Video - Catastrophe - How Obama's Cap And Trade Will Destroy American Manufacturers

(Analyst's note: "Cap and Trade" is really a tax on Americans. Remember that taxes on a business is passed onto the tax payer.)

Video - Uncle Jay Explains

(Analyst's note: Got a minute for a light look at the news? The word for this segment is RETRO. As usual Uncle Jay hits the mark.)

Video - Call it a Tune-up

(Analyst's note: Absolutely must read - watch regarding recent Department of Transportation changes re. cars.gov disclaimer. This one is extremely troubling at best.)

Video -- You were warned re Socialized Medicine

(Analyst's note: Very troubling at best. Please watch this discussion.)

Guess What? Unemployment's Really at 16.3 Percent

by John Lott who is an economist and author of "Freedomnomics."

How is it possible for the unemployment rate to essentially remain unchanged when 247,000 jobs have been lost? Because the number of people who gave up and stopped looking for work rose dramatically. ....

.... If we include the normally counted number of unemployed as well as those who have recently given up looking for work and those who have taken a part-time low paying job because they can't find full-time work, the implication is that the unemployment rate for July would be at 16.3 percent These discouraged workers will again look for work once the economy starts to improve, but this 6.9 percentage point gap between publicly discussed unemployment rate and these discouraged workers is unusually large.

The changes in unemployment also mask the large drops that are still occurring in private employment -- construction, manufacturing, retail trade, and professional and business services all suffered large declines. The two of the three areas where employment has increased are government related, either education and health services or general government employment.

These changes do coincide with what is happening with GDP. During the second quarter the private sector kept on shrinking at an annual rate of 3 percent. Overall, GDP declined by "only" 1 percent at an annual rate, but that was because real federal government consumption expenditures and gross investment soared by 11 percent. Real state and local government consumption expenditures and gross investment increased, too, but by a more modest 2.4 percent. ....

Pentagon: Congressional Jets Hurt Defense

The Pentagon is criticizing the House of Representative's request to upgrade Congress' air fleet -- and charge the cost to the Defense Department.

"It forces us to take money from things we do need to fund and redirect it for things we don't need," Geoff Morrell, a spokesman for Defense Secretary Robert Gates, told the Wall Street Journal. "And in a time of war, we just can't afford that. The bottom line is, for everything that they appropriate for us above and beyond what we've asked for, it will, at some point require us to find money from programs we do need." ....

Report: Al Qaeda May Have Infiltrated British Secret Service

MI5 is facing allegations that it mistakenly recruited Al Qaeda sympathizers who were trying to infiltrate the British secret service.

Patrick Mercer, a Conservative member of Parliament, is demanding a probe into claims six Muslims were thrown out of MI5 because of concerns about their past.

Two of the six allegedly attended Al Qaeda training camps in Pakistan while the others had unexplained gaps of up to three months in their resumes.

Mercer, counter-terrorism sub-committee chairman, told Sky News that MI5 is believed to have detected two sympathizers at a "fairly early stage" of their secret service training.

The others allegedly did not make it through vetting procedures.

However, Mercer wants clarification on how successful the security services have been at detecting enemy infiltrators.

"This is exactly the sort of work that MI5, MI6 and the other security services should be up to," he said. "Of course, they should be attracting recruits from all sorts of different backgrounds, diverse backgrounds. The fact remains, it is not without risks... a subversive organization that is worth its salt will, of course, try to infiltrate."

A government spokesperson said the service "takes vetting very seriously."

"All candidates are required to undergo the most comprehensive process of security vetting in the UK."

Al Qaeda Seen as the Primary Terrorist Threat for Many Years

by Anthony L. Kimery

'We assess Al Qaeda will continue to try to acquire and employ CBRN material'

“Adaptive and highly resilient,” Al Qaeda “remains the most serious terrorist threat we face as a nation,” said former career CIA official John Brennan in a speech last Thursday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC.

A former CIA analyst, Saudi Arabia station chief, the Agency's daily intelligence briefer to the White House in 1994 and 1995, deputy executive director and chief of staff to former DCI George Tenet, Brennan today is President Obama’s principal advisor on counterterrorism.

Brennan acknowledged that Al Qaeda’s “intent to carry out attacks against the United States and US interests around the world - with weapons of mass destruction if possible - remains undiminished, and another attack on the US homeland remains the top priority for the Al Qaeda senior leadership.”

Al Qaeda’s “intent to carry out attacks against the United States and US interests around the world with weapons of mass destruction, if possible, remains undiminished, and another attack on the US homeland remains the top priority for the Al Qaeda senior leadership,” Brennan stated.

And it will for decades to come, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair earlier told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

“We assess that Al Qaeda and its regional affiliates will continue to plot against the US and its interests abroad over the next twenty years,” Blair stated in his written responses to questions that were posed to him pursuant to the Committee’s February 12 annual hearing on national threats.

That Al Qaeda and its fundamentalist jihadist allies will remain a persistent threat to the United States for many years to come is a point that’s been stressed by other past and present federal counterterrorism officials. ....

Why is National Guard recruiting for 'internment' cops? Ad campaign seeks workers at 'civilian resettlement facility'

By Bob Unruh

An ad campaign

featured on a U.S. Army website seeking those who would be interested in being an "Internment/Resettlement" specialist is raising alarms across the country, generating concerns that there is some truth in those theories about domestic detention camps, a roundup of dissidents and a crackdown on "threatening" conservatives.

Are you an enemy of the state? Get the bumper sticker that lets everyone know you have no apologies for being right!

The ads, at the GoArmy.com website as well as others including Monster.com, cite the need for:

"Internment/Resettlement (I/R) Specialists in the Army are primarily responsible for day-to-day operations

in a military confinement/correctional facility or detention/internment facility. I/R Specialists provide rehabilitative, health, welfare, and security to U.S. military prisoners within a confinement or correctional facility; conduct inspections; prepare written reports; and coordinate activities of prisoners/internees and staff personnel.

The campaign follows by only weeks a report from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warning about "right-wing extremists" who could pose a danger to the country – including those who support third-party political candidates, oppose abortion and would prefer to have the U.S. immigration laws already on the books enforced. ....

Gingrich Criticizes Defense Policies, Says Country Is on 'Edge of Catastrophe'

(Analyst's note: I highly recommend you watch and listen carefully to the remarks below. Since the original posting, I have listened to Gingrich's remarks and believe them to be an absolutely must read - listen piece. See the video by clicking here. )

By Lee Ross

Government leaders are not adequately protecting America and are setting the country on a course toward catastrophe if national security policy is not dramatically changed, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Monday.

In a speech full of dire scenarios and gloomy predictions, the former House speaker argued that no price is too high for the federal government to pay when it comes to shoring up national security.

"We are living at the edge of catastrophe," Gingrich said while laying out the flaws of the current governmental approach to security as well as his own framework for policy change.

Gingrich said the current defense budgetary approach in Washington is designed to meet an arbitrary budget goal and that over the years the government has failed to "translate the imagination (of potential attacks) into public policy."

He said terrorist attacks such as those on Sept. 11 were not inconceivable but were inadequately prepared for by a timid federal bureaucracy.

Gingrich's speech in front of several hundred people at the conservative Heritage Foundation is part of a ongoing program from the think tank called "America at Risk" advocating the government reverse budget cuts in national security programs.

"Our goals are straightforward for the country -- safety, prosperity and freedom," Gingrich said, while observing that lawmakers of both parties often fail in pushing public policies achieving those goals. "I find it very disturbing that (seven years after the Sept. 11 attacks) nobody is demanding a fundamental altering of the war strategy."

The dour speech went through scenarios in which the United States could be attacked by its enemies and how, in anticipation of these attacks, the country should aggressively pursue policies to mitigate the chances of a successful strike.

Gingrich said that if the current policy structure holds for the next 20 years the country will be fundamentally incapable of quickly producing military assets needed to respond to an immediate threat.

Among other programs, Gingrich advocated the creation of a real-time response system at the Pentagon to immediately begin counter-measures to address threats as they become known. He said quick bureaucratic reaction will be necessary in the coming years.

Napolitano pick raised funds for terror supporter

(Analyst's note: Absolutely must read item. What are we thinkings or are we? We simply must begin to hold our government accountable for OUR protection and national security. This action described below simply does not reflect common sense.)

Original source is WorldNetDaily

Napolitano pick raised funds for terror supporter
Group labeled 9/11 attacks on U.S. a legitimate operation

By Aaron Klein

TEL AVIV – An Arab politician recently appointed to a key position by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano helped raise funds for an Islamic group that has labeled a deadly anti-U.S. terrorist attack a legitimate operation, referred to terrorists as "freedom fighters" and equated Muslim jihad with the sentiments of American statesman Patrick Henry, WND has learned.

In April, Napolitano appointed Arif Alikhan, then Los Angeles deputy mayor of homeland security and public safety, to serve as assistant secretary for the Office of Policy Development at the Department of Homeland Security. Napolitano praised Alikhan and another appointee, David Heyman, for their The Greater Los Angeles Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, likewise praised the appointment of Alikhan. "Congratulations to Mr. Alikhan on this well-deserved appointment," said CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush. "Mr. Alikhan's new position reflects his and the community's dedication to helping preserve the security of our country. The American Muslim community can be proud of him."

WND has learned that just 13 days prior to his appointment by Napolitano, Alikhan joined the Muslim Public Affairs Council, or MPAC, for a special fundraiser called "Be the Change" to support what the group calls its innovative leadership development programs. MPAC describes itself as "a public service agency working for the civil rights of American Muslims, for the integration of Islam into American pluralism, and for a positive, constructive relationship between American Muslims and their representatives." The organization has eight chapters in California and one each in Texas, Kansas, Nevada and Iowa.

According to Discover the Networks, MPAC asserts the Hezbollah terrorist organization "could be called a liberation movement" and likens Hezbollah members to American "freedom fighters hundreds of years ago whom the British regarded as terrorists."

Hezbollah distinguishes itself as second only to al-Qaida among terror groups responsible for killing the most Americans. It's responsible for such deadly attacks as the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, which killed 299 servicemen, including 220 U.S. Marines.

Indeed, terrorism expert Steve Emerson notes that in a 1999 position paper, MPAC justified Hezbollah's bombing of the American Marine barracks as a "military operation" rather than a terrorist attack.

The group's senior adviser, Maher Hathout, explained: "Hezbollah is fighting for freedom, an organized army, limiting its operations against military people, this is a legitimate target against occupation. … this is legitimate, this is an American value – freedom and liberty."

According to Discover the Networks, Hathout has close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, which urges the creation of an Islam-dominated world. Hathout also espouses the radical brand of Islam known as Wahhabism, Discover the Networks documents.

In a November 1997 speech at the University of Pennsylvania, MPAC Co-Founder and Executive Director Salam Al-Marayati steadfastly justified his group's refusal to call Hezbollah a terrorist organization. He also hailed the Hamas terrorist group as a political entity and a provider of social programs and "educational operations." Discover the Networks notes Marayati equated jihad with the sentiments of prominent American Revolution figure Patrick Henry, whose "Give me liberty or give me death" declaration was, according to Marayati, "a way of looking at the term jihad from an American perspective."

MPAC also has taken an anti-Israel view, particularly after the start of the Palestinian intifada in September 2000. The intifada, or terrorist war, was initiated by late Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat after he turned down an Israeli offer of a Palestinian state in most of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and eastern sections of Jerusalem.

MPAC co-sponsored pro-Palestinian rallies in the fall of 2000, documents Discover the Networks, where speakers reportedly chanted, "Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews, the Army of Muhammad is coming for you!" The rally reportedly featured literature and placards calling for the annihilation of the Jews and Israel.

MPAC has called Israelis "the worst terrorists in the world," lamenting the Jewish state is not found on the official State Department list of terrorist groups. A few hours after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, MPAC co-founder Marayati told a Los Angeles talk radio audience: "If we're going to look at suspects, we should look at the groups that benefit the most from these kinds of incidents, and I think we should put the state of Israel on the suspect list, because I think this diverts attention from what's happening in the Palestinian territories so that they can go on with their aggression and occupation and apartheid policies."

Janelle Perez, a spokeswoman for Alikhan at Homeland Security, did not return a WND request for comment before publication.

In a telephone interview in April with India-West.com, Alikhan said he spoke to Napolitano briefly before the appointment was made. "She said she was very happy I was coming on board," he said, adding that he was "very impressed" by Napolitano and her accomplishments.

Alikhan was born in Canada and raised in California. His parents are Indian and Pakistani. Before serving as L.A.'s deputy mayor of homeland security and public safety, Alikhan worked for the U.S. Department of Justice as the overseer of a computer-hacking program. He also was the vice chairman and executive director of the Justice Department's Intellectual Property Task Force.

This is not Napolitano's first appointment with ties to terrorism supporters. WND first reported Napolitano swore in to her official advisory council the head of an Arab American organization whose officials have labeled deadly anti-U.S. jihadists as "heroes" and opposed referring to Hamas as a terrorist organization. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, or ADC, also has close ties to anti-Israel professor Rashid Khalidi, whose association with President Obama – first exposed by WND – stirred controversy during last year's presidential campaign.

http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=104597

Savior or Saboteur? Obama in a Realistic Light

(Analyst's note: An absolutely must read and consider -- then think!!!!)

from The Plain Truth

Barack Obama is less of a person than an image -- a brand
Savior or Saboteur? Obama in a Realistic Light

By Joe Crews and Harvey Wysong Wednesday, July 8, 2009

“It is a great pity when the one who should be the head figure is a mere figure head.” -- Charles H. Spurgeon

Barack Obama is less of a person than an image— a brand. People see whatever they want as they do on a Rorschach test. But does anyone really know him?

In fact, he is:
An empty suit.
A man with no birth certificate.
A man who was deserted in childhood by his biological father.
A man whose birth records, both in the United States and Kenya, are sealed by government order.
A man whose childhood mentor, Frank Marshall Davis, spied on U.S. military installations in Hawaii for the Soviet Union, edited a communist newspaper, authored pornographic novels, and wrote poetry in praise of Joseph Stalin.
A man mentored by and still supported by radical Muslims.
A man who promised transparency in government, but has spent over a million dollars in legal fees hiding information that would determine his eligibility to be President.
A former drug user.
A man whose academic records are sealed from kindergarten through law school.
A man who arrived in New York in June of 1981 without enough money to get a hotel room, but one month later flew to Indonesia and Pakistan.
Why did he go?
Who paid his expenses?
A man who traveled to Pakistan when it was illegal for U.S. citizens to do so. So what country’s passport did he use?
A man whose Law School Admission Test scores and grades at Columbia University are known to have been mediocre, but was admitted to Harvard Law School through the intervention of a Saudi named Khalid al-Mansour.
A law review editor who never published an article in any law review.
A lawyer with no significant accomplishments in the law and no reputation in the legal community.
A former State and U.S. Senator, who never authored a piece of legislation.
A disciple of the Marxist Saul Alinsky.
A product of the Chicago political machine—the most corrupt political organization in America.
A man who selects Marxists, corrupt politicians, and criminals as his close political associates and personal friends.
A man whose presidential candidacy was endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, the Socialist International, and the Workers International League.
A man lauded for the literary brilliance of two memoirs, both of which were ghostwritten by others.
A so-called Christian who says that knowing when human life begins is “above his pay-grade,” but somehow knows that abortion is permissible at any stage.
A man who thinks “waterboarding” is immoral, but that partial-birth abortion is moral.
A man who publicly laments slavery in America—which was abolished 150 years ago—but praises Islam, which still practices both slavery and the sexual mutilation of young girls.
A man who speaks endlessly about helping the less fortunate, but gives almost none of his sizeable income to charity—not even to his half-brother, who is living in squalor in Kenya.
A man who had the most left-wing voting record in the United State Senate, but was predicted by the press to “govern from the middle.”
A man who has never created a job, met a payroll, or even operated a lemonade stand, but wants to tell Detroit how to make cars.
A President who has never before served as an executive in either the private or the public sector.
A Commander-in-Chief who doesn’t know how to shoot a rifle, throw a hand-grenade, drive a tank, fly a plane, or con a ship.
A Commander-in-Chief who has publicly divulged some of our nation’s most important intelligence secrets.
A man who has been put in charge of the largest economic engine that ever existed, but has never invested in the stock market and admits total ignorance of it.
A President who says that science will guide his administration, but has no education in the sciences.
A man who is proficient in reading what is written for him on a teleprompter, but jerks and stammers his way through any off-the-cuff speaking.
A man whose health records are sealed from childhood to the present day.
A man whose educational records are sealed from childhood through law school.
A man who spent 20 years in a church whose pastor espouses Marxist Liberation Theology, anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Semitism, but claims he never heard his pastor utter anti-American, and anti-Semitic statements.
A man who added more to the National Debt in 100 days than all other Presidents did in the past 220 years, yet feels qualified to lecture Americans about “fiscal responsibility”.
A man who publicly expressed disdain for the U.S. Constitution on a Chicago radio station because it limited the government’s ability to “redistribute wealth.”
The first American President to bow before a foreign head of state—a Muslim dictator.
A man who sits and listens submissively while his country is castigated by Daniel Ortega—a Communist thug whose own daughter accused him of raping her.
A narcissist who gave the Queen of England a present from the United States --an iPod containing recordings of his own speeches.
A so-called Christian who officially declared “Pride Month” for a lifestyle that the Bible calls an abomination.
A man who wanted Americans to ignore his Muslim name during his election campaign, yet boasts of his Muslim name when he travels to Muslim countries.
A man who can name hundreds of America’s shortcomings, yet none of its great accomplishments.
A President who claims the moral high ground by closing Gitmo yet supports the transfer of terror suspects to countries where horrific torture is certain.
A President who scoffed at being called a socialist yet acted to nationalize the auto industry, the banking industry, and the insurance industry . . . and now seeks to nationalize the healthcare industry.
A President who violates private property rights, the sanctity of contracts, and the rule of law—three essential principles that go back over a thousand years in the Common Law tradition.
A man who promised 95% of all Americans a tax cut, but is increasing taxes on 100% of the population through inflation—the cruelest tax of all.
A lawyer who represented ACORN—an organization now indicted in several states for voter fraud—whose stated goal is to get as many people on welfare as possible in order to destroy our financial system.
A President who cheated GM’s bondholders by giving their property to the UAW in a political payoff.
An American President who frequently criticizes his own country when speaking in foreign countries, but never praises America’s generosity, goodness or greatness.
A President whose Secretary of the Treasury cheated on his taxes—as did several other appointees and advisors.
A President who, despite the current federal debt of 100 trillion dollars, wants to add the greatest debt ever by nationalizing healthcare.
A President who scoffs at being called a socialist, yet has appointed 28 “Czars” to circumvent constitutional government, including:
A “Science Czar” who has advocated compulsory abortions for American women and the “surrender of sovereignty” to a “comprehensive Planetary Regime.”
A self-professed communist as his “Green Jobs Czar”.
A “Pay Czar” to regulate the pay of corporate executives.
A President who swore an oath to “preserve, protect and defend the constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic,” yet has nominated a domestic enemy of the Constitution to the Supreme Court.
A President whose Homeland Security Chief classified pro-lifers, veterans, and supporters of traditional marriage as terrorists.
A President who stood silent while the Iranian government hacked unarmed protestors to death with axes, because it was an internal matter, but freely offers his opinions about the internal affairs of Israel and Honduras.
A President who decreed that true acts of terrorism must now be described as “man-made disasters.”
A President who cracks hurtful jokes about Special Olympians.
A President who refused to intercept or inspect a North Korean ship virtually certain to be carrying Weapons of Mass Destruction toBurma.
A President who wants to cancel all missile defenses while rogue nations are developing long-range ballistic missiles.
An American President who blames the violence in Mexico on America.
A Commander in Chief who claims to have been unaware that Air Force One was taken on a terrifying, low-level photo-op over Manhattan.
A President who berates American CEO’s for flying in private planes at private expense on company business, but whose wife spends hundreds of thousands tax payer dollars flying to Paris for a shopping spree.
A President who promised a transparent administration, but requires all questions be screened before “impromptu” appearances.
A man who freely admitted that his energy policies are designed to bankrupt the American coal industry.
A President who has presided over the loss of 14.7 million jobs and whose “energy policy” will cause the loss of another 1 million jobs.
A President whose “energy policy” will increase the average American’s utility bills by over $2,000 a year in the middle of the Great Recession.
A man about whom liberal journalist Tom Brokaw said, “There’s a lot about him we don’t know.” . . .just one week before the election.

The vast majority of Americans do not know who he is, but someone surely does. Someone paid for his travel expenses to Pakistan and Indonesia. Someone engineered legal challenges to all of his election opponents for the State Senate and had them disqualified. Someone straightened and leveled his path to the U.S. Senate when a Democrat Judge made public the child custody records of his Republican opponent. When he was a candidate for the U.S. Senate, someone arranged for him to speak at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Someone saw to it that all of his records were sealed, both at home and abroad. Someone assembled the massive organization for his run for the Presidency. Someone knows all about him.
Who?

More Details on ObamaCare: The Horrifying Proof is in the Bill – If Only More Lawmakers Would Read It!

(Analyst's note: Absolutely must read. If out representatives are not going to do it, we will. You will want to read the entire article, so please click on the title above.)

Family Security Matters Editor’s note: The following was received via e-mail. Based on the popularity of the last “what’s in the healthcare bill” article we ran, we decided to run this as well, as it contains even more detail as to what’s in the bill that Rep. John Conyers complained he doesn’t have enough time to read before he votes on it. An informed electorate may be all that stands between America as we have known it and a nation that heads down a non-reversible socialist path.

Peter Fleckenstein, a blogger and former Marine from Phoenix, Arizona, is going through the ObamaCare bill page by page and highlighting the provisions he finds there. Here, clearly, Fleckenstein has struck a nerve. His list, originally published as a series of Twitter posts, has gone viral via email. Within days, the liberal fascists published his personal information on Twitter as a means to silence him. Fleckenstein promises legal action.

It’s easy to see why the liberals are tripping over themselves to suppress the information Fleckenstein unearthed. At its best, the information Fleckenstein culled from the bowels of the ObamaCare bill are absurd. When you really understand what the ObamaCare bill is and what Congress and Obama are trying to do with it, however, it turns from absurd to nearly terrifying.

Information has been taken from different sources for formatting purposes but verified back to Fleckenstein’s original work. Fleckenstein’s blog is here: http://blog.flecksoflife.com. ....

Constitutionally Astute US Soldier Demands Apology From US Senator at Missouri Town Hall

(Analyst's note: Absolutely must read - see.)

Obamacare called 'euthanasia bill'

(Analyst's note: This is an absolutely must read item.)

By Bob Unruh

President Obama

The Democrats' proposed national health insurance plan would dictate medications, treatments and mental health services; determine coverages individuals are allowed to have; and operate with real-time access to personal bank accounts, according to a new analysis.

And it's worse, a critic said, than China's mandatory one-child policy.

"In the same way that the bill pushes elderly or the sick toward euthanasia, it is a pill that would cause economic suicide," said Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel. "It's a euthanasia bill for America."

Congress members have admitted they have not read the more-than-1,000-page bill, and Staver's organization is one of the first to go through it and offer an analysis.

In the Liberty Counsel analysis, Staver notes that under Section 163, the government would be allowed to have real-time access to individuals' finances, including direct access to bank accounts for electronic funds transfers.

Under Section 1308, the analysis finds, the government will dictate marriage and family therapy as well as mental health services, including the definitions of those treatments.

Will the elites control life itself? 'The Emerging Brave New World' documents the battle against the sanctity of life ethic

Under Section 1401, a Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research would be set up, creating a bureaucracy through which federal employees could determine whether any treatment is "comparatively effective" for any individual based on the cost, likely success and probably the years left in life.

It also, according to Staver, "covers abortions, transsexual surgeries, encourages counseling as to how many children you should have, whether you should increase the interval between children."

The plan would allow, in Section 1401, for the collection of information about individuals' health records, both "published and unpublished," and recommend policies for public access to data.....

Health Care Reform: A Dangerous Prescription, ACT NOW!!

from a friend

The following was forwarded to all employees of the Travis County, TX, Blood and Tissue Center, by the Medical Director. This is something that everyone should read and take to heart. Share it with all you know.

Many Americans are stunned by what our President and Congress wants to deliver for health care for our country. The lack of physician voices, and reticence to contact our Representatives results in our silence as tacit approval.

Obama and Pelosi recently called doctors “greedy”. This is a new tactic imposed to silence dissenting voices. Health-policy Adviser at the Office of Management and Budget, Dr. Ezikel Emanuel, has claimed that we take the Hippocratic Oath too seriously, “as an imperative to do everything for the patient regardless of the cost or effects on others” (JAMA, June 18, 2008). As our patient’s advocate, we are on higher moral grounds than anyone sitting in Washington. Many of us have given sacrifices and trained for many years to be able to practice our craft. It is time that we speak up for our patients and stop living in a vacuum. We should not underestimate our position in the society and impact of our opinion on all Americans.

Many of us run busy practices, and have family obligations that reduce our opportunity to read this 1000+ page plan. I would like to shed some light on important facts for you to address with your congressional representatives. The August congressional recess will be your last opportunity to be in front of your elected representatives and put them on notice. SO PLEASE ACT NOW BEFORE IT WILL BE TOO LATE.

Patient Care Issues:

1. The Plan exempts our representatives and our President: My first and foremost question to our Congress is, if this plan is so good for all Americans, why has Congress exempted themselves from the public option plan? I wish that every American citizen will ask their elected representatives during their August recess this question. (House plan page 114)

2. The Plan forces seniors who are on social security to meet with counselors every 5 years regarding end of life options, more often if they contract a disease such as cancer. In other words, they will encourage your patients to not20have care. This stifles the incentive of companies to invest in innovations to improve care for these diseases. Is this what American people want? Do you want your parents to die as soon as possible because government thinks that it is better for society? These decisions should be made by the Physician and the patient, not a bureaucrat. (House plan pg 425-430)

The Plan forces all Americans to eventually go under a universal plan. As soon as there is a change in the current insurance contract, for example, a change in co-pay, or a change in jobs, you or your patient will be forced to move into a qualified government plan. Ending any competition in the Medical Insurance business will breed complaisance. No business without competition has ever generated a good product. Innovation and improvement will have no meaning and no reward. (House bill, page 16-17 and page 341)

The Plan has a committee to decide what treatments your patients will receive. Again, my concern is for our patients. Who should decide what treatment your patients receive- a skilled, trained physician that knows them personally or a committee? Enacting one size fits all restrictions, don’t respect variation in preferences or disease, which will make costly products suitable for some even if they are wasteful when prescribed to everyone. (House plan page 29)

3. Half of the plan will be financed by limiting care for our poor seniors. This is achieved by cutting $177 billion dollars from the current Medicare Advantage plan. That means less care for poor seniors. (House plan page 331)

Physician Issues:

1. On Page 909, the House bill states: "In awarding grants or contracts under this section, the (HHS) secretary shall give preference to entities that have a demonstrated record of the following: . . . training individuals who are from underrepresented minority groups or disadvantaged backgrounds." In other words, the entry into the medical school will now not only be decided by merits but by race, color, sex etc. We will be forced to train candidates who have not been chosen based on their ability, but by meeting a pre-determined quota. Is this who we want taking care of our future generations?

2. The Government will now decide how much Physicians are reimbursed. (Page 127)

3. Doctors will now be compensated exactly the same. They are planning to reduce compensation from specialists reimbursement to entice more Doctors into the primary care field. (Page 241)

4. This bill covers all people in the United States, legal or not. As a Legal Immigrant who is now proudly an American citizen, I take huge exception with this, especially since we will have to limit care at the expense of our elderly citizens. (Page 50) Further, non-resident aliens will be exempt from taxation. (Page 170)

5. The government, not us, will decide what is appropriate for end of life care. (Page 429-430)

What are changes that would impact the cost of medicine and improve care?

1. Allowing insurers to sell across state lines would increase competition, and therefore reduce the cost of health insurance plans.

2. Cap malpractice awards. The Department of Health and Human Services has said that reasonable limit placed on noneconomic damages in malpractice cases would save an estimated $60-108 billion a year.

3. Placing a cap on malpractice will reduce defensive medicine. Physicians spent $6.3 billion last year on malpractice coverage. If reasonable limits were set on noneconomic damages to reduce defensive medicine, it would reduce the amount of taxpayers’ money to the federal government by $25.3 billion a year”. Department of Health and Human Services, 2002 report “Confronting the New Health Care Crisis”.

4. Placing a cap will also lower the cost of health care services. PricewaterhouseCoopers has estimated that 10% of the cost of health services is attributable to medical malpractice lawsuits.

Finally, I want to point out some other facts that you should be aware of.

Let us look at the statistics of the “uninsured”:

· 46 million Americans are uninsured (according to Income Poverty and Health Insurance coverage in the United States, a census bureau report published last August).

· 9.7 million are not American citizens. 39% of the uninsured live in 5 states- Florida, Texas, California, New Mexico, Arizona, all of which are entry points for illegal aliens.

· 20 million working Americans change jobs every year. Many of them are briefly uninsured between jobs.

· 14 million are eligible for existing government programs, but have not enrolled, such as Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, Veterans Benefits, etc.

· 10 million are in households with annual income that exceeds $50,000- they are voluntarily uninsured.

· 7 million are in households with annual income that exceeds $75,000-they are voluntarily uninsured.

I ask you, is punishing the many of Americans who take care of themselves to reward a few at worth the absurdly high cost, when it fails to address the fundamental issues that will still prevail? So, ACT NOW. I know you are busy, but if you do not ACT NOW you will lose this great profession once and for all. Please call, meet and attend town hall meetings of your elected representat ives.

Warmest regards,

Raj Dave, MD, FACC, FSCAI

Homeland Security Today’s Special Coverage: “Savage Struggle on the Border”

PREMEDITATED MERGER Obama warned at summit: No North American Union Legislator blasts lack of transparency, 'erosion of our national sovereignty'

By Drew Zahn

Howard Phillips

With President Obama expected tomorrow for the North American Leaders' Summit in Guadalajara, Mexico, a coalition of American legislators and activists took a message to the Mexican media, denouncing economic partnerships that would undermine national sovereignty and blasting Obama's failure to keep his promises on transparency and the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Howard Phillips, chairman of The Conservative Caucus and head of the Coalition to Block the North American Union, spoke to Mexican print, television and radio media about the summit, which was known in previous years as the North American Security and Prosperity Partnership, or SPP.

"They're talking more and more about economic integration, which is also what preceded the creation of the European Union, incrementally," Phllips told WND. "We made the point that one of the real issues is accountability. Already there are more than 20 SPP working groups and more and more decisions are being turned over to unelected bureaucrats, without any review by the legislatures of Mexico, Canada or the U.S."

Phillips also released statements from current U.S. Rep. Walter Jones Jr., R-N.C., and former congressmen Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., and Virgil H. Goode Jr, R-Va., warning Obama that this meeting of the American, Mexican and Canadian heads of state is no time to renew talks of a North American Union.

"My eastern North Carolina constituents are troubled by our exploding trade deficit, our weakly defended borders and the erosion of our national sovereignty," Rep. Jones said in a statement prepared for the press conference. "As a result, many of them have expressed their concerns about our nation's leadership role in the SPP."

"Many SPP working group meetings are held in secret, and the public, the press and members of Congress have no opportunity to participate or conduct oversight," Jones said. "The SPP also appears to cast aside America's sovereignty and takes another step towards combining the United States, Mexico and Canada into a single EU-style North American super state."

He concluded, "While the American people and Congress understand the importance of promoting good relations with our neighbors, these concerns will only intensify if pursuit of the SPP continues out of public view and without congressional oversight or approval."....