#1: Healthcare 
"They're either going to have to agree with us, come up with an alternative or we're not going to have health care... and we're going to get health care." (NBC, "Meet the Press," 6/14/09)
There are few areas Democrats and Republicans disagree in more than healthcare. The Obama-Biden administration has made it abundantly clear that they plan to push legislation through this year. Obama has called healthcare a "ticking time bomb," especially as the baby boomers age. U.S. government health-related expenditures are already at more than $1.9 trillion per year, which is 44% more than what Switzerland spends on their national healthcare plan and 134% more than the median average of all the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
Over the weekend, Obama and Biden proposed a plan that would: curtail fraudulent lawsuits and malpractice awards, lower the pay rate of Medicare, reduce hospital subsidies for treating uninsured patients and negotiate better prices for prescription drugs. This plan, they said, would cost about $1 trillion over 10 years -- a figure which many Republicans scoff is just a starting point. Biden adds that it's "up to Congress" to figure out how to pay for universal healthcare, but he made it clear they're playing hardball and backing down is not an option for this administration.
#2: National Security
"I think Dick Cheney's judgment about how to secure America is faulty. I think our judgment is correct." (NBC, "Meet the Press" 6/14/09)
Former VP Dick Cheney has been busy since he left office. The media is suddenly aflurry with Cheney sound-bites as he talks with NBC's Andrea Mitchell, CNN's John King, Fox News' Greta Van Susteren and others. Cheney has had to defend his record on torture and assert that the Bush-Cheney administration has kept our nation safe over the rest of their tenure in office. He called Obama's plan to ban torture tactics "recklessness cloaked in righteousness, which would "make the American people less safe." This week, CIA Director Leon Panetta called Cheney's criticism "gallows politics" and added that it's "almost as if he's wishing for this country to be attacked again, in order to make his point." Biden refused to speculate on Panetta's possible motivations for saying such a controversial quip, but he did take this time to reiterate the idea that we're embarking on a new political path.
#3: Government Ownership of Corporations
"We get the hell, the heck out as quickly as we can. As the president says, we don't want any part of running any of these companies." (NBC, "Meet the Press" 6/14/09)
Obama's critics have been accusing him of veiled socialism even before he was elected as President. Some critics even hint at fascism as the "Big" government begins to prop up giants like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG, Citi and General Motors, among others. Yet it's the White House's biggest joke that the administration has an interest other than stabilizing the system. Biden agrees that they already have quite a handful on their plate and that a "Washington Takeover" is not on their agenda. This week Obama added that they are "reluctant shareholders" and announced that they will be stepping into the GM bankruptcy proceedings with "a light hand."
#4: North Korea
"It is important that we make sure those sanctions stick and those sanctions prohibit them from exporting or importing weapons. This is a matter of us now keeping the pressure on. There's all kinds of discussions. Whether this is about succession, wanting his son to succeed him, whether or not he's looking for respect, whether or not he really wants a nuclear capability to threaten the region, we can't guess his motives.'' (NBC, "Meet the Press" 6/14/09)
Biden says "God only knows" what Kim Jong-il's motives may be for his recent outburst regarding the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Last week, we learned that uranium and plutonium would be weaponized in Pyongyang, which added to the tension from a second nuclear missile test that had been launched in May. The U.N. Security Council reacted by adopting Resolution 1874, which placed financial sanctions on North Korea. As a result, North Korea's foreign ministry backed down in their plans to enrich uranium, at least. However, America, like others, are pleased with the toughness expressed by the U.N. and our nation plans to follow suit.
#5: Iran 
"Talks with Iran are not a reward for good behavior. Our interests are the same before the election as after the election, and that is: We want them to cease and desist from seeking a nuclear weapon, and having one in its possession, and secondly to stop supporting terror." (NBC, "Meet the Press" 6/14/09)
This week, Iran held a highly anticipated election. For a moment, it looked as if Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's rival, Mir-Hossein Mousavi (a potential pro-Western ally) would have the edge. In fact, both men declared victory at one point. When all the votes were counted, Ahmadinejad had won re-election by roughly a 60% victory. Many supporters of Mousavi question the validity of the vote counting and protests erupted in the streets of Tehran. Biden himself admitted that there's some "real doubt" as to the legitimacy of that election, but for now, "we have to wait and see."
Comments
My all time favorite quote of Bidens:
"When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television and didn't just talk about the, you know, the princes of greed. He said, 'Look, here's what happened." –Joe Biden, apparently unaware that FDR wasn't president when the stock market crashed in 1929 and that only experimental TV sets were in use at that time
Here is another.
Joe Biden was on today and talking about “creating or saving” 150,000 jobs.
Gregory pinned him dawn and Biden said
“Go with me up to New Flyer bus company up in Minnesota, come–I mean, there–it’s–throughout the country, it’s creating jobs.”
www.newflyer.com/
Biden went to New Flyer to promote the billions in stimulus.
A week ago, New Flyer said “its sales were up before the stimulus and the new spending will probably keep sales and employment stable.”
Meaning they have NOT “created” jobs. Have any been “saved”?
Not if their sales were up BEFORE the “stimulus”.
The real corruption here other than Biden’s lies?
New Flyer is a Canadian company!
Or the one about the diner in Dover he went to that has been closed for 15 years!
AMERICA’S NATIONAL HEALTHCARE EMERGENCY!
It’s official. America and the World are now in a GLOBAL PANDEMIC. A World EPIDEMIC with potential catastrophic consequences for ALL of the American people. The first PANDEMIC in 41 years. And WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES will have to face this PANDEMIC with the 37th worst quality of healthcare in the developed World.
STAND READY AMERICA TO SEIZE CONTROL OF YOUR NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM.
We spend over twice as much of our GDP on healthcare as any other country in the World. And Individual American spend about ten times as much out of pocket on healthcare as any other people in the World. All because of GREED! And the PRIVATE FOR PROFIT healthcare system in America.
And while all this is going on, some members of congress seem mostly concern about how to protect the corporate PROFITS! of our GREED DRIVEN, PRIVATE FOR PROFIT NATIONAL DISGRACE. A PRIVATE FOR PROFIT DISGRACE that is in fact, totally valueless to the public healt
jacksmith typed more lies than can be counted.
www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/17/health-reform-faces-new-obstacles/
"The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said that a new public health plan or more tax subsidies for private insurance would add about $100 billion a year in federal health care spending, and still wouldn't be enough to cover the skyrocketing cost of medical care unless combined with "fundamental" changes in the way health care is financed and delivered.
President Obama has said any plan to expand health care coverage must not add to deficits - a stamp of approval that only the CBO can deliver - making the CBO assessments a significant hurdle to passage. Republicans and fiscally conservative Democrats are cautious of any bill that would add significantly to the national debt........
.....The report on controlling long-term costs was released a day after CBO calculated that a Senate plan by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee would cost $1 trillion and still leave about 36 million uninsured.
The report also found that 15 million people likely would lose their employer-provided benefits, undermining Democrats' pledge that Americans who like their current health care plans will be able to keep them. "
I am always skeptical of "new job creation." So what if Bill Clinton oversaw the creation of new minimum wage burger flipper positions, temporary construction jobs and Dot Com bust positions? I suspect that's happening again.
Thanks for your comments. Your healthcare argument is justified. I think that employer-funded healthcare is in its death throes anyway, so the sooner there is a viable alternaive (other than the $600+ Cobra plan), the better.
Is it really JENNN with 3 N's? Nice!
You want to know how good of a plan the
Kennedy-Obamcare plan is going to be?
PLEASE write to your 3 elected officials and ask this question.
"If you are successful in overhauling the health insurance system, will the Executive and Legislative branches of government be in the EXACT same plan the people will be forced into?"
IF and when you get an answer please post it here.
I have and was sent back a form letter thanking me for my concern and went on to AVOID an answer. I sent a second request for a DIRECT answer to my VERY SIMPLE question and have yet to hear back.
THAT tells me all I need to know to oppose anything they want to force on me and my family. I am happy with my insurance plan.
Yes, it's really 3 N's... the more, the merrier, you know! If only you had been selected during those Youtube debates! I hope they're not really planning to tax healthcare benefits. That was a major contrast between Obama and McCain during the campaign... Obama was adamantly against it and McCain said it was on the table. I won't say that's the major reason I leaned toward one candidate more than another, but it was definitely a factor. Taxing employer healthcare benefits is almost as crazy as NY Governor Paterson's proposal to tax Gym Memberships! You are one of the few people who is pleased with your plan, so you are fortunate. I would like to have access to a government employee type plan.
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