American Muslim Taskforce Board Member Mahdi Bray encourages religious leaders to advocate for a single-payer health care system.

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Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) says a health care public option will help regulate private insurance companies, but a single-payer system would be ideal. (0:52)

 

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by Julianne LaJeunesse- University of New Mexico

U.S. Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and Keith Ellison (D-MN) spoke at an interfaith hearing Wednesday, where each agreed that the public option is a vital part of health care reform.

At the American Muslim Taskforce-sponsored hearing, Kucinich, who called for the interfaith community’s opinion on health care, said that Americans need to look at health care as a human rights issue.

“Health care is an essential safeguard of human life and dignity,” Kucinich said. “And there is an obligation for society to ensure that every person be able to realize that right.”

Representative Ellison furthered Kucinich’s sentiment, and reminded listeners that health care reform could take time to perfect, just as the 1960s Civil Rights Acts did.

Ellison also said he believed Congress had America on its side, despite what he said was insurance company scare tactics. He petitioned the religious leaders at the hearing to debunk scare tactics saying the religions should work together.

“This is not the time for cynicism, this is to think that ‘well, Washington is going to do what Washington generally does…,’ this is the time for us to run a risk of hope,” Ellison said.

All of the Congressmen agreed that the House bills were looking favorably toward a public option and Schakowsky said “I think that leaving it to the private companies whose motive, it’s not a hidden one, of course… is to maximize profits, to leave them as the only source of getting health care, I think will disable us from achieving our goal of universal access to affordable, quality health care in our country.”

Kucinich said it would be tragic if Congress’ health care reform does not have a public option, saying it would essentially deepen the pockets of insurance companies who could set unfair rates on mandated customers.

“We’re talking about a system that maintains the hegemony of the insurance companies,” Kucinich said. “Can you take a step towards breaking it with a public option? Yes. So within the context of the system that we’re talking about today, public option is important.

The hearing today, included members of the Buddhist, Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities, a faith representation, Ellison said, is important to the current health care reform debate.

Both Kucinich and American Muslim Taskforce Board Member Mahdi Bray took the outlines of health care reform further, saying they both advocate a single-payer system.

By Marianna Levyash-Talk Radio News Service

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) greeted that “Mad as Hell Doctors,” a group of medical professionals who crossed the country campaigning for health care reform, on Capitol Hill Thursday morning.

“What you’ve done is to create a path right inside the Capitol so that you can make Washington aware of your presence,” Kucinich told the doctors.

Kucinich promised to make sure the “personal commitment [the doctors] made finds an expression…in the House of Representatives.”

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH.) applauds the “Mad As Hell” doctors for traveling all over the country to voice their opinion on healthcare reform. (0:15)

 

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Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) claims that the Federal Reserve has paid banks so that they will keep excess funds from being used as loans for small businesses. (1:00)

 

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Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) addressed the members of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee saying that they were told that mortgage securities were going to be allocated, but instead, the money was used to bail out banks to loosen credit. Kucinich laments the fact that that money is being held by the Treasury, and not going to small businesses that need loans. (0:34)

 

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At a hearing on the Bank Of America-Merrill Lynch merger Thursday, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) explains how Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke were able to bailout BOA without firing it’s executive board. Kucinich notes that in other similar situations, such as with the Royal Bank of Scotland, top management was dismissed as part of the terms with which to bail out the bank. Not only did Bank of America’s board keep their jobs, explained Kucinch, but the company also received money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program. (0:54)

 

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A visibly nervous Henry Paulson, former US Secretary of the Treasury, testified before the Oversight and Government Reform Committee to defend his decision to harshly warn Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis that backing out of the merger with Merrill Lynch, was the best thing to save the American economy.

Though the unemployment rate is currently at 9.5% and is expected to rise, Paulson continued to affirm that if Ken Lewis were to invoke a Material Adverse Change Clause (MAC), which would stop the merger, it would have been detrimental to the economy.

In the first two hearings held to discuss the controversial merger, it was concluded that Ken Lewis must have known about the major fourth quarter losses that Merrill Lynch suffered after the shareholders voted to go ahead with the merger, which would explain his attempt to invoke a MAC clause. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) asked how Paulson could shoot down the MAC clause (a legal action) and ignore the possible illegal action of Lewis’ withholding vital information from Bank of America shareholders.

“Nothing in Mr. Paulson’s testimony today justifies the Government’s decision to ignore evidence that Bank of America withheld information from its shareholders about mounting losses at Merrill Lynch before the crucial shareholder vote on December 5– a potentially illegal action,” said Kucinich in his opening statements.

In response, all Paulson said was that he simply did not see any illegal actions.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said that there is a “clear pattern of deception and intimidation” in terms of the relationships between Lewis, Paulson, the merger and U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke.

“People need to see this situation because it sheds light on where we are headed…it is important we see what happens when you give this kind of involvement to the federal government,” said Jordan.

It was revealed during the hearing that Paulson did in fact share information about the merger with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman, Christopher Cox and FDIC Chairman Shelia Bair. In his closing statements, Chairman Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) said that he will invite them to testify on their involvement with this merger after the August recess.

By Annie Berman — Talk Radio News Service

In a second hearing on the merger between Bank of America and Merrill Lynch, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testified that he did not threaten to fire Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis if the merge was not finalized.

In his June 11, 2009 testimony, Lewis claimed that he had decided to invoke a Material Adverse Change (MAC) clause, which would have stopped the merger between Bank of America and Merrill Lynch. Based on this information, it is possible that Lewis knew about Merrill Lynch’s major losses before the merger was finalized.

Bernanke claims that he was advising, not threatening, Lewis to not invoke a MAC clause because doing so would have been bad for the economy.

“[Bank of America] was obligated to make the choice they believed was in the best interest of their shareholders and company. I did not tell Bank of America’s management that the Federal Reserve would take action against the board or management if they decided to proceed with the MAC. Moreover, I did not instruct anyone to indicate to Bank of America that the Federal Reserve would take any particular action under these circumstances,” said Bernanke in his opening statements.

Lewis confirmed in his testimony that he wanted to invoke a MAC clause, but claimed that he had no prior knowledge of the huge fourth quarter losses that Merrill Lynch suffered in 2008. The committee concluded that Lewis would not have tried to invoke a MAC clause if he did not know about Merrill Lynch’s potential losses.

In this morning’s testimony, Bernanke also claimed that he did not know about Merrill Lynch’s losses prior to the merger.

“Mr. Bernanke, your staff believed that bank of America knew about Merrill Lynch’s accelerating losses in mid November, a full month before coming to you and weeks before it’s shareholders voted to approve the merger. Those 4th quarter losses rose to over $15 billion out of the pockets of Bank of America’s shareholders… The Fed knew what Bank of America knew [about the Merrill Lynch losses],” said Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio).

Additional hearings regarding the merger are expected to take place in July. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson is expected to testify in these hearings.