Japan And United States Agree To Broaden Military Alliance

United States. Mandatory Health Care leaves 31 million people without medical treatment

The agreement, which will position surveillance drones in Japan for the first time, underscored the countries’ efforts to respond to growing challenges from China and North Korea at a time of budget constraints. It also included some of the clearest signals yet that the United States backs Japan’s increasing though still limited moves to strengthen its military, and its military ties in Asia, as a counterbalance to China’s own buildup. The agreement also calls for construction of a new missile-defense radar system in Japan and joint efforts to combat cyberattack threats, among other steps. It was signed during a visit by the secretaries of state and defense, John Kerry and Chuck Hagel, who are meeting with their Japanese counterparts. Related News/Archive Economic questions for leaders at G-8 summit 3 Months Ago Both Tokyo and Washington are working to revamp a security alliance that dates to the Cold War. The United States hopes to signal that its increased military, economic and diplomatic focus on Asia will go on despite the possibility of deep cuts in Pentagon budgets. For Japan, the agreement appeared to give U.S. approval to its still modest expansion of its military capabilities, as Japan’s new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, seeks to put his country on a more equal footing with its longtime protector. A key issue was how to respond to China, which has been sending coast guard ships to contest Japan’s control of a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea. The agreement announced Thursday says the United States and Japan should be ready to deal with “coercive and destabilizing behaviors,” and called on China to adhere to international norms. Another significant step was the decision to let the United States place a new X-band radar system in Kyogamisaki, near Kyoto, to better protect both countries against threats from North Korea.

But he had to cancel his Asian trip, which would have also taken in Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines, to deal with the first government shutdown in 17 years. Kerry is filling in for Obama on the Asian tour, and he made it clear that he believed Republicans blocking government spending in Congress were playing a dangerous game. John Kerry waves as he arrives at Ngurah Rai Airport in Denpasar on Indonesia’s resort island of Bal “I think it is reckless, personally, to even provide those moments where you have these risks that are exposed,” Kerry said, referring to areas of spending on global security hotspots that have been suspended because of the shutdown. Calling on Congress to immediately end the five-day standoff, Kerry urged those responsible to consider how other people around the world may view the situation. “I believe that those standing in the way… of reopening our government need to think long and hard about the message that we send to the world when we cant get our own act together,” he said. US still the world’s superpower Nevertheless, Kerry insisted he was convinced the standoff would not be long term, and the United States would emerge as strong as ever. “The United States will still be the strongest power in the world, in terms of our military capacity, the largest economy in the world,” he said. Kerry also was adamant that Obama’s so-called strategic pivot to the Asia-Pacific had not been weakened by the president having to cancel his trip to the region. Let me be clear, none of what is happening in Washington diminishes one iota our commitment to our partners in Asia, including our efforts for both trade and investment throughout the region,” Kerry said. Muslim protesters at a protest in Kuala Lumpur on October 4, 2013 against the visit of US Secretary Some analysts have said the dysfunction on display in Washington will dilute the appeal of the American democratic model, and that authoritarian governments around the world are viewing the chaos with glee. In comments that appeared to address those concerns, Kerry emphasised even the rights of people with “incorrect” views were respected in the United States. “This is an example of the robustness of our democracy, the capacity for many people to make their voices heard, sometimes we may feel incorrectly,” he said. Kerry’s comments on US commitment to Asia were echoed by his host at an APEC gathering of foreign ministers ahead of the leaders’ summit. “It is very important to underscore that the United States’ engagement in the region is a process, it’s not an event,” Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa told reporters.

Long political crisis will weaken US abroad: Kerry

The US Supreme Court ruled the ACA constitutional in June 2012, but also ruled that states could not be mandated to comply with a provision of the law that would extend Medicaid to those currently not covered in many states. The ACA provides subsidies to purchase insurance for individuals and families whose incomes are between 100 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level on a sliding scale. It was assumed that those below this level would be covered by Medicaid. But without the Medicaid expansion in many states, some of the poorest people will be left out in the cold. In Virginia, a state that has chosen not to expand its Medicaid program, a single, childless man making below the official poverty levelan abysmal $11,490 for an individual in 2013will not qualify for Medicaid because Virginia offers the program only to single, childless men if they are disabled. A recent New York Times analysis of US Census data found that two-thirds of single mothers and poor African Americans and half of the low-wage workers who are currently uninsured will be left without coverage due to the effect of this Medicaid no-mans land. About two-thirds of the nations poor uninsured African Americans and single mothers, and about 60 percent of the uninsured working poor, live in the 26 states that are not planning to expand Medicaid. The 26 states not expanding Medicaidmainly located in the Deep South and Mountain West, and predominantly Republican ruledare citing the funding mechanism under the ACA to justify their decision not to expand the program for the poor. The ACA stipulates that the federal government will cover 100 percent of the costs for the first three years, drop to 95 percent in 2017, and remain at 90 percent after 2020. The state governments argue that they cannot afford any percentage of the expansion costs. Obamacare supporters and opponents are trading barbs over who is responsible for leaving this very poor section of the population uninsured. The reality is that the health care overhaul as a whole is skewed toward creating an even more heavily class-based health care system than that which presently existsone in which working families and the poor will receive inadequate care or none at all, while private insurance companies reap bigger profits than ever before. After five years of political wrangling and lobbying by the health care industry, any nominally progressive features of the legislation have long since been stripped away, leaving behind a contorted patchwork of regulations.