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“[Medicare fraud] is very serious problem and one that requires serious attention … to reclaim the scarce health care dollars that people are otherwise diverting from the system,” said Rep. Michael Burgress (R-Texas) during a news conference Tuesday. (0:10)

By enhancing market access for American exporters, the U.S. can create jobs and mend the economy, Trade Representative Ron Kirk said during a luncheon at the National Press Club Tuesday.

“We can [create new market access] in two ways: by enforcing America’s existing trade rights and negotiating new trade opportunities,” Kirk stated.

In order to maintain a balanced and comprehensive trade policy, Kirk stressed the need to uphold basic international labor rights and laws that will confront counterfeiters and thieves. According to Kirk, these efforts will lessen competition for American businesses and workers.

Kirk also stated that the Obama administration will initiate a comprehensive report to help identify technical barriers to trade and unfair restrictions.

“[The Office of the United States Trade Representative] is working around the clock to help American businesses and workers of all sizes … succeed in the global marketplace,” said Kirk. “The more we make and the more we sell, the more jobs we support in America.”

The Congressional Health Care Caucus (CHC) highlighted the consequences of Medicare fraud Tuesday and called on their colleagues to take actions that could possibly save billions of dollars for the social insurance program.

“[Medicare fraud] is very serious problem and one that requires serious attention … to reclaim the scarce health care dollars that people are otherwise diverting from the system,” said Rep. Michael Burgress (R-Texas) during a news conference.

Jim Frogue, the Vice President for Center for Health Transformation, proposed fighting fraud through an identity check system, similar to the process that is used with credit card purchases. Such a measure would require individuals who are receiving Medicare-Medicaid benefits to have proper identification.

“People can get away with [fraud] for months and years and never get caught,” said Frogue, who appeared alongside the CHC. “The mandate of Medicare-Medicaid is to pay the bills and ask questions later.”

According to Frogue, anti-fraud measures already in place are inadequate. The Medicaid Fraud Control Units (MFCU) only focus on high profile cases, Frogue says, and essentially overlooks the smaller cases.

“I don’t know why I’m not retired in the Caribbean. Its so easy to steal this money and just move on,” joked Frogue.

“I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem,” Biden said. “It is precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now and runs counter to the constructive discussions that I’ve had here in Israel.”

“Unilateral action taken by either party cannot prejudge the outcome of negotiations on permanent status issues,” the statement goes on to read.

The Vice President is currently in Israel on a diplomatic trip. Biden traveled to the country partly in an attempt to revive peace talks between Israelis and the Palestinians.

POTUS’s MEETING WITH GREEK PM GEORGE PAPANDREOU

- Gibbs said that although POTUS will discuss global economic recovery today with the Greek PM, the White House believes Europe should be in charge of solving their crisis. “Europeans possess the power needed to solve their economic problems,” Gibbs said.

HEALTHCARE REFORM

- Gibbs said POTUS has not yet made any calls to House Democrats, asking for their vote on healthcare reform. “If calls need to be made…he’ll do that,” said Gibbs, adding that the President will meet later this week with certain Members. In his speech in Missouri tomorrow the President will address waste, fraud and abuse present within the current healthcare system, according to Gibbs. On why President Obama is making so many speeches on healthcare in cities across the country, Gibbs said it is because POTUS “believes it is important to demonstrate to the American public why reform is important.” Gibbs pointed out that the White House considers healthcare reform to be an economic issue. In terms of a vote on healthcare reform, Gibbs reiterated that one could take place before POTUS leaves for Indonesia on March 18, adding that the date arose from discussions White House officials had with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Gibbs said that as best he knows, the 18th is still the target date to get reform done. When asked to respond to the large protest held today in Washington by supporters of healthcare reform, in which several people were arrested, Gibbs said, “I don’t know the public relations value of that.” Interestingly, Gibbs was not asked to respond to Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s statement that he will not vote for a healthcare bill that doesn’t include a public option provision.

ERIC MASSA RESIGNATION

- Gibbs implied that folks should be skeptical of the former Democratic Congressman’s allegations that he resigned for political reasons. Gibbs said Massa changed his story on why he was resigning three days in a row, citing health issues, then saying it was possibly due to using what Gibbs described as “salty language” toward a House staffer, then finally saying he was pressured to resign because he opposed healthcare reform. “I wouldn’t give any weight to what [Massa] said on the fourth day,” said Gibbs. The notion that the White House is behind Massa’s resignation is incorrect, said Gibbs. In regards to a possible ethics violation by Massa, Gibbs said POTUS has championed ethics reform since his days as an Illinois State Senator. “This is an issue that the President has taken seriously for a very long time,” said Gibbs.

VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN’S TRIP TO ISRAEL

- With regards to Israel’s decision to continue building homes in East Jerusalem, Gibbs said the White House “condemns” that decision, and said Vice President Joe Biden, who is currently in Israel, would be releasing an official statement expanding on the White House’s position.

KSM

- Gibbs said the Department of Justice is “several or many weeks” away from reaching a decision on where to try 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Gibbs said President Obama wants to see that “justice is brought” to KSM.

OTHER

- Gibbs said he thinks it is “certainly possible” for a cap-and-trade provision to be included in the climate bill being looked at in the Senate.

- Gibbs said the White House has no confirmation that alleged American-al Qaeda member Adam Gadahn is in the custody of authorities.

- Gibbs said he will address immigration reform in briefings later this week, depending on when POTUS meets with members of Congress to discuss possible legislation.

- Gibbs said that like last year, POTUS will again fill out and release an NCAA Tournament bracket before he leaves for Indonesia on the 18th.

- Gibbs said the President has not yet received his Nobel Prize money. Gibbs said he wasn’t sure where exactly the money is at this moment. “I was wondering why Bill [Burton, Gibbs's Deputy Press Secretary] offered to buy me lunch today,” Gibbs joked.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said Tuesday that statements made by former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) claiming that he was forced out of office in order to pass health care reform legislation were “absolutely untrue.”

“[It is] absolutely untrue … that there was any relationship between actions and the health care bill. Period,” Hoyer said during his weekly pen and pad session with reporters.

Massa, who resigned amid allegations that he had made inappropriate, sexual remarks to a staffer, has accused Hoyer of falsely stating that the Majority Leader had contacted Massa prior to the revelation of the scandal.

Hoyer denied making the claim, and instead stressed that each Congressman’s staffs were in contact.

“I never talked to Mr. Massa,” said Hoyer. “My staff talked to his staff.”

Hoyer’s staff reportedly urged Massa’s staff to go to the Ethics Committee within 48 hours or Hoyer’s office would take action themselves.

Similarly, when we speak of God’s will, we seek to describe something beyond our understanding, yet apparently true to God’s nature. This revelation helps me to stop being resentful when the world turns out not to be designed for my satisfaction. It becomes clear that I need to simply cooperate with God’s will and celebrate the blessing that I was created to have a unique intimacy with God.

As President Barack Obama meets with U.S. Senators in the coming days to discuss comprehensive Immigration reform, advocates for the issue called on the President and Congress to stop the deportation of Illegal immigrants.

As President Barack Obama meets tonight with U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) over comprehensive Immigration reform, advocates for the issue called on the President and Congress to stop the deportation of Illegal immigrants until a bill is passed.

Representatives of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement are disappointed with the Obama administration over the number of deportations from the U.S. since he took office.

There have been 387,790 deportations of illegal immigrants under Obama averaging out to 1,000 per day, this number is significantly larger to President Bush’s average of 650 deportations per day during his second term.

“Many of us celebrated the historic election of Barack Obama, and believed that this election would bring justice to immigrants and their families,” said Angelica Salas, executive director of Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. “We believed when he promised to fix our broken immigration system. He said he would do this in his first year in office, yet in his first year the Obama Administration has deported 387,000 people.”

The administration is in danger of losing the Latino vote, said Nitza Segui Albino with the National Alliance of Latin Americans and Caribbean Communities. “The Democrats think they have us… they don’t, if you do the right thing you have us, if you don’t do the right thing you don’t have us,” she said.

Pramila Jatapal is the executive director of One America. “We are out of time and out of patience and we are ready to push forward all of the power we have collected in the states across our country to make sure that we really are going to get this change we were promised,” she said.

“The peaceful conduct of these elections is of paramount importance and should contribute to national reconciliation in Iraq. A strong voter mandate will be a powerful message in support of stability and prosperity for all Iraqis and will build on the political progress that has already been achieved,” he said in a statement issued on the eve of the elections on March 7.

Several rockets, grenades and bombs went off in Baghdad on election day and the death toll throughout the country is steadily rising. The Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, condemned the attackers. And Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr urged Iraqis to stay away from violent attacks and to use their voting rights: “Even if a choice in the shadow of an occupation is not legitimate, I urge Iraqis to participate in order to prepare the ground for a termination of the occupation,” he said.

Some 19 million Iraqis were eligible to cast their vote for a new parliament from a choice of 6,200 candidates from many political parties. There are 325 seats open. Over 2000 candidates are women.

The Iraqi government hopes to have a newly elected national assembly to move ahead with what UN Representative to Iraq,  Ad Melkert, told reporters this afternoon via videoconference a “satisfying” election outcome. Melkert said some 60 percent of eligible voters have submitted their ballots.

“Of course, there are still certain issues and they are systematic in nature. But the voter education that took place took place on a relatively massive scale. We have called on all candidates and parties to unite in accepting results and to set the example for a cultural democracy. We call on those newly elected to move towards forming a majority coalition.”

The Iraqi electoral information network has over 18,000 observers all over the country to monitor polling stations. Working in partnership with the United Nations, the network claimed this week that some observers were denied access to polls by security forces.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said that more full body scanners and increased law enforcement are to be expected in the coming months to improve international and domestic aviation security. Napolitano spoke Monday before the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. during an annual legislative conference.

“What we’re about is finding gaps, filling them [and] minimizing risk,” she said. “We are rolling the technology out.”

The December 25, 2009 al-Quaeda attempt to sabotage Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit and other security breaches raised concerns over international and domestic airport security measures and standards. In the attempt, Nigerian Umar Farou Abdulmutallab tried to ignite plastic explosives hidden in his underwear.

Last week, Napolitano met with the CEOs of the member airlines of the Air Transport Association of America and the International Air Transport Association, which represents 230 airlines and more than 90 percent of the world’s air traffic. “”Government and the private sector must work collaboratively to develop and implement enhanced international security measures and standards,” she said.

On March 4, DHS Under Secretary Caryn Wagner testified before the House Subcommittee on Homeland Security on the President’s Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Request for the Department’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis.

“DHS reactivated the DTTF [DHS Threat Task Force] on December 25, 2009, after the attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253,” she said. “We intend to institutionalize this enterprise task force to focus the efforts of the whole Department in unison on mitigating terrorism threats to the homeland. Per the Secretary’s direction, the DTTF has been playing a direct role in identifying and analyzing homeland security threats, informing DHS leadership decision-making, and ensuring that intelligence supports component operations in the field. These efforts have directly contributed to more effective use of watch lists and have supported Department programs for passenger travel analysis and airport screening procedures.”

WCLAC was established by a small group of women in Jerusalem in 1991 as a Palestinian, independent, non-governmental, non-profit organization. Its foundation came in a context of the emergence of professional and political Palestinian women’s organizations, which had proliferated in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s as a result of the increasing involvement of women’s groups in the national struggle. The women address needs in the context of occupation and militarized oppression of the community, realizing the connections between militarized patriarchy and an increase in women’s oppression in private and public spheres.

Amid fears of attacks, Iraqis rushed the polls this weekend to choose their future leaders in the country’s second ever parliamentary election.

Despite some acts of violence on the part of al-Qaeda and other extremist groups that left 38 dead, the U.S. Ambassador to Baghdad said the election “went very, very well.”

Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. military commander in the country, said that most of the casualties resulted from one single attack in Baghdad that brought down an apartment building.

“In the rest of Iraq, it was extremely peaceful,” he said. “I was very impressed with the coordination and work done by the Iraqi security forces.”

President Barack Obama also commended the Iraqi people for the strong turnout at nearly 50,000 voting booths. The President said that nearly 19 million Iraqis exercised their right to vote “with enthusiasm and optimism.”

“[The election] makes it clear that the future of Iraq belongs to the people of Iraq,” Obama said.

Ballots are being counted but it will most likely be months until results from the historic election are finalized.

-Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano makes remarks to the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

-The Center for Community Change holds a news conference to express discontent with the escalation of deportations by the Obama administration.

-Health Care for America Now (HCAN) holds a briefing on the urgent need for health insurance reform.

“I think this has been the most anti-investment, anti-entrepreneur, anti-employment, anti-job agenda since the days of Jimmy Carter,” said Romney. “It has prolonged the recession and made it more difficult for us to recover.” (0:17)

The Obama administration should have attempted to spur job creation prior to pursuing health care reform, according to Massachusetts’ former Republican Governor Mitt Romney, who unsuccessfully ran for the Republican presidential nomination in the last election cycle.

“Given the priorities that we faced at the time of his inauguration, I probably wouldn’t have suggested spending all that time… devoted to discussions on health care,” said Romney during an appearance before the National Press Club. “The first [priority] had to be to get the economy back on track and create jobs.”

Romney charged that current proposals intended to stimulate job creation have thus far served more as deterrents to investors within the private sector.

“I think this has been the most anti-investment, anti-entrepreneur, anti-employment, anti-job agenda since the days of Jimmy Carter,” said Romney. “It has prolonged the recession and made it more difficult for us to recover.”

Romney proposed deficit reduction, energy independence and education investments as remedies for the nation’s economic woes.

The former governor is widely considered a presidential contender for 2012.