Obama, Meet the Press Transcript, Video (9-20-09)

Read the complete transcript. Excerpt and video below:

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PRESIDENT OBAMA: No. Look, I said, during the campaign, are there some people who still think through the prism of race when it comes to evaluating me and my candidacy? Absolutely. Sometimes they vote for me for that reason, sometimes they vote against me for that reason. I'm sure that was true during the campaign, I'm sure that's true now.

But I think you actually put your finger on what this argument's really about. And it's an argument that's gone on for the history of this republic. And that is what's the right role of government? How do we balance freedom with our need to look after one another?

I talked about this in the joint sessions speech. This is not a new argument. And it always invokes passions. And I— it— it was a passionate argument between Jefferson and Hamilton about this. You know, Andrew Jackson built a whole political party around this notion that somehow— you know— there— there is populous outrage against— a federal government that was over inclu— intrusive.

And— and so what— what I think is going on is that we've got a healthy debate taking place. The vast majority of people are conducting it in a very sensible way. I— I think that every president who's tried to make significant changes along these lines, whether it was FDR or Ronald Reagan, elicit very strong passionate responses.

But I do think that we all have an obligation to try to— conduct this conversation in a civil way. And to— recognize that each of us are patriots. That each of us are Americans. And that, by the way, the— my proposals— as much as you may not like them— if you're— a Republican, or on the right, recognize that this is well within the mainstream of what Americans have been talking about for years, in terms of making sure that everybody in this country gets decent health care. And that— people who have health care are protected.

DAVID GREGORY: Just to be clear though. It wasn't just President Carter. There are others in the Congressional Black Caucus. Other thinkers who have said that they agree. That there is racism out there in that opposition to you. I just want to be clear, are you— are you saying to the former president and others, to speak this way is counterproductive?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, look— David, here's what I'm saying. I— I— I think that— the media loves to have a conversation about race. I mean, the— this is— is catnip to— to— the media because it is a running thread in American history that's very powerful. And it invokes some very strong emotions.

I'm not saying that race — never matters in— in any of these— public debates that we have. What I'm saying is this debate that's taking place is not about race, it's about people being worried about— how our government should operate.

- Related Topic:

• Obama, Face The Nation Transcript (9-20-09)
• Video: Romney Speech at Values Voter Summit
• Obama Speech at University Maryland (Transcript, 9-17-09)
• Obama '60 Minutes' Interview Transcript (9-13-09)
  

Video: Couple Sues Walmart over Nude Photos of Children and Their Arrest

Once again the system fails. We should protect children. But we shouldn't falsely accuse a husband and wife over innocent pictures. Rapist and murderers get better treatment than this couple received. Not to mention that the children have been traumatized.

Insane Killer Planned Escape from Field Trip

Another example of a failed criminal justice system. How crazy (pun intended) is this?

Authorities in Washington state say they're looking into whether an insane killer who escaped from a field trip organized by his mental hospital planned his getaway.

Police continued to search Sunday for Philip Arnold Paul, who escaped Thursday during a trip to a county fair.

Spokane County sheriff's spokesman Dave Reagan says the 47-year-old Paul left little clothing behind in his hospital room and carried a backpack and $50 on the outing.

Obama, Face The Nation Transcript (9-20-09)

Read the complete transcript. Excerpt below:

Schieffer: You have made speeches, you've addressed the joint session of Congress, you've done interviews, but the polling continues to show that people are still skeptical about your health reform plans.

Orrin Hatch, the Republican Senator from Utah, has done a lot of work on health care over the years, summed it up this way - these are his words: "If anyone believes that Washington can do a plan that will cost close to a trillion dollars, cover all Americans, not raise taxes on anyone, not increase the deficit, not reduce benefits or choices for our families and seniors, then I have a bridge to sell you."

Have you promised too much, Mr. President?

Obama: No I don't think I've promised too much at all. Look - first of all, everybody acknowledges this is a problem. Everybody acknowledges that the current path we're on is unsustainable. Not just for people who don't have health insurance, but for those who do.

We just had a study come out this week showing that premiums for families went up 130 percent over the last decade. Those costs probably went up even higher for the average employer and that's part of the reason why you're seeing each successive year fewer Americans having health insurance from their employers than they previously did.

Health care inflation went up 5.5 percent this past year when inflation was actually negative because of this extraordinary recession. So we know that standing still is not an option.

Now what I've said is we can make sure that people who don't have health insurance can buy into an insurance pool that gives them better bargaining power. For people who have health insurance we can provide health insurance reforms that make the insurance they have more secure. And we can do that mostly by using money that every expert agrees is being wasted and is currently in the existing health care system. So -- in fact what we've got right now is about 80 percent consensus on how we would accomplish that.

Now let me be honest: With a piece of legislation this complicated and a sector of the economy that's about one-sixth of our economy there's a reason why for the last 40 years people have been talking about this and it hasn't gotten done &30151; it's hard. And there are a lot of moving parts. And so I appreciate fact that the American people are really cautious about this because it's important to them and the majority of people still have health insurance. What I'm trying to do is to explain the facts, which are if we don't do anything a lot of Americans are gonna be much worse off and over time the federal budget just can't sustain it.

Video: Romney Speech at Values Voter Summit

From CNN:

A day after former Baptist minister and likely presidential rival Mike Huckabee offered a withering critique of Mitt Romney's record, the former Massachusetts governor made his pitch to the same group of religious conservatives.

As Mitt Romney, left, defended his health care record Saturday, Mike Huckabee won a vote.

Romney appealed to attendees at the Values Voter Summit in Washington on Saturday, using a speech that drew heavily from his address to social conservatives at the same hotel earlier this year. "Putting such a spirit-crushing, back-breaking debt burden on our children is unworthy of our national character," he said.

"That is why I believe that this spending and borrowing is not just economically irresponsible, it is morally wrong."

The former Republican presidential candidate, widely considered a likely 2012 contender, was on the ballot for the gathering's 2012 presidential straw poll, along with Huckabee, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Indiana Rep. Mike Pence and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

Huckabee won the straw poll Saturday, grabbing nearly 29 percent of the vote. Romney, Pawlenty, Palin and Pence each won roughly 12 percent of the 597 votes cast.

Video: Joe Wilson Cries, Apologizes

This hatepublican admits his despicable behavior was wrong. But that still leaves many others whom attacking Obama is a political strategy.

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Pakistan Police raid US-Contracted Security Firm

The administration seems to be following the same path as the Bush gang when it comes to private security firms in war zones. If it was a disaster under Bush why does Obama remain silent with the abuses going on now. Is it because we lack the necessary troops to fight our wars that we have to use mercenaries? In that case, we have to rethink our national security strategy. This includes removing troops stationed in Western Europe defending against a non-existent enemy. It might also mean removing troops from Korea. It's time for our allies to defend themselves. America is not the world's policeman. Or, at least, not anymore.

Pakistani police raided a local security firm that helps protect the U.S. Embassy on Saturday, seizing dozens of allegedly unlicensed weapons at a time when unusually intense media scrutiny of America's use of private contractors has deepened anti-U.S. sentiment.

Two employees of the Inter-Risk company were arrested during the raids in Islamabad, police official Rana Akram said. Reporters were shown the seized weapons — 61 assault rifles and nine pistols. Akram said police were seeking the firm's owner.

Zazi, al Qaeda Terror Link FBI Investigation is Suspect

There is something wrong here. You're telling me that this investigation has been going on for over a year, and the FBI depends on the admission of the suspect to have a case? No arrests have been made. No bomb materials, no tapes, no plans. That sounds to me like another botched investigation. This clearly demonstrates, once again, that the FBI is not cut out to stop terrorism. We need another agency that has the power and expertise to investigation terrorism - international or domestic.

A 24-year-old Denver man with ties to Al Qaeda is expected to voluntarily answer questions again Saturday in an FBI terror investigation. Najibullah Zazi is not under arrest, but was reportedly involved in an intended terrorist attack against the United States, a senior U.S. intelligence official said.

Agents have been monitoring Zazi and four others as part of the investigation. Zazi's father cooperated with agents on Friday, undergoing questioning.

Zazi's attorney says there's "absolutely no way" his client is linked to a terrorist plot. He dismisses reports of a plot as "a rumor."

Asked by reporters if his son is frightened, Mohammed Zazi says "If you don't have anything, why would you be scared?"

Zazi, who until now had protested that he had no connection to Al Qaeda, changed his story Friday afternoon. Zazi reportedly told officials that he had received explosives training and may plead guilty as part of a deal to cooperate with the government.

Study: 45,000 Deaths from Health Insurance Lack in U.S.

This stat could be the best argument for health care reform. The President could site it since he needs to make a better argument for passing a reform package in Congress:

Nearly 45,000 people die in the United States each year -- one every 12 minutes -- in large part because they lack health insurance and can not get good care, Harvard Medical School researchers found in an analysis released on Thursday.

"We're losing more Americans every day because of inaction ... than drunk driving and homicide combined," Dr. David Himmelstein, a co-author of the study and an associate professor of medicine at Harvard, said in an interview with Reuters.

Overall, researchers said American adults age 64 and younger who lack health insurance have a 40 percent higher risk of death than those who have coverage.

The findings come amid a fierce debate over Democrats' efforts to reform the nation's $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare industry by expanding coverage and reducing healthcare costs.

President Barack Obama's has made the overhaul a top domestic policy priority, but his plan has been besieged by critics and slowed by intense political battles in Congress, with the insurance and healthcare industries fighting some parts of the plan.

The Harvard study, funded by a federal research grant, was published in the online edition of the American Journal of Public Health. It was released by Physicians for a National Health Program, which favors government-backed or "single-payer" health insurance.

An similar study in 1993 found those without insurance had a 25 percent greater risk of death, according to the Harvard group. The Institute of Medicine later used that data in its 2002 estimate showing about 18,000 people a year died because they lacked coverage.

Part of the increased risk now is due to the growing ranks of the uninsured, Himmelstein said. Roughly 46.3 million people in the United States lacked coverage in 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau reported last week, up from 45.7 million in 2007.

Life for Pastor Who Sexually Abused Adopted Daughters

How does this madness happen in America? We've been sickened lately by the news of the Dugard case. Now we have to be reminded of this monstrosity. This animal is beneath contempt. Our anger should be directed at a system that allows these monsters to breed and thrive.

I have in the past proposed that every child be examined regularly by a medical doctor and a psychologist. Every child should be screened for sexual abuse and malnourishment. Every adult who has a living in their household must account for that child. This would prevent abductors from hiding kids in their houses. Every agency in the government would play a role. Every citizen would also play a role. If you see something say something. A special hotline should be set up to protect the most vulnerable - our children. Remember: abused children become abusers later in life or suffer psychologically. Maybe a reward can be given for exposing parents that brutalize their or someone else's children.

A 65-year-old California pastor has been sentenced to life in prison for beating and drugging her five adopted daughters and locking them in a Riverside County garage.

Jessica Banks received consecutive life terms Friday after being convicted in July of sexually abusing two of her daughters and forcing all the sisters to go without food for days, The Press-Enterprise reported.

Banks was arrested in 2005 after one emaciated girl was found lying outside a Moreno Valley business.

Prosecutors say the sisters, who were ages 4 to 11 at the time, lived in a hidden room in Banks' garage with no air conditioning or heating.

Pandemic Flu Vaccine Shortage: WHO

Something to worry about?

The World Health Organization says global production of vaccines for pandemic flu will be "substantially less" than the previous maximum forecast of 94 million doses a week.

WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl says the number of doses produced in a year will fall short of the 4.9 billion doses the global health body previously hoped could be available.

Hartl says production will be lower because some manufacturers are still turning out vaccines for seasonal flu.

Tearful Pelosi: Violence Could Result from Health Care Reform Debate

I'm glad there is more talk about the heated language coming out of the health care reform debate. Although, it really isn't about health care. The anti-Obama language is about demonizing a black President.

An emotional Nancy Pelosi fought back tears and warned Thursday that the nation's angry political climate could inspire deadly violence.

Pelosi said it reminded her of her San Francisco hometown in 1978, when a disgruntled member of the city Board of Supervisors assassinated Mayor George Moscone and openly gay Supervisor Harvey Milk.

"I have concerns about some of the language that is being used because I saw this ... I saw this myself, in the late '70s in San Francisco," Pelosi said, her voice catching as she fought to keep composure.

"This kind of rhetoric was very frightening, and it created a climate in which violence took place."

Suicide Bomber Kills 25 In Pakistan Market

They are starting to look like Iraq:

An official says 25 people were killed when a suicide car bomber struck a market in Pakistan.

The attack, thought to be sectarian, targeted a hotel in Usterzai, a village on the outskirts of the rough border town of Kohat.

Kohaty is near the Afghan border with a history of violence between Shi'ite and Sunni Muslim sects.

The Hikmat Ali Hotel was owned by a Shi'ite, police official Asmat Ullah said and was severely damaged.

The blast destroyed several cars, and several shops at the Kacha Paka market, near where the hotel is located, caved in.

"A restaurant and many shops have collapsed. It's chaos here. There's huge devastation," said Ibn-e-Ali, a former judge and resident of the area.

"My house is one kilometre away but the blast was so huge it felt as if it was next door."

Area mayor Syed Mehtabul Hassan said 25 bodies were pulled out of the rubble of the hotel and nearby shops and that several other people were wounded.

Muslim Couple Face Caning for Car Sex in Malaysia

I wonder how many of those passing judgment are themselves committing adultery:

A Malaysian Islamic court has sentenced a young unmarried Muslim couple to six strokes each of the cane after they were caught trying to have sex in a car, a report said Friday.

The Sharia High Court in central Selangor state also fined Mohamad Shahrin Abdul Majid, 29, and his girlfriend Nadiah Najat Hussin, 24, 5,000 ringgit (1,400 dollars) each, the New Straits Times reported.

The amorous couple, who pleaded guilty, were clad only in undergarments when they were caught in a carpark, the report said.

Premarital sex is banned under Islamic law.

Oklahoma High School Students, George Washington: Can't Name him as First President

What an indictment of our society:

Only one in four Oklahoma public high school students can name the first President of the United States, according to a survey released today.

The survey was commissioned by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs in observance of Constitution Day on Thursday.

Brandon Dutcher is with the conservative think tank and said the group wanted to find out how much civic knowledge Oklahoma high school students know.

The Oklahoma City-based think tank enlisted national research firm, Strategic Vision, to access students' basic civic knowledge.

"They're questions taken from the actual exam that you have to take to become a U.S. citizen," Dutcher said.

Obama Speech at University Maryland (Transcript, 9-17-09)

The President gave a speech at the University of Maryland arguing for health care reform. Read the Complete transcript. Excerpt below:

THE PRESIDENT: You know, the last time I was here it was in the heat of a very long and very tough campaign. And in that campaign, I promised to be a President who -- you guys can sit down, by the way. (Laughter and applause.)

In that campaign I promised to be a President who didn’t just clean up yesterday’s crises; I didn’t want to be a President who was just content with standing still. I promised to be a President who would build a better future; who would move this nation forward; who would ensure that this generation -- your generation -- had the same chances and the same opportunities that our parents gave us. (Applause.) That’s what I’m here to do. That's why I ran for President of the United States of America.

I ran for President because of people like Rachel. Did she not do an outstanding job in the introduction? (Applause.)

Part of that promise is an economy that leads the world in science and technology and innovation. Part of that promise is a clean energy revolution that protects our planet, protects our security, creates jobs of the future right here in the United States of America. Part of it is giving every citizen the skills and the education they need to compete with any worker in the world -- just like you’re getting right here at the University of Maryland. And today, we are on the cusp of taking another big step forward towards fulfilling that promise.

A few miles from here, the House of Representatives will soon be voting on a plan that would finally make the student loan process simpler and more affordable for millions of young Americans.

This plan would end the billions upon billions of dollars in unwarranted subsidies that we hand out to banks and financial institutions -- money that doesn’t do anything to make your loans any cheaper. Instead we're going to use that money to guarantee access to low-cost loans no matter what the economy looks like. We'll use it to strengthen Pell Grants and Perkins loans to make college more affordable. We'll shore up our system of community colleges. And we will simplify the complicated, convoluted financial aid forms so it’s easier for you to apply for help and get the finances that you need.

These are reforms that have been talked about for years, but they’re always blocked by special interests and their lobbyists. Well, because you voted for change in November, we're going to bring change in the House of Representatives today. And then we will take this battle for America’s students and America’s working families to the Senate. And then I intend to sign this bill into law. Because that's the change you worked for. That's the change you voted for. That's the change we're going to deliver.

Conservative commentator: Limbaugh's Attacks on Obama are Racist

This is from Americablog:

Rod Dreher used to write for the NY Post (perhaps he still does). He's a pretty big conservative writer - even a tad Christian conservative, as I recall - who sometimes ventures off the reservation when things get too out of hand on the right. This is one of those times.

[N]ow we have Rush Limbaugh blaming Obama for black kids beating up a white kid on a school bus. This is what happens in "Obama's America," he said today on his radio show.

How low will these people go? Look, I think it's important to talk about black male violence, or at least as important as it is to talk about any other important social trend. I don't think we should be squeamish about discussing it in a responsible and fair-minded way, despite what the politically correct say. But good grief, Limbaugh is up to something wicked. He's plainly trying to rally white conservatives into thinking that now that we have a black president, blacks are rising up to attack white kids! Christ have mercy, what is wrong with these people?

RNC Chairman Steele: Carter 'Wrongheaded' (Transcript, 9-16-09)

Read the transcript of Michael Steele interview with Greta Van Susteren on FOXNews:

VAN SUSTEREN: I want to -- I want to first start with former president Jimmy Carter. He said...

STEELE: OK.

VAN SUSTEREN: ... that the remark made, the boorish outburst by Congress Wilson, was based on racism. So two-part question. One, whether you believe it was based on racism. And secondly, if you don't think it is, can you tell us how we have a legitimate challenge or -- to any policy of an African-American without getting that tag back?

STEELE: Yes. First -- first question, no, I don't think it's based on racism. I don't know where in that moment you could derive that that's exactly what was in the congressman's heart or his intent. I don't think it was an impression. In fact, I believe the president himself has said it was not an impression he took away from that moment. This was a (INAUDIBLE) disagreement, and he blurted out improperly, has been sanctioned for it, apologized to the president. So that part we can move on.

Having said that, now we have the former president, Jimmy Carter, elevating this to a point where, you know, he's sort of saying, Well, all these people who disagree with President Obama actually have some sinister view of the president based on race. And I think that that is disingenuous and it's just wrongheaded.

We cannot go to a point in this country -- we will not have progressed -- in fact, I believe we will hurt President Obama if every time we find ourselves in disagreement with him, his sycophants and others out there are running to his side and rushing in with charges of racism.

This man is the President of the United States. He is responsible for our national security, our economy, and he's got a lot of pressure and a lot of work to do. He's formulating policies. People will agree with them, people don't agree with them. So when you have members of his own party who come out and say, I don't agree with the president on -- on the public option, are they being racist? I mean, so if you don't want to go down this road, President Carter and others need to be very careful here because this is a debate that's too important to diminish it by silliness like that.

- Related Topic:

• Jimmy Carter: Wilson Outburst "Based on Racism"

U.S. backs away from Missile Shield in Europe

Finally we have a President who understands that the missile shield was a stupid idea that undermined our relations with Russia. Not only that, it helped push the Soviet Union into a dictatorship again by creating the excuse of an external threat. Dictators use the specter of real, or imagined, threat from the U.S. to increase their power (i.e., Cuba, North Korea, Iran, etc.).

President Barack Obama has told east European states he is backing away from plans for an anti-missile shield there, in a move that may ease Russian-U.S. ties but fuel fears of resurgent Kremlin influence.

Russia said it would welcome abandonment of the plans, which have been a major source of Russian-U.S. tensions.

Poland said Obama would announce a final decision later on Thursday (1400 GMT) on a project that has raised the prospect of multi-billion dollar contracts for U.S. defense giants.

The shield, involving interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar complex in the Czech republic, was promoted by Obama's predecessor George W. Bush to defend against any missile launches from "rogue" states such as Iran and North Korea.

"Today, shortly after midnight, Barack Obama telephoned me to announce that his government is backing away from the intention of building a missile defense radar on Czech territory," Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer told reporters.

Petrol Bomb Injures 10 In German School Attack

Mass murder has become a sport in Germany too. The reason: media, including the Internet, in Germany now glamorizes killers the way we do in the States. And every time it happens the press has to keep score. They start comparing the latest atrocity with previous mass murders. Whose got the highest score kills.

An axe-wielding 19-year-old man threw a petrol bomb into his own school in Germany Thursday, injuring 10 students, two of them severely, before police shot him in the stomach and arrested him, emergency services said.

Police evacuated the Carolinum secondary school in the southern town Ansbach, a spokesman for rescue services said. It was unclear whether more than one petrol bomb had been used in the attack, he added.

Police said the man was also armed with an axe and was arrested after they shot and seriously wounded him in the stomach.

The incident is the latest in a spate of school attacks in Germany. In March, a 17-year old killed 15 people in a shooting spree at his former school in the southwest town of Winnenden. He later killed himself.

In 2006, a masked man armed with rifles and explosives attacked a school in the western town of Emsdetten, wounding 11 people before killing himself.

Germany suffered its worst school shooting in April 2002 when a gunman killed 17 people, including himself, at a high school in the eastern city of Erfurt.

Was this sick puppy motivated by this story?

The boys, aged 18 and 16, were accused of trying to carry out an atrocity in Britain to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the rampage by two Colorado high school students on April 20, 1999.

But the jury at Manchester Crown Court decided that the “plan” to detonate a series of bombs at Audenshaw School, Manchester, and use high-powered guns to pick off survivors, was no more than a teenage fantasy.

Speaking outside court, McKnight said: "I would like to make it clear that at no time was any person put at risk either at Audenshaw High School or Crown Point North Shopping Centre. This was just a fantasy. This was never a reality."

[...]During their trial the prosecution alleged that in addition to attacking their school the pair would detonate a car bomb at the nearby Centre Point North Shopping Centre.

The two had also considered blowing up an Ikea superstore and attacking the City of Manchester Stadium, it was alleged.

Once they had killed as many people as possible they would turn their weapons on themselves – just as their fantasy heroes, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, had done in America a decade earlier, prosecutors had claimed.

The AP has the latest standings:

Here is a glance at some of the worst school violence worldwide in recent years: