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Obama’s refusal to provide records on healthcare meetings should sound alarms
The obvious question is why? Why would the Obama administration who boasted open and transparent discussions of such a sensitive subject as healthcare close the door to the opportunity to present its factual case to the American people? Messaging anyone? Nope.
Complying with the records request from the House Energy and Commerce Committee “would constitute a vast and expensive undertaking” and could “implicate longstanding executive branch confidentiality interests,” White House lawyer Robert Bauer wrote the committee. Translation: Nice try.
Before the Democrats rammed through the Obamacare bill (and don’t think for one little ol’ minute that our narcissistic President doesn’t love that branding), Obama and WH officials met with several high-profile insurance executives as the WaPo lists:
The list included George Halvorson, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Health Plans; Scott Serota, president and CEO of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association; Kenneth Kies, a Washington lobbyist representing Blue Cross/Blue Shield, among other clients; Billy Tauzin, then head of PhRMA, the drug industry lobby; Richard Umbdenstock, chief of the American Hospital Association; and numerous others.
The most concerning is George Halvorson as he was the only executive to meet with Obama. And here is why:
“There really are two Americas when it comes to health care — the fully insured, primarily white America and the disproportionately uninsured minority America,” Halvorson wrote. “More than half of the total uninsured people in this country are minority. That fact alone should make the need to cover everyone in America a pure ethical imperative. This issue is not about economics — it is about equality. Universal coverage should be the next major civil rights issue for this country to face.
Halvorson also wrote an article in 2007 equating health reform to the “unfinished business of the Civil Rights agenda.” Halvorson discusses the disparities between the races and health care coverage and states:
If we considered no other issue than racial and ethnic disparities, this nation’s leadership — like the leadership of a number of states — should be moving this country down the path to an American form of universal coverage as quickly as possible. There is no more vital or meaningful way for us to honor and extend the great legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
Again, Halvorson was also the only insurance executive to meet with Obama at that time. Why?
Dude! You won’t believe it, but this video is entirely CG
Geek.com posted the following video made entirely on the computer.
Silestone — ‘Above Everything Else’ from Alex Roman on Vimeo.
The advertisement above was made entirely on a computer. It might look photorealistic and the details might seem too exact and the shattering objects too precise, but that’s the case. It was made by Alex Roman for Silestone, a company that makes countertops. The video was made by two people in two and a half months.
While the shatter effect is cool, the realism of the fruit really blows me away. Those lemons are look so real. After all, I understand how a mineral crashing into thousands of tiny pieces can fool my eyes, but seeing something commonplace, like the lemons or grapes, look that real in HD video is mind-blowing.
Isn’t technology cool!?!
Frank Gaffney on Libya: What Next?
Frank Gaffney was the guest on CSPAN’s Washington Journal to discuss events in Libya.
See also PAUL WOLFOWITZ: The Case for Backing Libya’s Rebels
Shut Down The Government And Get Serious About Spending Cuts
Last November the American people sent a clear message to Washington. It was not a message of party but one of an angered electorate that was tired of business as usual and disgusted with the direction our Nation was taking. We did not send a message telling lawmakers to get a long with each other and work together or to try and compromise with a President that the majority of the country disagrees with.
We voted out Democrats not so much because we loved Republicans but because the Democrats were spending money and taking our country toward bankruptcy and total financial failure. Democrats were taking our Nation down a socialist path that went against every principle and tradition our country was founded on and we not only did not like it but said by our vote we would not stand for it.
So we voted in Republicans with the expectation that not only would the Obama agenda stop but spending would be cut and cut dramatically, deficit spending would come to an end and the $15 trillion dollar debt would begin to decrease getting our fiscal house back in order so future generations would still have the ability to live a free and prosperous life which is the legacy Americans have left each generation since our founding.
Hillary Clinton’s Spokesman P.J. Crowley Resigns After Criticism Of Wikileaks Suspect Treatment
From Business Insider
CNN is reporting that Hillary Clinton‘s press secretary P.J. Crowley has resigned.
As of yet, there is not official explanation but last week Crowley to a crowd in Massachusetts that the treatment of WikiLeaks suspect Bradley Manning — whose treatment at the hands of U.S. military has been increasingly questioned and criticized in the media – was ”ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid.”
During a televised press conference on Friday ABC reporter Jake Tapper asked Obama whether he agreed with Crowley’s remarks.
The President answered that he had “asked the Pentagon whether or not the procedures that have been taken in terms of his confinement are appropriate and are meeting our basic standards” and that Pentagon officials “assure me that they are. I can’t go into details about some of their concerns, but some of this has to do with Private Manning’s safety as well.”
CNN’s Ed Henry reports that Crowley stepped down “under pressure from White House officials.”
Clinton Chides ‘Ridiculous Delays’ For Energy Permits
Image by Getty Images via @daylife
At A Conference That Included ‘Obama Administration Officials,’ The Former President Blasted The Administration’s ‘Ridiculous Delays In Permitting’ For Offshore Energy Production
‘Clinton Said… Our Economy Doesn’t Need It’
“Clinton Said There Are ‘Ridiculous Delays In Permitting When Our Economy Doesn’t Need It,’ According To Noe And Others.” (“Bill Clinton: Drilling Delays ‘Ridiculous,’” Politico, 3/11/11)
- “Former President Bill Clinton Said Friday That Delays In Offshore Oil And Gas Drilling Permits Are ‘Ridiculous’ at a time when the economy is still rebuilding, according to attendees at the IHS CERAWeek conference.” (“Bill Clinton: Drilling Delays ‘Ridiculous,’” Politico, 3/11/11)
- “The Panel With The Two Presidents Closed Out The Weeklong IHS CERA, Which Included More Than 2,200 Obama Administration Officials, Industry Executives, Former Diplomats And Others. The Clinton-Bush event was the only one at the conference that was closed off to the media, at the request of the former presidents.” (“Bill Clinton: Drilling Delays ‘Ridiculous,’” Politico, 3/11/11)
EXPERTS: ‘Delays Have Cost Jobs And Hurt Domestic Production’
THE TIMES-PICAYUNE: “U.S. Interior Department Needs To Move On Drilling Permits” (Editorial, “U.S. Interior Department Needs To Move On Drilling Permits: An Editorial,” The [New Orleans] Times-Picayune, 3/4/11)
- THE TIMES-PICAYUNE: “The Government Has Not Presented Enough Evidence To Justify Months Of Delays On Individual Permits.” “Judge Feldman called that wait ‘unreasonable’ … ‘The permitting backlog becomes increasingly inexcusable,’ the judge said. Delays of four months and more in the permitting process are unreasonable, unacceptable and unjustified by the evidence.’ Judge Feldman is right… But the bottom line, as Judge Feldman ruled, is that the government has not presented enough evidence to justify months of delays on individual permits.” (Editorial, “U.S. Interior Department Needs To Move On Drilling Permits: An Editorial,” The [New Orleans] Times-Picayune, 3/4/11)
“Delays Have Cost Jobs And Hurt Domestic Production” “The agency has been heavily criticized by the oil industry and others along the Gulf coast for delays in issuing new drilling permits… The industry argued the delays have cost jobs and hurt domestic production.” (“Obama Issues First Deepwater Drilling Permit,” CNN Money, 2/28/11)
“In Louisiana Alone, 320,000 Depend On The Oil And Gas Industry For Work. It’s not known exactly how many people have lost their jobs due to the slowdown in activity… But the nation’s second largest shallow-water driller, Seahawk, filed for bankruptcy earlier this month, citing a lack of permits.” (“Obama Issues First Deepwater Drilling Permit,” CNN Money, 2/28/11)
· “The Energy Information Administration Estimated The Country Would Lose 74,000 Barrels A Day In Oil Production In 2011 As A Result Of A Six-Month Drilling Moratorium… The longer new permits remain in limbo, the more likely it is that the barrels lost estimate will rise.” (“Obama Issues First Deepwater Drilling Permit,” CNN Money, 2/28/11)
