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The Obama administration is touting a provocative proposal to give a medical advisory council the power to help decide the scope of coverage that would be eligible for reimbursement under Medicare.
Administration officials say the proposed council would improve health care quality and control costs. But some health care industry groups object to the proposal, saying such a council would not be qualified to make those judgments.

This council would consist of doctors and health care experts who make recommendations based on extensive data and analysis of best health care practices, according to administration officials.

Proponents believe the approach would improve care and eliminate some wasteful spending by doctors who are now paid separately for each visit and procedure they authorize. Instead, this council could recommend, for example, a comprehensive approach to treat a patient with chronic heart condition or high cholesterol.

The administration says that by encouraging doctors to follow this type of plan, the government will save money by cutting unnecessary treatments and procedures. The council's recommendations would then go to the commission overseeing Medicare to determine the specific procedures and the actual reimbursement amount.

"It is not an exercise in just cutting reimbursement rates. In fact, in some cases, we may need higher reimbursement rates for certain aspects," President Obama said at a town hall meeting in Shaker Heights, Ohio, on Thursday.

The members of the proposed Independent Medicare Advisory Council would study different procedures and make recommendations.

Administration officials though say this council will not make decisions about what coverage a patient gets.

Still, opponents view this proposal as "big brother" dictating medical treatment.

The conservative Heritage Foundation describes the initiative as being "the equivalent of a federal health board determining how health care was rationed for all seniors."
The administration counters that doctors still will have flexibility to decide the best course of treatment depending on the individual patient but would be guided to a preferred course of action.

Doctors would have a set amount of money, or "bundle," to deal with each patient's problem instead of receiving money for each visit, test and procedure performed. Patients still would have the option of paying for more expensive procedures but would have to pick up the costs above what is deemed reimbursable by Medicare.

"Right now, if a hospital is reimbursed for the number of tests that it does, then that may not give them much of an incentive to make their system more efficient so that, once you take that first test and you've gone in the hospital, then you end up having that test sent around to everybody so you don't have to take five more tests," Obama told the Ohio audience.

Kevin Bohn and Jessica Yellin
CNN
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President Obama reached out to Africa on Saturday with a wide-ranging address praising the continent's steady achievements, but he called its persistent violent conflicts "a millstone around Africa's neck."

"Despite the progress that has been made -- and there has been considerable progress in parts of Africa -- we also know that much of that promise has yet to be fulfilled," Obama said in a speech to the parliament of Ghana, a western African nation seen as a model of democracy and growth for the rest of the continent.

Ghana was the first sub-Saharan nation to gain independence, in 1957, and Obama continually cited the nation during his speech for its stability, political strides and painstaking economic progress. Its stability stands in contrast to other hot spots on the continent, such as Zimbabwe, where the society is in economic and political turmoil; Sudan, where fighting rages in the Darfur region; and Somalia, where a shaky transitional government is now battling an Islamic insurgency.

Ghana, with a population of 24 million, was once a major slave trading center. Obama visited the Cape Coast Castle, a British outpost where slaves were held until shipped overseas, along with his daughters. Watch Obama's remark after touring Cape Coast Castle »

"I think it was particularly important for Malia and Sasha, who are being raised in a very blessed way, that history can take some cruel turns," he said. "And hopefully, one of the things that was imparted to them during this trip is their sense of obligation to fight oppression and cruelty wherever it appears."

Obama, whose father was Kenyan, compared the history to that of the Holocaust, Nazi Germany's efforts to exterminate the Jews of Europe during World War II.

"It's one of those things that you don't forget about," he told CNN in an interview scheduled to air Monday on "Anderson Cooper 360."

"I think it's important that the way we think about it, the way it's taught, is not one in which there's simply a victim and a victimizer, and that's the end of the story," he said. "I think the way it has to be thought about, the reason it's relevant, is whether it's what's happening in Darfur or what's happening in the Congo or what's happening in too many places around the world, the capacity for cruelty still exists." Watch how Ghana is celebrating the Obamas' visit »

But he told lawmakers that Ghana now shows "a face of Africa that is too often overlooked by a world that sees only tragedy or the need for charity." While the nation-building the country exemplifies may lack "drama of the 20th century's liberation struggles," he said "it will ultimately be more significant."

As he has in past remarks, including his Cairo address last month about U.S.-Muslim relations, Obama stressed the superiority of governments that "respect the will of their own people," saying they foster more prosperity and stability than governments that don't. Watch Obama deliver speech to Ghanaian lawmakers »

"No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20 percent off the top, or the head of the Port Authority is corrupt," he said. "No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery. That is not democracy, that is tyranny, even if occasionally you sprinkle an election in there."

Even Kenya, his father's homeland, continues to struggle with tribalism and corruption, he said. That eastern African nation "had a per-capita economy larger than South Korea's when I was born" and now, he says, it has been "badly outpaced."

But he said Kenya has restored stability after the violence that followed the disputed 2007 election. South Africa has had high voter turnout in recent elections, and Zimbabwe's Election Support Network has defended the right to vote. Watch report on Ghanaians' reaction to Obama's remarks »

"Make no mistake: history is on the side of these brave Africans, and not with those who use coups or change constitutions to stay in power. Africa doesn't need strongmen, it needs strong institutions," he said. He said his administration will work "to support those who act responsibly and to isolate those who don't, and that is exactly what America will do."

As for the economy and opportunity, he said African nations need to stop focusing on one particular commodity, such as oil or cocoa, and "promote multiple export industries, develop a skilled work force, and create space for small and medium-sized businesses that create jobs."

He cited "our $3.5 billion food security initiative" and said "new methods and technologies for farmers -- not simply sending American producers or goods to Africa" is what is needed. See where Ghana is located »

Obama also made reference to climate and energy challenges, saying the developed world should work with Africa to confront such problems. He said Africa has much potential to exploit its wind and solar power and geothermal energy and biofuels.

"When children are being killed because of a mosquito bite, and mothers are dying in childbirth, then we know that more progress must be made."

He said his administration has committed $63 billion to fight disease, praising the "strong efforts" of his predecessor, George W. Bush. Watch Ed Henry's report Obama's emotional visit to Africa »

Obama welcomed efforts by the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States to help resolve conflict. He said the United States "will stand behind efforts to hold war criminals accountable" and that the Pentagon's Africa Command will fight "common challenges to advance the security of America, Africa and the world." Watch Obama's remarks as his visit to Ghana concludes »

"We all have many identities -- of tribe and ethnicity; of religion and nationality. But defining oneself in opposition to someone who belongs to a different tribe, or who worships a different prophet, has no place in the 21st century," he said.

Forced abortions. Mass sterilization. A “Planetary Regime” with the power of life and death over American citizens.

The tyrannical fantasies of a madman? Or merely the opinions of the person now in control of science policy in the United States? Or both?

These ideas (among many other equally horrifying recommendations) were put forth by John Holdren, whom Barack Obama has recently appointed Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, and Co-Chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology — informally known as the United States’ Science Czar. In a book Holdren co-authored in 1977, the man now firmly in control of science policy in this country wrote that:

* Women could be forced to abort their pregnancies, whether they wanted to or not;

* The population at large could be sterilized by infertility drugs intentionally put into the nation’s drinking water or in food;

* Single mothers and teen mothers should have their babies seized from them against their will and given away to other couples to raise;

* People who “contribute to social deterioration” (i.e. undesirables) “can be required by law to exercise reproductive responsibility” — in other words, be compelled to have abortions or be sterilized.

* A transnational “Planetary Regime” should assume control of the global economy and also dictate the most intimate details of Americans’ lives — using an armed international police force.

Impossible, you say? That must be an exaggeration or a hoax. No one in their right mind would say such things.

Well, I hate to break the news to you, but it is no hoax, no exaggeration. John Holdren really did say those things, and this report contains the proof. Below you will find photographs, scans, and transcriptions of pages in the book Ecoscience, co-authored in 1977 by John Holdren and his close colleagues Paul Ehrlich and Anne Ehrlich. The scans and photos are provided to supply conclusive evidence that the words attributed to Holdren are unaltered and accurately transcribed.

Of course, Holdren wrote these things in the framework of a book he co-authored about what he imagined at the time (late 1970s) was an apocalyptic crisis facing mankind: overpopulation. He felt extreme measures would be required to combat an extreme problem. Whether or not you think this provides him a valid “excuse” for having descended into a totalitarian fantasy is up to you: personally, I don’t think it’s a valid excuse at all, since the crisis he was in a panic over was mostly in his imagination. Totalitarian regimes and unhinged people almost always have what seems internally like a reasonable justification for actions which to the outside world seem incomprehensible.

U.S. President Barack Obama warned Iran on Friday the world will not wait indefinitely for it to end its nuclear defiance, saying Tehran had until September to comply or else face consequences.

Obama, speaking at the end of a G8 summit in Italy, said leaders had sent a message condemning the “appalling” events surrounding Iran’s disputed presidential election and expressing solidarity against Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

He said he hoped Iran would enter negotiations on the issue and that leaders would review the situation again at a G20 meeting of developed and developing countries in Pittsburgh in September.

Matt Spetalnick
The Washington Post
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After the Bush administration in 2001 decided to cut US government funding for the United Nations Population Fund’s China program, the Obama administration is now planning to fill the pockets of the United Nations Population Fund with fresh federal funds once again. Even though recent investigations exposed the UNFPA’s intimate involvement in China’s coercive birth control policies, the new administration apparently cares not, as it allocated $50 million to the eugenicists.
Only days after his inauguration, President Barack Obama announced he would resume funding for the UNFPA and its ‘family planning’ activities in China and elsewhere around the globe. State Department spokesman Robert Wood explained the allocation with the following argumentation:

‘The United States is a global leader in promoting voluntary family planning and the health of vulnerable women and children in the developing world.’

As it turns out, the concept of voluntarism is not easily reconcilable with the Chinese government’s aim of reducing its population. On July 7th, LifeSiteNews.Com reported that UNFPA’s claim that it “played a catalytic role in introducing a voluntary reproductive health approach in China” is patently false. Steven Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute, explained the policies by the Chinese government- partially funded by the UNFPA:

‘Women continue to be arrested for the crime of being pregnant. They continue to be forcibly aborted. Minorities continue to be targeted. The handicapped are forbidden children. These violations of human rights are occurring right under the UNFPA‘s nose. It is ludicrous to suggest that the UN population controllers do not know about them.’

Jurriaan Maessen
Infowars
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