Thursday, September 10, 2009
NewsRoomAmerica.com | Obama extends national emergency for another year - with all the powers and authorities that Bush claimed in 2001
Section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. 1622(d), provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless, prior to the anniversary date of its declaration, the President publishes in the Federal Register and transmits to the Congress a notice stating that the emergency is to continue.
President Obama says consistent with this provision, he has sent a notice to the Federal Register stating that the emergency declared with respect to the terrorist attacks on the United States of September 11, 2001, is to continue for an additional year.
He said the terrorist threat that led to President Bush declaring a national emergency on September 14, 2001 continues, and for this reason it is necessary to continue the national emergency in effect after September 14, 2009.
"Consistent with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. 1622(d), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency declared on September 14, 2001, in Proclamation 7463, with respect to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the continuing and immediate threat of further attacks on the United States," the President said.
The National Emergencies Act of 1976 eliminated or modified some statutory grants of emergency authority and required the President to declare formally the existence of a national emergency and to specify what statutory authority, activated by the declaration, would be used. It also provided Congress a means to countermand the President's declaration and the activated authority being sought.
In a paper prepared for Congress a specialist in American National Government, Harold C. Relyea, said Federal law provides a variety of powers for the President to use in response to crisis, exigency, or emergency circumstances threatening the nation.
Mr Relyea said when the President formally declares a national emergency, he may "seize property, organize and control the means of production, seize commodities, assign military forces abroad, institute martial law, seize and control all transportation and communication, regulate the operation of private enterprise, restrict travel, and, in a variety of ways, control the lives of United States citizens."
However he says there are limits and restraints upon the President in his exercise of emergency powers.
"With the exception of the habeas corpus clause, the Constitution makes no allowance for the suspension of any of its provisions during a national emergency. Disputes over the constitutionality or legality of the exercise of emergency powers are judicially reviewable. Indeed, both the judiciary and Congress, as co-equal branches, can restrain the executive regarding emergency powers. So can public opinion," he wrote.
Free Lenard Peltier Now! - The Petition Site
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UPI | Wells Fargo says it will look into reports that a bank executive has been using a California home surrendered to the bank by victims of Madoff
A real estate agent who worked with the Elins told the newspaper Wells Fargo has declined offers to show the property to interested buyers.
Residents of the area identified the Wells Fargo executive who is using the house as Cheronda Guyton, a senior vice president in the bank's foreclosed commercial properties section, the Times said.
NYTimes.com | German Geothermal Project Induces Second Thoughts After the Earth Rumbles
LANDAU IN DER PFALZ, Germany — Government officials here are reviewing the safety of a geothermal energy project that scientists say set off an earthquake in mid-August, shaking buildings and frightening many residents of this small city.
The geothermal plant, built by Geox, a German energy company, extracts heat by drilling deep into the earth. Advocates of the method say that it could greatly reduce the world’s dependence on fossil fuels by providing a vast supply of renewable energy.
READ MORE>>>>
Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens For Legitimate Government | 10 Sep 2009
U.S. eyes military equipment in Iraq for Pakistan 09 Sep 2009 The Pentagon has proposed transferring U.S. military equipment from Iraq to Pakistani security forces to 'help' Islamabad step up its offensive against the Taliban, according to officials and government documents. The Pentagon request for the authority to "transfer articles no longer needed in Iraq" to the army of Pakistan received a cool reception in the U.S. Congress. [Gee, if the *equipment* goes, is it not logical to assume that the *people* (mercenaries, soldiers) who *operate* the equipment will soon follow?]
Why did you kill my son? Backlash against Afghan rescue operation grows 11 Sep 2009 The operation to free the journalist Stephen Farrell was enmeshed in controversy and recrimination last night as Gordon Brown appeared to distance himself from ordering the rescue bid which ended in British and Afghan deaths. Now the father of Sultan Munadi, the Afghan colleague of Mr Farrell who was killed in the raid, has demanded to know why ongoing negotiations, which he believes could have led to a peaceful outcome, were abandoned in favour of a military strike.
Negotiators shocked by special forces rescue raid on Taleban 10 Sep 2009 Hostage negotiators expressed shock and anger at Gordon Brown’s decision to approve a commando raid to free a kidnapped British journalist, saying that they were within days of securing his release through peaceful means. Stephen Farrell -- who was in Afghanistan for The New York Times -- was not harmed in the raid but his Afghan translator, Sultan Munadi, and a British soldier from the Special Forces Support Group were killed. The men were being held at a house in Kharudi in northern Afghanistan. Just after midnight on Tuesday US helicopters dropped British special forces and Afghan troops in the village... At least one civilian and scores of militants were killed.
Taliban presence seen across almost all Afghanistan --Substantial Taliban activity in at least 97 percent of the country 10 Sep 2009 The Taliban have a significant presence in almost every corner of Afghanistan, data from a policy think tank showed on Thursday. A security map by policy research group the International Council on Security and Development (ICOS) however showed a deepening security crisis with substantial Taliban activity in at least 97 percent of the country. The ICOS data, obtained by Reuters before its release on Thursday, painted an even darker picture than an Afghan government map last month that showed almost half of Afghanistan at either a high risk of attack or under "enemy control".
Congress wary of more US Afghanistan troops-Pelosi 10 Sep 2009 There is little support in Congress for sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives said on Thursday, indicating possible trouble ahead for President Barack Obama. Obama may decide in the coming weeks whether to expand the size of the U.S. military force in Afghanistan... But U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said deploying more U.S. troops could be a tough sell.
Iraq: Car Bomb Kills 8 Family Members 10 Sep 2009 A car bomb killed eight members of a family on Wednesday in Kirkuk. Maj. Gen. Jamal Taher Bakr, Kirkuk’s police chief, said a displaced family from Diyala Province had been taking refuge in a house close to where the bomb exploded.
30 killed in Iraq attacks 10 Sep 2009 At least 30 people were killed and 99 injured in attacks that shook different parts of Iraq on Thursday, security sources said. In northern Iraq, 25 people died and 43 were injured in a truck bombing in eastern Mosul. The vehicle blew up early morning in Kurdish-dominated Wardak village, security sources said.
Senate panel votes to kill F-22 fighter 10 Sep 2009 The Senate Appropriations Committee voted unanimously on Thursday to kill Lockheed Martin Corp's F-22 fighter jet, the most advanced U.S. fighter, and largely backed other program cuts sought by President Barack Obama. By a 30 to 0 vote that took 15 minutes and featured no debate, the panel approved a $636.3 billion defense budget for fiscal 2010, which starts October 1.
Lithuania Parliament Rejects CIA Prison Probe 10 Sep 2009 Lithuania's parliament on Thursday rejected holding an inquiry into a U.S. report that the country hosted a secret CIA prison for 'al Qaeda' suspects. ABC News reported in August that Lithuania was the third European country after Poland and Romania to have provided the Central Intelligence Agency with facilities for detaining and, possibly, interrogating suspects.
FBI Informant Says Agents Missed Chance to Stop 9/11 Ringleader --Mohammed Atta Undercover Operative 'One Million Percent Positive' Attacks Could Have Been Prevented 10 Sep 2009 On the eve of the eight year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, an FBI informant who infiltrated alleged terrorist cells in the U.S. tells ABC News the FBI missed a chance to stop the al Qaeda [al CIAduh] plot because they focused more on undercover stings than on the man who would later become known as 9/11 ringleader Mohammed Atta. Former undercover operative Elie Assaad says he spotted and became suspicious of Atta in early 2001, when he was sent by the FBI to infiltrate a small mosque outside Miami.
Ground broken on $3.4 billion Homeland Security complex --It is biggest federal building project in D.C. area since Pentagon 68 years ago 09 Sep 2009 Washington notables broke ground on the future home of the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday, symbolically starting construction on the biggest federal building project in the Washington area since the Pentagon 68 years ago. The project will bring together more than 15,000 employees now scattered in 35 offices in the region, placing them on a 176-acre campus strewn with historic buildings in a long-neglected corner of Washington, five miles from the Capitol building.
Biotech companies benefiting from flu outbreak --List of biotech companies whose shares may rise or fall depending on the course of the swine flu pandemic. 10 Sep 2009 Gilead Sciences Inc - Receives royalties on sales of the Tamiflu pill, which Roche Holding AG sells under license from Gilead. According to analysts at Barclays Capital, current projections for the second half of the year suggest combined seasonal and pandemic Tamiflu sales of $1 billion.
Most U.S. campuses already reporting flu-like sicknesses 09 Sep 2009 Almost three-quarters (73%) of American colleges and universities are reporting cases of influenza-like illnesses among students, with the highest rates in the Southeast and Midwest, the American College Health Association says. There were 4,045 new flu-like illness cases between Aug. 29 and Sept. 4 among 204 schools taking part in voluntary reporting, the new data show.
GOP lawmaker: 'One mistress wears skimpy underwear and likes to be spanked.' Disgraced California lawmaker denies affairs --The Republican is married with two children. 10 Sep 2009 A pro-family values California lawmaker who resigned after being caught on tape boasting about his sexual conquests denied Thursday that he had extramarital affairs, saying "my offense was engaging in inappropriate storytelling." Mike Duvall stepped down Wednesday after a videotape surfaced in which he was overheard telling a lawmaker about having sex with a lobbyist and another woman, including salacious details about how one mistress wears skimpy underwear and likes to be spanked.
House Democrats to Wilson: Apologize or Face Censure --House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (SC) asked Wilson to apologize on the House floor in front of his colleagues. 10 Sep 2009 On the House floor where President Obama spoke just a half-day earlier, two words shouted by a Republican congressman reverberated louder than the finer points of health care debate. House Democrats seized on House rules Thursday to demand South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson offer a high-profile apology to President Obama for shouting, "You lie," during the president's health care address. Democrats have threatened to censure Wilson absent such an apology.
Specter Calls for Censure of Wilson 10 Sep 2009 Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) called Thursday for the censure of Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) for shouting "You lie!" at President Obama as the president addressed a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night. "There ought to be a reprimand or censure of Rep. Joe Wilson to discourage that kind of conduct in the future," he Tweeted. "Rep. Wilson apologized immediately afterward but I don't think that's adequate," he wrote just moments before.
Joe Wilson Foe, Rob Miller, Gets Windfall From 'You Lie' Comment By Frank James 10 Sep 2009 A major beneficiary of Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst towards President Barack Obama last night is the lawmaker's Democratic rival Rob Miller who is raising oodles of money. Miller, an Iraq War veteran, lost to Wilson 54 percent to 46 percent last November. But just since last night, he has raised $450,000 according to a CNN report.
Shimkus walked on Obama: 'Frustrated' 10 Sep 2009 Rep. Joe Wilson, the South Carolina Republican who yelled at President Barack Obama during his address to Congress this week, wasn't the only one unhappy with what he heard. Rep. John Shimkus, a Republican from Illinois, walked out.
Obama Keeps Up Health Care Push, Citing Uninsured 11 Sep 2009 President Obama, seeking to buttress his case for the kind of comprehensive health care overhaul that has eluded Washington for decades, said Thursday that the number of uninsured Americans rose by nearly 6 million as the recession intensified during the last 12 months. On the morning after his blunt address on health care to a joint session of Congress, Mr. Obama addressed a group of nurses on the White House campus -- and received the endorsement of their professional association, administration officials said.
More than 1 in 4 in Texas lack health insurance 10 Sep 2009 Once again, Texas has the nation's highest rate of people without health insurance. More than one of every four Texans -- 25.1 percent -- were uninsured in a two-year average ending last year, a Census Bureau report showed today. That's up from 24.1 percent for 2005 and 2006.
Fox News appeals ruling for U.S. Fed over bailout 10 Sep 2009 Fox News Network LLC on Wednesday appealed a U.S. judge's decision not to force the U.S. Federal Reserve to reveal the names of participants in its emergency lending programs. The news network, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. filed with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to over turn a July 30 ruling by U.S. District Judge Hellerstein that denied the network's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request of the U.S. central bank.
U.S. poverty rate hits 11-year high as recession bites 10 Sep 2009 The U.S. poverty rate hit its highest level in 11 years in 2008 as the worst recession since the Great Depression threw millions of Americans out of work, a government report showed on Thursday. The Census Bureau said the poverty rate -- the percentage of people living in poverty -- jumped to 13.2 percent, the highest level since 1997, from 12.5 percent in 2007.
Judge blocks release of names of R-71 signers 10 Sep 2009 A federal judge on Thursday blocked the release of names of people who signed Referendum 71, an effort to overturn the state's new "everything but marriage" same-sex domestic partner law. Gay rights activists want to post the names online... The group Protect Marriage Washington, which collected nearly 138,000 signatures to qualify R-71 for the November ballot, says those people could be harassed, amounting to an infringement on their free speech rights.
Polar bear, arctic fox, caribou hurt by climate change 10 Sep 2009 Polar bear cubs, the arctic fox and caribou herds are among the victims of dramatic changes in the Arctic due to climate change, a study published Thursday found. "Species on land and at sea are suffering adverse consequences of human behavior at latitudes thousands of miles away," said lead author and biologist Eric Post of Penn State University.
Previous lead stories: Prosecutor eyeing war crimes in Afghanistan 09 Sep 2009 The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court said Wednesday he is collecting information on possible war crimes by NATO forces and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Luis Moreno Ocampo said he is also conducting preliminary inquiries on possible war crimes in Georgia, Colombia, Kenya, Ivory Coast, and by Israeli forces in Gaza. Asked whether any NATO soldier is now a potential target of the court if he or she commits a war crime in a country under the court's jurisdiction, he replied that NATO's legal adviser was at the court's headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands last week discussing this issue. In the training NATO is doing, Ocampo said, it is explaining to colonels that in the future they could end up before the court if they commit atrocities.
Bush White House Sought to Shield Those Running Secret CIA Prisons --U.S. Tried to Quietly Soften Treaty on Detainees 07 Sep 2009 From 2003 to 2006, the Bush regime quietly tried to relax the draft language of a treaty meant to bar and punish "enforced disappearances" so that those overseeing the CIA's secret prison system would not be criminally prosecuted under its provisions, according to former officials and hundreds of pages of documents recently declassified by the State Department... The documents suggest that initial U.S. support for the negotiations collided head-on with the then-undisclosed goal of seizing suspected terrorists anywhere in the world for questioning by CIA interrogators or indefinite detention by the U.S. military at foreign sites. ...The United States pressed in 2004 for a more limited prohibition on intentionally placing detainees outside legal protections for "a prolonged period of time."
Obama Vows to 'Deliver on Health Care' -- President Urges, but Does Not Demand, Public Option 10 Sep 2009 President Obama sought to reframe the contentious debate over health care on Wednesday. "I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last," Mr. Obama told a joint session of Congress, adding, "Our collective failure to meet this challenge -- year after year, decade after decade -- has led us to a breaking point." ...The president placed a price tag on the plan of about $900 billion over 10 years, which he said was “less than we have spent on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars."
Tea Parties Update | September 10, 2009
Bikers Hold Tea Party
The Tea Party Express Hits Michigan
Boston Tea Party Response to the Presidential Address to the Joint ...
Mid-South Tea Party Heads to Washington
The Joe Wilson circus
The Associated Press 
Conservatives rally in Courthouse Square 'teaparty'
Citizens at Tea Party sound off on the issues
Tea Party Express: 'Big Government Creates Waste, Causes Socialism'
'Tea party' movement takes protest to Washington
WashingtonPost.com | Scientists Make Discoveries as They Map the Continental Shelf
A joint American-Canadian cruise exploring the frigid Arctic Ocean has mapped broad swaths of the extended continental shelf for the first time, scientists reported Thursday.
While the researchers divulged few details, saying it will take time to analyze the data, they said they had discovered a massive seamount and what could be an extinct underwater volcano during the 41-day mission.
Cave's Afternoon Headlines | September 10, 2009
Quotation from former vaccine officer at FDA:
“There is no evidence that any influenza vaccine thus far developed is effective in preventing or mitigating any attack of influenza. The producers of these vaccines know that they are worthless, but they go on selling them anyway.”- '
Dr. J. Anthony Morris (former Chief Vaccine Control Officer of FDA)
BigGovernment.com | Rep. Steve King Calls for Congressional Investigation of ACORN
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Steve King today reacted to a tape released by an independent filmmaker showing Baltimore-based ACORN workers assisting a man and a woman claiming to be involved in a prostitution ring. According to FOXNEWS, “Officials with the controversial community organizing group ACORN were secretly videotaped offering to assist two individuals posing as a pimp and a prostitute, encouraging them to lie to the Internal Revenue Service and providing guidance on how to claim underage girls from South America as dependents.”
“Taxpayers should be outraged that their money has gone to an organization that, in addition to facing charges of voter fraud and tax violations, is willing to facilitate prostitution,” King said. “As this video confirms, ACORN continues to operate as a criminal enterprise. Nancy Pelosi, John Conyers, Barney Frank and other Democrats on Capitol Hill continue to protect and fund ACORN while blocking Congressional hearings on ACORN’s operations and finances. Shielding ACORN from oversight ensures that this partisan criminal enterprise will continue its shady practices while collecting taxpayer funds.”
HumanTrafficking.change.org | Teen Trafficking Survivor Gets Life Without Parole
NY FBI.gov | Money Manager Arrested and Charged with Securities Fraud for Operating 30-Year Ponzi Scheme
A criminal complaint was unsealed this morning in federal court in Brooklyn charging Philip Barry, a money manager based in Bay Ridge, New York, for operating a long-standing and large-scale Ponzi scheme.1 The defendant’s initial appearance is scheduled to be held later today before United States Magistrate Judge James Orenstein at the United States Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, New York.
CNN | Ground broken on $3.4 billion Homeland Security complex
StanDeyo.com | Today's Headlines - September 10, 2009
Barack Obama's Health-Care Speech: What He Said, What He Meant
Obama's Health Care Address: A Closer Look at What He Said
Shut Up, He Explained
Grade Obama's Health-Care Speech
Pimping for ACORN?
No Border Security in 2010
U.S. Says Iran Could Expedite Nuclear Bomb
The Prospect of Iranian Missiles in South America
Clear and Present Danger: Venezuela and Iran's Unholy Alliance Threatens the Whole World
80% of Europe Against Iran Strike
North Korea May Test 3rd Nuclear Bomb, Defector Agency Says
Wildfire More Than Twice the Size of Sacramento
Freak 'Tornado' Kills 16 in Argentina, Brazil
32 Dead in Turkey's 'Disaster of the Century' Floods
Kenya's Elephants Dying Amid Drought
Earthquakes and Volcanoes Role in Prophecy
UV Radiation to Rise 20%, Scientists Warn
Sun-Caused Global Warming
Death by Superflare?
150 Years Ago: The Worst Solar Storm Ever
Are Sunspots Disappearing?
What Global Hotspots are Most at Risk of Getting Hit by an Asteroid?
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is Back in Business
Judge Quashes Army's Expansion Plan
Colo. Ranchers Dangerous When Cornered
U.S. Army Accidentally Grows Weed in Colo.
Gun Control is How Governments Round up and Exterminate Their Citizens
The New Survivalists: Oregon 'Preppers' Stockpile Guns and Food in Fear of Calamity
What If Swine Flu Strikes Congress (Again)?
French Gov. to Use Swine Flu in Crack Down on Liberties
Guatemala Declares Calamity as Food Crisis Grows
Food Fertilizer Features (Gulp!) Urine
US Girl Scouts Prepare for War, Pestilence
Small Businesses Readying for the Worst
Billion$ in TARP You May Not Get Back
A Year After Financial Crisis, the Consumer Economy is Dead
Mice Levitated in Lab
'Liposuction Leftovers' Converted to Stem Cells
A Skull That Rewrites the History of Man
SteveQuayle.com | Picture of the Day - September 10, 2009
SteveQuayle.com | Hot Headlines - September 10, 2009
Russian Report: Netanyahu May be Planning Attack
A Year After Financial Crisis, a New World Order Emerges
Patriots to Storm Washington, Target Out-Of-Control Spending
The Revolt Against the Elite Debtors Revolt Begins Now! – video
Treasury Sees Millions More Foreclosures
Job Openings Down 50% from Their Peak in 2007
The Card Game - Overspending on Debit Cards Is a Boon for Banks
Why $200 Oil Is Just Around the Corner
“Systemic Risk Laundering” -- Financial Crisis Root Causes -- Part II
Uh, Oh 9/9/9 the Date of Destiny!!!
ID Cards: A New Layer of Compulsion
U.S. Preparing for N. Korea Collapse Scenario: CSIS Report
Letter from Reader
Shocker! Judge Orders Trial on Eligibility Issue
An Insider’s Guide to the Large Hadron Collider
The Federal Reserve Wants You Chipped! Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank Exhibit "Money In Motion" – video
VeriChip Corporation Agrees to Acquire Steel Vault Corporation to Form PositiveID Corporation
Breitbart.tv | Shock Undercover Video Shows ACORN Workers Advising ‘Pimp’ & ‘Prostitute’ to Avoid Law
ACORN officials offered to assist two individuals posing as a pimp and prostitute, encouraging them to lie to the Internal Revenue Service and providing guidance on how to claim underage girls from South America as dependents, according to an audiotape acquired by FOXNews.com.
Related:
FoxNews: ACORN Reportedly Assists 'Pimp,' 'Prostitute' to Obtain Housing
YNet.news.com | Russian report: Netanyahu may be planning attack
AP | FACT CHECK: Obama uses iffy math on deficit pledge
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama used only-in-Washington accounting Wednesday when he promised to overhaul the nation's health care system without adding "one dime" to the deficit. By conventional arithmetic, Democratic plans would drive up the deficit by billions of dollars.
The president's speech to Congress contained a variety of oversimplifications and omissions in laying out what he wants to do about health insurance.
A look at some of Obama's claims and how they square with the facts or the fuller story:
OBAMA: "I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits either now or in the future. Period."
THE FACTS: Though there's no final plan yet, the White House and congressional Democrats already have shown they're ready to skirt the no-new-deficits pledge.
House Democrats offered a bill that the Congressional Budget Office said would add $220 billion to the deficit over 10 years. But Democrats and Obama administration officials claimed the bill actually was deficit-neutral. They said they simply didn't have to count $245 billion of it — the cost of adjusting Medicare reimbursement rates so physicians don't face big annual pay cuts.
Their reasoning was that they already had decided to exempt this "doc fix" from congressional rules that require new programs to be paid for. In other words, it doesn't have to be paid for because they decided it doesn't have to be paid for.
The administration also said that since Obama already had included the doctor payment in his 10-year budget proposal, it didn't have to be counted again.
That aside, the long-term prognosis for costs of the health care legislation has not been good.
CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf had this to say in July: "We do not see the sort of fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by a significant amount."
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OBAMA: "Nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have."
THE FACTS: That's correct, as far as it goes. But neither can the plan guarantee that people can keep their current coverage. Employers sponsor coverage for most families, and they'd be free to change their health plans in ways that workers may not like, or drop insurance altogether. The Congressional Budget Office analyzed the health care bill written by House Democrats and said that by 2016 some 3 million people who now have employer-based care would lose it because their employers would decide to stop offering it.
In the past Obama repeatedly said, "If you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan, period." Now he's stopping short of that unconditional guarantee by saying nothing in the plan "requires" any change.
..........
OBAMA: "The reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally." One congressman, South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson, shouted "You lie!" from his seat in the House chamber when Obama made this assertion. Wilson later apologized.
THE FACTS: The facts back up Obama. The House version of the health care bill explicitly prohibits spending any federal money to help illegal immigrants get health care coverage. Illegal immigrants could buy private health insurance, as many do now, but wouldn't get tax subsidies to help them. Still, Republicans say there are not sufficient citizenship verification requirements to ensure illegal immigrants are excluded from benefits they are not due.
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OBAMA: "Don't pay attention to those scary stories about how your benefits will be cut. ... That will never happen on my watch. I will protect Medicare."
THE FACTS: Obama and congressional Democrats want to pay for their health care plans in part by reducing Medicare payments to providers by more than $500 billion over 10 years. The cuts would largely hit hospitals and Medicare Advantage, the part of the Medicare program operated through private insurance companies.
Although wasteful spending in Medicare is widely acknowledged, many experts believe some seniors almost certainly would see reduced benefits from the cuts. That's particularly true for the 25 percent of Medicare users covered through Medicare Advantage.
Supporters contend that providers could absorb the cuts by improving how they operate and wouldn't have to reduce benefits or pass along costs. But there's certainly no guarantee they wouldn't.
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OBAMA: Requiring insurance companies to cover preventive care like mammograms and colonoscopies "makes sense, it saves money, and it saves lives."
THE FACTS: Studies have shown that much preventive care — particularly tests like the ones Obama mentions — actually costs money instead of saving it. That's because detecting acute diseases like breast cancer in their early stages involves testing many people who would never end up developing the disease. The costs of a large number of tests, even if they're relatively cheap, will outweigh the costs of caring for the minority of people who would have ended up getting sick without the testing.
The Congressional Budget Office wrote in August: "The evidence suggests that for most preventive services, expanded utilization leads to higher, not lower, medical spending overall."
That doesn't mean preventive care doesn't make sense or save lives. It just doesn't save money.
..............
OBAMA: "If you lose your job or change your job, you will be able to get coverage. If you strike out on your own and start a small business, you will be able to get coverage."
THE FACTS: It's not just a matter of being able to get coverage. Most people would have to get coverage under the law, if his plan is adopted.
In his speech, Obama endorsed mandatory coverage for individuals, an approach he did not embrace as a candidate.
He proposed during the campaign — as he does now — that larger businesses be required to offer insurance to workers or else pay into a fund. But he rejected the idea of requiring individuals to obtain insurance. He said people would get insurance without being forced to do so by the law, if coverage were made affordable. And he repeatedly criticized his Democratic primary rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, for proposing to mandate coverage.
"To force people to get health insurance, you've got to have a very harsh penalty," he said in a February 2008 debate.
Now, he says, "individuals will be required to carry basic health insurance — just as most states require you to carry auto insurance."
He proposes a hardship waiver, exempting from the requirement those who cannot afford coverage despite increased federal aid.
.............
OBAMA: "There are now more than 30 million American citizens who cannot get coverage."
THE FACTS: Obama time and again has referred to the number of uninsured as 46 million, a figure based on year-old Census data. The new number is based on an analysis by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, which concluded that about two-thirds of Americans without insurance are poor or near poor. "These individuals are less likely to be offered employer-sponsored coverage or to be able to afford to purchase their own coverage," the report said. By using the new figure, Obama avoids criticism that he is including individuals, particularly healthy young people, who choose not to obtain health insurance.