A fired-up US President Barack Obama turned his populist ire from Wall Street to the insurance sector on Monday as he sought to rally support for a last-ditch bid to pass an historic healthcare overhaul bill.
Obama laid a bold bet with his remaining political capital in an event in metropolitan Philadelphia, painting insurance firms as villains and seeking to win over lawmakers wavering over tough votes crucial to his presidency.
“I’m kind of fired up,” Obama said.
Obama is piling pressure on the US House of Representatives to back his plan by March 18, before he leaves on a trip to Indonesia and Australia — a week-long voyage that could drain political momentum from the healthcare push.
He wants the House to ditch legislation it approved in November and pass the US Senate’s version, coupled with “fixes” to that bill — but the approach is high-risk as some conservative Democrats oppose it.
“The United States Congress owes the American people a final up-or-down vote on healthcare. It’s time to make a decision,” Obama said in Pennsylvania.
With millions of Americans lacking coverage, Obama accused insurance giants of making a cynical calculation that even if rate hikes cost them customers, they could rake in more cash through higher premiums on remaining plan-holders.
“Every year, they drop more people’s coverage when they’re sick and need it most. Every year, they raise premiums higher and higher,” Obama said. “How much higher do premiums have to rise until we do something about it? How many more Americans have to lose their health insurance?”
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the