The US government had been increasing the pressure by the day. On Tuesday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai gave in and announced he would submit to a run-off election against challenger Abdullah Abdullah. Renewed election fraud could mean a loss of face for the US -- and compromise the West as guarantors of democracy. The waiting for the official election results in Afghanistan has come to an end. On Tuesday, the Election Commission in Afghanistan decided against President Hamid Karzai -- thus joining the United Nations-supported Electoral Complaints Commission, which had found that around one-third of the votes cast in the country's August presidential elections were invalid. Karzai will now face a run-off election against his challenger Abdullah Abdullah on Nov. 7. Karzai conceded defeat and said that he accepted the decision of the Election Commission, reversing weeks of refusal to submit to a run-off despite numerous indications of election fraud. The initial results had Karzai winning an absolute majority of 54 percent against 28 percent for Abdullah, who spent years as Afghanistan's foreign minister. Now, though, it has become clear that Karzai's share of the vote was below 50 percent.
The waiting for the official election results in Afghanistan has come to an end. On Tuesday, the Election Commission in Afghanistan decided against President Hamid Karzai -- thus joining the United Nations-supported Electoral Complaints Commission, which had found that around one-third of the votes cast in the country's August presidential elections were invalid. Karzai will now face a run-off election against his challenger Abdullah Abdullah on Nov. 7.
Karzai conceded defeat and said that he accepted the decision of the Election Commission, reversing weeks of refusal to submit to a run-off despite numerous indications of election fraud. The initial results had Karzai winning an absolute majority of 54 percent against 28 percent for Abdullah, who spent years as Afghanistan's foreign minister. Now, though, it has become clear that Karzai's share of the vote was below 50 percent.
Very not winning hearts and minds ? Can we have an adult in charge of this please ? I'm sick of this childishness. keep to the Fen Causeway
At least six people were killed and 12 wounded in two bomb blasts at the International Islamic university in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad on Tuesday. The near-simultaneous bomb blasts went off in both the male and female campuses. Eyewitnesses say that there was a lot of smoke and noise as paramedics rushed to the scene to take care of the wounded.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday called on Palestinian President to renew peace negotiations with Israel and bring an end to the years of conflict. In his address to the gala opening of the Presidential Conference, Netanyahu urged the Palestinian leader to tell his people: "The time has come to end this conflict; tell them that the time has come for two nations to live side-by-side in peace and security." "I believe that peace with the Palestinians is possible, but that requires brave leadership on both sides," he said. "I ask of you," Netanyahu added, directing his remarks at the Palestinian leader, "something I have not even asked of myself. We must discuss peace as soon as possible, and I am ready to do so. But these cannot be closed talks. We must say these things to the world, to our people and to the Palestinian people."
In his address to the gala opening of the Presidential Conference, Netanyahu urged the Palestinian leader to tell his people: "The time has come to end this conflict; tell them that the time has come for two nations to live side-by-side in peace and security."
"I believe that peace with the Palestinians is possible, but that requires brave leadership on both sides," he said. "I ask of you," Netanyahu added, directing his remarks at the Palestinian leader, "something I have not even asked of myself. We must discuss peace as soon as possible, and I am ready to do so. But these cannot be closed talks. We must say these things to the world, to our people and to the Palestinian people."
Last January, as I understand it, the White House promised Big Pharma, big insurance, and the American Medical Association the moral equivalent of what Joel Halderman allegedly demanded of David Letterman: hush money. The groups agreed to stay silent or even be supportive of healthcare reform, as long as they were paid off. But now that it's time to collect, the bill is larger than the White House expected, and it's going to fall like an avalanche on middle class Americans in coming years. That could mean an ugly 2012 election (read Sarah Palin). So the President has to do what Letterman did: Refuse to pay.
But now that it's time to collect, the bill is larger than the White House expected, and it's going to fall like an avalanche on middle class Americans in coming years. That could mean an ugly 2012 election (read Sarah Palin).
So the President has to do what Letterman did: Refuse to pay.
Reich then describes how Obama promised Big Pharma to "bar on genetic drug manufacturers introducing similar biologic drugs until the originals have been on the market at least twelve years, and no public insurance option to negotiate low drug prices." Obama promised the Insurance Companies "25 to 30 million more paying customers (many of them young and healthy), a requirement that almost all businesses "pay or play," and no competition from a public option." And Obama promised the AMA "a permanent fix that would change the reimbursement formula altogether and reward them $240 billion over the next ten years."
But when they all get paid off, who will do the paying? Middle-class Americans who are already in a financial squeeze -- whose wages are lower, adjusted for inflation, than they were thirty years ago, and whose jobs are disappearing. They'll face still higher premiums, co-payments, and deductibles; and they'll pay higher drug prices, Medicare premiums, and taxes to cover the rest. .... The three big means of containing costs: (1) A true public option (better yet, one that allows anyone now holding private insurance to opt into; (2) authority for Medicare to negotiate low drug prices; and (3) lower Medicare reimbursement rates to doctors (in other words, no "doctor fix"). In addition, the so-called "medical exchanges" in the emerging bills (as well as the public option, which hopefully will be included) should give preference to pre-paid heathcare plans, like Kaiser Permanente, whose doctors are on salary and have every incentive to keep people healthy rather than charge for more services and tests.
....
The three big means of containing costs: (1) A true public option (better yet, one that allows anyone now holding private insurance to opt into; (2) authority for Medicare to negotiate low drug prices; and (3) lower Medicare reimbursement rates to doctors (in other words, no "doctor fix").
In addition, the so-called "medical exchanges" in the emerging bills (as well as the public option, which hopefully will be included) should give preference to pre-paid heathcare plans, like Kaiser Permanente, whose doctors are on salary and have every incentive to keep people healthy rather than charge for more services and tests.
So, will Congress honor Obama's promises and drink from the poisoned chalice, or will they take a tip from Jesse Unruh and take the money from the insurance and drug companies and from the AMA and then vote in the things they oppose. It would be interesting to see Obama's reaction if Congress passed a really good bill that ignored all of his venal promises. Would he veto the bill? Don't hold your breath. As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
