links for 2009-07-20

The chairman of the Republican Party on Monday called President Barack Obama's plan to overhaul health care "socialism," accusing the president of conducting a risky experiment that will hurt the economy and force millions to drop their current coverage.

Michael Steele, in remarks at the National Press Club, also said the president, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and key congressional committee chairmen are part of a "cabal" that wants to implement government-run health care.

The plan will include $15 billion in cuts. The rest of the deficit will be made up by a combination of borrowing from local government, shifting money from other government accounts and accelerating the collection of certain taxes.

Schwarzenegger and Republican lawmakers refused to raise taxes any further, limiting lawmakers' options. Democrats had fought to preserve basic social services, including welfare, in-home support and health care for low-income children.

"We have closed the deficit. … We have protected the safety net," said Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles.

Monday's announcement ends a little more than two weeks of intense negotiations that began shortly after the start of the fiscal year July 1, after the Legislature failed to pass interim steps that could have delayed the IOUs.

In a move already drawing fire from liberal activists, aides to President Barack Obama acknowledged the administration will miss its own Tuesday deadline to submit a report detailing its policy on detaining terror suspects.

The report is a key part of laying out the White House’s plan for shutting down the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay.

In a briefing for reporters Monday, four senior administration officials confirmed the task force dealing with detention policy has been granted a six-month extension to flesh out its plans, while a separate task force dealing with interrogation policy has been given a two-month extension to submit its own report to the president. The reports had been mandated to be completed this week by executive orders the president signed during his first week in office.

On Sunday, Office of Management and Budget director Peter Orszag was asked if in the taxpayer dollars would not fund abortions in the government-funded, public health insurance plan President Obama is proposing.

"I think that that will wind up being part of the debate," Orszag said on Fox News Sunday. "I am not prepared to say explicitly that right now. It's obviously a controversial issue, and it's one of the questions that is playing out in this debate….I'm not prepared to rule it out.

Sen. Judd Gregg, R-NH, an abortion opponent, said later that "no matter what your views are on abortion, you shouldn't ask people to use their tax dollars if they think that abortion is taking a life — to use their tax dollars for those purpose — for that purpose….I would hate to see the health care debate go down over that issue

Obama Approval
59% Approve, 37% Disapprove
Economy: 52 / 46

Thinking about health care, one proposal to insure nearly everyone would require all Americans to have health insurance or pay a penalty on their income tax, excluding those with lower incomes. It would require most employers to offer health coverage or pay a fee. There would be a government-run plan to compete with private insurers. And income taxes on people earning more than 280-thousand dollars a year would be raised to help fund the program. Taken together, would you support or oppose this plan? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?

54% Support, 43% Oppose

Party ID
33% Democrat, 22% Republican, 41% Independent

The nation’s governors, Democrats as well as Republicans, voiced deep concern yesterday about the shape of the healthcare bill emerging from Congress, fearing that the federal government is about to hand them expensive new Medicaid obligations without providing the money to pay for them.
The role of the states in a restructured healthcare system dominated the summer meeting of the National Governors Association here this weekend – with bipartisan animosity voiced against the Obama administration’s plan during a closed-door luncheon Saturday and in a private meeting yesterday afternoon with the secretary of health and human services, Kathleen Sebelius.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said North Korea should not receive the attention it is seeking through behavior like missile launches and likened Pyongyang's behavior to that of unruly children.

North Korea tested a nuclear device in May and fired seven ballistic missiles earlier this month in defiance of a U.N. resolution.

"What we've seen is this constant demand for attention," Clinton, who is in India, said in an interview that aired on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday.

"And maybe it's the mother in me or the experience that I've had with small children and unruly teenagers and people who are demanding attention — don't give it to them, they don't deserve it, they are acting out," she said.