Democracy Now! Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Today's Headlines

• Hundreds of Thousands Protest in Iran; Seven Killed
• Report: Kennedy Health Bill Would Leave 36 Million Uninsured
• Supreme Court Won’t Review Cuban Five Case
• Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Border Wall Case
• Pelosi Pressures Antiwar Democrats to Back War Funding Bill
• Pakistan to Expand Offensive Against Taliban
• UK to Conduct Private Inquiry into Iraq War
• Report: CIA Director Initially Backed Truth Commission
• KSM Says He Gave False Info After Being Tortured
• Carter: Netanyahu Blocking Peace with Palestinians
• Campaigners Urge Caterpillar to Halt Bulldozer Sales to Israel
• Environmental Justice Attorney Luke Cole, 46, Dies

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  Hundreds of Thousands Protest in Tehran Accusing Ahmadinejad of Stealing Election; Guardian Council Orders Partial Recount

  In Iran, protests against Friday’s election results continue for the fourth day, and the powerful Guardian Council says it is ready to hold a recount of disputed votes. The announcement follows a mass rally Monday in Tehran of several hundred thousand people who defied an official ban on a public rally to protest the election results. Iranian state radio reports that seven people were killed at the rally. [includes rush transcript]

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  Dr. Chris McCoy: "Dear AMA: I Quit!"

  President Obama is ramping up efforts for his proposed overhaul of the nation’s healthcare system. On Monday, the President spoke at the annual conference of the American Medical Association in Chicago, opening a week in which healthcare will dominate attention in Congress. Obama’s speech before the AMA on Monday came just days after the group signaled opposition to his proposal for a public health plan to compete with private insurers. We speak with Dr. Quentin Young, national coordinator for Physicians for a National Health Program, and Dr. Chris McCoy, an instructor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic and the chair of the policy committee for the National Physicians Alliance. He recently withdrew his membership from the American Medical Association in protest over their position regarding a public healthcare option. [includes rush transcript]

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  Report: Senator Max Baucus Received More Campaign Money from Health and Insurance Industry Interests than Any Other Member of Congress.

  Montana Senator Max Baucus, the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, is the Senate’s point man on healthcare reform. A new article in the Montana Standard finds that Senator Baucus has received more campaign money from health and insurance industry interests than any other member of Congress. The article says, “In the past six years, nearly one-fourth of every dime raised by Baucus and his political-action committee has come from groups and individuals associated with drug companies, insurers, hospitals, medical-supply firms, health-service companies and other health professionals.” [includes rush transcript]

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  Speaker Nancy Pelosi Pressures Antiwar Democrats to Approve $106 Billion War Funding Bill

  Congress is expected to vote today on a $106 billion supplemental war funding bill. The White House and Democratic leadership have been trying to muscle through the bill, which would support escalating the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In May, fifty-one antiwar Democrats opposed an earlier version of the bill. Now House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been trying to pressure some of those Democrats to switch their votes in order to get the necessary votes to pass the bill. [includes rush transcript]