Obama Blasts Insurance Industry’s ‘Phony Studies’
In this weekend’s YouTube address, President Obama denounced the insurance industry for producing its own commissioned studies against health care reform:
“It’s smoke and mirrors. It’s bogus. And it’s all too familiar. Every time we get close to passing reform, the insurance companies produce these phony studies as a prescription and say, ‘Take one of these, and call us in a decade.’ Well, not this time,” said Obama. “The fact is, the insurance industry is making this last-ditch effort to stop reform even as costs continue to rise and our health care dollars continue to be poured into their profits, bonuses, and administrative costs that do nothing to make us healthy – that often actually go toward figuring out how to avoid covering people.”
GOP Address: American Public ‘Isn’t Buying’ Dem Policies
In this weekend’s Republican address, Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) attacked the Democrats on the issues of jobs, health care and the budget:
“There are three big myths hurtling around Washington these days: no jobs equals an economic recovery, government-run health care will make it more affordable, and deficits don’t matter,” said Brady. “The American public – to their credit – isn’t buying any of these.”
No Obama or Biden Events This Weekend
President Obama is spending the weekend in Washington, while Vice President Biden is in Delaware. They do not have any public events scheduled.
Budget Deficit Hits Record $1.4 Trillion
The federal budget deficit for the just-completed fiscal 2009 officially reached a record $1.4 trillion, equal to 10 percent of America’s GDP. The economic stimulus and financial bailouts accounted for a large portion of the deficit, with outlays from the Treasury exceeding even the spending by the Department of Defense.
WaPo: Administration To Roll Out New Sudan Policy
The Washington Post reports that the Obama administration is set to roll out a new Sudan policy: “The new U.S. policy, which will be formally unveiled Monday, calls for a campaign of ‘pressure and incentives’ to cajole the government in Khartoum into pursuing peace in the troubled Darfur region, settling disputes with the autonomous government in southern Sudan and providing the United States greater cooperation in stemming international terrorism, according to administration officials briefed on the plan. It also provides Khartoum with a path to improved relations with the United States if it begins to address long-standing U.S. concerns.”
NYT Looks At Blumenauer And the ‘Frustrated Left’
The New York Times profiles Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), a progressive Democrat who has had to deal with some level of frustration at the slowness of political change under the Obama administration. “The combination of the economic shock and frankly the political upset and outrage has changed the landscape,” said Blumenauer. “The Barack Obama that I campaigned with is pretty much the same guy. But it is an environment that is unprecedented and would press anyone’s skills.”
Obama To Raise Money For Dems This Week
President Obama will be raising money for Democrats this coming week. On Tuesday, he will raise money in New York for the Democratic National Committee, as well as for NY-23 special election candidate Bill Owens. On Friday, he will be attending an event in Boston for Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, and another event in Stamford, CT, for Sen. Chris Dodd.
Obama ‘Hope’ Poster Creator: I Used AP Photo, Submitted False Evidence In Litigation
Shepard Fairey, the creator of the iconic Obama “Hope” poster, has admitted that he used a particular Associated Press photo as his source, and not another AP photo that he’d claimed in a countersuit against the AP’s copyright litigation. “In an attempt to conceal my mistake, I submitted false images and deleted other images,” said Fairey. “I sincerely apologize for my lapse in judgment, and I take full responsibility for my actions, which were mine alone.”
