Columnist Michael Hiltzik on why the new cbo report on obamacare is good news. He also argues, many of the health laws elements could be cured by singlepayer system. Then the empire of necessity. That inspired her to open up to a full history of slavery and all of the americas, north and south, looking at slavery as the flywheel of the capitalist revolution which to the americans and elected world starting in the 1770s. Commodity, capital, credit, emotional investments. They signaled a status at the same time there were objects of nostalgia. Slaves helped the development of capital as both an Economic System and an emotional system in ways that i think the story exposed odes the exposed. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Syria has missed another deadline for shipping out its chemical weapons as part of the deal reached last year following threats of your strike. The regime of Bashar Alassad has handed over just 5 of its stock, far below the timelines 90 goal. Assad regime is claiming the delay on its clashes with opposition rebels. The u. N. Says it still expects syria to meet a final june 30 deadline. In washington, the director of National Intelligence of james clapper, said he believes the weapons agreement has strengthened assad. Well, the prospects are right now that he is actually in a strengthened position than when we discussed this last year, by virtue of his agreement to remove the chemical weapons as low as that process has been. So if he doesnt go, in the absence of some kind of a diplomatic agreement ensuing from geneva or followup discussions, i would proceed more of the same sort of gradual state of stalemate where neither the regime or the opposition can prevail. A new report warns children in syria are enduring unspeakable suffering from us at the hands of the assad regime. Syrian children have suffered abuses including torture, maiming, and sexual crimes. Government forces are said to have been the main culprits, but the reports say rebel groups have committed increasing abuses against children over the past year. At least 23 people have been killed in a series of bombings in the iraqi capital of baghdad. The attacks came near the heavily fortified green zone housing the Iraqi Government and several embassies. Or than 1000 people were killed in iraq last month. That follows the countrys deadliest year since 2008. The Israeli Government has authorized a new round of settlement construction in the occupied west bank. Over 550 homes are planned for three settlements surrounding jerusalem, whose borders israel has extended beyond the internationally recognized dreamliner. The move was announced as israel demolished three palestinian homes in east jerusalem. The news follows a public spat earlier this week between the Israeli Government and secretary of state john kerry after john kerry said israel will face intensified global woodcuts if it fails to make peace with the palestinians. Ae United Nations has issued harshest condemnation to date of the Catholic Church coverup of child sexual abuse. In an a report, the u. N. Committee on the rights of the child says the vatican has consistently placed its reputation above the welfare of child victims. The panel chair said the vatican has enabled a culture of impunity that has wronged tens of thousands of children. The main finding of the committee was that they have adopted policies and practices which have led to the andinuation of the abuse by the impunity of the perpetrators. The holy city has consistently placed the preservation of the reputation of the church and the protection of the arbitrators above childrens best interests. Report calls on the vatican to hand over alleged or known abusers to Law Enforcement worldwide, and release its entire archive on child sex abuse cases. Supreme court has ordered an unprecedented probe of a 1981 massacre of civilians by u. S. Backed troops. Around 45 people, including women and children, were killed by the salvadoran military in the town of San Francisco angulo. The investigation comes days after former rebel leader just missed an allout victory in a firstround president ial elections, setting up a runoff for next month. The El Salvador Supreme Court is also reviewing the challenge to a 1993 law granting amnesty for atrocities by el salvadors rightwing governments. Federal officials are claiming the water supply in West Virginia is safe despite continued local warnings to avoid consumption. Residents have been told they can drink the water only a month after a Chemical Spill cut off 300,000 people for up to a week. But despite the safety clearance, doctors are still advising pregnant women and children under three to use alternative sources of water. Two schools in charlestown were close on wednesday after the water had the same licorice smell as it did during the spill and students complained of chemical related symptoms. The Company Behind the keystone xl pipeline is facing the scrutiny at home. The canadian broadcaster cbc news has revealed regulators buried a report about a rupture on a transcanada natural gas pipeline in 2009. An investigation cited transcanada for inadequate inspections and ineffective oversight. But for unknown reasons, the incident was never publicly disclosed in the report never released. The canadian government has been a vocal proponent of transcanada s plans for the keystone xl. Speaking to cbc, environmental policy expert Nathan Lemphers said reports disappearance raises questions. Is early seems fishy from the outside that this report was kept quiet due to an apparent administrative error. Certainly, if the report came out, it would have been risen to immediate public attention. The drugstore chain cvs has announced it will stop selling Tobacco Products in its thousands of u. S. Stores. Brennan president troy says the company has decided the sale of cigarettes does not fit in health care setting. Part of the Overall Health care team. It is antithetical as a result of a product like tobacco that causes these kinds of diseases. That is why it is one for trust to a limited the sale of Tobacco Products today. Protest up and held in 20 cities around the world to protest russias crackdown on lgbt rights. The allout protest were part of a series of actions organized around russias hosting the Winter Olympics in sochi, which begins on friday. In london, protest organizer Marie Campbell called on the games corporate sponsors to speak out. This years corporations are saying one thing and some country that their progay, but theyre standing silent in other parts of the world where the consumers and employees are suffering under antigay laws. Two freed members of the russian punk group pussy riot were honored wednesday night at a concert organized by Amnesty International. They are in the u. S. Following the release from prison in december. Nearly two years behind bars for protesting russian president Vladimir Putin inside an orthodox cathedral. Thousands atd of the Barclays Center in new york, the pop star madonna introduced the pussy riot members. I do not take this freedom for granted, and neither should you. Ok . So the two members of pussy riot that im about to introduce do not have this right in the country they come from. They do not share this freedom with me come and so they must be commended for their courage and for their fearlessness. [applause] that would be a yay. You can do better than that. They must be commended will not forget and we will not forget what the regime is doing to our fellow citizens. We demand a russia that is free, a russia without putin. Earlier in the day, the two women from pussy riot met with the u. S. Ambassador to the u. N. Samantha power, prompting rebuke from powers russian counterpart. Meanwhile at a News Conference before the concert, the women responded to reports of a rift within pussy riot. Jailed, pussye riot immediately became very popular and widely known. It has turned from a group into essentially an international movement. Anybody can be pussy riot. You just need to put on a mask and stage an act of protest against something in your particular country, wherever that may be, that you consider unjust. And we are not here as leaders of pussy riot or determining what pussy riot is and what it does and what it says. We are just two individuals that spent two years in jail for taking part in a pussy riot protest action. Six anonymous members of pussy riot have released a letter saying the two women are no longer members and calling the sale of concert tickets and the use of an event logo displaying a man and a pussy riot mask and extreme contradiction to the groups principles. Other performers at wednesdays event included the flaming lips, blondie and yoko ono. Those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. Turn now to the latest controversy over obama care. On tuesday, the Congressional Budget Office released a 175page report on the nations budget and economy over the next decade. The cbo report coakley became the top story of the day. Quickly became the top story of the day. Fox news alert, the new cbo report finds obamacare may be worse for the economy to prove maybe worsected than predicted. Substantially larger than estimated, nearly three times larger. That adds 1 trillion to the debt. Dobbs, wow. This thing was dropped about 90 minutes ago. What are we to think now . Non you arertisan, as saying. Were looking at another round of devastating numbers for all americans because the result of this is, there will be fewer jobs. That was fox news report on tuesday. Many other media organizations and rightwing pundits quickly claimed the cbo report proved the Affordable Care act is a job killer. Any outlets claim the report found obama care would result in the loss of about 2. 5 million fulltime jobs will stop Washington Post website wrote it turns out these initial misinterpreted the reports findings. On wednesday, the director of the Congressional Budget Office said the agency has found obama care spurs employment and would reduce unemployment over the next few years. Our first guest Michael Hiltzik s approval to prizewinning columnist at the los angeles times. He wrote a piece titled, why the new cbo report on obamacare is good news. He has also argued many of the health laws ailments can be cured by single system. We will get to that in a moment. Michael hiltzik, welcome to democracy now start off by just explaining what exactly is Congressional Budget Office report says. Had a number of elements about the Affordable Care act. It said, number one, it found the cost of providing affordable coverage and sensible coverage to americans was lower than it had initially estimated. Of insuring cost against risk by Insurance Companies that are participating in the Affordable Care act is lower than expected. In fact, Risk Management will actually return a profit to the u. S. Government. And it reaffirmed this act was going to bring coverage to as many as 25 million americans a year who might not otherwise have it. All of those elements are great for americans. It really shows the aca is working as it was anticipated to work. What about the confusion of the initial reports and the take they had on the report . And the issue that 2. 5 Million People who might choose to leave their jobs, could you talk about that . Sure. This is a part of the aca the cbo talked about. Is that the equivalent of 2. 5 2025on workers by the year will be cutting their hours or maybe leaving the workforce. Many of them voluntarily. That is because what the aca to please what we call job log. After the passage of the Affordable Care act, that is no longer the case. You can now get Affordable Care regardless of preexisting conditions. You can get it in the public market. You dont have to worry about being turned down. You dont have to worry about paying exorbitant premiums. That means you dont have to worry about giving up your job or losing your job or cutting your hours. So you are free to spend more time raising her family. You are free to retire early, maybe before you get your full Social Security and before youre eligible for medicare. These are good things because one thing we have understood about the impact of losing your health care is that it forces people to stay in jobs that are dignified, art the right jobs for them, that arent very well paying simply so they have health care for themselves and their families. It is no longer the case with the aca. Books i want to go to a clip from a press reefing on tuesday when the chair of the White House Council of economic explain the cbo reports findings. In fact, what cbo found, and this is her summary quote near the top of appendix c reduction stems almost entirely from a net decline in the amount of labor that workers choose to supply rather than from a net drop in businesses demand for labor. What is relevant about that is their word itself is choose. This is a choice on the part of workers. I have no doubt for example, if we got rid of Social Security and medicare, there are many 95yearolds that would choose avoidk more to potentially starving were to give themselves an opportunity to get health care. I dont think anyone would say that was a compelling argument to eliminate Social Security and medicare. Says theyhere, cbo are choices workers are making in the face of new options afforded to them by the Affordable Care act, not something about firms destroying jobs. Sure of the White House Council of economic advisors, explaining the cbo reports findings. Michael hiltzik, if you could expand from there . I think what he was talking about, the point he was making, the Affordable Care act really is at its core social insurance and it really is an extension, an expansion of the social insurance we have had in this and thesince 1935 enactment of Social Security and then, of course, medicare. This is the next that. She really is saying he is absolutely right that one of the goals of the Affordable Care act was to relieve americans of this burden of having to work in bad jobs were in jobs that really interfere with their retirement or their family obligation just to get Health Insurance. Michael hiltzik, what does the report say about the other side of this, the actions of employers, some employers possibly reducing the number of hours that they give to their workers in an effort to escape the mandates of the Affordable Care act . This has been one of the 10 arts about the Affordable Care act that we hear a lot from the right canards about the Affordable Care act that we hear from a lot of the people from the right. They are cutting back fulltime workers are parttime so they can escape the mandates. We know from economist who have been studying this for years that that is not the case. The cbo report underscores that. It also finds theres absolutely no evidence that there has been any sort of growth in parttime work at the expense of fulltime work as a result of the Affordable Care act. Whatct, it reiterates other economists have found, which is that in fact, parttime work is growing at a smaller pace than fulltime work. In other words, were getting more fulltime employment in this country relatively less hard time employment, and the parttime employment we are getting is also voluntary. It is people who dont want to work a full day or full hours because they do have family obligations or other obligations. So the cbo really did confirm what everybody else has seen and it should, in the real world, or in the same world, put to rest this idea the Affordable Care horde ofeating a parttime workers. The people want to work fewer hours, doesnt mean there will be more Jobs Available . In fact, one of the things the cbo report did say is it to certain aca extent will spur more employment. The Unemployment Rate will come down in part because people are leaving the workforce, but also because theres going to be more demand for jobs, more demand for workers, especially in the health care field. This is all good. The cbo report really says this is good for employment across the country. What does it say about the whole issue of the government turning a profit under the Affordable Care act for the upcoming years . Sure. One of the elements of the Affordable Care act is, especially in the nearterm when Insurance Companies are