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Eminent Scientists Confirm Effectiveness of Existing Warhead Maintenance Program:Take Action: Tell Congress "We need an exit strategy for Af/Pak war"
Published by Associated Press.KABUL — A suicide bomber killed 16 people and wounded at least 23 others Friday in a busy city square in western Afghanistan, while near Kabul a powerful former warlord narrowly escaped an assassination attempt, officials said.
The attacks came a day after Afghan President Hamid Karzai took the oath of office for a second term amid escalating violence across the country. Karzai said he has put national reconciliation with Taliban insurgents at the top of his agenda. [more]
Harry Reid, and What Happened to the Public OptionA congressionally-commissioned scientific study by an influential group of independent scientists released today concludes that the effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear arsenal can be maintained indefinitely through the existing program for stockpile stewardship and without nuclear test explosions or pursuit of new warhead designs.
"The new JASON study explodes the old myth that the U.S. needs nuclear test explosions or new warhead designs to maintain an effective nuclear arsenal, and strengthens the case for U.S. ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty next year," said Daryl G. Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association. [more]
Beyond CopenhagenPublished by Robert Reich's Blog.
First there was Medicare for all 300 million of us. But that was a non-starter because private insurers and Big Pharma wouldn't hear of it, and Republicans and "centrists" thought it was too much like what they have up in Canada--which, by the way, cost Canadians only 10 percent of their GDP and covers every Canadian. (Our current system of private for-profit insurers costs 16 percent of GDP and leaves out 45 million people.)
So the compromise was to give all Americans the option of buying into a "Medicare-like plan" that competed with private insurers. Who could be against freedom of choice? Fully 70 percent of Americans polled supported the idea. Open to all Americans, such a plan would have the scale and authority to negotiate low prices with drug companies and other providers, and force private insurers to provide better service at lower costs. But private insurers and Big Pharma wouldn't hear of it, and Republicans and "centrists" thought it would end up too much like what they have up in Canada. [more]
Liberal Democrat Calls For Geithner's ResignationTake Action: Tell President Obama "350 ppm is the goal in Copenhagen"
This article appeared in the December 7, 2009 edition of The Nation.President Obama's recent words, uttered with Chinese President Hu Jintao at his side, sounded a welcome note for those concerned about climate change: even though the goal of reaching a legally binding agreement at the upcoming UN Copenhagen summit remains out of reach, the president said, "our aim there...is not a partial accord or a political declaration but rather an accord that covers all of the issues in the negotiations and one that has immediate operational effect." This statement was an important step. Nonetheless, many obstacles--chiefly stemming from continuing US intransigence--still stand in the path of a successful global agreement. [more]
White House Rebuke: Angry Dems Shut Down VoteTake Action: Tell Pres. Obama "Fire Geithner"
[more]
Published by The Public Record.
A Dream Match: Nader v. DoddPublished by The Huffington Post.
The Financial Services Committee had finished hearing amendments around 3 p.m. and recessed, planning to return at 4 for a final vote on the package. But during the break, some of the Democrats on the committee pigeonholed Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and told him they wouldn't vote for the bill because of the deepening problem of unemployment in their districts.
The refusal to vote for the package, a key priority of the administration, and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in particular, was portrayed as a direct rebuke of the White House's "lack of response to the economic situation."
"We will not be proceeding to passage today," Frank began. "I have been meeting with members of the committee, particularly the members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who have informed me that they are troubled by what they believe is the lack of response to the economic situation that is confronting them on the part of the administration, and therefore do not feel that they could--in deference to the various constituencies that they represent--vote for passage." [more]
Why the Senate Abortion "Compromise" is Disastrous for Women and Single-payer HealthcarePublished by Counterpunch.
"In the beginning of a change the Patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated, and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a Patriot." --Mark Twain
There is a word; a name actually. The very pronunciation of which sends a deathlike chill down the gelatinous spinal column of the self-styled "progressive" Democrat. Democrat media talking heads have even a more violent reaction. A reaction that is similar to that of the mythical, bloodsucking, soul-destroying vampire when confronted with the light of day. [more]
Joe Hill: The Man Who Didn't DieTake Action: Tell Your Senators to Vote Against 'Hyde on Steroids'
Harry Reid introduced the Senate version of the proposed health care reform today. The proposed compromise language on abortion funding, while not as restrictive as the Stupak amendment, is seriously bad news for women and for single-payer advocates. The bill states that abortion is not an "essential" medical service (it is deemed essential by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology), thereby codifying into law the singling out of abortion from every other common medical procedure that began with the Hyde Amendment. Abortion is common, mainstream medical care, one of the most frequently performed procedures in this country, and a legal right. There is no medical reason why abortion has been declared not essential in the bill, only a political reason—selling out women's healthcare needs to appease the far right. We cannot accept this! It is discriminatory—it will decrease access and affordability of healthcare for women and makes law out of the lie that abortion is not healthcare. The bill provides that there must be at least one plan offered on the exchange that covers abortion, and at least one that does not. If your employer buys insurance through the exchange, will you have to lobby for abortion benefits? Will there be a public record of who bought the "abortion plan"? [more]
Senate Health Plan Seeks to Add Coverage to 31 MillionDon't mourn, organize!
Published by Z Space.
It's Nov. 19, 1915, in a courtyard of the Utah State Penitentiary in Salt Lake City. Five riflemen take careful aim at a condemned organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World, Joe Hill, who stands before them straight and stiff and proud.
"Fire!" he shouts defiantly.
The firing squad didn't miss. But Joe Hill, as the folk ballad says, "ain't never died." On this 94th anniversary of his execution, he lives on as one of the most enduring and influential of American symbols. [more]
Is House Health Care Bill a Threat to Our Constitution?Take Action: Tell Your Senators to Vote Against 'Hyde on Steroids'
Published by The New York Times.Democratic leaders in the Senate on Wednesday unveiled their proposal for overhauling the health care system, outlining legislation that they said would cover most of the uninsured while reducing the federal budget deficit.
Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, said at an evening news conference that the legislation, embodying President Obama’s signature domestic initiative, would impose new regulations on insurers, extend coverage to 31 million people who currently do not have any and add new benefits to Medicare. [more]
A Recipe for More Lost Jobs at Home: Obama's China JunketPublished by Alternet.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This piece was delivered as a statement at a press conference called by the Religious Coaltion for Reproductive Choice at the National Press Club on November 16, 2009. The topic was the anti-choice amendment, authored by Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., that was attached to the House health-care reform bill.
In the United States, the institutions of government and religion are separate.
This is not just my opinion. It is the law of the land. Our Constitution prohibits Congress from making laws “respecting an establishment of religion.” The Supreme Court has stated more than once that laws must not advance religion or have a religious purpose. [more]
Massachusetts Physicians Say Reform in Their State Is No Model for the NationPublished by Counterpunch.
Barack Obama took Hu Jintao to task on Tuesday, scolding the dejected-looking Chinese leader at a press conference held in Beijing. Obama delivered one ferocious jab after another, claiming that China's dollar-peg has cost the US millions of high-paying manufacturing jobs while creating gigantic trade imbalances which have destabilized the global economy and thrust the world into a severe recession. Obama demanded that the Chinese government convert to market-oriented exchange rates immediately to preserve jobs in America and to end the de facto tariff that China applies to US goods through currency manipulation. Obama's sharply-worded statement left Hu gasping for air while the assembled members of the western press snapped to their feet in raucous applause. [more]
Who Are You and What Have You Done With the Community Organizer We Elected President?Nearly 200 sign ad urging single-payer health care reform
In a half-page advertisement appearing in Wednesday's Boston Globe, 196 Massachusetts physicians and physicians-in-training call the state's 2006 health reform plan "bad medicine" and warn against adopting the state's plan nationwide. The health bill recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives is closely modeled after the Massachusetts reform.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Massachusetts reform has left hundreds of thousands uninsured. The doctors' ad, which takes the form of a letter to their patients, warns that the state's plan is already failing. Health costs have escalated rapidly since the reform's implementation. According to the Boston Globe, the state's largest insurer will hit small businesses with average premium increases of 15 percent to 18 percent as of January 1. [more]
ABC News: CIA Secret 'Torture' Prison Found at Fancy Horseback Riding AcademyTake Action: Tell Pres. Obama "Fire Summers and Geithner"
Published by Truthdig.What's up with Barack Obama? The candidate for change once promised to take on the powerful banking interests but is now doing their bidding. Finally, a leading Democrat, in this case Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, has a good idea for monitoring the Wall Street fat cats who all but destroyed the American economy, and the Obama administration condemns it. [more]
Join PDA's Accountability and Justice Issue Organizing Team (IOT); learn more here.
Published by ABC News.The CIA built one of its secret European prisons inside an exclusive riding academy outside Vilnius, Lithuania, a current Lithuanian government official and a former U.S. intelligence official told ABC News this week. [more]
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