More below the fold. Click "Read more."

Just as the "birther movement" was long ago discredited to rational people, and more recently by even the irrational who had to cave when the "smoking gun" birth certificate turned out to be a product of "forgery-R-us," opponents of health care reform will also be discredited because they aren’t really worked up about health care, they are energized in their fear and distrust of President Obama by buzz words like "socialism." They lost the election, and now, it seems, they are losing their minds. They are being manipulated by the for-profit health insurance lobby, who knows they are in the fight of their corporate lives if the legislation proposed by Congress includes a "public option" or (gasp!) even worse for them, becomes Medicare for All, the "single payer" option.

Even the term "ObamaCare" is a misnomer. The truth of the matter is that President Obama set out to accomplish health care reform by only specifying expectations for legislation, leaving the details (and presumably any attendant devils) to Congress. He specified three bedrock principles of health care reform: reduce costs, guarantee choice, and ensure quality care for all. He left the actual design of the legislation where it should be - in Congress, where there are now 3 bills pending in the House, and one in the Senate. The bills still need to be reconciled in the legislatures before going to the President.

Here's an example of the first turn of the health insurance/big pharma corporate worm as it propagandizes to protect its interests - and for its very existence in its current form.

And here's how John Perry replied to the OpEd writer Patrick McIlheran:

Your corporate insurance propaganda could not be any more naked, Patrick. How much stock do you have in the industry?

I love how you talk about the $5000 deductible and say "The trade-off is that she must accept her coverage isn't free," without making any mention of the premiums already being paid.

Here's a news flash for you: Nobody expects their coverage to be free.

The bipartisan Senate committee on negotiating on health care met in secret to "compromise." AP is reporting the following:

• participants were on track to exclude a requirement many congressional Democrats seek for businesses to offer coverage to their workers
• no provision for a government insurance option, despite President Barack Obama's support for such a plan
• considering a tax of as much as 35 percent on very high-cost insurance policies, part of an attempt to rein in rapid escalation of costs
• likely to be included in any deal was creation of a commission charged with slowing the growth of Medicare

Health care reform has them on the run. There’s no doubt about it. If there were, they wouldn’t be pitching this Newsmax survey.

Go ahead. Freep it.

And there are signs that the $1.4 million dollars a day that the insurance/health industry lobby is spending to drown out support for single payer, universal health care isn’t enough.

They’ll have to up the ante.

Declare Your Support - "Make Congress and the President Do It!"

President Obama has announced three bedrock requirements for real health care reform:

1. Reduce Costs — Rising health care costs are crushing the budgets of governments, businesses, individuals and families and they must be brought under control.
2. Guarantee Choice — Every American must have the freedom to choose their plan and doctor – including the choice of a public insurance option - but has the single payer option benefits and costs been fully explored?
3. Ensure Quality Care for All — All Americans must have quality and affordable health care.

Now we have to show Congress where the American people stand.

Don't support the current proposals? Tell Obama why not - tell him what you prefer here.

Pssst...Please pass it on! Thanks!

To recognize Earth Day 2009, President Obama returned to Iowa, the state where he broke out of the pack as a contender last year, to visit a wind turbine plant. Renewable energy is one of the economic pillars in his strategy to grow our nation out of the fiscal calamity the Bush administration left in its wake.

President Obama's remarks on the administration's plans to support expanded renewable energy development follow.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you so much. Thank you, Rich, for the great introduction. Thank you very much. Please, everybody have a seat.

It is good to be back in Newton, and it's a privilege to be here at Trinity Structural Towers. I've got a couple of special thank yous that I want to make, because I've got a lot of old friends -- not old in years, but been friends for a long time now. First of all, your outstanding Governor, Chet Culver, please give him a big round of applause. (Applause.) His wonderful wife, Mari, I see over here. She's not on the card, but -- (applause.) My outstanding Secretary of Agriculture, who I plucked from Iowa, Tom Vilsack and his wonderful wife Christie Vilsack. (Applause.) We've got the Attorney General of Iowa, one of my co-chairs when I ran in the Iowa caucus and nobody could pronounce my name -- Tom Miller. (Applause.) My other co-chair, Mike Fitzgerald, Treasurer of Iowa. (Applause.) We got the Iowa Secretary of State, Mike Mauro. There he is. (Applause.) We've got your outstanding member of Congress who's working hard for Newton all the time, Leonard Boswell. (Applause.) And your own pride of Newton, Mayor Chaz Allen. (Applause.) There he is, back there. It's good to see you again, Chaz.

It is terrific to be here -- and by the way, I've got a whole bunch of folks here who were active in the campaign, and precinct captains. And I just want to thank all of them for showing up, and to all the great workers who are here at this plant -- thank you. (Applause.)

President Obama gave this speech earlier today at Georgetown University. After describing how Bush and the Republican held Congress got us here, he outlined five pillars for our national economic growth: 1) Wall Street regulatory reform, 2) improved educational attainment, 3) transitioning to renewable energy sources, 4) health care reform, and 5) fiscal discipline. His remarks, as provided by the White House, follow.

It has now been twelve weeks since my administration began. And I think even our critics would agree that at the very least, we’ve been busy. In just under three months, we have responded to an extraordinary set of economic challenges with extraordinary action – action that has been unprecedented in both its scale and its speed.

I know that some have accused us of taking on too much at once. Others believe we haven’t done enough. And many Americans are simply wondering how all of our different programs and policies fit together in a single, overarching strategy that will move this economy from recession to recovery and ultimately to prosperity.

So today, I want to step back for a moment and explain our strategy as clearly as I can. I want to talk about what we’ve done, why we’ve done it, and what we have left to do. I want to update you on the progress we’ve made, and be honest about the pitfalls that may lie ahead.

And most of all, I want every American to know that each action we take and each policy we pursue is driven by a larger vision of America’s future – a future where sustained economic growth creates good jobs and rising incomes; a future where prosperity is fueled not by excessive debt, reckless speculation, and fleeing profit, but is instead built by skilled, productive workers; by sound investments that will spread opportunity at home and allow this nation to lead the world in the technologies, innovations, and discoveries that will shape the 21st century. That is the America I see. That is the future I know we can have.

Pakistan: "The Most Dangerous Country" (Trailer)

Pakistan is in such a perilous state that Bruce Riedel, a foreign policy expert leading President Obama's Afghanistan review, has called it "the most dangerous country in the world today." Pakistan has nuclear weapons and a government disconnected from the poverty, malnutrition, and lack of healthcare afflicting its people. And though Pakistan remains a U.S. ally, tensions continue to rise as the U.S. considers broadening military strikes within Pakistan's borders. Part two of Rethink Afghanistan focuses on how the Afghanistan crisis affects Pakistan and all of us.

Click "Read more" for 11 min. movie essential for understanding the stakes in Afghanistan, petition, question submissions, and updates.

Open for Your Questions on the Economy

UPDATE: The online town hall will be at 11:30 AM Eastern, the voting will close at 9:30 AM.

The White House released its transcript of President Barack Obama’s address to members of the Business Roundtable held March 12, 2009, and the question-and-answer session that followed.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you so much. Please, everybody have a seat. I want to get to some Q&A as quickly as possible, so let me dive right in. First of all, thank you. It’s a pleasure to be here this afternoon. I see a lot of friends in the room. It’s especially important, I think, for us to be meeting today with the Business Roundtable, because the companies that you lead account for nearly 10 million jobs and generate trillions of dollars in revenue each year. Your companies have fueled the prosperity of communities across the country and the success stories of countless individuals. They’ve enriched our nation; they’ve served as a tribute to the enduring spirit of American capitalism.

But for over three decades, the Business Roundtable is also taking a broader view of your responsibilities as chief executives. You’ve looked beyond the bottom line and the next quarter to the long-term health of your company. You’ve not only served as accomplished leaders, but as engaged citizens — citizens who understand that it is in the interest of both your companies and your country to have a workforce that’s highly educated, healthy, and prosperous; to have a market that is free, but also fair; and to live in a nation that’s willing to invest in its own future. You understand the public responsibility of private enterprise.

Below are the remarks of President Barack Obama in his speech, "What the People Need Done," delivered Thursday for the Abraham Lincoln bicentennial.

THANK YOU. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. Please everybody have a seat. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Well, it is wonderful to be back in Springfield, and I see so many familiar faces. To Mr. (Richard) Hart, to Marilyn (Kushak), to my secretary of transportation, Ray LaHood, to two of the finest governors that we've had in the past, Jim Thompson and Jim Edgar.

To Lura Lynn Ryan, and to our new governor, who's going to be doing outstanding work for us in the future, Pat Quinn.

To Reverend McCants, and to my dear friend, Loretta Durbin, I do feel guilty because Dick was the one who brought this event to my attention. I'm here and he's there. But part of the reason that Dick Durbin has been such a great friend, not just to me but to the people of Illinois, is because his work always comes first, and he has been unbelievable in providing leadership in the Senate through thick and through thin. And I'm very, very grateful to him. He is one of my greatest friends. And I would not be standing here if it were not for Dick Durbin. So please give Dick Durbin a big round of applause.

CNBC's Closing Bell

Now, listening to the financial talking heads is about as useful of licking your finger and holding it into the wind for direction. For just one day's delusions, read on.

Dylan Ratigan: Interesting thing today is we’re seeing a shift from this “good bank/bad bank conversation” to now this conversation that instead of that we’ll do a Bank of America or Citibank insurance policy on all the bad assets writ large. In other words, whatever the toxic assets are, if they don’t work out, the government will deal with it. The government becomes the insurer of last resort, as opposed to being the owner of last resort.

This is a comment about the "new" TARP model coming with the next round of governmental financing. The question is whether the taxpayers will be owners or insurers of the bad loans. Which would you like to invest in?

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery
January 20, 2009

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.