Unprecedented power to sieze banks, Hate Crimes to Obama tomorrow, "Opt-Out" is Sleight of Hand

1) Obama embraces House financial overhaul bill WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Tuesday embraced a House bill that would give the government unprecedented power to seize bank holding companies and other large financial firms teetering on the brink of collapse and stick their competitors with the cost. …Under Frank's proposal, a council of regulators would be established to monitor financial firms regarded as so big and influential that their collapse could bring down the entire economy. If the council determines that a firm has grown too big and dangerous, the Federal Reserve could step in to dismantle it. Firms with more than $10 billion of assets would be responsible for covering any outstanding costs of that action. The agreement paves the way for the bill's swift approval. Frank's committee was expected to consider it next week with a floor vote anticipated as early as November. …Frank's latest proposal to give the government the power to dismantle large, influential non-bank firms is not expected to generate the same kind of consensus. Republicans are likely to oppose the measure because they say it will create the expectation that some companies will be bailed out by the government because of their designation as being critical to the health of the economy. Democrats counter that the bill will prevent future bailouts because it will enable regulators to dismantle these firms. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091027/ap_on_bi_ge/us_financial_overhaul 2) Nineteen States Move to Defend Individual Health Care Choice (CNSNews.com) – Regardless of what the U.S. Congress decides about health care reform, a growing number of states are standing up for individuals’ freedom of choice when it comes to purchasing – or not purchasing – health insurance.   Several Kansas Republicans have introduced a state constitutional amendment that would protect the right of Kansas residents to make their own health care choices. That makes Kansas the 19th state where legislators have introduced, or will introduce, such legislation.   The proposed Kansas amendment preserves the right of individuals to pay directly for medical care -- something that is not allowed in single-payer countries such as Canada. It also prohibits any individual from being penalized for not purchasing government-defined insurance. Under the amendment, any state attempt to require an individual to purchase health insurance--or forbid an individual from purchasing services outside of the government-established health care system--would be rendered unconstitutional. …Kansas now joins legislators in seven states (Alaska, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, New Hampshire and Utah) that have publicly announced their intention to file legislation to protect their citizens from any government health-care mandates.    Another 11 states have already filed or pre-filed similar legislation (Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, North Dakota, New Mexico, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wyoming). Arizona's measure, which passed the legislature in June, will be put before voters on the 2010 ballot. See: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/56144 2a) Snowe would vote to block Reid's health care bill WASHINGTON — Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe says she would vote with fellow Republicans to block the Democratic health care overhaul if changes are not made to the version Majority Leader Harry Reid outlined this week. The Democrats will need 60 votes to get the bill past a threatened Republican filibuster, so Snowe's vote would be crucial if Reid loses any of the chamber's 58 Democrats and two independents. Snowe is the only Republican in Congress who has voted for any of the early Democratic versions in either the Senate or House. Reid says he has blended two versions in a measure that includes a government-run "public option" to compete with private health insurance plans. States could opt out of the government insurance, but Snowe said Tuesday that's not good enough. See: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jlMpJGn28kqCcgU-aGcYE_ZHW-ywD9BJK4EG0 2b) Senate moderates voice concern over public option WASHINGTON – Inclusion of a government insurance plan in Senate health care legislation is posing problems for moderate senators whose votes are critical to passing the bill. Reverberations could be felt across the Capitol, where House Democratic leaders are finalizing a bill with a government plan. Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman said Tuesday that while he won't vote to block Majority Leader Harry Reid's plan from going to the Senate floor for debate, he would ultimately oppose the measure because it includes a public option. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091027/ap_on_go_co/us_health_care_overhaul 2c) Dingy Harry's Sleight of Hand: An "Opt-Out" of the Public Option RUSH: All right, now, he's provided nothing specific. This is typical. He's come up with a theory on this public option state opt-out, and he sent it over to the CBO to have it scored. I don't trust the CBO, for one thing, but that's not the point about this. I want to reiterate again that there will no way be any possibility you can opt out of a public option and there's no way your governor or your state legislature or assembly will be able to opt out of it, either, and I'm going to explain why. As a side illustration, do you recall when Jimmy Carter declared a national speed limit of 55 miles an hour and states could opt -- you don't remember that? Okay, I'll tell you. That's when the 55-mile-an-hour speed limit got started, Jimmy Carter declared it, and there was a state opt-out. Now, the Catch-22 was that if states opted out, they lost all federal highway funds, they lost any participation, but that's a side point. This is much more than that.   Here's the truth. The citizens of this country, regardless of what state they live in, will have to pay for, that is, subsidize through taxes and higher private insurance policy costs that the public option the government will set up. No citizen will be able to opt out of that whether you are an employer or an employee or on your own. It's an illusion. You're gonna pay for it no matter what. Furthermore, the government's imposition of bankrupting regulations on private insurance companies are gonna put 'em out of business. We now know that contrary to what Obama and his people are running around saying, that the insurance companies are making obscene profits, the usual attacks on the business of the day, we now learn that the profits of private health insurers, two to three percent. Even the AP reported that. They are not flush with money. They are not among the most profitable businesses in the nation. They're nowhere near it. What's going to happen, what everybody seems to forget, you know, Pelosi's out there saying, (paraphrasing) "Public option, that's a bad word, we need to change the term. We need to call it competitive option."   That's even worse. Because the objective of the public option is to drive private health care insurance out of business. There are a number of ways that will happen and Dingy Harry's latest sleight of hand is one of them. Here's how it's going to work. These regulations that will bankrupt insurance companies, that will be imposed on them, will consist of compelling private companies to take all comers. Private insurance companies will have to insure everybody, including those who are going to have a heart attack tomorrow and die. They're going to have to take 'em when they have not purchased insurance earlier, only when they need a major operation or an expensive drug. Now, by compelling these companies to do that, they are going to destroy the ability of any private entity to protect its other customers who have acted responsibly and purchased insurance when they were not sick. So the people who again play by the rules, follow what they're supposed to do, are going to be paying for the insurance policies of people who sign up at the first sign they got a big operation or need an expensive drug or what have you, the government will set benefit requirements for the insurance agency, they will set price limits.   See: http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_102709/content/01125108.guest.html 2d) Obama Told House Democrat He Wasn’t Talking about House Health Bill When He Told Congress ‘Our Plan’ Doesn’t Fund Abortion (CNSNews.com) - Rep. Bart Stupak (D.-Mich.) told CNSNews.com that President Barack Obama told him in a telephone conversation that when he said in his Sept. 9 speech to a joint session of Congress that “under our plan no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions” he was not talking about the actual bill drafted in the House but about the president’s own health care plan—which has never been written. “I don’t know if it is a game of semantics or what,” Stupak said of Obama’s nationally televised declaration to Congress that the health-care plan will not allow federal funding of abortion. Both the House and Senate versions of the health-care bill permit federal funds to pay for insurance plans that cover abortions.  …CNSNews.com read Stupak the verbatim transcript of President Obama’s joint-session-speech statement about abortion funding: “And one more misunderstanding I want to clear up: Under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions.” CNSNews.com asked Stupak: “Is that a true or false statement?”   “That is exactly what he said,” said Stupak.    “But is it an accurate statement?” asked CNSNews.com.   “I called him,” said Stupak. “I called the president--had a discussion with the president. And I read exactly what you just said. And he said: ‘What it says is “under my plan”’—meaning the president’s plan. And I said: ‘With all due respect, sir, you do not have a plan. The only plan we have out is the House plan.’ So, I don’t know if it is a game of semantics or what.” …In the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Stupak offered his own amendment to the health care bill that would have prohibited federal funds from being used to cover “any part of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion.”  On July 31, by a 27-to-31 vote, the Energy and Commerce Committee defeated Stupak’s effort to include the Hyde language directly in the health-care bill itself and thus prohibit abortion funding through that bill and the programs it would create. Stupak told CNSNews.com he has organized a group of “about 40 likeminded Democrats” who will try to kill the health care bill itself unless House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) agrees to allow an up-or-down vote on his amendment when the bill comes to the House floor. "The speaker has told me I will not have my amendment," said Stupak. "It will not be made in order." I don’t know how many different ways this can be said. The bill(s) COVER ABORTION. See: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/56109 3) Signing the hate crimes bill A source sends word that Obama will give remarks on signing hate crimes legislation Wednesday afternoon, and is sending invitations out to gay groups -- including some that have been critical of the White House -- for a reception in partnership with the David Bohnett Foundation -- run by a major gay donor.  “‘hate crime law’ . . . . aka Device for Intimidating and Silencing Political Opponents on issues like same-sex marriage ("What, you're opposing gay marriage? Well, we'll just have to open a federal criminal investigation of you") -------- ------- Gee, you don't think the Chicago Thugs in the White House would ever resort to such sleazy level tactics????” - comment posted by anonymous. “White House threatens criminal prosecution of Humana after it dared speak out. Guess what will happen to people who dare speak out against gay marriage?” - posted by “Decoder” See: http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1009/Signing_the_hate_crimes_bill.html 3a) Congress passes Hate Crimes Bill Opponents worry over special 'hate crimes' treatment for homosexuals A "hate crimes" bill opponents claim will be used to crack down on Christian speech, even the reading of the Bible, is poised to be signed by President Obama, a longtime proponent of the plan to give homosexuals and others with alternative lifestyles special protections not provided other classes of citizens.  The Senate approved the measure 68-29 today after Democrats strategically attached it to a "must-pass" $680 billion defense appropriations plan.  Most Republicans, although normally strong supporters of the U.S. military, opposed the bill.  "The inclusion of the controversial language of the hate crimes legislation, which is unrelated to our national defense, is deeply troubling," Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., told Fox News after the vote. The plan also hands out federal money to states and local governments in pursuit of "preventing" hate crimes.  Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said the move is a step toward criminalizing thought and suggested the bill will be a threat to those to speak out about their religious faith. See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=113788 3b) Obama gets Hate Crimes Bill Victim of state law says federal act 'one of the most dangerous pieces of legislation' A Christian minister who has spent time in jail because of a state "hate crimes" law is warning that the federal legislation, now pending on President Obama's desk, is "one of the most dangerous pieces of federal legislation in the history of our nation."  The comment comes from Michael Marcavage of Repent America. He was among a group that became known as the "Philadelphia 11" that made national headlines in 2004.  That was when the Christians, ministering at a homosexual festival, were accused under a state "hate crimes" law. "This is an attempt by the U.S. government to shut down the Gospel of Jesus Christ by criminalizing Christians who reach out in the love of God to those trapped in the bondage of homosexuality," he said. "The passage of this 'hate crimes' legislation is one giant leap in the direction of persecuting Christians nationwide."  It was five years ago when Marcavage and 10 others were charged for sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the public streets of Philadelphia during an annual taxpayer-funded celebration of homosexuality called "Outfest." He describes how by preaching the Word of God, singing songs of praise and carrying banners with Bible verses, the Christians were perceived by law enforcement officers as a "threat" and were arrested.  "At the same time, police ignored the fact that homosexual attendees were harassing the Christians by encircling them with large pink placards while blowing loud, screeching whistles," he wrote in a report on the dispute.  "After being jailed for 21 hours, each member of Repent America was charged under Pennsylvania's 'hate crimes' law called 'ethnic intimidation.' They were also charged with a host of other bogus felony and misdemeanor charges, including 'criminal conspiracy' and 'possession of an instrument of crime,' and each faced a possible sentence of up to 47 years in prison along with a $90,000 fine," he said.  "Thankfully, after months of the looming 'criminal' charges, they were all vindicated of all counts," he said.  The state's "hate crimes" law eventually was struck down by the courts, he noted. See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=114142 4) "The New 'Twilight Zone' -- Obama Declares Swine Flu Emergency" President Barack Obama declared the swine flu outbreak a national emergency on Friday October 23, empowering the health secretary to suspend federal requirements and speed up treatment.  His declaration authorizes Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to bypass normal federal regulations so health officials can respond more quickly to the outbreak, which, allegedly, has killed more than 1,000 people in the United States. "As a nation, we have prepared at all levels of government, and as individuals and communities, taking unprecedented steps to counter the emerging pandemic," Obama wrote in the declaration, which the White House announced Saturday. He said the pandemic keeps evolving, the rates of illness are rising rapidly in many areas and there's a potential "to overburden health care resources." Dr. Mercola’s comments: It would appear that President Obama has not been apprised of the real facts of the situation, and has declared the swine flu a national public health emergency. …The intention of this report is to show you with the government's own statistics that there appears to be MASSIVE amounts of misinformation and outright deception going on that appear to be designed to panic American people into believing that H1N1 influenza is more serious and widespread than it is. ..I just published a major swine flu update on Saturday about how CBS News investigative journalists exposed how misleading statistics are being used to panic the public into complying with the huge H1N1 swine flu vaccination program. Last week, CBS News published the results from a three-month long investigation into the swine flu. One would think this would have received MASSIVE media exposure since their findings are in direct conflict with what the government is publicly stating. Of major interest…CBS investigative journalists went to the CDC to seek their help in clarifying the situation and answering outstanding questions but CDC officials refused. They would not cooperate and CBS had to do their own investigation. Even worse, after CBS compiled the data, the CDC refused to comment on it (emphasis mine). …The only way that we can have an effective response to the reported H1N1 influenza outbreak is if the government is transparent with the data. We have simply not seen ANY evidence that government health agencies are willing to be transparent. In fact, all evidence points to the contrary. The CBS investigative report included state-by-state test results that revealed some VERY different facts from what the US Centers for Disease Control has been telling the American public.  The CBS report found that H1N1 flu cases are NOT AT ALL as prevalent as feared. A CBS article even states: "If you've been diagnosed "probable" or "presumed" 2009 H1N1 or "swine flu" in recent months, you may be surprised to know this: odds are you didn't have H1N1 flu.  In fact, you probably didn't have the flu at all. The results reveal a pattern that surprised a number of health care professionals we consulted. The vast majority of cases were negative for H1N1 as well as seasonal flu, despite the fact that many states were specifically testing patients deemed to be most likely to have H1N1 flu, based on symptoms and risk factors, such as travel to Mexico." In most states the percentages ranged from 83 to 98 percent NOT BEING H1N1 or influenza. …It also seems odd to declare a national emergency even if there were 1,000 confirmed swine flu deaths. There are so many diseases that claim so many more lives each and every year... The only difference is they don't have a vaccine against them that they can promote that every man, woman, and child should take. For example, hospital-acquired infections alone kill some 90,000 people annually in the US! See: http://articles.mercola.com/swine-flu-article/20091027.htm And: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/21/cbsnews_investigates/main5404829.shtml?tag=cbsnewsMainColumnArea 5) Obama offers millions in Muslim technology fund WASHINGTON — The White House Friday highlighted a new multi-million-dollar technology fund for Muslim nations, following a pledge made by President Barack Obama in his landmark speech to the Islamic world. The White House said the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) had issued a call for proposals for the fund, which will provide financing of between 25 and 150 million dollars for selected projects and funds. See: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hiACngvR3yEdcvTEeHLuh4IcXe6Q 6) Conservatives Maintain Edge as Top Ideological Group PRINCETON, NJ -- Conservatives continue to outnumber moderates and liberals in the American populace in 2009, confirming a finding that Gallup first noted in June. Forty percent of Americans describe their political views as conservative, 36% as moderate, and 20% as liberal. This marks a shift from 2005 through 2008, when moderates were tied with conservatives as the most prevalent group. See: http://www.gallup.com/poll/123854/Conservatives-Maintain-Edge-Top-Ideological-Group.aspx