Pence: Obama should speak out in favor of Iranian reformers
WASHINGTON (CNN) – On the same day that Vice President Biden said he had doubts about the validity of the Iranian election results, Indianan Republican Rep. Mike Pence urged President Obama to speak out in favor of the forces of reform in the Middle Eastern country.
“First and foremost, we need to take a half step back from this administration’s olive branch-and-apology approach to enemies and countries that have been hostile to the United States of America and our allies,” Pence said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union.
“I’m hoping, before the end of the day today, the President of the United States will speak a word of support for Mr. Moussavi and for the dissidents and the reformers within Iran,” said Pence, referring to the defeated challenger to incumbent Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
And moving on to another issue in the news, Pence criticized the desire of some Democrats to include a public insurance option in the health care reform bill Congress will soon begin work on.
“I keep hearing the word ‘competition’,” Pence told CNN Chief National Correspondent John King. “The government competes in the private sector the way an alligator competes with a duck,” said Pence.
“If you introduce a government-funded option into the private health insurance industry, millions and millions of Americans will lose their current health insurance because their employers will simply either choose to discontinue coverage or you’ll see health insurance companies out across the country say, ‘We can’t compete with Uncle Sam.’”
Pence also said that a government-funded health care plan would inevitably and ultimately involve rationing of treatments.
“What we ought to do,” said Pence, “is respect that doctor-patient relationship and look for ways that will strengthen our private health insurance system in this country.”
The Indiana Republican also slammed the Obama administration’s long-term fiscal outlook because of the unprecedented amounts of debt that the new administration is projecting.
“The answer to following an administration that doubled the national debt is not tripling the national debt in the next ten years,” Pence said Sunday.
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Champly – good luck with that. It takes a couple of years of getting through all the red tape to see if you even qualify, as I saw a family friend go through, with an actual disability. Freeloading off the government isn't as easy as one might believe. But the myth lives on.
I do agree with him about Iran. Obama and Hillary both need to say something about it. That's all I agree with, though.
@Champly June 14th, 2009 5:42 pm ET
Mr. Obama is a street wise Chicago thug. He will keep his mouth shut in most instances. But the proof is in the proverbial pudding. His intentional acts of destroying the economy, our health care system, our manufacturing base, and the state of Israel if evidence enough. He doesn't have to say anything, he just does it with the help of the other Marxist he has surrounded himself with at the core of the administration.
Obama would have to renounce his radical muslim religion to speak in favor of the reformist. It will never happen.
@Champly – OOP i hit enter. Anyways, the economy has already been destroyed by the last administration, Obama is trying to fix it, give the man a break its only been 5 months compared to 8 years, but your probably a Bush supported who thinks that bush did nothing wrong. IDiot
June 14th, 2009 5:49 pm ET
Champly June 14th, 2009 5:44 pm ET
America has not been attacked in eight years. If we are attacked now it will be because Barack Hussien Obama has willed it.
What are you suffering dementia? 9-11 happens during the Bush years. He ignored the warning beforehand. Get you facts straight.
Cheneymyhiney, you should get your facts straight. Clinton had a chance as bin laden but chose to look the other direction. I lay the blame for 9/11 right at his feet.
All President Obama needs to do in order to be successful during his presidency, is to do the opposite of what every single Republican tells him to do.
Too late...Biden has already chipped in that he didn't think the election results were legit....
For Obama to comment on the elections would not be very savvy – it doesn't go hand in hand with his idea that you can talk to and negotiate with the ruling Mullahs (the Mullahs run Iran – not the President of Iran – he is a press secrtary – and in this case, a twit.)
Obama will learn the hard way that you cannot negotiate with t he Mullahs in Iran. Hopefully Obama's lesson in foreign policy doesn't get a lot of people killed or end up in a nuking of Tel Aviv.
As for the posters here who believe there is a "revolution" going on in Iran – uhhhh – probably not. The Mullahs have the guns and the money, oh yes, probably the "lawyers" too. The youth in Iran is ablout as capable of overthrowing the Iranian government as the youth in China were – remember what happened in Tinnenamin Square. The Muslim rulers are just as ruthless – remember, these are people who slice throats , video it and play it all over the Internet.
Sorry, there will be no reviolution in Iran this time.
I see CNN prints everything this poster
Cheneymyhiney
has to post. Interesting.
Still attacking Bush-Cheney. If Obama goes all wrong Cheneymyhiney will still blame Bush.
BTW Moron – 9-11 was planned on Clinton's watch. The WTC was attacked first on Clinton's watch. The Clinton administration had the chance to kill Bin Laden but didn't have the guts for the job. Obama talks the talk – but he isn't serious about getting Bin Laden or ending Al Quaeda – he wants them all to have their Miranda rights read and a court appointed lawyer and nice media covered trials at a courthouse near you.
So, Cheneymyhiney – stuff your screen name and stuff your whining about Bush-Cheney. Get a life poofter.
As a Republican I’m so embarrassed. My party has gone from great ideas to irrelevancy. When did the idiots take over?
‘We can’t compete with Uncle Sam.’ - Isn't this the point of revamping healthcare? Saving money? If private insurance companies can't do it cheaper then the US government, then they should go out of business and we should all take advantage of cheaper healthcare. Oh, and we already ration our healthcare. Instead of doing it based on wealth and money, we will do it based on need and resources.
On another note, CNN, stop using the word 'Slam' and use an adjective that more correctly defines the response given.
Who give US a right to mind somebody else's business? Iran is a sovereign country. Their people is the one determining the outcome of their election. Does Iran or any other country mind our voting business here? NO! Did they stick their noses during 2000 election? NO! What is wrong with Pence?
I trust that CNN and its intelligent readers are discerning enough to remember that this same Republican Pence was thrashing Candidate Obama back in late 2007 as a "cut-and-runner" simply because Obama suggested America first "talk", as oppose to throwing young American bodies into harms way of politically challenging issues. Now this dope Pence is saying he wants President Obama to "speak a word of support for Mr. Moussavi"? What hypocrite is this Pence?!?!
The biggest problem with our foreign policy is our leaders meddling in how and what other countries should do and think. We should stay out of the results of the Iranian election, and let them work it out. It is so disingenuious for Pence and anyone on the right to try to encourage our President to step into this mess. Because of them (the GOP), President Obama has enough of this country's own mess to deal with. President Obama has already, very eloquently and clearly stated where he stands, and we all know what games the repubs are playing. They are not fooling anyone, not even their greedy base.
How can any Republican make a suggestion on middle-east issue when they were mum for the past eight years? HYPOCRITES!!!