Inauguration Day has arrived in Washington, D.C. At noon, Barack Obama will take the oath of office using president Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural Bible during the swearing-in ceremony on the steps of the US Capitol.

Record Crowds Expected in Washington, D.C.
Millions of people have descended on Washington to watch Obama become the nation’s first African American president and to mark the end of the Bush administration. Authorities are preparing for what could be the largest crowd in Washington’s history. People began lining up near the Mall today hours before sunrise. Celebrations are also being held across the country and the world today.

Obama: I Will Take Your Voices into the Oval Office
On Sunday, Obama spoke before over 400,000 people from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during a star-studded concert.

Barack Obama: “As I prepare to assume the presidency, yours are the voices I will take with me every day when I walk into that Oval Office, the voices of men and women who have different stories but hold common hopes, who ask only for what was promised us as Americans: that we might make of our lives what we will and see our children climb higher than we did.”

Obama & Biden Ride Train to Washington
The official inaugural festivities began on Saturday when Barack Obama and his vice president Joseph Biden traveled to Washington on a whistle stop train ride with stops in Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore. Vice President-elect Biden spoke in Wilmington, Delaware.

Vice President-elect Biden: “Folks, this is more than an ordinary train ride. This is a new beginning. In our most difficult nation—most difficult moments, our nation has always chosen a leader the times demand. And I believe that’s why this nation has turned to Barack Obama. It’s turned to Barack to bring hope back to the nation and the change we so desperately need. My fellow Delawareans, the next president of the United States of America, Barack Obama.”

This morning, Barack Obama and Joe Biden will have coffee at the White House with outgoing President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney will be spending the day in a wheelchair, because he pulled a muscle in his back on Monday while moving boxes.

Report: Inauguration to Cost $170 Million
ABC News reports the total cost of the inauguration will be at least $170 million. Part of the money has come from prominent Wall Street executives from Citigroup, Lehman Brothers, UBS Americas, Goldman Sachs, Wachovia, who bundled large donations for the inauguration


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Obama Signs Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

President Obama has signed his first piece of legislation into law, reversing a Supreme Court ruling that blocked women from filing pay discrimination lawsuits. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is named for a female employee of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company who was paid 40 percent less than male colleagues doing the same job. Ledbetter lost her suit against Goodyear after the court ruled she did not file a complaint on time.

President Obama: “This is only the beginning. I know that if we stay focused, as Lilly did, and keep standing for what’s right, as Lilly did, we will close that pay gap, and we will make sure that our daughters have the same rights, the same chances and the same freedoms to pursue their dreams as our sons."

Obama Denounces “Shameful” Wall Street Bonuses
Meanwhile, President Obama has criticized Wall Street following news financial executives received an estimated $18.4 billion in bonuses last year. The average payout amounted to $112,000.

President Obama: “When I saw an article today indicating that Wall Street bankers had given themselves $20 billion worth of bonuses, the same amount of bonuses as they gave themselves in 2004, at a time when most of these institutions were teetering on collapse and they are asking for taxpayers to help sustain them, and when taxpayers find themselves in the difficult position that if they don’t provide help, that the entire system could come down on top of our heads, that is the height of irresponsibility. It is shameful."

Although bonuses declined from 2007, the $18.4 billion equaled the same amount paid in 2004



( Obama Denounces “Shameful” Wall Street Bonuses )

Meanwhile, President Obama has criticized Wall Street following news financial executives received an estimated $18.4 billion in bonuses last year. The average payout amounted to $112,000.

President Obama: “When I saw an article today indicating that Wall Street bankers had given themselves $20 billion worth of bonuses, the same amount of bonuses as they gave themselves in 2004, at a time when most of these institutions were teetering on collapse and they are asking for taxpayers to help sustain them, and when taxpayers find themselves in the difficult position that if they don’t provide help, that the entire system could come down on top of our heads, that is the height of irresponsibility. It is shameful."

Although bonuses declined from 2007, the $18.4 billion equaled the same amount paid in 2004.


( Senate Backs Child Healthcare Expansion )

The Senate has passed a measure expanding government health insurance for low-income children. The $33 billion State Children’s Health Insurance Program measure would be funded in part by a tax increase on cigarette packs. The House passed its version of the SCHIP expansion earlier this month. Former President George W. Bush twice vetoed similar measures, but President Obama has vowed to sign it into law.


( President Obama: )


Soon my Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, will announce a new strategy for reviving our financial system that gets credit flowing to businesses and families. We’ll help lower mortgage costs and extend loans to small businesses so they can create jobs. We’ll ensure that CEOs are not draining funds that should be advancing our recovery. And we will insist on unprecedented transparency, rigorous oversight and clear accountability, so taxpayers know how their money is being spent and whether it is achieving results.”

McCaskill on Corporate Executives’ Pay: “These People Are Idiots”
On Capitol Hill, Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri has proposed new pay limits for Wall Street executives. McCaskill wants any company taking federal bailout money to limit compensation for all employees to $400,000 a year, the same salary as President Obama. McCaskill made the proposal after it was revealed Wall Street firms had given themselves $18 billion in bonuses last year.

Sen. McCaskill: “We have a bunch of idiots on Wall Street that are kicking sand in the face of the American taxpayer… These financial institutions, on the brink of extinction, come to the American taxpayer for hundreds and billions of dollars. At the very same time, they think they’re going to buy a $50 million corporate jet. They’re going to pay out $18 billion in bonuses. They paid an average of $2.6 million to every executive at the first 116 banks that got taxpayer money under TARP.”

Despite Economic Crisis, States Shrink Welfare Rolls
New questions are being raised over how the welfare system is helping people affected by the economic crisis. A report by the New York Times has found that the number of people receiving cash assistance through welfare programs is at or near the lowest in more than forty years despite soaring unemployment. Eighteen states cut their welfare rolls last year. Many of the states hardest hit by the economic crisis have made drastic cuts. Michigan cut its rolls by 13 percent. Rhode Island had the nation’s largest welfare decline of 17 percent.



( Senators Seek Stimulus Cuts as Obama Warns of Economic “Catastrophe” )

Senators Seek Stimulus Cuts as Obama Warns of Economic “Catastrophe”
A bipartisan group of senators is seeking to cut at least $80 billion from President Obama’s $900 billion economic stimulus plan. Most of the cuts would come to education spending, including $40 billion for state programs. President Obama, meanwhile, has intensified his push for Senate approval. Speaking before Energy Department employees, Obama warned of “catastrophe” if the stimulus bill isn’t passed.

President Obama: “If we do not move swiftly to sign the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law, an economy that is already in crisis will be faced with catastrophe. This is not my assessment. This is not Nancy Pelosi’s assessment. This is the assessment of the best economists in the country."

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Obama Signs Child Health Insurance Expansion

Obama, meanwhile, has signed into law an expansion of government health insurance for low-income children, following congressional approval last month. The $33 billion expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program will be funded in part by a tax increase on cigarette packs. Former President George W. Bush twice vetoed similar measures.


Senate Nears Stimulus Vote After Cutting Education Spending

The Senate is expected to vote to end debate today on a compromise version that will cut more than $100 billion from President Obama’s economic stimulus plan. The cuts include $35 billion for education, $5 billion for jobless workers’ healthcare and $8 billion to refurbish federal buildings. A final Senate vote tomorrow would lead to negotiations with the House, which passed a larger version of the package last week.

Nearly 600,000 Jobs Lost in January
The vote follows Friday’s news that nearly 600,000 jobs were lost last month, bringing the unemployment rate to 7.6 percent—its highest in sixteen years. On Sunday, White House economic adviser Larry Summers urged congressional action on the stimulus bill.

White House economic adviser Larry Summers: “The economy lost 600,000 jobs just in January, lost three million jobs last year. We’ve got to give this economy some help. The Senate bill, the House bill—the overlap is 90-plus percent. We’ve got to work through the differences, find the best bill we possibly can and get it in place as quickly as possible to contain what is a very damaging and potentially deflationary spiral."

President Obama is expected to fly to Indiana today to tout the stimulus plan in areas badly hit by the economic crisis. On Friday, Obama continued pressuring lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

President Obama: “It is inexcusable and irresponsible for any of us to get bogged down in distraction, delay or politics as usual, while millions of Americans are being put out of work. Now is the time for Congress to act. It’s time to pass an Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Plan to get our economy moving.”

Loopholes Could Bypass Bailout Pay Caps
In other economic news, questions are growing around President Obama’s crackdown on executive pay at taxpayer-rescued firms. Last week, Obama announced a $500,000 salary cap at firms receiving future government bailouts. The move followed outcry over news Wall Street firms paid out more than $18 billion in bonuses last year. But the Wall Street Journal reports the curbs have several loopholes that could negate its impact. Firms could still pay out higher salaries by changing executives’ titles, restructuring pay packages, or simply putting it to a shareholder vote. Executives and managers could also get more money, because the plan doesn’t limit awards of restricted stock. Critics have called on Obama to impose the plan retroactively so that it also applies to firms that have already received bailout money.

Bank Closures Bring 2009 Total to 9
Regulators have closed four banks in Georgia and California. The largest, County Bank of Merced, California, had $1.7 billion in assets and $1.3 billion in deposits. Nine banks have been shuttered so far this year.


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AIG to Pay Out $450 Million in Bonuses

The failed insurance giant AIG is preparing to pay out $450 million in bonuses to top executives and other employees despite receiving a $173 billion government bailout. The bonuses include over $165 million to executives in the Financial Products unit, which lost $40 billion last year and played a major role in the meltdown of the global financial system. AIG is paying out the bonuses even though it is now 80 percent owned by the US government. On Sunday, Lawrence Summers, the director of the White House National Economic Council, described the bonuses as outrageous, but he said the bonuses are part of a contract.

Lawrence Summers: “We are a country of law. There are contracts. The government cannot just abrogate contracts. Every legal step possible to limit those bonuses is being taken by Secretary Geithner and by the Federal Reserve system.”

AIG’s new chief executive Edward Liddy justified the bonuses, saying AIG would have trouble attracting and retaining talent “if employees believe their compensation is subject to continued and arbitrary adjustment by the US Treasury.”

AIG Lists Banks It Gave Bailout Money To
Meanwhile, AIG has disclosed for the first time the names of the financial institutions that benefited from the government’s $173 billion bailout. Goldman Sachs was the largest recipient at nearly $13 billion. Over $35 billion was also paid out to foreign banks including Société Générale of France, Deutsche Bank of Germany, Barclays of Britain and UBS of Switzerland.




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Outrage Grows over AIG Bonuses


Facing increasing public outcry, the Obama administration pledged Monday to try to block the bailed-out insurance giant AIG from paying out as much as $450 million in bonuses to top executives and other workers. AIG is attempting to hand out the bonuses despite the company’s central role in the meltdown of the global economy. AIG has already received $173 billion in government bailouts. During the last quarter of 2008, AIG lost a record $62 billion—that amounts to over $460,000 per minute. On Sunday, Lawrence Summers, one of the President’s top economic advisers, said the government cannot just abrogate contracts, but yesterday President Barack Obama asked Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to pursue every legal avenue to block the bonuses.

President Obama: “This is a corporation that finds itself in financial distress due to recklessness and greed. Under these circumstances, it’s hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, much less $165 million in extra pay. I mean, how do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?”

Andrew Cuomo Subpoenas AIG over Bonuses
AIG has so far refused to publicly reveal who is set to receive the money. On Monday, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo issued a subpoena to uncover this information and to determine if the bonuses are legal. Cuomo said if a company enters into contracts in which it agrees to pay funds it effectively doesn’t have, it’s akin to a looting of a company. While Cuomo is issuing subpoenas, Republican Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa has suggested the top executives at AIG should consider taking their own lives. Grassley said, “The first thing that would make me feel a little bit better towards them, if they’d follow the Japanese model and come before the American people and take that deep bow and say, ‘I’m sorry,’ and then either do one of two things: resign or go commit suicide.”

Treasury Report: Banks Decrease Lending After Bailout
A new Treasury report has found the nation’s largest banks are continuing to reduce the flow of credit to new homeowners and consumers despite receiving hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer bailouts. In December, the nation’s twenty-one largest banks lent out $162 billion for first mortgages. Less than half that amount was lent out in January. New home equity credit lines decreased from $15 billion to just $5 billion.



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Fed to Buy Up $1.2T in Bonds, Securities ..

The Federal Reserve has announced a massive new government intervention in the US economy. The Fed says it will buy up $1.2 trillion in government bonds and mortgage-linked securities to free up the frozen credit market. The purchases will increase the Fed’s holdings in financial markets to $3 trillion, an increase of 50 percent. The new mortgage securities purchase will account for more than half of the new spending, at $750 billion. That’s on top of the $500 billion in securities previously bought. According to analysts at Wachovia Bank, the federal government could end up funding up to 70 percent of mortgages issued this year.

Uncertainty Grows on When Admin Knew of AIG Bonuses
The Obama administration is facing questions on when it knew of AIG’s plans to hand out $165 million in bonuses after receiving its $170 billion taxpayer bailout. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says he didn’t know until last week and only told White House officials two days after finding out. But testifying on Capitol Hill Wednesday, AIG CEO Edward Liddy said government officials were informed three months ago. The Washington Post reports the Treasury was told at least one month ago.

AIG Exec: Employees to Give Back Half of Bonuses
Liddy, meanwhile, also defended the bonuses, saying they were essential to retaining top employees.

AIG CEO Edward Liddy: “Make no mistake. Had I been CEO at the time, I would never have approved the retention contracts that were put in place over a year ago. It was distasteful to have to make these payments. But we concluded that the risks to the company, and therefore the financial system and the economy, were unacceptably high.”

Liddy says he’s asked a few hundred AIG executives and employees to give back at least half of the extra pay but refused to give details on who is keeping their bonuses. AIG is also facing questions on the billions of dollars in taxpayer money it used to repay other financial firms.

Dodd: Bonus Protections Added to Stimulus Bill at Admin’s Request
Questions, meanwhile, are also surrounding Treasury officials and lawmakers for political maneuvering that effectively authorized the executive bonuses with the passage of the stimulus bill last month. Democratic Senator Ron Wyden says he introduced a provision that would have forced bailout recipients to cap bonuses at $100,000 and tax those exceeding it at 35 percent. The measure passed through the Senate but was inexplicably removed during talks with the House. Meanwhile, the chair of the Senate Banking Committee, Senator Christopher Dodd, is claiming he inserted a provision protecting contractually promised bonuses at the request of the Obama administration. Dodd didn’t name the administration officials who told him to insert the provision. He says he wouldn’t have done so had he known it would have allowed the bonuses at AIG.

Fannie Mae to Hand Out Million-Dollar Bonuses
As the controversy over payments grows, the government-backed mortgage giant Fannie Mae has announced plans to give four top executives at least $1 million in what it calls “retention bonuses.” The bonuses are being handed out amidst Fannie’s request for some $15 billion in government aid.

Judge Orders Disclosure of Merrill Lynch Bonuses
Meanwhile, a New York judge has ordered the disclosure of employee bonuses paid out at Merrill Lynch just before Bank of America bought out the firm in a government-backed deal. The ruling came in New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s attempt to subpoena several top Merrill Lynch executives who were each paid more than $10 million in cash and stock. Overall, Merrill Lynch handed out over $3 billion in bonuses just before the Bank of America deal. For its part, Bank of America has received $45 billion in government aid.

Obama: No More “Business as Usual” for Wall Street
Meanwhile, at the White House, President Obama invoked the controversy surrounding AIG to call for changes to the financial system.

President Obama: “As we get out of this crisis, as we work towards getting ourselves out of recession, I hope that Wall Street and the marketplace don’t think that we can return to business as usual. The business models that created a lot of paper wealth but not real wealth in this country and have now resulted in crisis can’t be the model for economic growth going forward.”

Obama later traveled to California for a tour to promote his economic stimulus plan. Speaking at a town hall-style event in Costa Mesa, Obama said he takes responsibility for the AIG controversy.

President Obama: “I know Washington is all in a tizzy, and everybody’s pointing fingers at each other and saying it’s the their fault, the Democrats’ fault, the Republicans’ fault. Listen, I’ll take responsibility. I’m the President. So—we didn’t draft these contracts, and we’ve got a lot on our plate, but it is appropriate, when you’re in charge, to make sure that stuff doesn’t happen like this. So we’re going to do everything we can to fix it.”



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Obama Holds Healthcare Summit, Agrees to Invite Single-Payer Backer Conyers

President Obama is convening a White House summit today on reforming the nation’s healthcare system. The Obama administration has asked some 120 lawmakers, insurers and doctors to attend. Obama finally gave a last-minute invite to the House’s leading advocate for single-payer universal healthcare, Democratic Congress member John Conyers of Michigan. Obama had reportedly refused to invite Conyers but relented after public outcry. Conyers is expected to be the lone single-payer advocate in attendance.

US to Overhaul Government Contract Procurements
On Wednesday, President Obama announced a plan to overhaul contracting policies in all government departments. Singling out military contracts in Iraq, Obama said the new rule changes would save taxpayers $40 billion a year.

President Obama: “And this wasteful spending has many sources. It comes from investments in unproven technologies. It comes from a lack of oversight. It comes from influence-peddling and indefensible no-bid contracts that have cost American taxpayers billions of dollars.”

Geithner: Admin Could Scrap Repeal of Tax Deductions for Wealthy
Obama, meanwhile, is facing opposition from members of his own party on a plan to reduce tax deductions for wealthy Americans. The plan would save around $318 billion over ten years. Under questioning from Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the Obama administration would consider dropping the proposal.



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AOL.NEW


WASHINGTON (March 7) - A Democratic official rebuked conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh on Friday for suggesting a health care proposal will be named in memory of Sen. Edward Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer. On his radio show, Limbaugh said President Barack Obama's proposed health care revisions will be championed by "the liberal lion Teddy Kennedy."
"Before it's all over, it'll be called the Ted Kennedy Memorial Health Care bill," Limbaugh said.


Brian Wolff, executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, called the remark outrageous and reprehensible.
Limbaugh has been at the center of a partisan dispute since telling a conservative group last month that he hoped Obama's economic policies would fail. Democrats have accused Republicans of letting Limbaugh be their de facto leader, which GOP officials deny.Limbaugh did not respond immediately to a request for comment that was sent to the e-mail address provided on his Web site.


Obama Says Crisis Offers 'Opportunity'

WASHINGTON (March 7) - Overseeing a dispirited nation, President Barack Obama on Saturday sought to assure people that bleak times will give way to better days, calling the mounting economic crisis a time to discover America's next "great opportunity."
"That is what we can do and must do today," Obama said in his weekly radio and video address, taped on Friday at the White House. "And I am absolutely confident that is what we will do."

On Saturday morning, the president and first lady Michelle Obama flew by helicopter to the presidential retreat in Camp David, Md., for the weekend. Their daughters, Sasha and Malia, traveled to Camp David separately, the White House said.
The work week ended on more down news, with the report of 651,000 more American jobs slashed and an unemployment rate climbing to 8.1 percent. That is the highest rate of people out of work in more than 25 years, as the recession continued to put enormous pressures on families and industries.
Obama recapped the work of the latest hectic week in his young presidency. His goal was to reassure the country that he and his team are taking specific steps to create jobs in the short term and begin to address huge issues such as health care.
His rundown of the past week: the launch of a more detailed plan to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure; a new credit plan to spur lending for people and businesses; an overhaul of the way the government hands out private contracts to reduce waste; and a summit on how to overhaul health care.
On the last point, Obama has set a goal of signing a bill this year that would fix the U.S. health care system, which is the costliest in the world and leaves an estimated 48 million people uninsured, plus many others lacking adequate coverage.
"Our ideas and opinions about how to achieve this reform will vary, but our goal must be the same: quality, affordable health care for every American that no longer overwhelms the budgets of families, businesses and our government," Obama said.
Obama says he is not wedded to a plan on how to fix the problem. But one proposal he has endorsed, giving Americans the option of buying medical coverage through a government plan, is drawing opposition from Republicans.
Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., emphasized that point in the Republican weekly radio address.
"I'm concerned that if the government steps in it will eventually push out the private health care plans millions of Americans enjoy today," Blunt said. "This could cause your employer to simply stop offering coverage, hoping the government will pick up the slack."
As the White House takes on so many huge issues at once, Obama is encouraging people to take a longer view, and not get caught up in the fits and starts. The president said in his address that the nation will continue to face difficult days in the months ahead. Still, he ended with hope.
"Yes, this is a moment of challenge for our country," Obama said. "But we've experienced great trials before. And with every test, each generation has found the capacity to not only endure, but to prosper — to discover great opportunity in the midst of great crisis."



Government-run plan could trip up health overhaul

WASHINGTON -Giving Americans the option of buying medical coverage through the government — an idea put forth by President Barack Obama — is a potential deal breaker for some Republicans and insurance companies whose support would ease the way for a health care overhaul.
The proposal, which Obama advocated in his presidential campaign, would for the first time offer government-sponsored coverage to middle class families, as an alternative to private health plans. By some estimates, it could reduce premiums by 20 percent or more — making it much more affordable to cover the estimated 48 million people who don't have health coverage.

But insurers fear competition from a government plan could drive them out of business, and Republicans worry it would lead to a government takeover of health care. Liberals, meanwhile, are equally adamant that Americans deserve the choice of government-sponsored health care.
Such a plan could be similar to what seniors have in Medicare, which is government run. Or it might be designed like the federal employee health plan, available to members of Congress, and delivered through private insurers.
Whatever he decides, Obama could find himself trapped between liberals in his own party and conservatives he's trying to woo in support of a health care overhaul.
Asked about the issue at the White House health care summit this week, the president said he would address the qualms. And while saying he wanted to consider all ideas, he did not abandon the notion of a government plan.
"I'm not going to respond definitively," Obama said, answering a question from Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. "The thinking on the public option has been that it gives consumers more choices and it helps ... keep the private sector honest, because there's some competition out there.
"I recognize, though, the fear that if a public option is run through Washington, and there are incentives to try to tamp down costs ... that private insurance plans might end up feeling overwhelmed."
Obama says he is committed to preserving a health care system in which government, employers and individuals share responsibility. Many Americans may not realize the government already picks up nearly half the nation's $2.4 trillion health care bill, through programs including Medicare and Medicaid.
A public plan for the middle class could give a final nudge that puts the system squarely in government hands.
Obama's campaign proposal — a foundation for Democrats in Congress — called for setting up a national insurance marketplace through which individuals and small businesses could buy coverage. People could pick private insurance or opt for a public plan that would resemble coverage for federal employees.
Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., meanwhile, said he is wary that a public plan could make insurance reforms "a sham." His views carry weight because he is the Senate health committee's top Republican.
"It's important that the private market be involved, and not to set up the whole thing so it's a sham to compete with the government, so the government eventually can be the only supplier," Enzi said in a recent interview. "We are not going to do an expansion of Medicare. To use that as the model and try to make everybody compete with it would severely limit the market."
A recent analysis by the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit group that sponsors health care research, is giving supporters of a public plan some ammunition.
The study estimated costs and coverage under a hypothetical health reform plan similar to what Obama proposed in the campaign. It found that a public plan like Medicare could reduce projected health care costs by about $2 trillion over an 11-year period. Premiums in the public plan would be at least 20 percent lower, partly because of reduced administrative costs. Within a decade or so, some 105 million people would be in the public plan, compared with about 107 million with private insurance.
Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis said the administration has been very interested in the study. "Some of their top economists are on the phone, poring over it," she said in an interview.
But Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for the industry group America's Health Insurance Plans, said Medicare and Medicaid pay hospitals and doctors below their actual costs. "It would be very difficult to create a level playing field," he said.
Democrats say they will fight to ensure a public plan stays in the final bill.
"We're not trying to figure out what represents the interests of private insurers, we're trying to come up with a plan that makes sure all Americans have health care," said Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., who serves on a House panel that will help write the bill.



Ted Kennedy back in Washington for health summit

WASHINGTON -Sen. Edward M. Kennedy received a royal welcome of sorts when he appeared Thursday at a health care summit hosted by President Barack Obama.
Warm applause greeted Kennedy, back in Washington for the first time since casting a vote on the economic stimulus bill last month. Earlier this week it was announced that Kennedy is to be awarded an honorary knighthood by Britain.
"To Sir Edward Kennedy," Obama said amid laughter and applause from those gathered at the White House. "That's the kind of greeting a knight deserves."
Kennedy, who recently turned 77, is battling brain cancer and has been in Florida continuing his treatment and physical rehabilitation.
The Massachusetts Democrat has championed health care reform for decades and hopes to work with Obama and Democrats who control Congress to forge a breakthrough in coming months.
"I'm looking forward to being a foot soldier in this undertaking and this time we will not fail," said Kennedy.
He chairs the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and was a strong Obama backer during the 2008 campaign.
Kennedy is to be feted Sunday at the Kennedy Center with a birthday concert salute.
The senator suffered a seizure at a legislative luncheon in the Capitol following Obama's inauguration in January, leaving many of his colleagues and friends shaken and worried. He returned to the Senate in February for a key vote on the economic stimulus package.
He plans to travel between Florida and Washington for Senate business until the weather gets warmer, aides have said.
Kennedy was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor after he had a seizure in May while he was at his family's home in Hyannis Port, Mass. He underwent surgery in June.
Kennedy surprised his colleagues in July when he returned to Capitol Hill to vote on a Medicare bill. He also made an unscheduled appearance at the Democratic National Convention to rally Democrats for Obama. His speech drew a rousing response from delegates.

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The Obama administration, meanwhile, has reneged on a pledge to release several dozen photos showing the torture and abuse of prisoners at overseas CIA and military jails. Last month, the Justice Department chose not to challenge an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit seeking the photos’ release. But after indications he was having second thoughts, President Obama confirmed Wednesday he will block the photos’ release.

President Obama: “The publication of these photos would not add any additional benefit to our understanding of what was carried out in the past by a small number of individuals. In fact, the most direct consequence of releasing them, I believe, would be to further inflame anti-American opinion and to put our troops in greater danger. Moreover, I fear the publication of these photos may only have a chilling effect on future investigations of detainee abuse.”

Around forty-three photos had been set for release. The military is believed to have as many as 2,000 photos depicting prisoner abuse. Amrit Singh, an ACLU lawyer who argued the case, said, “This essentially renders meaningless President Obama’s pledge of transparency and accountability that he made in the early days after taking office… [The Obama administration] has essentially become complicit with the torture that was rampant during the Bush years by being complicit in its coverup.”

FBI Agent, Ex-State Dept. Official Detail Torture Objections
The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the interrogation of foreign prisoners Wednesday, the first such hearing since President Obama released the Bush administration legal memos authorizing torture. Testifying behind a wooden screen to protect his identity, former FBI agent Ali Soufan said the Bush administration’s so-called enhanced interrogation techniques were “slow, ineffective, unreliable and harmful.”

Ali Soufan: “From my experience, I strongly believe that it is a mistake to use what has become known as enhanced interrogation techniques, a position shared by professional operatives, including CIA officers who were present at the initial phases of the Abu Zubaydah interrogation. These techniques, from an operational perspective, are slow, ineffective, unreliable and harmful to our efforts to defeat al-Qaeda.”

Also testifying was former State Department counselor and 9/11 Commission head Philip Zelikow. Zelikow said Bush administration officials ordered him to destroy a memo he wrote criticizing the approval of torture. Subcommittee chair Senator Sheldon Whitehouse criticized the censorship of Zelikow’s objections.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse: “We were told that waterboarding was determined to be legal, but were not told how badly the law was ignored, bastardized and manipulated by the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel.”

Senator Whitehouse went on to call for the establishment of a “truth commission” to further probe the Bush administration torture programs.


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Former FBI Interrogator, Ex-State Dept. Counselor Criticize Torture Memos at Senate Panel Hearing ..


Former FBI Interrogator, Ex-State Dept. Counselor Criticize Torture Memos at Senate Panel Hearing ...


The Senate Judiciary Committee held the first congressional hearing on prisoner interrogation Wednesday since the release of Bush administration memos authorizing torture. Former FBI interrogator Ali Soufan called the so-called enhanced interrogation techniques “slow, ineffective, unreliable and harmful,” while former State Department counsel Philip Zelikow said he was told to destroy a memo he wrote criticizing the torture’s authorization.


Ali Soufan, former FBI interrogator, testifying at Wednesday’s hearing.
Philip Zelikow, former State Department lawyer and head of the 9/11 Commission, testifying at Wednesday’s hearing.



AMY GOODMAN: President Obama has reversed his position and says he will now prevent the release of photographs of US soldiers abusing prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan. The news broke just as the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on detainee interrogation and torture Wednesday. It was the first hearing on the Bush administration’s harsh interrogation methods since the Obama administration released the so-called “torture memos” authorizing them.

A former FBI agent, Ali Soufan, who had interrogated high-level al-Qaeda suspects, testified at the hearing, but from behind a wooden screen to hide his identity. Soufan said the Bush administration’s so-called enhanced interrogation techniques were, quote, “slow, ineffective, unreliable and harmful.” In contrast, he described the less threatening interrogation method he had used on suspects, including Abu Zubaydah.
ALI SOUFAN: The interrogator uses a combination of interpersonal, cognitive and emotional strategies to extract the information needed. If done correctly, this approach works quickly and effectively, because it outsmarts the detainee using a method that he is not trained nor able to resist. The Army Field Manual is not about being soft. It’s about outwitting, outsmarting and manipulating the detainee.

The approach is in sharp contrast of the enhanced interrogation method that instead tries to subjugate the detainee into submission through humiliation and cruelty. A major problem is it—it is ineffective. Al-Qaeda are trained to resist torture, as we see from the recently released DOJ memos on interrogation. The contractors had to keep requesting authorization to use harsher and harsher methods.

In the case of Abu Zubaydah, that continued for several months, right ’til waterboarding was introduced. And waterboarding itself had to be used eighty-three times, an indication that Abu Zubaydah had already called his interrogators’ bluff. In contrast, when we interrogated him using intelligent interrogation methods, within the first hour we gained important actionable intelligence.

This amateurish technique is harmful to our long-term strategy and interests. It plays into the enemy’s handbook and recreates a form of the so-called Chinese wall between the CIA and the FBI. It also taints sources, risks outcomes, ignores the endgame, and diminishes our moral high ground.
My interest in speaking about this issue is not to advocate the prosecution of anyone. Examining a past we cannot change is only worthwhile when it helps guide us towards claiming a future, a better future that is yet within our reach. For the last seven years, it has not been easy objecting to these methods when they had powerful backers.


AMY GOODMAN: Former FBI interrogator Ali Soufan. Soufan was questioned by both Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. In response to Soufan’s testimony Senator Whitehouse read a statement from President Bush that said enhanced interrogation had actually led to useful information.
SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE: On September 6, 2006, President Bush stated the following: “Within months of September 11, 2001, we captured a man named Abu Zubaydah. We believed that Zubaydah was a senior terrorist leader and a trusted associate of Osama bin Laden…Zubaydah was severely wounded during the firefight that brought him into custody, and he survived only because of the medical care arranged by the CIA.

“After he recovered, Zubaydah was defiant and evasive. He declared his hatred of America. During questioning, he at first disclosed what he thought was nominal”—nominal—“information and then stopped all cooperation…We knew that Zubaydah had more information that could save innocent lives, but he stopped talking. As his questioning proceeded, it became clear that [Zubaydah] had received training on how to resist interrogation. And so, the CIA used an alternative set of procedures.”

Does that statement by the President accurately reflect the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah?

ALI SOUFAN: Well, the environment that he’s talking about, yes, it reflects—you know, he was injured, and he needed medical care. But I think the President—my own personal opinion here, based on my recollection, he was told probably half-truth.

SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE: And repeated half-truth, obviously. His statement, as presented, does not conform with what you know to be the case—

ALI SOUFAN: Yes, sir.

SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE: —from your experience on-hand.

ALI SOUFAN: Yes, sir.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: Do you believe that any good information was obtained through harsh interrogation techniques? Can you say that there was no good information?

ALI SOUFAN: Well, from what I know on the Abu Zubaydah, I would like you to evaluate the information that we got before—

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: Well, the Vice President’s suggesting that there was good information obtained, and I’d like the committee to get that information. Let’s have both sides of the story here. I mean, one of the reasons these techniques have survived for about 500 years is apparently they work.

ALI SOUFAN: Because, sir, there’s a lot of people who don’t know how to interrogate—

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: Right.

ALI SOUFAN: —and it’s easier to hit someone than outsmart them.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: I understand that you believe you got it right and you know how to do it and these other people don’t.


AMY GOODMAN: Republican Senator Lindsey Graham questioning former FBI interrogator Ali Soufan at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday.

Former State Department counselor and former head of the 9/11 Commission, Philip Zelikow, also testified at the hearing. He criticized the memos authorizing the interrogations from the Office of Legal Counsel and revealed that the memo he wrote offering an alternative view on the legality of torture has now been located and could be declassified shortly.
PHILIP ZELIKOW: It seemed to me that the OLC interpretation of US Con law in this area was strained and indefensible, in a whole variety of ways. My view was that I could not imagine any federal court in America agreeing that the entire CIA program could be conducted and it would not violate the American Constitution.

So I distributed my memo analyzing these legal issues to other deputies at one of our meetings in February 2006. I then took off to the Middle East on other work. When I came back, I heard the memo was not considered appropriate for further discussion and that copies of my memo should be collected and destroyed. That particular request, passed along informally, did not seem proper, and I ignored it.
This particular memo has evidently been located in the State’s files and is being reviewed for declassification. But in sum, the US government, over the past seven years, adopted an unprecedented program in American history of coolly calculated, dehumanizing abuse and physical torment to extract information. This was a mistake, perhaps a disastrous one. It was a collective failure in which a number of officials and members of Congress and staffers of both parties played a part.

AMY GOODMAN: Former State Department lawyer and head of the 9/11 Commission, Philip Zelikow, testifying on Capitol Hill Wednesday.



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