The Blue State

More victims of private health insurance

Don't like the idea of free, not-for-profit health care?  Enjoy the system we have?  According to an exclusive New York Times report, our current system neglects those that are supposed to be covered:

Tens of thousands of Medicare recipients have been victims of deceptive sales tactics and had claimsimproperly denied by private insurers that run the system’s huge newdrug benefit program and offer other private insurance optionsencouraged by the Bush administration, a review of scores of federalaudits has found.

The problems, described in 91 audit reports reviewed by The New YorkTimes, include the improper termination of coverage for people withH.I.V. and AIDS, huge backlogs of claims and complaints, and a failureto answer telephone calls from consumers, doctors and drugstores.

So how about that American health care system.  I'd say that I favor a similar system to the one in Canada, eh!

Blackwater paid victims' families to cover up shootings

Iraq has often been referred to as the wild west -- an utter state of lawlessness where contractors behave as they wish.  Last month, the private firm Blackwater was involved in a shootout that caused the unnecessarily killed 10 Iraqi civilians.  According to a report this morning in the Washington Post, of the 200 Blackwater shooting incidents since 2005, in a few of the incidents Blackwater paid off family members of victims to keep quiet:

In at least two cases, Blackwater paid victims’ family members whocomplained, and sought to cover up other episodes, the Congressionalreport said. It said State Department officials approved the paymentsin the hope of keeping the shootings quiet. In one case last year, thedepartment helped Blackwater spirit an employee out of Iraq less than36 hours after the employee, while drunk, killed a bodyguard for one ofIraq’s two vice presidents on Christmas Eve.

Even with shady behavior like this, the Pentagon awarded them with a new $92 million this week.

Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act

There's a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require Insurance Companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It's about eliminating the 'drive-through mastectomy' where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached

Lifetime TV (I know "guys", Lifetime hates "us"...but this is a good cause) lays out this issue very well 'The Re-Introduction of The Bipartisan Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act'.

This bill has been introduced during each Congressional session since 1997 (1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, and 2005). Each time, unfortunately, the bill dies in committee. It has been submitted again during the current legislative session as "The Breast Cancer Protection Act of 2007"   

Lifetime does have an online petition (much like an email petition),   however, there is no way to verify signatures or prevent multiple   "signings". A more productive approach to getting this, or any   legislation passed would be for interested voters to contact their elected representatives   directly. Click the following links for contact information for SENATORS   and REPRESENTATIVES.

 

Those interested in tracking the progress of this latest attempt at   passage, can click HERE   for Senate action, and HERE   for the House version.

The above information came from HERE, and in my opinion does not dilute the importance or effectiveness of Lifetime's petition, it's additional "insurance" and "assurance" of getting the JOB done. Our elected officials are getting the best care available, yet when it comes to us "commoners", it's a crap shoot on the crap table of the insurance companies. 

When kind-heartedness becomes indifference

Two years after the mortgage company Countrywide promised to help Katrina victims by suspending their mortgage payments, the company is not remaining true to its word:

According to a class-action lawsuit filed in Louisiana today,homeowners say the mortgage giant is now demanding any deferredpayments be paid up immediately, often with interest and penaltiesattached. Plaintiffs' attorneys say that as a result, many strugglinghomeowners have been sent into foreclosure.

In a goodwill gesture after Katrina hit two years ago, Countrywideannounced it would suspend mortgage payments for hurricane victims forup to 90 days. Homeowners say they were told by Countrywide agents thatany deferred payments would be added to the back end of the loan term,and that no lump sum, interest or penalties would be imposed.

According to the lawsuit, however, homeowners have been notified byCountrywide that they have to either pay the entire deferred amountimmediately or restructure their loan in a way that would cost themthousands of additional dollars.

We write all the time about war profiteering.  This is flood profiteering.  If these Katrina victims don't pay back their loans, Countrywide stands to rake in huge profits off all the interest.  Also, for this to happen on the two-year anniversary of Katrina is insulting.

Please call or email Countrywide and tell them how you feel about their indifference towards Gulf Coast residents, many of which are still trying to put their lives back together.

Also, email your Senators and House Representative, and urge them to investigate these despicable tactics by the mortgage industry.

Largest money-laundering scheme of Iraq war

Army Major John Cockerham, his wife and sister are charged with taking part in a money-laundering scheme involving Defense Department contractors.  Like a scheme reminiscent of the movie Three Kings, Cockerham, who was stationed in Kuwait, is accused of taking $9.6 million in bribes from eight contractors, and attempting to put them in offshore accounts:

Maj. Cockerham is accused of guaranteeing that contractors wouldreceive lucrative contracts in exchange for cash deposited in bankaccounts and safe deposit boxes by his wife and sister in Kuwait andDubai.

The charges include bribery, conspiracy, money laundering and obstruction.

This is the largest money-laundering scheme of the Iraq war.  And as TPM adds, it's like something out of a spy movie:

It's a picaresque story involving crookedKuwaiti and Emirati businessmen with codenames like "Mr. and Mrs.Pastry." In 2004 and 2005, according to the complaint, Cockerham, hiswife and his sister, took $9.6 million in bribes, kept in safe-depositboxes in a number of Persian-Gulf cities, in exchange for contracts forthings like drinking water.

If convicted, the penalties will be significant:

All three defendants face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $500,000 for the charge of money laundering conspiracy, and up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for each of the conspiracy counts.  Major Cockerham also faces up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the charge of bribery.

Regardless of the positive PR in their hometown, it doesn't look like they will get out of this one.

Iraq war boosts defense company's profits by 27% in '07

Lockeed Martin, Halliburton, Boeing, Qualcomm -- just some of companies that would be a lot less wealthier had Bush not decided to invade Iraq.  Now we can add another company to the list:

BAE Systems Plc, Europe's biggestdefense company, said first-half profit rose 27 percent, beatinganalysts' estimates, on upgrades of Bradley fighting vehicles forthe U.S. army in Iraq and production of fighter jet parts.

Net income rose to 515 million pounds ($1.05 billion), or15.5 pence a share, from 405 million pounds, or 12.4 pence, a yearearlier, the London-based company said today in a statement.Profit exceeded the 406 million-pound median estimate of nineanalysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Sales rose 8 percent to 6.89billion pounds, also beating estimates.

``They have really benefited from the upgrading of Bradleyvehicles in this period,'' said Scott Babka, an analyst at MorganStanley in London, who has a ``overweight'' rating on the stock.``They are in the right ends of the market and these are a solidset of numbers.''

But BAE is funding both sides of the Iraq war:

BAE Systems is alleged tohave set up a 60-million-pound "slush fund" for members of the Saudiroyal family to secure business, and made illegal payments to thoseinvolved in its deals. BAE strenuously denies the charges.

This is almost equally as un-American as the $13 billion arms deal that the Saudis just secured with the Bush administration. 

President Eisenhower is spinning in his grave.  Maybe we should have learned something from his 1961 farewell address:

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition ofunwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by themilitary-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise ofmisplaced power exists and will persist.
         
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our libertiesor democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only analert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of thehuge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peacefulmethods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

$12 billion spent each money in Iraq,  No, this is definitely not Ike's America.

The Bush Admin. Strongly Supports the Troops by Strongly Opposing Pay Raise

Anyone that doesn't believe the Bush Administration  supports the troopsin Iraq, shame on YOU! They provide a number of wonderful ways to support them,for instance...

There'spizza (heart-burn to follow)

Meanwhile, the armed forces' PX system (AAFES) is into charging our GIs inIraq $9 for a 12-inch pizza. A similar pizza is $8.99 at a pizzeria nearGreenwich, Conn., where prices compete with Beverly Hills. The manager told methat about half of this price was gross profit. Lt. Col. Debra Pressley of theAAFES insists the $9 price is "fair and competitive with commercialoutlets, including locations in Greenwich."

There are FREE movies (after Military.com blew the whistle on the $3.00charge)

The powers that be sure planned to make a profit by charging $3 per head forwatching movies in Iraq - at least until we blew the whistle. But once we brokethe story, I got e-mails and phone calls from generals and colonels denying thatthe $3 charge had been scheduled, even though on July 3, 2004, the deputycommander in Balad, Iraq, put out this communication: "CG (CommandingGeneral) has directed that we begin charging movie fees beginning on 7 July 2004in the amount of $3.00 per show."

There are phone calls home(a little expensive, but hey! they're in the desert and we don't charge thetroops for their bullets)

Tom Evslin’s Fractalsof Change has posted an explosive piece about the way AT&T is handlingtheir exclusive contract to install payphones in Iraq and how much they’recharging American soldiers to call home. Would you believe twenty one cents perminute??

As Tom points out with the going wholesale cost of voice minutes under apenny per minute, this seems very, very wrong. Tom also notes that the totalamount of money we’re talking about here is a drop in the bucket for a companylike AT&T. It’s mind-boggling to me that the execs at AT&T don’trealize that the poison PR they could suffer over this is not even close tobeing worth the cash they’re making. If the issue gets more mainstreamcoverage I wouldn’t even be surprised if it comes into play as regulatorsconsider the BellSouth acquisition.

So now's not the time to get your panties in a ruffle just because the BushAdministration "STRONGLY OPPOSES" a bigger raise for our troops.

With President Bush’s popularity scraping bottom in opinion polls, withU.S. casualties rising in Iraq in a force surge that has stretched soldier toursto 15 months, the Bush administration July 10 said it “strongly opposes” keymilitary pay and benefit gains tossed into their fiscal 2008 defense bill. Readon...

Now might be a good time to dig up that air sicknessbag you've been saving from your last vacation.

It's a good thing the Internet isn't a dump truck...

or else Ted Stevens would be crushed beneath a heap of rubble right now. The senior (and I mean SENIOR) Republican Senator from Alaska is starting to show concern over the Federal Corruption Investigation into the remodeling of his Alaska home.
Why the investigation you ask?

The remodeling was overseen by Bill Allen, a contractor who has pleadedguilty to bribing Alaska state legislators. Allen is founder of VECOCorp., an Alaska-based oil field services and engineering company thathas reaped tens of millions of dollars in federal contracts.

Allen is cooperating with the FBI, and investigators appear tobe looking at whether VECO got anything in return for the homeimprovement help.

Some of you might remember Ted Stevens from his comments on the "internets" while discussing net neutrality in June of 2006.

They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the internet. Andagain, the internet is not something you just dump something on. It'snot a truck.

    It's a series of tubes.

Just a reminder, at the time of that statement, Stevens was Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, the committee in charge of regulating the Internet.

Last month, Stevens was asked by the FBI to preserve documents regarding a corruption investigation among Alaska legislators, and has hired an attorney to advise him in the disclosure of said documents.

So far, Stevens' main concern on the probe appears to re-election, (his term expires in '08.) When asked about the probe Stevens' stated:

"It doesn't matter what anyone says, itdoes shake you up. If this is still hanging around a year fromNovember, it could cause me some trouble.

I'm sure there won't be any trouble Ted. My only advice to you is to stay away from the "Internets;" there's some nasty stuff out there. And if you feel like you're being singled out, just go back to work; you're in good company.

Net Neutrality 101: Get Involved

Most of us have heard the term NetNeutrality, some understand it and some don't. so I decided to help thosethat don't and keep it fresh in the minds of those that do. Crooks& Liars inspired me with their post 'There'sa problem. It's called Net Neutrality'

The easiest way to explain what Net Neutrality is, and the issues surroundingit, is through Save The Internet'svideo 'Save The Internet'. You can go to SaveThe Internet and click on your state and see where your representatives standon this issue. You can also send them messages through the site. More videos at Save The Internet's YouTube account

Save The Internet (explains Net Neutrality)

Big Ed's Swan Song (their latest video)

We're all guilty of sitting around complaining about issues, but rarely take the initiative to do our part. Let's not be sitting around drinking coffee in 5 years wishing we did our part.

Prescription Drug Info. That Will Make You Sick

Well it looks like the bastards on the Hill will continue to insert the goscrew yourselves  suppositories up our asses once again. Thesenate shot down the Americans ability to buy cheaper prescription drugsfrom outside the U.S.

WASHINGTON - In a triumph for the pharmaceutical industry, the Senate onMonday killed a drive to allow consumers to buy prescription drugs from abroadat a significant savings over domestic prices.

On a 49-40 vote, the Senate required the Food and Drug Administration tocertify the safety and effectiveness of imported drugs before they can beimported, a requirement that officials have said they cannot meet.

"Well, once again the big drug companies have proved that they arethe most powerful and best financed lobby in Washington," said Sen.David Vitter, R-La.

The deep pockets of lobbyists, and the greed that runs rampant in our government,results in one thing ... the royal screwing of the American people.

The Veteran'sAdministration negotiates drug pricing with the pharmaceutical companies,and saves a lot of money, however Medicarewas just denied the right to follow suit.

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TheFollowing is a Post from from April. (and this probably won't bethe last time I repost it)

Once upon a time on an enchanted Hill there was The pharmaceutical industry,the congressmen and the lobbyists, but this isn't a fairy tale. This is thestory of how the Medicare Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003(better known as MedicarePart D) was passed.

The bill made it to the house in the morning, but wasn't voted on until 3:00AM so it wouldn't attract any media coverage. It was supposed to have been a 15minute vote, but voting was left open for almost 3 hours until it received thevotes it needed.

60 Minutes did a story on this UnderThe Influence.

(CBS) If you have ever wondered why the cost of prescriptiondrugs in the United States are the highest in the world or why it's illegal toimport cheaper drugs from Canada or Mexico, you need look no further than thepharmaceutical lobby and its influence in Washington, D.C.

Referring to the frenzy to pass the bill, Representitive Walter Jones (R NC)said "I've been in politics for 22 years, and it was the ugliest night Ihave ever seen in 22 years."

15 of the staffers and politicians that worked on this bill to get it passed,were eventually employed by pharmaceutical companies making as much as $2million salaries.

 

 

The Center for Public Integritydigs deeper into what they call PushingPrescriptions. There is a lot of information on their web site.