Scrap the Health Care Bill and Start Over

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz, called on President Obama and Democrats in Congress to "scrap the current [healthcare] bill and start over."

McCain pointed to a nonpartisan cost estimate of $1 trillion over ten years for the major portion of healthcare reform suggested in a bill floated by Sen. Edward Kennedy's Health Committee and said the cost was too high for American taxpayers, especially since the nonpartisan review foresaw 23 million would lose their current insurance plans under the proposal.

"How we going to pay for that, Mr. President.," asked McCain on the senate floor. "How are we going to pay for that?"

The cost estimate for the Kennedy committee bill was prepared by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which is also preparing a separate cost estimate for a different healthcare reform proposal being prepared by the Senate Finance Committee.

"The CBO letter should be a wakeup call for all of us to scrap the current bill and start over," said McCain. "Start over in a true bipartisan fashion," said McCain, although his idea for healthcare reform would not find much support among Democrats.

McCain also addressed Jake Tapper's report that stiff cost estimate – which McCain thinks is low-ball – has the White House distancing itself from Kennedy's health committee plan.

"Well where is the administration's bill?" asked a frustrated McCain. "We're supposed to be enacting legislation before the end of July. Where is the administration's bill?" - ABC News Story

Little is being made in the media over the CBO projection on this Health Care Bill. Why not?

They have said that it will cost over $1 Trillion to get it up and running. Where is all of that money going to come from? Don't believe the BS we are hearing from Obama when he says he found it in savings elsewhere. That is FUZZY MATH.

They also said that some 23 million currently insured would lose their coverage due to this bill. OOOPS! The law of unintended consequences.

Why isn't all of this front page news? Obama isn't telling you. Why not?

Obama Talks Tough on North Korea - Little Action

WASHINGTON -- President Obama said Tuesday that a nuclear-armed North Korea poses a "grave threat" to the world, and he vowed to end a cycle of allowing Pyongyang to create crises and then be rewarded with incentives to back down.

"This is a pattern they've come to expect," Obama said. "We are going to break that pattern."

Standing alongside South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in the White House Rose Garden, Obama said they agreed that a new U.N. resolution seeking to halt North Korea's development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles must be fully enforced. The U.N. did not authorize military force to enforce the measures.

Lee said he and Obama agreed that "under no circumstance are we going to allow North Korea to possess nuclear weapons." The communist government already has tested two underground nuclear devices and is believed by U.S. intelligence to possess enough material to make several nuclear bombs.

On Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Pentagon officials told a Senate committee that North Korea's missiles could hit the United States in as few as three years if the North continues progress on its weapons system. - FOX News Story

Talk is cheap. This President has done an awful lot of talking to Countries like North Korea and Iran, however his actions have not met the expectations of his talk.

He has left it up to the UN to take action and their action has been little more than a slap on the wrist.

Back it up and show them that you are serious, if not, we are in a world of hurt.

Obama White House Hides Visitors - Not Transparent Government

In a move that puts a cloud over transparency, White House officials are blocking access to the lists of the names of visitors to the White House.

The practice, carried over from the Bush administration, argues the public does not need to know who comes calling at the Executive Mansion, even for policy purposes.

"We are deeply disappointed," said Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington spokeswoman Anne Weismann, whose group is suing to get the records.

"The president, who has committed his administration to transparency and accountability, now takes the position of the Bush administration that the public is not entitled to know who visits the White House. These are not the actions of a pro-transparency administration," she said.

CREW requested the records through the Freedom of Information Act. The U.S. Secret Service denied the request, citing the presidential communications privilege.

CREW was requesting a list with logs of executives from coal companies. MSNBC was also denied a FOIA request asking for a list of every visitor to the White House since Inauguration Day, Jan. 20.

CREW received a letter from the Secret Service saying it was unable to provide the records due to pending litigation in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that CREW already filed.

The letter goes on to say, "It is the government's position that the vast majority, if not all, of the records that would have to be searched to determine whether any records responsive to your request exist are not agency records subject to FOIA." - FOX News Story

McCain Wants Obama to React on Iran

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Monday called the recent reelection of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a “sham” and criticized President Barack Obama’s administration for not voicing strong opposition to the election’s result.

“The reaction of the Iranian people shows their discontent with this regime,” McCain said during an interview on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”

“It’s really a sham that they've pulled off and I hope that we will act,” he said.

Iranian citizens continued to protest the election results Monday, which showed Ahmadinejad winning by a nearly 2-1 ratio. Ahmadinejad’s chief opponent, Mir Hossein Mousavi, has claimed that the Iranian president’s win was the result of election fraud.

On Saturday, the White House released a short statement on the election from press secretary Robert Gibbs, but Obama himself has yet to speak about the election. - Politico Story

Obama Weak on North Korea

Most Americans -- including majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents -- say President Obama has not been tough enough on North Korea and Iran.

A FOX News poll released Monday finds more than two-thirds of Americans say Obama has not been tough enough on North Korea (69 percent), while some 15 percent think his actions have been "about right" and 3 percent think he has been too tough.

Sizable majorities of Democrats (65 percent), Republicans (78 percent) and independents (61 percent) agree Obama should be tougher on North Korea. Among those voters who backed Obama in the 2008 presidential election, 59 percent say he has not been tough enough. - FOX News Story

Letterman Apoligizes to Palin Family

David Letterman took his biggest step to put the furor surrounding his jokes about Sarah Palin's daughters behind him during the taping of his show Monday.

In remarks set to air Monday night obtained by FOXNews.com from a 'Late Show' rep, Letterman directly apologized to the Palin family for the coarse jokes he made last Monday.

"I would like to apologize, especially to the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow, and also to the governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke. I’m sorry about it and I’ll try to do better in the future," Letterman told the studio audience. - FOX News Story

Protests in Iran over Election turn Deadly

Pro-government militia members fired on Iranian protesters during a massive demonstration over the country's hotly-disputed election, killing at least one person and wounding several others.

An Associated Press photographer saw one person shot dead and several others who appeared seriously wounded in Tehran's Azadi, or freedom, Square. The shooting came from a compound for volunteer militia linked to Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard.

Residents reported hearing gunfire in three districts of northern Tehran, Reuters reported.

Tens of thousands of Iranians took to the streets of Tehran Monday, defying a country-wide crackdown with protests against the of last week's presidential election, which declared Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner. - FOX News Story

Without Health Care Reform America may go Broke

(CNN) -- President Obama said Monday that limits on medical malpractice lawsuits could be a necessary part of overhauling the nation's ailing health care system.

The AMA agrees with Obama on the need for health care reform but not how to go about it.

In a speech to the 158th annual meeting of the American Medical Association, Obama cited the need for doctors to cut health care costs by reducing the number of unnecessary tests and procedures that are performed to reduce the risk of malpractice claims. Such reductions might require restrictions on malpractice liability to protect doctors, the president said.

"I'm not advocating caps on malpractice awards, which I personally believe can be unfair to people who've been wrongfully harmed, but I do think we need to explore a range of ideas about how to put patient safety first, how to let doctors focus on practicing medicine, how to encourage broader use of evidence-based guidelines," he said.

Obama also told the AMA that rising health care costs could force the United States to follow in the footsteps of a bankrupt automaker.

"If we do not fix our health care system, America may go the way of GM -- paying more, getting less and going broke," he said. - CNN Story

America may go broke? Well, I finally agree with the President. Mark that down. I most definitely will be revisiting this agreement repeatedly. If we keep going the way we are America will go broke.

The only problem with the statement that he made was, it has little to do with Health Care. Obama says that this plan will cost some $1 Trillion Dollars. He also says that he has found the savings to pay for it.

What about the $1 Trillion PLUS that he has spent in the first 100 days? What about the $3 Trillion plus massive spending budget? We are going BROKE, but not do to Health Care, it is due to OBAMA and the Democrats in Congress.

Does Cheney Want a Terrorist Attack?

CIA Director Leon Panetta says former Vice President Dick Cheney's criticism of the Obama administration's approach to terrorism almost suggests "he's wishing that this country would be attacked again, in order to make his point."

Panetta told The New Yorker for an article in its June 22 issue that Cheney "smells some blood in the water" on the issue of national security.

Cheney has said in several interviews that he thinks Obama is making the U.S. less safe. He has been critical of Obama for ordering the closure of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, halting enhanced interrogations of suspected terrorists and reversing other Bush administration initiatives he says helped to prevent attacks on the U.S. - ABC News Story

I think that this is ridiculous to think that the man who faught for eight years to keep this Country safe would want an attack against it.

The only thing going on right now is Obama wanted to bully around the former Bush Administration and he didn't count on Cheney coming right back at him. Obama spent the majority of his time blaming them for everything and telling everyone how much better he was than them, now Cheney is calling him out and his supporters don't like.

Well, Mr. Obama, you and your team will just have to sit in the big uncomfortable seat where every move you make is questioned, analyzed and second guessed forever. and Yes, if there is another attack and it happens on your watch, then you will have been wrong.

Obama's Help for Families facing Foreclosure is Failing

(CBS) California today imposed a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures. The state has the nation's second-highest foreclosure rate.

The development is good news for those running into a stone wall at the bank despite the Obama administration's plan to help homeowners rewrite their mortgages. CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker heard one family's story.

The De La Torre family had their American dream within their grasp: a house of their own and bright, beautiful children.

But when mom Angelica lost her housekeeping job and dad Angel's hours at a granite company were cut, the family could no longer afford their mortgage at 6.5 percent interest.

The family realized it was facing foreclosure - its dream slipping away.

"My dad always comes back stressed out. He's trying to do a lot of things right now so we can stay with the house," Angel De La Torre, Jr. said.

Losing their house to changing financial circumstances, the De La Torres are exactly the sort of Americans that President Barack Obama promised to help with his "Making Home Affordable" program.

But when Angel asked his bank to modify his loan, they told him he had to default on the loan to qualify. Not true. The program is made for homeowners like the De La Torres whose payments exceed 31 percent of their monthly income. The De La Torres' payments were already 54 percent of income. - CBS News Story

I don't necessarily agree with the program at all. If you can't afford the house you are in then you should find something that you can afford, not get a free ride to buy things you can not afford.

That being said, can you imagine if this was a Republican plan not working? The Democrats would be out screaming that the Republicans are only looking out for the rich. Well, is Obama only looking out for the rich?