United States News Digest

Obama Just Ain't Delivering for the Empire

July 10 (EIRNS)—California Sen. Barbara Boxer, who chairs of the Environment and Public Works Committee, announced yesterday that the committee would not take up the climate-change/cap-and-trade bill until after the Summer recess. "We'll do it as soon as we get back" in September, she promised, vowing that they would stay "until Christmas" to get the job done.

On July 7, when committee hearings began on the bill, Boxer said she intended to finish work on it before the Aug. 7 recess. The word is out, however, that the Obama crew only has 45 votes lined up for the bill, so the railroad is stalled.

Today, the Democratic leadership of the House announced that the scheduled unveiling of the Nazi health-care reform bill today would have to be postponed until next week, because opposition within their own ranks required more meetings. And, therefore, committee work on the bill-that-has-yet-to-be would not begin until next week, at the earliest.

The Democratic leadership had been inundated in the last two days with letters from Democratic Congressmen, demanding changes in the bill. The biggest problem was the letter to Nancy Pelosi from the 40-strong "Blue Dog" caucus, expressing their "strong reservations about the process and direction" of the yet-to-be released bill.

In addition to those 40 votes, two junior members of the House garnered 60-plus signatures on a letter siding with prescription drug-makers and President Obama against Rep. Henry Waxman's (Calif.) call to reinstate some price controls on prescriptions; 22 wayward New Democrats expressed their hope that government-sponsored health coverage would piggyback on Medicare's pre-existing network, despite opposition to the idea from caucus leaders; and a mix of 20 rural and Western Democrats made their case for why the bill should reward providers in their states for their "low-cost, high-quality" Medicare delivery, enabled by their lack of poverty.

Not to mention that the three House committee chairmen charged with writing the health-care bill, which has yet to be produced (Charles Rangel, Ways and Means; Henry Waxman, Energy and Commerce; and George Miller, Education and Labor) have announced that they are not bound by any secret deals the Obama team might have struck with the health-care "industry."

House Overwhelming Rejects Obama 'Signing Statement'

July 10 (EIRNS)—By a 429-2 vote, the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday rebuked President Obama for his June 26 signing statement, in which he said he would ignore the conditions placed by Congress on U.S. funding of the IMF and World Bank, through a $108 billion credit line. Obama had agreed to the supplemental IMF funding at the London G8 summit.

The conditions placed by Congress on the IMF/World Bank funding, required the Administration to pressure the World Bank to strengthen labor and environmental standards, and required the Treasury Department to issue a report on IMF/World Bank activities. These provisions were part of a deal to obtain support from Republicans and others who were threatening to kill the IMF funding provision.

Obama objected in his June 26 signing statement, that those conditions "would interfere with my constitutional authority to conduct foreign relations by directing the Executive to take certain positions in negotiations or discussions with international organizations and foreign governments, or by requiring consultation with the Congress prior to such negotiations or discussions."

It wasn't his first signing statement, despite his campaign rhetoric about how "it's a clear abuse of power to use such statements as a license to evade laws that the President does not like." Less than six months into his term, Obama has issued six such statements asserting his right to ignore specific Congressional enactments.

Soros's Drug Pushers Target Population for Dope Slavery

July 10 (EIRNS)—George Soros has put his drug legalization apparatus into high gear in the United States, with the Drug Policy Alliance Network, which he finances, taking advantage of the bankruptcy of states, to move marijuana legalization ahead. A target is California, where the Soros network wants Gov. Arnie Schwarzenegger to legalize marijuana so that it can be taxed—yielding about $1 billion a year—to offset the $24 billion state budget deficit. This week, National Public Radio praised the pot lobby as the one group that wants to pay taxes to help Arnie's budget deficit.

Due to "medical marijuana" legalization, California has become a virtual narco-state, with an industry that is $14 billion a year, according to the dopers' own figures. Soros's hitmen are pushing the line that "the depression" will bring about "legalization," just as the 1930s depression ended Prohibition.

Blago Plea Agreement Implicates SEIU as Agents for Obama

July 8—(EIRNS) In an arrangement with U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's aide John Harris pleaded guilty to wire fraud, and will go to prison. Harris was chief of staff to Blagojevich from December 2005 to December 2008. Blagojevich was arrested Dec. 9, 2008 on Federal charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery. The plea document states, "On or about November 6, 2008, Blagojevich met with Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Official A [probably Illinois SEIU chief Tom Balanoff—ed.], who had been presented to Blagojevich and defendant [Harris] as an emissary working on behalf of President-elect Obama with respect to filling the Senate seat."

The revelation that the SEIU was presented as an emissary from Obama himself is credible, from the record of the SEIU's crucial role, under George Soros's direction, in electing Obama to the Presidency and in pushing the Soros/Obama political agenda.

Harris admits that Blagojevich asked the SEIU officials (Balanoff and president Andy Stern) to be appointed Health and Human Services Secretary, in exchange for appointing Obama confidante Valerie Jarett as the Senator to replace Obama. Jarett is currently senior advisor to President Obama.

Discussions described by Harris included appointing Blagojevich to a post to be created for him, as Coordinator of the Change To Win Federation—the anti-AFL-CIO split-off engineered by the SEIU—in exchange for the Jarett appointment; and for the SEIU to get Blagojevich into a position with one of the "private foundations" the SEIU gives money to. In recent days, leaders of the other labor unions that followed Andy Stern's SEIU out of the AFL-CIO into Change To Win have all attacked Andy Stern as a bosses' flunkey.

Administration Ignores Shutdown of Public Health as Flu Spreads

July 7 (EIRNS)—Dozens of the 3,000 U.S. counties, whose health departments are on the front line of bio-defense against disease, have resorted to holding public briefings and issuing press releases to appeal for help, because the departments are being shut down, in whole or in part, under state budget/economic breakdown crises, while the Obama Administration refuses even to acknowledge the danger. This is in the face of the official declaration of a worldwide A/H1N1 pandemic, made in June by the World Health Organization.

"Now is not the time to cut the budget and play games with money going to public health ... when people's lives are at risk," commented Julie Pryde, administrator of the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District in Illinois, who, on June 25, joined health officials from five other counties for a press conference, to appeal for assistance on anti-flu defense.

In response, the Obama Administration continues its drive for Hitler-style health-care "reform" that will cut services and costs, meaning to cut lives. One week into the new fiscal year for 46 states, several state governments, including Illinois, are in straits similar to that of California, where drastic cuts in government functions are underway.

Nationwide, some 12,000 public health worker jobs were eliminated last year. Now the rate of elimination has increased.

Meantime, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is issuing meaningless pandemic-fighting plans, involving coordinating anti-flu vaccination drives this Fall with state and local public health officials—who won't be there.