AP

Obama and Single Payer in Illinois   [Stanley Kurtz]

This revealing video shows Obama in 2007 acknowledging a long-term strategy to undermine employer-based private medical insurance coverage, and in 2003 affirming his support for a "single-payer" government-run health-care system.

Obama’s support for a single-payer system may run deeper than we realize. In his regular "Springfield Report" column in the October 2, 2002 issue of the Hyde Park Herald, Obama wrote:

I have been one of the leaders in the General Assembly on universal health care as the chief State Senate sponsor of the Cardinal Bernardin Amendment, which would change Illinois to a single-payer system where everyone received health benefits.

There is something odd about this statement. While the Bernardin Amendment, by creating a constitutional right to health care, would indeed have mandated universal coverage, the amendment itself didn’t dictate how universal coverage was to be achieved. So why did Obama claim that the Bernardin Amendment would "change Illinois to a single-payer system?"

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OGI4NmRlNGU3ZGQyZDhhZmY4YjcxOWQzNzE0OTM1NTE=

1923 - Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as the 30th president of the U.S. after the sudden death of President Harding.

August 3, 1948

Chambers accuses Hiss of being a communist spy

In hearings before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), Whittaker Chambers accuses former State Department official Alger Hiss of being a communist and a spy for the Soviet Union. The accusation set into motion a series of events that eventually resulted in the trial and conviction of Hiss for perjury.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=2748

By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 3, 2009

In the days before President Obama's last news conference, as the networks weighed whether to give up a chunk of their precious prime time, Rahm Emanuel went straight to the top.

Rather than calling ABC, the White House chief of staff phoned Bob Iger, chief executive of parent company Disney. Instead of contacting NBC, Emanuel went to Jeffrey Immelt, the chief executive of General Electric. He also spoke with Les Moonves, the chief executive of CBS, the company spun off from Viacom.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/02/AR2009080202045_pf.html

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) announced today that he will vote against Sonia Sotomayor, Pres. Obama's nominee to become the first Hispanic SCOTUS justice.

McCain, in a Senate floor speech:

http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2009/08/mccain_to_vote.php

2 Obama officials: No guarantee taxes won't go up

2 Obama administration officials can't guarantee middle-class Americans won't see tax hike

• By Philip Elliott, Associated Press Writer
• On Sunday August 2, 2009, 9:24 pm EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's treasury secretary said Sunday he cannot rule out higher taxes to help tame an exploding budget deficit, and his chief economic adviser would not dismiss raising them on middle-class Americans as part of a health care overhaul.

As the White House sought to balance campaign rhetoric with governing, officials appeared willing to extend unemployment benefits. With former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan saying he is "pretty sure we've already seen the bottom" of the recession, Obama aides sought to defend the economic stimulus and calm a jittery public.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National Economic Council Director Larry Summers both sidestepped questions on Obama's intentions about taxes. Geithner said the White House was not ready to rule out a tax hike to lower the federal deficit; Summers said Obama's proposed health care overhaul needs funding from somewhere.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/2-Obama-officials-No-apf-2491158742.html?x=0&.v=7

Reuters

Pelosi: I'm called a 'villain' all the time, so it's okay to use it back

August 2, 1776

Delegates sign Declaration of Independence

On this day in 1776, members of Congress affix their signatures to an enlarged copy of the Declaration of Independence.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=50678

August 2, 1861

First income tax is passed

August 2, 1923

Harding dies before scandals break

In a hotel in San Francisco, President Warren G. Harding dies of a stroke at the age of 58. Harding was returning from a presidential tour of Alaska and the West Coast, a journey some believed he had embarked on to escape the rumors circulating in Washington of corruption in his administration.

1939 - U.S. President Roosevelt signed the Hatch Act. The act prohibited civil service employees from taking an active part in political campaigns.

1939 - Albert Einstein signed a letter to President Roosevelt urging the U.S. to have an atomic weapons research program.

Potsdam Conference concludes

The last wartime conference of the "Big Three"--the Soviet Union, the United States, and Great Britain--concludes after two weeks of intense and sometimes acrimonious debate. The conference failed to settle most of the important issues at hand and thus helped set the stage for the Cold War that would begin shortly after World War II came to an end.

1974 - John Dean was sentenced to 1-4 years in prison for his involvement in the Watergate cover-up.

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