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Posts Tagged ‘president’

With more and more people out of work these days, the question repeatedly arises…what to do about one’s health insurance policy?The numbers of people on unemployment or using food stamps are at record highs, and quotes Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio as saying, “This shows why — no matter how bad the condition of the economy — we can’t delay pursuing comprehensive health care.”

Looking at a real case of workers from a cookie plant in Ohio that abruptly closed in October, and this company also failed to pay for its employee’s health insurance benefits for its final month. This has put not only the former company, but its former workers, in dire straits. People are not getting the care they need, not taking their medicine as often to save money, and the dozens of other little things the uninsured do to survive.

In certain cases, COBRA is not an option for people laid off from jobs. In many cases the reasoning for this is due to the fact that the cost of full premium for health care insurance is too high of a burden to handle. These losses are also taking its affect on hospitals as well. When it was once believed that the health care industry was immune to downturns in the economy, it appears that people are now not able to afford health care, and as a result, the health care industry is taking a hit on revenues.

Hopefully president-elect Obama’s claim to want to provide universal and comprehensive health insurance comes through, because people like this certainly could use all the help they could get.

CBS news has an article entitled, “Surviving A Layoff,” in which they give tips on how to survive getting laid off from your job. These tips include getting a letter of recommendation from your former employer, acquiring unemployment and so on. On the matter of health insurance, the article recommends getting a COBRA or individual health care plan in order to keep your health insurance coverage active. Again, the challenge that many face is the high cost of individual plans or COBRA. For many, they will go without insurance until they can get another job.

Forbes recently published an article, “Factors to consider when buying a health insurance.” Finding health insurance is something one should do for themselves or their family once they’re laid off. According to the article, several factors should be taken into account when searching for your own health insurance coverage. These factors include your own needs (prescription drugs, out of network doctors, etc), out of pocket costs, how high the co-payments are, the quality of care and so on. When you are trying to manage without an income, if purchasing short term or individual insurance, taking a higher deductible may make sense if you feel that your insurance needs will be minimal, and infrequent. Take a look at government sponsored plans, and welfare plans.

Losing a job is never a good thing. Knowing that we are in turbulent times, it may make sense to start saving and building up a reserve to hold over in the event of an unplanned job loss. Preventative medicine is also a good idea. Take care of your self now, and minimize the long term health needs that may arise from neglect.Learn more about health insurance ratings and visit healthinsuranceonlinenow.com to find out more about health insurance ratings online and clean red widgets.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been sworn in for a second five-year term following his disputed victory in fraud-marred presidential elections.

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai (L) takes the presidential oath besides Afghanistan’s Chief Justice Abdul Salam Azimi during his inauguration at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, 19 Nov 2009

The inauguration was held Thursday at the presidential palace in the capital Kabul.

Addressing hundreds of foreign dignitaries and Afghan leaders at the ceremony, President Karzai vowed to tackle government corruption, calling it a “dangerous enemy of the state.”

Mr. Karzai has faced intense Western pressure to fight corruption and improve government accountability. He promised to select “competent,” “expert” ministers and vowed to take action against those who are stepping over the country’s laws and constitution.

U.S President Barack Obama is calling on North Korea to return to nuclear talks and he is warning of possible new sanctions on Iran.

US President Barack Obama speaks during joint statement to media with Chinese President Hu Jintao at Great Hall of the People in Beijing, 17 Nov 2009

President Barack Obama says he will announce his highly anticipated decision on U.S. strategy in Afghanistan over the next several weeks. The president says the decision will put the United States and its NATO allies on a path toward winning the war.

During his visit to Beijing Wednesday, President Obama told NBC television his long-awaited decision on Afghanistan will address every aspect of U.S. strategy in the war.

“I am confident that at the end of this process I am going to be able to present to the American people, in very clear terms, what exactly is at stake, what we intend to do, how we are going to succeed, how much it is going to cost, how long it is going to take,” he said.

The president said he wants to ensure that when U.S. forces eventually finish their mission, they will leave behind a stable Afghanistan.

“Creating a situation in which our footprint is smaller and Afghan security forces can do the job of keeping their country together,” he said. “They are not there yet. They need help from us, and that is exactly what our strategy is going to be designed to do.”

A new Quinnipiac University poll shows that Americans’ support for the war in Afghanistan continues to slip. Of the voters questioned in the past week, 48 percent said fighting the war is the right thing to do, down from 52 percent in early October.

Mr. Obama’s overall job approval rating has dipped below 50 percent for the first time in his presidency, to 48 percent.

In the NBC interview, the president also defended Attorney General Eric Holder’s recent decision to prosecute Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the man accused of plotting the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and four co-conspirators in a federal civilian court in New York City.

U.S. President Barack Obama says his administration is presenting “very clear benchmarks” for the Afghan government to secure the war-torn country.

Mr. Obama did not elaborate on those measures during an interview with CNN, saying only that the U.S. has a vital interest in making sure that Afghanistan is “sufficiently stable.”

The president has promised a decision soon on if or how he will reinforce the nearly 68,000 U.S. troops fighting militants in Afghanistan.

The United States says it is dismayed that Israel has authorized the
construction of new housing units in occupied east Jerusalem.

A Palestinian boy in the yard of his house in front of a new housing development in east Jerusalem’s Jewish Har Homa neighborhood, 21 Sep 2009

Israel has approved construction of 900 new units in mostly
Arab east Jerusalem despite objections by the United States and the
Palestinians.

Speaking to reporters at the U.S. State
Department, spokesman Ian Kelly says the Obama administration is deeply
disappointed by the Israeli decision.

“We
believe that neither party should engage in any kind of actions that
could unilaterally preempt or appear to preempt negotiations. I think
that we find the Jerusalem planning committee’s decision to move
forward on the approval process for the expansion of Gilo in Jerusalem
as dismaying,” said Kelly.

U.S.
officials have put pressure on the Israeli government to halt
construction of settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Israel annexed east Jerusalem following the 1967 Middle East war in a move that is not recognized internationally.

Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas says peace talks cannot resume until Israel
freezes building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

So far, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has only offered a limited reduction in new building.

Kelly says the latest move hurts U.S. efforts to get both sides back to the negotiating table.

“This
is at a time when we are working to relaunch negotiations and we
believe that these actions make it more difficult for our efforts to
succeed. So we object to this and we object to other Israeli practices
in Jerusalem related to housing, including the continuing pattern of
evictions and demolitions of Palestinian homes,” Kelly said.

About 180,000 Israelis live in Jewish settlements built around east Jerusalem.

Israel insists east Jerusalem is part of Israel and rejects efforts to restrict building there.

Palestinians want east Jerusalem to be the capital of a future state they hope to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

U.S. policy says the status of Jerusalem must be resolved through negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Former Czech President Vaclav Havel (background center) attends a group of people lighting candles and laying flowers as they commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in Prague, Czech Republic, 17 Nov 2009

Thousands of people took to the streets of the Czech capital Prague on Tuesday to mark the 20th anniversary of the mass demonstrations that led to the collapse of communist rule in what was Czechoslovakia.

Africa’s climate summit negotiators say they are discouraged by the outlook for next month’s Copenhagen talks, but will insist on a political deal that meets their demands. Members of Africa’s negotiating team met to finalize a continental strategy for the talks.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi (file photo)

Their hopes for a legally-binding climate treaty in Copenhagen have been dashed, but Africa’s climate-summit negotiators remain undaunted. The lead negotiator, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, says the same goals could be achieved by a political deal that leads to a treaty in the near future.

“While Africa’s preference continues to be to come up with a full fledged treaty agreed in Copenhagen, nevertheless Africa may be prepared to engage the international community with a view to coming up with a binding political agreement that addresses all the key issues … and that is followed as soon as possible with negotiations on such a treaty,” he said.

Diplomats say a legally-binding treaty could be signed at a followup meeting next year in Mexico City.

Prime Minister Meles’s comments came during a meeting of the committee of 10 heads of state named to present a unified voice for Africa in Copenhagen. Two of the others, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, were also present, along with African Union Commission Chairman Jean Ping. The other seven were represented by ambassadors.

Mr. Meles says Africa’s summit demands will focus on lowering emissions and compensating African countries for damages caused by climate change.

“First we need to make sure global warming does not go beyond the unavoidable two degrees, and that carbon emissions peak by, at the latest 2020,” he said. “The second key point is adaptation, compensation for the damage caused by the developed countries to the prospects of growth in Africa and other poor countries. Here again we have identified a number of key points with regard to institutional mechanism for delivery of this money. With regards to the quantity of the money and the quality of the money.”

The Ethiopian leader declined to say how much compensation Africa would demand, but said the negotiators had agreed on a minimum bargaining position.

“There are many calculations made, including the 100 billion per annum dollar mark as of 2020 that has been set by many calculators, experts,” he said. “We will look at all possibilities, we will be very flexible on the figures, but we have set a minimum beyond which we will not go. And I am sure you will understand I would not be in a position to tell you what that figure is.”

Whatever slim hopes there had been for an early climate deal vanished Sunday when world leaders attending an Asia-Pacific summit agreed to extend the negotiating process. Talks leading up to the summit had been stalled by disagreements between developed and emerging economies on binding emissions targets.

US President Barack Obama speaks during joint statement to media with Chinese President Hu Jintao at Great Hall of the People in Beijing, 17 Nov 2009

U.S. President Barack Obama says Iran will face consequences if it fails to show its nuclear program is peaceful and transparent.

President Obama told reporters in Beijing Tuesday that the U.S and China agree that Iran must provide assurance of its peaceful intentions to the international community.

China and the U.S. are among six world powers (known as the P5+1) seeking a negotiated end to Iran’s nuclear program.

Mr. Obama said Sunday that Iran is running out of time to respond to a U.N.-backed proposal to ship its low-enriched uranium to Russia for further processing.

Indian media reports quote Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki as saying Tehran would take a positive view of the plan as long as the uranium swap happens inside Iran.

Mr. Mottaki was quoted as saying Iran is not willing to send its own nuclear fuel out of the country before receiving the fuel for its Tehran nuclear reactor.

The United Nations nuclear agency says it is concerned Iran may still be hiding facilities and details related to its nuclear program.

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report Monday said Iran’s delayed disclosure of the uranium processing plant near the city of Qom raises questions about the possibility of other undisclosed activities.

Western nations accuse Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, but Iran says its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity.

The U.N. Security Council has already imposed three sets of sanctions on Iran for its refusal to stop its enrichment activities.

On Tuesday, Iran temporarily boosted its gasoline production to show the West it can cope with sanctions targeting its fuel imports. Iran’s oil minister said the move to raise output by 14 million liters a day aims to show Western powers that they cannot use fuel sanctions as a tool against the Islamic republic.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

Palestinian leaders say they are pushing efforts to have the U.N. Security Council endorse the creation of a Palestinian state out of frustration over the stalled peace process.