Where’s the Outrage?

Senator Barack Obama has taken some heat from the left over the last two to three weeks. Well, on Thursday of last week, Obama seemed to leave the door open to changing his Iraq policy. The media went crazy over the weekend. It is was flip-flop-a-thon. “There appears to be no issue that Barack Obama is not willing to reverse himself on for the sake of political expedience,” said Alex Conant, a Republican National Committee spokesman.

From Reuters:

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama waded into controversy on Thursday over his plans to withdraw U.S. combat troops from Iraq, first saying he might “refine” his views but later declaring his stance had remained unchanged for more than a year.

Obama was forced to call reporters back for a second news conference in Fargo, North Dakota, after he initially left open the possibility of revising his 16-month timetable for pulling U.S. combat forces from Iraq.

“Let me be as clear as I can be. I intend to end this war. My first day in office I will bring the joint chiefs of staff in and I will give them a new mission and that is to end this war,” Obama told reporters in his second news conference.

But he added: “I would be a poor commander in chief if I didn’t take facts on the ground into account.” (more… )

Tags: Election 2008, Hardball, Iraq by ecthompson
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Now, before everyone gets all teary eyed, I can think of no other profession that has had 20 years of salary cuts. My father made more money in 1979 as a family practitioner than the average family doctor makes today. This whole system is crazy. Ever wonder why M.D.’s are hurried and upset?

I support the AMA on this issue. I have called my Senators. We’ll see if it will do any good.

The honest truth is that our government has tried to balance the national budget on the backs of physicians for over 20 years. Since physicians are not unified and they don’t have an effective lobby, lawmakers have found it easy to crank back on payments and reimbursement for years.

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From New York Times:

Congress returns to work this week with Medicare high on the agenda and Senate Republicans under pressure after a barrage of radio and television advertisements blamed them for a 10.6 percent cut in payments to doctors who care for millions of older Americans.

The advertisements, by the American Medical Association, urge Senate Republicans to reverse themselves and help pass legislation to fend off the cut.

How to pay doctors through the federal health insurance program is an issue that lawmakers are forced to confront every year because of what is widely agreed to be an outdated reimbursement formula. But the dispute, which showcases the continued potency of health care issues, has reached a new level of urgency this year. Some doctors are reassessing their participation in the program and powerful interests on all sides are in a lobbying frenzy. (more… )

Tags: Economy, Healthcare by ecthompson
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I’m not a conspiracy guy and I don’t see negativity everywhere, but the video of the World Trade Center’s Building 7 collapse is odd. It looks like an implosion. I’m very interested to hear the explanation. It may go something like this: Are you going to believe me or your lying eyes?

From Raw Story:

A new report by BBC 2’s “Conspiracy Files” claims that the US National Institute of Standards and Technology is preparing to release a long awaited report on the collapse of World Trade Center 7, which fell on Sept. 11, 2001, about seven hours after WTC 1 and 2 were downed.

The NIST investigators are widely expected to stake the claim that fires were responsible for causing the structure’s simultaneous column failure, bringing building 7 down at near free fall speed onto its footprint. Should the claims hold true, WTC 7 would be the first steel frame skyscraper to ever collapse due to fire damage. (more… )

Tags: 9-11 by ecthompson
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With Venus Williams’ victory at Wimbledon, she now has to be talked about as one of the greatest Wimbledon players of all-time. Venus and Serena have dominated American tennis for over a decade now. It is time for them to get their due.

Tags: Sports by ecthompson
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