Leah Valencia, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

The United States Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents called Thursday for the U.S. government to respond to the alleged mistreatment of Iranian political exiles in an Ashraf, Iraq based refugee camp by transferring control of the camp from Iraqi security forces.

“We have a contractual signed agreements with each of these refugees, we need to honor that,” U.S. Army Col. Gary Morsch M.D. during a press conference in Washington, D.C. with the Committee. “We have a responsibility and an opportunity to do something.”

The refugees of Camp Ashraf were recognized by the United States as “protected persons” during the Fourth Geneva Convention and were under U.S. military protection until January 2009 when the Iraqi government assumed responsibility for their safety. In July, 2009, a raid by Iraqi security forces wounded over 500 refugees with an additional 36 taken hostage. The hostages remain in critical condition and Iraqi forces are limiting medical resources, food and water supplies.

In response, many Iranian-Americans have begun a hunger strike to urge U.S. government officials to push for the immediate release of the 36 refugee hostages and have U.S. forces temporarily take over Camp Ashraf security until a United Nations monitoring post can be established. Hunger stiker Hamid Godarzi said they have been on strike for 37 days and will not quit until their demands are met.

“This is not simple for us to do. I am a senior research scientist in San Antonio, Texas and I left my ordinary life to be here,” Godarzi said. “It is our responsibility to give a voice to the residents of Ashraf.”

According to Godarzi, the White House has not issued a response to the hunger strikers.

Schedule:

This afternoon President Obama will meet with members of the cabinet to give him an update on preparedness and response efforts surrounding the 2009 H1N1 flu virus in the Oval Office. Participants will include White House Homeland Security Advisor John Brennan, Secretaries Sebelius, Napolitano, Duncan and Locke, and Center for Disease Control Director Tom Frieden. In the evening, the President will host a dinner celebrating Ramadan and highlight the contributions of American Muslims in the State Dining Room of the White House.
At the beginning of the meeting this afternoon, the President will be making remarks about reports showing growth in manufacturing, for first time in 18 months. 

H1N1

When asked if the President has successfully managed to change the name from swineflu to H1N1, Gibbs said that the administration is more concerned about how to respond to it, rather than what you call it. There have been special PSAs using Elmo from Sesame Street, to help get the message out to school children about effectively combating H1N1. 

Iran

The White House has heard reports of Iran’s updated nuclear proposal but not seen anything conclusive. Gibbs said that they still have not responded to the offer from P5+1 from back in April. Political leaders of P5+1 meet this week in Frankfurt to discuss the Iranian nuclear weapons program. The hope and goal is that the Iranians will live up to their international obligations, Gibbs said. 
 
Health Care: 

President continues to work to make progress in September and throughout the fall, but there is no specific announcements to be made.
 
Wild Fires in California: 

The White House is carefully monitoring the situation and regularly updates the President on what is happening. The President and First Lady have sent their condolences to the families of the two firefighters that have died in the line of duty.    

Camp David: 

When asked it this will be more vacation time for the President or if he will have meetings, Gibbs responded that he will bring some form of the McCrystal report with him, which concluded that he should receive parts of it by tomorrow. So far the report is still classified and there is no plan of de-classifying parts of it for public release. When asked if the President plans to respond to the report, Gibbs said that the President is getting daily updates from Afghanistan. President Obama has regular contact with Ambassadors Holbrook and Eikenberry, and General Petreus something that started already during the transition.
When asked about the sense that there is a lack of urgency, Gibbs said that this is an ongoing conversation and that the President is dealing with this every day, seven days a week.
“The notion that there is no urgency from this Administration couldn’t be further from the truth.”

THE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon, everybody.  I want to say a few words about this week’s election in Afghanistan.  This was an important step forward in the Afghan people’s effort to take control of their future, even as violent extremists are trying to stand in their way. (more…)

By Paul Brandus

White House Morning Meeting with Robert Gibbs.
Pan Am Flight 103 Bomber freed: The White House is not happy that Scottish authorities have released convicted Pan Am 103 bomber Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says British & Scottish authorities were told “in the strongest possible terms” how the U.S. was opposed to the move. The Dec. 21, 1988 bombing killed 270 people – including 189 Americans.

Talk Show Appearance
The President will appear this afternoon on conservative talk show host Michael Smerconish’s program. Obama will take questions for 30 minutes; it’s up to the show’s producers to screen callers. Gibbs says. Smerconish is Philadelphia-based; Gibbs joked that Obama warmed up by having a cheesesteak for breakfast.

Health Care Latest
Gibbs would not confirm a report in the Wall Street Journal that the White House and Senate Democratic leaders are considering a strategy that would split health care reform into pieces – and then pass the provisions solely with Democratic votes. Such a strategy, the Journal claims, is based on the view that the overall health care plan is losing public support – and with it any GOP incentive to go long.
This as the so-called “Gang of Six” – three Democrats and three Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee – prepare for a conference call tonight to talk strategy. Gibbs maintains that the White House still prefers a bipartisan approach to health care. But there is growing talk that helth care reform could be passed through “reconciliation” – a parliamentary tactic that allows budget-related measures (as health care reform would be) to pass with 51 votes, easily doable given that 60 Democrats are in the Senate.

Afghanistan voting underway
Gibbs says the administration is pleased that Afghans are braving threats of violence to vote in that country’s election. Results won’t be known until Sept. 3; he said the U.S. is adopting a “wait-and-see” approach until then. The expectation is that Hamid Karzai, the current President will win, although the White House – given its reservations with Karzai – would generally prefer someone else.

Gitmo Progress
Gibbs generally confirmed a story in the Washington Post saying nearly a dozen European countries have agreed to take detainees. Approximately 80 have been cleared for release; the White House has set the goal of shutting down the detention facility at Guantanamo by the end of his first year in office.

Morning meeting with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

Health Care:
Helen Thomas opened up with saying that “no one knows where you stand”. Mr. Gibbs answered that he was “standing right here”. Then he said he “would do this one more time.” Gibbs was then asked who had written about what the President said in the weekend town hall meeting about the public option. He said they were not giving up on the public plan and that the President will work with anyone in any party who wants to work constructively on health care reform. He said that they continued to be helpful that they can get bi-partisan support. He also said that the bi-partisan route was up to Republicans and that the President had spoken to the Senate Finance Committee. He said they had an 80% agreement on what is going on. He disputed today’s New York Time’s “go it alone” story.

Gibbs also said that they wanted to see as many people on both sides of the aisle who want to deal with a problem that can’t be ignored. He said that what comes out of the House is not where the Senate may or may not start when crafting their bill and the differences would be decided in conference. He said they have several more weeks to go until they have a vote on this. Gibbs asked why on August 19th is there a declaration that there will be only 51 votes? When asked why the President doesn’t put his foot down, Gibbs said “I can’t see it but I bet his foot is down.” Asked about why he isn’t having a summit, Gibbs answered that if it makes us all better to call it that…. we’ll call it the pre-fishing summit. Gibbs said the President would orbit the Moon if he thought it would help.

President’s Vacation:
The President has nothing scheduled in terms of speeches etc during his vacation and they would rely on surrogates.

Michael Smerconish:
Will be doing part of his show tomorrow at the White House and will take calls with the President. Gibbs said that “he was someone who the President had communicated with during the campaign and that they had an invitation to do the show. No other hosts had been considered.

The prospect of democratic reform in Egypt was reportedly raised during Tuesday’s meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

“We have no inhibitions. We don’t have any reason to shy away from discussing such issues relating to the democratization process in Egypt,” said Mubarak spokesperson Ambassador Soliman Awaad during a press briefing following the talks.

While the Egyptian Ambassador stated that the country was committed to pursuing reform, he argued the validity of the popular interpretation of the shaky state of democracy in Egypt.

“Many people talk about reform as if it is something that can take place over night. Some others … get their information from biased sources,” Awaad stated.

The spokesperson pointed to international criticism raised over the detainment of three bloggers, stating that their arrests were justified for reasons including their use of violence and establishing websites attacking Islam and Christianity, a move that would allegedly fan sectarian flames.

The two presidents also discussed the need for a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“President Mubarak made it very clear to President Obama today that the peace process cannot afford another failure. The suffering and the plight of the Palestinians can not afford further delay,” Awaad said.

The ambassador characterized the relationship between the two leaders as “friendly” and “very positive”.

President Clinton:
Former President Clinton will meet with President Obama and NSC/State department staff on the situation in North Korea and his talk with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
The White House will release a still photo from the meeting. President Clinton has had previous meetings with the NSC staff but not with President Obama. Asked if President Clinton would give remarks to the press at the stake out, Gibbs replied that he does not control who comes to the stake out anymore. President Obama has spoken with President Clinton only one time about North Korea which was when the two women landed in the United States on August 5, 2009. (more…)

The Alliance of Egyptian Americans, a coalition of organizations representing Coptic Christians, Nubians and other segments of Egyptian society, gathered in Washington, D.C. Monday to voice concern over the scheduled meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Egyptian President Hosni Murbarak Tuesday.

The Alliance urged Obama to confront Egypt’s human rights violations and push for independent supervision over the country’s 2011 Presidential election.

“We demand the presence of independent observers drawn from the Egyptian judiciary and independent civil society as well as teams of international observers led by reputable public figures such as former U.S. President Jimmy Carter,” a statement released during the coalition’s news conference at the National Press Club read.

The coalition stressed the importance of amending Egypt’s constitution to ease the requirements candidates need to meet in order to run for President.

To coincide with the meeting, the coalition stated that they will be a hosting a demonstration outside of the White House Tuesday.

In New Hampshire on Tuesday, President Barack Obama expressed his desire to put an end to what he called discrimination on the part of insurance companies that deny coverage to Americans with pre-existing medical conditions. At a town hall held Friday in Belgrade, Montana, the President discussed how his health insurance reform plan will extend coverage to folks who’ve been dropped from their plans as a result of becoming sick.

“It’s wrong, it’s bankrupting families, it’s bankrupting businesses, and we are going to fix it!” said the President.

Like Tuesday’s town hall, Friday’s forum occurred without incident. Obama told the audience that the majority of town halls across the country have been similarly civil, but the aim of certain cable networks to produce “good television” has distorted the public’s perception.

“TV loves a ruckus,” Obama explained.

Obama also decried the cable networks for having a collectively “selective memory” when it comes to ways in which his administration’s stimulus plan, which passed earlier this year, has benefitted the state of Montana. The President evoked the stimulus in an attempt to persuade the audience to trust the government to effectively implement and manage important programs, such as health care reform.

Obama took on opponents of his plan, insisting that special interest groups and their political allies are using fear tactics to try and derail reform attempts. The President then cited a scary statistic of his own, reminding the audience that 14,000 Americans have lost health insurance each day since the start of the recession. With his finger pointed at the audience, Obama warned, “that could be you.”

Following his remarks, Obama took a series of questions ranging from how his plan would be paid for, to whether or not the plan would raise taxes on the middle class, to how the plan would affect Medicaid and Medicare.

The President was asked to clarify how a public option plan would affect satisfied private insurance holders. In his response, Obama deviated from the standard “if you like the insurance you have, you can keep it” talking point he frequently employs, stating instead that “you would more than likely still be on your private insurance plan.”

One audience member, who confessed to being an NRA card holder and enjoying the cable news coverage of the health care debate, asked the President to explain how he would pay for his plan without driving up the federal deficit or raising taxes. The questioner added that he wanted to hear Obama’s response directly because he’s fed up with the “spin.”

Obama replied that he was amused by critics in both Congress and on television who have complained that the nation can’t afford reform. The President repeated his support for lowering the amount of itemized deductions that individuals making over $250,000 per year can take, but noted that even if that idea is adopted Congress still must figure out a way to account for roughly $30 billion in funding per year.

“We’ve got to get over the notion that we can have something for nothing,” said Obama.

The President mentioned his plan to cut government subsidies to insurance companies that cover medical costs which could ably be handled by Medicare. Doing so, he said, would save taxpayers upwards of $177 billion over the next decade. Obama also discussed streamlining the medicaid process by forcing hospitals and physicians’ offices to share patients’ records electronically.

The President took a question from a health insurance salesman who asked why the reform debate has become about insurance and not overall care. “I can’t do insurance reform by itself,” remarked Obama, implying that overhauling the nation’s health care structure would first require a reshaping of its insurance system.

Commenting that he was running out of time, Obama agreed to take one last question from a woman in the crowd. However, rather than asking the President a question about his plan, she read Obama the preamble to the Montana state constitution; a curious ending to an otherwise typical Obama town hall.

President Barack Obama attempted to quell rumors arising from the health care reform debate during a town hall meeting held in Portsmouth, New Hampshire Tuesday, saying that although he respected those who had disagreements, there has been a great deal of misinformation.

“Where we do disagree, let’s disagree on things that are real,” Obama said. “Not these wild misrepresentations that bear no resemblance to anything that’s actually been proposed.”

The President defended the public option, denying that it signaled a government takeover of the health care system.

“I do think that having a public option…would keep the insurance companies honest,” Obama said, explaining that the public option would provide a reasonable model that insurance companies could mimic in terms of cost.

Obama stressed that while he wanted action that would provide coverage for as many Americans as possible, he has not been pursuing a single-payer plan.

“For us to transition to a system like that I believe would be too disruptive,” the President said. “A lot of people who currently have employer based health care would find themselves dropped and they would have to go into an entirely new system that has not been set up yet. I would be concerned about the potential disruptiveness of that kind of transition.”

Obama also dismissed rumors of “death panels”, a term picked up by Conservatives such as former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin to describe government officials who would decide whom to provide coverage for under a public system. The President said that the rumors emerged from an amendment in one of the drafts of health reform legislation that sought to expand medicare coverage to include consultation for end of life treatment, such as hospice care or drafting living wills.

The President also attempted to mitigate fears over the government rationing health care, stating that rationing is currently occurring through private insurance companies declining coverage.

“You will have not only the care you need, but the care that right now is being denied to you only if we pass health care reform,” Obama said.

Obama poked fun at some of the more colorful rumors, pointing to the conclusion from various news outlets that the White House’s request for the public to send them rumors they have received via email was secretly the means through which to collect an enemies list.

“Come on, guys,” the President mused.
In recent weeks, the debate over health care reform has reached a fever pitch, with raucous crowds haranguing public appearances by members of Congress. However, the President stated that reform would nevertheless be passed by 2009.