Catastrophe (40 page)

122 “giving the Treasury Secretary”: Ibid.

123 “impose greater requirements”: Stephen Labaton, “Administration Seeks Increase Oversight of Executive Pay,”
New York Times
, March 21, 2009, www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/us/politics/22regulate.html?_r=1.

124 “the new rules will”: Ibid.

125 “the debate on bank”: Nouriel Roubini, “The U.S. Financial System Is Effectively Insolvent,” Forbes.com, March 5, 2009, www.forbes.com/2009/03/04/global-recession-insolvent-opinions-columnists-roubini-economy.html.

126 “‘Thus,’ he adds”: Ibid.

127 “It may be necessary”: Mark Memmott, “Greenspan Says Obama Administration May Need to Nationalize Some Banks,”
USA Today
, February 18, 2009, http://content.usatoday.com/topics/post/executive+pay/63005211.blog/1.

128 (But the current): Johan Carlstrom and Nikals Magnusson, “Sweden’s ‘Mr. Fix-It’ Bank Bailout May Be Model for U.S., U.K.,” Bloomberg.com, March 2, 2009, www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=atrQkJTX1P50&refer=home.

129 “you take the banks”: Tunku Varadarajan, “‘Nationalize’ the Banks,”
Wall Street Journal
, February 21, 2009, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123517380343437079.html.

130 “temporary receivership”: Ibid.

131 “after years of”: Carter Dougherty, “Stopping a Financial Crisis, the Swedish Way,”
New York Times
, September 22, 2008, www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/business/worldbusiness/23krona.html.

132 It spent $18.3 billion: Ibid.

133 “We started…each other standing”: Varadarajan, “‘Nationalize’ the Banks.”

134 “three or four regional”: Ibid.

135 “framework of internationally”: “RAW DATA: G-20 Communique Statement,” FoxNews.com, April 2, 2009, www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/02/raw-data-g-communique-statement/.

136 In the name of: Ibid.

137 “provide early warning…all firms”: Ibid.

3. OBAMA’S MORTGAGE PLAN THAT WON’T HELP YOU

138 “up to 5 million”: Phil Mintz, “Obama Sets $75 Billion Mortgage Rescue Plan,” YahooNews.com, February 19, 2009, http://news.yahoo.com/s/bw/20090219/bs_bw/feb2009db20090218582414.

139 “assist up to”: Ibid.

140 About 27 percent: Associated Press, “Obama Unveils $75B Mortgage Relief Plan,” CBSNews.com, February 18, 2009, www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/18/politics/100days/economy/main4808886.shtml.

141 Obama wouldn’t be: Ibid.

142 His plan allows: Alan Zibel, “Housing Plan Aims to Help 9M, but Leaves Out Many,” YahooNews.com, March 4, 2009, http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Obama-administration-launches-apf-14540623.html.

143 “owe so much more”: Marilyn Lewis, “Help for on the Brink Homeowners,” MSNMoney. com, March 5, 2009, http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/HomeFinancing/help-for-on-the-brink-homeowners.aspx.

144 “You can modify”: Associated Press, “Obama Unveils $75B Mortgage Relief Plan.”

145 “provide their most recent”: Zibel, “Housing Plan Aims to Help 9M, but Leaves Out Many.”

146 “only homeowners in good”: J. W. Elphinstone, “Meltdown 101: Will Obama’s Housing Plan Help Me?,” March 4, 2009, www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ipZa-UuiRALM9rXphRa2IN0Fs_ywD96NGUT00.

147 “at risk of imminent”: Ibid.

148 “Fannie and Freddie”: Peter Barnes, “Obama’s Foreclosure-Prevention Plan Faces Hurdles,” FOXBusiness.com, March 4, 2009, www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/obamas-foreclosure-prevention-plan-faces-hurdles/.

149 “as much as $1,000”: Dawn Kopecki, “Obama Rescue Plan Said to Be Limited to Homeowners Most in Need,” Bloomberg.com, March 4, 2009, www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aN4NFR0MfE4w&refer=home.

150 Homeowners themselves: Ibid.

151 “mortgage lenders and investors”: Barnes, “Obama’s Foreclosure-Prevention Plan Faces Hurdles.”

152 “will not save”: Mintz, “Obama Sets $75 Billion Mortgage Rescue Plan.”

4. OBAMA’S HEALTH CARE CATASTROPHE

153 “President Obama pledged”: David Martin, “Obama Calls for Health-Care Reform in 2009,” CNN.com, March 20, 2009, http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/20/obama.health.care/.

154 “focus only on extending”: “Three Big Problems with Obama’s Health-Care Plan,”
Wall Street Journal
, December 21, 2008, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122990539802425297.html.

155 The nurse population: “Nursing Shortage Fact Sheet,” American Association of College of Nursing; www.aha.org/aha/trendwatch/chartbook/2008/08appendix2.pdf.

156 All told, 70 percent: Jackie Calmes and Robert Pear, “Administration Is Open to Taxing Health Benefits,”
New York Times
, March 14, 2009. www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/us/politics/15health.html?hp.

157 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/health/policy/27care.html?_r=3&em

158 “A study by the Rand”: Ibid.

159 “Barack Obama will accelerate”: Ibid.

160 “Most medical records are”: Barack Obama, “Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s Plan to Lower Health Care Costs and Ensure Affordable, Accessible Health Coverage for All,” Barack Obama.com, www.barackobama.com/pdf/issues/HealthCareFullPlan.pdf.

161 “Canadian patients…are”: Brett J. Skinner, “The Trouble with Canadian Healthcare,”
The American
, December 6, 2008, www.american.com/archive/2008/december-12-08/the-trouble-with-canadian-healthcare.

162 “while Americans spend 55 percent”: Ibid.

163 327 percent more: Ibid.

164 Doctors in the United States: Ibid.

165 And there are 14 percent: Ibid.

166 the average waiting…seventy-seven days: Ibid.

167 6.7 per 100,000: Colon Cancer Canada, www.coloncancercanada.ca/.

168 4.8 per 100,000: National Cancer Institute, www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/colon-and-rectal.

169 41 percent of cases in Canada: Colon Cancer Canada, www.coloncancercanada.ca/.

170 only 34 percent in the United States: National Cancer Institute, www.cancer.gov/cancer topics/types/colon-and-rectal.

171 “What is going on”: “Colorectal Cancer: Treating It—A Moral and Legal Dilemma,” Colorectal-Cancer.ca, May 15, 2009, www.colorectal-cancer.ca/en/news-and-resources/colorectal-dilemma/,970.

172 In British Columbia: Ibid.

173 Sylvia de Vries: “The Horrors of Rationed Health Care in Canada,”
The Globe and Mail
(Toronto), March 11, 2008, http://prairiepundit.blogspot.com/2008/03/horrors-of-rationed-health-care-in.html.

174 “Lindsay McCreith” Nadeem Esmail, “‘Too Old’ for Hip Surgery,”
Wall Street Journal
, February 9, 2009, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123413701032661445.html.

175 “Shona Holmes”: Ibid.

176 “In Alberta, Canada”: Ibid.

177 Brian Sinclair: Chinta Puxley, “Inquest Called into Death of Homeless Man after 34-Hour Wait in Winnipeg ER,”
Canadian Press
, February 4, 2009, www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/breakingnews/39056162.html.

178 To improve services: Esmial, “‘Too Old’ for Hip Surgery.”

179 cancer death rates: “Table 1: Leading Causes of Death, Canada, 2004, Males and Females Combined,” Public Health Agency of Canada, www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/lcd-pcd97/table1-eng.php.

180 And heart disease deaths: “Leading Causes of Death,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/nchs/FASTATS/lcod.htm.

181 “Canada’s model of universal”: Author’s interview with Ken Lee, March 31, 2009.

5. OBAMA’S BLUEPRINT FOR POLITICAL DOMINATION

182 In largely Hispanic: Foon Rhee, “Obama Talks Immigration,”
Boston Globe
, March 18, 2009, www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2009/03/obama_talks_imm.html.

183 he’s “very committed”: Gebe Martinez, “Has Obama Forgotten Immigration?,” Politico. com, March 4, 2009, www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/19564.html.

184 “illegal residents who have”: Charles Babbington, “Obama Says Immigration Overhaul Still Needed,” March 18, 2009, www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hEx3tiPJhZQLVqjNmHR_oP6FZMuwD970PMT80.

185 “We’re going to start”: Martinez, “Has Obama Forgotten Immigration?”

186 “before the ink was dry”: Martha Zoller, “Controlling the Census: The Obama Administration’s Power Grab,” HumanEvents.com, February 12, 2009, www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=30672.

187 Gregg had opposed: Mark Whittington, “Obama to Seize Control of Census,” Associated-Content.com, February 9, 2009, www.associatedcontent.com/article/1459209/obama_to_seize_control_of_census.html?cat=9.

188 “The last thing”: “GOP Sounds Alarm over Obama Decision to Move Census to White House,” FOXNews.com, February 9, 2009, www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/02/09/gop-sounds-alarm-obama-decision-census-white-house/.

189 “I’ve always remembered”: Ibid.

190 Associated Press, “Official: Obama Taps Grove for Census Director,” April 2, 2009, http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=338&articleid=20090402_338_0_WASHIN679936.

191 “we’re ready to pay”: Sam Hananel, “Companies Seek Middle Ground on Union Card Check,” March 22, 2009, www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i-uuyg_cknu QUXeX4h-43g4wqzfwD9739I7G5.

192 “got a first hand”: FoxNews.com, March 25, 2009.

193 “I will make it the”: Ibid.

194 “some employers abuse”: John T. Palter, “‘Card Check Bill Is Union Power Grab,”
Dallas Morning News
, March 18, 2009, www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/DN-palter_19edi.State.Edition1.217ea25.html.

195 “why unions are on”: Ibid.

196 “the problems of”: Kris Maher, “Key Senator Won’t Support Union Bill,”
Wall Street Journal
, March 25, 2009, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123792023652828061.html.

197 “Senator Specter said he”: Ibid.

198 “one change [Specter] supports”: Ibid.

199 “there may be”: Dick Morris and Eileen McGann,
Fleeced
, p. 81.

200 “take actions to encourage”: Josiah Ryan, “Speaker Pelosi Backs Senate Amendment to Regulate Talk Radio,” CNSNews.com, March 6, 2009, www.cnsnews.com//files/11/30/55/f113055/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=44588.

201 “primarily to gender, race”: Ibid.

202 “I centainly can’t tell”: Jim Inhofe, “Inhofe: Localism Is a Threat to Freedom of Speech,”
American Chronicle
, March 8, 2009, www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/93765.

203 “Localism”: Brian C. Anderson, “The Unfairness of a Fairness Doctrine,”
Los Angeles Times
, March 3, 2009, www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-anderson3-2009mar03,0,3110313.story.

204 “localism…also could”: Ibid.

205 “comprised of local”: Jim Boulet Jr., “Obama Declares War on Conservative Talk Radio,” AmericanThinker.com, November 17, 2008, www.americanthinker.com/2008/11/obama_declares_war_on_conserva.html.

206 Anderson calls localism: Anderson, “The Unfairness of a Fairness Doctrine.”

207 Media reform groups: Matthew Lasar, “Obama’s FCC Chariman Pick Hailed by Reform Groups,” ArsTechnica.com, January 13, 2009, http://arstechnica.com/telecom/news/2009/01/obamas-fcc-chairman-pick-hailed-by-reform-groups.ars.

208 “Barack Obama believes that”: Ibid.

209 “leadership, the FCC’s”: Ibid.

210 “take actions to encourage”: Ryan, “Speaker Pelosi Backs Senate Amendment to Regulate Talk Radio.”

211 “any effort to encourage”: Boulet, “Obama Declares War on Conservative Talk Radio.”

212 “Restore local…public broadcasting”: Ibid.

213 “diversity in [station]”: Matt Cover, “Durbin: ‘Right-Wing’ Radio Hosts Wave ‘Bloody Shirt’ over Broadcast Censorship,” CNSNews.com, March 12, 2009, www.cnsnews.com/PUBLIC/Content/Article.aspx?rsrcid=44895.

214 “‘affirmative actions’ to”: Ibid.

215 “What is most concerning”: Inhofe, “Inhofe: Localism Is a Threat to Freedom of Speech.”

6. OBAMA SENDS MESSAGE: THE WAR ON TERROR IS OVER

216 “avoid[ed] the terms”: Associated Press, “Napolitano Avoids Terror Terminology,” CBSNews. com, February 24, 2009, www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/24/national/main4826437.shtml.

217 “an unprecedented level”: Barack Obama, “Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies; Subject Transparency and Open Government,” WhiteHouse.gov, www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/TransparencyandOpenGovernment/.

218 “presumption in favor”: Barack Obama, “Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies; Subject Freedom of Information Act,” WhiteHouse.gov, www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/FreedomofInformationAct/.

219 “organizing and directing”: Pauline Jelinek, “Pentagon Announces Charges in USS Cole Bombing,”
USA Today
, July 1, 2008, www.usatoday.com/news/topstories/2008-06-30-2475186758_x.htm.

220 On February 5, 2009: Catherine Herridge and Associated Press, “Charges Dropped Against USS Cole Bombing Suspect,” FoxNews.com, February 5, 2009, www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/02/05/sources-charges-dropped-uss-cole-bombing-suspect/.

221 The United States had sought: Catherine Herridge and Associated Press, “Military Judge Refuses to Halt Trial of USS Cole Bombing Suspect,” FoxNews.com, January 29, 2009, www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/01/29/military-judge-refuses-halt-trial-uss-cole-bombing-suspect/.

222 According to U.S. intelligence: “Profile: Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri,” HistoryCommons.org, www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=abd_al-rahim_al-nashiri.

223 “critics are…saying’: Myra MacDonald, “Pakistan Agrees to Shariah Law to End Swat Fighting,” Reuters.com, February 16, 2009, http://blogs.reuters.com/pakistan/2009/02/16/pakistan-agrees-to-shariah-law-to-end-swat-fighting/.

224 “a surrender to the Taliban”: Ibid.

225 “it means that there”: Ibid.

226 “According to certain”: Indrani Bagchi, “In Search of ‘Good’ Taliban,”
Times of India,
March 5, 2009, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/In-search-of-good-Taliban/articleshow/4226199.cms.

227 “any kind of Talibanism”: Ibid.

228 “They point out that”: Ibid.

229 “received a hero’s”: Sherin Zada, “NATO Cautions Pakistan over Truce with Taliban,” YahooNews.com, February 17, 2009, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090217/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan.