Len Nichols, director of the Health Policy Program at the New America Foundation, says there are two driving factors for the high cost of U.S. health care compared to other countries: one is that employers bear a larger share of the costs for the total health care structure, and the second is that the health care system is inefficient. He says the U.S. spends twice as much on health care as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average, and that about one third of the money spent on health care is not adding clinical value. (0:49)

 

 Standard Podcast [0:49m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

[Read more →]

Sen. Deborah Stabenow (D-Mich.) says the U.S. is losing jobs as a result of the structure of health care and the inability to address costs. She says the only way to address costs is to make sure coverage is provided to everyone. She says hospitals do the right thing and treat people, but then raise rates for the employers to pay for it. She says “we have universal health insurance. It’s the most expensive, crazy structure in the world.” (0:57)

 

 Standard Podcast [0:57m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

[Read more →]

Mohamad Bazzi, Council on Foreign Relations fellow on the ground in Beirut, held a media conference call to discuss the events this week in Lebanon. He said that on Saturday Hezbollah was accused of spying on the Lebanese state with a camera on a Beirut airport runway, and also of using a private communication network to communicate with each other through their own infrastructure. He said that on Monday night the Lebanese government held a meeting, and condemned what Hezbollah had done. He said Hezbollah and other opposition parties used a strike planned by labor unions on Wednesday as a vehicle to express their displeasure with the government’s decisions.

Read the rest of this entry »

[Read more →]

Council on Foreign Relations Fellow Mohamad Bazzi describes how he woke up today to gunfire, as Hezbollah fighters moved methodically through the streets. He says they took over offices and media under the Sunni leader, Saad Hariri, but then turned them back over to the Lebanese army. He says by midday Hezbollah was able to exert control over pretty much all of West Beirut. (1:06)

 

 Standard Podcast [1:06m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

[Read more →]

Mohamad Bazzi, Council on Foreign Relations fellow on the ground in Beirut, says that the recent outbursts of violence caught most people in Lebanon by surprise. He says that the violence over the last four to five days is rooted in events that transpired over the weekend, when Hezbollah was accused of spying on the Lebanese state with a camera trained on a runway of Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport. (0:59)

 

 Standard Podcast [0:59m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

[Read more →]

The Former Indonesian President was at George Washington University on Friday and addressed a very diverse audience. After the event, The Talk Radio News Service was given the opportunity to interview President Wahid. This is the full interview. (5:21)

 

 Standard Podcast [5:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

[Read more →]

Today at George Washington University, Former Indonesian President His Excellency Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid, also known as “Gus Dur”, addressed an auditorium of Muslim students, onlookers and media members urging young Muslims to “reclaim authentic Islam.” President Wahid served as Indonesia’s “first democratically-elected president from 1999-2001 and remains the leader of the National Awakening Party (PKB), which he established after the fall of Suharto in 1998.”A highly-regarded and much respected Muslim cleric, he has led the Nahdlatul Ulama, the worlds largest Islamic organization with forty million members. He is a strong advocate for religious tolerance and a proponent of many democratic ideals. “When addressing Muslim audiences, Gus Dur invariably reminds his listeners that it is their sacred duty to respect others’ beliefs, and to avoid any form of discrimination or intolerance towards those who worship differently from themselves.” (continued)

Read the rest of this entry »

[Read more →]

The New America Foundation (NAF) held a discussion on “Employer Health Costs in a Global Economy: A Competitive Disadvantage for U.S. Firms,” with opening remarks by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.). She said the U.S. is losing jobs because of the structure of health insurance and the inability to lower costs. She said the U.S. has the most expensive and crazy structure in the world for health insurance, and that this creates a competitive disadvantage. Stabenow, and other senators, are working on the Healthy Americans Act to address these problems.

Read the rest of this entry »

[Read more →]

This morning we will have a reporter at the Pentagon where Army Col. Wayne Grigsby, commander of the 3nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division will be speaking from Iraq to provide an update on ongoing
security operations in Iraq. Additionally, we will be covering a discussion by The New America Foundation on “Employer Health Costs in a Global Economy: A Competitive Disadvantage for U.S. Firms.”

In the afternoon, former President of Indonesia His Excellency Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid will be speaking at George Washington University in an interactive forum to discuss the rise of Islamic extremism on college campuses across the U.S.

[Read more →]

Daniel Fried, assistant secretary of state to the Europe and Eurasian Affairs, spoke today and said he doesn’t believe in balance of power politics but believes that countries should work together to solve problems. (0:55)

 

 Standard Podcast [(0:55)m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

[Read more →]