April D. Ryan

Karl Rove heckled, called ‘war criminal’ at book event

 
Former White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove was heckled and branded a ‘war criminal’ at a book signing in Beverly Hills, California, Monday night. 

 
Rove, who served as senior advisor and deputy chief of staff to former President George W. Bush, was at the Saban Theater to discuss his new book, “Courage and Consequences: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight,” to an audience of about 100 people who paid up to $40 to hear him.

 
But the audience members were unable to get their copies of the book signed after Rove was shouted down and forced to leave the stage, reported CNN affiliate KCAL-TV.

The event was heated from the onset as several anti-war protesters interrupted Rove’s talk to accuse him and his administration of lying to Americans about the threat Iraq posed to the United States - and thus, taking the country into war. 

Rove called one heckler a “lunatic.” He told another to “get the heck out here.” 

At one point, Jodie Evans, the co-founder of the anti-war group Code Pink, rushed toward Rove waving a pair of handcuffs - saying she was there to make a citizen’s arrest. 

“Look what you did … you lied to take us to war. You ruined a country. You totally ruined a country,” she shouted.

 
As organizers tried to keep Evans at bay, another woman stood up and yelled, “The only comfort I take is that you’re going to rot in hell.” 

Rove, who defended his administration’s stance on several controversial issues in heated exchanges with other critics, said the interruptions reflected the “totalitarianism of the left.” 

There was another incident against Karl in California.

Dr. Dorothy Height is in intensive care in a Washington, D.C. hospital on her 98th Birthday.   Former Clinton Labor Secretary Alexis Herman says her ”Birthday celebration will go on because Dr. Height wanted it.”  The event has shifted from a party to a birthday filled with prayers for her speedy recovery.

Dr. Height is the last female activist icon of the Civil Rights era.    She is an institution who has been meeting with Presidents, Democratic and Republican, since President Roosevelt to President Obama.   She was last at the White House in early March for a Women’s History Month event.   During the occassion, First Lady Michelle Obama called her “friend”.

Dr. Height has mentored women from all races.  Many have said Dr. Height, the President Emerita of the National Council fo Negro Women, has been a mentor to many to include Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Those who know Dr. Height and her accomplishments contend she is a tireless worker for issues of education, jobs and healthcare.  They say her voice is especially strong for African American women and the black family. 

Dr. Height’s reach has stretched around the globe to include a Micro Lending program in Africa.  She is the founder of the Black Family reunion, and she is also known for garnering the respect of those in Washington at a time when blacks and women did not have a prominent place at the table with the policy makers.

Some words used to describe her have been that of intregrity and honor.  A high ranking Democrat who wishes not to be identified says she is a “low key woman with a High Profile.”    All of her accomplishments while wearing her signature hats.

House Majority Whip James Clyburn was not present during the incident outside of Capitol Hill Saturday, but was made aware of Republican protesters, against Health Care Reform, calling Congressman John Lewis a “Nigger”,  calling openly gay Congressman Barney Frank a “Faggot” and spitting on  Congressman Emanuel Cleaver.   The person who assaulted Congressman Cleaver was arrested and released after Cleaver did not want to press charges.

Clyburn contends it did not end outside the Capitol Building, “Congressman Frank had an exchange with another Republican Congressman as a result of what was said to him. It was very ugly.”

Clyburn believes the protesters Saturday are being funded with transportation and lodging,” some legitimate organizations are funding this kind of activity and they should be called to account for it.”

The South Carolina Congressman says he respects freedom of speech, however; believes the racial epithets spewed Saturday are a heart issue congress can not legislate against.

Georgia Congressman John Lewis issued a statement on the incident describing his weekend encounter as something “reminiscent of what he experienced 45 years ago as a young man marching for freedom for all Americans.”‪‪

Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Barbara Lee says, “For a protester to spit on a public official and hurl hateful epithets is wrong, it speaks to a deeper motivation that has nothing to do with the issues at hand. No one should fan the flames of hatred nor tolerate this despicable behavior which draws from one of the ugliest periods of American history.‪”

Congresswoman Lee believes there is a next step, “Our nation needs and deserves a national dialogue on race.”

New York Times

For Consumers, Clarity on Health Care Changes
By TARA SIEGEL BERNARD
American consumers, who spent a year watching Congress scratch and claw over sweeping health care legislation, can now try to figure out what the overhaul would mean for them. 

The uninsured are clearly the biggest beneficiaries of the legislation, which would extend the health care safety net for the lowest-income Americans.

The legislation is meant to provide coverage for as many as 32 million people who have been shut out of the market - whether because insurers deem them too sick or because they cannot afford ever-rising insurance premiums.

For people already covered by a large employer - most Americans, in other words - the effect would not be as significant. And yet, just about everyone might benefit from tighter insurance regulations.

“We think it’s a big step forward,” said Bill Vaughan, a policy analyst at Consumers Union. “It’s going to provide a peace of mind that many Americans who really want or need health insurance will always be able to get a quality product at a reasonable price regardless of their health or financial situation.”

 
There would be costs to consumers, too. Affluent families would be required to pay additional taxes. Most Americans would be required to have health insurance and face federal penalties if they do not buy it. And it is still unclear what effect, if any, the legislation would have on rising out-of-pocket medical costs and premiums.

But there is no question that the legislation should benefit consumers in various ways. Beginning in 2014, for example, many employers - those with 50 or more workers - could face federal fines for not providing insurance coverage. Several of the other changes would take effect much sooner.

Six months after the legislation is enacted, many plans would be prohibited from placing lifetime limits on medical coverage, and they could not cancel the policies of people who fall ill. Children with pre-existing conditions could not be denied coverage.

And dependent children up to age 26 would be eligible for coverage under their parents’ plans - instead of the current state-by-state rules that often cut off coverage for children at 18 or 19.

And within three months of the law’s taking effect, people who have been locked out of the insurance market because of a pre-existing condition would be eligible for subsidized coverage through a new high-risk insurance program.

That special coverage would continue until the legislation’s engine kicks into a higher gear in 2014, when coverage would be extended to a wider part of the population through Medicaid and new state-run insurance exchanges.

Those exchanges, or marketplaces, are meant to provide much more competitive, consumer-friendly online shopping centers of private insurance for people who are not able to obtain coverage through an employer.

In 2014, people with pre-existing conditions could no longer be denied insurance, all lifetime and annual limits on coverage would be eliminated and new policies would be required to meet higher benefit standards.

Even sooner, in 2013, affluent families with annual income above $250,000 would be required to pay an additional 3.8 percent tax on their investment income, while contributing more to the Medicare program from their payroll taxes. And eventually, the most expensive insurance policies would be subject to a new tax.

Here is a look at some of the main ways the health care overhaul might affect household budgets.

The Uninsured

Although most Americans who do not obtain health insurance would face a federal penalty starting in 2014, many experts question how strict the enforcement of that penalty would actually be.

The first year, consumers who did not have insurance would owe $95, or 1 percent of income, whichever is greater. But the penalty would subsequently rise, reaching $695, or 2 percent of income.

Families who fall below the income-tax filing thresholds would not owe anything. Nor would people who cannot find a policy that costs less than 8 percent of their income, said Sara R. Collins, a vice president at the Commonwealth Fund, an independent nonprofit research group.

EXPANDED MEDICAID More lower-income individuals under the age of 65 would be covered by Medicaid, the federal health insurance plan for the poor. Under the new rules, households with income up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $29,327 for a family of four, would be eligible.

EXCHANGES AND SUBSIDIES Most other uninsured people would be required to buy insurance through one of the new state-run insurance exchanges. People with incomes of more than 133 percent of the poverty level but less than 400 percent (that’s $29,327 to $88,200 for a family of four) would be eligible for premium subsidies through the exchanges.

Premiums would also be capped at a percentage of income, ranging from 3 percent of income to as much as 9.5 percent.

EMPLOYMENT FLEXIBILITY The exchanges would also help people who lose their jobs, quit or decide to start their own businesses.

“If you lose your employer-related insurance, you will be able to move seamlessly into the exchange,” said Timothy Stoltzfus Jost, a professor at the Washington and Lee University School of Law.

Moreover, people of any age who cannot find a plan that costs less than 8 percent of their income would be allowed to buy a catastrophic policy otherwise intended for people under age 30.

Those With Insurance

EMPLOYER COVERAGE People who receive coverage through large employers would be unlikely to see any drastic changes, nor should premiums or coverage be affected. But almost everyone would benefit from new regulations, like the ban on pre-existing conditions that would apply to all policies come 2014.

There might even be cases where people would be eligible to buy insurance through an exchange instead of through their employer, Professor Jost said: those who must pay more than 9.5 percent of their income for premiums, or those whose plans do not cover more than 60 percent of the cost their benefits.

CHANGES IN MEDICARE One of the biggest changes involves the Medicare prescription drug program. Its unpopular “doughnut hole” - a big, expensive gap in coverage that affects millions - would be eliminated by 2020. Starting immediately, consumers who hit the gap would receive a $250 rebate. In 2011, they would receive a 50 percent discount on brand name drugs.

HIGH-COST INSURANCE Starting in 2018, employers that offer workers pricier plans - or those with total premiums of $10,200 or more for singles and $27,500 for families - would be subject to a 40 percent tax on the excess premium, said C. Clinton Stretch, managing principal of tax policy at Deloitte. Retirees and workers in high-risk professions like firefighting would have higher thresholds ($11,850 for singles, or $30,950 for families), pegged to inflation.

Although the taxes would be levied on the insurer, experts expect the assessment to be passed on to the consumer in the form of higher premiums or reduced benefits.

Tea party protesters scream ‘nigger’ at black congressman
William Douglas | McClatchy Newspapers
last updated: March 20, 2010

 
WASHINGTON - Demonstrators outside the U.S. Capitol, angry over the proposed health care bill, shouted “nigger” Saturday at U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia congressman and civil rights icon who was nearly beaten to death during an Alabama march in the 1960s.

 
The protesters also shouted obscenities at other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, lawmakers said.  “They were shouting, sort of harassing,” Lewis said. “But, it’s okay, I’ve faced this before. It reminded me of the 60s. It was a lot of downright hate and anger and people being downright mean.”

Lewis said he was leaving the Cannon office building to walk to the Capitol to vote when protesters shouted “Kill the bill, kill the bill,” Lewis said.  “I said ‘I’m for the bill, I support the bill, I’m voting for the bill’,” Lewis said.

A colleague who was accompanying Lewis said people in the crowd responded by saying “Kill the bill, then the n-word.”

“It surprised me that people are so mean and we can’t engage in a civil dialogue and debate,” Lewis said.
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., said he was a few yards behind Lewis and distinctly heard “nigger.”
“It was a chorus,” Cleaver said. “In a way, I feel sorry for those people who are doing this nasty stuff - they’re being whipped up. I decided I wouldn’t be angry with any of them.”

Protestors also used a slur as they confronted Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., an openly gay member of Congress. A writer for Huffington Post said the crowd called Frank a “faggot.”

Frank told the Boston Globe that the incident happened as he was walking from the Longworth office building to the Rayburn office building, both a short distance from the Capitol. Frank said the crowd consisted of a couple of hundred of people and that they referred to him as ‘homo.’
“I’m disappointed with the unwillingness to be civil,” Frank told the Globe. “I was, I guess, surprised by the rancor. What it means is obviously the health care bill is proxy for a lot of other sentiments, some of which are perfectly reasonable, but some of which are not.”
“People out there today, on the whole, were really hateful,” Frank said. “The leaders of this movement have a responsibility to speak out more.”

Thousands of demonstrators gathered outside the Capitol on Saturday as the House Democratic leadership worked to gather enough votes to enact a health care overhaul proposal that has become the centerpiece of President Barack Obama’s domestic agenda. Most were affiliated with so-called tea party organizations that originally sprang up during last summer’s protests of the health care proposals.

Heated debate has surrounded what role race plays in the motivations of the tea party demonstrators. During protests last summer, demonstrators displayed a poster depicting Obama as an African witch doctor complete with headdress, above the words “OBAMACARE coming to a clinic near you.” Former President Jimmy Carter asserted in September that racism was a major factor behind the hostility that Obama’s proposals had faced.

The claim brought angry rebuttals from Republicans. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, who is black, accused Carter of playing the “race card.”
On Saturday, Frank, however, said he was sorry Republican leaders didn’t do more to disown the protesters.
Some Republicans “think they are benefiting from this rancor,” he said.

House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., said Saturday’s ugliness underscored for him that the health care overhaul isn’t the only motivation for many protesters.

“I heard people saying things today I’ve not heard since March 15th, 1960, when I was marching to try and get off the back of the bus,” Clyburn said. “This is incredible, shocking to me.”

 
He added, “A lot of us have said for a long time that none of this is about healthcare at all. It’s about extending a basic fundamental right to people who are less powerful.”

(James Rosen contributed to this story.)

According to Mark Knoller of CBS

“On no other issue has President Obama put in as much effort and displayed as much passion as on health care. Since launching his campaign for health care reform with a White House forum on March 5th of last year, Mr. Obama has delivered 54 speeches and statements on the issue. He has done health care events in 12 states, some of them more than once. He’s done 9 Town Hall Meetings on health care and made it the focus of 13 of his Saturday radio and Internet addresses. … Obama has made 471 speeches, remarks and comments on every issue under the sun since taking office 423 days ago.”

 
Knoller points out echoes in the president’s first and latest speeches on health care — March 5, 2009: “There are those who say we should defer health care reform once again — that at a time of economic crisis, we simply can’t afford to fix our health care system, as well.” March 19, 2010: “You’ve got a whole bunch of opponents of this bill saying, well, we can’t afford this; we’re fiscal conservatives. / Not only can we afford to do this, we can’t afford not to do this.”

Saving Health Care Reform has put at least 2 billion dollars in federal funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities in jeopardy. The proposed trade off to fund reform was to shave 850 million dollars annually for HBCU’s over 10 years plus the Title III monies for infrastructure, research and other programs.

Leslie, Baskerville, the President of the of the National Association for Equal Opportunity for Higher Ed received calls Wednesday night from two members of the congressional leadership participating in a reconciliation meeting. They conveyed the impending threat to the HBCU federal funding. Baskerville is trying to prevent the trade off from happening again, saying HBCU’s are a promoter for Health Care as the institutions educate “70% of African American health care professionals training today.”
Ohio congresswoman Marcia Fudge heard the money was put back Monday into its original funding slot. Other Hill sources also, contend the funding for HBCU’s is there for the 105 schools.

Congresswoman Fudge represents a state with two Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Wilberforce and Central State.   Congresswoman Fudge is upset HBCU’s were even put in this position, “that’s the whole purpose of putting the Education Bill there in the first place, as a part of reconciliation, because the Education Bill saves some 87 billion dollars, which was needed to partially fund the health care bill.”

Fudge and other Hill lawmakers are receiving the bill today and will search to make sure HBCU’s are not part of the plan to pay for Health Care Reform. She contends if HBCU funding has been traded off, “the bill [Health Care Reform] is certainly in danger of not passing.”

Last Week, Congressional Black Caucus members pressed President Obama for his support for HBCU’s.  Obama is said to have stood with them in understanding the need to fund and preserve the schools.
In recent weeks, President Obama pronounced his dedication to HBCU’s as they contribute to the black middle class. He has placed 98 million dollars in his 2011 budget for the 105 schools.

Also, during the 2010 graduation session both President and Mrs. Obama will deliver commencement addresses at HBCU’s. The President delivers a message to Hampton’s graduating class and the First Lady is slated to deliver a commencement address at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

The White House billed the Presidents meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus as a conversation on Health Care Reform. The caucus flipped the script for the session in the White House State Dinning Room and spoke mostly on jobs.

The majority of the 43 members attended the meeting with 95% the discussion focused on jobs for people of color and minority owned small business.

At the very end of the hour long session, Congressman James Clyburn handed a note to President Obama. That piece of paper had one word on it, Pigford. The President then began a discussion on the Black Farmers Pigford Two settlement and how to pay the 1.25 billion dollar restitution. 80 to 90 thousand Black Farmers have been waiting 15 years for the monies that stem from discrimination by the USDA in the farm loan program.

President Obama did receive support for his plan to reform Health Care. Civil Rights Icon and Congressman John Lewis told the session Health Care reform will pass.

In a related note, some CBC members contend they were surprised the meeting was cordial as there have been tensions in the past with the President. They say the President opened the meeting by saying he is not that far removed form his life in Chicago not to understand the crisis for people in the community.

In recent weeks, dispite Ethics Committee findings, Democrats on the Hill have been standing by Congressman Charlie Rangle. One Democrat who wishes not to be identified said, Rangel would not be asked to step down unless his presence as Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee is toxic for Democrats in the November Elections.

Friday at the White House, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was asked about controversies surrounding Congressman Charlie Rangel and the Ethics Committees findings.

Q And the last thing, does the President agree with Speaker Pelosi’s decision to keep Chairman Rangel in his position, given the Ethics Committee findings? 

MR. GIBBS: Look, Savannah, I think that — the President is not going to get involved in internal House matters as it relates to Chairman –

Q Does he have an opinion about it?

MR. GIBBS: Well, I would say this. The President has worked on ethics reform as a state senator, as a United States senator, and has proposed and enacted reforms as President. He has said many times in those debates that he believes that rules are put in place for a reason, and that those rules can and must apply to each and every person. He would expect that members of both the House and the Senate understand and ought to be accountable for following those rules and that any violations would be acted on by the House and the Senate as appropriate — and that applies to everyone.