Author Archives: 40andover

Whistle-blower: Health care industry engaging in PR tactics

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Health care companies, like all persons invested in maintaining the status quo, stoop to any thing to prevent change.  The whistleblowers deserve our gratitude and thanks. 

IT IS NOT ABOUT THE OUTCOME; IT IS ABOUT A FAIR AND OPEN DISCUSSION AND DECISION BY VOTE OF OUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES.

Are there too few of us who believe in the ideals of the democratic system?

 

From CNN, Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Wendell Potter  . . . [t]he former vice president of corporate communications at insurance giant Cigna, who left his post, says the industry is playing “dirty tricks” in an effort to manipulate public opinion.

“Words matter, and the insurance industry is a master at linguistics and using the hot words, buzzwords, buzz expressions that they know will get people upset,” he told CNN Wednesday.

Now a senior fellow on health care for the watchdog group Center for Media and Democracy, Potter writes a blog on health care reform. He is focusing on efforts to defeat legislation supporting a government health care plan — something he supports.

In early July, Potter testified before the Senate Commerce Committee, telling senators that “I know from personal experience that members of Congress and the public have good reason to question the honesty and trustworthiness of the insurance industry.”

Potter described how underwriters at his former company would drive small businesses with expensive insurance claims to dump their Cigna policies. Industry executives refer to the practice as “purging,” Potter said.

“When that business comes up for renewal, the underwriters jack the rates up so much, the employer has no choice but to drop insurance,” Potter had said.

In an e-mail to CNN, Cigna spokesman Chris Curran denied the company engages in purging.

[go to CNN for more of the article]

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If Mom were alive, would this be her comment?

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I’m guessing this is what my mother (of blessed memory) would comment on my blog.

Hi, darling!  [said with a thrill that only a mother could have in corresponding with her child]:

Please be careful. There are crazies out there who might be reading your blog. So, I called the Secret Service. They are so efficient; the person who answered knew exactly who I was. Technology is SO marvelous. I asked for protection for you. The agent wasn’t sure, so I called the White House and they said that I looked marvelous at the last march on the Mall. Who knew? I wasn’t feeling great that day, chemo and all, so it must have been my new wig. Thank Goodness your father was there. He takes such good care of me. When I went over to talk to anti-abortion people, they were very nasty and your father stepped in. My ovaries haven’t worked in decades, so why couldn’t they have a civil conversation on a theoretical level? Which proves my point about protection for you.

Your sister came along on the march as my physician. (Isn’t it a MUST to have a health care professional in the family?  Don’t worry, I remember how you helped get me a $200 rebate so paying for law school was worth it.)  Having a travelling doctor IS the new accessory for us old people. I have Dad and your sister. Let the Secret Service top that for Obama. By the way, isn’t he handsome? So smart, so funny, such a leader. If only he were Jewish and not married, he would be perfect for your sister if she weren’t already happily married to a wonderful man (I am not schlepping in Central Park to look at birds).  After all of these years of keeping an eye out for eligible men, it is hard to remember to stop looking now that she is married.  I forget things at my age, but I am always thrilled when I remember that she is, in fact, married.

You looked thin last week. Is there enough protein in your diet?

Well, off to chemo, then a gallery and then there’s a protest at One Police Plaza. Maybe I’ll get lucky and get arrested. I have your card in case I need a lawyer. One should get arrested for a good cause once in one’s life. But only for peaceful protests.

So, all right, Tootsie. See you for Sunday night dinner.

Love, Mom

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Laughing is the best antidote

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After a fitful night’s sleep, my son wanted to pretend we were trains this morning before he scampered off to camp.  After going to Penn Station to watch all of the trains recently (like one big electric train set), he wanted me to call out the Ronkonkoma, Long Island train station, in that sing-song way that the conductors do, while stressing the Ks:   “RON KONKKK KOMA!! RON KONKKK KOMA!!”  I am half asleep and yelling “RON KONKKK KOMA!” RON KONKKK KOMA!”  It makes my head pound but my son’s delight makes it worthwhile.

No turning over and napping after this day’s version of morning cuddle.  Coffee and aspirin.  Antacids (for the burning caused by the coffee and aspirin).  Repeat until fully conscious.

Once fully conscious, I turn on the TV to have, as Jon Stewart has said, my morning cup of sadness.  Today, RAGE accompanies sadness.  I blog my rant against Glenn Beck.  I feel better.

I shower and dress.  I even pack gym clothes.  Wow, amazing what a morning’s expiation will do.

I eat lunch with an old friend with whom I have recently reconnected.  We laugh all through lunch about everything and nothing and I feel like a weight is lifted.  Laughter is the best antidote to life’s sadnesses and ills.

Drink a cup of laughter next time you have the opportunity.

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Disagreement

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My dear young cousin does not like President Obama and does not trust him. 

She was concerned that I would not want her to comment on my blog.  (I did publish one of her negative comments on Obama, but after a certain number of days comments go to the foggy bottom of cyberspace.)

I welcome different opinions because we learn from each other.  We can love each other and respectfully disagree.

So, dear cousin (you know who you are), I love you and I disagree and comment away!!!  I will comment right back!

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Did Glenn Beck really say it is all about reparations?

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We all knew that Glenn Beck is a fear-mongerer who has called Obama a racist. Now he says the whole basis for the health care reform is Obama’s desire to pay reparations for slavery.

Ok, there are so many things going on in that STUPID thought that we have to dissect it:

  1. Glenn Beck thinks only African-Americans will benefit from health care reform.
  2. Glenn Beck thinks health care reform that doesn’t benefit only Caucasians is not really reform.
  3. Glenn Beck thinks only true Americans are Caucasian (psst, Glenn, “whites” are not NATIVE Americans (remembered, our nation massacred them), and your family has probably been here only three or four generations).
  4. Glenn Beck thinks President Obama’s only attribute relevant to this debate is that he identifies as an African-American. 
  5. Glenn Beck thinks President Obama by virtue of this single attribute cannot govern for the betterment of the entire country.

GLENN BECK IS A DUMB ASS.

Glenn Beck, you are a sad, twisted guy.  I bet Bill O’Reilly is scared you have your eye on his time slot on Fox News. Which makes you even more evil — you are doing this for money and power and not because you believe it. 

But there is a place for everyone.  For you, Glenn, that place is 1930s Germany.

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SUUURPRISE !!!!!!!Rove involvement in US attorney firing detailed

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Yes, Virginia, the government DOES lie, cheat and steal.

I don’t even need to go on my usual rant — res ipsa loquitir.

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press Writer Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 35 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Former White House political adviser Karl Rove played a central role in the ouster of a U.S. attorney in New Mexico, one of nine prosecutors fired in a scandal in 2006 over political interference with the Justice Department, according to transcripts of closed-door testimony released Tuesday.

Harriet Miers, then White House counsel, said in testimony June 15 to House Judiciary Committee investigators that Rove was “very agitated” over U.S. Attorney David Iglesias “and wanted something done about it.”

The committee released more than 5,400 pages of White House and Republican National Committee e-mails, along with transcripts of closed-door testimony by Miers and Rove. Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., said the documents reveal that White House political officials were deeply involved in the firing of Iglesias and the other U.S. attorneys.

The documents show that staffers in Rove’s office were actively seeking to have Iglesias removed after Republican figures in New Mexico complained that he was not pursuing voter fraud cases they wanted. In 2005, Rove aide Scott Jennings sent an e-mail to another Rove aide saying, “I would really like to move forward with getting rid of NM US ATTY.”

Miers testified that Rove relayed to her complaints about Iglesias from political figures in New Mexico but added that she could not recall whether Rove told her specifically that the prosecutor should be fired.

“My best recollection is that he was very agitated about the U.S. attorney in New Mexico,” Miers testified. “It was clear to me that he felt like he had a serious problem and that he wanted something done about it.”

Rove’s aides kept him apprised of complaints about Iglesias in other e-mails released Tuesday by the committee.

In a 2006 e-mail, Jennings told Rove that then Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., wanted Iglesias fired. “You are aware of the issues, I believe,” Jennings said in the e-mail to Rove.

Rove issued a statement Tuesday saying the documents “show politics played no role in the Bush administration‘s removal of U.S. attorneys, that I never sought to influence the conduct of any prosecution, and that I played no role in deciding which U.S. attorneys were retained and which were replaced.”

He added, “Rather than relying on partisans selectively quoting testimony or excerpting e-mail messages, I urge anyone interested to review the documents in their entirety.”

A subsequent Justice Department inquiry into the firing of Iglesias and other U.S. attorneys concluded that political considerations played a part in as many as four of the dismissals. A political uproar led to a series of damaging revelations about the Bush administration’s political meddling with the Justice Department and the eventual resignation of then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Iglesias said in an interview Tuesday he was nauseated by the whole affair.

“It’s exactly what I feared. Over two years ago, I said that all roads lead to Rove,” Iglesias said. “I’ve said consistently that he was highly involved, and now the evidence is there.”

Iglesias said there wasn’t enough evidence to pursue the voter fraud cases that Republicans wanted.

Conyers said he provided a copy of the documents to acting U.S. Attorney Nora Dannehy, who questioned Rove earlier this year to determine his precise role in politically tinged firings.

“After all the delay and despite all the obfuscation, lies, and spin, this basic truth can no longer be denied: Karl Rove and his cohorts at the Bush White House were the driving force behind several of these firings, which were done for improper reasons,” Conyers said.

Rove, who was interviewed by the committee on July 7 and again July 30, has told reporters in recent interviews that he acted simply as a conduit for other Republicans’ complaints about the job performance of specific U.S. attorneys.

Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said the documents show no evidence of wrongdoing. “Democrats need to stop wasting taxpayers’ time and money on political investigations that are nothing more than the politics of personal destruction,” Smith said.

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Associated Press writer Deb Riechmann contributed to this report.

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Faith groups launch campaign in favor of health care reform

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Would it be redundant to say, “Thank G-d”? 

I would also like to note that Rabbi David Saperstein gave my brother a job right out of college about 28 years ago in an organization with a mandate for social justice.  Rabbi, you have been at it all these years.  Thank you.

From CNN, August 11, 2009

Religious groups in favor of health care reform have launched a national campaign to offset the loud opposition to President Obama’s plan to overhaul the nation’s health care system, organizers announced.

“This is as much a crisis of faith as it is a crisis of health care,” said the Rev. John Hay Jr., senior pastor of West Morris Street Free Methodist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana.

“We just believe there is a better way.”

He and others spoke in a telephone news conference Monday announcing the campaign.

“As a pastor, I believe access to health care is a profoundly moral issue,” said the Rev. Stevie Wakes of Olivet Institutional Baptist Church in Kansas City, Kansas.

The campaign, called “40 days for Health Reform,” includes a national television advertisement, a “sermon weekend,” prayer meetings and a nationwide call-in with Obama on August 19, organizers said.

Prayer meetings emphasizing health care as a moral issue were taking place Tuesday in 45 cities across 18 states, organizers said. They expected about 4,000 people to participate.

“Healing and health are fundamental religious issues,” said the Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners, one of the sponsors of the campaign along with PICO National Network, Faith in Public Life, Faithful America and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good.

Wallis stressed that participants in the campaign are not going to weigh in on particular policy questions. “It isn’t political in a partisan way,” he said. “This is a fundamental moral issue. … You’re going to hear the moral drumbeat of the faith community.”

Rabbi David Saperstein of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, who also spoke on the conference call, said the current system “doesn’t work for everyone.”

Other groups, such as the Christian Coalition of America and the Family Research Council, are strongly opposed to Democratic proposals to overhaul the health care system, saying, among other things, that they would lead to government-funded abortion.

“We don’t want abortion to enter this debate and sabotage health care reform,” Wallis said. He noted the legislation now being discussed on Capitol Hill is far from a final version.

Opponents of health care reform proposals have confronted U.S. lawmakers at town hall meetings in recent days, drawing heavy media attention with their boisterous protests.

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Us, in a rear-view mirror

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I am sitting in a restaurant and there are nine loud girls and one guy celebrating one of the girls’ birthday. Rachel is her name. They are impossibly young, loud and full of energy.  They are maybe two years out of college. I am transported back 22 years when a bunch of us lived in NYC post-college and we were  similarly impossibly young, loud and full of energy. Instead of being annoyed, I am comforted by this scene. In my mind’s eye, I see OUR group of friends with mid-80s hairdos (one with especially puffy hair) and outfits (shoulder pads a la the TV Show, Dynasty).

I wouldn’t trade places with them for a second.  The life I imagined for me back then bears no resemblance to the actual course of my life so far and I am happy for the difference.

And their possibilities are limited only by the passage of time and that is a hard and heart-breaking lesson. If I had one thing to tell these girls it would be : freeze your eggs (assuming the technology gets better) or freeze embryos.  Time waits for no one.  That’s years and years away and, yet, it goes so fast.

It seems like yesterday that I was 22 or 23. I still act about 12, which still makes me more mature than my 7 year-old but barely.

Life is beautiful. It just goes so fast.

Have fun, girls, and remember what I said.

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The Fat Pictures

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I was a skinny, athletic kid, until 16.  From 16 to 22, I was hefty (a term I find preferable to chunky, heavy or the big “O” word).  Since 22, I have slimmed down and, while not so athletic anymore at 45, I am fit.  Every now and again, when I recount my years of being “two tons of fun”, people are often disbelieving and want to see the fat pictures. 

Well they surfaced on Facebook, courtesy of a college friend to whom I haven’t spoken in years and years and, after this, may not for many years to come.  Ok, I am exaggerating.  I’ll talk to him at our 60th college reunion because we will both be senile.

I can honestly say I have been the trifecta of fat, dumb and happy — all at once and at different times.

Ah, the joys and perils of connectivity.

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