WHY HE CANNOT WIN -
John McCain Believes in Personal Responsibility
We must do more to take care of ourselves to prevent chronic diseases when possible, and do more to adhere to treatment after we are diagnosed with an illness.
Childhood obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure are all on the rise. We must again teach our children about health, nutrition and exercise - vital life information.
Public health initiatives must be undertaken with all our citizens to stem the growing epidemic of obesity and diabetes, and to deter smoking.
BORDER PATROL PATRON
Immigration is one of those challenging issues that touch on many aspects of American life.
I have always believed that our border must be secure and that the federal government has utterly failed in its responsibility to ensure that it is secure. If we have learned anything from the recent immigration debate, it is that Americans have little trust that their government will honor a pledge to do the things necessary to make the border secure.
As president, I will secure the border. I will restore the trust Americans should have in the basic competency of their government. A secure border is an essential element of our national security. Tight border security includes not just the entry and exit of people, but also the effective screening of cargo at our ports and other points of entry.
But a secure border will contribute to addressing our immigration problem most effectively if we also:
Recognize the importance of building strong allies in Mexico and Latin America who reject the siren call of authoritarians like Hugo Chavez, support freedom and democracy, and seek strong domestic economies with abundant economic opportunities for their citizens.
Recognize the importance of pro-growth policies -- keeping government spending in check, holding down taxes, and cutting unnecessary regulatory burdens -- so American businesses can hire and pay the best.
Recognize the importance of a flexible labor market to keep employers in business and our economy on top. It should provide skilled Americans and immigrants with opportunity. Our education system should ensure skills for our younger workers, and our retraining and assistance programs for displaced workers must be modernized so they can pursue those opportunities
(Note: immigrants that are not illegal are called Americans, Communism assigns each student with a trade they desire - gene research can further whom is qualified by dna for specific skills)
Recognize the importance of assimilation of our immigrant population, which includes learning English, American history and civics, and respecting the values of a democratic society. (Note: democracy imposes the will of the louder voice of the people)
Recognize that America will always be that "shining city upon a hill," a beacon of hope and opportunity for those seeking a better life built on hard work and optimism.
Border security and our failed immigration system are more examples of an ailing Washington culture in need of reform to regain the trust of Americans. In too many areas -- from immigration and pork barrel spending to Social Security, health care, energy security and tax relief -- business-as-usual politics prevents addressing the important challenges facing our nation.
Rescinds President Bush’s ban on ethical embryonic stem cell research. In 2001, President Bush issued an Executive Order banning federal funding for some of the most promising avenues of stem cell research. And this year – yet again – he vetoed legislation to open up new lines of embryonic stem cells for federal funding. Within these cells may lay the cures for Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, spinal cord injuries, diabetes, Huntington’s disease and more. One hundred million Americans live with these diseases – and their families live with them too. The President’s ban damages more than hope – it hurts our chances to lead the world in innovative new fields. Countries like Singapore and the United Kingdom are filling the biotech gap that this president has created, investing in research for cures and jobs of the future. As President, Hillary will end the ban and promote stem cell research that complies with the highest ethical standards.
To achieve this goal, Senator Clinton’s strategy would:
A Groundbreaking National Prevention Initiative to Reduce the Incidence of Such Diseases as Diabetes and Cancer that Impose Huge Human and Financial Costs
Institute a New "Paperless" Health Information Technology System
Transform Care of Today’s Chronically Ill Population to Improve Outcomes and Decrease Costs
Ending Insurance Discrimination to Help Reduce Administrative Costs
Create an Independent "Best Practices" Institute to Empower Consumers, Providers and Health Plans to Make the Right Care Choices
Implement Smart Purchasing Initiatives to Constrain Excess Prescription Drug and Managed Care Expenditures
Put in Place Common-Sense Medical Malpractice
This century’s plague is chronic illness including diabetes, heart conditions, obesity and other chronic conditions. Obesity rates have doubled among adults over the past 20 years; in fact Medicare could save over a trillion dollars over 25 years if obesity among seniors could be returned to levels in the 1980s. One out of three children born in 2000 is at risk of developing diabetes, and today’s children are at risk of having shorter life spans than their parents - for the first time in our nation’s history. Chronic illness accounts for 75 percent of health costs, and two-thirds of recent cost growth. Only half of recommended clinical preventive services are provided to adults, and less than half of adults had their doctors provide them advice on weight, nutrition, or exercisei. Only 38 percent of adults receive recommended colorectal screening and roughly 20 percent of children do not receive recommended immunizations.ii
Senator Clinton will:
Require all insurers participating in federal programs to cover prevention priorities: Senator Clinton would make it a condition of doing business with the Federal government that health plans cover high-priority preventive services. Covered services would be based on recommendations from the U.S. Prevention Services Task Force. Insurers would provide both individuals and providers with the financial incentives, such as eliminating copays for high-priority prevention services. This approach is being taken by such businesses as Safeway, which not only covers all preventive services but provides an integrated health promotion model for many of it employees.
Target prevention by coordinating and pooling public funding: Senator Clinton would coordinate public spending on prevention across federal programs in the Department of Health and Human Services to maximize high-priority prevention. A public-private collaboration would ensure that prevention is pushed outside of the boundaries of the health care system and into schools, workplace, supermarkets and communities through free provision of preventive benefits. It would enlist a new prevention workforce including pharmacists, church leaders and others who can best use funds to ensure 100 percent use of cost-effective prevention.
Billions of dollars and millions of mistakes result from the use of an outdated, paper-based medical records and billing systems. Modernizing our health care system through the use of information technology will empower doctors and other healthcare providers to communicate electronically and will reduce waste and redundancy while improving safety and quality by reducing medical errors. Today, 75 percent of health care claims are submitted electronically. However, only 71 percent of these claims are automatically adjudicated (i.e. processed without any manual intervention). Paper claims that are clean (no manual intervention) cost about $1.60 per claim; however, electronic claims cost almost half that amount ($0.85)iii. And claims that require manual intervention/adjudication cost 40 percent more than an electronic claims.
The largest driver of health care costs in the nation is related to the small numbers of Americans who incur catastrophic expenditures, usually for the care of chronic diseases. These diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, account for 75 percent of our total national health expenditures and are the leading causes of death in the U.Svi. In fact, the 23 percent of Medicare beneficiaries who suffer from five or more chronic illnesses account for 68 percent of total spending in the Medicare programvii. A recent RAND study projected nearly $30 billion in national health expenditure savings per year after implementing disease and lifestyle management programs. Combined with prevention and health information technology, with full participation, the U.S. health system could save $147 billion alone for better care of this vulnerable populationviii.
Provide incentives for participation in chronic care management programs: Services provided would include: care coordination among and between providers, drug management, diet and exercise counseling, lifestyle management, and the promotion of patient responsibility for self-management. Medicare beneficiaries and federal employees could choose to opt-in to this program and many would do so because of the additional services (many of which would have no cost-sharing requirements) and the potential for higher-quality care and outcomes. Physicians providing services within these programs would receive management bonus payments to compensate for their cost-effective coordination services.
Patients, providers and payers would benefit from getting better information on what works in health care and how treatments compare to one another. Little is known about how these procedures stack up, so we end up paying for them all, even when they may do nothing to improve health. Researchers at Dartmouth have found that more care is not better care, and that inefficient care may do more harm than good. Health care providers and patients are being bombarded with information. In the past decade, there has been an 80 percent growth in the number of drugs prescribed, 100 percent growth in new device patents, 300 percent growth in teaching hospital procedures, and 1,500 percent growth in diseases with gene testsxi.
Allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices. Eliminate the prohibition in federal law that prohibits the Secretary of HHS from negotiating prescription drug prices in Medicare.
In order to ensure greater stability and predictability for physicians to continue to practice, we need common-sense medical malpractice reforms. While some have overstated the role that malpractice insurance plays in the health care crisis, it is clear that we have to find a way that works for everyone, doctors and patients alike.
Senator Clinton will:
Promote medical error disclosure and provider-patient trust:Senator Clinton has introduced the National Medical Error Disclosure and Compensation (MEDiC) Act. It would encourage the adoption of a model that provides liability protections for physicians who disclose medical errors to patients and who offer to enter into negotiations for fair compensation. Overall, these policies have resulted in greater patient trust and satisfaction, more patients being compensated for injuries, fewer numbers of malpractice suits being filed, and significantly reduced administrative and legal defense costs. At the University of Michigan, this program has saved $1-3 million in litigation costs.
Preventing and Managing Disease
Epidemic of chronic illness: An estimated 45 percent of Americans had a chronic illness in 2000. This is projected to rise to 50 percent by 2020xxv.
Diabetes: The number of people with diabetes has doubled in the past fifteen years, with the expectation that one-third of the people born in 2000 can expect to have diabetes in his or her lifetimexxvi. And this trend is even more disturbing for African Americans: the rate of diabetes is 50 to 80 percent higher for this group compared to non-Hispanic whites.
Obesity and health: About 24 percent of Americans were obese in 2005, up from 15 percent in 1995xxvii. Obesity contributes to a wide range of chronic conditions, from diabetes to stroke to cancer. If trends continue, children’s life spans may be shorter than that of their parents for the first time in about a centuryxxviii.
Chronic diseases drive costs. Chronic diseases, some of which can be prevented, account for more about 75 percent of health care costs. In addition, about two-thirds of the rise in health care spending is associated with a rise in the prevalence of treated disease-more diabetics, more pulmonary disorders, etcxxix. Medicare is particularly affected: chronic diseases account for 68 percent of program costs, and 23 percent of beneficiaries have 5 or more chronic diseasesxxx.
Obesity and costs: About 30% of the rise in health care spending is linked to the doubling of obesity among adults over the past 20 yearsxxxi. Had the prevalence of obesity remained the same today as it was in 1987, we would spend 10 percent less per person - approximately $200 billion - on health care today.
Impact on employers: About 30 percent of total cost of diabetes results from work loss, disability, and premature death and the effects of preventable influenza present a major cost to employers in terms of sick days and reduced productivityxxxii.
Proven prevention is underused and undervalued
Low use: Only half of recommended clinical preventive services are provided to adults and less than half of adults had their doctors provide them advice on weight, nutrition, or exercisexxxiii. Only 38 percent of adults receive recommended colorectal screening and roughly 20 percent of children do not receive recommended immunizationsxxxiv. Additionally, the percent of elderly people who received an influenza vaccine in 2003 was 64 percent in the U.S., well below Australia at 79 percent and the United Kingdom at 71 percentxxxv.
Difficult to provide only through insurance: Health insurers typically do not cover the full range of recommended services. An employer survey found that only 57 percent cover flu vaccines, 20 percent cover tobacco cessation services and only 18 percent cover alcohol problem preventionxxxvi. Since people frequently change insurers, insurers have little incentive to invest in them. The average person in their 40s has already had 11 jobsxxxvii.
Difficult to provide only through doctors: One study estimates that it would take over 7 hours per day to deliver all of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force-recommended clinical prevention to a typical patient panel of 2,500xxxviii. Moreover, our payment system does not value prevention. Reimbursement for a diagnostic, surgical, or imaging procedure often is three times as much as a thirty-minute visit with a patient involving management and counselingxxxix.
Low spending: The U.S. spends only an estimated 1 to 3 percent of national health expenditures on preventive health care services and health promotionxl. This is an estimated $70 billion per yearxli.
Primary prevention can reduce costs and improve lives
Immunization: Fully vaccinating all seniors against the flu could save nearly $1 billion per yearxlii. Full vaccination of seniors against pneumococcal disease could save $10 for every $1 spentxliii.
Obesity intervention: If obesity among the elderly were to return to the level in the 1980s, then savings could total a trillion dollars over a 25 year periodxliv.
Workplace wellness: A systematic review of this literature evaluating workplace health promotion programs found that 88% of the 32 studies found that these initiatives reduced healthcare costs, and virtually all found they reduced absenteeism. The mean return on investment of the initiatives was $3.93 for health care costs and $5.07 for absenteeism savingsxlv.
Safeway example: Safeway covers all preventive care services appropriate for a patient's age group. It offers other benefits, such as a 24-hour hot line staffed by registered nurses, services to help people manage chronic conditions and incentives designed to promote healthier lifestyles. Safeway has integrated a health promotion/prevention model with care management. According to Safeway’s analysis, overall, health coverage costs for Safeway employees enrolled in the new plan fell 11 percent in 2006, its first year of operation. It has projected that their 2007 spending will be flatxlvi.
Chronic care management can produce savings:
Example of diabetes care management: A comprehensive program to achieve and maintain weight reduction of 7% among adults with elevated blood sugar produced results so dramatic and quick, randomized trial was stopped a year early. The incidence of diabetes was 58 percent lower among at-risk individuals enrolled in the lifestyle intervention than the control group. The results were most pronounced among those aged 60 and older - a 71 percent reduction in the incidence of diabetes. These results have been replicated in studies in Finland and Chinaxlvii.
Example of warranty for care: Geisinger Clinic has experimented with a model that provides all follow-up care for up to 90 days after surgery through a "warranty". This has resulted in more aggressive follow-up (e.g., ensuring antibiotics or aspirin are used) and fewer subsequent hospitalizationsxlviii.
Example of the VA’s use of HIT and chronic care management: Between 1993 and 1999, the VA adopted electronic medical records, developed explicit evidence-based treatment protocols for chronic disease, and provided financial incentives to VA health centers to improve care outcomes. Quality of care indicators improved dramatically: VA patients received 67 percent of clinically recommended care compared to 51 percent nationallyxlix. Moreover, use of hospital services declined dramatically—total hospital bed days declined by:
51 percent for those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,
49 percent for those with pneumonia,
43 percent for those with heart failure, and
49 percent among diabetics.
Health Information Technology
Medical mistakes: In part due to our lack of health information technology, an estimated 195,000 Americans die each year due to medical mistakes. At least 1.5 million people - are ere given the wrong medication each yearli.
High cost of paper-based payment: Today, 75 percent of health care claims are submitted electronically. However, only 71 percent of these claims are automatically adjudicated (i.e. processed without any manual intervention). Paper claims that are clean (no manual intervention) cost about $1.60 per claim. Claims that require manual intervention/ adjudication cost over $2 per claim. However, it costs 85 cents for an electronic claimlii.
Lowers medical errors: If all hospitals used a computerized physician order entry system, an estimated 200,000 fewer adverse drug events would occur, saving roughly $1 billion per yearliii.
Savings from duplication of tests: A local study in Santa Barbara found that one in five lab tests and x-rays were ordered solely because the previous results could not be foundliv.
System-wide savings from full use of HIT: RAND estimates net savings of $77 billion per year with 90 percent adoption. If efficiency in the nation's healthcare system increased by an additional 1.5 percent per year - what economists generally agree was the impact of information technology on the wholesale and retail industry - savings could be as high as $346 billion annually-over 15% of health care spendinglv.
Example of the VA: The HIT system, known as the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA), provides clinical, financial and management systems for the VA. The health record component of VistA, the computerized patient record system (CPRS), is used in outpatient, inpatient, mental health, intensive care unit, emergency department, clinic, home care, nursing home and other settings. CPRS contains all components of a patient’s health record, such as laboratory test results, medical images, bar code medication administration, progress notes, and appointments. CPRS permits VHA clinicians to access a patient's record from anywhere within the health enterprise, at the point of care. The CPRS is fully operational at all medical centers and most other VHA sites of care. The VA efficiently delivers some of the best quality health care in the United States. Between 1999 and 2003, the number of patients enrolled in the VHA system increased by 70 percent, yet funding (not adjusted for inflation) increased by only 41 percent. Health care spending per capita averages $6,300 in the U.S.; at the VA, however, the per-patient cost is $5,000, 21% lower than the national averagelvi.
SHADES OF GEORGE ORWELL'S 1984 - BIG BROTHER WATCHING YOU
Clinton unveils mandatory health care insurance plan
Clinton's $110 billion plan would require all Americans to have health insurance
Clinton unveils mandatory health care insurance plan
Story Highlights
NEW: Edwards says he's flattered by the Clinton plan's similarities to his plan
Obama: My health care plan goes further
Dodd slams Clinton "mismanagement of the effort in 1993 and 1994"
Clinton's $110 billion plan would require all Americans to have health insurance
DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) -- Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton announced a $110 billion health care reform plan Monday that would require all Americans to have health insurance. Clinton unveiled her "American Health Choices Plan," during a high-profile speech at a hospital in the key campaign state of Iowa, surrounded by supporters, American flags and campaign banners. "Here in America people are dying because they couldn't get the care they needed when they were sick." "I'm here today because I believe it is long past time that this nation had an answer," Clinton said. "I believe America is ready for change. "It's time to provide quality affordable health care for every American," Clinton said. "And I intend to be the president who accomplishes that goal finally for our country." A Clinton adviser compares the plan's "individual mandate" -- which requires everyone to have health insurance -- to current rules in most states that require all drivers to purchase auto insurance, according to The Associated Press. Watch Clinton outline her health care proposal » In her plan, Clinton said families would receive tax credits to help pay for coverage. The tax credit would be designed to limit the premiums to a percentage of a family's income. Federal subsidies would be provided for those who are not able to afford insurance, and large businesses would be expected to provide or help pay for their employees' insurance. Clinton said her plan would not require small businesses to take part, but will offer tax credits to encourage them to do so. About 46.6 million people in the United States were without health care insurance in 2005, including 8.3 million children, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released last year. "I know my Republican opponents will try to equate this plan with government-run health care. Well don't let them fool you again," Clinton said, explaining that her plan would allow participants to "keep the doctors you know and trust" while it would expand "personal choice" and keep costs down. Clinton's package would also require insurers to provide coverage for anyone who applies for it and would also bar insurance companies from charging people with greater health care costs more for their premiums. Under Clinton's plan, Americans would be offered the same health care benefits of private health care plans offered to Congress through the federal employee benefits program as well as a public program similar to Medicare. Americans satisfied with their current coverage will be allowed to keep it, the Clinton campaign said. To help pay for the plan, Clinton would also eliminate the Bush tax cuts for those making over $250,000 and limit the amount employers can exclude from taxes for health care benefits paid for those making over $250,000. Clinton's announcement marks her return to the health care game, nearly a decade and a half after her first foray. As first lady, Clinton spearheaded the Clinton administration's attempt to overhaul the country's health care system in 1993 and 1994. But critics attacked the Clintons' plan as socialized medicine, and it was killed by opposition from congressional Republicans and many in the medical and pharmaceutical industries. It was Clinton's biggest political defeat. Now Clinton is the third of the front-running Democratic White House hopefuls to formally unveil her plan, following Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, and former Sen. John Edwards. Supporters defend Clinton by saying that she has already made parts of her proposals public, and she often speaks out publicly about her health care plans. Clinton's Democratic rivals wasted no time in reminding voters of her timing. "I commend Senator Clinton for her health care proposal," said Obama in a statement. "It's similar to the one I put forth last spring, though my universal health care plan would go further in reducing the punishing cost of health care than any other proposal that's been offered in this campaign." Edwards, speaking Monday to the Laborers' International Union of North America in Chicago, Illinois, echoed Obama. "I'm glad that, today, the architect of the 1993 plan has another care proposal -- and if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then I'm flattered," said Edwards, a former U.S. senator from North Carolina. "The lesson Senator Clinton seems to have learned from her experience with health care is, 'If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.' I learned a very different lesson from decades of fighting powerful interests -- you can never join 'em, you just have to beat 'em." Edwards' proposal would cut off health care for the president, Congress and all political appointees in mid 2009, if a universal health care plan for all Americans has not been passed by then. Clinton's Democratic rival, Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, used her past attempts at health care reform in criticizing Clinton's proposal. "The mismanagement of the effort in 1993 and 1994 has set back our ability to move toward universal health care immeasurably," Dodd said in a statement. "We've known what the problems have been for nearly 15 years and what the solutions could be. What's been missing is leadership that knows how to bring people together and get the job done." Clinton also took hits from GOP presidential hopefuls, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose criticism sounded like a movie review. "If you liked Michael Moore's 'Sicko,' you're going to love HillaryCare 2.0," said the Giuliani statement. "Senator Clinton's latest health scheme includes more government mandates, expensive federal subsidies and more big bureaucracy -- in short, a prescription for an increase in wait times, a decrease in patient care and tax hikes to pay for it all." Another Republican White House hopeful, Mitt Romney, accused Clinton of taking "her inspiration from European bureaucracies." "Instead we should take our inspiration from the American people," said the former Massachusetts governor. "Hers is a plan which I think underscores the fact that she fundamentally does not believe in markets and in the states. And I believe that our inspiration should come from American families."
GOOGLE TO POST ALL MEDICAL RECORDS ON LINE - GEORGE ORWELL REVISITED
Lowering Costs Through Investment in Electronic Health Information Technology Systems: Most medical records are still stored on paper, which makes it hard to coordinate care, measure quality or reduce medical errors and which costs twice as much as electronic claims. Obama will invest $10 billion a year over the next five years to move the U.S. health care system to broad adoption of standards-based electronic health information systems, including electronic health records, and will phase in requirements for full implementation of health IT. Obama will ensure that patients' privacy is protected.
(See: Hillary Clinton model of HIT)
BORDER PATROL PATRON
Barack Obama's Record
Crack Down on Employers: Obama championed a proposal to create a system so employers can verify that their employees are legally eligible to work in the U.S.
Fix the Bureaucracy: Obama joined Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) to introduce the Citizenship Promotion Act to ensure that immigration application fees are both reasonable and fair. Obama also introduced legislation that passed the Senate to improve the speed and accuracy of FBI background checks.
Respect Families: Obama introduced amendments to put greater emphasis on keeping immigrant families together.
Bring People Out of the Shadows: America has always been a nation of immigrants. There are millions of people living in the shadows who would like to fully embrace our values and become full members of our democracy. For the millions living here illegally but otherwise playing by the rules, we must encourage them to come out of hiding and get right with the law. Barack Obama supports a system that allows undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, learn English, not violate the law, and go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens.
(NOTE: OBAMA HAS THE SAME HEALTHCARE PLAN AS HILLARY CLINTON - SEE: CLINTON)
Variant #1:
Subject:Fwd: Be careful, be very careful.Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Barack Hussein Obama Sr. (black muslim) of Nyangoma-Kogelo, Siaya District, Kenya, and Ann Dunham of Wichita, Kansas. (white atheist ).When Obama was two years old, his parents divorced and his father returned to Kenya. His mother married Lolo Soetoro -- a Muslim -- moving to Jakarta with Obama when he was six years old. Within six months he had learned to speak the Indonesian language. Obama spent "two years in a Muslim school, then two more in a Catholic school" in Jakarta. Obama takes great care to conceal the fact that he is a Muslim while admitting that he was once a Muslim, mitigating that damning information by saying that, for two years, he also attended a Catholic school.Obama's father, Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. was a radical Muslim who migrated from Kenya to Jakarta, Indonesia. He met Obama's mother, Ann Dunham-a white atheist from Wichita, Kansas-at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Obama, Sr. and Dunham divorced when Barack, Jr. was two.Obama's spinmeisters are now attempting to make it appear that Obama's introduction to Islam came from his father and that influence was temporary at best.In reality, the senior Obama returned to Kenya immediately following the divorce and never again had any direct influence over his son's education.Dunham married another Muslim, Lolo Soetoro who educated his stepson as a good Muslim by enrolling him in one of Jakarta's Wahabbi schools. Wahabbism is the radical teaching that created the Muslim terrorists who are now waging Jihad on the industrialized world.Since it is politically expedient to be a Christian when you are seeking political office in the United States, Obama joined the United Church of Christ to help purge any notion that he is still a Muslim.Handsome . . . Charming . . . Winsome . . . Dangerous . . . Deceptive . . . Determined
Obama sworn in on his Bible
An anonymous e-mail says Barack Obama took the oath of office for the U.S. Senate on a Koran, the holy book of Islam. We thought it would be odd if that were true, since Obama is a Christian. In fact, it is wrong.
The e-mail also spells the book's name "Kuran," though usually it is spelled Koran or Quran.
Two press reports from Obama's swearing-in ceremony in January 2005 mention specifically that Obama took the oath of office by placing his hand on his own copy of the Bible. The Barack Obama campaign also confirmed that it was a Bible and that the book belonged to Obama. Vice President Dick Cheney, in his role as president of the Senate, administered the oath.
After being raised outside of any particular faith tradition, Obama became a Christian in his mid 20s and is a member of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. (Obama gave what are arguably his most extended remarks on his faith at the "Call to Renewal" religious conference in 2006; read the speech here.)
We suspect this false claim was inspired by the 2007 swearing-in of Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., an American convert to Islam and the first Muslim elected to Congress. Ellison used a Koran that once belonged to Thomas Jefferson, borrowing the rare book from the Library of Congress.
It goes without saying that Ellison is not Obama. And with its intent to inflame, we find the e-mail's allegation not only false, but Pants-on-Fire wrong.
Obama's Ties To Church Examined
CHICAGO, March 20, 2007
(AP) A then 26-year-old Barack Obama walked down the aisle of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, knelt beneath a cross suspended from its rafters and, as he later explained it, committed himself to God after years as a religious skeptic. In those early days at the self-described "unashamedly black" church, the future Democratic presidential candidate was moved to tears by a sermon from its activist pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., whom he has portrayed as his spiritual mentor. Two decades later, Obama himself would be Wright's topic of the day — but not for reasons either man would have hoped. At a recent Sunday service, following media coverage of Obama's last-minute decision not to have Wright speak at the senator's presidential announcement last month, Wright warned his flock not to believe any reports of a rift between him and the church's best-known member. "Barack and I are fine," Wright, 65, on an out-of-state trip, said in a recorded message played to about 2,000 attendees. "The press is not to be trusted. ... Don't let somebody outside our camp divide us." The erudite if blunt-speaking pastor also said Obama had apologized for withdrawing the invitation to speak at the Feb. 10 announcement in Springfield. Obama had taken "some bad advice from some of his own campaign people who thought it would not be a good idea for me to be in front of the cameras on the day he announced," Wright said, adding that he and Obama had "moved on." Wright attended the announcement, but he did not speak. His impassioned comments came after some conservatives questioned Obama's links to Trinity, which embraces what it calls a "Black Value System." Others criticized Obama for appearing to distance himself from the church and its leader. Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said that's not the case. "The senator appreciates the continued prayers of his pastor," Burton said, adding in a statement that the invitation to Wright was withdrawn because Obama wanted to "avoid having statements and beliefs being used out of context and forcing the entire church to defend itself." Wright declined to comment. But in an interview with PBS's "Religion & Ethics Newsweekly" recorded just before Obama's February announcement, Wright said he warned the senator that their association could pose political problems, partly because of his history of supporting Palestinian causes. Wright also told The New York Times in an interview published March 6: "When his (Obama's) enemies find out that in 1984 I went to Tripoli" with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan to visit Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, "a lot of his Jewish support will dry up quicker than a snowball in hell." The roughly 8,000-member church has often championed liberal causes, from gay rights to opposition to the Iraq war. It also emphasizes its African roots and asks parishioners to accept the "Black Value System," which includes tenets such as "commitment to the black family," "dedication to the pursuit of education" and one critics have seized upon - "disavowal of the pursuit of 'middleclassness."' Obama seemed to preach some of the church's teachings earlier this month at a commemoration of the 1965 civil rights march in Selma, Ala. He said his generation of blacks needs to strive for something beyond getting "some of that Oprah money" and that "materialism alone will not fulfill the possibilities of your existence." At Trinity's lively, music-oriented services, some members wear African-style dress. A red, black and green flag of the pan-African movement stands by the pulpit. On a nearby plaque, Trinity's motto reads, "Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian." For nearly two decades, Obama has identified strongly with Trinity and hasn't been shy about discussing his closeness to its pastor. Wright's use of "audacity of hope" in one sermon inspired Obama to borrow those words as the title of his best-selling book, "The Audacity of Hope." In an earlier memoir, "Dreams From My Father," Obama also tells how he was moved to tears during that sermon by Wright, an early proponent of the black liberation and black theology movements that gained ground in the 1960s. Obama describes what he calls "a forceful wind carrying the reverend's voice up into the rafters" and how he "felt for the first time how that spirit carried within it, nascent, incomplete, the possibility of moving beyond our narrow dreams." The son of a white mother from Kansas, who was skeptical of organized religion, and a Kenyan father, Obama was raised in a secular household. He spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, where he attended a Catholic school and a public school where he took Islamic religion classes. He explained how his spiritual journey culminated that day he walked toward the altar at Trinity in a 2006 article on the United Church of Christ's Web site, writing that as he knelt beneath that cross, "I submitted myself to (God's) will and dedicated myself to discovering His truth." He added that he was drawn to activist churches like Trinity because, in them, "I was able to see faith as more than just a comfort to the weary or a hedge against death, but rather as an active, palpable agent in the world." Trinity's critics, though, say it emphasizes black causes to a fault. Fran Eaton, who writes for the conservative blog Illinois Review, singled out Trinity's 12-point value system, which includes a commitment to "pledge allegiance to all black leadership who espouse and embrace the Black Value System." "I would feel uncomfortable with a church that used the word 'white' instead of 'black' when it talked about these things," she said. "It seems to me we are going backward if we're basing our churches and the help they give on skin color." Melissa Harris-Lacewell, a politics and African studies professor at Princeton University and an Obama supporter who attended Trinity when she lived in Chicago, dismisses such criticism, saying it only shows "most white Americans, most of the time, can be utterly ignorant of how black people worship on Sunday." She added that pinning Wright's left-leaning politics on Obama isn't fair. "The question is what Barack Obama believes, not what Reverend Wright believes," she said, "because Barack Obama and Reverend Wright may be in agreement on some issues and deeply in disagreement on others."
Play Video
YouTube - Rev Jeremiah Wright's Message
"Journey's End"A message from Rev Jeremiah Wright..."God's sick of this shit" ... A message from Rev Jeremiah Wright... "God's sick of this shit" (less) Added: ...www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfNEfEBYIZs
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This is a partial transcript from "Hannity & Colmes," March 1, 2007, that has been edited for clarity.
SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has been inundated with coverage about his Mormon faith, LDS. In light of this, last night we reported on the controversial teachings of Democratic candidate Barack Obama's Chicago-based church. A guest on our program likened Trinity Unity Church of Christ to a separatist movement, drawing comparisons to Branch Davidians.
Joining us now for a response to these claims from Trinity United is the Reverend Dr. Jeremiah Wright.
Reverend, welcome to the program. Thank you for being with us.
REV. DR. JEREMIAH WRIGHT, TRINITY UNITY CHURCH OF CHRIST: Thank you for having me.
HANNITY: OK, this is the same church. You do have the Web site, right, where it says commitment to the black community, commitment to the black...
WRIGHT: The black value system, which was developed by the congregation, by laypersons of the congregation, 26 years ago, very similar to the gospel (INAUDIBLE) developed by laypersons in Nicaragua during the whole liberation theology movement, 26, 28, 30 years ago, yes.
HANNITY: All right, but we're not dealing with — this is on the Web site today. Let me just inform our audience, and I want you to respond, if you can.
It says, "Commitment to God." By the way, I'm with you, and I hope you'll pray for me, Reverend. Commitment to the black community, commitment to the black family, adherence to the black work ethic. It goes on, pledge, you know, acquired skills available to the black community, strengthening and supporting black institutions, pledging allegiance to all black leadership who have embraced the black value system, personal commitment to the embracement of the black value system.
Now, Reverend, if every time we said black, if there was a church and those words were white, wouldn't we call that church racist?
WRIGHT: No, we would call it Christianity. We've been saying that since there was a white Christianity; we've been saying that ever since white Christians took part in the slave trade; we've been saying that ever since they had churches in slave castles.
We don't have to say the word "white." We just have to live in white America, the United States of white America. That's not the issue; you're missing the issue.
As I was trying to say to you, liberation theology — and I thought Eric Rush has studied at a theological seminary that was conservative — I've come to find out he doesn't know anything more about theology than I know about brain surgery.
HANNITY: So here's my point to you, though.
WRIGHT: No, let me finish. No, here's my point to you.
HANNITY: I'm waiting.
WRIGHT: If you're not going to talk about theology in context, if you're not going to talk about liberation theology that came out of the ‘60s, (INAUDIBLE) black liberation theology, that started with Jim Cone in 1968, and the writings of Cone, and the writings of Dwight Hopkins, and the writings of womanist theologians, and Asian theologians, and Hispanic theologians...
HANNITY: Reverend, I've got to get this in.
WRIGHT: Then you can talk about the black value system.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: I'm going to tell you this. Listen...
WRIGHT: Do you know liberation theology, sir? Do you know liberation theology?
HANNITY: I studied theology; I went to a seminary. And I studied Latin.
WRIGHT: Do you know black liberation theology?
HANNITY: I'm very aware of what you're calling black liberation, but let me get my question out.
(CROSSTALK)
WRIGHT: I said, do you know black theology?
HANNITY: Reverend, I'm going to give you a chance to answer my question.
WRIGHT: How many of Cone's books have you read? How many of Cone's book have you read?
HANNITY: Reverend, Reverend?
(CROSSTALK)
WRIGHT: How many books of Cone's have you head?
HANNITY: I'm going to ask you this question...
WRIGHT: How many books of Dwight Hopkins have you read?
HANNITY: You're very angry and defensive. I'm just trying to ask a question here.
(CROSSTALK)
WRIGHT: You haven't answered — you haven't answered my question.
HANNITY: And it seems to be, when you say the black community, black family, black work ethic, black community...
(CROSSTALK)
WRIGHT: It seems arrogant, ignorant...
(CROSSTALK)
WRIGHT: I'm asking you...
(CROSSTALK)
WRIGHT: ... how many books of Dwight Hopkins have you read?
HANNITY: Sir, I'm going to say this whether you like it or not. I'm going to get my words in, and I'm going to tell you right now...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: As a Christian, sir, I think, as a Christian, you should not separate by race in this day and age. And that's why a lot of people are going to look at that and say, "We're all supposed to be united under Christ, aren't we?"
ALAN COLMES, CO-HOST: Dr. Wright, it's Alan Colmes. First of all, I think Barack Obama put it correctly to the "Chicago Tribune" when he said that he'd be puzzled that the conservatives would object or quibble with the bulk of a document — which is your church's document — that espouses profoundly conservative values of self-reliance and self-help. That's what you're talking about on your Web site, self-reliance and self-help for the committee that your church serves. I don't see what the problem should be with that.
WRIGHT: That comes out of the perspective of liberation theology and black liberation theology. And I keep asking him, how many books of Cone's has he read? How many books of Dwight Hopkins? How many liberation theologians does he know?
(CROSSTALK)
COLMES: But I want to ask you about your church that the public understands. I want the public to understand where your church is coming from, because you're being accused of being a black separatist church, and thus Obama is being accused by default of being a black separatist. Can you straighten that out for us, please?
WRIGHT: OK. The African-centered point of view does not assume superiority, nor does it assume separatism. It assumes Africans speaking for themselves as subjects in history, not objects in history.
It comes from the principles of Kawaida, the second principle being Kuji Salawi (ph), which is self-determination, us naming ourselves, and not saying we are superior to anybody. We have no hierarchical arrangement.
When you say an African-centered way of thinking, African-centered philosophy, African-centered theology, you're talking about one center. We're talking about something that's different. And different does not mean deficient...
COLMES: Aren't there black churches...
WRIGHT: ... nor does it mean superior or inferior. The whole notion of hierarchal, one's superior, we must be separate because we're better, that has absolutely nothing to do with...
(CROSSTALK)
COLMES: But aren't there black churches all over America that say pretty much what your church says? They serve the African-American community. They say very similar things to what you say on your Web site.
WRIGHT: Yes, they do. Yes, they do.
COLMES: And your church is being singled out, simply because it has congregants, like Barack Obama, but it also has people from all walks of life, welfare recipients, Oprah Winfrey, as I understand it, and a whole bunch of people?
WRIGHT: Correct. That's correct. We've been singled out ever since the audacity of hope speech, ever since the Democratic convention, ever since the book "Audacity of Hope," ever since journalists found out that Barack was one of our members. Yes, we've been singled out.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: I've got to run. We're on a hard break. But may I suggest that we talk about the American community, instead of black, the American family, instead of black...
WRIGHT: Let me suggest that you do some reading before you come and talk to me about my field. I'm not trying to talk to you about — no, no, no.
HANNITY: ... that would bring us together.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: ... Martin Luther King...
WRIGHT: Martin Luther King was from the black church. He was not from the white church. He was not from Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, the Christian conservative...
HANNITY: He said, "I judge people by the content of their character."
WRIGHT: Yes, and he also said that war is wrong.
HANNITY: I've got to run.
WRIGHT: He also said that the president lied to take us into Vietnam.
HANNITY: I've got to run. Thank you for being with us.
WRIGHT: Why don't you quote everything? Thank you for having me, sir.
Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He completed his elementary education in that city and then went to Virginia Union University. After three and a half years at Virginia Union, Pastor Wright left school and entered the United States Marine Corps. He transferred from the USMC into the United States Navy where he served as a cardiopulmonary technician.
After six years in the military, Pastor Wright transferred to Howard University where he completed his undergraduate studies and received his first Master’s Degree. His second Master’s Degree was from the University of Chicago Divinity School. His Doctorate was received from the United Theological Seminary under Dr. Samuel DeWitt Proctor. In addition to Pastor Wright’s four earned degrees, he has been the recipient of eight honorary doctorates.
Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. became Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ (TUCC) on March 1, 1972. Within a matter of months he demonstrated an understanding and deep commitment to help TUCC achieve its motto and vision. The motto, "Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian", was a phrase coined by his predecessor, the Reverend Dr. Reuben Sheares, and was officially adopted by the congregation shortly after Pastor Wright began his ministry.
Since 1972, under Dr. Wright’s leadership, the membership of Trinity United Church of Christ grew from 87 members; and currently exceeds 6,000! The membership continues to grow numerically and spiritually with large numbers of members tithing, studying in bible classes and serving in over 70 ministries offered to enhance the Christian journey.
Dr. Wright has lectured at seminaries and universities across the United States and has represented TUCC and The United Church of Christ around the world. He is recognized as a leading theologian and pastor and has published four books and numerous articles.
Dr. Wright shares his life and his ministry with his wife, Rev. Ramah Reed Wright, and is the father of four daughters: Janet Marie Moore, Jeri Lynne Wright, Nikol D. Reed and Jamila Nandi Wright; and one son, Nathan D. Reed. He is also the grandfather of three grandchildren; Jeremiah Antonio Haynes, Jazmin Lynne Hall and Steven L. Moore, Jr.
