A small group of advocates has been working for years to overhaul the criminal justice system — to dial back long sentences for drug crimes, and let nonviolent inmates out of prison early.
Thursday, 26 March 2015
Unpaid staff shut south Lebanon hospital
SIDON, Lebanon: Medical staff and administrators shut down Sidon’s government-run hospital Thursday to protest against unpaid salaries.
The protesters blocked the main entrance to Sidon Public Hospital to prevent patients from entering as they chanted slogans urging government intervention.
They also called upon Health Minister Wael Abu Faour for speedy action to save the hospital from total collapse.
“No to political bickering,” one sign held by the protesters said. Another one read: “No to closing down Sidon Public Hospital.”
A statement read on behalf of the protesters said Thursday’s seven-hour strike would be suspended at 3:00 p.m., but warned that the employees would adopt tougher measures next week if they were not paid.
An open-ended strike was seriously being considered, according to the statement.
Thursday’s action was the second this week. On Monday, employees stopped work to protest unpaid salaries.
A short list of demands read out during that protest called on the Health Ministry to secure “financial contributions” in order to spare the hospital the risk of running out of essential medical supplies needed to treat patients.
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Is Capitol Hill Ready To Rest Its Near-Annual 'Doc Fix' Exercise?
If Reps. Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner win and their plan becomes law, it would kill what's known on Capitol Hill as the "doc fix." David McNew/Getty Images hide caption
itoggle caption David McNew/Getty Images
If Reps. Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner win and their plan becomes law, it would kill what's known on Capitol Hill as the "doc fix."
David McNew/Getty Images
Doctors who treat Medicare patients will face a huge cut, 21 percent, if Congress doesn't act by the end of the month. This isn't a new problem. While Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill agree that the formula that pays doctors who treat Medicare patients has long been broken, over the years they've been unable to pass more than temporary patches.
But the leaders of the House from both parties have come up with a plan that they think can fix a problem that has bedeviled Congress since 1997. On Thursday, it goes to the House floor for a vote.
If Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Speaker John Boehner win and their plan becomes law, it would kill what's known on Capitol Hill as the "doc fix," a near-annual exercise. Here's how it works: It would repeal what's called the sustainable growth rate formula, or SGR. Instead, Medicare would increase payments to doctors by one-half of one percent each year through 2019. After that, a system would kick in where doctors would receive bonuses and penalties depending on performance scores from the government.
"We as physicians, look we want to be paid on basically how well our patient does and that creates some challenges because you've got to have buy in for the patient but we know these systems work and they save money," said GOP Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN) is a long-time physician who heads up the House Republican Doctors Caucus.
"I can almost say that with this passage I will have had a successful Congressional career up to date. I really believe it's that important," Roe, who said he was involved in the negotiations, said. "It's the first real change to Medicare in almost the last 20 years."
Boehner and Pelosi's plan would also extend funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program for two more years.
And on Wednesday it gained a powerful ally: President Obama.
"As we speak Congress is working to fix the medicare physician payment system," Obama said during an event marking the fifth anniversary of the federal health care law. "I've got my pen ready to sign a good bipartisan bill"
Later in the day, the administration followed up with a formal statement of support.
Though the bill has the White House's backing and bipartisan support in the House, it hit a snag in the Senate where some Democrats worry about language that would restrict abortions at community health centers.
Pelosi has said that the restrictions included in the bill are not a change in current policy. The bill also has the support of the chairs of the House Pro-Choice Caucus, which boasts 170 members.
"The language included in the bipartisan compromise does not further restrict women's access to abortion and the provisions expire along with funding – just as the current Hyde Amendment does," Reps. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Diana DeGette (D-CO) said in a joint statement. "We will be supporting this bipartisan compromise, and we encourage other members of the Pro-Choice Caucus to do the same."
Still groups like NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood Federation of America remain opposed to the bill.
Lingering over the debate on the Medicaid provision was another fight in the Senate, over a human trafficking bill currently being blocked by Democrats over abortion language.
But this week, some Senate Democrats including Democratic Leader Harry Reid looked to differentiate between the two. Reid told reporters Tuesday that "the two provisions in the two bills are different. They're not the same, dealing with abortion."
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein said that she planned to support the Medicare bill too
"My objection in the trafficking bill is that this is private money, not a government fund, so it would establish a new precedent and that's what I don't want to do," she said.
While the debate over abortion-related language was the sticking point among Senate Democrats, there is also the question of cost.
According to a Congressional Budget Office estimate, the bill would cost more than $200 billion over the next decade. The bill would add more than $140 billion to the federal budget deficit. And that's despite some savings that would come from higher premiums for some Medicare beneficiaries and cuts to providers like hospitals and nursing homes.
Wednesday, 25 March 2015
Aoun says able to talk to everyone, restore stability
BEIRUT: Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun Thursday said he has the ability to persuade the various political leaders to accept him as a consensus presidential candidate.
“I believe that I can talk to everyone and bring stability back to Lebanon,” Aoun told pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat in response to a question regarding the presidential election crisis and his nomination.
He reject a president to be appointed and one who has no representation [of the people],” he said in a wide-ranging interview.
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri has said that the solution to ease tensions and help bring stability back to Lebanon is the election of a consensus candidate.
Aoun slammed the government’s failure to appoint military commanders to replace those whose terms of office would soon expire.
"If the government is unable to appoint military commanders, let it go even if we were in this situation," he said.
Aoun denied reports he had proposed the appointment of his son-in-law, Brig. Gen. Shamel Roukoz, as head of the Lebanese Army, but added: “This doesn’t mean I won’t nominate him.”
When asked whether he would accept a deal to appoint Roukoz as Army chief in return for his participation in naming a consensus presidential candidate, he said: "I will not voice support for a [new] president as I did when former President Michel Sleiman was elected; and I will not succumb to external pressure.”
Local newspaper As-Safir has quoted Lebanese Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi as saying that he has no intention of extending the term of Roukoz, who heads the Army Commando Unit.
The report came after Defense Minister Samir Moqbel signed a unilateral decree to extend the term of Maj. Gen. Mohammad Khair, the secretary-general of the Higher Defense Council.
In the interview with Al-Hayat, Aoun reiterated his opposition against extending the retirement ages of security and military officials.
On the anticipated dialogue with Christian arch foe Samir Geagea, Aoun said “so far, things are okay.”
Regarding regional and global developments on Syria, Aoun said he believes Washington “is maneuvering to prepare public opinion to enter into a dialogue with (Syrian President Bashar)-Assad."
"We believe a minimum of national unity [should be secured] to face the upcoming transitions,” he said, adding that Gulf states and Iran should also reach an understanding “because this is in everyone's interest."
Aoun said the relationship with Syria “should remain good.”
“But this does not mean that we should be hostile to others,” he said.
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Can Republicans Get Ahead In The 2016 Digital Race?
Former Gov. Jeb Bush, a 2016 hopeful, takes a selfie with an Iowa supporter earlier this month. Scott Olson/Getty Images hide caption
itoggle caption Scott Olson/Getty Images
Former Gov. Jeb Bush, a 2016 hopeful, takes a selfie with an Iowa supporter earlier this month.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Just after midnight Monday, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz scooped his own big announcement by about 10 hours. Ahead of a planned speech, he posted the news of his presidential bid on Twitter.
"I'm running for President and I hope to earn your support!" he tweeted.
The tweet, which included a 30-second video, was retweeted more than 3,000 times in 30 minutes. Cruz's announcement generated 5.7 million interactions (likes, posts, comments and shares) Monday on Facebook. And during his planned speech at Liberty University, his staff live tweeted lines from the speech on his account.
Cruz's attention to social media is the first salvo of campaigns trying to get on their digital games ahead of 2016. But there are also signs of how complicated building a digital audience can be. Cruz, for example, still trails some Republican rivals on Twitter, and they all trail Democrat Hillary Clinton. But it's a different story on Facebook, where Clinton is far behind Republicans, like Rand Paul and even Cruz.
But campaigns are not won on Twitter and Facebook — YikYak, Meerkat or Snapchat, for that matter. They're all important, but having a digital strategy for a presidential campaign has evolved in the age of Obama — and it's become something more, including complex behavioral analytics used to reach voters, raise money, and get out the vote.
Republican consultants and the Republican National Committee have pushed hard to learn from the lessons of the 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. They recognize the growing significance of an effective digital campaign strategy — a lack of which, some said, cost the party in the last two presidential campaigns. The RNC overhauled its digital infrastructure and tried out new strategies in the 2014 midterm elections, which it saw as a good first step — and testing ground — before the next presidential election.
"The left are much better early adapters, and I admire their approach," said Ned Ryun, CEO of American Majority, a conservative group that trains political organizers. Republicans, he said, "need to get over their discomfort ... or they're setting themselves up for another loss."
Shiny New Tools
But it's not always about finding what's new.
"It doesn't have to be this new, big shiny thing," said Brian Donahue, a partner at Republican digital strategy firm Craft. "It's about making a greater investment in existing tools."
CPAC 2015 attendees take a break to check their phones. Emily Jan/NPR hide caption
itoggle caption Emily Jan/NPR
CPAC 2015 attendees take a break to check their phones.
Emily Jan/NPR
Still, prospective Republican contenders in the 2016 race are looking to show that they can do more than send email. Rand Paul and Jeb Bush both garnered attention for using Meerkat, a live-video streaming app that has become the darling of the South by Southwest sect.
"You're going to see some window dressing to show that candidates are in touch," Donahue said. "There is a risk of coming off gimmicky. We're waiting to see the first candidate to use a selfie stick."
In anticipation of 2016, one big challenge Donahue's team, and others, have is mobile technology.
"You're seeing more and more people relying on mobile devices," he said. "No one has a clamp on that yet."
'Like Changing The Direction Of An Ocean Liner'
Political organizations are building in digital training at the grassroots level, too. Earlier this year, the Conservative Political Action Conference held its first training sessions on "hacking" Facebook and Twitter, and using data-tracking tools such as Open Secrets — a resource for campaign-finance contributions and lobbying data — to keep up to speed on political activity. And in May, the Americans for Prosperity Foundation will hold the Right Online conference, which educates citizen activists on using digital media in the public policy process.
There is interest in learning about digital tactics, Austin James, digital director of Republican political software firm CMDI said. But investment from the campaigns is a different challenge. He said it's hard to convince Republican campaigns to put money into digital strategy when it can't be proven that more Facebook fans directly translates to more votes.
That was certainly the case in 2012, which revealed a large split in digital campaign spending. The Obama campaign reportedly invested $47 million in digital efforts for the president's re-election — 10 times what the Romney campaign spent.
"It's kind of like changing the direction of an ocean liner," James said of getting Republican activists to consider straying from traditional campaign practices of a decade ago.
Translating Digital Into Votes
Cultivating an appealing online persona that voters can get behind is also critical, said Pamela Rutledge, director of the Media Psychology Research Center.
"Even in 2008, [Obama] was aware of social media as a force and he was able to activate a voting population that hadn't previously been engaged," Rutledge said. The Romney campaign, she said, "really misunderstood the reach of social media."
Collecting and managing large amounts of voter and volunteer data to target communications and social media efforts to specific demographics will be a big part of that in 2016. For example, keeping track of public responses to the candidates, Ryun said, allows campaigns to tailor the messaging to best attract a particular audience.
"Having the data will help candidates make better decisions," he said. "If you think a message is resonating, you can use data to back that up."
Seeing Stumbles
It's still early in the 2016 game, but the right has already seen some digital campaign misfires. Jeb Bush's short time chief technology officer, Ethan Czahor, was forced to resign after it was discovered he had had sent disparaging tweets about women, gay people and African-Americans.
"Nobody bothered to read the guy's Twitter feed," Rutledge said, "and it wasn't reflective of the kind of messaging you want in a campaign."
And the digital strategist for another potential candidate, Gov. Scott Walker, resigned just one day after she joined his political team. She left over tweets that criticized Iowa's role in the political process.
But she added that Democrats may well face some big challenges in the digital space, too.
"Yes, the Republicans had problems," Rutledge said, "but you can't assume that just because Obama's team did a good job that Hillary's going to do a good job."
Does Clinton equal Obama?
Clinton, the far-and-away favorite on the Democratic side, but Rutledge points out, that she has been criticized for sending tweets late in the game to share her stance on controversial issues, such as vaccination. She quickened her Twitter response time to about one day when she weighed in on her scandal involving the use of a private email server. But a day can still a lifetime for digital natives.
"That's what social media does — it exposes the gaps," she said. "This makes her seem weak."
More important, though, than the rapidity of Clinton's tweets, some Democrats have complained more substantively that the Obama campaign team's knowledge might not filter down to Clinton — or the Democratic Party infrastructure.
The formation of Organizing for Action, for example, the re-branding of the Obama presidential campaign's Organizing for America, rubbed some Democratic National Committee members the wrong way. It was seen by some as a shadow DNC that wouldn't share all of the keys to the castle and was draining the party of resources.
To that end, Clinton has reportedly added two digital strategists from Obama's presidential campaign — Teddy Goff and Andrew Bleeker.
Joe Rospars, chief digital strategist for both of Obama's presidential campaigns, contended that Clinton — or whomever the Democratic Party offers up as their nominee — will still be in better shape digitally than the Republican counterpart.
The DNC, he said, "has an incredible data infrastructure. The party waits for you to become the nominee, and you inherit that."
Rospars noted that no candidate would be operating in the digital sphere alone, which places a major significance on who has the stronger digital team.
"I think if [Hillary] decides to run, there is more talent at the staff level and the grassroots level," Rospars said. But, he added, "Our side has the talent and culture to run a smart, innovative campaign."
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