The nastiness of August reached from the town halls into the Capitol as President Barack Obama spoke about his health care plan. South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson shouted “You lie!” after Obama talked about illegal immigrants. (Sept. 9)
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WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama struck a balance between grim economic reality and a more hopeful outlook on Tuesday to try to reassure worried Americans their country will emerge from crisis “stronger than before.”
Riding high in opinion polls, Obama was careful to include a sober assessment of the economic emergency in his first speech to Congress, seeking to temper expectations that his administration’s rescue efforts would yield quick fixes.
But the politician whose memoir was called “The Audacity of Hope” and who won the White House in last November’s election amid chants of “yes, we can” was also back in stride, telling recession-weary Americans to expect better days ahead.
“While our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken, though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this: We will rebuild, we will recover,” Obama said in the televised speech.
“And the United States of America will emerge stronger than before,” he told a chamber packed with lawmakers, cabinet members and invited guests.
The Democratic president also leveled a barrage of indirect criticism at his Republican predecessor George W. Bush for the country’s economic plight and bloated debt, warning that the “day of reckoning” had arrived.
Five weeks after taking office, Obama pressed the case for his economic plans while laying out a broad agenda, including a much-anticipated push for a healthcare overhaul and energy independence, to help build momentum for his young presidency.
The primetime State of the Union-style address to a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives came against a backdrop of growing anxiety across the country in the face of the worst financial meltdown in decades.
While his public support is strong, Wall Street remains skeptical of his economic remedies.
Jittery investors sent U.S. stocks to a 12-year low on Monday, but the markets rallied on Tuesday on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s assurances that the country’s troubled banks should be able to weather the downturn without being nationalized.
Trying to show he would make good on his promise of fiscal responsibility, Obama said he had identified $2 trillion in budget cuts over the next decade.
Obama, who rolls out his first budget proposal on Thursday, has vowed to halve the annual deficit by the end of his term.
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President Obama is preparing to address a joint session of Congress next Wednesday in an attempt to regain momentum for his health care reform plan. Meanwhile, a lack of support over the President’s health care plan is reportedly affecting his latest approval rating. And Obama is encouraging all Americans to take “common sense” steps in protecting themselves against the H1N1 virus.
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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report, from http://voaspecialenglish.com
A major reform of the American system of health care and insurance has moved farther in Congress than ever before. President Obama wants a final bill passed by the end of the year. But a difficult road still lies ahead.
On November seventh, the House of Representatives passed a bill with an estimated trillion-dollar price over ten years. The president called the vote historic. President Obama said the Affordable Health Care for America Act will provide stability and security for Americans who have insurance. It will provide quality affordable options for those who dont. And it will bring down the cost of health care for families, business and the government while strengthening the financial health of Medicare.
But thirty-nine Democrats voted no, and only one Republican, Joseph Cao of Louisiana, voted yes. The bill passed with just two more votes than required. Republicans say the plan would add to the nation’s debt, raise insurance costs and expand government involvement in health care.
Republican Representative Joe Barton from Texas said: “So, there is a choice. Bigger government, more mandates, more control, less freedom. Or lower costs, more opportunity, more freedom or more choice. I vote for more freedom.”
The bill aims to provide health coverage to thirty-six million Americans. That would raise the nation’s coverage rate to about ninety-six percent.
The most disputed part of the bill is a “public option” for individuals and small businesses. The government would compete with private plans by offering its own insurance — based on payment rates negotiated with providers.
The House bill would raise taxes on high earners to help pay for the plan. It would also cut four hundred billion dollars from health programs for the retired and poor — money that supporters of the bill say is now being wasted.
Most Americans would have to buy insurance or pay a fine; the government would help the needy. All but the smallest businesses would have to offer insurance for their workers or pay a tax. Some small businesses could receive tax credits to help with their costs. Insurance companies could not deny or cancel coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. And the industry would lose its protection from anti-competitive laws.
And that’s the VOA Special English Economics Report. You can read more about the health care debate at voaspecialenglish.com.
(Adapted from a radio program broadcast 13Nov2009)
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Senator Corker is interviewed on Fox News to discuss what he hopes to hear from President Obama during his address before a joint session of Congress on September 9.
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With his back against the ropes, President Obama gives an amazing speech to the joint session of congress, succinctly spelling out his vision for the health care bill, talking up the moral imperative we have as Americans to pass the bill and care for one another, and invoking the spirit of Teddy Kennedy and his lifetime devotion to passing Health Care. He was strong, dynamic, spirited, tough but not combative. Now can congress come through on their end of the bargain.
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“THIS IS THE PEOPLE’S SEAT” !!!!
PART 2/3
Massachusetts SENATOR RACE- SCOTT BROWN WINS! Victory Speech (January 19th, 2010)
Elect Elected
DEFEATS DEFEATED MARTHA COAKLEY
obama health care crisis democrats liberals republican congress senate seats hearing debate national
Duration : 0:7:35
The blatant and not-so blatant sabotage that’s happening in our country today regarding health care reform is nothing short of criminal. People’s lives are actually at stake and once again, people’s ignorance and lack of education and being informed is about to do us all in… The greed from our health insurance companies shouldn’t be surprising, if you’re paying attention, but it’s still astounding to me. //////// President Obama told Congress on Wednesday that while he is not the first president to take up the cause of health care reform, “I am determined to be the last.” ////////////
Hey, this is too good not to share! – Forward and/or print this and give to anyone who doubts the public option in
healthcare.///
This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by socialist electricity
generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the US Department of
Energy. I then took a shower in the socialist clean water provided by the
municipal water utility. After that, I turned on the socialist radio to one
of the FCC regulated channels to hear what the socialist National Weather
Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration
determined the weather was going to be like using socialist satellites
designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration. I watched this while eating my breakfast of socialist US
Department of Agriculture inspected food and taking the socialist drugs
which have been determined as safe by the Food and Drug Administration.
At the appropriate time as kept accurate by the socialist National Institute
of Standards and Technology and the US Naval Observatory, I get into my
socialist National Highway Traffic Safety Administration approved automobile
and set out to work on the socialist roads build by the socialist local,
state, and federal departments of transportation, possibly stopping to
purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the socialist
Environmental Protection Agency, using socialist legal tender issued by the
Federal Reserve Bank. On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to
be sent out via the socialist US Postal Service and drop the kids off at the
socialist public school. If I get lost, I can use my socialist GPS
navigation technology developed by the United States Department of Defense
and made available to the public in 1996 by President Bill Clinton who
issued a policy directive declaring socialist GPS to be a dual-use
military/civilian system to be managed as a national socialist asset. After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the
socialist workplace regulations imposed by the Department of Labor and the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, enjoying another two meals
which again do not kill me because of the socialist USDA, I drive my
socialist NHTSA car back home on the socialist DOT roads, to my house which
has not burned down in my absence because of the socialist state and local
building codes and socialist fire marshal’s inspection, and which has not
been plundered of all it’s valuables thanks to the socialist local police
department.
I then get on my computer and use the socialist internet which was developed
by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration and browse the
socialist World Wide Web using my graphical web browser, both made possible
by Al Gore’s socialist High Performance Computing and Communication Act of
1991. I then post on freerepublic.com and fox news forums about how
SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can’t do anything right.
Duration : 0:10:44
Michele Bachmann & Republican Congress Hate Speech against Obama Tea Party Baggers Rachel Maddow GOP John Boehner Eric Cantor Michele Bachmann Steve King
Duration : 0:5:21