AIG Needs More Allowance

http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/economy/ig/Economic-Cartoons/Future-AIG-Exec.05IT.htm


My Thoughts: I think this is pretty funny because even though AIG got bailed out by the government, they are still trying to get their yearly bonuses. It just shows how greedy people are. If AIG is not doing a good job in the first place I do not think they deserve any type of bonus.

US Senate casts first votes on Obama health plan!

WASHINGTON — The US Senate on Thursday cast its first votes on legislation to enact President Barack Obama's top domestic priority, overhauling US health care, four days into its bitter debate on the plan.

Lawmakers voted 61-39 on an amendment, authored by Democratic Senator Barbara Mikulski, to make it easier for women to get no-cost preventive care including mammograms or annual tests for heart disease.

The vote came after a government advisory task force sparked fears of future rationing of health care by issuing an instantly controversial finding that regular mammograms were not necessary for women under 50.

Senators also defeated a Republican amendment taking aim at the legislation's 400 billion dollars in cuts to the Medicare health plan for the elderly, a key part of paying for the nearly one-trillion-dollar bill.

After months of fractious debate in committee and behind closed doors and a key procedural vote two weeks ago, the Senate finally began its formal consideration of the bill on Monday.

Democrats hope to finish work on the measure this year -- but many votes, and likely Republican delaying tactics, stand in their way.

The White House-backed bill aims to extend coverage to some 31 million Americans out of the roughly 36 million who currently lack it, while curbing soaring costs and improving the quality of care.

The measure includes a government-backed insurance "public option" to compete with private insurers, tough new restrictions on dropping care for pre-existing ailments, and an end on lifetime caps for coverage.

It is estimated to cost 848 billion dollars through 2019 but cut the sky-high US budget deficit by 130 billion dollars over the same period, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

Senate approval of the measure would force the Senate and House of Representatives to reconcile their rival versions of the bill and vote again on whether to send it to Obama.

The United States is the world's richest nation but the only industrialized democracy that does not provide health care coverage to all of its citizens, about 36 million of whom are uninsured.

Washington spends more than double what Britain, France and Germany do per person on health care, but lags behind other countries in life expectancy and infant mortality, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/


My thoughts: I think that Obama's health plan should not be passed because it sounds like a good idea now but not when it is going to cost us 848 billion dollars by 2019. That means taxes will go up. Our kids will have to pay for most of it. Just think about it, would you have wanted your parents to pass a plan that would include you paying off 848 billion dollars?

Obama Needs Help!

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- President Barack Obama on Thursday said he'd look into giving businesses more tax incentives to add employees, as leaders from Corporate America, labor and academia offered up ideas for creating jobs at a White House jobs summit.

Obama called new tax breaks for businesses "an idea we think is worthy of further consideration" at the end of the summit, which drew about 130 participants. He also said that there was unanimous agreement on growing U.S. exports and said that too many businesses still can't get the credit they need to expand.

"We are going to have to unlock that," he said.

With U.S. unemployment at a 26-year high and pressure on Obama's party to address the situation as an election year dawns, Obama's administration is considering a number of job creation proposals but does not want to expand the deficit significantly.

Obama said he heard ideas for job growth including protecting intellectual property and upgrading worker training programs.

He opened the summit on Thursday with a stark message to businesses, saying that only they can hasten an economic recovery and that the government's resources are limited due to the U.S. budget deficit.

"I want to be clear," Obama said at the outset of the summit. "While I believe that government has a critical role in creating the conditions for economic growth, ultimately, true economic recovery is only going to come from the private sector," Obama said.

"We don't have enough public dollars to fill the hole of private dollars that was created as a consequence of the crisis," Obama said.

The summit took place a day ahead of the release of the latest U.S. employment data, which is expected to show yet another month of job losses. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch forecast that the economy shed 100,000 jobs in November. It would be the 23rd consecutive month of job losses. See Economic Calendar.

In a shot at Obama and Democrats, Republicans held a counter-event before the start of the White House's gathering. House Republican Leader John Boehner invited a group of conservative economists to his office Thursday morning for advice on creating jobs.

Boehner also faulted the White House's agenda for climate change and health care.

"The American people are asking, 'where are the jobs?' but all they are getting from Washington Democrats is more spending, more debt and more policies that hurt small businesses," he said.

Organized labor, meanwhile, is asking the president to support a wide-ranging package of funding for infrastructure projects, direct aid to state and local government and extensions of unemployment and COBRA benefits.

"The summit will only mean something if it triggers an urgent round of actions to create American jobs," said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on Thursday.
Robert Schroeder is a reporter for MarketWatch in Washington.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/obama-opens-job-summit-with-appeal-to-businesses-2009-12-03-145000

My Thoughts: I think it is good that Obama is finally addressing the unemployment situation. Hopefully he can get a team together to come up with new ideas on developing new jobs. I think the idea about reducing taxes on businesses to hire new people is a good idea and should deeply consider it.