Showing posts with label struggle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label struggle. Show all posts
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
After Obamacare, families still struggle with medical bills
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(NaturalNews) One of Obamacare’s “selling points” – and yes, there were many – was that the cost of healthcare would come down. That is, the cost of actual care that Americans would have to pay out-of-pocket, as well as the prices that people pay for healthcare delivery.
As you are aware, especially if you’re a regular Natural News reader, there isn’t much about Obamacare that has reduced prices – prices for insurance premiums, level of deductibles and most certainly the cost of healthcare delivery. Still, the president, during his State of the Union Address, and his administration have said that Obamacare has caused healthcare costs to rise less than they otherwise would have. That claim is dubious, at best, but it still, at least, admits the obvious: Costs are continuing to rise, and Obamacare, once claimed by its supporters as the only way to get costs and prices under control, is failing miserably at this as well.
This was substantiated by a recent report from federal researchers, who found, as reported by NBC News, that more than one-quarter of U.S. families are still burdened by having to pay for medical care. Indeed, they found, one in six struggle to pay their healthcare bills (a phenomenon that will only increase as deductibles in Obamacare-approved healthcare plans go up):
The 2010 Affordable Care Act is designed to reduce the burden by getting health insurance to more Americans. But the report from the National Center for Health Statistics shows that even families with health insurance can struggle to pay bills.
The figures don’t lie – healthcare costs still burdening families
“In 2012, 26.8 percent of families in the United States experienced any financial burden of medical care,” the NCHS team said in its report. “Almost 1 in 6 families (16.5 percent) had problems paying medical bills in the past 12 months.”
Almost 9 percent of Americans said they had medical bills they could not even pay.
The government team examined results from a very large national survey of more than 43,000 families involving 108,000 people. They found, for one, that having children typically leads to more medical bills.
“One in three families with children (36 percent) experienced any financial burden of medical care,” the NCHS team reported. That is in comparison with 25 percent of families with two adults and no children.
The research team discovered that families who have a mix of insured and non-insured members have the hardest time paying medical bills, as noted by NBC News:
The survey found trouble paying bills among 46 percent of families in which some members had insurance – for instance, a child covered by the Children’s Health Insurance Program but whose parents had no insurance. And 40 percent of families with no health insurance at all reported financial burden.
And, even in families where all members were covered under private insurance, medical bills still caused some hardships; 21 percent said they had some financial burden from medical care.
Don’t believe the hype from the law’s supporters
One of the administration’s biggest selling points for Obamacare was that too many American families face bankruptcy each year because of medical bills that they cannot pay. Other reports back this up; they say nearly half of all personal bankruptcies stem from costly illnesses.
But again, the Affordable Care Act – not-so-aptly named, because for tens of millions of Americans, it isn’t so affordable – is not living up to its promises of cutting costs and abating medical care-induced financial hardship.
As noted by Charles Blahous, who is a senior research fellow for the Mercatus Center, a research fellow for the Hoover Institution and a public trustee for Social Security and Medicare, Obamacare is not reducing costs:
Public confidence in the ACA took a beating when it was revealed that millions would lose health coverage that they had been told they could keep. Now the public is being told that the ACA is responsible for government actuaries’ improved health spending projections, when an examination of those projections clearly shows that not to be so.
Supporters of the ACA, the president and his policy team will continue to tout the law as helping to reduce healthcare costs. Don’t be surprised if they even trot out a few “success stories” to bolster their claim.
But analysts and experts who are looking at the issue through a non-partisan lens, as they should, know better.
And so do the scores of millions of Americans who are still struggling with healthcare costs.
Sources:
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After Obamacare, families still struggle with medical bills
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Monday, December 30, 2013
At $2.13 minimum wage, restaurant workers struggle to put food on their own tables
Restaurant workers are supposed to get at least minimum wage, when tips are combined with the $ 2.13 an hour tipped worker minimum wage. But, as the women in this video make clear, that’s not enough. Too often, employers don’t make up the difference, or even push workers to do prep or cleaning work at $ 2.13, with no chance to make tips. Or customers walk out on their checks, or leave a racist note instead of a tip, or a homophobic note instead of a tip, or a religious tract instead of a tip.
Relying on tips also forces an overwhelmingly female workforce to flirt with customers and smile at things that should be considered sexual harassment, all for the hope of a tip. A server named Gwenn told the Restaurant Opportunities Centers site Living Off Tips that “I think service is the hardest part. especially when customers decide how they’ll pay you by what they think of your looks.”
While the regular federal minimum wage of $ 7.25 an hour hasn’t gone up since 2009, the minimum wage for tipped workers hasn’t gone up since 1991 and is now a cause of widespread poverty among restaurant workers.
At $2.13 minimum wage, restaurant workers struggle to put food on their own tables
Friday, October 11, 2013
Obama and Republicans struggle to break fiscal deadlock
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1 of 8. U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) (L) and Rep Eric Cantor (R-VA) (R) attend a news conference with Republican House members in Washington October 10, 2013.
Credit: Reuters/Gary Cameron
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama and Republican leaders appeared ready to end a political crisis that has shuttered much of the U.S. government and pushed the country dangerously close to default after meeting at the White House on Thursday.
No deal emerged from the 90-minute meeting, but talks continued into the night in an effort to re-open the government and extend the government’s borrowing authority beyond an October 17 deadline. One senior Republican said an agreement could come on Friday, though hurdles remain.
The plummeting standing of congressional Republicans in public opinion polls helped spur a move toward ending the standoff, Oklahoma Republican Representative James Lankford said on CNN Thursday night. The latest, an NBC-Wall Street Journal survey published on Thursday, showed the public blaming Republicans by a 22-point margin – 53 to 31 percent.
The President’s meeting with Republican leaders was the first sign of a thaw in a 10-day standoff that has weighed on financial markets and knocked hundreds of thousands of federal employees out of work.
“It was a very adult conversation,” said Republican Representative Hal Rogers, who attended the meeting. “Both sides said they were there in good faith.”
Republicans in the meeting offered to extend the government’s borrowing authority for several weeks, temporarily putting off a default that otherwise could come as soon as next week. Obama pushed to also reopen government operations that have been closed since October 1.
Significantly, Republicans seemed to be steering clear of the restrictions on Obama’s healthcare reforms and spending that prompted the crisis in the first place. Instead, negotiations centered on how far to extend the debt limit and how much funding they would provide the government when it opens, according to Republicans.
The two sides are working on “defining parameters to see if we can make progress,” said Republican Representative Pete Sessions, a member of the leadership.
“The President looks forward to making continued progress with members on both sides of the aisle,” the White House said in a statement.
The proposal is a significant shift for Republicans, who had hoped to use the threat of a shutdown and a default to undermine Obama’s healthcare law.
But they have been hammered in opinion polls and pressured by allies in the business community who worry the brinkmanship is killing jobs and slowing the economy. Republicans worry that the standoff could imperil lawmakers in competitive districts, giving Democrats an increased chance of winning control of the House next year.
Now Republicans hope a short-term debt-limit extension, perhaps until the middle or end of November, will buy time to seek spending cuts, a repeal of a medical-device tax, or other measures they say are needed to keep the national debt at a manageable level.
Conflicting reports of the outcome of the meeting sent immediate ripples through financial markets. U.S. equity index futures tracking the S&P 500 index dropped after a report that Obama had rejected the Republican offer, but rose when details of the meeting trickled out. Major U.S. equity indexes closed 2 percent higher earlier on Thursday on hopes of a deal.
DIDN’T STOP OBAMACARE
The crisis began in late September when Republicans tied continued government funding to measures that would undercut the Affordable Care Act, Obama’s signature legislative accomplishment.
The gambit didn’t work, as “Obamacare” unveiled its online health-insurance exchanges on October 1 even as much of the rest of the government shut down. Even so, the exchanges have been plagued by serious technical problems unrelated to the shutdown.
In recent days, Republican leaders have emphasized other goals, such as reining in the retirement and health benefit programs that pose a long-term threat to the country’s fiscal health.
For the first time in weeks, lawmakers from both parties predicted they would be able to resolve their differences.
“Both sides will be able to claim victory,” said Democratic Representative Chaka Fattah of Pennsylvania.
Many hurdles remain. Obama has said he will not negotiate on anything until Republicans agree to reopen the government and remove the threat of immediate default.
Rank-and-file Republican conservatives who remain focused on defeating “Obamacare” also could reject the deal. Even if disaster is averted for now, the entire dispute could come to the fore again when the temporary agreement expires.
House Speaker John Boehner’s grip over his troops has been tenuous this year and many of the chamber’s most conservative lawmakers have defied him repeatedly on other crucial votes.
Boehner has taken pains to show his party’s most rebellious members that he listens to their concerns. He took a different approach when he told them of his plan to extend the debt ceiling.
“He put his best Coach Boehner voice and demeanor on and said, ‘Guys, this is what we are going to do. The play has been called. I’m happy to answer questions,’” said Republican Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma.
The Obama administration says it will be unable to pay all of its bills if Congress does not raise the $ 16.7 trillion debt ceiling by October 17. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said he would be unable to prioritize some payments over others among the 30 million transactions his department handles each week.
“It would be chaos,” Lew told the Senate Finance Committee.
But Lew and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told their counterparts of the G20 group of economies on Thursday that the standoff over the debt ceiling will be resolved by October 17, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said.
“Colleagues from the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve have said that they hope to solve the issue soon. They said that the problem will be solved by the 17th,” Siluanov told reporters after a dinner with G20 counterparts gathering on the sidelines of the IMF/World Bank meetings.
“It’s an important issue for everyone. Both Lew and Bernanke believe that these difficulties can be overcome soon,” Siluanov added.
Democrats who control the Senate are readying a vote, possibly on Saturday, that would extend government borrowing authority for more than a year, rather than the weeks-long time frame Republicans have proposed. Still, they did not entirely dismiss the Republican plan.
“Let’s see what they have offered,” House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said.
House leaders canceled a recess planned for next week and said they would remain in Washington instead.
Opinion polls indicate that Republicans appear to be getting more of the blame for the standoff. The NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released on Thursday found approval of the Republican Party at 24 percent, a record low. Democrats won the approval of 39 percent of the U.S. public.
Business groups that have close ties to the Republican Party have pressed for an end to the brinkmanship and some are laying plans to mount primary challenges next year to lawmakers who refuse to raise the debt ceiling.
Hundreds of thousands of federal employees have been thrown out of work by the shutdown and individual businesses, from arms makers to motels, have begun to lay off workers as well.
The Labor Department said on Thursday that 15,000 private-sector workers have filed for unemployment benefits due to the shutdown.
(Additional reporting by Jason Lange, Thomas Ferraro, David Lawder, Steve Holland, Roberta Rampton, Mark Felsenthal and Lidia Kelly; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Fred Barbash, Vicki Allen, Tim Dobbyn, Ken Wills and Eric Walsh)
Obama and Republicans struggle to break fiscal deadlock
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Divers struggle to search submarine
14 August 2013 Last updated at 23:30 ET
Locals describe hearing a sound “like a jet engine” when the blasts happened, as Yogita Limaye reports
Indian divers and rescue workers are battling to refloat a submarine in a Mumbai dockyard, after two explosions led to a fire early on Wednesday.
About 18 sailors were board but there has been no contact with possible survivors and India’s navy chief warned the country to “prepare for the worst”.
Divers have so far opened one hatch of the partially-submerged vessel.
An inquiry into the incident is under way as efforts continue to pump out water to bring the boat to the surface.
It is not clear what caused the blasts on the diesel and electricity-powered INS Sindhurakshak. Sabotage has not been ruled out, although officials say that looks unlikely at this stage.
As India marks Independence Day, officials were not optimistic about the crew’s chances of survival.
Naval chief DK Joshi said it was possible those on board may have found air pockets but “the indicators are negative”.
“While we hope for the best, we have to prepare for the worst,” he told reporters.
Continue reading the main story
‘Shocking tragedy’
Two huge explosions took place on board the INS Sindhurakshak after midnight on Tuesday. Firefighters spent four hours putting out the ensuing blaze.
The force of the explosions badly damaged the vessel, which sank, and it remains partially submerged at its berth.
Amateur video shown on Indian television showed a large fireball illuminating the sky
Dramatic images on Indian television showed a large fireball illuminating the sky. Smoke from the blaze could be seen in many parts of the city. Many sailors managed to jump to safety after the blast and some were taken to hospital.
The Russian-built vessel had recently been upgraded at a cost of $ 80m (£52m) and it may have been armed with missiles and torpedoes.
Russian firm Zvyozdochka, which refitted the submarine, said the vessel had been fully operational when it was returned to India in January.
On Wednesday Indian Defence Minister AK Antony visited the site. Describing the events as a “shocking tragedy”, he offered his condolences to relatives of those who may have perished.
The INS Sindhurakshak is one of the 10 Kilo-class submarines bought from Russia between 1986 and 2000. It is equipped with Russian Club-S cruise missile systems.
Continue reading the main story
INS Sindhurakshak timeline
- 1997: INS Sindhurakshak procured by Indian navy, one of the 10 vessels in the Kilo-class submarines bought from Russia between 1986-2000
- February 2010: A fire that broke out in its battery compartment kills one sailor
- August 2010: Submarine sent for re-fit to equip it with cruise missile systems
- June 2012: Refit completed with refurbished hull and 10 years added to its 25-year service life
- October 20102: Sea trials begin for submarine
- 14 August 2013: Submarine hit by explosion and fire with sailors trapped inside
The submarine was sent to Russia for the refit in 2010 after a sailor on board was killed by a fire that broke out in the battery compartment while the submarine was docked at the Vishakhapatnam naval base in February that year.
Correspondents say that India has steadily developed its naval capabilities in recent years, motivated by its rivalry with neighbouring China. But the country’s military has encountered numerous scandals and difficulties as it has done so.
Wednesday’s explosions came two days after India’s navy launched its first home-built aircraft carrier, hailed by defence officials as a “crowning glory”.
And on Tuesday India’s federal auditor suggested that the government might have paid too much for 12 helicopters from Anglo-Italian company Agusta Westland, saying procurement procedures designed to ensure value for money were not properly followed.
Last year, India bought a Russian Nerpa nuclear submarine for its navy on a 10-year lease from Russia at the cost of nearly $ 1bn, making it part of a small group of nations to operate nuclear-powered submarines.
India and Russia are long-time allies and Russia supplies about 70% of India’s military hardware.
Divers struggle to search submarine
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Czech PM in survival struggle after court keeps aide in custody
OSTRAVA, Czech Republic (Reuters) – Coalition partners of Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas said they were considering whether they could stay in government with him on Saturday after a court ordered the detention of his close aide on corruption charges.
Czech PM in survival struggle after court keeps aide in custody
Czech PM in survival struggle after court keeps aide in custody
OSTRAVA, Czech Republic (Reuters) – Coalition partners of Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas said they were considering whether they could stay in government with him on Saturday after a court ordered the detention of his close aide on corruption charges. 
Czech PM in survival struggle after court keeps aide in custody
Sunday, June 9, 2013
In Iran vote, reformists struggle with few options
In this Friday, June 7, 2013 photo, an Iranian man reads one of electoral leaflets, covering the street, after Friday prayers in Tehran, Iran. Despite four years of non-stop arrests and intimidation, Iran’s dissidents still find ways to show their resilience. Protest messages ricochet around social media and angry graffiti pops up. But it only takes a closer look at the lockdown atmosphere across Iran ahead of Friday’s presidential election to show how much the organized opposition has fallen since massive protests in 2009. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
In this Friday, June 7, 2013 photo, an Iranian man reads one of electoral leaflets, covering the street, after Friday prayers in Tehran, Iran. Despite four years of non-stop arrests and intimidation, Iran’s dissidents still find ways to show their resilience. Protest messages ricochet around social media and angry graffiti pops up. But it only takes a closer look at the lockdown atmosphere across Iran ahead of Friday’s presidential election to show how much the organized opposition has fallen since massive protests in 2009. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
In this Friday, June 7, 2013 photo, an Iranian woman looks out of the window of a public bus as supporters of presidential candidates attend a street campaign, reflected at the window after Friday prayers in Tehran, Iran. Iranian Presidential election will be held on June 14, 2013. Despite four years of non-stop arrests and intimidation, Iran’s dissidents still find ways to show their resilience. Protest messages ricochet around social media and angry graffiti pops up. But it only takes a closer look at the lockdown atmosphere across Iran ahead of Friday’s presidential election to show how much the organized opposition has fallen since massive protests in 2009. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
FILE – In this file picture released by the semi-official Fars news agency on Tuesday, June 4, 2013, mourners show the victory sign during a funeral ceremony for Ayatollah Jalaluddin Taheri, shown in the poster at center, in the central city of Isfahan, Iran. Despite four years of non-stop arrests and intimidation, Iran’s dissidents still find ways to show their resilience. Protest messages ricochet around social media and angry graffiti pops up. But it only takes a closer look at the lockdown atmosphere across Iran ahead of Friday’s presidential election to show how much the organized opposition has fallen since massive protests in 2009. (AP Photo/Fars News Agency, Hamid Reza Nikoumaram, File)
FILE – In this June 15, 2009 file photo, a demonstrator wears a mask in the party’s color of green, due to fears of being identified, as hundreds of thousands of supporters of leading opposition presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, who claims there was voting fraud in election, turn out to protest the result of the election at a mass rally in Azadi (Freedom) square in Tehran, Iran. Despite four years of non-stop arrests and intimidation, Iran’s dissidents still find ways to show their resilience. Protest messages ricochet around social media and angry graffiti pops up. But it only takes a closer look at the lockdown atmosphere across Iran ahead of Friday’s presidential election to show how much the organized opposition has fallen since massive protests in 2009. ( AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)
FILE – In this Monday, June 15, 2009 file photo, hundreds of thousands of supporters of leading opposition presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, who claims there was voting fraud in Friday’s election, turn out to protest the result of the election at a mass rally in Azadi (Freedom) square in Tehran, Iran. Despite four years of non-stop arrests and intimidation, Iran’s dissidents still find ways to show their resilience. Protest messages ricochet around social media and angry graffiti pops up. But it only takes a closer look at the lockdown atmosphere across Iran ahead of Friday’s presidential election to show how much the organized opposition has fallen since massive protests in 2009. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)
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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Despite four years of non-stop pressure, arrests and intimidation, Iran’s dissidents still find ways to show their resilience.
Protest messages still ricochet around social media despite Iran’s cyber cops’ attempts to control the Web. Angry graffiti pops up and then quickly painted over by authorities. Mourners at the funeral of a dissident cleric flashed V-for-victory gestures and chanted against the state.
But just a look at the sidewalks around Tehran’s Mellat Park shows how far Iran’s opposition has fallen as the country prepares for Friday’s presidential election.
Four years ago, girls on rollerblades sped around the park delivering fliers for the reform camp’s candidate-hero Mir Hossein Mousavi. Emerald-colored head scarves and wrist bands representing Mousavi’s Green Movement were in such demand that bloggers would list shops with available fabric.
This time, there are just a few subdued election placards for candidates considered fully in sync with Iran’s ruling clerics. Security forces and paramilitary volunteers are never far away.
Mousavi and other opposition leader, Mahdi Karroubi, are under house arrest and hundreds more activists, bloggers and journalists have faced detention as part of relentless crackdowns since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election in 2009 brought accusations of vote rigging and something Iran has not seen since the 1979 Islamic Revolution: Huge crowds in the streets chanting against the leadership.
Iran’s forces for reform are not so much crushed as now bottled up tightly. Now the election that marks the end of Ahmadinejad’s eight-year era also brings another moment of political transition: Whether the loose affiliation of reformists, liberals and Western-leaning activists can somehow remain relevant in a time when the guardians of the Islamic establishment are consolidating their defenses.
“There is no shortage of people in Iran who would like to see a different way of being governed and a different world view from the leadership,” said Theodore Karasik, a security and political affairs analyst at the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis. “Trouble for them is that they now fragmented and disorganized. This is exactly what Iranian authorities want to see.”
The entire process has been derided by Western governments and rights groups as a farce after Iran’s election overseers — all loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — blacklisted former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani from the ballot despite his lofty status as one of the architects of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
For Iran’s rulers, the relatively moderate Rafsanjani represents an unsettling force who could breathe some life into the battered opposition.
Any momentum toward a backlash over Rafsanjani’s barring quickly dissipated. He grumbled over the rebuff and Iranian reformist websites buzzed with complaints. But there have been no major street protests, suggesting — once again — there are only remote chances for a revival of the 2009 mass demonstrations. His backers have retreated to election boycott calls or drifted to other candidates who have no apparent intention to shake up the system.
The only significant public show of dissent before the election came in a coincidence of timing. Some mourners at the funeral procession of dissident Ayatollah Jalaluddin Taheri, who died last Sunday in the central city of Isfahan, used the march to revive the opposition chants from 2009 such as “death to the dictator,” according to video clips posted on the Internet. But the outburst did not seem to inspire other rallies around the country.
“There is significant opposition in Iran to a lot of things, international relations, crackdowns on the Internet, but its dispersed over all classes of society and without a real focus,” said Rasool Nafisi, an Iranian affairs analyst at Strayer University in Virginia. “There is opposition, but I doubt you can call it a movement.”
Opposition voters now face the choice of whether to boycott the polls or turn to whatever they see as the least objectionable candidate. So far, the top figures of the reform movement, like former President Mohammad Khatami, have not given an indication to their supporters which avenue to take — meaning a unified strategy may only emerge at the last minute, if at all.
A likely major indicator in the final vote will be how many eligible voters stayed away, in comparison to a reported 85 percent turnout in 2009. It worries officials enough that Khamenei used one of the country’s most somber occasions — the memorial ceremony marking the death of Islamic Revolution founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini — to say that a low turnout will only help Iran’s “enemies” such as the U.S. and Israel.
Most of the eight hopefuls cleared to run are bathed in pro-establishment credentials, including such insider figures as top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and Khamenei adviser Ali Akbar Velayati.
Some reformists have migrated toward former nuclear negotiator Hasan Rowhani as a sort of default, since he is closely aligned with Rafsanjani. Khatami’s former vice president, Mohammad Reza Aref, has made a strong bid to draw reformist voters, speaking with the most passion about freedoms Wednesday during the second television debate among the eight candidates.
“An unprecedented security atmosphere has been imposed in recent years that caused lack of motivation among students,” he said. “The solution is not confrontation, elimination or shutting down. We are living in the age of communications.”
Others have gravitated to Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf in hopes his hands-on reputation could halt the downward slide of Iran’s sanctions-wracked economy.
But there is little sense left of the unified Green Movement that poured onto the streets in 2009 over claims that vote rigging robbed Mousavi of victory and handed re-election to Ahmadinejad. The protests — the worse domestic unrest since the Islamic Revolution — momentarily stunned authorities with once-unthinkable acts of rebellion, such as burning portraits of Khamenei, a full 18 months before even the first hints of the Arab Spring uprisings.
Mousavi and fellow candidate Karroubi have been under house arrest since early 2011. Security forces and intelligence units have been bolstered to the point where any form of dissent — in public or online — risks arrest. Most recently, several people were detained at a Rowhani rally after calling for Mousavi’s release.
Iranian police chief, Gen. Ismail Moghadam warned: “Police will confront individuals who have counter-revolutionary behavior.”
Authorities have sharply limited visas for Western media to cover the election. Tehran-based journalists also face sweeping restrictions on street reporting and travel. On Thursday, the Paris-based media rights group Reporters Without Borders accused Iranian officials of blocking coverage of the “government’s suppression of fundamental freedoms, including freedom of information.”
“The regime is showing its true colors,” said Abdollah Mohtadi, a member of a London-based opposition group Unity for Democracy in Iran. “When Iranians cannot campaign or give voice to their political views without fear of persecution or prosecution, any claims the regime might make to democracy are shown to be a lie.”
Farid Kia, 45, a university instructor in business administration who backed Mousavi four years ago, now says, “Voting is fruitless.”
Hossein Yekkeh, a 30-year-old engineer who voted for Mousavi, said he doesn’t plan to vote because “none of current candidates represent reformists.”
Prominent U.S.-based Iranian blogger Mehdi Saharkhiz — whose father Isa, a well-known journalist, has been jailed since 2009 — has engaged in online debates with Iranians on the value of a mass boycott. Saharkhiz encourages voters to stay away after the rejection of Rafsanjani and in protest of the vote-rigging claims four years ago.
“So you think they won’t do it again this time?” he wrote.
Another variable is the deepening Western sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program, which may have the indirect consequence of boosting the vote.
Many former Green Movement backers have put ideology aside and have fallen behind candidates, such as Tehran Mayor Qalibaf, seen as capable fiscal managers as the economy reels under 30 percent unemployment and prices rising more than threefold on goods such as chicken and beef. The only sporadic protests in the past years, in fact, have been over pocketbook issues and not the squeeze on political freedoms.
“Is there still an organized Green Movement? No,” said Scott Lucas, an Iranian affairs expert at Britain’s Birmingham University. “Whatever was there, the authorities have been successful in breaking it up with detentions and crackdowns. But the issues the protesters raised — accountability, political transparency, reforms, openness — are still there and very much alive. They just have no cohesive expression.”
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Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran contributed to this report.
In Iran vote, reformists struggle with few options
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