered an advance care planning consultation for purposes of applying the 5-year limitation under paragraph (1).
P. 429
”(B) An advance care planning consultation with respect to an individual may be conducted more frequently than provided under paragraph (1) if there is a significant change in the health condition of the individual, including diagnosis of a chronic, progressive, life-limiting disease, a life-threatening or terminal diagnosis or life-threatening injury, or upon admission to a skilled nursing facility, a long-term care facility (as defined by the Secretary), or a hospice program.
”(4) A consultation under this subsection may include the formulation of an order regarding life sustaining treatment or a similar order.
”(5)(A) For purposes of this section, the term ‘order regarding life sustaining treatment’ means, with respect to an individual, an actionable medical order relating to the treatment of that individual that–
”(i) is signed and dated by a physician (as defined in subsection (r)(1)) or another health care
professional (as specified by the Secretary and who is acting within the scope of the professional’s authority under State law in signing such an order, including a nurse practitioner or physician assistant) and is in a form that permits it to stay with the individual and be followed by health care professionals and providers across the continuum of care;
P. 430
”(ii) effectively communicates the individual’s preferences regarding life sustaining treatment, including an indication of the treatment and care desired by the individual;
”(iii) is uniquely identifiable and standardized within a given locality, region, or State (as identified by the Secretary); and
”(iv) may incorporate any advance directive (as defined in section 1866(f)(3)) if executed by the individual.
”(B) The level of treatment indicated under subparagraph (A)(ii) may range from an indication for full treatment to an indication to limit some or all or specified interventions. Such indicated levels of treatment may include indications respecting, among other items–
”(i) the intensity of medical intervention if the patient is pulse less, apneic, or has serious cardiac or pulmonary problems;
”(ii) the individual’s desire regarding transfer to a hospital or remaining at the current care setting;
”(iii) the use of antibiotics; and
”(iv) the use of artificially administered nutrition and hydration.”.
At a town hall meeting at AARP headquarters in Washington, D.C., President Obama was asked by a woman from North Carolina if it was true “that everyone that’s Medicare age will be visited and told they have to decide how they wish to die.”
At first, the president joked that not enough government workers existed to ask the elderly how they wanted to die. The idea, he said, was to encourage the use of living wills and that critics were misrepresenting the intent of the “end of life” counseling provided for in the House bill. He did not say, “No, they wouldn’t be contacted.”
Zelaya announced the launch of an insurrection in Honduras:
Manuel Zelaya has been exhausted by the dialogue and has announced the launch of an insurgency in Honduras to overthrow the coup.
From his refuge in Nicaragua, the deposed President of Honduras has requested support from the international community and has already announced that it is preparing his return.
It is your reaction to the failure of the round of negotiation open in San Jose to give a solution to the political crisis in Honduras.
The de facto government, led by Roberto Micheletti, has flatly rejected the return to power of ousted president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, of the central proposal of the mediator in this crisis, the president of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias.
“The attempt to impose as president Mr. José Manuel Zelaya Rosales, against the laws of Honduras and in violation of the principle of sovereign equality of states, is absolutely unacceptable,” said Carlos Lopez, the Honduran foreign minister and current leader of the committee the president.
Negotiators Zelaya, (in) Nigaragua refuge since the military coup last June 28, had fully accepted the Arias proposal that includes an advance of elections and an amnesty for political crimes.
Whereas Obama SHOULD have done more to encourage the protesters demonstrating for Democracy in Iran, he, and the State Dept. should NOT have made statements of support and encouragement for the dangerous lunatic, former President Zelaya.
Obama has stated clearly that tossing Zelaya out of the country by military force was illegal, and the United States has put a “pause” on tens of millions of dollars in aid. Venezuela has cut oil shipments, and the OAS has suspended Honduras, but none of that has ended the standoff.
Obamamade speeches like this one while he was in Russia:
“America supports now the restoration of the democratically-elected President of Honduras, even though he has strongly opposed American policies,” the president told graduate students at the commencement ceremony of Moscow’s New Economic School. “We do so not because we agree with him. We do so because we respect the universal principle that people should choose their own leaders, whether they are leaders we agree with or not. “
Now what is he going to say, as Zelaya defies the State Dept’s advice and returns to Honduras to “trigger violence” in a manufactured “insurrection” to regain power?
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, a former guerrilla fighter, said on Sunday his country should extend presidential term limits after neighboring Honduras toppled its leftist president in a coup over the same issue.
Ortega, a U.S. foe during the Cold War, first ruled Nicaragua after taking power in a 1979 Marxist revolution.
“From tonight I am beginning to organize the entire process of my return to the country (…) I represent and the Honduran people have the right to defend it. If I get the freedom to make sacrifices, I will. I can not leave them alone at this time, “Zelaya said in a press conference, which was his first statements after the end of negotiations in San José.
The deposed president had requested the remaining countries to maintain their unanimity against the de facto government of Honduras, headed by Roberto Micheletti, after the coup of June 28.
“The international community has a challenge, the international community must act,” he said, considering that the government would not putschist or 24 hours “if you have a great international pressure.
“I hope that the international community and the peoples of Central America join us to restore the democratic order,” he said.
Zelaya acknowledged the efforts of the Costa Rican president, who was mediator in the negotiations this weekend. According to the deposed president, “the intransigence of the coup” in-depth analysis prevented the road map proposed by Arias.
The refusal of the government delegation of Micheletti to accept the return of Zelaya in the power failure was mediated by the Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, who warned of the possibility that the Honduran crisis degenerating into a civil war.
In his speech, recalled the right Zelaya of Honduras to the “revolt against oppression” and “civil disobedience” as not paying taxes or not to obey an “illegitimate government”.
Talks continue today to resolve the political conflict in Honduras between the interim government and ousted president Zelaya. But they’re running into snags in the attempt to create a “reconciliation government”.
The two camps seemed to be far from a compromise, with exiled President Manuel Zelaya saying he will return to Honduras soon regardless of the outcome of the negotiations and the interim government vowing to arrest him.
Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, who won the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize for helping end Central America’s civil wars, is mediating the U.S.-backed talks and appealed for more flexibility.
The government of interim president Roberto Micheletti on Saturday asked for more time to study Arias’ proposal for ending the standoff. It included a national unity government headed by Zelaya, a general amnesty and early elections.
While Micheletti hedges his bets, others stand firm:
When asked about the idea of having Zelaya return to Honduras as president with a reconciliation government, Assistant Foreign Minister Martha Lorena Alvarado gave a one-word response: “Impossible.”
Her comment in Honduras’ capital, Tegucigalpa, was the clearest indication that the talks had deadlocked.
“The reinstatement of Zelaya, as we have maintained and now repeat, is not negotiable … there is no possibility of him returning to Honduras as president,” Alvarado said.
It takes an incredible amount of political courage to stand your ground when the UN, OAS-(what a joke), and US State Dept. is united against you. Perhaps moral certainty has a way of making one bold. The Honduran interim government knows that it made the correct decision in deposing the would be tyrant, Zelaya.
As was reported yesterday, computers owned by Zelaya were seized by Honduran authorities and were found to contain the official and certified results of the illegal constitutional referendum Zelaya wanted to conduct that never took place. Not surprisingly, the results of this fraudulent vote was tilted heavily in Zelaya’s favor, allowing him to illegally change the constitution so he could remain in power for as long as he wanted. Getting rid of him was the only way to prevent this from happening.
Meanwhile, one of the good guys, Cardinal Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, the archbishop of Tegucigalpa, who opposes the return to power of Zelaya, is getting death threats from the ousted President’s supporters on a daily basis.
“You must know,” Cardinal Rodríguez tells the FAZ,
that we are struggling against a very powerful, because very well-financed, campaign, which is being directed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez — to the extent that agents of the Venezuelan secret services are active in the country and are organizing the supposed popular protests against the removal of President Manuel Zelaya. Weapons have also been brought into the country. Thank God that up to now more blood has not been shed. But not a day goes by without my receiving a death threat.
***
Asked by FAZ reporter Daniel Deckers why the American government has publicly supported Zelaya — “in perfect harmony with Chavez and his followers” — Cardinal Rodríguez replied: “A lot of Hondurans would like to know that. But nobody can explain it to us.”
Here are some typical Zelaya supporters. Tells you everything you need to know.
This totally righteous, aspiring commie traveled all the way to Honduras from Berthoud, CO to protest the constitutional actions of the Honduran government:
…when Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was ousted in a coup, Brandvold felt the call to action. “It was tearing me up watching my people take to the streets and demand a return to democracy, and for me to just sit behind a computer screen and do nothing would be unthinkable,” he said. “I feel solidarity with the Honduran people and outrage at what was happening, and I think too often we don’t act on our sentiments.”
Upon hearing that Zelaya would try to return to the country, Brandvold booked the first flight he could get on. “They said he would most likely be on a commercial flight, so I thought it would be amazing to fly in on the same flight or just before he arrived, and be on the ground in Honduras to welcome him back with the rest of the country.”
Oh GREAT:
While not everyone in Honduras may support Zelaya’s return, the international community has provided overwhelming support for the ousted leader. Talks between Zelaya and leaders of the military coup began in Costa Rica last week. Brandvold encourages everyone to contact their local U.S. senator and “pressure them to take action.”
For now, Brandvold will continue his work at the Middle East Policy Council in Washington, D.C., a position he took on about five months ago while continuing to hope for a peaceful resolution.
Honduras’ deposed President Manuel Zelaya and his rival failed to strike a deal on Sunday to solve the country’s political crisis after two days of talks.Minutes after the talks in Costa Rica collapsed, Zelaya — who was ousted in a June 28 military coup — told Reuters that “no one can stop me” from returning to Honduras, a move that Washington has tried to dissuade him from taking due to fears it would trigger violence.
Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, the mediator in the talks wants to keep trying, but the Honduran government is firm in their opposition to Zelaya’s reinstatement:
Honduras’ interim leader, Roberto Micheletti, flatly rejected Arias’ proposal that Zelaya be reinstated, the major stumbling block in the mediation.”I’m very sorry, but the proposals that you have presented are unacceptable to the constitutional government of Honduras … in particular your proposal number one,” said Carlos Lopez, head of the negotiating team for Micheletti.
Zelaya is in exile in Nicaragua and, like Micheletti, he did not attend the weekend talks in Costa Rica.
Worth Watching:
CNN’s Rick Sanchez did a decent job (I know!) interviewing former presidential adviser Otto Reich about the coup in Honduras. Kudos to him, for actually getting the whole story out there:
Reich made an interesting distinction between the authoritarian/totalitarian left in places like Venezuela, Ecuador, Cuba and Nicaragua and the Democratic left in places like Chile, Brazil, and Uruguay. Which model, do you suppose Obama plans to emulate?
In case any of you associate with idiots liberals who are still yelling at you that this is a coup, please remind them that the generally accepted definition of a coup according to Edward Luttwak in his seminal book Coup d’Etat: A Practial Handbook is this: “a coup consists of the infiltration of a small, but critical, segment of the state apparatus, which is then used to displace the government from its control of the remainder.”
Then remind them that this was in fact just the opposite, in other words the government preventing a small but critical segment of the apparatus from displacing the government from the control of the remainder.
A member of the Basiji militia in Iran agreed to an interview with a reporter from The Jerusaem Post, and let fly some shocking details about how things are done in the Iranian regime.:
The interview took place by telephone, and on condition of anonymity. It was arranged by a reliable source whose identity can also not be revealed.
Founded by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979 as a “people’s militia,” the volunteer Basiji force is subordinate to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and intensely loyal to Khomeini’s successor, Khamenei.
The Basiji member, who is married with children, spoke soon after his release by the Iranian authorities from detention. He had been held for the “crime” of having set free two Iranian teenagers – a 13-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl – who had been arrested during the disturbances that have followed the disputed June presidential elections.
“There have been many other police and members of the security forces arrested because they have shown leniency toward the protesters out on the streets, or released them from custody without consulting our superiors,” he said.
// He pinned the blame for much of the most ruthless violence employed by the Iranian security apparatus against opposition protesters on what he called “imported security forces” – recruits, as young as 14 and 15, he said, who have been brought from small villages into the bigger cities where the protests have been centered.
“Fourteen and 15-year old boys are given so much power, which I am sorry to say they have abused,” he said. “These kids do anything they please – forcing people to empty out their wallets, taking whatever they want from stores without paying, and touching young women inappropriately. The girls are so frightened that they remain quiet and let them do what they want.”
These youngsters, and other “plainclothes vigilantes,” were committing most of the crimes in the names of the regime, he said.
Asked about his own role in the brutal crackdowns on the protesters, whether he had been beaten demonstrators and whether he regretted his actions, he answered evasively.
“I did not attack any of the rioters – and even if I had, it is my duty to follow orders,” he began. “I don’t have any regrets,” he went on, “except for when I worked as a prison guard during my adolescence.”
Explaining how he had come to join the volunteer Basiji forces, he said his mother had taken him to them.
When he was 16, “my mother took me to a Basiji station and begged them to take me under their wing because I had no one and nothing foreseeable in my future. My father was martyred during the war in Iraq and she did not want me to get hooked on drugs and become a street thug. I had no choice,” he said.
He said he had been a highly regarded member of the force, and had so “impressed my superiors” that, at 18, “I was given the ‘honor’ to temporarily marry young girls before they were sentenced to death.”
In the Islamic Republic it is illegal to execute a young woman, regardless of her crime, if she is a virgin, he explained. Therefore a “wedding” ceremony is conducted the night before the execution: The young girl is forced to have sexual intercourse with a prison guard – essentially raped by her “husband.”
“I regret that, even though the marriages were legal,” he said.
Why the regret, if the marriages were “legal?”
“Because,” he went on, “I could tell that the girls were more afraid of their ‘wedding’ night than of the execution that awaited them in the morning. And they would always fight back, so we would have to put sleeping pills in their food. By morning the girls would have an empty expression; it seemed like they were ready or wanted to die.
“I remember hearing them cry and scream after [the rape] was over,” he said. “I will never forget how this one girl clawed at her own face and neck with her finger nails afterwards. She had deep scratches all over her.”
Returning to the events of the last few weeks, and his decision to set free the two teenage detainees, he said he “honestly” did not know why he had released them, a decision that led to his own arrest, “but I think it was because they were so young. They looked like children and I knew what would happen to them if they weren’t released.”
Yes he did. Many have been hanged, already, and “married” before they were hanged, no doubt. This is the Iran, Obama wants to negotiate with.
Obama couldn’t give the protesters even a tiny bit of encouragement, beyond condemning (under duress) the horrific brutality of the Basiji, after watching it go on for two weeks? He didn’t want to meddle in the “robust debate,” because he wanted to be able to negotiate with the illegitimate fiends leading this God forsaken nation?
Would President Bush have behaved that way? Would a President McCain have? Would either of them have invited representatives of this evil regime to a 4th of July BBQ?
Meanwhile, the Iranian people continue to protest, get their heads beaten in, get arrested, get raped, and get hung, and we hear not a peep from the Obama administration.
Compared to the $4.4 trillion projected under the “current-law assumptions embodied in CBO’s baseline”.
