Weekly remarks: GOP Sen. George LeMieux and President Obama debate healthcare

(UPDATE: 12:44 p.m. An updated postscript has been added to the end of this item.)

Weekly remarks by President Obama, as prepared by the White House:

The historic movement to bring real, meaningful health insurance reform to the American people gathered momentum this week as we approach the final days of this debate. Having worked on this issue for the better part of a year, the Senate Finance Committee is finishing deliberations on their version of a health insurance reform bill that will soon be merged with other reform bills produced by other Congressional committees.

 

After evaluating the Finance Committee’s bill, the Congressional Budget Office – an office that provides independent, nonpartisan analysis – concluded that the legislation would make coverage affordable for millions of Americans who don’t have it today.  It will bring greater security to Americans who have coverage, with new insurance protections.  And, by attacking waste and fraud within the system, it will slow the growth in health care costs, without adding a dime to our deficits.

This is another milestone on what has been a long, hard road toward health insurance reform. In recent months, we’ve heard every side of every argument from both sides of the aisle. And rightly so – health insurance reform is a complex and critical issue that deserves a vigorous national debate, and we’ve had one.  The approach that is emerging includes the best ideas from Republicans and Democrats, and people across the political spectrum.

 

In fact, what’s remarkable is not that we’ve had a spirited debate about health insurance reform, but the unprecedented consensus that has come together behind it. This consensus encompasses everyone from doctors and nurses to hospitals and drug manufacturers.

 

And earlier this week, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg came out in support of reform, joining two former Republican Senate Majority Leaders: Bob Dole and Dr. Bill Frist, himself a cardiac surgeon. Dr. Louis Sullivan, Secretary of Health and Human Services under President George H.W. Bush, supports reform. As does Republican Tommy Thompson, a former Wisconsin governor and Secretary of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush. These distinguished leaders understand

 

Is there a larger story behind reports on those videos of Planned Parenthood and ACORN?

We’ve all heard a lot about those undercover videos and phone calls to ACORN staffers, especially the video of the advocacy group's employees apparently advising a couple posing as a pimp and prostitute on how to avoid taxes as they set up a brothel.

But do frequently aired clips of the videos and recordings tell the whole story?

A sharp-eyed Ticket reader, John Pellizzari, sent an e-mail raising some intriguing issues concerning one of the undercover actions, and we’ll present two versions of the sting operation to let you decide. In this instance, activist James O'Keefe, the one who posed as the pimp, was recording an exchange he had with a staffer at Planned Parenthood.

O’Keefe has conducted sting operations on Planned Parenthood offices to argue that staffers there have been guilty of unethical, even racist, behavior. As the Ticket reported last week, O’Keefe called a Planned Parenthood in Ohio and he asked whether he could direct donations for abortions of African Americans. Referring to an NBC video report on O’Keefe, the Ticket wrote the following:

“Meanwhile, NBC aired audio of O’Keefe during an earlier campaign when he called Planned Parenthood and tried to make a donation to abort African American babies. ‘There’s way too many black people in Ohio, so I’m just trying to do my part,’ he told a staffer. Her response, ‘Whatever.’ Then she hung up.”

Until Pellizzari pointed it out, the Ticket didn’t realize that the conversation continued, even if the NBC report on it did not. Eventually the staffer says, “Well, for whatever reason, we’ll accept the money.”

Give a listen to both versions of the conversation and see what you think. And listen for something printed quotes can’t quite convey: the tone of the staffer’s voice. Is she endorsing his anti-black comments? Is she trying to keep things on a professional level? Or is she a bit perplexed and not sure what to do?

Here’s the NBC report:

Here’s another version of the Ohio conversation, close to the beginning of the video: 

-- Steve Padilla

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ACORN nemesis once targeted Planned Parenthood

The activist filmmaker behind the documentary that toppled ACORN is talking.

James O'Keefe posed as a pimp and covertly filmed ACORN officials discussing how he and Hannah Giles, pretending to be a prostitute, could set up a brothel with underage girls from El Salvador while dodging taxes.

After the movie aired on Andrew Breitbart's website, Congress cut off ACORN's funding. 

Deflecting questions about whether he's a conservative, O'Keefe told NBC News that he was a "progressive radical" who hoped to do more documentary exposés in the future.

Meanwhile, NBC aired audio of O'Keefe during an earlier campaign when he called Planned Parenthood and tried to make a donation to abort African American babies. "There's way too many black people in Ohio, so I'm just trying to do my part," he told a staffer. Her response, "Whatever." Then she hung up.

[For the record: Another version of the phone call with Planned Parenthood shows that the staffer did not hang up and that the conversation continued. Follow this link for a report comparing the NBC report with another audio of the conversation.]

O'Keefe claims he is just trying to root out corruption, but are his tactics fair -- or even legal? ACORN has now sued the pair, and Breitbart, saying they violated Maryland wiretap law.

The issue provoked heated debate last night between Fox News' Bill O'Reilly and House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank . Take a look. 

-- Johanna Neuman

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Calif. Gov. Schwarzenegger seeks state probe of ACORN (Updated)

(UPDATE: 4:48 p.m. California Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger joined a growing chorus of officials today and called on the state's attorney general to launch an investigation into ACORN due to the latest charges of illegal activity by the group, this time in San Bernardino, Calif.

His letter:

Over the past few days, I have seen a series of news stories regarding the ACORN organization that have concerned me greatly. As you may be aware, the most recent report has come out of San Bernardino. 

Given this, I believe it is appropriate that your office launch a full investigation into ACORN’s activities in California. My administration stands ready to assist in any way necessary.

No immediate response from the office of Jerry Brown, a Democrat who used to be governor and would like to return to that office in next year's elections.)

When Barack Obama entered the White House with the idea of moving politics from the nonfunctional, confrontational style that marks Washington to a different, bipartisan approach, he didn’t count on a resurgent conservative movement. After a summer of attacking Obama’s healthcare plans and forcing Obama appointee Van Jones to quit his post as an advisor on green jobs over crude remarks and 9/11 conspiracy beliefs, conservatives, their media allies and a vibrant community of bloggers have turned their attention to ACORN.

The Assn. of Community Organizations for Reform Now is a national group that....

Foes in abortion wars to face off in Nebraska at late-term provider's clinic

The fight over legalized abortion shifted to a new location this week, as forces from both sides of the debate converged on a small Nebraska abortion clinic in Bellevue, south of Omaha.

The clinic’s owner, LeRoy Carhart, was one of several physicians who had traveled each month to Wichita, Kan., to assist George Tiller in his late-term abortion practice. Tiller was gunned down on May 31 in the vestibule of his church. In the wake of the killing, Carhart had vowed to keep Tiller's clinic open and continue to work with medical students who wanted abortion training. Tiller's family decided to close the clinic permanently after his funeral in June.

Operation Rescue, the Wichita-based antiabortion group that ran campaigns of intimidation against Tiller and his staff, has turned its attention to Carhart and his Abortion and Contraception Clinic of Nebraska. The group has launched a campaign called Keep It Closed. Accusing Carhart of unsafe medical practices, it is asking state officials to shut down Carhart’s clinic.

Operation Rescue has filed a complaint against Carhart with the Nebraska attorney general, alleging that his clinic was unsafe. State health officials will not confirm whether they are investigating the clinic, according to the Omaha World-Herald. It is the same tactic the group used against Tiller, who was acquitted in March on misdemeanor criminal charges that he violated Kansas law, which tightly regulates the abortion of fetuses that are deemed viable, or able to live outside the mother’s womb. Tiller specialized in such procedures.

In response to Operation Rescue’s campaign against Carhart, a coalition of groups that supports legal abortion, such as the Feminist Majority and the National Organization for Women, has launched a counter-campaign in support of the burly, outspoken physician.

Both sides held news conferences today, and on Saturday, dozens of abortion supporters and foes plan to demonstrate in front of Carhart's clinic.

“In the wake of the election last November, the extremist wing of the antiabortion movement has made a decision to escalate again,” said Katherine Spillar, of the Feminist Majority Foundation, which held a news conference today in Omaha. “We are going to organize and litigate and pursue every means to make sure that these threats aren’t realized or acted on.”

Operation Rescue President Troy Newman, who is involved in a trademark dispute with Randall Terry over the group's name, has denounced violence against abortion providers, but abortion supporters have castigated him for his harsh language, which they say incites violence. Operation Rescue routinely described Tiller as “Tiller the killer” on its website. The trial of the man accused of killing Tiller, Scott Roeder, is scheduled to begin on Sept. 21 in Wichita. 

Meanwhile, the Boulder Daily Camera reported Wednesday that a 70-year-old man from Spokane, Wash., has been indicted by a federal grand jury for threatening the life of Boulder, Colo., physician Warren Hern, one of a handful of doctors in the country who freely discuss their late-term abortion practices. On June 23, the indictment alleges, Donald Hertz called Hern’s clinic and threatened Hern and his family. If convicted, Hertz faces up to six years in prison and a fine of $350,000.  

-- Robin Abcarian

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Photo: Nikki Krempasky from Brooklyn, N.Y., at a rally outside Dr. LeRoy Carhart's clinic Friday in Bellevue, Neb. Credit: Associated Press

Palin to headline abortion notification event. Or will she?

Tonight's the kickoff for a new Alaska ballot initiative calling for parents to be notified if their child is getting an abortion. Former Gov. Sarah Palin is the headliner, according to the website of the Alaska Family Council, which is helping spearhead the campaign.

Or maybe not. In their latest case of mystery scheduling, Palin's people let it be known that Palin wasn't in Alaska and wasn't going to make it. Where is she? Not clear. Why is she canceling? Unknown. Is she for sure canceling? Ask on -- we don't know.

"We're counting on her," Jim Minnery, president of the Alaska Family Council, told us this morning, shortly after the Anchorage Daily News reported Palin had backed out as headliner. The event is also to feature national antiabortion advocate Star Parker.

"Apparently, there's some word out that there's an unforeseen event that's come up and she may not be able to be there. Of course, that would be a big disappointment for us, and if Gov. Palin is not able to attend, we're sorry. But the focus right now is on the initiative, and to ensure that we get the minimal amount of signatures on the petition."

Palin's spokeswoman, Meghan Stapleton, as a rule doesn't return our calls, e-mails or text messages. But she told the Daily News that Palin was outside Alaska and wouldn't attend. In fact, "this is the first we have ever heard of a speech," she said. This, despite the fact that Palin's photo is displayed prominently on the family council's promotional announcement with the headline, "Former Gov. Palin & Star Parker to Kick Off Campaign."

Town hall anger: Why we rage at our politicians

One day after enduring tirades from constituents in a town-hall meeting that erupted in vein-splitting anger directed at him, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania -- who just switched parties from Republican to Democrat in a state that can turn blue-to-red on a dime -- talked about the experience.

"It's more than healthcare," Specter said on CBS' "The Early Show." "I think there is a mood in America of anger with so many people unemployed, with so much bickering in Washington ... with the fear of losing their healthcare. It all boils over."

The Washington Post's Dan Balz agreed, calling the furor over healthcare reform "a proxy for an even larger fear" that the federal government is taking over the private-sector economy.

Some Democrats -- like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- accuse right-wing organizations of stirring up Tea Party activists with instructions to disrupt rather than debate, calling it "un-American." Texas Democrat Lloyd Doggett, who was peppered with angry questions last week, agrees. "This notion of a grass-roots campaign is totally and completely phony," he said. "The Republican Party has coordinated this apparent outrage and stirred it up."

But Missouri Democrat Claire McCaskill said it was "a huge mistake" for Democrats to call the protests "manufactured." True, she said, "both sides are organizing, but that's what we do in a democracy."

And the organizers insist they only tapped a vein of genuine anger.

"Those inside the Beltway need to know that you can't fake this sort of outrage outside the Beltway," said Max Papas of Freedom Works, one of the groups fanning the protests. "It only happens when they are very concerned about what is going on inside of Washington, and it's a clear sign that people are very concerned."

Whatever the reason, the town-hall meetings around the country on President Obama's healthcare reform  are offering a vivid display of rage.

In Georgia, moderate Democrat David Scott, an African American representing a majority-white district near Atlanta, had a contentious community meeting on healthcare recently. Tuesday, someone marked up a sign directing constituents to his office, defacing it with a swastika.

"We have got to make sure that the symbol of the swastika does not win, that the racial hatred that's bubbling up does not win this debate," Scott said. "There's so much hatred out there for President Obama."

As for McCaskill, at a town hall on Tuesday, voters shouted, frothed and stomped their feet at the centrist politician who is known as a common-sense moderate. At one point, constituents shouted down her explanations so completely that the senator asked if they wanted her to just go home. 

"I don't understand this rudeness," McCaskill said. "I honestly don't get it." Later, when a man shouted over another person's question, the senator said, "This can't be about who's the loudest."

With 20 more town halls scheduled for today, the protests are likely to continue. And maybe that's just the pull of the American tradition of dissent, the right to disagree with your political leaders without fear of retribution.

As Mary Ann Fieser of Hillsboro, Mo., who attended the McCaskill town hall, explained, "If they don't let us vent our frustrations out, they will have a revolution."

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: John Bazemore / Associated Press

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No 'Sister Souljah' moment for Obama at healthcare town hall

It must have been music to the president's ears, a spontaneous crowd rendition of "Yes We Can!" from the crowd of 1,800 at Portsmouth High School in New Hampshire. "I remember that," he said with what sounded like a mixture of nostalgia and rue.

For the rest, President Obama's foray into the turmoil that has roiled town hall meetings across the country was a disappointment.

Outside the hall, protesters were loud and insistent. On a church lawn overlooking the high school, they toted signs that said "Hands Off My Healthcare," "Obamacare, It's to Die For," and "Obamacare, Down the Chute Granny."

But inside, questions were, well, polite. With his poll numbers slipping and public skepticism about healthcare reform growing, White House aides had hoped Obama would get a nasty question, like those that have greeted members of Congress on the issue. A tough question would have allowed the president to knock down some of the fears about his healthcare plan -- much as Bill Clinton did in calming voter fears that he was too liberal to be president by distancing himself from hip-hop artist Sister Souljah in 1992.

So, without a good pitch to hit, the president took batting practice -- setting up his own pitches and knocking down some of the myths that have stirred up fear.

On death care: The rumor about "death panels," Obama said, got started because of an amendment in the House bill -- authored by a Republican -- that would have allowed seniors to get Medicare reimbursement for consultations with doctors about end-of-life care like hospice and living wills. They are spreading a rumor, he said, that we want to "pull the plug on Grandma because we decided it's too expensive to let her live anymore."

"I am not in favor of that," Obama said, adding that the underlying argument -- rationing of care -- is at the core of opposition to healthcare reform, a fear that "some bureaucrat ... some bean counter" will decide whether a patient can get a test or procedure.

"I don't believe anyone should be in charge of your healthcare decisions except you and your doctor," he said. "I don't think government bureaucrats should be meddling. But I also don't think insurance company bureaucrats should be meddling."

On costs and taxes: "I won't sign a bill that adds to the deficit or the national debt," he said, belittling Republican critics in Congress who "say with a straight face that we've got to be fiscally responsible" when they supported the cost-heavy prescription drug bill enacted by the Bush administration. Noting that "paying for it is not simple," Obama argued that insurance companies are getting $177 billion a year in overpayments from Medicare that can serve as an important down payment on reform.

On the public option: There's "nothing inevitable" about a government-funded program forcing out private insurers as long as it's self-sustaining, Obama said, adding, "UPS and FedEx are doing just fine. It's the post office that's always having problems."

Finally, on the last question, a man from Derry, N.H., seemed to get Obama's goat when he asked about the new White House website and email address -- flag@whitehouse.gov -- that invites Americans to flag any misinformation circulating on the Internet on healthcare.

Calling it "another example of the media distorting" things, Obama said there is no intention to collect "an enemy's list," only to correct the record. "Come on guys," he said, "we're trying to be responsive to the questions being raised."

Obama has two more town hall appearances this week: On Friday, he does a town hall in Bozeman, Mont., and on Saturday he holds one in Grand Junction, Colo.

Maybe somebody will rail.

-- Johanna Neuman

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Norma McCorvey, the Jane Roe of Roe vs. Wade fame, is among antiabortion protesters tossed at Sotomayor hearing

One of the antiabortion protesters tossed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor today was none other than Norma McCorvey, the Texas woman whose pregnancy led to the court's landmark 1973 decision legalizing abortion, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported earlier this evening.

At least three times during Monday's hearing, antiabortion protesters interrupted the proceedings by yelling. Each time, they were quicky escorted out of the hearing room.

Abortion is not expected to be a focus of senators' questions Tuesday, and Sotomayor's feelings about the issue are not well known. In her only known ruling on an abortion-related issue, she upheld a ban on federal money going to foreign groups that provide abortion services -- the so-called Mexico City rule.

As for McCorvey, after she lent her name to the case that had an immediate and drastic effect on the choices available to pregnant women, she had a change of heart, and has campaigned against Roe vs. Wade.

Earlier in the day outside the Hart Senate Office Building, she told the Journal Sentinel, "I'm here to overturn Roe and defeat Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court. She's unworthy of the position. She’s Catholic. She’s even unworthy of taking communion because of her pro-abortion stance."

The Supreme Court's decision in Roe vs. Wade came too late to affect McCorvey's 1970 pregnancy. By the time justices ruled 7 to 2 in her favor, she had long since given birth.

-- Robin Abcarian

AP file photo of Norma McCorvey from 1995 by Nick Ut

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Nixon on blacks, Jews and women: Talk about impeachable offenses

We have always wondered if Richard Nixon, who designed the Republican Party's infamous Southern Strategy, was motivated by racial distrust or sheer political ambition.

You may recall that it was Nixon's political genius to co-opt the all-Democratic South by appealing to white conservatives to bolt to the Republican Party with not-so-subtle signals -- opposition to school busing and affirmative action -- that it would welcome their support.

Now, from the latest batch of tapes released by the Nixon Library, come fresh evidence that the 37th POTUS -- the only president to resign from office under threat of impeachment -- had at best stereotypical opinions about blacks, Jews and women.

Responding to the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision to legalize abortion, Nixon told aide Chuck Colson that generally abortions were a bad thing, "It breaks the family," he said. But, Nixon added, "There are times when abortions are necessary -- I know that. ... Suppose you have a black and a white," he said, adding, "or a rape."

In one exchange that's received a lot of attention, Nixon rings up George H.W. Bush, then head of the Republican Party, to suggest that he recruit attractive female conservatives to run for office, like those Nixon had seen on a visit to the South Carolina Legislature.

"I noticed a couple of very attractive women, both of them Republicans, in the Legislature," Nixon tells Bush, who became the 41st POTUS. "Let's look for some ... I think maybe a woman might win someplace where a man might not. ... So have you got that in mind?"

"I'll certainly keep it in mind," Bush replies.

"Boy, they were good-lookin' and bright," said Nixon who, to be fair, was a rare Republican supporter of  the doomed Equal Rights Amendment that would have guaranteed women equal rights under the U.S. Constitution.

In another conversation, with evangelist Billy Graham, Nixon responded to Graham's complaints that Jewish-American leaders were opposing his efforts to promote evangelical Christianity, like Campus Crusade. The two men agreed that the Jewish leaders risked setting off anti-Semitic sentiment.

“What I really think is deep down in this country, there is a lot of anti-Semitism, and all this is going to do is stir it up,” Nixon said. “It may be they have a death wish. You know that’s been the problem with our Jewish friends for centuries.”

For your listening pleasure, or disdain, 150 hours of tapes are available on the Nixon Library's website.  They are part of a years-long effort by the National Archives to declassify and make public documents and tapes from the Nixon era.

-- Johanna Neuman

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Photo: Nixon prepares to turn over transcripts of his recorded Oval Office conversations to Congress during the Watergate investigation. Credit: Associated Press