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PoliGAF Thread of PRESIDENT OBAMA Checkin' Off His List
- Thread starter PantherLotus
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speculawyer
Member
No, he could certainly win. If elected, his power would be strongly limited by the Ayatollahs . . . but he certainly can win and have a good effect.Jason's Ultimatum said:
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
thefro said:
So can they deny the true winner and do a re-vote?
Deus Ex Machina
Member
Israelis honor Obama with more illegal settlements- "Obama Hut"
How childish.
Are these adults?
How childish.
Are these adults?
Particle Physicist
between a quark and a baryon
nm.. its been mentioned.
SimpleDesign
Member
Cut off all aid to Israel, use that spending to help Palestine and neighboring countries as a show of good will to the Muslim world.Deus Ex Machina said:
You do realize that a significant portion of the aid Palestine receives goes directly towards straight-up terrorism, right? Israel is hardly blameless but sometimes when I read this thread I suspect that a lot of GAF either has forgotten or doesn't seriously believe that Israel is more or less constantly being attacked by the Palestinians as well--not just their new settlements, either.SimpleDesign said:
speculawyer
Member
No, they are just not allowed to run at all. You have to be approved as a candidate before you run. But if they were to deny the winner a seat, they'd be asking for trouble.mckmas8808 said:
Deus Ex Machina
Member
John Zaubler Charged With Threatening To Kill Sotomayor
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/05/john-zaubler-charged-with_n_211989.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/05/john-zaubler-charged-with_n_211989.html
After reading the article I think the guy is a nut..
Deus Ex Machina
Member
Wounded Troops react to Obama's visit
Obama visits wounded troops at Landstuhl
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=63126
Obama visits wounded troops at Landstuhl
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=63126
SimpleDesign
Member
It's a circle of hate, I know this. But how else do you expect to stop terrorism? 8 years we've been at this and we've only made things worse by making threats and showing force.Sharp said:
Deus Ex Machina
Member
PHOTOS The Obamas arrive in Caen (June 6)
US first lady Michelle Obama, centre, seen during an arrival ceremony with French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, at the Prefecture, in Caen, France
US first lady Michelle Obama, centre, seen during an arrival ceremony with French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, at the Prefecture, in Caen, France
See Sarko and Obama are actually a lot closer in ideology than Bush and Sarko were. In fact, Sarko might be right wing by french standards but he wouldn't dare privatise half the things Obama is happy to leave to the hands of the market.
Anyway as for this speech Obama made to the muslim world, I have two thoughts. First of all, if there is one thing we have learnt from the decades the palestine-israeli conflict has been going on it's that words mean absolutely nothing to the outcome there. If the US really wants to make steps towards resolving the situation it needs to start forcing both sides to make changes with every sanction it can muster from it's own international importance.
Secondly it's that I get the impression many western muslims feel like the tension between western civilisation and the muslim world is basically the only thing holding it back, but actually, with the exception of sub-saharran Africa (thanks to a couple hundred miles of desert seperating them), the muslim world has "great divides" and tension with every single civilisation it borders on; Pakistan-India, Muslims in China, Indonesia & Malaysia, Chechnya.
This is mostly true of other parts of the world when they were similarly unable to separate their religion from their cultural identity, but it's the only part of the world now that suffers from this so universally and it's frankly embarrassing. When life and culture = religion and your neighbors just aren't interesting in converting you're putting up walls that just don't need to be there, and actually, with the exception of attitudes towards women, there's not much substance to them anyway, if they stopped insisting that there was so much difference between them and non/other believers then they'd find getting on with the outside world a whole lot easier.
Anyway as for this speech Obama made to the muslim world, I have two thoughts. First of all, if there is one thing we have learnt from the decades the palestine-israeli conflict has been going on it's that words mean absolutely nothing to the outcome there. If the US really wants to make steps towards resolving the situation it needs to start forcing both sides to make changes with every sanction it can muster from it's own international importance.
Secondly it's that I get the impression many western muslims feel like the tension between western civilisation and the muslim world is basically the only thing holding it back, but actually, with the exception of sub-saharran Africa (thanks to a couple hundred miles of desert seperating them), the muslim world has "great divides" and tension with every single civilisation it borders on; Pakistan-India, Muslims in China, Indonesia & Malaysia, Chechnya.
This is mostly true of other parts of the world when they were similarly unable to separate their religion from their cultural identity, but it's the only part of the world now that suffers from this so universally and it's frankly embarrassing. When life and culture = religion and your neighbors just aren't interesting in converting you're putting up walls that just don't need to be there, and actually, with the exception of attitudes towards women, there's not much substance to them anyway, if they stopped insisting that there was so much difference between them and non/other believers then they'd find getting on with the outside world a whole lot easier.
I don't read much Robert Reich, but he's making me nervous here.
I'ved poked around Washington today, talking with friends on the Hill who confirm the worst: Big Pharma and Big Insurance are gaining ground in their campaign to kill the public option in the emerging health care bill.
You know why, of course. They don't want a public option that would compete with private insurers and use its bargaining power to negotiate better rates with drug companies. They argue that would be unfair. Unfair? Unfair to give more people better health care at lower cost? To Pharma and Insurance, "unfair" is anything that undermines their profits.
So they're pulling out all the stops -- pushing Democrats and a handful of so-called "moderate" Republicans who say they're in favor of a public option to support legislation that would include it in name only. One of their proposals is to break up the public option into small pieces under multiple regional third-party administrators that would have little or no bargaining leverage. A second is to give the public option to the states where Big Pharma and Big Insurance can easily buy off legislators and officials, as they've been doing for years. A third is bind the public plan to the same rules private insurers have already wangled, thereby making it impossible for the public plan to put competitive pressure on the insurers.
Max Baucus, Chair of Senate Finance (now exactly why does the Senate Finance Committee have so much say over health care?) hasn't shown his cards but staffers tell me he's more than happy to sign on to any one of these. But Baucus is waiting for more support from his colleagues, and none of the three proposals has emerged as the leading candidate for those who want to kill the public option without showing they're killing it. Meanwhile, Ted Kennedy and his staff are still pushing for a full public option, but with Kennedy ailing, he might not be able to round up the votes. (Kennedy's health committee released a draft of a bill today, which contains the full public option.)
Enter Olympia Snowe. Her move is important, not because she's Republican (the Senate needs only 51 votes to pass this) but because she's well-respected and considered non-partisan, and therefore offers some cover to Democrats who may need it. Last night Snowe hosted a private meeting between members and staffers about a new proposal Pharma and Insurance are floating, and apparently she's already gained the tentative support of several Democrats (including Ron Wyden and Thomas Carper). Under Snowe's proposal, the public option would kick in years from now, but it would be triggered only if insurance companies fail to bring down healthcare costs and expand coverage in he meantime.
What's the catch? First, these conditions are likely to be achieved by other pieces of the emerging legislation; for example, computerized records will bring down costs a tad, and a mandate requiring everyone to have coverage will automatically expand coverage. If it ever comes to it, Pharma and Insurance can argue that their mere participation fulfills their part of the bargain, so no public option will need to be triggered. Second, as Pharma and Insurance well know, "years from now" in legislative terms means never. There will never be a better time than now to enact a public option. If it's not included, in a few years the public's attention will be elsewhere.
Much the same dynamic is occurring in the House. Two members who had originally supported single payer told me that Pharma and Insurance have launched the same strategy there, and many House members are looking to see what happens in the Senate. Snowe's "trigger" is already buzzing among members.
All this will be decided within days or weeks. And once those who want to kill the public option without their fingerprints on the murder weapon begin to agree on a proposal -- Snowe's "trigger" or any other -- the public option will be very hard to revive. The White House must now insist on a genuine public option. And you, dear reader, must insist as well.
This is it, folks. The concrete is being mixed and about to be poured. And after it's poured and hardens, universal health care will be with us for years to come in whatever form it now takes. Let your representative and senators know you want a public option without conditions or triggers -- one that gives the public insurer bargaining leverage over drug companies, and pushes insurers to do what they've promised to do. Don't wait until the concrete hardens and we've lost this battle.
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.co...ch/2009/06/the-public-option-smokescreens.phpYou know why, of course. They don't want a public option that would compete with private insurers and use its bargaining power to negotiate better rates with drug companies. They argue that would be unfair. Unfair? Unfair to give more people better health care at lower cost? To Pharma and Insurance, "unfair" is anything that undermines their profits.
So they're pulling out all the stops -- pushing Democrats and a handful of so-called "moderate" Republicans who say they're in favor of a public option to support legislation that would include it in name only. One of their proposals is to break up the public option into small pieces under multiple regional third-party administrators that would have little or no bargaining leverage. A second is to give the public option to the states where Big Pharma and Big Insurance can easily buy off legislators and officials, as they've been doing for years. A third is bind the public plan to the same rules private insurers have already wangled, thereby making it impossible for the public plan to put competitive pressure on the insurers.
Max Baucus, Chair of Senate Finance (now exactly why does the Senate Finance Committee have so much say over health care?) hasn't shown his cards but staffers tell me he's more than happy to sign on to any one of these. But Baucus is waiting for more support from his colleagues, and none of the three proposals has emerged as the leading candidate for those who want to kill the public option without showing they're killing it. Meanwhile, Ted Kennedy and his staff are still pushing for a full public option, but with Kennedy ailing, he might not be able to round up the votes. (Kennedy's health committee released a draft of a bill today, which contains the full public option.)
Enter Olympia Snowe. Her move is important, not because she's Republican (the Senate needs only 51 votes to pass this) but because she's well-respected and considered non-partisan, and therefore offers some cover to Democrats who may need it. Last night Snowe hosted a private meeting between members and staffers about a new proposal Pharma and Insurance are floating, and apparently she's already gained the tentative support of several Democrats (including Ron Wyden and Thomas Carper). Under Snowe's proposal, the public option would kick in years from now, but it would be triggered only if insurance companies fail to bring down healthcare costs and expand coverage in he meantime.
What's the catch? First, these conditions are likely to be achieved by other pieces of the emerging legislation; for example, computerized records will bring down costs a tad, and a mandate requiring everyone to have coverage will automatically expand coverage. If it ever comes to it, Pharma and Insurance can argue that their mere participation fulfills their part of the bargain, so no public option will need to be triggered. Second, as Pharma and Insurance well know, "years from now" in legislative terms means never. There will never be a better time than now to enact a public option. If it's not included, in a few years the public's attention will be elsewhere.
Much the same dynamic is occurring in the House. Two members who had originally supported single payer told me that Pharma and Insurance have launched the same strategy there, and many House members are looking to see what happens in the Senate. Snowe's "trigger" is already buzzing among members.
All this will be decided within days or weeks. And once those who want to kill the public option without their fingerprints on the murder weapon begin to agree on a proposal -- Snowe's "trigger" or any other -- the public option will be very hard to revive. The White House must now insist on a genuine public option. And you, dear reader, must insist as well.
This is it, folks. The concrete is being mixed and about to be poured. And after it's poured and hardens, universal health care will be with us for years to come in whatever form it now takes. Let your representative and senators know you want a public option without conditions or triggers -- one that gives the public insurer bargaining leverage over drug companies, and pushes insurers to do what they've promised to do. Don't wait until the concrete hardens and we've lost this battle.
Deus Ex Machina
Member
PHOTOS Normandy
Marine One with President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama onboard flies over Pointe du Hoc, a cliff top location on the coast of Normandy west of Omaha Beach
Normandy Veteran Fredrick William Norris, who was awarded the Military Medal, touches one of the graves of a friend from his regiment, the 5th Assault Regiment of the Armoured Engineers, who fell after their tank was destroyed on Sword Beach on D-Day
President Barack Obama greets D-Day veterans Ben Franklin of Knoxville, Tenn and Clyde Combs of Houston
President Barack Obama hugs World War II D-Day veteran Clyde Combs of Houston, Texas, as he arrives at the Normandy American Cemetery
President Barack Obama, Prince Charles, British Prime Minster Gordon Brown, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and France's President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tom Hanks poses with US veteran William F. Edwards
Prime Minister Gordon Brown walks towards Omaha Beach
Marine One with President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama onboard flies over Pointe du Hoc, a cliff top location on the coast of Normandy west of Omaha Beach
Normandy Veteran Fredrick William Norris, who was awarded the Military Medal, touches one of the graves of a friend from his regiment, the 5th Assault Regiment of the Armoured Engineers, who fell after their tank was destroyed on Sword Beach on D-Day
President Barack Obama greets D-Day veterans Ben Franklin of Knoxville, Tenn and Clyde Combs of Houston
President Barack Obama hugs World War II D-Day veteran Clyde Combs of Houston, Texas, as he arrives at the Normandy American Cemetery
President Barack Obama, Prince Charles, British Prime Minster Gordon Brown, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and France's President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tom Hanks poses with US veteran William F. Edwards
Prime Minister Gordon Brown walks towards Omaha Beach
Deus Ex Machina
Member
GOP: President Obama snubbed us
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/23426.html#ixzz0HfB0mKSV&C
Could it be that President Obama has tired of their games? Obama held out his hand and they spat in it..
He strikes me as a man who has little patience for their kind of nonsense. Why waste his time? They will all vote against whatever he endorses anyway. The man is not stupid.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/23426.html#ixzz0HfB0mKSV&C
Could it be that President Obama has tired of their games? Obama held out his hand and they spat in it..
He strikes me as a man who has little patience for their kind of nonsense. Why waste his time? They will all vote against whatever he endorses anyway. The man is not stupid.
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/03/experts-on-third-world-banana-republics.html
OMG, commies in the IMF?!
PhoenixDark
Banned
Deus Ex Machina said:
Seriously, what do they expect after the last debacle? I'm sure Obama will reach out to them, but on his terms - not theirs. I just hope this isn't rushed and is done the right way. As the Reich article says, we'll be stuck with this for awhile. Hopefully the democrats stand firm, and hopefully Obama really uses his popularity/bully pulpit to make this priority #1
speculawyer said:
Yeah, like Cheney. Because Iran is a democracy, we've just been duped by Zionist imperialist media into thinking it's not to prepare for war and corporate rape.
Electing Moussavi will be huge for several reasons, and he will have influence, just try not to be stupid.
TheGrayGhost said:
If there's a competition to draw the dumbest conclusion possible from that video, you win.
This is the part that is gaining ground and is the poison pill that proponents of eventual health care for all are afraid off, if that catches on you can say goodbye to any real public option and its back to business as usual. Its so fucking tragic that we allow for big money to guide the hand of legislators rather than them doing the right thing.
If the credit card bill is any indication, with the amount of money hats that got in the way of that, this is going to be epic disappointment.
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Question for GAF:
How will a public option be finainced?
How will a public option be finainced?
Oh yeah, that reminds me I forgot to make fun of Sy Hersh for his dreams of imminent invasions of Iran never materializing despite repeated, monthly "expose reporting" breathlessly arguing otherwise. That guy is fucking frustrating--more a stenographer to the disgruntled than anything else, but man every couple of decades he blows the roof off.Chrono said:
monchi-kun
Member
mckmas8808 said:
taxes?
Deus Ex Machina
Member
PHOTOS
Israeli peace activists during a demonstration in Tel Aviv on June 6, 2009, marking 42 years since the Six Day War between Israel against Egypt, Jordan and Syria.
Israeli peace activists during a demonstration in Tel Aviv on June 6, 2009, marking 42 years since the Six Day War between Israel against Egypt, Jordan and Syria.
Ninja Scooter
Member
JayDubya said:
Sean Hannity just got moist.
Deus Ex Machina
Member
A few more images from Normandy.
Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer
President Barack Obama salutes World War II veterans Clyde Combs (L) of Houston, Texas, and Ben Franklin (C), of Knoxville, Tennessee
First Lady Michelle Obama and France's First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy are greeted by a war veteran
Back at Air Force one!
A boy poses for a photograph on the stairs of the Air Force One at the U.S. airbase in Ramstein June 5, 2009.
Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer
President Barack Obama salutes World War II veterans Clyde Combs (L) of Houston, Texas, and Ben Franklin (C), of Knoxville, Tennessee
First Lady Michelle Obama and France's First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy are greeted by a war veteran
Back at Air Force one!
A boy poses for a photograph on the stairs of the Air Force One at the U.S. airbase in Ramstein June 5, 2009.
Baraka in the White House
2-Terms of Kombat
They let him that close to the plane? I'm surprised...
speculawyer
Member
WTF is that supposed to mean?Chrono said:
speculawyer
Member
Hitler didn't like cancer, so cancer must be good!JayDubya said:
Instigator
Banned
APF said:WTF? But you guys told me Israelis are evil bastards who should get fucked. NeoGAF fails once again
This is not even putting some effort into it.
APF on weekdays is more abrasive and clever.
Deus Ex Machina
Member
U.S. high court asked to block Chrysler sale
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090607/ap_on_go_su_co/us_supreme_court_chrysler_bankruptcy
I say we wash our hands of it.
Cut off the funds completely, let a bankruptcy court liquidate it, and take whatever we're entitled to (probably nothing, since we so wisely chose to convert our holdings to common stock).
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090607/ap_on_go_su_co/us_supreme_court_chrysler_bankruptcy
I say we wash our hands of it.
Cut off the funds completely, let a bankruptcy court liquidate it, and take whatever we're entitled to (probably nothing, since we so wisely chose to convert our holdings to common stock).
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