During what was a rather calm and friendly town hall meeting on Tuesday night in Portsmouth, New Hampshire President Barack Obama sought to reassure both the assembled audience and the country at large that his health care reforms will leave doctors and their patients in charge, not the big health insurance companies or government agencies.
"This is not about putting the government in charge of your health insurance," Obama told the assembled audience at an area high school "I don't believe anyone should be in charge of your health insurance decisions except you and your doctor."
He added" I don't think government bureaucrats should be meddling but I don't think insurance company bureaucrats should be meddling. Your health insurance will be there for you when it counts, not just when you're paying premiums," Those remarks drew him a sustained round of applause from the majority of the spectators.
Still, Obama has a long way to go. A national telephone survey conducted by Rasmussen reports showed that support for the President's plans has fallen to an all time low of 42%, while opposition has grown to 53%, a full 9 point increase since the end of June.
Although things inside the Portsmouth high school were relatively calm, cordial and Obama friendly at points during the day the mood of some of the crowd outside the hall was less conciliatory.
Outside, earlier in the day, reporters and members of the media covering the event spotted something that surprised even the most seasoned of them. William Kostnic, carrying a placard that read "It’s time to Water the Tree of Liberty" waited for the President to arrive in the grounds of a nearby church. Strapped to his leg observers noticed was a 9mm pistol. As New Hampshire state law decrees that a person may carry a weapon as long as it is not concealed the police declined to take any action against the man.
A bemused MSNBC anchor, in a live interview asked a local reporter on the scene "Just to be clear, You’re saying a guy has a gun in the open - where we already know there are concerns about every president's safety, but certainly this president... and the guy's just being allowed to stay there? Is that right?" The reporter replied that the law did allow Kostnic to do that and that the police were well aware of both his presence and the weapon he was carrying.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
President Barack Obamas Health Care Reforms & Deadly Doctors Attack
President Barack Obama is embroiled in the first real test of his mettle, the war that is building both on Capitol Hill and off over health care reform plans. Obama launches a new website 'Reality Check" to encourage his supporters to take his message viral, one of his own administration still stands as a major source of the controversy.
Dr Ezekiel Emmanuel, brother of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel currently holds two different positions within the Obama team: health-policy adviser at the Office of Management and Budget and a member of Federal Council on Comparative Effectiveness Research. This effectively makes him one of the top advisors on the subject and someone who could exert major influence on future health care policy.
His remarks over the last weeks and months though may have given rise to much of the opposition to the President's proposed reforms. As long ago as February of 2008, long before Obama's election he was making some rather strong statements. He wrote in Health Affairs "Vague promises of savings from cutting waste, enhancing prevention and wellness, installing electronic medical records and improving quality are merely 'lipstick' cost control, more for show and public relations than for true change,"
As the piece continued he opined that for real savings to occur doctors needed to change the way they thought and felt about the patients they treated. They take the Hippocratic Oath too seriously he complained as" an imperative to do everything for the patient regardless of the cost or effects on others"
Inflammatory opinions like that make some of the fears of the general public seem a little more understandable. Patients want, and indeed expect their physicians to put their health and well being above economic concerns and many doctors feel the same way.
From his writings it appears though that Emanuel does not feel that way. He prefers the notion of communitarianism, he believes that health care should be given to the non disabled, not to those "who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens . . . An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia".
From this some see denial of care for a relative with dementia, or as Sarah Palin alluded to, the care of a child with Down's syndrome.
These and other controversial opinions that Emanuel holds have provided ammunition for the opponents of health care reform. A brief Internet search brings up many more articles in which Emmanuel seems to show little compassion for entire sections of the population. Though these may not be the opinions of Obama himself having such a man at the very top of his list of advisors may be doing him very few favors.
Dr Ezekiel Emmanuel, brother of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel currently holds two different positions within the Obama team: health-policy adviser at the Office of Management and Budget and a member of Federal Council on Comparative Effectiveness Research. This effectively makes him one of the top advisors on the subject and someone who could exert major influence on future health care policy.
His remarks over the last weeks and months though may have given rise to much of the opposition to the President's proposed reforms. As long ago as February of 2008, long before Obama's election he was making some rather strong statements. He wrote in Health Affairs "Vague promises of savings from cutting waste, enhancing prevention and wellness, installing electronic medical records and improving quality are merely 'lipstick' cost control, more for show and public relations than for true change,"
As the piece continued he opined that for real savings to occur doctors needed to change the way they thought and felt about the patients they treated. They take the Hippocratic Oath too seriously he complained as" an imperative to do everything for the patient regardless of the cost or effects on others"
Inflammatory opinions like that make some of the fears of the general public seem a little more understandable. Patients want, and indeed expect their physicians to put their health and well being above economic concerns and many doctors feel the same way.
From his writings it appears though that Emanuel does not feel that way. He prefers the notion of communitarianism, he believes that health care should be given to the non disabled, not to those "who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens . . . An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia".
From this some see denial of care for a relative with dementia, or as Sarah Palin alluded to, the care of a child with Down's syndrome.
These and other controversial opinions that Emanuel holds have provided ammunition for the opponents of health care reform. A brief Internet search brings up many more articles in which Emmanuel seems to show little compassion for entire sections of the population. Though these may not be the opinions of Obama himself having such a man at the very top of his list of advisors may be doing him very few favors.
Obama urged to back $500 Billion Plan to create Energy efficient Buildings. Is This Essential?
One of the biggest issues that President Barack Obama campaigned on back in 2008 to gain access to the White House was the environment and the need to limit climate change. With the health care reform debate raging it may seem those concerns have been put onto the back burner over the last few months but several groups are urging the President not to forget his campaign promises and back a bill that it is said will aid the economic recovery in general as well as help alleviate the effects of global warming.
The $500 billion bill calls for an overhaul of US buildings to make them more energy efficient. According to the Center for American Progress the proposal would increase the efficiency of 40 percent of the nation's residential and commercial buildings by 2020. Aside from the obvious advantages for the environment in general the project is designed to create 625,000 new jobs and save families between $300 and $1,200 a year in energy costs.
The plan to revamp and refit the buildings, which consume a full 70% of the nation's electricity as well as emitting 40% of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, will be discussed at an energy conference in Las Vegas on Monday.
Returning into the spotlight again will be former President Bill Clinton and his former vice president Al Gore. Fresh off being the center of the release of the imprisoned American journalists Lisa Ling and Euna Lee last week they are both scheduled to speak, along with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and investor T. Boone Pickens.
The event is a joint venture between the Center for American progress and senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, who is a native and representative of Nevada. The Senate democrats and the Obama administration are still trying to elicit support for their environmental reforms and the conference is designed to showcase reasonable plans and ideas.
The proposed legislation is designed to help spur the retrofitting of buildings by ensuring easier financing for such projects and help companies needed to make the renovations meet the potential demand for them.
But just like his health care reforms President Obama and his administration still have a fight ahead of them on these kinds of environmental issues. The last time legislation to limit greenhouse gases and control climate change went to the House it fell short, being defeated by a margin of 219-212 in June.
The $500 billion bill calls for an overhaul of US buildings to make them more energy efficient. According to the Center for American Progress the proposal would increase the efficiency of 40 percent of the nation's residential and commercial buildings by 2020. Aside from the obvious advantages for the environment in general the project is designed to create 625,000 new jobs and save families between $300 and $1,200 a year in energy costs.
The plan to revamp and refit the buildings, which consume a full 70% of the nation's electricity as well as emitting 40% of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, will be discussed at an energy conference in Las Vegas on Monday.
Returning into the spotlight again will be former President Bill Clinton and his former vice president Al Gore. Fresh off being the center of the release of the imprisoned American journalists Lisa Ling and Euna Lee last week they are both scheduled to speak, along with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and investor T. Boone Pickens.
The event is a joint venture between the Center for American progress and senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, who is a native and representative of Nevada. The Senate democrats and the Obama administration are still trying to elicit support for their environmental reforms and the conference is designed to showcase reasonable plans and ideas.
The proposed legislation is designed to help spur the retrofitting of buildings by ensuring easier financing for such projects and help companies needed to make the renovations meet the potential demand for them.
But just like his health care reforms President Obama and his administration still have a fight ahead of them on these kinds of environmental issues. The last time legislation to limit greenhouse gases and control climate change went to the House it fell short, being defeated by a margin of 219-212 in June.
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