Washington Post op-ed: Repeal presidential term limits

As President Obama faces a small revolt within his own party, a Washington Post op-ed is calling for the United States to end presidential term limits and allow him to run again in 2016.

“Barack Obama should be allowed to stand for re election just as citizens should be allowed to vote for — or against — him,” writes New York University Jonathan Zimmerman professor of history and education. “Anything less diminishes our leaders and ourselves.”

Zimmerman argues that the president would enjoy more deference on such unpopular initiatives as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the recent nuclear-arms deal with Iran if he had a legal opportunity to seek additional terms in office.

“Many of Obama’s fellow Democrats have distanced themselves from the reform and from the president,” he writes. “Even former president Bill Clinton has said that Americans should be allowed to keep the health insurance they have.

“Or consider the reaction to the Iran nuclear deal,” Zimmerman continues. “Regardless of his political approval ratings, Obama could expect Republican senators such as Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and John McCain (Ariz.) to attack the agreement. But if Obama could run again, would he be facing such fervent objections from Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.)?”

Via: Daily Caller

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Study: American Households Hit 43-Year Low In Net Worth

WASHINGTON (CBS DC) – The median net worth of American households has dropped to a 43-year low as the lower and middle classes appear poorer and less stable than they have been since 1969.

According to a recent study by New York University economics professor Edward N. Wolff, median net worth is at the decades-low figure of $57,000 (in 2010 dollars). And as the numbers in his study reflect, the situation only appears worse when all the statistics are taken as a whole.

According to Wolff, between 1983 and 2010, the percentage of households with less than $10,000 in assets (using constant 1995 dollars) rose from 29.7 percent to 37.1 percent. The “less than $10,000″ figure includes the numerous households that have no assets at all, or “negative assets,” which is otherwise known as “debt.”

Over that same period of time, the wealthiest 1 percent of American households increased their average wealth by 71 percent.

As noted by Daily Finance, from 1983 to 2010 the share of total wealth held by the richest 10 percent of American households increased from 68.2 percent to 76.7 percent. Meanwhile, all the rest of Americans lost financial ground.

An August Pew Research Center study found that many in the middle-class are divided on how they believe his gap widened.

HEROES: NYU NURSES, FIRST RESPONDERS SAVE NEWBORNS, CRITICAL CARE PATIENTS

When emergency back-up generators at New York University Langone Medical Center-Tisch Hospital failed Monday night during Hurricane Sandy, nurses and first responders improvised. These heroes used their instincts, and relied on training exercises to dramatically save the lives over 200 patients, 20 whom were babies in the hospital's neonatal unit and 45 of whom were patients in critical condition. Some were on battery-operated respirators. 

When the hospital's elevators ceased to function, nurses carried babies down nine flights of stairs in the dark, insulating and ventilating them, often manually pumping oxygen into the babies. Some nurses asked to be carried down in stretchers so they could keep the newborn babies close to their skins to ensure they were warm. 

"It's a challenging situation," NYU Medical Dean Robert Grossman told WCBS-TV Monday night. "We drill all the time for this kind of thing. But this isn't a drill. This is the real thing."

According to Fox5 New York, patients were transferred from the adult critical unit, neo-natal intensive unit, pediatric critical care unit and obstetrics. Some patients were battling cancer. Patients were moved to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Mount Sinai.

Jonathan LaPook, M.D., a medical correspondent for CBS, arrived on the scene last and observed the hospital's lobby "was filled with doctors, nurses, police officers, firefighters, and a command team of medical center personnel headed by Dr. Robert Grossman, the Dean and CEO of the medical center": 

Via: Breitbart

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