US President Barack Obama has accused the Republicans of trying to “scare the heck” out of people in terms of his health care reform proposals, BBC News Online reports.
Anti-reform campaigners had created “bogeymen out there that just aren’t real”, he said at a town-hall style meeting in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. “Let’s disagree over things that are real, not these wild representations that bear no resemblance to anything that has actually been proposed,” says The Daily Telegraph.
Passing a healthcare reform bill is Mr Obama’s top domestic priority for 2009, the President had already called on the Senate and the House to agree their own versions of a bill before the August, but unfortunately lawmakers missed the deadline.
Republicans have portrayed Mr Obama’s health care plans as amounting to a government takeover of the private American healthcare system, leading to a British-or Canadian-style approach.
Mr Obama tried to turn the focus onto insurance companies, arguing that Americans were often “held hostage” because they were denied coverage or charged fees they could not afford, Toby Harnden writes on The Daily Telegraph.
He said: “I believe it is wrong, it is bankrupting families and businesses and that is why we’re going to pass health insurance reform in 2009.”
He insisted: “You will not be waiting in any lines. This is not about putting the government in charge of your health insurance. I don’t believe anyone should be in charge of your health insurance decisions but you and your doctor.
“I don’t think government bureaucrats should be meddling, but I also don’t think insurance company bureaucrats should be meddling. That’s the health care I believe in.”
Apart from these accusations made by his Republican opponent, Sarah Palin, the former Republican vice-presidential candidate said last week the president wanted to set up “death panels” of government officials with the power to determine whether disabled or elderly Americans are “worthy of healthcare”, the BBC reports.
However in fact, under proposals drawn up by the US House of Representatives, the government would pay for elderly American to receive voluntary consultations with doctors to discuss their end-of-life care.
“The rumour that’s been circulating a lot lately is this idea that somehow the House of Representatives voted for death panels that will basically pull the plug on Grandma because we’ve decided that its too expensive to let her live anymore,” said Mr Obama.
“It turns out that I guess this arose out of a provision in one of the House bills that allowed Medicare to reimburse people for consultations about end-of-life-care, setting up living wills, the availability of hospice, etcetera.
“So the intention of the members of Congress was to give people more information so that they could handle issues of end-of-life care when they’re ready, on their own terms. It wasn’t forcing anybody to do anything,” The Daily Telegraph reports.
Showing posts with label Barack Obama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barack Obama. Show all posts
Wednesday, 12 August 2009
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Barack Obama's NAACP Speech “Missed the Boat”
Barack Obama's NAACP speech in the New York Times reportedly “missed the boat”– because journalists did not understand what he was talking about, Sorn Jessen says in the Guardian.
The article, Obama tells fellow blacks: 'No excuses' for any failure, published in the New York Times reported a 45 minutes speech and the related issues, which were addressed by the President, Barack Obama, to his mainly black audience.
People gathered in New York City to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the nation’s largest civil rights organisation.
Jessen claims the News York Times missed the point of what Obama was saying due to “unrecognised cultural blind-spots”. He first questions if the New York Times reporters ever go to church. If they don’t this would limit their understanding, as the speech appeared to be written in a sermon style, with a soft tone.
He says the structure of Obama’s speech is different from the structure of an ordinary political speech, and he thinks if journalists were more familiar with pulpit pounding, then they would have understood what Obama was trying to say.
Secondly, he says American mainstream society has two stereotypes when it comes to talks about minorities. Either members of minority groups are portrayed as drunk, lazy good-for-nothing, or they are pictured as noble savages resisting the incursions of the evil white man.
Sorn Jessen continues to argue that the sermon was reported in a lazy, half-assed way by the New York Times, but the speech was meant to be and was, in fact, inspiring.
He thought in the New York Times article, the two sides are fused and people get both types of stereotypes. On the one hand, there’s the noble savage stereotype in Barack Obama. On the other hand, there is an element in the original article, of the “good” minority who has come back to tell the “bad” minority how to adopt the white man’s ways and be successful.
He thought the problem with this entire way of reporting is that somewhere in the fusion of stereotypes, people lose their humanity.
Sorn Jessen then addressed in his article, entitled A sermon from Obama, that Obama’s speech was a sermon, and the best sermons in his mind are the ones where people are preached to both individually and collectively.
Collectively, the president brings everyone into contact with their history. Individually, he relates his own struggle to the individual struggles of the audience members. The end result is to give strength to the individual by preaching a collective message of hope, and to inspire the collective by preaching an individual message of perseverance.
Jessen maintains that Obama used the individual stories of people like Moses Wright to give strength and a voice to the communal experience of African-Americans.
“Of course the New York Times journalists got it wrong” - Sorn Jessen concludes in his article in the Guardian.
He says the confusion occurred because the journalists do not understand the tradition, and they do not understand the dynamic between the individual and his group. He argues that if the reporters went to church a bit more, or if they stopped viewing ethnic minorities as monolithic communities, they might get a bit more right
The article, Obama tells fellow blacks: 'No excuses' for any failure, published in the New York Times reported a 45 minutes speech and the related issues, which were addressed by the President, Barack Obama, to his mainly black audience.
People gathered in New York City to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the nation’s largest civil rights organisation.
Jessen claims the News York Times missed the point of what Obama was saying due to “unrecognised cultural blind-spots”. He first questions if the New York Times reporters ever go to church. If they don’t this would limit their understanding, as the speech appeared to be written in a sermon style, with a soft tone.
He says the structure of Obama’s speech is different from the structure of an ordinary political speech, and he thinks if journalists were more familiar with pulpit pounding, then they would have understood what Obama was trying to say.
Secondly, he says American mainstream society has two stereotypes when it comes to talks about minorities. Either members of minority groups are portrayed as drunk, lazy good-for-nothing, or they are pictured as noble savages resisting the incursions of the evil white man.
Sorn Jessen continues to argue that the sermon was reported in a lazy, half-assed way by the New York Times, but the speech was meant to be and was, in fact, inspiring.
He thought in the New York Times article, the two sides are fused and people get both types of stereotypes. On the one hand, there’s the noble savage stereotype in Barack Obama. On the other hand, there is an element in the original article, of the “good” minority who has come back to tell the “bad” minority how to adopt the white man’s ways and be successful.
He thought the problem with this entire way of reporting is that somewhere in the fusion of stereotypes, people lose their humanity.
Sorn Jessen then addressed in his article, entitled A sermon from Obama, that Obama’s speech was a sermon, and the best sermons in his mind are the ones where people are preached to both individually and collectively.
Collectively, the president brings everyone into contact with their history. Individually, he relates his own struggle to the individual struggles of the audience members. The end result is to give strength to the individual by preaching a collective message of hope, and to inspire the collective by preaching an individual message of perseverance.
Jessen maintains that Obama used the individual stories of people like Moses Wright to give strength and a voice to the communal experience of African-Americans.
“Of course the New York Times journalists got it wrong” - Sorn Jessen concludes in his article in the Guardian.
He says the confusion occurred because the journalists do not understand the tradition, and they do not understand the dynamic between the individual and his group. He argues that if the reporters went to church a bit more, or if they stopped viewing ethnic minorities as monolithic communities, they might get a bit more right
Wednesday, 5 August 2009
Barack Obama joker socialism poster denounced as racist
A poster depicting the US President Barack Obama as Health Ledger’s “Joker” character from “The Dark Knight” has sparked controversy after it appeared on the streets of Los Angeles, Toby Harnden writes in The Daily Telegraph.
The poster shows the US president with white face paint, dark eye shadow and smudged red lipstick above the caption “socialism”.
It is unknown who created and distributed the image, but apparently it attacked the US President’s efforts to reform health care and stimulus spending.
Some critics believe the poster has racial overtones because it shows Mr Obama as a black-and-white minstrel in reverse.
According to The Daily Mail, a spokesman from the Los Angeles urban policy unit said depicting the president as demonic and a socialist “goes beyond political spoofery”.
The president’s supporter condemned the images and calling it “mean-spirited and dangerous”.
Toby Harnden, The Daily Telegraph correspondent says the Los Angeles urban policy unit have issued a public challenge to the person or group who put up the poster to come forth and publicly tell why they have used this depiction to ridicule President Obama.
Previously, South California born contemporary artist, graphic designer, and illustrator Shepard Fairey created a popular red, white and blue image of the President-elect featuring the caption “hope”.
The current emerged “socialism” image seems to indicate the President is facing a growing swell of criticism as he attempts to force through his $1 trillion health care programme.
The “socialism” poster has spread virally cross the internet, and crashed the website that first displayed images of it, and now it is rising to the top of Google’s “Today Hot Trends” list.
Apart from spreading on the web, paper version of the images also appear to be circulating, with some showing up in Atlanta, Georgia.
Some Right-wing commentators have seized approvingly on the images, Toby Harnden quotes what Thomas Lifson wrote on the conservative American Thinker website: “It is starting. Open mockery of Barack Obama, as disillusionment sets in with the man, his policies, and the phony image of a race-healing, brilliant, scholarly, middle-of-the-roader.”
The Liberal tabloid “LA Weekly” denounced the Obama-Joker poster as virulently racist.
The paper previously depicted George W. Bush, the former US president as Dracula on its cover in 2004.
The poster shows the US president with white face paint, dark eye shadow and smudged red lipstick above the caption “socialism”.
It is unknown who created and distributed the image, but apparently it attacked the US President’s efforts to reform health care and stimulus spending.
Some critics believe the poster has racial overtones because it shows Mr Obama as a black-and-white minstrel in reverse.
According to The Daily Mail, a spokesman from the Los Angeles urban policy unit said depicting the president as demonic and a socialist “goes beyond political spoofery”.
The president’s supporter condemned the images and calling it “mean-spirited and dangerous”.
Toby Harnden, The Daily Telegraph correspondent says the Los Angeles urban policy unit have issued a public challenge to the person or group who put up the poster to come forth and publicly tell why they have used this depiction to ridicule President Obama.
Previously, South California born contemporary artist, graphic designer, and illustrator Shepard Fairey created a popular red, white and blue image of the President-elect featuring the caption “hope”.
The current emerged “socialism” image seems to indicate the President is facing a growing swell of criticism as he attempts to force through his $1 trillion health care programme.
The “socialism” poster has spread virally cross the internet, and crashed the website that first displayed images of it, and now it is rising to the top of Google’s “Today Hot Trends” list.
Apart from spreading on the web, paper version of the images also appear to be circulating, with some showing up in Atlanta, Georgia.
Some Right-wing commentators have seized approvingly on the images, Toby Harnden quotes what Thomas Lifson wrote on the conservative American Thinker website: “It is starting. Open mockery of Barack Obama, as disillusionment sets in with the man, his policies, and the phony image of a race-healing, brilliant, scholarly, middle-of-the-roader.”
The Liberal tabloid “LA Weekly” denounced the Obama-Joker poster as virulently racist.
The paper previously depicted George W. Bush, the former US president as Dracula on its cover in 2004.
Friday, 31 July 2009
Barack Obama’s beer summit
The Black Harvard scholar and the white police sergeant who arrested him got together at President Obama’s beers summit, the Daily Mail reports.
While the President desperately in an attempt to walk away from the heated race row involving the black Harvard scholar and white policeman, he has suffered poll damage recently, says the Indian Times.
Obama got into trouble over the debate on whether Crowley was justified in arresting Gates at his Cambridge home when the President said that the police officer had “acted stupidly”.
The president then quickly condemned by the police through their complaints and acknowledged he should have used different language to express his concerns, and invited the two men to join him for a beer.
“I have always believed that what brings us together is stronger than what pulls up apart” Obama said after the highly anticipated 40-min conversation, according to the Daily Mail.
“I am confident that has happened here tonight, and I am hopeful that all of us are able to draw this positive lesion from this episode.”
Henry Louis Gates Jr., The Harvard scholar said he hoped the entire experience would prove to be an “occasion for education, not recrimination”.
He adds now the burden rests on him and Crowley to use the opportunity to foster wider awareness of the dangers facing police officers and the fears that some blacks have about racial profiling, says Daily Mail.
Crowley responded later that he and the professor agreed to move forward.
“I think what you had today was two gentlemen agreeing to disagree on a particular issue. I do not think that we spent too much time dwelling on the past. We spent a lot of time discussing the future,” the Daily Mail reports.
According to the Indian Times, Obama significantly damaged his standing with voters, especially with those white voters when he handling the incident “impulsively” by saying the white policeman “acted stupidly”.
The newly released polling figures found 41 per cent of all voters disapproved of Obama’s handing of the affair while just 29 per cent approved the incident.
The survey was released by the Washington-based-Pew Research Centre, the Indian Times has learnt.
The data was released just hours before the President as well as the Vice-President Joe Biden had a glass of beer with the Professor Henry Gates and police sergeant James Crowley, who had arrested the Harvard scholar for “disorderly conduct”.
According to the Daily Mail, during their beer summit, neither the two men nor the President offered apologies for their roles in the affairs.
While the President desperately in an attempt to walk away from the heated race row involving the black Harvard scholar and white policeman, he has suffered poll damage recently, says the Indian Times.
Obama got into trouble over the debate on whether Crowley was justified in arresting Gates at his Cambridge home when the President said that the police officer had “acted stupidly”.
The president then quickly condemned by the police through their complaints and acknowledged he should have used different language to express his concerns, and invited the two men to join him for a beer.
“I have always believed that what brings us together is stronger than what pulls up apart” Obama said after the highly anticipated 40-min conversation, according to the Daily Mail.
“I am confident that has happened here tonight, and I am hopeful that all of us are able to draw this positive lesion from this episode.”
Henry Louis Gates Jr., The Harvard scholar said he hoped the entire experience would prove to be an “occasion for education, not recrimination”.
He adds now the burden rests on him and Crowley to use the opportunity to foster wider awareness of the dangers facing police officers and the fears that some blacks have about racial profiling, says Daily Mail.
Crowley responded later that he and the professor agreed to move forward.
“I think what you had today was two gentlemen agreeing to disagree on a particular issue. I do not think that we spent too much time dwelling on the past. We spent a lot of time discussing the future,” the Daily Mail reports.
According to the Indian Times, Obama significantly damaged his standing with voters, especially with those white voters when he handling the incident “impulsively” by saying the white policeman “acted stupidly”.
The newly released polling figures found 41 per cent of all voters disapproved of Obama’s handing of the affair while just 29 per cent approved the incident.
The survey was released by the Washington-based-Pew Research Centre, the Indian Times has learnt.
The data was released just hours before the President as well as the Vice-President Joe Biden had a glass of beer with the Professor Henry Gates and police sergeant James Crowley, who had arrested the Harvard scholar for “disorderly conduct”.
According to the Daily Mail, during their beer summit, neither the two men nor the President offered apologies for their roles in the affairs.
Thursday, 30 July 2009
US Democrats make healthcare deal reports say
Democrats in the US House of Representatives have reached agreement on proposals to reform the American healthcare system, the BBC reports.
The deal, brokered between fiscally conservative Democrats and party leaders, means the House could be in a position to pass a bill in the autumn, says the BBC.
The agreement, revealed by Representative Mike Ross, leader of the so-called Blue Dog Democrats on Capitol Hill, is described as a boost to Barack Obama in the Independent, as the president held two back-to-back town hall meetings in North Carolina, and in Virginia.
However, the BBC says the US Senate will also need to agree on a bill before a final version can pass.
Although the exact details of the deal have yet to emerge, reports suggest the House's bill will include a public insurance option.
After much lobbying from the House Blue Dog Caucus, the cost of the $1tn (£600bn) bill will be cut by $100bn though.
Speaking at a town hall meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina, Mr Obama said healthcare reform would provide Americans with “more stability and more security”.
“What we need, and what we will have when we pass these reforms, are health insurance consumer protections to make sure that those who have insurance are treated fairly and insurance companies are held accountable,” he said, according to the BBC.
The BBC's Adam Brookes in Washington says Mr Obama's references to security and consumer protection represent a change in tack for the president.
Adam went on to write the US president is trying to shift the discussion away from dry policy debates and instead persuade Americans that his reforms will benefit them personally.
According to the Independent, after making healthcare reform his top legislative priority since taking office, Mr Obama has made him a virtual hostage of the fraught negotiating on Capitol Hill as liberals have found themselves symied.
It is not only the Republicans but also some of the conservative Democrats are suspicious of the likely costs of reform and dislike the idea that government is inserting itself into the private healthcare market.
As the BBC states, earlier this year, Mr Obama called on both chambers of Congress to pass bills before the beginning of August, but lawmakers now say that will not be possible.
There is disagreement about the details of the proposed reforms, worked by a number of different committees
Lawmakers are divided on whether to set up a public health insurance scheme for Americans without employer-sponsored coverage.
Other disagreement is about how to raise revenue to fund the proposed expansion of healthcare coverage.
The current healthcare situation in US is that 47 million Americans do not have health insurance, and rising healthcare costs are a major contributing factor to America's spiralling budget deficit.
The deal, brokered between fiscally conservative Democrats and party leaders, means the House could be in a position to pass a bill in the autumn, says the BBC.
The agreement, revealed by Representative Mike Ross, leader of the so-called Blue Dog Democrats on Capitol Hill, is described as a boost to Barack Obama in the Independent, as the president held two back-to-back town hall meetings in North Carolina, and in Virginia.
However, the BBC says the US Senate will also need to agree on a bill before a final version can pass.
Although the exact details of the deal have yet to emerge, reports suggest the House's bill will include a public insurance option.
After much lobbying from the House Blue Dog Caucus, the cost of the $1tn (£600bn) bill will be cut by $100bn though.
Speaking at a town hall meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina, Mr Obama said healthcare reform would provide Americans with “more stability and more security”.
“What we need, and what we will have when we pass these reforms, are health insurance consumer protections to make sure that those who have insurance are treated fairly and insurance companies are held accountable,” he said, according to the BBC.
The BBC's Adam Brookes in Washington says Mr Obama's references to security and consumer protection represent a change in tack for the president.
Adam went on to write the US president is trying to shift the discussion away from dry policy debates and instead persuade Americans that his reforms will benefit them personally.
According to the Independent, after making healthcare reform his top legislative priority since taking office, Mr Obama has made him a virtual hostage of the fraught negotiating on Capitol Hill as liberals have found themselves symied.
It is not only the Republicans but also some of the conservative Democrats are suspicious of the likely costs of reform and dislike the idea that government is inserting itself into the private healthcare market.
As the BBC states, earlier this year, Mr Obama called on both chambers of Congress to pass bills before the beginning of August, but lawmakers now say that will not be possible.
There is disagreement about the details of the proposed reforms, worked by a number of different committees
Lawmakers are divided on whether to set up a public health insurance scheme for Americans without employer-sponsored coverage.
Other disagreement is about how to raise revenue to fund the proposed expansion of healthcare coverage.
The current healthcare situation in US is that 47 million Americans do not have health insurance, and rising healthcare costs are a major contributing factor to America's spiralling budget deficit.
Monday, 27 July 2009
Barack Obama regrets his “Stupid” Comment
US President Barack Obama has told the press he should not have described the arrest of a black Harvard Professor as “stupid”, the BBC reports.
The president makes a surprise appearance at the daily White House press briefing and said he should have chosen words more carefully at this Wednesday news conference.
Alex Spillius, the Daily Telegraph Correspondent in US wrote that he had spoken to Sgt Crowley on the telephone and described him as an “outstanding police officer and a good man”.
In an attempt to diffuse the row over Professor Henry Gates Jr who was arrested at his own home, and followed by the president Obama himself commenting on the Cambridge police officer acted “stupidly” afterwards, the President said that “in my choice of words I think I unfortunately gave an impressive that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department or Sergeant Crowley specifically – and I could have calibrated those words differently. And I told this to Sergeant Crowley”.
He then said he continued to believe that Professor Gates’ arrest was “an overreaction”, but “Professor Gates probably overacted as well”.
The comments came as the president faced calls from American police unions to apologies after he accused an officer of “acting stupidly” for arresting Mr Gates, as well as from attracted criticism in conservative circles.
Police representatives queued up at a press conference to insist race had played no part in the incident and the president should retract his “disgraceful” comments and apologise to Sgt James Crowley, said Alex Spillius in the Daily Telegraph.
The arrest of Prof Henry Louis Gates happened in the middle of July at Cambridge, Massachusetts, home to the top university where he leads the African American research centre, said the BBC.
Police were called after a woman reported she saw two black males with backpacks trying to force entry.
Indeed it was the Prof and his driver who had just returned home from an overseas trip, and found his front door jammed.
When Sgt James Crowley arrived, Professor Gates presented his identity card and indicated that he was the owner of the property, and he reportedly began accusing Sgt Crowley of racism.
Sgt Crowley then arrested him for disorderly conduct, prompting Professor Gates to allegedly start shouting: “This is what happens to black men in America.”
However, study shows he may have a point indeed.
A recent study by Professor Ian Ayres of Yale University found that African-Americans are nearly three times as likely to be stopped by the Los Angeles Police Department as whites.
“These disparities are not justified by crime rates in different neighborhoods where people of color live,” Professor Ayres writes. “Nor do the disparities arise because more police are assigned to black or Latino neighborhoods.”
Anther state-sponsored study in Illinois, revealed that black and Hispanic motorists were more than twice as likely as white motorists to be subjected to "consent searches" by the police, yet white motorists were twice as likely to be found with contraband as a result of the searches.
According to the BBC, President Obama has a personal connection to the Illinois statistics.
He sponsored the Illinois Traffic Stops Statistics Act that empowered the state authorities to collect the data on traffic stops.
It is apparently an issue that Mr Obama feels strongly about. During his presidential campaign, he pledged to "ban racial profiling", and his Attorney General, Eric Holder, has indicated that ending the practice is a "priority" for the administration.
The president makes a surprise appearance at the daily White House press briefing and said he should have chosen words more carefully at this Wednesday news conference.
Alex Spillius, the Daily Telegraph Correspondent in US wrote that he had spoken to Sgt Crowley on the telephone and described him as an “outstanding police officer and a good man”.
In an attempt to diffuse the row over Professor Henry Gates Jr who was arrested at his own home, and followed by the president Obama himself commenting on the Cambridge police officer acted “stupidly” afterwards, the President said that “in my choice of words I think I unfortunately gave an impressive that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department or Sergeant Crowley specifically – and I could have calibrated those words differently. And I told this to Sergeant Crowley”.
He then said he continued to believe that Professor Gates’ arrest was “an overreaction”, but “Professor Gates probably overacted as well”.
The comments came as the president faced calls from American police unions to apologies after he accused an officer of “acting stupidly” for arresting Mr Gates, as well as from attracted criticism in conservative circles.
Police representatives queued up at a press conference to insist race had played no part in the incident and the president should retract his “disgraceful” comments and apologise to Sgt James Crowley, said Alex Spillius in the Daily Telegraph.
The arrest of Prof Henry Louis Gates happened in the middle of July at Cambridge, Massachusetts, home to the top university where he leads the African American research centre, said the BBC.
Police were called after a woman reported she saw two black males with backpacks trying to force entry.
Indeed it was the Prof and his driver who had just returned home from an overseas trip, and found his front door jammed.
When Sgt James Crowley arrived, Professor Gates presented his identity card and indicated that he was the owner of the property, and he reportedly began accusing Sgt Crowley of racism.
Sgt Crowley then arrested him for disorderly conduct, prompting Professor Gates to allegedly start shouting: “This is what happens to black men in America.”
However, study shows he may have a point indeed.
A recent study by Professor Ian Ayres of Yale University found that African-Americans are nearly three times as likely to be stopped by the Los Angeles Police Department as whites.
“These disparities are not justified by crime rates in different neighborhoods where people of color live,” Professor Ayres writes. “Nor do the disparities arise because more police are assigned to black or Latino neighborhoods.”
Anther state-sponsored study in Illinois, revealed that black and Hispanic motorists were more than twice as likely as white motorists to be subjected to "consent searches" by the police, yet white motorists were twice as likely to be found with contraband as a result of the searches.
According to the BBC, President Obama has a personal connection to the Illinois statistics.
He sponsored the Illinois Traffic Stops Statistics Act that empowered the state authorities to collect the data on traffic stops.
It is apparently an issue that Mr Obama feels strongly about. During his presidential campaign, he pledged to "ban racial profiling", and his Attorney General, Eric Holder, has indicated that ending the practice is a "priority" for the administration.
Thursday, 23 July 2009
Barack Obama defends healthcare reforms says report
President Barack Obama has defended his plans for health reform in a live news conference broadcasted in US on 22 July, the BBC has learnt.
According to the BBC, Mr Obama has pledged to launch a reform package by the end of the year that would reduce health costs, increase choice and widen coverage.
The president has made passing a healthcare reform bill the top priority of his first year in the White House.
BBC’s Jane O’Brien in Washington says this is the first big test of Mr Obama’s political strength and a measure of how far he is prepared to bend to achieve his agenda.
Failure on the issue will be seen by his opponents as a major personal defeat, Jane O’Brien reports.
The healthcare debate now towers above many of the other issues facing the president, as the US is the only major industrialized nation to lack a comprehensive health care plan, according to the Guardian.
The president said the America need to guarantee healthcare for its tens of millions of American citizens who are without insurance, and to stabilise the financial system of the US.
In his opening remarks at Wednesday’s press conference, the president said the debate is not a game “This isn’t about me – I have great health insurance and so does every member of Congress.”
He went on to say now Americans are looking to Congress for leadership, and the debate is about ordinary Americans who had been forced to “shoulder the burden of a problem that Washington has failed to solve for decades”, said the BBC.
He then said: “We will pass reform that lowers cost, promotes choice and provides coverage that every American can count on, and we will do this year.”
“I’m rushed because I get letters everyday from families that are being clobbered by health care costs, and they ask me can you help.” the BBC reports.
President Obama argued making health coverage affordable and sustainable is so crucial that anything less would erode the economic stability of families, business and even the government, the Associated Press said.
He also said Americans spend much more on healthcare than any other nations but they are not any healthier for it.
However, according to the Guardian, the opposition party says Obama’s push and emerging congressional bills are rushed and risky, some conservative members of the president’s Democratic party are also uncertain.
John Boehner, the top Republican in the House of Representative, said of the healthcare legislation: “Mr President, it’s time to scrap this bill. Let’s start over in a bipartisan way.
Congress is currently debating various proposals, and lawmakers are struggling to reach agreement, and Obama said he now saw “broad agreements” on passing a reform.
He said he would not rule out any ideas proposed in Congress, except any proposal that was “primarily funded through taxing middle class families”, said the BBC.
At the moment lawmakers are divided to set up a public health insurance scheme for Americans without employer-sponsored coverage.
There is also much disagreement about how to raise revenue to fund the proposed expansion of healthcare coverage, said the BBC.
Mr Obama has called on both chambers of Congress to pass healthcare reform bills by the end of the first week in August, so he could sign a final combined bill in October.
One Senate committee has passed a bill, and three House of Representatives committees have published a joint proposal.
Both of these bills would require all Americans to take out health insurance, and would provide subsidies to help make coverage affordable, the BBC reports.
They would also give Americans without employer-provided coverage the option to join a public insurance scheme.
Following information is the healthcare condition in US according to the BBC: 45 million uninsured while 25 million under insured.
Healthcare costs represent 16% of GDP, and the reform plans would require all Americans to get insurance.
Some people propose public insurance option to complete with private insurers.
According to the BBC, Mr Obama has pledged to launch a reform package by the end of the year that would reduce health costs, increase choice and widen coverage.
The president has made passing a healthcare reform bill the top priority of his first year in the White House.
BBC’s Jane O’Brien in Washington says this is the first big test of Mr Obama’s political strength and a measure of how far he is prepared to bend to achieve his agenda.
Failure on the issue will be seen by his opponents as a major personal defeat, Jane O’Brien reports.
The healthcare debate now towers above many of the other issues facing the president, as the US is the only major industrialized nation to lack a comprehensive health care plan, according to the Guardian.
The president said the America need to guarantee healthcare for its tens of millions of American citizens who are without insurance, and to stabilise the financial system of the US.
In his opening remarks at Wednesday’s press conference, the president said the debate is not a game “This isn’t about me – I have great health insurance and so does every member of Congress.”
He went on to say now Americans are looking to Congress for leadership, and the debate is about ordinary Americans who had been forced to “shoulder the burden of a problem that Washington has failed to solve for decades”, said the BBC.
He then said: “We will pass reform that lowers cost, promotes choice and provides coverage that every American can count on, and we will do this year.”
“I’m rushed because I get letters everyday from families that are being clobbered by health care costs, and they ask me can you help.” the BBC reports.
President Obama argued making health coverage affordable and sustainable is so crucial that anything less would erode the economic stability of families, business and even the government, the Associated Press said.
He also said Americans spend much more on healthcare than any other nations but they are not any healthier for it.
However, according to the Guardian, the opposition party says Obama’s push and emerging congressional bills are rushed and risky, some conservative members of the president’s Democratic party are also uncertain.
John Boehner, the top Republican in the House of Representative, said of the healthcare legislation: “Mr President, it’s time to scrap this bill. Let’s start over in a bipartisan way.
Congress is currently debating various proposals, and lawmakers are struggling to reach agreement, and Obama said he now saw “broad agreements” on passing a reform.
He said he would not rule out any ideas proposed in Congress, except any proposal that was “primarily funded through taxing middle class families”, said the BBC.
At the moment lawmakers are divided to set up a public health insurance scheme for Americans without employer-sponsored coverage.
There is also much disagreement about how to raise revenue to fund the proposed expansion of healthcare coverage, said the BBC.
Mr Obama has called on both chambers of Congress to pass healthcare reform bills by the end of the first week in August, so he could sign a final combined bill in October.
One Senate committee has passed a bill, and three House of Representatives committees have published a joint proposal.
Both of these bills would require all Americans to take out health insurance, and would provide subsidies to help make coverage affordable, the BBC reports.
They would also give Americans without employer-provided coverage the option to join a public insurance scheme.
Following information is the healthcare condition in US according to the BBC: 45 million uninsured while 25 million under insured.
Healthcare costs represent 16% of GDP, and the reform plans would require all Americans to get insurance.
Some people propose public insurance option to complete with private insurers.
Friday, 17 July 2009
Barack Obama Urges Young Black No Excuse for Failure
US President Barack Obama said in his first speech on race since his election there were “no excuses” for failure, the Daily Telegraph reports.
He said: “No one has written your destiny for you. Your destiny is in your hands, and don’t you forget that. That’s what we have to teach all of our children! No excuses! No excuses!”
Mr Obama addressed his speech at the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP).
NAACP, America’s largest civil rights organisation, was currently celebrating its 100th anniversary.
According to the BBC, Mr Obama told the organisation at a dinner party in New York there were “no excuses” for minority children not to succeed.
Jon Donnison, BBC correspondent in Washington said the tone of the speech was passionate, even preacher-like.
The main focus of Barack Obama’s speech encouraged black young people against all the odds to pursue their dreams and live their life the fullest.
He said African American children should instead aspire to be scientists, engineers, Supreme Court judges and president.
“We have to say to our children: ‘Yes, if you’re African-American, the odds of growing up amid crime and gangs are higher. Yes, if you live in a poor neighbourhood, you will face challenges that someone in a wealthy suburb does not.’
“But that’s not a reason to get bad grades, that’s not a reason to cut class, that’s not a reason to give up on your education and drop out of school.” He said.
Apart from urging young black generation to grow up as an educated person, the president also said “the pain of discrimination is till felt in America”.
He added discrimination was still felt by minorities in the US, including African American, Lations, Muslims Americans and gay people.
However, Mr Obama told the NAACP members they had to take responsibility for their lives and their communities, the BBC reports.
He said: “government programmes alone will not get our children to the promised land – we need a new mindset, a new set of attitudes.”
The president then went on to say African American communities had “internalised a set of limitations” and “come to expect so little from the world and from outside”.
Barack Obama also said he wanted to see a return to strong parenting and adults taking responsibility for the discipline of all children in their community.
He drew on his own experience and praised his single mother for giving him “the chance to make the most of life”.
He said: “No one has written your destiny for you. Your destiny is in your hands, and don’t you forget that. That’s what we have to teach all of our children! No excuses! No excuses!”
Mr Obama addressed his speech at the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP).
NAACP, America’s largest civil rights organisation, was currently celebrating its 100th anniversary.
According to the BBC, Mr Obama told the organisation at a dinner party in New York there were “no excuses” for minority children not to succeed.
Jon Donnison, BBC correspondent in Washington said the tone of the speech was passionate, even preacher-like.
The main focus of Barack Obama’s speech encouraged black young people against all the odds to pursue their dreams and live their life the fullest.
He said African American children should instead aspire to be scientists, engineers, Supreme Court judges and president.
“We have to say to our children: ‘Yes, if you’re African-American, the odds of growing up amid crime and gangs are higher. Yes, if you live in a poor neighbourhood, you will face challenges that someone in a wealthy suburb does not.’
“But that’s not a reason to get bad grades, that’s not a reason to cut class, that’s not a reason to give up on your education and drop out of school.” He said.
Apart from urging young black generation to grow up as an educated person, the president also said “the pain of discrimination is till felt in America”.
He added discrimination was still felt by minorities in the US, including African American, Lations, Muslims Americans and gay people.
However, Mr Obama told the NAACP members they had to take responsibility for their lives and their communities, the BBC reports.
He said: “government programmes alone will not get our children to the promised land – we need a new mindset, a new set of attitudes.”
The president then went on to say African American communities had “internalised a set of limitations” and “come to expect so little from the world and from outside”.
Barack Obama also said he wanted to see a return to strong parenting and adults taking responsibility for the discipline of all children in their community.
He drew on his own experience and praised his single mother for giving him “the chance to make the most of life”.
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
Barack Obama Inspires ...
U.S President Barack Obama was called an inspiration towards young black Americans by a leading U.S civil rights organisation, during its 100th annual convention for celebrating the country’s first black president, the Reuters reports.
However, the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) said the battles to close gaps in health, education and legal justice all still remain.
According to the Reuters, a study shows Black Americans in U.S occupies 13 percent of its whole population. On average they die younger than U.S whites and earn less money, they are more likely to be imprisoned or have a bad education.
Benjamin Jealous, 36, the youngest person ever to serve as president of NAACP, said people now have a situation in which hope is up, but because the situation has not changed much, frustrations are up as well.
“Since Obama was elected, there’s a feeling of pride and accomplishment, hope for young folks,” said Gerald Stansbury, president of the NAACP Maryland State Conference.
“It’s given them a true picture of what African-Americans can do and that it pays off to stay forthright in the struggle – and that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “We are inspired, and now we need tools.”
Even though America has got a black president “there is discrimination out there”, said Mary Hall, 69, of Fayetteville, Georgia, a retired newspaper executive and NAACP delegate.
Joe Canady, 46, President of the Conway County NAACP branch in Arkansas, said Obama is going to do all he can, but he cannot do it all and we have got to help ourselves. “It’s going to take us all working together.”
NAACP national field director, Stefanie Brown, 28, from Bedford Heights, Ohio, said black Americans now want to see progress in areas where racial disparities still exist.
“People will not only just give him a pass because he is African-America, I feel they still want to hold the president’s feet,” Brown said. “We do want him to be vocal on issues that we care about.”
Since Obama came into office in January there has been more optimism about race relations.
The United States has long fought the battle with racial tensions. Slavery only ended after a bloody 19th century civil war and segregation still persisted into the late 20th century.
For centuries, racism and lynchings targeted at blacks ensued, especially under Jim Crow laws, which were a set of rules promoting the inferior treatment and accommodations of black Americans in comparison to white Americans, and also built up a system with a number of economic, educational, and social disadvantages.
However, the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) said the battles to close gaps in health, education and legal justice all still remain.
According to the Reuters, a study shows Black Americans in U.S occupies 13 percent of its whole population. On average they die younger than U.S whites and earn less money, they are more likely to be imprisoned or have a bad education.
Benjamin Jealous, 36, the youngest person ever to serve as president of NAACP, said people now have a situation in which hope is up, but because the situation has not changed much, frustrations are up as well.
“Since Obama was elected, there’s a feeling of pride and accomplishment, hope for young folks,” said Gerald Stansbury, president of the NAACP Maryland State Conference.
“It’s given them a true picture of what African-Americans can do and that it pays off to stay forthright in the struggle – and that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “We are inspired, and now we need tools.”
Even though America has got a black president “there is discrimination out there”, said Mary Hall, 69, of Fayetteville, Georgia, a retired newspaper executive and NAACP delegate.
Joe Canady, 46, President of the Conway County NAACP branch in Arkansas, said Obama is going to do all he can, but he cannot do it all and we have got to help ourselves. “It’s going to take us all working together.”
NAACP national field director, Stefanie Brown, 28, from Bedford Heights, Ohio, said black Americans now want to see progress in areas where racial disparities still exist.
“People will not only just give him a pass because he is African-America, I feel they still want to hold the president’s feet,” Brown said. “We do want him to be vocal on issues that we care about.”
Since Obama came into office in January there has been more optimism about race relations.
The United States has long fought the battle with racial tensions. Slavery only ended after a bloody 19th century civil war and segregation still persisted into the late 20th century.
For centuries, racism and lynchings targeted at blacks ensued, especially under Jim Crow laws, which were a set of rules promoting the inferior treatment and accommodations of black Americans in comparison to white Americans, and also built up a system with a number of economic, educational, and social disadvantages.
Sunday, 15 February 2009
Black or White?
The first short film I have saw from the Future Film Festival at BFI IMAX centre called Estate Us. To be honest, it's such a confused film which I think will misguide people.
Black equals violence
The story depicts black young teenagers from deprived communities in London facing different pressures from life, and he has to force himself making difficult choices, typically drug and violence sort of stuff that he just can't get rid of it.
And it's ture, young Londoners do have this kind of trouble, but let's put the original idea aside, why choosing black kids acting on this film?
Is it all happening in the black skin community? For me, as an outsider, the impression on me will be Oh, look,this is today's London youngster, and do watch out, black kids on the side street!!
What kind of impression the film create? Why violence always does associate with Black?
Brilliant black guys I have known
Frankly speaking, I have met some wonderful black people while studying at London.
My Online tutor David Dumkley, who's such an amazing journalist with great passion on Journalism.
Previously he has worked with BBC News Night, Radio 4, and then an associate producer from Channel 4, an international award winning multimedia website creator, a senior lecturer from Uni. Westminster...
A classical musician whom I have met during my final project creation period - Levie Moscovici, originally from Nigeria (If I'm not mistaken, but he's black definitely).
Though from the beginning I didn't put much attention on him (because so many good musicians in the music colleges around London), but after listening to his fantastic recital, and I just told myself that this's the musician I must invite to my site, though he dropped out at the end due to his arm injury.
Another Jamaican friend from Uni. Jamalah Bryan, an excellent web developer, and extremely good at coding.
He's so young, full of bright amibitions and high expectation for his life, and wants to see the world, meet people, starts to run his own company and begins his career.
There's millions of ways bringing positive impacts on black community. And I just can't understand why if there's violence there, then the audience 9 out of ten times will see all the black creatures occupying that screen, is that fair?
Because we're white - Goodbye Bafana
I still clearly remembered the famous sentence from Goodbye Bafana:"Because we're white."
James Gregory, the prison guard of Nelson Mandela, told his little sick daughter after witnessing a black women got beaten from a white officer and was taken away from her boby.
James told his daughter that they are white and they never mixed up with black!
But years later, Nelson Mandela became the first President of South Africa, who was to be elected in a fully representative democracy election.
And today, Barack Obama came to power as the 44th United States President, the first black president in America's history, and the most powerful man in the world.
Black or White, never mind!!
Black equals violence
The story depicts black young teenagers from deprived communities in London facing different pressures from life, and he has to force himself making difficult choices, typically drug and violence sort of stuff that he just can't get rid of it.
And it's ture, young Londoners do have this kind of trouble, but let's put the original idea aside, why choosing black kids acting on this film?
Is it all happening in the black skin community? For me, as an outsider, the impression on me will be Oh, look,this is today's London youngster, and do watch out, black kids on the side street!!
What kind of impression the film create? Why violence always does associate with Black?
Brilliant black guys I have known
Frankly speaking, I have met some wonderful black people while studying at London.
My Online tutor David Dumkley, who's such an amazing journalist with great passion on Journalism.
Previously he has worked with BBC News Night, Radio 4, and then an associate producer from Channel 4, an international award winning multimedia website creator, a senior lecturer from Uni. Westminster...
A classical musician whom I have met during my final project creation period - Levie Moscovici, originally from Nigeria (If I'm not mistaken, but he's black definitely).
Though from the beginning I didn't put much attention on him (because so many good musicians in the music colleges around London), but after listening to his fantastic recital, and I just told myself that this's the musician I must invite to my site, though he dropped out at the end due to his arm injury.
Another Jamaican friend from Uni. Jamalah Bryan, an excellent web developer, and extremely good at coding.
He's so young, full of bright amibitions and high expectation for his life, and wants to see the world, meet people, starts to run his own company and begins his career.
There's millions of ways bringing positive impacts on black community. And I just can't understand why if there's violence there, then the audience 9 out of ten times will see all the black creatures occupying that screen, is that fair?
Because we're white - Goodbye Bafana
I still clearly remembered the famous sentence from Goodbye Bafana:"Because we're white."
James Gregory, the prison guard of Nelson Mandela, told his little sick daughter after witnessing a black women got beaten from a white officer and was taken away from her boby.
James told his daughter that they are white and they never mixed up with black!
But years later, Nelson Mandela became the first President of South Africa, who was to be elected in a fully representative democracy election.
And today, Barack Obama came to power as the 44th United States President, the first black president in America's history, and the most powerful man in the world.
Black or White, never mind!!
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