Manitowoc Herald-Times from Manitowoc, Wisconsin • 4

A-4Friday, September 1 1 2009 www.htrnews.com HERALD TIMES REPORTER Obama uses iffy math on deficit pledge Herald Times Reporter Serving Manitowoc County for more than 110 years. OpjlNQII PRESIDENT PUBLISHER GENERAL MANAGER Kevin Corrado Lowell Johnson EDITOR Steve Reed EDITORIAL BOARD Kevin Corrado, Lowell Johnson, Steve Reed, Pat Pankratz See us online at www.htrnews.com. BY CALVIN WOODWARD AND ERICA WERNER Associated Press WASHINGTON Here is a reality check of several claims President Barack Obama made Wednesday in his nation-: ally televised address to Congress on health-care reform: OBAMA: "I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits either now or in the future. Period." THE FACTS: Though there's no final plan yet, the White House and congressional Democrats already have shown they're ready to skirt the no-new-deflcits pledge. House Democrats offered a bill that the Congressional Budget Office said would add $220 billion to the deficit over 10 years.

But Democrats and Obama administration officials claimed the bill actually was deficit-neutral. They said they simply didn't have to count $245 billion of it the cost of adjusting Medicare reimbursement rates so physicians don't face big annual pay cuts. OBAMA: "Nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have." THE FACTS: That's correct, as far as it goes. But neither can the plan guarantee that people can keep their current coverage. Employers sponsor coverage for most families, and they'd be free to change their health plans in ways that workers may not like, or drop insurance altogether.

The Congressional Budget Office analyzed the health-care bill written by House Democrats and said that by 2016, some 3 million people who now have employer-based care would lose it because their employers would decide to stop offering it OBAMA: "The reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally" One congressman, South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson, shouted "You lie!" from his seat in the House chamber when Obama made this assertion. Wilson later apologized. THE FACTS: The facts back up Obama. The House version of the health-care bill explicitly prohibits spending any federal money to help illegal immigrants get healthcare coverage. OBAMA: "Don't pay attention to those scary stories about how your benefits will be cut That will never happen on my watch.

I will protect Medicare." THE FACTS: Obama and congressional Democrats want to pay for their health-care plans in part by reducing Medicare payments to providers by more than $500 billion over 10 years. The cuts would largely hit hospitals and Medicare Advantage, the part of the Medicare program operated through private insurance companies. Although wasteful spending in Medicare is widely acknowledged, many experts believe some seniors almost certainly would see reduced benefits from the cuts. Supporters contend that providers could absorb the cuts by improving how they operate and wouldn't have to reduce benefits or pass along costs. But there's certainly no guarantee they wouldn't.

OBAMA: Requiring insurance companies to cover preventive care like mammograms and colonoscopies "makes sense, it saves money, and it saves lives." THE FACTS: Studies have shown that much preventive care particularly tests like the ones Obama mentions actually costs money instead of saving it That's because detecting acute diseases like breast cancer in their early stages involves testing many people who would never end up developing the disease. The costs of a large number of tests, even if they're relatively cheap, will outweigh the costs of caring for the minority of people who would have ended up getting sick without the testing. OBAMA: "If you lose your job or change your job, you will be able to get coverage. If you strike out on your own and start a small business, you will be able to get coverage." THE FACTS: It's not just a matter of being able to get coverage. Most people would have to get coverage under the law, if his plan is adopted.

In his speech, Obama endorsed mandatory coverage for individuals, an approach he did not embrace as a candidate. He proposed during the campaign as he does now that larger businesses be required to offer insurance to workers or else pay into a fund. But he rejected the idea of requiring individuals to obtain insurance. He said people would get insurance without being forced to do so by the law, if coverage were made affordable. And he repeatedly criticized his Democratic primary rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, for proposing to mandate coverage.

OBAMA: "There are now more than 30 million American citizens who cannot get coverage." THE FACTS: Obama time and again has referred to the number of uninsured as 46 million, a figure based on year-old Census data. The new number is based on an analysis by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, which concluded that about iwo-thirds of Americans without insurance are poor or near poor. Associated Press writer Jim Kuhn-henn contributed to this report 5 Sept. 1 1 victims- I PURVIEW Don't detract from 911 resolve Today, the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on our nation, marks the first official National Day of Service and Remembrance.

Congress, with the blessing of President Barack Obama, has earmarked service to others as the hallmark of 911 anniversaries in perpetuity. The concept was championed not by politicians or other movers and shakers, but by My GoodDeed.org, an organization founded by family and friends of people killed in the 2001 attacks. The organization's mission is "to honor the victims of 911 and those who rose to service in response to the attacks "In this way we hope to create a lasting and forward-looking legacy annually rekindling the spirit of service, tolerance and compassion that unified America and the world in the immediate aftermath of the 911 attacks." The immediate aftermath of the attacks was a country united, first by anger and then by a resolve to combat the inevitable economic and social effects of these diabolical terrorist acts. We were united in soul-searching and promised a revision in our values. We would become better people and a stronger nation.

Everyone was on board. Funerals were held for nearly 3,000 victims. Ground Zero was cleared and memorial sites established. Life went on, and the unity of purpose has all but dissolved. Why? It's the million-dollar question, but one of the major factors is a political extremism that has morphed tragedy into propaganda, issues advocacy and attempts to redefine 911 for political purposes.

Many special interests are lining up their causes in an attempt to take advantage of this first National Day of Service and Remembrance. But it's not about them. It's not about green jobs or health care or bank bailouts, or about the ideologies and egos of celebrities planning concerts and other performances. It's all about remembering those who died and those who served in responding to the attacks. Almost 3,000 people were murdered on 911, and we must honor their memory.

That is message enough for today. Quieting a noisy neighborhood LETTERS POLICY We welcome comments about subjects of interest to the Lakeshore area. Letters must be the writer's original work. Limit letters to 300 words. Occasionally, letters up to 600 words may be selected as guest commentaries.

Selection is based on relevance, timeliness and clarity. Letters must include the writer's name, address and daytime phone number so we can verify authorship. We do not publish anonymous letters or letters addressed to a third party. Letters will be edited for length, grammar, clarity and libel and may appear in print or online. The editor reserves the right to limit the number of letters published per writer.

Thank-you letters will be considered on a space-available basis for Opinion and for Nice to Know. Rather than listing names of everyone to be thanked, include general references such as "Lakeshore businesses" or "all those who volunteered." Write to: Opinion Page Editor, Herald Times Reporter, 902 Franklin Manitowoc Wl 54220. E-mail htrnews htrnews.com. Fax (920) 686-21 03. Unfortunately Over the last three years, Syria has reportedly spent more than $3 billion on weapons, presumably aimed at Israel, and the use of Damascus as a safe haven for some of the world's worst terrorist organizations, plus continued Syrian meddling in Lebanon, caused President Barack Obama to extend sanctions imposed by the Bush administration.

Syria's pariah status is apparent at the country's great historic sites where Western tourists are few and Americans nonexistent. In late-night strolls around Aleppo's shopping district where families crowded the shops after the Ramadan fast-breaking meal, women wearing long coats and headscarves smiled welcomingly as we wandered among them. These were not people hostile to Americans, a point our tour guide was eager to stress. Obviously a guide has a self-interest in welcoming foreigners, and ours talked with great pride about the fact that his country is secular and safe. But he looks at Jordan, where tourism is far healthier and incomes are about a thousand dollars higher per person, and concludes sadly that Syria cannot compete unless it makes peace with Israel.

For a while last year, it looked as if the two adversaries might actually come to the table Indirect talks AMMAN, Jordan "We live in a quiet house in a noisy neighborhood." Our tour guide's assessment aptly sums up the difference between his native Jordan and other countries in the Middle East a difference created almost 15 years ago when Jordan signed the historic peace treaty with Israel. If Jordan's neighbor to the north, Syria, ever hopes to benefit from a reduced-noise level, it will have to make peace as well, and the Obama administration needs to play a key role in that effort Bustling Amman, with its sprinkling of McDonald's, Pizza Huts and Popeyes, has the air for better or worse of a modern Western city The investment by those foreign companies is just a small sign of the fruits of Jordan's decision to recognize Israel and open the borders between the countries. Another one: Tourists flocking into the country including Israeli tourists visiting Dead Sea spas, brought in more than $3 billion last year. At the ancient and spectacular carved city of Petra, three hours south of here, visitors chattered away in a dozen languages. The treaty itself also provided some critical building blocks for prosperity granting Jordan crucial water rights in this increasingly dry region, and with Turkey as mediator were under way when renewed hostilities in Gaza sent Syria scurrying away But al-Assad knows he needs to return to talks in order to win back the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel since 1967.

Its water supplies are vital to Syria's future. As President Obama took office, he received a good deal of published advice to pursue a Syrian-Israeli agreement before pushing for a more elusive Palestinian peace plan Bringing Syria in out of the cold, the argument goes, could quiet a very noisy house. And several U.S. representatives, including Middle East special envoy George Mitchell, have traveled to Damascus to try to restart discussions. It hasn't helped that Is-raeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has authorized the building of hundreds of new houses in the West Bank.

But in this part of the world, there will always be a reason not to talk al-Assad, with the help of the United States, must find the courage to ignore those reasons as King Hussein did. He should follow in his neighbor's footsteps, not his father's. Steve and Cokle Roberts can be reached at stevecokiegmail.com. (c)2009NEA C0KIE AND STEVE R0BEI Roberts' Report creating free-trade zones that have produced thousands of jobs in a country where the per-capita income still hovers below $3,000 a year, with the promise of more jobs to come. Though we can now measure the progress made possible by the treaty, it took guts to make it happen.

Jordan was blessed with a leader willing to ignore the condemnation of his noisy neighbors and to court unrest in Jordan's Palestinian-refugee population estimated at 2 million. King Hussein was ready to risk his life (he survived at least a dozen assassination attempts) and reputation for the long-term good of his country Pictures of the beloved kite king dot the countryside, along with those of his son, King Abdullah who is following in his father's footsteps in his relations with Israel and the West Similar father and son portraits decorate the highways and city streets in neighboring Syria. And there, too, the son, Bashar al-Assad, is following in the footsteps of his notorious father, Hafez al-Assad. ONLINE How many regular-season games will the Green Bay Packers win this year? 13-16 10-12 8-9 Fewer than 8 To vote, go to www.htrnews.com and click on Opinion. POLL LETTERS ONLINE HOW TO SUBMIT Submitting a letter to the editor via our Web site is as easy as: 1 Going to Clicking Clicking on www.htrnews.com mmm on Opinion Oa Submit a letter.