Dems Reject Health Care Amendment To Prevent Federal Funding Of Abortion

HATCH AMENDMENT TO PROHIBIT FUNDING FOR ABORTION NARROWLY DEFEATED

WASHINGTON – A Senate committee today narrowly defeated Sen. Orrin Hatch’s amendment to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee’s health care reform bill to prohibit federal dollars from being used to fund abortions except in cases of rape, incest or to protect the life of the mother. Hatch (R-Utah) was dismayed by the HELP Committee’s 12-11 vote against his amendment to the proposed Affordable Health Choices Act. “The right to life is a fundamental value cherished by most Americans, regardless of their political affiliation,” said Hatch, a member of the HELP Committee. “Yet unless abortion is specifically excluded from this bill, the secretary of Health and Human Services could mandate coverage of abortion, arguing it is an ‘essential health care benefit’ and is ‘necessary for meeting minimum qualifying coverage.’ ” Last week, the HELP Committee adopted language to require “essential community providers,” which includes abortion providers, to be included in health insurance networks. While Hatch was assured that amendment, which defines Planned Parenthood clinics as “essential community providers,” would not require insurance plans to cover abortion, he wanted language in the bill to ensure that did not happen. “That is why today’s vote is so puzzling,” Hatch said. “If last week’s amendment does not sanction taxpayer-funded abortions, as its proponents have said, then why strike down an amendment to ensure that it doesn’t? That is hardly reassuring to Americans who believe in the sanctity of human life.”

http://hatch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Print&PressRelease_id=75f521c9-1b78-be3e-e037-41a1d18d66c3&suppresslayouts=true

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/content/mobile/705316666/Hatch-loses-fight-on-abortion-funding.html

http://connect2utah.com/content/fulltext/?cid=53011

Read what the Pro-Abortion site NARAL’s www.prochoice california.org had to say about the vote and compare NARAL’s comments to the President’s:  http://www.prochoicecalifornia.org/news/headlines/200907132.shtml

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PRESIDENT’S PLEDGE? 

Can’t we trust the Presdient at his word?

Contact your elected representatives: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

Health Care Reform: Dems Defeat Amendment to Guarantee American’s Right To Keep Existing Insurance Policy

Senator Orin Hatch, Utah, made the following comments prior to submitting the following list of proposed amendments to the Health Care reform Act:

Hatch believes we should “do exactly what American families are demanding – step back, take a deep breath and start over on a truly bipartisan bill,” he filed numerous amendments in hopes to protect middle class families from tax increases, ensure continued access to quality care for seniors, promote prudent and proven tort reform, and stop out of control government spending. 

Hatch’s amendments include:

- An amendment to exempt any middle-class American family from tax increases of any kind in this bill.

- An amendment to stop the implementation of the bill if more than 1,000,000 Americans lose their current health care coverage because of the bill.

- An amendment to prohibit federal health care funds from being spent on abortions.

- An amendment to restore and protect the Medicare Advantage Program, which is enjoyed by almost 10 million seniors

- An amendment to reign in trial lawyer awards in health care lawsuits.

- An amendment to preserve health flexible savings accounts — accounts which millions of Americans use to pay for health care services.

- An amendment to strike the new taxes being imposed on medical devices such as hospital beds and hearing aids, which will simply be passed on to American families.

- An amendment to protect tax payer dollars and prohibit funding in the bill from going to groups such as ACORN.

http://hatch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=e2257082-1b78-be3e-e09b-32f8a27c14ce

Hatch was one of the original members of the “Gang Of Seven”, working towards a bi-partisan health care reform, however, Hatch left the group in July, saying “Democratic leadership did not give Democrats enough flexibility to seek true compromise.”

Hatch complained Tuesday that the bill “contains almost $350 billion in new taxes on American families and businesses. This at a time when we are facing some of the toughest economic conditions our nation has ever seen.”

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705331872/Hatch-wants-reset-in-health-care-reform.html?linkTrack=rss-30

ON A PARTY LINE VOTE, DEMOCRATS REJECTED THESE SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS.

That is correct, Democrats rejected an amendment that would guarantee that Amewricans could keep the policy they currently have and that “if” the proposed health care reform would result in more than 1 Million Americans being forced to give up their current Health Care plan, implementation of the reforms would be blocked. THIS AMENDMENT WOULD BE CONSISTENT WITH THE PRESIDENT’S REPEATED PLEDGE THAT NO ONE WOULD BE FORCED TO GIVE UP THEIR CURRENT POLICY ….. Why then did the Democrats vote down this Amendment?

Answer: Even at this early stage three of the President’s “promises” are being ignored and broken. 1) Medicare is being cut. 2). Seniors are being forced out of Medicare Advantage – 20 Million Seniors will lose that coverage – a coverage many seniors living in rural areas are dependent on and 3). The plan is not deficit nutral – that is why the Democrats also voted to proceed to a final vote before the bi-partisan Congressional Budget Office can score the “true cost” of the final bill once it is drafted.

Why rush? Why not take the time and read the bill and get a final “projected” price tag before you force this mess upon the taxpayers. The Democrats also voted to  proceed to a final vote before the final bill is printed and placed on-line.

Just like with the other hugh spending bills – the Dmeocarts want to pass legislation in the dark of night, with as little transparency as possible.

Is this so they can later claim, “I don’t know what was in the bill, I didn’t have time to read it”. On a party line vote the Democrats voted down amendments to require that the CBO cost analysis and final draft of the bill be placed on line for 72 hours, prior to the final vote. A mere 72 hours. Just 3 days. What is the rush?

President Obama made a campaign pledge that in his Administration all legislation would be available on line for review by the American people, for 5 DAYS, before a final vote. 5 days not 3.

Isn’t this Presdient’s word worth anything?

“5 days”, transparency, “you can keep your policy”, “no abortion funding”, “deficit neutral”, “no medicare cuts” ………. wow, zero for 6!

Contact your elected officials today: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

Another Blast From The Past – Jimmy Carter’s National Security Advisor Calls On US Military To Shoot Down Israeli Jets

Just when I thought I’d  heard all there was to hear from the Carter Administration, the Administration that lost Iran to the militants and made America’s Military might a laughing stock on the world stage ….. now comes Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jimmy Carter’s National Security Advisor with the unbelievable suggestion that the US should shoot down Israeli jets if Israel should attempt a pre-emptive strike on Iran’s Nuclear Weapons program.

Clearly, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama can’t tell our friends from our foes – or do they have a separate set of secret friends they don’t want us to know about?

How can American Jews continue to support this party when so many of its leaders are so anti- Israel?

From the Weekly Standard:

Brezinski Calls for Obama to Shoot Down Israeli Jets; “A Liberty in Reverse”

In a little noticed interview with the Daily Beast (presumably little noticed because serious people don’t read the Daily Beast), Zbigniew Brzezinski suggests that Barack Obama do more than just refuse to support an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear sites — the American president must give the order to shoot down Israeli aircraft as they cross Iraqi airspace:

 DB: How aggressive can Obama be in insisting to the Israelis that a military strike might be in America’s worst interest?

Brzezinski: We are not exactly impotent little babies. They have to fly over our airspace in Iraq. Are we just going to sit there and watch?

DB: What if they fly over anyway?

Brzezinski: Well, we have to be serious about denying them that right. That means a denial where you aren’t just saying it. If they fly over, you go up and confront them. They have the choice of turning back or not. No one wishes for this but it could be a Liberty in reverse.

 Contrary to Brezinski’s half-hearted disclaimer that no one wishes for such an outcome, there are plenty on the left who would delight in a pitched battle between the United States and Israel. Democrats in Congress routinely support resolutions affirming Israel’s right to take whatever steps it deems necessary to assure its own national defense. And Obama has at least paid lip service to the concept. But hostility to Israel among the rank and file is very real on the left — and among “realists.”

So conjure the image — the Obama administration sending U.S. aircraft up to protect Iran’s airspace and it’s nuclear installations from an attack by a democracy that is one of America’s closest allies. Unfortunately, this may not be so hard to imagine in Israel, where the number of people who believe Obama is pro-Israel is at just 4 percent — and falling. And given Obama’s (literally) submissive posture to the Saudis, his indulgence of the Iranians, and his simultaneously hard-line approach to Israel, it seems even some of Obama’s supporters can savor the possibility of a “reverse Liberty.”

http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/09/brezinski_calls_for_obama_to_s.asp

AP Reports, “Rising unemployment accelerates foreclosure crisis”, Economy continues downward spiral. Credit Default Rates Up.

WASHINGTON – Relentlessly rising unemployment is triggering more home foreclosures, threatening the Obama administration’s efforts to end the housing crisis and diminishing hopes the economy will rebound with vigor.

In past recessions, the housing industry helped get the economy back on track. Home builders ramped up production, expecting buyers to take advantage of lower prices and jump into the market. But not this time.

These days, homeowners who got fixed-rate prime mortgages because they had good credit can’t make their payments because they’re out of work. That means even more foreclosures and further declines in home values.

The initial surge in foreclosures in 2007 and 2008 was tied to subprime mortgages issued during the housing boom to people with shaky credit. That crisis has ebbed, but it has been replaced by more traditional foreclosures tied to the recession.

Unemployment stood at 9.5 percent in June and is expected to rise past 10 percent and well into next year. The last time the U.S. economy was mired in a recession with such high unemployment was 1981 and 1982.

But the home foreclosure rate then was less than one-fourth what it is today. Housing wasn’t a drag on the economy, and when the recession ended, the boom was explosive. (The economic recovery of the 1980′s was fueled by Reagan’s tax cuts and a shrinking of Government – a formula we won’t see from this Administration).

No one is expecting a repeat. The real estate market is still saturated with unsold homes and homes that sell below market value because they are in or close to foreclosure.

“It just doesn’t have the makings of a recovery like we saw in the early 1980s,” says Wells Fargo Securities senior economist Mark Vitner, who predicts mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures won’t return to normal levels for three more years.

Almost 4 percent of homeowners with a mortgage are in foreclosure, and 8 percent on top of that are at least a month behind on payments — the highest levels since the Great Depression.

In the last 12 months, 15% of mortgages have had forclosure completed.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090716/ap_on_re_us/us_foreclosure_crisis_unemployment

Obama’s Trillion Dollar Mortgage Modification Program, which he promised would help 9,000,000 (9 Million), has in fact provided temporary relief to less than 75,000 (Seventy Five Thousand). Many of the 75,000 have, after receiving a modification, now slipped into foreclsoure anyway. 

Credit card defaults keep climbing

Default rates in May continue to rise as borrowers struggle with the weak job market.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Banks continue to write off credit card debt as consumers hurt by record high unemployment default at an increasing rate.

Regulatory forms filed this week by some of the nation’s largest banks showed default rates on credit cards rose in May. The default rate is a measure of loans that the bank does not expect to be repaid.

“Data from May showed continued signs of stress for card issuers, reflective of worsening unemployment trends and deteriorating macro [economic] conditions,” analysts at Bernstein Research said in a report Tuesday.

Bank of America the nation’s largest bank, said its default rate jumped to 12.5% in May from 10.5% the month before. Other major banks, including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Capital One also reported increases in May default rates.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/06/16/news/companies/credit_card_losses/index.htm?section=money_latest

Obama Administration Fudging The Unemployment Count 07/15/09 – 522,000 or 667,000 – Why is the Government Underreporting by 20%?

WASHINGTON – The number of newly laid-off Americans signing up for unemployment benefits last week, and those using this safety net over a longer period, both plunged. But the government figures released Thursday were clouded by difficulties adjusting for temporary shutdowns at auto plants. READ “The reported numbers plunged” the real numbers, the count of the actual unemployed did not – Please read on.

The Labor Department said new applications for unemployment insurance dropped by a seasonally adjusted 47,000 to 522,000, the lowest level since early January. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected claims to rise to around 575,000. The Labor Department is adjusting the number and reporting some number “other than the true number” of individuals claiming benefits. Please read on ….

A department analyst said the drop in new claims didn’t point to improvements in economic conditions. The second straight weekly decline reflected problems adjusting layoffs for temporary shutdowns at General Motors and Chrysler plants to retool for new models.

The unadjusted figures for last week actually showed that new claims rose by 86,389 last week, which would push the total to 667,534. The actual number is 110,000 more than anticipated by economists and 145,000 more than the number being reported by the Government. After upwqard revisions, this week would represent the 30 straight week where “actual new unemployment claims” toppped 600,000.

So why do the headlines state “unemployment drops” ……… pure political theatre …. the Obama Administration will employ any trick to stall reporting a National Unemployment Rate of 10%. (the true numbers posted over the last 3 weeks would indicate that the National unemployment  rate is currently at 10.2%).

Weekly claims remain far above the roughly 325,000 that analysts say is consistent with a healthy economy. New claims last fell below 300,000 in early 2007. The lowest level this year was 488,000 for the week ended Jan. 3. The January 3 number was revised upward twice – as the number, 488,000, was proven to be another “underreport”.

Those adjustment difficulties also were behind a big drop reported for people continuing to draw unemployment benefits, the analyst said.

The truth … the number of unemployed actually increased by 620,000 …..

Telling lies about the real unemployment numbers – to make oneself look good politically ….. just more of the same  old style politics …..

Read the original story here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090716/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/us_economy