Sep 4, 2011

Ragbag Headliners

Beware! The Tea Party Is Coming After Your Medicare

Watch out! They’re back!

They are riding into every town, every village, every hamlet.  No one is safe. Congress has come home.

The debt ceiling is raised and Standard and Poors has trashed our nation’s credit rating, thanks to the intransigent Republican Party refusing to raise revenues (S&P Global Credit Report, p. 4).

But the What, Me Worry? crowd is riding home, feeling victorious with Washington scalps in their collective belt. The S&P be damned.

Not satisfied with nearly tanking the economy worldwide and devaluing your assets, the Right Wing is on the warpath once more.

This time the scalp they want is Medicare. Your Medicare.

Last April Americans told the Tea Party and their handmaidens, the Republican Party, that they thought the Ryan Plan for so-called Medicare reform stunk. Republicans backed off fast, especially when it started costing them special elections in Republican districts.

Yes, yes, we get it, they told us. Medicare is sacrosanct, wink, wink.  Probably had their fingers crossed behind their back too.

THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW

However, Republicans are once again feeling like warriors. As Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told CBS News, “I got 98% of what I wanted.”

Didn’t the Republicans just take down the President? Didn’t they force the Democrats to their knees? Didn’t they dangle the economy over the Grand Canyon, saying, “Come one step closer and it’s bye-bye Miss American Pie”? -Read More At The Washington Times

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Indiana College Not Playing The National Anthem Sparks Debate

Visiting fans who attend a basketball game, or any sporting event, at Goshen College this season may be surprised by the patriotic song they hear over the loudspeakers minutes before tipoff.

The Northern Indiana school has decided to play "America the Beautiful" prior to sporting events instead of the "Star-Spangled Banner" because the lyrics better fit the pacifist ideals of a Mennonite campus whose motto is "Healing the World, Peace by Peace."

Adopting "America the Beautiful" is Goshen president James E. Brenneman's attempt to end a debate over the national anthem that has engulfed his school for almost two years.

Goshen College had never played the national anthem before a sporting event until March 2010 when the school began playing an instrumental version at the urging of Brenneman. In a lengthy statement explaining the change in policy, Brenneman said, "I am committed to retaining the best of what it means to be a Mennonite college, while opening the doors wider to all who share our core values."

The practice of playing the national anthem before games was immediately controversial among the 1,000-person student body, 58 percent of which belong to the Mennonite faith built on pacifism and global citizenship. Complaints from students and alumni eventually caused school officials to put an end to the short-lived ritual of playing the anthem at sporting events in June.

What bothered many at Goshen College about the "Star-Spangled Banner" was imagery from the War of 1812 that Francis Scott Key included. Goshen spokesman Richard R. Aguirre told the Chicago Tribune that lyrics such as "the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air" were "inconsistent to the entire message we were trying to send."

Seeking a compromise that would satisfy both factions at his school, Brenneman considered numerous patriotic songs before announcing last Friday that "America the Beautiful" would be the replacement for the national anthem at Goshen. In a statement released that day, Brenneman explained his choice by pointing out that it's easily recognizable, it honors the country and it fits with Goshen's core values.

"Though some may or may not agree with the alternative recommended here, I call now on each one of us to move beyond this decision and turn our attention to other important matters before us," Brenneman said. "May God help Goshen College become one of the most welcoming places on earth for all who come to our campus."

Brenneman's attempt at compromise may have satisfied some students and alumni, but the decision has sparked protest and derision from many outsiders.

"Goshen College should be banned from NCAA competition until they start playing the National Anthem again," one man tweeted. Wrote another, "I don't agree w/Goshen College decision but it's America and it's cool for them to do what they want.." -rivals.com

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Tobacco Giants Suing FDA Over Warning Labels Mandate

Five tobacco companies, including some of the largest in the United States, filed a lawsuit against the federal government on Tuesday, alleging that government-mandated graphic warning labels on cigarette packages unconstitutionally infringe on the companies' rights.

"The primary complaint is that we think it violates the First Amendment for the government to require people who produce a lawful product to essentially urge prospective purchasers not to buy it," says Floyd Abrams, a prominent First Amendment case expert who's representing the plaintiffs.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, pits R.J. Reynolds, Lorillard, Commonwealth, Liggett, and Santa Fe Natural Tobacco against the Food and Drug Administration, its chief, Margaret Hamburg, and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Gallery: The new cigarette warning labels Click Here

In June, the FDA unveiled nine new warning labels, complete with graphic photos and the phone number 1-800-QUIT-NOW. FDA regulations say that starting in September, 2012, half of each cigarette package will have to display one of those new labels.

Abrams says the tobacco companies don't have a problem with the written wording required by the latest FDA ruling.

"The government has lot of power to require warnings, but it doesn't require half of a cigarette pack to scream out, 'Don't buy this product!," the New York-based attorney says. "What is at issue is putting photographs of diseased people on every cigarette pack, include a phone number, and ask people to stop smoking. It's the direct advocacy to not buy the product, as opposed to a straightforward warning."

Abrams says it's likely his clients will seek some sort of preliminary injunction against the warning labels before the statute goes into effect next year.

"[We're] seeking resolution prior to that, in light of all the funds that would need to be expended changing current warnings to the level of screaming at prospective purchasers not to buy the product," Abrams says.

An FDA spokeswoman said in a statement that the agency "does not comment on proposed, pending or ongoing litigation."

Tobacco use is the leading cause of premature and preventable death in the United States, and it claims almost half a million lives each year, according to the FDA website.

The more prominent cigarette health warnings are the first time those warnings have been revised in 25 years and "are a significant advancement in communicating the dangers of smoking... expected to have a significant public health impact by decreasing the number of smokers, resulting in lives saved, increased life expectancy, and lower medical costs," the FDA website says. –CNN Health

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