Offering $ to help fat people lose weight not working
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/08/14/art.fastfood.gi.jpg caption="Some say fast food chains are partly to blame for the nation's obesity epidemic."]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The town of Elgin, Illinois is offering its citizens money to lose weight, but they can't find any takers
After a statewide survey named Elgin the "fattest" city in Illinois, city officials decided to try to do something about it.
The local YMCA is offering $48,000 in grants to promote healthy living. They asked schools, business, churches and community groups to submit their plans – and the winning groups would get $1,000 each.
The hope was that residents would come up with solutions like buying gym equipment, starting healthy cooking classes, creating a walking club, etc. But no one has signed up for the money yet.
Elgin's mayor says the lack of interest in this program shows the city has a long way to go, he suggests people come up with "non-traditional exercise programs" – an alternative to team sports, like a program to get kids to ride bikes and skateboards.
Officials hope some of this grant money can also help pay to teach parents about healthy eating for themselves and their children. Almost half of the kids in Elgin's school district are obese or at risk for being obese.
The deadline for this program is September 1st, so if you're listening in Elgin, Illinois, you have a couple weeks to get off the couch and sign up.
SO HERE'S THE QUESTION: If offering money to help fat people lose weight doesn't work, what will?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
FULL POST
Pres. Obama's transparency promise on bailout & stimulus $?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/08/14/jc.oboma.0814.gi.jpg caption=" When it comes to stimulus and bailout money, has Pres. Obama kept his promise of transparency?"]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Pres. Obama has been promising the American people transparency ever since he was on the campaign trail.
And, when it comes to the $700 billion dollar bank and auto bailouts, known as TARP, and the $787 billion economic stimulus package, the president vowed an unprecedented level of openness.
A lot of information has been made public through websites like recovery.gov and financialstability.gov. The administration calls these sites "pioneering" compared to how government worked in the past.
But we're talking about almost $1.5 trillion dollars here – and there is key information that the public doesn't know about how and where this money is being spent.
For example, the Treasury Department doesn't require banks that have gotten TARP funds to show how they're using the money or who the bailed out banks are lending to.
Also, taxpayers won't have any idea if they've lost or made money on government investments in companies like General Motors, AIG, Citigroup and Bank of America until the government sells its stakes.
As for the spending of stimulus dollars, the government accounting only goes as far as the first tier recipients from the states. So it's not known which and how many companies down the line are getting work.
It's not enough. We deserve the transparency that was promised us. Otherwise it's just another example of government lying to us in order to get us to go along with something. Does the Iraq war ring a bell?
SO HERE'S THE QUESTION:When it comes to stimulus and bailout money, has Pres. Obama kept his promise of transparency?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
FULL POST
"A few years" in combat in Afghanistan?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/08/14/jc.08.14.war.jpg caption=" The U.S. will soon be entering the 9th year since the invasion of Afghanistan, but the war could be far from over."]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The U.S. will soon be entering the 9th year since the invasion of Afghanistan, but the war could be far from over.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates says it will take "a few years" to defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda, and larger scale success will take even longer.
Gates describes how long U.S. troops will be in the country as a "mystery" – saying there are too many variables to predict.
Variables like the Taliban – which are in control of more and more of the country. This means insurgent attacks are up. Last month, 49 coalition troops were killed in bomb attacks, up from 8 during the same time last year.
Some think more troops are the answer: There are now 62,000 U.S. troops there – with another 6,000 on the way. Gates says the top commander in Afghanistan won't be asking for more troops right now, but some expect him to eventually ask for another 10,000 troops.
Meanwhile, the U.S. has spent more than $220 billion on Afghanistan since 2001 – and is now spending about $4 billion a month.
But that still may not be enough. A new Senate report paints a grim picture of the security situation in Afghanistan and makes clear that the U.S. needs to send more troops and civilians. Officials tell Senate investigators that progress in Afghanistan "if it comes" would be "incremental", talking about anywhere from 2 to 10 years.
SO HERE'S THE QUESTION: Should the United States spend a "few years" in combat in Afghanistan?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
FULL POST
Troop plan for Mexican border delayed over money
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/08/13/jcmeixcan0813.jpg caption=" How serious is the U.S. about national security if the plan to send National Guard troops to the Mexican border is being delayed over money?"]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
A plan to send National Guard troops to the Mexican border is being held up as our government bickers over the cost.
Pres. Obama called for the 1,500 troops in June to help stop violence from Mexican drug cartels from spilling into the U.S. The temporary boost in troops is estimated to cost $225 million.
Yet while the president was in Mexico this week spouting empty rhetoric about the U.S. doing its part to secure the border, stem the flow of drugs, weapons and money – the program to put these National Guard troops on the border is mired in arguments. The Pentagon and Homeland Security Department are mostly hung up over the money, although there are also apparently issues about where the troops would be stationed and what they would do.
This is absurd. This country has done next to nothing meaningful about border security since 9-11. And, as we've been showing on CNN every day, the Mexican drug cartels are becoming stronger and more violent. It's estimated the drug violence has already killed 11,000 people.
The U.S. border states are frustrated they haven't gotten the extra troops yet, and rightfully so. And our government can't decide who will shell out the $225 million to pay for the program.
No one is going to believe anything we say if this kind of stuff continues.
SO HERE'S THE QUESTION: How serious is the U.S. about national security if the plan to send National Guard troops to the Mexican border is being delayed over money?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
FULL POST
Surgeon general pick a paid adviser to Burger King
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/08/13/jc.art.drb..jpg caption=" President Obama has nominated a paid consultant for Burger King to be the nation's top doctor."]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
In the midst of perhaps the most contentious national debate since the Vietnam War, President Obama has nominated a paid consultant for Burger King to be the nation's top doctor.
Can you spell tone-deaf?
Dr. Regina Benjamin has been paid 10-thousand dollars since last year to serve on a scientific advisory board for the company that brings us the Whopper and the B-K Triple Stacker.
According to the Washington Times, Burger King says the doctor was on the company's nutritional advisory panel... which is meant to "promote balanced diets and active lifestyle choices."
The Department of Health and Human Services says Benjamin was advocating for food that was lower in salt and recommending that nutritional information appear on packaging. They add that she will resign from Burger King once she's confirmed by the Senate as surgeon general and will "continue to promote healthy eating and exercise." You want fries with that?
But, many aren't buying it and see a conflict of interest. After all, Burger King is still a fast food joint. And, in a nation where one-third of adults are obese, fast food restaurants aren't helping any.
Since her nomination, Dr. Benjamin has won support from both sides of the aisle, particularly for running a health clinic for the poor after Hurricane Katrina – but there's also been criticism. As we reported in the Cafferty File last month, some believe that the president's selection of an overweight candidate for the nation's top doctor sent the wrong message. Now we find out she works for Burger King.
SO HERE'S THE QUESTION:What does it say that the president's nominee for surgeon general is a paid adviser to Burger King?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Limit on health care for elderly, terminally ill?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/08/13/jchealthcare0813.jpg caption=" Should there be a limit on health care for elderly and terminally ill people?"]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Medical care for the terminally ill is a controversial aspect of health care reform that hasn't gotten much attention yet.
Pres. Obama raised the issue in an April interview when talking about his grandmother's final days. He said his 86-year-old grandmother wound up having hip replacement surgery during the final weeks of her life, after already being diagnosed with terminal cancer.
The president said he didn't know how much the surgery cost, and that he would have paid it out of pocket because it was his grandmother. He also said that if someone had told him she couldn't have a hip replacement and had to suffer even more in the last days of her life "that would be pretty upsetting."
But, the president added that's where "you just get into some very difficult moral issues" when deciding what medical treatment to give to terminally ill patients. Pres. Obama suggested that the chronically ill and elderly account for as much as 80% of our health care costs.
It's certainly a tricky moral question to say the least. On an intellectual level, it may be one thing to say it doesn't make sense for the country to spend so much money on people who are dying. But on a personal level, when it's your loved one suffering, it's an entirely different issue.
SO HERE'S THE QUESTION: Should there be a limit on health care for elderly and terminally ill people?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
FULL POST
Mark Sanford fit to serve as S.C. governor?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/08/12/sanford.jpg caption=" Join the conversation on Jack's blog."]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Embattled South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford should be impeached for abusing state finances.
So says a state senator who is also a fellow Republican. Senator David Thomas says the governor violated state regulations by billing South Carolina for business and first-class tickets on international flights during trade missions. The law requires officials to buy the cheapest seats possible. He also is accused of using state airplanes for personal and political travel, which he admits doing.
Governor Sanford acknowledges he "did wrong" and that "there are consequences for that.” But the weak-kneed rationale for his malfeasance in office is something along the lines of "other people have done this and even done it more often." It's the kind of logic used by people doing long stretches in prison for robbing banks. Other people did that too.
Of course, Sanford has been under fire since he mysteriously disappeared in late June. At first his office said he was hiking the Appalachian Trail. A week later, in a rambling news conference, the governor admitted he was in Argentina with a woman he has been having extra-marital affair with.
At the time, people called on him to resign but Sanford said he planned to continue as governor and would try to fix his relationship with his wife and his 4 sons.
His wife Jenny has since moved out of the governor's mansion in Columbia and taken the four kids with her, but Sanford says they're not getting a divorce.
SO HERE'S THE QUESTION: Is Mark Sanford no longer fit to serve as governor of South Carolina?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
FULL POST
Town hall meetings helping or hurting health care reform?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/08/12/jc-healthcare.0811.gi.jpg caption=" Are the town hall meetings helping or hurting health care reform?"]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
When it comes to these town hall meetings on health care reform, the Democrats may want to rethink their strategy.
Democratic Senators Arlen Specter and Claire McCaskill were among the latest to be drowned out by angry protesters. One woman in Missouri told McCaskill, "If they don't let us vent our frustrations out, they will have a revolution." McCaskill said she's seeing a lot of distrust of government and cynicism.
Protesters at Specter's meeting said they think the Obama administration is going too far with health care reform... One woman shouted quote, "This is about the dismantling of this country." Specter said he thinks the people protesting are "not necessarily representative of America" but should be heard.
Pres. Obama and the Democrats seem to face an increasingly uphill battle in selling health care reform to a skeptical public. People don't know what's in the bill because the Democrats haven't done a good job explaining it.
For his part, the president is urging people to ignore those who are trying to "scare and mislead" the public. He says what's "truly scary is if we do nothing."
But the public is pretty split on this one. A new Gallup poll shows more Americans disapprove than approve of the way the president is handling health care reform, by a margin of 49% to 43%. What's interesting here is these numbers are virtually unchanged from 3 weeks ago – before the administration stepped up its effort to win support and before all the anger boiled over at these town hall meetings.
SO HERE'S THE QUESTION: Are the town hall meetings helping or hurting health care reform?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
President Obama meeting your expectations?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/08/12/obama.0811.gi.jpg caption=" The increasingly bitter battle over health care reform is making some people question President Obama's leadership."]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The increasingly bitter battle over health care reform is making some people question President Obama's leadership.
Critics suggest that when it comes to governing on issues like health care, the president is missing the smooth confidence and "Yes we can" charisma that got him elected.
New York Times Columnist Maureen Dowd writes of this debate that seems to be spinning out of control:
"President Obama has proven quicksilver instincts, but not in this case. You would think that a politician schooled in community organizing and the foul balls of a presidential campaign would be ready to squash this kind of nuttiness." Dowd adds that Mr. Obama knows how to rise to the occasion, but he may be running out of time to do so.
On Salon.com, Camille Paglia criticizes the president for proposing only "vague and slippery promises" when it comes to health care. Paglia, who supports the president, faults him for handing over much of the debate to congressional leaders and also seeming to be in an unexplained rush to get something – anything – passed.
She compares it to the "massive boondoggle" of the economic stimulus package, which the president pretty much gave Congress free rein to turn into one big pork project.
And it's not just health care. The list of issues this president faces is mind-boggling and probably unprecedented: from the economy and healthcare to immigration reform (which Mr. Obama now says won't happen until next year) on the home front... to Afghanistan, Iran, and North Korea overseas.
Critics say on a lot of this stuff, the president is talking, not leading.
SO HERE'S THE QUESTION: Is Barack Obama meeting your expectations as president?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Interested in Sarah Palin's views on health care?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/08/11/jc.palin.gi.jpg caption=" Palin suggests the disruptive protests 'diminish our nation's civil discourse', and says opponents shouldn't give supporters of health care reform any reason to criticize them."]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
First she called Pres. Obama's health care plan "evil" and said it would create "death panels." Now Sarah Palin is urging restraint at town hall meetings.
In comments on her Facebook page, the former governor of Alaska (who quit in the middle of her first term) says there are many "disturbing details" in the health care bill, but that "we must stick to a discussion of the issues and not get sidetracked by tactics that can be accused of leading to intimidation or harassment."
Palin suggests the disruptive protests "diminish our nation's civil discourse", and says opponents shouldn't give supporters of health care reform any reason to criticize them.
This is the same woman who a few days ago was spreading a false claim that Pres. Obama would force the elderly and disabled to appear before a "death panel." She said a group of bureaucrats would get to decide whether people like her parents and her son, who has Down Syndrome, could get health care.
There's no such provision in the bill. Gee, do you suppose she didn't read it? Rather, a House committee passed a provision that would let Medicare reimburse seniors who want counseling on end-of-life issues. Once again, Sarah Palin's version of reality is at odds with reality.
Whatever the reason, Palin backed down. See, she wasn't getting much support. Several Republican governors distanced themselves from her, either refusing to comment or saying Palin could "speak for herself." Not exactly the way to build that right-of-center coalition she keeps talking about.
SO HERE'S THE QUESTION: Are you interested in Sarah Palin's views on health care reform?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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