Posts Tagged ‘ Obama ’

Obama Economics and the Health Bill

January 25, 2011
By

The first thing you learn is what is called Supply and Demand which even an elementary student should be able to comprehend! However I wonder if anyone in the current Obama Administration has ever heard of it! They use what I call Voodoo Economics. Of course my new friend Ms. B at the Waffle House, who is a very sharp and intelligent African American lady, disagrees with me. She says that they don’t use any Economics in Washington!

So let’s look at the current health proposals before the House and Senate. First I will tell you that the current system is a disaster; however the solution offered by the Obama Administration does not make economic sense!

Here is a story told to me by friend, Al, who is one of top EMTs in the Atlanta area. During his training there was this OBESE lady of over 800 pounds that would invariably call 911 every week. Needless to say when you are that big and slip down you ain’t getting up by yourself!

So they would have to first take out the regular gurney and put in the reinforced one so they could transport her to Grady Hospital in Atlanta. They would have to add extra personnel too. Off they would go to her place to see what they could do. After loading her up in the ambulance she would be transported to Grady.

What do you think is the cost of transporting anyone to Grady? Al told me that the average cost is $750! Then you add on the emergency room visit and any meds they had to give her and I assure you that you way over $2000!

So what happens when the current health proposal becomes law in her case? As I remember she has diabetes and heart disease – no big surprise there! So they will NOT be able to turn her away based on PRE-EXISTING conditions which I happen to agree with.

HOWEVER what happens when you take someone like her and extrapolate that across the USA? People who have not previously taken advantage of the trips like she has done will definitely do so from now on!

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see where this is going! Remember Supply and Demand? Now we have a crushing overload on the hospital system with people like this lady who really does not have an emergency. So when a life and death car accident victim comes into Grady in the future as it is one of the finest trauma centers in the country how long will that victim have to wait? HOURS! Too much DEMAND and not enough physicians and nurses to handle the caseload!

And according to what I have been hearing from physicians they are going to seriously look at other avenues to earn revenue. I know physicians that have quit practicing medicine that are making boat loads of money marketing medically related products like the bio-magnetic Nikken products. They don’t have to worry about paying EXORBITANT malpractice expenses or overhead. Of course it does lead to unemployment of the staff.

So if this bill passes what is going to happen to the wealthy and even middle class patients seeking medical procedures? I know the answer to that because I’m helping with the marketing of the solution. It is called Medical Tourism. My good friend, Dr. Uday Kumar MD, of India and I are preparing to have a flood of people going to India for their operations. I have learned a lot about India’s Medical Tourism. First their physicians are very highly trained in the United States in many cases. Second, they have EXCELLENT bedside manners and really CARE about their patients! Imagine that! Third even with round trip airfare to India along with the best medical procedures in the world you could pay up to 80% LESS for the experience! There are numerous cases where open heart surgery and airfare was not over $7500! Finally while visiting India you can also tour the sites!

President Obama, do you think that it is HIGHLY possible that the current young Indian physicians that you see at places like Grady will now decide to return to their country just like my friend Dr. Kumar has done? He was going to do his residency AGAIN for 18 months since we don’t recognize his previous medical experiences in India. Now he is returning to India.

So how many American born students will decide to practice here under socialized medicine? I would put my bets on not many since going to medical school is quite expensive. I would think they just might go off to India to study with these highly qualified physicians who have trained in the United States at Princeton, Harvard, Duke, etc.

So President Obama if the Americans go there and stay there who is going to take care of the new Demand if there is a LIMITED Supply of physicians? Again it goes back to Supply and Demand!

Obama Invites Republican Leaders to Talks on Health Care

January 22, 2011
By

Once eschewing any input from Republicans on the issue of health care reform, President Barack Obama and his now-humbled Democratic party are taking a new stance on the issue. Understanding that no legislation will pass without support from Republicans, the president has invited GOP leaders to talks on the matter. Republicans, for their part, have been stating all along that they would love to sit down and discuss health care reform, but that no serious efforts have been made to elicit their input to date.

That appears to be changing, of course, and it will remain to be seen whether Republicans actually want to contribute to the dialogue and a potential bill or if it was all simply political subterfuge. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, summed the GOP’s opinions up rather succinctly when he noted, “If we are to reach a bipartisan consensus, the White House can start by shelving the current health spending bill.” Others were less diplomatic, with House Republican leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, noting that he was happy that the president “finally seems interested in a real, bipartisan conversation” and that Americans have definitively rejected “the job-killing, trillion-dollar government takeover of health care bills passed by the House and Senate.”

For his part, Obama noted, “If we can go step by step through a series of these issues and arrive at some agreements, then procedurally, there’s no reason why we can’t do it a lot faster than the process took last year.” It remains to be seen what will come of this new bipartisan stance, but it does promise to be interesting.

Here’s a New Needed Add-on to Obama Health Plan

January 22, 2011
By

Here’s something for the Obama Administration to consider. Months ago I wrote an article that received a Great deal of readership at Buzzle and also led to people wanting to contact me to further discuss it.

I called for the return of Mandatory Physical Education at all school levels – K-12. I was one of those FAT kids that found every way possible to avoid PE. In high school I would volunteer to manage the sports teams and then I would not have to do any physical activity.

I was never physically active until I was 42 and challenged by a friend of mine to do my first triathlon. Charles was a West Pointer and I told him that he must be crazy to think that I could do a triathlon. You see I thought of triathlons as those Ironmans. He assured me that this was no Ironman. I decided to give it a try and finished my first Sprint Triathlon. This was followed by numerous biathlons and triathlons that today are considered the popular Sprint models.

At 50 I became a certified personal fitness trainer for my TV series on holistic health and fitness completing the ISSA certification. I’m now 63 years young and going strong!

Are you aware that 50% of today’s kids in the USA are considered Obese? Are you aware that we are seeing a Dramatic increase in teenage heart disease, diabetes and even cancer?

So why be terrified by the H1N1 Flu scare when the Real epidemic is Obesity! These kids today could not even come close to passing a military physical if we had to reinstate the draft.

Just go by your local school and watch the kids WATTLE out to the bus. 95% of time these kids will have some thing in their hands that they are Eating!

Obama should set aside money in his health plan to pay for the teaching of Mandatory PE in our schools! The schools say they don;t have the financial resources for PE. Bull!

They have the resources for band, art and other activities. Don’t get me wrong. I think that music and art are very necessary for a well rounded school program. But what about Physical Education where we don’t play kick ball but do Real activities like push ups, sit ups, deep knee bends, etc.

Also I’m sure that former military drill instructors would Love to help out with a school’s PE program. Just asked through your local PTA meeting.

We also need to Limit a kid’s use of Video games and TV watching. Kids should be out playing ball like we did when I was a kid.

Hey put them out building my dome homes for the homeless. That will get them in good shape!

Get in touch with your US Senator during the Congressional break and tell him/her to support a bill for Mandatory PE. Tell them that if we don’t do something about this Obesity crisis then we will pay not only with Astronomical medical bills in the future but more tragically Deaths of young people that are Totally unnecessary!

7th Haven Development
Building 7,000,000 Dome Homes for the Homeless

‘Clash of the Titans’ Pits Obama Against Cheney on Guant

January 14, 2011
By

Barack Obama collided with former vice-president Dick Cheney today as the president vowed to push ahead with his plans to close the Guantánamo detention centre in the face of opposition from both left and right.

In what the US media billed as the “clash of the Titans”, Obama’s speech on Guantánamo, torture and other issues related to the Bush administration’s “war on terror” was followed within minutes by one from the man who has emerged as his arch-tormentor, Cheney.

The Obama and Cheney speeches offered a glimpse of the kind of foreign policy debate that the US has seldom had since 9/11.

The former vice-president, confounding expectations that he would settle quietly into retirement in Wyoming, made an uncompromising attack on Obama for proposing to close Guantánamo, for revealing interrogation methods used by CIA agents, for labeling these methods torture and for allegedly putting US security at risk.

“The administration has found that it’s easy to receive applause in Europe for closing Guantánamo,” Cheney told the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington. “”But it’s tricky to come up with an alternative that will serve the interests of justice and America’s national security.”

Obama faces a tricky problem in meeting the deadline he set of closing Guantánamo by the end of the year. Democrats joined by Republicans voted overwhelmingly yesterday to deny Obama the funds that would allow him to do this, saying they do not want the detainees transferred to their states.

The Senate voted by 90 to 6 against providing him with the $80m he requested until he produces a plan to deal with the 240 detainees left at Guantánamo.

Addressing the issue today, Obama, speaking at the National Archives in Washington, a location chosen for its symbolism as home of original copies of the constitution and the declaration of independence, insisted he intended to stick to his plan to transfer some of the detainees to the US mainland.

He suggested this should not be a problem as they would be placed in super-max prisons from which no-one had ever escaped.

Obama admitted that Guantánamo and the legal issues arising from the Bush administration “war on terror” were among the toughest challenges he faced. Almost every time he makes a fresh decision he comes under attack from the left or the right. He recently agreed to the release of thousands of pictures of prisoner abuse at US detention centres round the world but later backtracked. He said today that their release could have inflamed anti-American opinion.

He also reiterated he would to stick with the Bush administration’s discredited system of military commissions for trying some of the Guantánamo detainees and that some detainees could be held indefinitely without trial.

Defending these decisions, Obama said he would not have started from the position he found himself in but had inherited the “legal mess” from the Bush administration.

He added: “I want to be very clear that our goal is to construct a legitimate legal framework for Guantánamo detainees – not to avoid one. In our constitutional system, prolonged detention should not be the decision of any one man.”

He set out no new details of how he intended to resolve his Guantánamo dilemma. He said some will be tried in courts on the US mainland, some by military commissions, some had already been ordered to be released by the courts, some would be transferred to other countries and some will be held indefinitely. The latter could not be tried because evidence had been tainted but at the same time they were too dangerous to release, he said.

Obama’s speech was watched live on television by the audience at the Cheney event. Cheney delayed his speech for 40 minutes to allow Obama to finish his.

In the US system, as opposed to the frequent clashes in the House of Commons, it is rare from political rivals to engage in a debate in such a way outside of presidential campaigns.

The Cheney speech had been in the diary before Obama’s and the White House may have organised the president’s for the same day in order to respond directly to the criticism.

Cheney was unapologetic about the harsh interrogation methods that he had approved, such as waterboarding. “I was, and remain, a strong proponent of our enhanced interrogation program. The interrogations were used on hardened terrorists after other efforts failed,” he said. “They were legal, essential, justified, successful and the right thing to do.”

He aligned himself with the Democrats, at least those in Congress who opposed transferring the detainees to the mainland.

He ridiculed the Obama administration for dropping the phrase “war on terror”, saying that there were still people out there plotting to destroy US interests.

Cheney, stressing repeatedly that he and Bush had kept the US from a further attack after 9/11, appears to be setting up Obama to take the blame for another terrorist attack. Obama, near the close of his own speech, anticipated this, and acknowledged that the US still faced the threat of attack and would do so next year, five years from now and even 10 years from now.

Obama said: “I am not going to release individuals who endanger the American people. Al-Qaida terrorists and their affiliates are at war with the United States, and those that we capture – like other prisoners of war – must be prevented from attacking us again.”

Obama Wants Us All – Even Gordon Brown – to Stay Happy. If We Do, We Might Pull Out of This Slump

January 2, 2011
By

Despite the economic gloom, Barack Obama is sticking to his message of hope, forecasting better times ahead, warning against fear and despondency, and urging people not to “short-change the future” by taking decisions based on pessimism. He has even tried to cheer up Gordon Brown, by telling him at their joint press conference on Wednesday that if he wakes up every morning trying to do the right and noble thing, he may even find, to his surprise, that he isn’t finished politically.

Whatever happens, Obama is right to try to keep up people’s spirits, for confidence among ordinary people is just as important as confidence in the financial markets for pulling us out of this slump. And it is even more important for people’s health, energy and well being, as the president appears to realize; for, as Maureen Dowd disclosed this week in her New York Times column, his department of health and human services has just published advice on its website about “getting through tough economic times”.

This informs us that financial distress “can result in a whole host of negative health effects – both physical and mental”, and that warning signs include “persistent sadness/crying”, fatigue, irritability, anger, drink and drug abuse, apathy, and “not being able to function as well at work, school or home”. And one of its tips for managing stress is exactly what Obama advises: “Try to keep things in perspective – recognise the good aspects of life and retain hope for the future.”

One wonders whether the decision by Ludwig Minelli, founder of the Swiss right-to-die organization Dignitas, to grant the BBC his first broadcast interview for five years may have something to do with the recession; for the US health agency also warns that financial distress “can cause strong feelings, such as humiliation and despair, which can precipitate suicidal thoughts or actions”. One of the signs, it says, that you could be at risk of suicide is “looking for ways to kill oneself”.

Minelli said in his interview that “suicide is a marvellous, marvellous possibility given to a human being … to escape a situation which you can’t alter.” So whatever the outcome of the G2 summit, Obama’s advocacy of hope and the belief that all situations can be altered is of great service to mankind in this time of trouble – and, incidentally, the perfect corrective to the odious views of the creepy Minelli.

The Mail on Sunday launched its sleaze week with an editorial fulminating against the greed of MPs and boasting of its own role in exposing their “institutionalised corruption”. “Hardly a week goes by without another instance of creative fiddling being revealed,” it said. “Private sector workers and businessmen who behaved in this way would be sacked or prosecuted.” Really? The bankers whose vast greed and “creative fiddling” scuppered the world economy haven’t been sacked or prosecuted – or at least, hardly any have. Nor, for that matter, have journalists ever paid much of a price for manipulating their expenses; and it hardly behoves journalists to be indignant about MPs’ clumsy little claims, such as £10 for a couple of porn videos, when it is they who more or less invented expenses fraud and brought it to a peak of sophistication.

Like MPs today, journalists used to feel underpaid and entitled to supplement their earnings with inflated expense claims. I am sure they no longer do so, for Fleet Street today is an altogether cleaner, leaner place than it used to be; but there certainly was a time when journalists could fairly have been accused of “institutionalized corruption”. The fiddling of expenses wasn’t even frowned on; it was admired.

When I was a young journalist, there was a popular story (almost certainly apocryphal) about a Daily Express correspondent in Cairo who regularly submitted lavish claims for entertaining a “Colonel Smithers of British Intelligence”. Head office in London, seeking cost-savings, conducted an investigation, which revealed that there was no such officer in Egypt, and it jubilantly cabled the correspondent to say so. But he cabled back in even greater triumph: “Thanks so much for telling me. I always suspected the man was an impostor.” This was the sort of spirit that made one proud to be part of the journalistic fraternity. Of course, we were defrauding press barons such as Lord Beaverbrook or Lord Rothermere, who obviously deserved no better, whereas the MPs who do this sort of thing are stealing from the innocent taxpayer. But otherwise there’s not much difference between us.

• When I was a child, some 60 or more years ago, I used to be slightly disgusted by the habit of some old people at mealtimes of taking out little pillboxes and swallowing their contents. I had no idea why they did this, but it seemed an ostentatious and unappealing way of drawing attention to themselves. But now here I am, aged 69, taking six pills a day – though not, I’m glad to say, at mealtimes but in the privacy of my bathroom. The pills may or may not do me good – they are mainly for blood pressure and cholesterol – but it makes me feel rather senile counting them out, in a doddery way, first thing in the morning and last thing at night. So it’s exciting news that they may now be combined in one “polypill”. I will no longer have lots of different boxes cluttering up my medicine cupboard, and with just one cheerful little swallow, I’ll be all set up for the day ahead.

• This week Alexander smelt trouble for Boris Johnson in Channel 4′s Dispatches programme, The Trouble With Boris, because: “It showed Simon Jenkins on the side of his detractors.” He couldn’t understand The Wire: “Perhaps because it was on too late.” He enjoyed Richard Strauss’s Salome at Milton Keynes Theater: “A spirited production by the Welsh National Opera.”

Revealed: Millions Spent By Lobby Firms Fighting Obama Health Reforms

January 2, 2011
By

America’s healthcare industry has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to block the introduction of public medical insurance and stall other reforms promised by Barack Obama. The campaign against the president has been waged in part through substantial donations to key politicians.

Supporters of radical reform of healthcare say legislation emerging from the US Senate reflects the financial power of vested interests – principally insurance companies, pharmaceutical firms and hospitals – that have worked to stop far-reaching changes threatening their profits.

The industry and interest groups have spent $380m in recent months influencing healthcare legislation through lobbying, advertising and in direct political contributions to members of Congress. The largest contribution, totaling close to $1.5m, has gone to the chairman of the senate committee drafting the new law.

A former member of Bill Clinton’s cabinet says that a fear the industry could throw its money behind the populist rightwing backlash against public insurance has even managed to scare the Obama White House into a Faustian pact that pulls back from the most significant reforms in return for healthcare companies not trying to scupper the entire legislation.

Drug and insurance companies say they are merely seeking to educate politicians and the public. But with industry lobbyists swarming over Capitol Hill – there are six registered healthcare lobbyists for every member of Congress – a partner in the most powerful lobbying firm in Washington acknowledged that healthcare firms’ money “has had a lot of influence” and that it is “morally suspect”.

Reform groups say vast spending, and the threat of a lot more being poured into advertisements against the administration, has helped drug companies ensure there will be no cap on the prices they charge for medicines, one of the ways the White House had hoped to keep down surging healthcare costs.

Insurance companies have done even better as the new legislation will prove a business bonanza. It is not only likely to kill off the threat of public health insurance, which threatened to siphon off customers by offering lower premiums and better coverage, but will force millions more people to take out private medical policies or face prosecution.

“It’s a total victory for the health insurance industry,” said Dr Steffie Woolhander, a GP, professor of medicine at Harvard University and co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Programme (PNHP).

“What the bill has done is use the coercive power of the state to force people to hand their money over to a private entity which is the private insurance industry. That is not what people were promised.”

PNHP blames a political process it says is corrupted by millions of dollars poured into the election campaigns of members of Congress and influencing the discourse about health reform by funding advertising campaigns, supposedly independent studies and patients rights organisations that press the industry’s interests.

A primary target of criticism is Senator Max Baucus, the single largest recipient of health industry political donations and chairman of the finance committee that drafted the legislation criticised by Woolhander.

The committee this week twice voted against including public insurance in the legislation, with Baucus opposing it both times.

Baucus took $1.5m from the health sector for his political fund in the past year. Other members of the committee have received hundreds of thousands of dollars. They include Senator Pat Roberts, who last week tried to stall the bill by arguing that lobbyists needed three days to read it.

Baucus holds dinners for health industry executives at which they pay thousands of dollars each to be at the table, and an annual fly-fishing and golfing weekend in his home state of Montana that lobbyists pay handsomely to attend. The have included John Jonas, who represents major healthcare firms for Patton Boggs, widely regarded as the top lobbying firm in Washington. Jonas, who formerly worked on the congressional staff, acknowledges that political contributions are intended to buy influence and says it works.

“It would be very naive to say they’re not influenced. The contributors certainly hope they’re influencing and the recipients probably ultimately are influenced,” he said. “I think it’s a morally suspect practice, and then you have to look at its application to see if it’s morally bankrupt … I think what’s bad about the system is it’s got more and more lax over time. When I started in this practice you did not talk issues at a fundraiser. It was impolite. And then with this need for money, the system has got coarser over time so that they go around the room asking what issues you’re interested in, much more of a linkage of dollars to a discussion of the issues now.”

The health industry permeates the process in other ways. At Baucus’s side, drafting much of the wording of the reform, was Liz Fowler, a senate committee counsel whose last position was vice-president of the country’s largest health insurer, Wellpoint, which stands to be a principal beneficiary of the new law.

Health companies and their lobby firms also recruit heavily among congressional staffers as a means of maintaining influence.

Baucus declines to discuss political donations but told the Missoulian newspaper earlier this year that “no one gets special treatment”.

Robert Reich, the labor secretary in the Clinton administration, says the Obama White House, mindful of how the health industry killed off Clinton’s attempts at reform, has grown so fearful of industry money that it has quietly reached agreement not to pull back from price caps and public health insurance.

“The White House made a Faustian bargain with big pharma and big insurance, essentially scuttling both of these profit-squeezing mechanisms in return for these industries’ agreement not to oppose healthcare legislation with platoons of lobbyists and millions of dollars of TV ads.”

The pharmaceutical companies are apparently pleased enough that they are now putting $120m into advertising supporting the emerging legislation.

Jonas described the bill emerging from the Senate as “in realm of what is politically possible”.

“Is the bill overly distorted by money? I don’t think it actually is,” he said. “It’s a good bill in the sense that it’s a net improvement in the system … It’s a bad bill if you think it’s supposed to be a comprehensive solution to the US healthcare problems.”

Ra

January 2, 2011
By

Cuba has offered a surprise olive branch to the United States ahead of Barack Obama’s regional debut at the Summit of the Americas.

Raúl Castro, Cuba’s president, said Havana was open to talks about “everything”, including contentious issues which have bedeviled relations for half a century, in a further sign of thaw between the two governments.

“We have sent word to the US government in private and in public that we are willing to discuss everything, human rights, freedom of the press, political prisoners, everything.”In unusually conciliatory language, Castro added: “We could be talking about many other things. We could be wrong, we admit it. We’re human beings.”

The comments followed Obama’s loosening of the US embargo against Cuba earlier this week and his pledge to seek engagement with the island’s communist rulers, a departure from Washington’s traditional hostility.

Castro urged the US to release five Cubans imprisoned in Florida for spying and offered to free some political prisoners in exchange. His brother Fidel, retired but still influential, made no immediate comment.

Analysts cautioned that mutual suspicion or provocations could kill any détente, as happened to an ill-fated initiative in the Carter era.

Latin American leaders welcomed Obama’s moves but were expected to push for bolder steps in ending the embargo, a 47-year-old controversial policy widely seen as punitive “yankee” bullying.

All 34 members of the Organization of American States were due to attend the three-day summit in Trinidad and Tobago, which started today. As a one-party communist state Cuba was excluded, and the summit was ostensibly devoted to economic issues, but calls to bring in Havana from the cold were expected to dominate proceedings.

Venezuela’s president Hugo Chávez, a socialist ally of Cuba, vowed to vote against the summit’s draft communique in protest at Havana’s exclusion. “Where is there more democracy, in the United States or in Cuba? I have no doubt there’s more democracy in Cuba.” The vote would sink the communique as OAS agreements are by consensus.

No bilateral meetings were scheduled between Obama and Chávez, who had toxic relations with the Bush administration, but the White House signalled Obama would respond if approached by the Venezuelan.

Bolivia’s president Evo Morales, an ally of Venezuela and Cuba, was due to introduce intrigue at the summit over the foiling of an alleged assassination plot against him and senior government officials by foreign mercenaries.

Bolivian security forces said they killed three people in a 30-minute shootout at a hotel in the eastern Bolivian city of Santa Cruz and recovered grenades, sniper rifles and other weapons.

Police said two of the dead were Hungarian and the other Bolivian. Morales, however, said one was Irish. Officials in La Paz and Dublin offered no further details.

Obama Gets Campaign Back on Track With Wyoming Win

November 19, 2010
By

Barack Obama got his campaign back to winning ways on Saturday by notching up a triumph in the Wyoming caucuses and ending a run of dramatic victories by rival Hillary Clinton.

With almost all the votes counted Obama easily beat Clinton by 58% to 41%. His win appeared to be propelled by the heavy turnout of voters, especially among college students in the state’s universities.

The caucuses, like previous contests in this compelling Democratic race, saw huge crowds of people packed into venues across the state. Some places had to conduct the caucuses in staggered stages to cope with the crowds. In 2004 only 675 people attended the Democrat caucuses, but on Saturday that total was easily smashed as more than 7,000 voters turned out.

Though Wyoming’s caucuses are worth just 12 of the vital convention delegates needed to clinch the Democratic nomination, the win is a much needed boost to the Obama campaign. Clinton’s victories in Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island last week have revitalized her bid to be America’s first woman commander-in-chief.

They allowed her to paint herself as a comeback candidate who was able to win key big states, like Ohio, which are likely to be the vital battleground with Republican nominee John McCain in the November presidential election. They have also given her once almost dead campaign a vital surge in support. A new poll in Newsweek magazine now shows Clinton virtually tied with Obama in national polls with 44% to his 45%.

Obama’s victory in Wyoming is likely to help settle nerves in his campaign. The huge rural Western state might seem an unlikely place for Obama – who is seeking to become America’s first black president – to perform strongly. But Obama was actually widely expected to win in a state that is more famous for its cowboys and rodeos than its role in national politics.

Obama has consistently performed well in the smaller states which hold caucuses, rather than primaries, and which reward voter enthusiasm and good organization. He has also generally beat Clinton in contests in ‘red states’ like Wyoming rather than states which usually vote Democratic in presidential elections.

The win also comes after a series of bad news events hit the Obama campaign that has rocked its recent image of inevitability and cool professionalism. First, details leaked of a discussion between an Obama aide and Canadian officials over free trade. The talks appeared to contradict Obama’s public comments over the NAFTA trade agreement which is unpopular in Ohio.

Then another senior Obama advisor, Samantha Power, left the campaign after she told a Scottish newspaper that Clinton was a ‘monster’. That remark sparked a firestorm of protest and Obama condemned the comment. Power later apologised to Clinton.

At the same time Obama’s campaign has had to deal with a stridently more negative strategy from the Clinton camp as both campaigns realize that the race is likely to continue to the end of the process in June with neither side conceding. Due to the closeness of the race and because the Democrats assign delegates in a proportional fashion neither side can win the key number of 2,025 ‘pledged delegates’ need to win in the electoral contest.

Instead now both candidates need so-called ‘super delegates’ to get over the finishing lines. Super delegates are a mix of party officials and elected politicians and each campaign is making intense bids for their support.Before Clinton’s recent wins, many super delegates appeared set to get behind Obama’s campaign, but her comeback put those efforts on hold. Now that Obama has won in Wyoming, and is favorite to win in Tuesday’s primary in Mississippi, that pressure is likely to be applied again. At the moment Obama holds a delegate lead of about 100 over Clinton.

However, neither Wyoming nor Mississippi are seen as anywhere nearly as important as Pennsylvania, which goes to the polls in April. That race, which could favor Clinton, is seen as the most important battleground left in the contest. Pennsylvania has 158 delegates and is predicted to be Clinton’s best chance to narrow the delegate gap sufficiently so that her campaign can claim that Obama’s lead is narrow enough to be discounted as any form of decisive victory.

Obama Inauguration: Kennedy Collapses During Inaugural Lunch

October 29, 2010
By

Senator Edward Kennedy collapsed yesterday during the inauguration lunch for the new Democratic president Barack Obama.

Kennedy, the brother of late president John F Kennedy, was wheeled out of the Capitol on stretcher by medical staff after suffering from convulsions, a congressional aide said. Witnesses said the 76-year-old, who has been battling a life-threatening brain tumor, was then taken away in an ambulance.

He was taken to Washington Hospital Center for assessment. Vickie Dempsey, a hospital spokeswoman, said Kennedy was awake and talking when he arrived at the hospital. Kennedy’s wife, Victoria, and his son, Patrick, were with the senator, she said.

“Senator Edward Kennedy experienced a seizure while attending a luncheon for President Barack Obama in the US Capitol,” said Dr Edward Aulisi last night.

“After testing, we believe the incident was brought on by simple fatigue. Senator Kennedy is awake, talking with family and friends, and feeling well. He will remain at the Washington Hospital Center overnight for observation, and will be released in the morning.”

Senator Christopher Dodd, a close Kennedy friend who spoke to the ailing senator after the attack, said earlier that Kennedy would undergo medical scans in the coming days.

“The good news is he’s going to be fine,” Dodd said.

Earlier, Republican senator Orrin Hatch said: “It looked like a seizure and it was painful to him. But as he gradually was able to calm down … as he got into the ambulance he kind of looked over at me and smiled that old Irish smile that I know [meant] that things are going to be all right,” Orrin told CNN.

Obama told the luncheon: “Our prayers are with his family.”

Kennedy, more affectionately known as Ted, suffered a previous seizure in May 2008 when he was found to have a malignant tumor, which required surgery.

He returned to give a rising speech in support of Obama at the Democratic National Convention in August, where he pledged to return to the floor of the senate to see in a new Obama term and to help push through healthcare legislation.

There were also reports that another senator, 91-year-old Robert Byrd, was “removed in his wheelchair under the supervision of medical personnel” but his office later said he was fine.

Obama – the First 100 Hours

October 29, 2010
By

1 Said: “So help me God.” The phrase is not required by the constitution, so it’s arguable that he, Barack Obama, was president by the time he said it, making these his first words in office.

2 Delivered a 17-minute inauguration address, telling the crowds it was time to “pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America”.

3 Invoked biggest cheer of the day from the 2 million-plus crowd with the words: “Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many … But know this, America – they will be met.”

4 Then the words: “We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.” George Bush, sitting to his left, looks decidedly uncomfortable.

5 With his wife, Michelle, escorted George and Laura Bush to the waiting helicopter, where the two men hugged before the former president began his journey home to Texas.

6 As the helicopter disappeared into clear skies, Obama now had Washington, and the United States, all to himself. His relief was palpable.

7 Inside the Capitol building, signed his first documents as president, including cabinet nominations.

8 “I’m a lefty. Get used to it,” he said, as he signed. Obama is the fourth southpaw, or left-handed, president out of the past five (Dubya is right-handed).

9 Signed a proclamation declaring 20 January 2009 a national day of renewal and reconciliation.

10 Completed the signing session, looking wistfully at the object in his left hand. “I was told not to swipe the pen,” he said.

11 Attended a lunch with congressional leaders, where he dined on a menu from Lincoln’s day: pheasant, duck and apple cake served on replica Lincoln White House china.

12 Addressed the assembled crowd, minus Ted Kennedy, who was removed on a stretcher with medical difficulties.

13 Entered his limousine, nicknamed The Beast, to begin the parade down Pennsylvania Avenue to his new home at number 1600.

14 The armour-plated Beast has tinted windows, but through them Obama could be seen clearly practising his military salute.

15 Walked two stretches of the 1.7-mile route, waving at the crowds lining the street.

16 Briefly entered the White House with his family – the Obamas’ first moments in their new home.

17 As he entered the North Porticoe into the central entrance, he passed a portrait of the elder George Bush on his left and Bill Clinton on the right. Straight ahead of him, above the door to the Blue Room, was the seal of the US president. His seal.

18 Took his position in the reviewing stand outside the White House, to watch 40 bands and other groups parade past, including the World Famous Lawn Rangers from Illinois, who pushed decorated lawn mowers.

19 Tried out that salute, as cadets marched by. Not bad, though he needs to keep his hand straight.

20 Instructed military prosecutors to seek a 120-day halt to legal proceedings involving detainees at Guantánamo Bay.

21 Issued an order instructing government agencies to halt all pending regulations signed by Bush – a way of combating efforts by the outgoing administration to force through last-minute changes without congressional approval.

22 Danced with Michelle to Beyonce’s rendition of At Last, by Etta James, as the opening dance of the Neighborhood Ball.

23 Appeared to step on the train of Michelle’s custom-designed gown by Jason Wu, but otherwise showed himself to be a decent dancer.

24 Gave a brief interview to ABC News, whose reporter said: “Mr President – sounds good, doesn’t it?” “It’s got a certain ring to it,” he replied.

25 Danced and spoke again at the Home State Ball, for Illinois and Hawaii.

26 A quick transfer to the Commander-in-Chief ball, with many military attendees, and a satellite link to war zones. Obama danced with Army Sergeant Margaret Herrera of Texas, who burst into tears.

27 Visited the Youth Ball, for people aged between 18 and 35.

28 Visited the Home State Ball for Delaware and Pennsylvania, in honour of Joe Biden, his vice-president.

29 Briefly visited the Mid-Atlantic Ball.

30 … And the Western Ball …

31 … And the Midwestern Ball …

32 … And the Southern Ball …

33 … And the Eastern Ball. The couple looked increasingly exhausted as the evening progressed, and sped up their appearances, ending the night ahead of schedule.

34 Back to White House at 12.55am to spend his first night there.

35 The Obamas slept in the master bedroom in the private residence on the first floor of the White House. Their daughters, Malia and Sasha, who were treated to a treasure hunt by White House staff on their first evening culminating with a surprise visit by their favourite music act the Jonas Brothers, slept in bedrooms over the corridor once occupied by Amy Carter, Tricia Nixon, Luci Johnson and Caroline Kennedy.

36 Four hours of sleep and he was up and at it on his first full day. Lights were reported in the private residence at 5am.

37 Obama probably squeezed in a visit to the exercise room on the second floor. He has daily 45-minute gym sessions.

38 Spent his first 10 minutes alone in the Oval Office.

39 Got to sit for the first time behind the Resolute desk, a gift from Queen Victoria to America in 1880.

40 Read the letter that Bush had left for him, according to tradition, in the top drawer of the desk, marked: “To #44, From #43″. Its contents have not been revealed.

41 Discussed the day’s events with his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. It’s their first Oval Office meeting.

42 Posed for pictures taken by his personal White House photographer of him and Emanuel in deep discussion. Press photographers later expressed their anger that they weren’t invited to capture the moment.

43 Briefly spoke with his wife, Michelle, in the Oval Office.

44 Attended morning-after post-inauguration service with his family, the Bidens, and the Clintons, at the Washington National Cathedral.

45 Laughed when Rev Samuel Lloyd proclaimed: “This is their first full day on the job and the best way we can imagine to begin is by praying for them.”

46 Listened, with head bowed, to the first sermon at a president’s inaugural church service delivered by Rev Sharon Watkins.

47 Telephoned the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas – according to Abbas’s spokesman, the call was Obama’s first to a foreign leader.

48 Phoned the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert.

49 Phoned King Abdullah of Jordan.

50 Phoned Egypt’s president, Hosni Mubarak. The Middle Eastern calls, Obama’s press spokesman said, were intended “to communicate his commitment to active engagement in pursuit of Arab-Israeli peace from the beginning of his term”.

51 Issued executive order limiting the powers of former presidents and vice-presidents to block the release of sensitive records of their time in the White House. It would allow the administration to approve release of former vice-president Dick Cheney’s records, among others, against his objections.

52 Issued instruction to government agencies to be more responsive to freedom of information requests.

53 Announced a tightening of rules on ex-lobbyists working in government.

54 Announced a pay freeze for his staff earning $100,000 (£73,000) or more. “Families are tightening their belts, and so should Washington,” he said.

55 Witnessed the swearing-in of about 50 senior members of White House staff.

56 Told his top team that “transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency”.

57 Biden made a joke about Chief Justice Roberts’s flubbing of the presidential oath as he prepared to lead the swearing in. Obama did not look amused. Was this one transparency too far?

58 Personally greeted each of the newly sworn-in staff.

59 Obama hosted an “open house” in the White House for 200 people who had been granted tickets on a first-come, first-served basis; some were in tears.

60 “Welcome, enjoy yourself,” the president told one young man. “Roam around. Don’t break anything.”

61 Met the joint chiefs of staff and other members of his national security team to discuss Iraq and Afghanistan. His first chance to check out the wizardry in the Situation Room, with its screens receiving satellite images from around the world and its banks of incoming top-secret messages.

62 Met economic advisors to discuss his stimulus package, which could be worth $900bn.

63 Re-swore the oath of office in the White House Map Room out of an “abundance of caution”. Or alternatively as a way of killing off the storm of right-wing agitprop that has been tearing through the internet suggesting that the first botched attempt at the oath means Obama is not rightfully president.

64 This time they got it right. Roberts asked “Are you ready to take the oath?” Obama replied: “I am, and we’re going to do it very slowly.”

65 “We decided it was so much fun.” Obama joked to reporters after the event. “The bad news … is there’s 12 more balls.”

66 Ate dinner with his family at the White House on Wednesday evening in the private dining room on the first floor.

67 Was waited upon by the 95-strong White House staff. Barack and Michelle will not have to make their own bed for as long as they are in the mansion, though Malia and Sasha will, at their mother’s insistence.

68 Gave a speech at a Wednesday night Thank You Ball for campaign workers at the Washington DC Armoury. “You guys dress a lot sharper than you did in Iowa!” he told the crowd.

69 Walked up and down the rope line shaking campaign workers’ hands – officially, the final act of the inauguration celebrations.

70 On Thursday morning, said goodbye to his daughters, Sasha and Malia, who were returning to Washington’s Sidwell Friends school after two days off for the inauguration.

71 Back to the gym for likely work-out.

72 Absorbed the news that the specially commissioned piece of music by John Williams played “live” at his inauguration by a quartet of world-class musicians had in fact been recorded two days’ previously.

73 Released statement on the 36th anniversary of the landmark Roe v Wade supreme court judgment, reaffirming his commitment to protecting abortion rights.

74 To applause, signed executive order requiring the closure of the military prison at Guantánamo within one year.

75 Obama said: “The message we are sending around the world is that the United States intends to prosecute the ongoing struggle against violence and terrorism … and we are going to do so in a manner that is consistent with our values and our ideals.” Was Bush watching on TV at home in Dallas cringing?

76 Signed second executive order requiring the closure of the CIA’s network of secret overseas prisons, and making a commitment to not using torture in interrogations.

77 Signed third executive order establishing an interagency taskforce on detainees, including Hillary Clinton and the defence secretary, Robert Gates, to decide what to do with the remaining Guantánamo inmates.

78 Signed directive to delay proceedings in the case of Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, currently awaiting a hearing at the supreme court, so that the president’s team can review it. Marri is accused of being an al-Qaida sleeper agent.

79 Visited the state department, where Clinton had earlier made an introductory address to staff.

80 Watched, with impassive face, as Clinton said that she had appointed two special envoys to world trouble zones. The appointments had previously been billed as Obama’s own. Was this a taste of rivalry to come?

81 Endured second gaffe by his vice-president in a week. Biden stepped into the tension between Obama and Clinton, saying at first that the president would announce the envoys and then hurriedly saying Clinton would present them.

82 Clinton got to name George Mitchell, the former Senate majority leader and Irish peace negotiator, as special envoy to the Middle East peace process. Obama later claimed him as his envoy. Who is in charge here?

83 Clinton named the former UN ambassador Richard Holbrooke as special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Obama later names him as his envoy. Bully to you, secretary of state!

84 Called on Hamas to end its rocket fire into Israel, and for Israel to “complete the withdrawal of its forces from Gaza”, adding that Gaza’s borders should be opened to humanitarian aid.

85 Paid brief surprise visit to the White House press area, startling journalists. “Good to see you guys. I just wanted to make sure that I had a chance to say hello,” he said. “I gotta say, it’s smaller than I thought.”

86 Observing that CNN and Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News had adjacent booths, he likened them to the goal for Israel and the Palestinians: “Living side by side in peace and security,” he noted.

87 Slight tetchiness entered the proceedings when a reporter asked a serious question about his nomination of a former lobbyist as number two at the Pentagon. “I can’t come in and shake hands if I’m gonna get grilled every time,” Obama said.

88 Said that he had won his fight to keep a Blackberry. The president will be given a $3,000 special version with encryption to secure his email exchanges with a very limited number of vetted correspondents.

89 Convened meeting with congressional leaders on the economic crisis.

90 Invited Republican leaders into the White House to air their discontent over the bail-out package. He is proving himself to be adept in defusing potential enemies.

91 Sat in on the daily briefing of the National Security Council giving updates on threats around the world.

92 Approves first American missile strikes under his presidency on tribal areas of Pakistan.

93 Started the first of what will now be a new daily series of briefings on the economy led by Larry Summers.

94 Budget meeting. With projections of an annual deficit of more than $1tr this year, there was plenty to talk about.

95 Rounded off a grueling first three days with a meeting in the Oval Office with Timothy Geithner, his nominee for treasury secretary who is still embroiled in a drawn-out confirmation process in the Senate.

96 The Obamas had a choice of possible entertainments to round off their week. The choicest of all, most past presidents agree, is the private theatre, where they can watch Hollywood films before they are put on general release.

97 Back to the gym. There is no way Obama would miss his work-out on a Saturday.

98 Finally, a chance to take in the White House and its grounds at a slightly more relaxed tempo. The Obamas have said they will continue to spend weekends in their Chicago home, but this weekend is likely to be a time for acclimatising in their new residence.

99 Obama may take the opportunity to test out the White House basketball court. The court has been modified to put up two nets, allowing for a full game.

100 Obama retreats to his office on the first floor, puts his feet up on the desk, leans back and goes to light one of the cigarettes he has been struggling to give up. But alas smoking is banned in the White House.

Powered by Yahoo! Answers

Local Events, Concerts, Tickets
Events by Eventful