The Senate passed a bill Thursday that would both repeal significant portions of ObamaCare and defund Planned Parenthood.

The New American

Monday, 07 December 2015

Senate Votes to Repeal Much of ObamaCare, Defund Planned Parenthood

Written by  Michael Tennant

 

The Senate passed a bill Thursday that would both repeal significant portions of ObamaCare and defund Planned Parenthood. This marks the first time that chamber of Congress has approved any type of ObamaCare repeal, in contrast to the dozens of such bills passed by the House of Representatives.

“Middle-class Americans continue to call on Washington to build a bridge away from ObamaCare. They want better care. They want real health reform,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). “For too long, Democrats did everything to prevent Congress from passing the type of legislation necessary to help these Americans who are hurting. Today, that ends.”

Democrats, of course, controlled the Senate from 2010, when the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed, through 2014 and blocked all attempts at ObamaCare repeal during that period. Even after Republicans took charge, the minority was still able to stall repeal by threatening a filibuster. But the GOP outflanked them this time by using a parliamentary maneuver known as budget reconciliation to bring the bill, already passed by the House, to the floor for a vote. Ironically, this is the same tactic the Democrats, despite possessing a filibuster-proof majority at the time, utilized to ram the ACA through the Senate in late 2009.

The bill passed 52-47, with all Democrats plus two Republicans opposed. Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) voted against the bill because of the amendment defunding Planned Parenthood, which they tried unsuccessfully to get removed. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) missed the vote because he was out campaigning for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.

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Reports - Kurdish and Turkish smugglers are transporting oil from ISIS controlled territory in Syria and Iraq and selling it to Israel.

Israel buys most oil smuggled from ISIS territory - report

30/11/2015, 17:21

Globes correspondent

Israel has become the main buyer for oil from ISIS controlled territory, reports "al-Araby al-Jadeed."

Kurdish and Turkish smugglers are transporting oil from ISIS controlled territory in Syria and Iraq and selling it to Israel, according to several reports in the Arab and Russian media. An estimated 20,000-40,000 barrels of oil are produced daily in ISIS controlled territory generating $1-1.5 million daily profit for the terrorist organization.

 

The oil is extracted from Dir A-Zur in Syria and two fields in Iraq and transported to the Kurdish city of Zakhu in a triangle of land near the borders of Syria, Iraq and Turkey. Israeli and Turkish mediators come to the city and when prices are agreed, the oil is smuggled to the Turkish city of Silop marked as originating from Kurdish regions of Iraq and sold for $15-18 per barrel (WTI and Brent Crude currently sell for $41 and $45 per barrel) to the Israeli mediator, a man in his 50s with dual Greek-Israeli citizenship known as Dr. Farid. He transports the oil via several Turkish ports and then onto other ports, with Israel among the main destinations.

In August, the "Financial Times" reported that Israel obtained 75% of its oil supplies from Iraqi Kurdistan. More than a third of such exports go through the port of Ceyhan, which the FT describe as a “potential gateway for ISIS-smuggled crude."

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Currently about 50 million Americans meet the USDA criteria for food insecurity. About 15 million of them are children.

 

In These Times

 

With liberty and justice for all...

 

(Brandon Warren / Flickr)

Web Only / Features » November 23, 2015

American Hunger-Related Healthcare Costs Exceeded $160 Billion in 2014, According to New Study

Food insecurity, especially for children, remains near record high despite the Great Recession’s official end.

BY Elizabeth Grossman

 

Currently about 50 million Americans meet the USDA criteria for food insecurity. About 15 million of them are children.

While the official end of the Great Recession is a full five years behind us, there are now nearly 12 million more Americans who lack enough resources to access adequate food than there were in 2007, a number that has only improved slightly since United States food insecurity peaked at over 21 percent in 2009. These statistics alone are disturbing. But as detailed in a new study released today as part of Bread for the World Institute’s 2016 Hunger Report, absence of food security in the U.S. carries enormous healthcare costs, more than $160 billion in 2014.

Using data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Census Bureau and research on food security published in peer-reviewed academic journals between 2005 and 2015, a team of researchers led by Boston University School of Medicine associate professor of pediatrics John Cook, estimated these health care costs by looking at the costs of treating diseases and health conditions associated with household food insecurity plus earnings lost when people took time off work because of these illnesses or to care for family members with illnesses related to food insecurity.

As Cook, who is also research scientist and principal investigator with Children’s Health Watch, explained to In These Times, lack of access to adequate food does not necessarily directly cause a particular illness but “plays a role in that disease occurring.” Years of research consistently shows food insecurity increases the risk for a range of health problems. These risks are particularly great for children but poor and inadequate nutrition also increases risk for adult health problems, including obesity and chronic diseases, among them diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. It also exacerbates illness duration and severity–in some cases simply because people lack money for medication–and therefore treatment costs.

Putting this in a broader economic context, Bread for the World Institute points out that the U.S. “spends more per capita on health care than any other high-income country but compares poorly with these others on key population health indicators such as life expectancy and child survival. This is due,” report authors, “in part to our tolerance as a nation, for higher levels of poverty and hunger.”

Currently about 50 million Americans meet the USDA criteria for food insecurity. About 15 million of them are children. In 2014, 19.2 percent of U.S. households with children were food 
insecure–about a third higher than households without. The Boston University research team found if the costs of special education for children whose learning abilities are adversely affected by food insecurity are factored in along with related education impacts for high-schoolers, the $160 billion rose by an additional  nearly $18 billion. This brings a total estimate of direct and indirect health care costs of U.S. food insecurity in 2014 to $178.93 billion.

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Hillary Clinton’s plan to fight ISIS plenty of rhetoric and not much in the way of substance

New York Post

Hillary Clinton’s plan to fight ISIS is like Obama’s — only more so

By Post Editorial Board

November 19, 2015 | 8:49pm

Hillary Clinton Photo: Getty Images

If you like President Obama’s “plan” to fight ISIS, you’ll just love Hillary Clinton’s.
Clinton wants to defeat the jihadis by relying pretty much on the same lame steps Obama has — only more so.
The Democratic presidential front-runner laid out her ideas Thursday at the Council on Foreign Relations in what was billed as a major policy speech. Alas, it offered far more rhetoric than substance.
Even Hillary herself admitted, in a question-and-answer session afterward, that her proposal is but “an intensification, an acceleration” of the failed Obama strategy.
Yes, she called for more airstrikes, a no-fly zone over Syria and boots on the ground. But it’s plain she’d have non-US forces do the heavy lifting in many of these areas.


Read More Here


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  Sputnik

Clinton Plan to Fight ISIL ‘All Rhetoric, No Strategy’ - Ex-US Ambassador

© AFP 2015/ Andrew Caballero-Reynolds

US

06:27 25.11.2015

US Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s plan to destroy the Islamic State, announced last Thursday, is a reheat of neo-conservative rhetoric and lacking any strategy whatsoever, former US Ambassador Chas Freeman told Sputnik.

 

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On the same day Clinton offered her proposed strategy to fight the Islamic State, her chief challenger for the nomination, US Senator Bernie Sanders, offered a different plan advocating close cooperation between the United States, Russia and major Muslim nations.

"‘Hillary's plan’ is all rhetoric and no strategy. As such, it is hard to distinguish it from the bellicose pronouncements of our nation's neo-conservative pundits," Freeman, former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia and a past president of the Middle East Policy Council, said.

Clinton wanted to repeat over Syria the policies she adopted as secretary of state to topple Libya’s long-time leader Muammar Gadhafi, not realizing that conditions were very different, Freeman argued.

"Ms. Clinton essentially proposes a replay of Libya, an example of the use of force that few, if any other than she, find inspiring. As she did in Libya, she proposes airstrikes and a ‘no-fly zone’ — a purely military approach aimed at regime change with a proven record of producing disasters," he said.

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Turkey shoots down a Russian warplane , claiming violation of air space, Putin calls it "a stab in the back not only to Russia, but the whole Western alliance and NATO,"

     

Sputnik

Two-Faced Turkey: ‘Stab in the Back’ Strikes NATO, Anti-ISIL Forces

© REUTERS/ Kayhan Ozer/Handout via Reuters

Middle East

09:35 25.11.2015Get short URL

By shooting down the Russian jet in Syria, Turkey has not only hurt Russia with its "stab in the back", but the whole Western alliance and NATO; its policy in Syria is largely “two-faced”, as it allows the supply of weaponry and ammunition through its territory, according to Jurgen Rose, a retired German lieutenant colonel.

© Sputnik/ Alexei Nikolsky

Putin Says Attack on Russian Su-24 is a 'Stab in the Back' (VIDEO)

"President Putin's comment that Turkey's move was a stab in the back is quite correct and fully corresponds with reality. In its fight against al-Nusra and the so-called Islamic State, namely the Islamists, Turkey stabs in the back not only Russia, but the whole Western alliance and NATO," he said.“Turkey, for example, is striking the forces on the ground, the Kurdish forces, and allows the supplies of weaponry and ammunition through its territory.”

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World | Wed Nov 25, 2015 1:06am GMT

Turkey downs Russian warplane near Syria border

ANKARA/MOSCOW | By Tulay Karadeniz and Maria Kiselyova

Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border on Tuesday, saying the jet had violated its air space, in one of the most serious publicly acknowledged clashes between a NATO member country and Russia for half a century.

 Russian President Vladimir Putin said the plane had been attacked when it was 1 km (0.62 mile) inside Syria and warned of "serious consequences" for what he termed a stab in the back administered by "the accomplices of terrorists".

 "We will never tolerate such crimes like the one committed today," Putin said, as Russian and Turkish shares fell on fears of an escalation between the former Cold War enemies.

 In a letter to the U.N. Security Council, Turkey said it had shot down the jet while in Turkish air space. Along with a second plane, the aircraft had flown more than a mile into Turkey for 17 seconds, despite being warned 10 times in five minutes while approaching to change direction, the letter said.

 "Nobody should doubt that we made our best efforts to avoid this latest incident. But everyone should respect the right of Turkey to defend its borders," Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara.

In condemnation of Russian air strikes in Syria, during which Turkish air space has been violated several times in recent weeks, Erdogan said that only Turkey's "cool-headedness" had prevented worse incidents in the past.

Each country summoned a diplomatic representative of the other. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov cancelled a visit to Turkey due on Wednesday and the defence ministry said it was preparing measures to respond to such incidents.

    Read More Here

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Turkey shoots down Russian jet near Syrian border

CBS This Morning

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Published on Nov 24, 2015

NATO member Turkey says it shot down a Russian warplane flying from Syria that violated its airspace. Video shows the fighter jet on fire before it crashes into mountains. Turkey says the plane ignored repeated warnings, but Moscow denies that. Charlie D'Agata reports on this new twist in the air war against ISIS.

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 Sputnik

BREAKING:

• Turkey's Protection of ISIL Not Surprising, Considering Its Financial, Oil Interests in Region - Medvedev

Turkey's Downing of Su-24 Threatens NATO-Russia Relations

© Sputnik/ Alexander Astafyev

World

09:51 25.11.2015(updated 10:37 25.11.2015) 

Dmitry Medvedev has criticized Turkey’s downing of a Russian Su-24 Fencer bomber over Syrian territory, calling it a "reckless criminal act".

 

© Sputnik/ Dmitriy Vinogradov

'17 Seconds': No One’s Buying Turkey’s Version of Su-24 Story

YEKATERINBURG (Sputnik) – Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has slammed Turkey’s downing of a Russian Su-24 Fencer bomber over Syrian territory, calling it a "reckless criminal act" that will worsen relations between Russia and NATO and shows that Ankara is protecting the Islamic State (ISIL) terrorist organization.

 

"The recklessness of the Turkish authorities’ criminal actions of downing the Russian airplane has led to three consequences. The first is the dangerous worsening of relations between Russia and NATO that cannot be justified by any interests, including the protection of state borders," the Russian prime minister said.

He added that the second consequence was a demonstration of Turkish intention to protect the ISIL militants, "which is not surprising taking into account information at hand on the direct financial interests of several Turkish officials, who are involved in the deliveries of oil products produced at ISIL-owned enterprises."

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PBS NewsHour Uses Russian Airstrike Footage While Claiming U.S. Airstrike Successes

 


   

November 20, 2015

 

U.S. media can no agree with itself if Russia is giving ISIS an airforce or if Russia pounds ISIS with the biggest bomber raid in decades. Such confusion occurs when propaganda fantasies collide with the observable reality.

 To bridge such divide requires some fudging.

 So when the U.S. claims to act against the finances of the Islamic State while not doing much, the U.S Public Broadcasting Service has to use footage of Russian airstrikes against the Islamic State while reporting claimed U.S. airstrike successes.

 The U.S. military recently claimed to have hit Islamic State oil tankers in Syria. This only after Putin embarrassed Obama at the G-20 meeting in Turkey. Putin showed satellite pictures of ridiculous long tanker lines waiting for days and weeks to load oil from the Islamic State without any U.S. interference.

The U.S. then claimed to have hit 116 oil tankers while the Russian air force claims to have hit 500. But there is an important difference between these claims. The Russians provided videos showing how their airstrikes hit at least two different very large oil tanker assemblies with hundreds of tankers in each. They also provided video of several hits on oil storage sites and refinery infrastructure.

 I have found no video of U.S. hits on Islamic State oil tanker assemblies.

The U.S. PBS NewsHour did not find any either.


 Read More Here  


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What’s made IS one of the richest terrorist armies ever?

PBS NewsHour

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Published on Nov 19, 2015

How does the Islamic State militant group make money to fund its operations? A key source is oil extraction, which has helped make the group one of the richest terrorist armies in history. Economics correspondent Paul Solman takes a look at the Islamic State’s revenue sources, while William Brangham learns more from Cam Simpson of Bloomberg Businessweek.

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Just check out and compare the time line recorded on the top right hand side of the  airstrike footage and you will see that  at  14:03:55 at 0:57 on the RT video and  at 2:36 on the PBS video  both show the bombing of the same  exact  tankers at exactly the same time.  And again 13:49:07 can be seen at 0:45 on the PBS video and at1:43 on the RT video. Not to  mention
the Cyrillic characters on the targeting screen (green letters down sides).  Really ?

Now what are the chances  that these were being  filmed at the same exact  time on the same exact day, with the same exact interface markers?

So if the US did indeed bomb 116 tankers where is the American footage?

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Combat Cam: Russian jets destroy ISIS oil refinery & tanker trucks in Syria

RT

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Published on Nov 18, 2015

Russian Air Force jets carried out airstrikes against an oil refinery controlled by Islamic State in Syria on Wednesday and destroyed around 500 fuel tanker vehicles transporting illegal oil from Syria to Iraq. READ MORE: http://on.rt.com/6wxi 

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 And no one can say that RT was using American footage because in the  following video they credit the  US  with the  alleged 116 tankers  that they claim to have blown up.

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Oil on Fire: Russian jets destroy ISIS refineries, trucks and wells

RT

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Published on Nov 19, 2015

Russia has stepped up its air strikes on Islamic state over the last few days. It's now targeting the transport of the oil which brings in much of ISIS funding . Let's get more from RT's Lizzie Phelan in Damascus. Moscow is currently hosting an international energy forum. Economist Constantin Gurdgiev is there at the moment - let's cross live to him........... 

A US air strike aimed at an IS checkpoint is likely to have killed four civilians, possibly including a child, the US military has said.

USN - U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center Wikimedia.org
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BBC

US air strike on IS in Iraq 'killed civilians'

• 20 November 2015
• From the section Middle East

 

A US air strike aimed at an IS checkpoint is likely to have killed four civilians, possibly including a child, the US military has said.

On Friday the military released the findings of an investigation into the incident, which took place in March.

Investigators concluded the checkpoint was a valid target and the attack did not violate international laws.

The US has rarely acknowledged civilian deaths in the fight against IS and the announcement brings the total to six.

"All reasonable measures were taken to avoid unintended deaths of, or injuries to, non-combatants," US Central Command spokesman Patrick Ryder said.



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White House issues veto threat over refugee bill. White House says legislation, which sets high hurdles for refugee admissions, is ‘untenable’

 

By Karl de Vries, CNN

Updated 6:37 PM ET, Wed November 18, 2015

 

Some governors say they won't accept Syrian refugees 02:34

 

Story highlights

• "The certification requirement ... is untenable and would provide no meaningful additional security for the American people," the White House said
• The refugee issue has emerged as a key political issue in the wake of last week's terrorist attacks in Paris

Washington (CNN)President Barack Obama on Wednesday vowed to veto a GOP-drafted bill that would suspend the program allowing Syrian and Iraqi refugees into the U.S. until key national security agencies certify they don't pose a security risk.

"The certification requirement at the core of H.R. 4038 is untenable and would provide no meaningful additional security for the American people, instead serving only to create significant delays and obstacles in the fulfillment of a vital program that satisfies both humanitarian and national security objectives," the White House said in a statement.

Read More Here

 

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Could the government shut down over refugees?

 

 

By Deirdre Walsh and Ted Barrett, CNN

Updated 8:12 PM ET, Wed November 18, 2015

Story highlights

• President Barack Obama and House Democrats said they would oppose a GOP-drafted bill to suspend the program allowing Syrian and Iraqi refugees into the U.S. until key national security agencies certify they don't pose a security risk
• The deadline to reach a spending deal is December 11, and the refugee issue could make it more difficult to reach an accord

Washington (CNN)The "je suis Paris" mood didn't last long in Washington.

House Speaker Paul Ryan called for a bipartisan response to the ISIS terrorist attacks in France, but President Barack Obama and House Democrats said they would oppose a GOP-drafted bill to suspend the program allowing Syrian and Iraqi refugees into the U.S. until key national security agencies certify they don't pose a security risk.

The White House Wednesday afternoon said Obama would veto the bill, saying the certification requirement is "untenable and would provide no meaningful additional security for the American people, instead serving only to create significant delays and obstacles in the fulfillment of a vital program that satisfies both humanitarian and national security objectives."

White House issues veto threat over refugee bill

 

The battle over what to do about the program, and whether it should continue receiving federal money, could trigger what Ryan was hoping to avoid -- another government shutdown.

Ryan made a rare floor speech on Wednesday arguing that the legislation the House would take up on Thursday was a reasonable response to concerns about new attacks. He distanced himself from some Republican presidential candidates who have urged that the U.S. refuse asylum for Muslim refugees.

"We will not have a religious test, only a security test," Ryan said.

The House Republican proposal would halt the program permitting refugees fleeing war in Iraq and Syria to enter the United States until the Secretary of Homeland Security signs off that those applying to come in do not have ties to terrorism. The proposal also requires that the FBI certify that those applying to enter the U.S. have had background checks, and that federal agencies regularly report to Congress about those who were vetted.

Obama's vocal criticism of Republicans pushing for restrictions in the refugee program seemed to deepen the divide on Capitol Hill, and even take some Democrats aback

.

While traveling through Turkey and the Philippines, the President called some GOP suggestions about the program "offensive" and ripped those warning that allowing those refugees fleeing the war posed a threat.

"Apparently, they are scared of widows and orphans coming into the United States of America," Obama said, responding to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who said he would refuse entry of a 5-year-old Syrian orphan into the United States. "At first, they were too scared of the press being too tough on them in the debates. Now they are scared of 3-year-old orphans. That doesn't seem so tough to me."

Obama slams Republicans over refugee stance

 

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, said the President's partisan rhetoric "went over the line."

"I haven't called for a halt or a moratorium. So I'm sympathetic to the administration's position here," Flake said. "But instead of blaming people or assuming people are bigots, come out and explain what the vetting process is and I think people will feel more comfortable."

House Homeland Security Chairman Mike McCaul of Texas pointed out it was concerns raised by officials from the FBI and Homeland Security that prompted the legislation he drafted with Rep. Richard Hudson, R-North Carolina.

"It's not me making this up," McCaul said.

In its veto threat, the White House added, "No refugee is approved for travel to the United States under the current system until the full array of required security vetting measures have been completed. Thus, the substantive result sought through this draft legislation is already embedded into the program."

Read More and Watch Video  Here

 

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Obama threatens to veto House Republican bill on Syrian refugees

 

By Erica Werner November 19, 2015, 2:29 am 3

 

 

Syrian refugee children look from their tent during a visit by UN humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien to the Zaatari Refugee Camp, near Mafraq, Jordan, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh)

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Wednesday threatened a presidential veto of House Republican legislation aimed at increasing screenings for Syrian and Iraqi refugees before they enter the United States, calling new requirements in the bill “untenable.”

The legislation, which sets high hurdles for refugee admissions, including FBI background checks and individual sign-offs by top federal officials, “would provide no meaningful additional security for the American people, instead serving only to create significant delays and obstacles in the fulfillment of a vital program that satisfies both humanitarian and national security objectives,” the White House said.

President Barack Obama would veto the legislation if it reaches his desk, the statement concluded.
Republican leaders, eager to respond quickly to Friday’s terror attacks in Paris, had described the bill as a middle-ground approach. It institutes tough new screening requirements, but steers clear of demands from some Republicans, including presidential candidates, for religious questioning or a complete end to the US refugee program.

“This is common sense. And it’s our obligation,” Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin said on the House floor ahead of the veto threat. “If the intelligence and law-enforcement community cannot certify that a person presents no threat, then they should not be allowed in.”

In the Senate, lawmakers emerging from a closed-door briefing with administration officials Wednesday night said Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Republican Sen. Jeff Flake planned to introduce a bill that would restrict visas for any individual who had been in Iraq or Syria in the past five years.

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Obamacare enrollees are reeling from high deductibles

Obamacare (c) Desert Rose Creations / Family Survival Protocol 2013

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msn

First, the administration revealed that enrollments for Obamacare next year will barely hit 10 million, far below previous projections.

Then last week, the consulting firm of McKinsey & Company estimated that premiums for policies under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, were going up substantially in 2016. For instance, the median rate increase for the lowest priced, highly popular “Silver” plan will rise by 11 percent – compared to just a seven percent increase in 2015.

Related: Millions Face Premium and Deductible Sticker Shock under Obamacare

Now there are troubling reports  that consumers will be facing soaring out-of-pocket costs for deductibles next year – increases that in many cases will neutralize the benefits of their health care plans or discourage some from purchasing coverage.

“That these deductibles are so high is clearly one of the reasons people aren’t buying a plan—they simply don’t see themselves getting anything for the money,” Robert Laszewski, president of Health Policy & Strategy Associates, a business and policy consultant, said in a newsletter on Monday.

Department of Health and Human Services officials insist that there are still plenty of plans available with low premiums for those willing to aggressively shop on the federal and state operated insurance exchanges. Americans have until the end of the year to enroll for the third season of Obamacare. But even in cases where consumers find good deals on premiums, they are likely to be stung on the back end by requirements to pay sizeable out of pocket costs before their Obamacare coverage actually kicks in.

The average annual out-of-pocket costs per worker increased nearly 230 percent between 2006 and 2015, according to an annual survey of employer health benefits coverage by the Kaiser Family Foundation.



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Americans Give Health Insurers a Big Thumbs Down

 

By Millie Dent

 

 

November 17, 2015

 

 

Americans haven’t been this fed up with health insurance companies in a decade, and their frustration likely won’t fade soon.

Consumer satisfaction with health insurance providers fell to the lowest level since 2005, largely due to the slow processing of claims and the rising costs of premiums, deductibles and copays, according to a new survey from the American Customer Satisfaction Index that dates to 2001.


Related: How Workers Are Getting Slammed With Higher Health Care Costs
 

Americans are extremely cost sensitive, especially in the health sector, and take notice of how fast their costs go up, says ACSI managing director David VanAmburg.

Obamacare also plays an indirect role. Providers are unable to keep up with customer service as more people purchase insurance, he says. And many insurers haven’t beefed up their staffing to deal with the increase in demand. As insurers become responsible for more consumers, they may need to recalibrate, VanAmburg says.

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Opinion Obama Has Decimated His Own Party Unlike Any Other Modern President 913 lost legislature seats. 11 lost governorships. And a partridge in a pear tree. By Ashe Schow • 11/13/15 1:27pm Comment NEWARK, NJ - NOVEMBER 02: U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at the Rutgers University-Newark S.I. Newhouse Center for Law and Justice on November 2, 2015 in Newark, New Jersey. Obama spoke on the difficulties formerly-incarcerated people face when re-entering society after serving time in prison and new initiatives to help support those going through the process. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images) President Barack Obama (Photo: Andrew Burton/Getty Images) Last week concluded the final election of President Obama’s tenure that didn’t involve replacing him. After seven years in office and as many elections, the Democratic Party has taken a beating worse than the Republican Party took under George W. Bush. On nearly every level of government, Democrats have lost more seats under Mr. Obama than under any other two-term modern president dating back to Dwight Eisenhower. (This includes the dual presidencies of John F. Kennedy/Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon/Gerald Ford.) Under Mr. Obama, Democrats have lost 13 net Senate seats, 69 House seats, 11 governorships, a whopping 913 state legislature seats and 30 state legislature chambers, according to analysis from the Washington Post. That makes Mr. Obama the overseer of the biggest loss in Senate seats, House seats and state legislature seats of any of the past seven two-term presidencies, the second biggest loser of state legislature chambers (Mr. Nixon/Mr. Ford lost 31 to Mr. Obama’s 30) and fourth biggest loser of governorships (tied with Bill Clinton). Read More Here

Opinion

Obama Has Decimated His Own Party Unlike Any Other Modern President

913 lost legislature seats. 11 lost governorships. And a partridge in a pear tree.

By Ashe Schow • 11/13/15 1:27pm

 

 

Comment

President Barack Obama (Photo: Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

Last week concluded the final election of President Obama’s tenure that didn’t involve replacing him. After seven years in office and as many elections, the Democratic Party has taken a beating worse than the Republican Party took under George W. Bush.

On nearly every level of government, Democrats have lost more seats under Mr. Obama than under any other two-term modern president dating back to Dwight Eisenhower. (This includes the dual presidencies of John F. Kennedy/Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon/Gerald Ford.)

Under Mr. Obama, Democrats have lost 13 net Senate seats, 69 House seats, 11 governorships, a whopping 913 state legislature seats and 30 state legislature chambers, according to analysis from the Washington Post.

That makes Mr. Obama the overseer of the biggest loss in Senate seats, House seats and state legislature seats of any of the past seven two-term presidencies, the second biggest loser of state legislature chambers (Mr. Nixon/Mr. Ford lost 31 to Mr. Obama’s 30) and fourth biggest loser of governorships (tied with Bill Clinton).

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Germany's foreign intelligence agency, the BND, monitored European and American government ministries and the Vatican - SPIEGEL

Governments and NGOs: Germany Spied on Friends and Vatican

 

Efforts to spy on friends and allies by Germany's foreign intelligence agency, the BND, were more extensive than previously reported. SPIEGEL has learned the agency monitored European and American government ministries and the Vatican.

 

DPA

 

The BND's listening station in Bad Aibling, Bavaria: In addition to spying on friends, German intelligence also monitored Oxfam, Care International and the Red Cross.

 

Three weeks ago, news emerged that Germany's foreign intelligence service, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), had systematically spied on friends and allies around the world. In many of those instances, the BND had been doing so of its own accord and not at the request of the NSA. The BND came under heavy criticism earlier this year after news emerged that it had assisted the NSA in spying on European institutions, companies and even Germans using dubious selector data.

SPIEGEL has since learned from sources that the spying went further than previously reported. Since October's revelations, it has emerged that the BND spied on the United States Department of the Interior and the interior ministries of EU member states including Poland, Austria, Denmark and Croatia. The search terms used by the BND in its espionage also included communications lines belonging to US diplomatic outposts in Brussels and the United Nations in New York. The list even included the US State Department's hotline for travel warnings.



Read More Here

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REUTERS

World | Wed Nov 11, 2015 9:24am EST

Related: World, Germany

 

Germany seeks clarity on whether spy agency snooped on own diplomat

BERLIN

 

Germany's BND foreign intelligence service spied on a German diplomat, possibly violating the constitution, and on allies including French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, a German radio station reported on Wednesday.

Officials firmly declined to comment on the report, but the parliamentary committee that oversees intelligence agencies was due to meet later in the day with the issue to be discussed.

The report by the Berlin-based rbb Inforadio was the latest twist in a growing scandal over the activities of Germany's BND stemming from revelations in 2013 by U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden.

Without identifying its sources, rbb said the BND had monitored German Hansjoerg Haber, from 2008-2011 head of the EU's observer mission in Georgia and then a senior diplomat in Brussels. He is now head of the EU's mission in Turkey and married to a state secretary in the Interior Ministry.
The BND declined to comment. A government spokeswoman, quizzed for about 20 minutes at a regular news conference, declined to comment on the report directly and said the oversight body worked "without discussing everything in public".



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France

‘Nothing surprising’ about Germany spying on France

 

© AFP archive | French President François Hollande with German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Text by FRANCE 24 

Latest update : 2015-11-13

No one should be surprised that Germany’s foreign intelligence service spied on French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, a former French Air Force intelligence officer told FRANCE 24 Friday.

 

Berlin public radio reported this week that the BND intelligence service had listened in on its French allies, prompting a show of indignation from French President François Hollande.

"We ask that all the information be given to us," Hollande said Thursday on the sidelines of a migration summit in Malta. "These kinds of practices should not go on between allies.”

"I know that the chancellery will do everything it can to explain the circumstances to us in detail,” he added, saying he had been assured that such spying "had completely stopped".

According to former French Air Force intelligence officer Alain Charret, who is a member of the French Intelligence Research Centre (CF2R) thinktank, Hollande’s show of outrage is just hot air designed to calm public opinion.

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On Monday, officers from the Los Angeles Police Department took down a man for “acting bizarrely and standing in traffic.”

Sputnik

 

Los Angeles Cops Shoot, Kill Man for ‘Acting Bizarrely’

© Flickr/ John Liu

US

23:17 10.11.2015(updated 23:18 10.11.2015) 

 

Officers were called to the scene in Lake Balboa shortly after 1:00 PM over reports of the man acting strangely, though no specifics were given other than the fact that he was in the roadway.

LAPD Lieutenant John Jenal says a police helicopter flew overhead as officers arrived on the scene and used Tasers on the man “in an effort to de-escalate the situation,” before shooting at him with beanbag rounds.

The man, who is described as Latino and in his mid-30s, apparently did not comply, so they shot him to death. The department is now looking into whether he was on drugs, under the influence of alcohol, or had mental health issues.

Activists, critics, and residents of Los Angeles have asserted that his mental health is likely something that should have been considered before using lethal force on him.

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Putin Makes Obama an Offer He Can’t Refuse

CounterPunch

October 29, 2015

by Mike Whitney

Why is John Kerry so eager to convene an emergency summit on Syria now when the war has been dragging on for four and a half years?

Is he worried that Russia’s air campaign is wiping out too many US-backed jihadis and sabotaging Washington’s plan to topple Syrian President Bashar al Assad?

You bet, he is. No one who’s been following events in Syria for the last three weeks should have any doubt about what’s really going on.  Russia has been methodically wiping
out Washington’s mercenaries on the ground while recapturing large swathes of land that had been lost to the terrorists.  That, in turn, has strengthened Assad’s position in Damascus and left the administration’s policy in tatters.  And that’s why Kerry wants another meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pronto even though the two diplomats met less than a week ago.   The Secretary of State is hoping to cobble together some kind of makeshift deal that will stop the killing and salvage what’s left of Uncle Sam’s threadbare Syrian project.

On Tuesday, Reuters reported that Iran had been invited to the confab which will be held in Vienna on Thursday.  The announcement is bound to be ferociously criticized on Capital Hill, but it just shows to what extent Russia is currently setting the agenda. It was Lavrov who insisted that Iran be invited, and it was Kerry who reluctantly capitulated. Moscow is now in the drivers seat.

And don’t be surprised if the summit produces some pretty shocking results too, like a dramatic 180 on Washington’s “Assad must go” demand.   As Putin has pointed out many times before, Assad’s not going anywhere. He’s going to be a part of Syria’s “transitional governing body”  when the Obama team finally agrees to the Geneva Communique which is the political track that will eventually end the fighting, restore security, and allow millions of refugees to return to their homes.

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First Senate Agricultural Committee Meeting in 10 Years Cheers GMOs, Ignores Dangers

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Is there a conflict of interest?

 

 

by Christina Sarich
Posted on October 27, 2015

 

 

The U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry held a biotechnology hearing for the first time in 10 years last week to discuss the future of food technology as the industry responds to increased demand, production challenges, and consumers’ calls for a safe and transparent food supply. But the meeting came up short on transparency and carried on more like a Monsanto share-holders meeting than an unbiased inquiry into the pros and cons of biotechnology where it concerns the food supply.

Senator after senator praised biotechnology and genetically modified foods, claiming they had ‘come a long way’ in ten years. Pamela Bailey, president and CEO of the Grocery Manufacturers Association said:

“The Senate Agriculture hearing reaffirmed the broad consensus among scientists and regulators that GMOs are safe and highlighted the real world negative impacts a patchwork of state labeling mandates will have on farmers, businesses and consumers. Action by Congress is urgently needed this year to pass a national, uniform labeling standard.”

The senate hearing was scheduled shortly after the US House of Representatives passed the “Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015,” otherwise known as the DARK Act (Deny Americans the Right to Know) by a vote of 275-150.

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