This Blog is created to stress the importance of Peace as an environmental directive. “I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it’s hell.” – Harry Truman
(I receive no compensation from any entry on this blog.)
When GM is dissolved this time after making the same mistakes as last time and the American people lose their monies, maybe then, the country will learn that backing losers only begets more losers.
Board endorses direction of reorganized GM (click title to entry - thank you) Wed Aug 5, 2009 1:35am EDT DETROIT (Reuters) - The board of General Motors Co endorsed the automaker's direction and the focus of management after the first meeting of directors since GM emerged from a U.S. government-financed bankruptcy last month. A...";
GMC has abandoned, ONCE AGAIN, the American Auto Worker. The people of the USA saved the company from complete liquidation and now thanks to 'old blood' at GMC there will be plants manned in foreign nations rather than expanding the production of GM's products in the USA.
The Volt proved to be a hopeful new beginning for the car manufacturer and its work force. An exclusive design of a car that achieved 230 mpg. The sales from such a vehicle would have opened new plants and employed more workers, expanding the USA tax base and increasing the USA GDP while exports of the car helped balance the USA trade deficit. Now, in one simply action by the Board of Directors of GM, there will be production plants of GMC vehicles in India, China and Germany. So much for the loyalty of improving the USA economy, increased work force, expanding tax base and a better position for GM and the USA in the world.
Roger Smith's spirit continues to live in the 'Slimeball Halls' of GMC.
Chevy needs bigger share of GM sales, brand’s boss says (click here) Jesse Snyder Automotive News August 28, 2009 - 2:56 pm ET DETROIT -- Chevrolet's target as the value brand of a leaner General Motors Co. is to capture 60 to 65 percent of GM sales globally, Chevy boss Brent Dewar said today. He identified the United States, China and India as Chevrolet's best opportunities for growth but also said Chevrolet intends to double its European sales to 1 million over an unspecified period. As GM shuts or sells its Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer and Saab brands and reduces the number of U.S. Chevrolet franchises by 1,000, surviving Chevy dealers are being asked to expand and upgrade stores to handle anticipated higher volumes in 2010 and 2011, Dewar said outside a regional dealer meeting in suburban Detroit. "We're asking them to step up to higher sales targets" that follow a reduction in Chevrolet dealers following GM's bankruptcy and the reduction of brands, Dewar said....
...There isn’t much left of the GM brand, and one wonders what will be there a year from now when GM, the new GM, will be in the midst of an expected initial public offering.The automaker, fresh from Chapter 11, has decided, as was first reported in The Wall Street Journal, that it will phase out attaching a small GM badge in the front bumper of each vehicle. There will be no such badge on 2011 models.As the bandit in The Treasure of Sierra Madre famously said, “We don’t need no badges…I don’t have to show you any stinking badges.”
Big Deal: German Government financed General Motors with taxpayers’ money German Chancellor Angela Merkel is hesitating to use more taxpayers' money for the rescue of General Motors European carmaker OPEL. But an embarrassing fact remains: According to information from LifeGen.de, the German Federal Government has financed through the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) two important research projects of General Motors in the past- with German public money.
Merkel party ally urges delay in Opel decision: report (click here) Sun Aug 30, 2009 11:47am EDT ..."I think it would make sense to delay the decision until after the federal elections," Hans-Peter Friedrich, conservative parliamentary deputy floor leader, told German daily Die Welt. "An objective decision could only be made with difficulty in this heated atmosphere in light of the election campaigns," he was quoted as saying in an article to be published on Monday. Talks to sell Opel have been running for months and loom as a hot political issue ahead of German elections on September 27, because of the state support required for the eventual buyer....
Spain Doesn’t Rule Out Aid If GM Drops Opel-Sale Plan (Update1) (click here) By Javier Marquina Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) -- The Spanish government said today it wouldn’t rule out giving financial aid to General Motors Co.’s Opel unit even if the U.S. carmaker decides to keep the European division. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Spain is “following intensely” the negotiations on a possible sale of Opel. Asked whether Spain would still offer aid if GM decides not to sell Opel, Zapatero said his government is “ready to give help to different alternatives for Opel and GM in Spain.”...
Besides the 'near shore' turbuence of the Gulf of Mexico, there are three tropical waves in the Atlantic. They are large tropical systems, the one nearest to North American is immediately east of Grand Turk and the Bahamas. The second system is directly east of the Lesser Antilles and the third is west of Liberia ,off the African coast.
The 'severe' storms have been occurring in recent years during this 'late summer' season, but, have not yet occurred past Labor Day. However, the hurricane season with minor turbulence has extended into January of the following year, which in this case would be 2010.
It's Human Induced Global Warming. Strange things happen. August 31, 2009 1430z UNISYS Water Vapor GOES East Satellite (click title to entry for 12 hour loop - Thank you)
August 31, 2000 1217 gmt Tropical Atlantic Satellite
August 27, 2009
Fall River Mills, California
Photographer states :: It was hot and windy today - this fire started from HWY299E - appears we had a careless motorist - possible cigarette out the window? Just speculating for now. Fortunately the only house up there is several yards away and saved!....this is most likely where the fire started.....
If Hurricane "Jimena" stays on course it will follow the coast of North America in a nearly directly northern path. The storm may be diminished be the time it meets with California, but, it might still be carrying a lot of water. It is California's best hope.
August 26, 2009 Angeles National Forest Photographer states :: An LA County Fire Department Firehawk helicopter makes a water drop on the Station Fire burning in the Angeles National Forest. This is one of two fires burning in the area.
Nah, it will never happen on Earth. It is all a bunch of talk. Scientists make predictions that NEVER come true. Well. Guess what? It's happening !
Elevation :: 33 ft Lat/Lon: 58.8° N 137.0° W Local Time: 7:07 AM AKDT (GMT -08) Temperaure :: 50 F Conditions :: Overcast Windchill :: 50 F Humidity :: 94% Dew Point :: 48 F Wind :: Calm Pressure :: 30.06 in (Falling) Visibility :: 0.5 mile UV :: 0 out of 16 Clouds :: Overcast at 300 ft (Above Ground Level)
Higher ocean acidity will affect Alaska fisheries (click title to entry - thank you)
By Jeff Richardson Originally published Monday, August 24, 2009 at 12:00 a.m.
Updated Monday, August 24, 2009 at 5:57 a.m.
FAIRBANKS — A University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher has confirmed what scientists have suspected for years — the state’s seas are becoming acidic at a faster rate than more temperate waters. The growing level of acidity could be a big problem for Alaska sea life, since shellfish — and the animals that eat them — might be damaged by the changing environment. “Ocean acidification is a today problem, not a 100 years from now problem,” said Jeremy Mathis, a UAF chemical oceanographer. “We’re at the tip of the spear, I think.”...
The passing of Edward M. Kennedy closes a chapter in American History, just as the loss of President Lincoln closed the chapter on oppression of human beings.
The Kennedy Family dedicated themselves to bringing equity to the citizens of the USA that were without a champion.
Those that would dissent in the aspirations of the Kennedys never knew the 'reality of oppression.' Say it was their Irish heritage and the knowledge of oppression of the ethnicity both in Europe and American that brought them a resolve in life that would create 'an enemy' to politics as usual in Washington, DC.
It was a family committed to valuing the equality of all people as themselves that brought about a reality to the American Fabric that would rattle the status quo for decades and into decades in the future.
Ted Kennedy was the center of his family's stability and the epicenter to equality in DC.
He will be missed. He will be missed as his brothers before him and perhaps, just perhaps, more than they ever could be.
He was a vital figure on all levels of his life and there is a void today that needs to be filled by someone as dedicated to the principles that all 'men' were created equal. His sense of justice will live on and it is that conscience that was captured in a political party that now has a task to fill a void as vast as any vacuum of space.
Sympathies to his family and dearest friends. They suffer a loss today, but, not so great as the one of a champion lost to those in the country he loved.
His funeral service was a Roman Catholic Requiem High Mass.
..."We can still hear his voice (click here) bellowing through the Senate chamber, face reddened, fist pounding the podium, a veritable force of nature, in support of health care or workers’ rights or civil rights," President Obama said in his eulogy before 1,500 at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Mission Hill. "And yet, while his causes became deeply personal, his disagreements never did."...
It can easily be said, the Kennedy family saw to the rise of the African American's first Black President. They took up the fight where Lincoln had left off. No one can take that away from them. The legacy is obvious through the price they paid. America is grateful.
Michael B. McAllister is a villain. He lives "IN PLAIN SIGHT" of the very people he kills by denying vital claims, over charging for the services Humana provides and limits the options any insured individual can exercise.
Men and women like McAllister have to be replaced with a Health Care Insurance system that TAKES CARE of Americans and doesn't demonize them and victimize them !
End of Discussion.
NO SYMPATHY ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Michael B. McCallister, Humana president, said, “Our industry has not done a great job of improving clarity and transparency.”
Let me make this completely clear and transparent. "...clarity and transparency...' is NOT the issue although it sounds like a good strategy to hide the truth now that the end of the corruption is near. The problem that Mr. McCallister 'doesn't get' is that his company and all those like them DENY services and puts affordable insurance out of the reach of those who find it vital to the well being of Americans. Simple. Real simple.
The New York Times is attempting to 'soften' the image of the villans. Why? Because the New York Times IS Wall Street.
When President Clinton left office (click title to entry - thank you), the federal budget was showing a $127-billion surplus. The books are closed on fiscal 2008. The surplus the current President Bush inherited has turned into a record deficit: $455 billion. That is more than twice the 2007 deficit of $162 billion and beyond the previous record of $413 billion in 2004....
...If Wall Street gets away with this, it will represent an historic swindle of the American public--all sugar for the villains, lasting pain and damage for the victims. My advice to Washington politicians: Stop, take a deep breath and examine what you are being told to do by so-called "responsible opinion." If this deal succeeds, I predict it will become a transforming event in American politics--exposing the deep deformities in our democracy and launching a tidal wave of righteous anger and popular rebellion. As I have been saying for several months, this crisis has the potential to bring down one or both political parties, take your choice....
The pages I have been reading for at least the past 100 pages are primarily regarding Medicare and the changes that will provide for a streamlined and more efficient use of American Health Care which is anticipated to allow people a higher quality of life and less cost to the USA Treasury.
The House Health Care Recovery Bill seeks to set 'example' to the Health Care Industry with their improvements in Medicare delivery. Ultimately, all private physicians will be members of the new Health Delivery Infrastructure as a means of improving their own care delivery to their patients.
Page 299, starting with line 3 there is a solid commitment by the House Legislature to these goals:
SEC. 1152. POST ACUTE CARE SERVICES PAYMENT REFORM PLAN AND BUNDLING PILOT PROGRAM. (a) PLAN.— (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and Human Services (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall develop a detailed plan to reform payment for post acute care (PAC) services under the Medicare program under title XVIII of the Social Security Act (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Medicare program)’’. The goals of such payment reform are to— (A) improve the coordination, quality, and efficiency of such services; and (B) improve outcomes for individuals such as reducing the need for readmission to hospitals from providers of such services. (2) BUNDLING POST ACUTE SERVICES.—The plan described in paragraph (1) shall include detailed specifications for a bundled payment for post acute services (in this section referred to as the ‘‘post acute care bundle’’), and may include other approaches determined appropriate by the Secretary.
(3) POST ACUTE SERVICES.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘post acute services’’ means services for which payment may be made under the Medicare program that are furnished by skilled nursing facilities, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, long term care hospitals, hospital based outpatient rehabilitation facilities and home health agencies to an individual after discharge of such individual from a hospital, and such other services determined ap10 propriate by the Secretary. (b) DETAILS.—The plan described in subsection (a)(1) shall include consideration of the following issues:
The bill goes on to describe more details and definitions not necessary to list here. There is an important limitation to the 'Pilot Program' that is designed to promote the 'principles' of these provisions. It is important to realize the commitment of which the House Bill lends itself to a benevolent intent of the citizens of the USA.
Page 306, lines 11 through 23:
‘‘(c) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall only expand the pilot program under subsection (a)(2) if the Secretary finds that— ‘‘(1) the demonstration program under section 1866C and pilot program under this section maintain or increase the quality of care received by individuals enrolled under this title; and ‘‘(2) such demonstration program and pilot program reduce program expenditures and, based on the certification under subsection (d), that the expansion of such pilot program would result in estimated spending that would be less than what spending would otherwise be in the absence of this section.
AND
Page 307, lines 5 through 7:
‘‘(e) VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION.—Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as requiring the participation of an entity in the pilot program under this section.’’.
Page 311, line 15 begins a discussion about home care and the new provisions for it under Medicare.
The provisions continue for many pages while it defines the requirements for physician participation and hospitals and physician owned hospitals, etc. It is all necessary terminology to protect, 'ultimately' the monies being paid for services. In other words, are there monies being paid twice to the same entity under different names and is there an exploitation by any entity for double dipping. The extent this bill goes to 'secure' proper payment to the entity providing services is rather extensive with every section. They are being careful with the people receiving care and the money that pays for the services. This bill was NOT drafted in a couple weeks. This bill has been 'in the works' for some time. There isn't this kind of detail without very careful processes to cover all the bases necessary. This isn't a 'rough draft' either.
Page 315, lines 16 through 20 provide for transparency. The following paragraphs details what happens where there isn't disclosure.
‘‘(3) PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION.—The Secretary shall publish, and periodically update, the information submitted by hospitals under paragraph (2)(A) on the public Internet website of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.’’;
This will allow 'watch dogs' such as AARP to monitor services, providers and payment of monies. There is fairly tight control over unsustainable growth of a health care system. There are formulas within the legislation that provides for assessment of hospitals, the number of their procedure rooms, operating rooms and bed in relation to the size of the community it serves and the growth of that community. In other words, the 'facilities' can't just dump monies into building a parking garage because their non-profit 'fund' has extra monies that would put them outside the definition of non-profit. Within this bill, facilities have to clearly justify the spending on infrastructure and where the justification lacks, the extra monies will be returned to the clients of that facility in the form of rebates. It is the the way it is supposed to be. Non-profits aren't supposed to continually increase what they charge simply to have surplus and build things. It is wasteful.
I am listing this here because it is a definition most people don't think about in terms of health care providers. Page 326, lines 4 through 9.
‘‘(3) PHYSICIAN OWNER OR INVESTOR DEFINED.—For purposes of this subsection and subsection (f)(2), the term ‘physician owner or investor’ means a physician (or an immediate family member of such physician) with a direct or an indirect ownership or investment interest in the hospital.
Some physician owned facilities can be non-profits. Some don't have emergency rooms and don't necessarily provide for emergencies that occur within them. Some are long term care facilities. At any rate, much of this section discusses all that and wants to have plans from these facilities as to what they do when emergencies result, etc. It is a lot of long winded '...but, what if ...' kind of stuff. There is a provision on Page 321, lines 7 through 13 that allows for community input in regard to local facilities.
The USA Constitution does not 'require' Capitalism ! It allows it ! The purpose of the USA Constitution is to provide for the peace and tranquility of the citizens of this country, not their enslavement !
WWLTV.com NEW ORLEANS – Mayor Ray Nagin has been dismissed personally from a crime-camera lawsuit, according to published reports.
The Times-Picayune reports the mayor was dismissed from the civil suit brought by two crime-camera firms that allege their technology was stolen in a conspiracy by the city, Nagin's fomer technology chief and Dell Inc. Nagin remains in the lawsuit in his official capacity as mayor.
Four years ago this week, the City of New Orleans was deep under the waters splashed ashore by a raging Hurricane Katrina. By the time the storm cleared, hundreds of men, women, children and their pets were dead. A formerly vibrant city on the Gulf Coast was left in ruins, depopulated by almost a third of its homeless citizens and property damage running at more than $100 billion. But the damage didn't stop there. A White House that until then had seemed invincible was left reeling and humbled from the exposure of its utter incompetence to a shocked nation, whose reputation for efficiency and compassion was by now in tatters. What's more, the recovery efforts was not only disjointed, but also was thoroughly corrupt. A lone voice that at least temporarily could be heard on radio by a grieving city that of Ray Nagin, the affable mayor who, though bearing a portion of the blame, was justly deemed the only public official still in touch with his suffering people and at least understood exactly the magnitude of tragedy that had befallen his beloved city....
For several years, former Gov. Don Siegelman has been demanding that Karl Rove, adviser to former President George W. Bush, testify to Congress about his alleged actions in Siegelman’s federal criminal case.
Siegelman was convicted of bribery charges in federal court in 2006. Last month, Rove was interviewed over two days by U.S. House Judiciary Committee lawyers under an “agreement of accommodation.”
Here’s the relevant Siegelman question and response, according to the unofficial transcript on the committee’s Web site:
“In fact, you did have an interest in the Siegelman case, didn’t you?” asked Elliot Mincberg, majority chief counsel of investigations and oversight.
Rove said, “I had a lot more pressing things on my platter than the [2006] Alabama governor’s race, and, as a result, a lot more significant things to worry about than the Don Siegelman case.”
House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., in a press release about Rove’s interview, focused on Rove’s alleged involvement in the alleged illegal firing of certain U.S. attorneys during Bush’s term....
DIDN'T BELIEVE ME ABOUT MURDOCK AND HIS LYING NEWS EMPIRE ?
...The reason I want to thank you is that Mr. Rove has clearly lied about me in this article. You have captured and printed it without even checking to see if it is so or not. The lie he has told is and I quote, “Judiciary Democrats didn’t get testimony from either Mr. Siegelman or Dana Jill Simpson, the eccentric Alabama lawyer, who drew attention by publicly supporting the allegations.” In case you are unaware, I testified on September 14, 2007, before the House Judiciary Committee lawyers that were selected to question me. I most definitely gave sworn testimony to the House Judiciary Democrats. In fact, I gave over 143 pages of testimony before the Judiciary Democratic and Republican lawyers. It is unfortunate that your paper does not give a rip about the truth or you would have checked out the bold-faced lie that Karl Rove put in his article before you printed it....
NewsCorp’s Wall Street Journal Busted For Printing Lies (click here) Thanking Murdoch’s Journal for More of Rove’s Lies 08/24/2009 by Gabriel Voiles OpEd News has published an open letter from attorney Dana Jill Simpson (8/20/09) to “Mr. Murdoch and all the editors at the Wall Street Journal,” in which she expresses her wish to “thank you from the very bottom of my heart for running Karl Rove’s delusional article, ‘Closing In on Rove,’ on August 20, 2009″: Thanking Murdoch’s Journal for More of Rove’s Lies OpEd News has published an open letter from attorney Dana Jill Simpson (8/20/09) to “Mr. Murdoch and all the editors at the Wall Street Journal,” in which she expresses her wish to “thank you from the very bottom of my heart for running Karl Rove’s delusional article, ‘Closing In on Rove,’ on August 20, 2009″: The reason I want to thank you is that Mr. Rove has clearly lied about me in this article. You have captured and printed it without even checking to see if it is so or not. The lie he has told is and I quote, “Judiciary Democrats didn’t get testimony from either Mr. Siegelman or Dana Jill Simpson, the eccentric Alabama lawyer, who drew attention by publicly supporting the allegations.” In case you are unaware, I testified on September 14, 2007, before the House Judiciary Committee lawyers that were selected to question me. I most definitely gave sworn testimony to the House Judiciary Democrats. In fact, I gave over 143 pages of testimony before the Judiciary Democratic and Republican lawyers. It is unfortunate that your paper does not give a rip about the truth or you would have checked out the bold-faced lie that Karl Rove put in his article before you printed it.
Amid sustained attacks from Democrats over ties to Karl Rove and a personal loan to a former colleague, Chris Christie's lead appears to be shrinking. A poll conducted by Rick Shaftan, a consultant to Christie's former primary opponent, shows that Gov. Jon Corzine has pulled to within just two points....
Continuing Fox News' pattern of falsely suggesting that the Obama administration is pressuring veterans to end their lives prematurely, Karl Rove claimed that the Veterans Health Administration is directing veterans to an end-of-life educational booklet, "Your Life, Your Choices," that includes contact information for "a group that believes in assisted suicide," and thus "the kind of guidance we're giving returning veterans" is "you ought to go to an assisted suicide group." In fact, that group is not referenced in the current version of the document, a fact that Jim Towey -- who originated the smear of the booklet as a "death book" -- acknowledged in interview on Fox News Sunday....
A former congressional aide who also worked at the Labor Department and the government's broadcasting service has become the latest public official to be ensnared in a corruption scandal surrounding disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Horace M. Cooper, 44, was accused Friday of taking thousands of dollars in gifts from Abramoff between 1998 and 2005. Authorities say Mr. Cooper first began receiving gifts while working for former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, Texas Republican. He is accused of continuing to accept gifts while working as chief of staff for the Voice of America broadcasting service and as chief of staff for the Employment Standards Administration of the Labor Department....
Filming just wrapped on "Casino Jack," in which Kevin Spacey plays jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Having gotten a peek at Norman Snider's deft script, we can tell you that some of its real-life characters have cause for concern. The screenplay paints George W. Bush and Karl Rove as much chummier with Abramoff than they've acknowledged. ("How you doing there, buff guy?" Bush asks the black-hatted con artist in one Oval Office scene.)...
Everyone is trying to 'sell' the idea that the younger voters that came out in droves for Obama have disappeared from the radar on Health Care Reform. "W"rong. They are there, but, they aren't unhappy about it, only that the man they elected into the Presidency is letting the Republicans 'get away' with lies, DESTROYING any friendly bipartisan for the sake of the country and fear mongering !
So this is where bipartisanship gets you. Barack Obama gave Republican leadership the entire summer to voice opinions regarding health care. Instead of publicly supporting a plan and fostering thoughtful public discourse, the moderate Senate Republicans let their radical colleagues in the House and their equally frenzied allies on the airwaves dictate the Republican response.
Which leads us to where we are today: A bunch of angry boomers afraid of a non-existent health-care plan. Or, depending on when they tune into Fox News, "ObamaCare," "socialism," or "a government takeover."
Because President Obama let the health-care pot boil for three months without taking leadership by sharply defining the bills specifics, conservative commentators are bursting their kettle, screaming about select portions which may or may not be in the text of HR 3200 or whichever bill they feel deserves hyperbole. If no text exists, pundits like Karl Rove exaggerate about the British NHS or the Veteran's Affairs hospitals. They generally avoid Medicare, lest their readers remember where those checks are coming from. This active opposition, grassroots or not, is overwhelming the 77 percent of Americans that support the idea of a public option. Barack Obama can defend this idea. Let him.
George Walker Bush couldn't declare eminent domaine over the land for his library, so he thought he'd just use intimidation.
Deal between SMU, ex-condo owners to end land fight falls apart (click here) 12:00 AM CDT on Tuesday, August 25, 2009 By LORI STAHL / The Dallas Morning News lstahl@dallasnews.com A deal that was supposed to end a long-running lawsuit against SMU – and smooth the path for George W. Bush's presidential library – has fallen apart amid charges that both sides broke the terms of a confidential agreement. Last month, Southern Methodist University and two former condominium owners announced that they had settled the bitter four-year fight over who is the rightful owner of land now slated for the grounds of the Bush library. The lawyers hailed the deal on the basis of an e-mail that contained four bullet points, according to filings in the case and interviews with attorneys on both sides. But now, what those bullet points said – or did not say – is in dispute, with both sides pointing fingers. The terms of the agreement were kept confidential, but lawyers said the former condominium owners would be paid in exchange for dropping their claims to the disputed land....
According to Thomas and Scalia there is nothing in the Constitution that says a black man can't be killed even though he is innocent.
Editorial Innocent and in jail (click here) The Supreme Court has at last made a ruling that may help free the wrongfully convicted.
...Last week, they ordered a federal court in Georgia to reconsider the case of death row inmate Troy Anthony Davis, convicted of murdering an off-duty police officer 18 years ago. Since then, seven prosecution witnesses have recanted their testimony, and dignitaries including former President Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Pope Benedict XVI have pleaded for clemency, with the pope's representative providing Georgia officials with a detailed critique of the evidence used to convict Davis....
...In dissenting from the order, Justice Antonin Scalia (joined by Justice Clarence Thomas) complained that the court "has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is 'actually' innocent."...
...DeLay did not avoid the question. On the contrary, he seemed to place himself firmly in the birther camp. "I would like the president to produce his birth certificate," he said. "I can. I can, most illegal aliens here in America can. Why can't the president of the United States produce a birth certificate?" DeLay even went so far as to ask for Matthews' help in securing the document. "Chris, will you do me a favor?" he asked. "Will you ask the president to show me... his birth certificate." Matthews declined, and pointed out that there was a newspaper announcement of the president's birth in 1961. DeLay questioned that as well: "Is a newspaper article an official document?"...
....Then we got a look at a May 1996 article from the Houston Chronicle about a series of protests by the disabilities advocacy group ADAPT, brought to our attention by Democratic consultant Peter Lindstrom. It begins like this: "Groups of protesters, most of them in wheelchairs, barricaded two local political offices Tuesday to demand changes in the way disabled people receive care in America.... A second group of about 150 ADAPT supporters blockaded and occupied U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay's office in Sugar Land [Texas], until DeLay agreed to meet with them. " And continues: "Tuesday's protesters narrowly escaped arrest by Stafford police when DeLay, who is in Washington, D.C., agreed to meet with them next month." Huh. And here, again, is what DeLay told Chris Matthews: "When I did my town hall meetings, I'll never forget one back in the '80s -- on health care, by the way. They brought in quadriplegics on gurneys and dumped them on the floor in front of my podium." Time tinges everyone's memories; but this seems like a bit of a stretch. Is it possible that DeLay is thinking of the ADAPT episode -- and just replacing 90s with 80s, district office with health care town hall, protesters in wheelchairs with quadriplegics dumped from gurneys, and not-having-been-there-at-all with seeing it unfold in front of his podium? Perhaps DeLay's story would have a little more credibility if he could simply produce its birth certificate. Late Update: Two reporters who've covered DeLay extensively over the years say the quadriplegic story is new to them.
...I have expressed my frustration with this tactic many times before (click title to entry - thank you), and I know it is getting tedious. But, to recap, the tactic is this: (1) Make a preposterous and false claim about a bill. (2) Have the claim disproved. (3) Avoid defending the original claim, but instead observe that the controversy reflects "a legitimate difference of interpretation" about what might happen in the future. Effective opposition in three easy steps!...
Perhaps the TRUTH about Karl Rove's role in the US Attorney's firing will be turning 'state's witness' against George Walker Bush. After all, it took ? six ? or ? seven ? time before the Grand Jury of Fitzgerald to fry Libby instead to himself.
Rove and Miers' Public Testimony Could Focus on Bush (click here) Former Bush administration officials Karl Rove and Harriet Miers will be called to testify publicly about the U.S. attorney firings, according to a report from Jason Leopold at The Public Record.The public examination is expected to cover President George W. Bush and information he might have received about the firings.The news follows last week's release of documents from Rove and Miers' non-public testimony before staff members of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. Those documents included Rove's testimony about the Don Siegelman prosecution in Alabama. It is unclear if the public testimony, expected to come this fall, will cover the Siegelman case....
Sarah Palin and Jeb Bush Poised to Lead Town-Hallers (click here) August 25, 2009 09:28 AM ET Paul Bedard By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers Some call it the next conservative revolution, but whatever we dub the antigovernment ire at tea parties and town halls, there so far appears to be no elected official leading the charge. "It's a faceless movement," says a former Bush adviser, who credited media bigs like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck for whipping up the frenzy. So who's best positioned to lead the protesters into the next presidential election? Whispers asked a dozen GOP and conservative leaders to come up with a top 10 list. First, Rep. Ron Paul, popular among the town hallers. Then, Sarah Palin, whose 2008 crowds cheered her antitax message. Third, Newt Gingrich, the father of the 1994 conservative revolution. Next, populist Mike Huckabee. And fifth, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, said to be the family's passionate conservative. The rest: South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint; Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour; Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal; House GOP Whip Eric Cantor; and Pennsylvania Senate hopeful Pat Toomey. Note who's missing: Mitt Romney. The GOP analysts say that's because conservatives are wary of his program to reform healthcare in Massachusetts that some say resembles universal healthcare.
Well, it would seem Jeb Bush is ahead of Sarah Palin in harkening the Catholic Vote.
August 25, 2009 Jeb Bush, Tony Blair, Mary Ann Glendon, Robert George, the president of the European Union, and dozens of figures in European ecclesiastical, political, and intellectual life are speaking this week at the 30th Rimini Meeting, which is associated with the Communion and Liberation movement. “Knowledge is always an Event” is the meeting’s theme....
In the poll, Obama led: Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, by nine points: 47 percent to 38 percent, with 15 percent undecided. Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas, by 10 points: 48 percent to 38 percent, with 15 percent undecided. Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the House, by 18 points: 52 percent to 34 percent, with 15 percent undecided. Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska, by 19 points: 53 percent to 34 percent, with 13 percent undecided. "The fact that Obama falls below 50 percent against two possible Republican opponents should be troubling for him," said Ron Faucheux, president of Clarus Research Group. "It also shows that the electorate is increasingly divided on Obama, with significant partisan polarization." The president's standing among swing voters has eroded since November, 2008, when exit polling showed he defeated John McCain 52 percent to 44 percent among independents....
The Latest from Carlyle, there is no recession or 'down turn' at the firm.
Prior to Plainfield Asset Management, Ms. Pedersen (click here) was a Managing Director at U.S. Trust Company where she was the head of a team in their Family Wealth Management practice. Previously, Ms. Pedersen held positions at J.P. Morgan Investment Management as an energy analyst and at Morgan Stanley in Corporate Finance. Ms. Pedersen earned her BA at the University of Pennsylvania and her BSE at The Wharton School. * * * * * The Carlyle Group is a global private equity firm with $84.5 billion of assets under management committed to 64 funds as of March 31, 2009. Carlyle invests in buyouts, growth capital, real estate and leveraged finance in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America focusing on aerospace & defense, automotive & transportation, consumer & retail, energy & power, financial services, healthcare, industrial, infrastructure, technology & business services and telecommunications & media. Since 1987, the firm has invested $55.7 billion of equity in 909 transactions for a total purchase price of approximately $227.5 billion. The Carlyle Group employs more than 890 people in 20 countries. In the aggregate, Carlyle portfolio companies have more than $109 billion in revenue and employ more than 415,000 people around the world. http://www.carlyle.com/
By Faith Hung and Rachel Lee TAIPEI (Reuters) - Primus Financial Holdings is "very confident" it will get approval from Taiwan's regulators for its bid to buy AIG's (AIG.N) Taiwan insurance unit, a top executive from the investment firm said on Tuesday. Primus' co-chief executive Wing-fai Ng told Reuters in an interview that it planned to list Nan Shan Life in Taiwan in three years if it won the bid, and then in Hong Kong and the United States, which would turn Nan Shan into a global brand. Primus, founded by former top Citi (C.N) Asia banker Robert Morse, is in the final bidding race with the Carlyle Group CYL.UL and Bain Capital for a deal estimated at about $2 billion for Nan Shan, the most expensive asset for sale in Asia of American International Group.
The latest from from GM CEO Fritz Henderson who is in line to become the next Rodger Smith, by squandering the selling of the American technology for the Volt and outsourcing its production to Europe through Opel.
Where is the UAW when they are needed. They sold their souls to keep GM alive and now GM is turning on them ! They are turning on them with American Treasury funds !
DETROIT (Reuters) - The new board of General Motors Co has emerged as a key player in the outcome of the automaker's long-running talks to sell off its Opel unit. Last week, the board failed to endorse a carefully negotiated deal that would have sold Opel to a group led by the Canadian automotive group Magna with financial backing from the government of Germany. Instead, the board asked for more information on that bid and a rival offer from Belgium-based RHJ. Sources with knowledge of the deliberations also told Reuters on Monday that GM was considering trying to raise $4 billion to keep Opel instead of selling the unit. GM's board includes members appointed by Treasury, Canada and the United Auto Workers union healthcare trust as well as GM Chief Executive Fritz Henderson, reflecting the ownership of the automaker that emerged from bankruptcy in July. Treasury holds a more than a 60 percent stake in GM, Canada and its Ontario province holds 11.7 percent, the UAW healthcare trust 17.5 percent and creditors from the old GM, now called Motors Liquidation Co, hold a 10 percent interest. GM is not publicly traded but plans an initial public offering as early as next year.man has experience fixing struggling businesses -- he made his name helping to pull Continental Airlines out of bankruptcy in the 1990s and turning the airline around.... * Daniel Akerson, managing director and head of global buyout at The Carlyle Group, was a Treasury appointee to the board in July....
Under the terms that gave the USA citizens 60.8% stock in General Motors COMPANY, they were to sell off their foreign assets. They are in breech of their agreement with the American Taxpayers. I say we need to reclaim the company and take back what is rightfully ours !
Slimeballs.
Wall Street = Slimeballs.
'Gov. Corzine: Unions Key to Income Equality' (click here) by Tula Connell, Aug 15, 2009 As the state with the most extensive union membership, it’s no surprise that New Jersey working families have a strong social contract, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine said today. Speaking at a lunchtime panel at Netroots Nation in Pittsburgh, Corzine told the hundreds of progressive bloggers in the audience: There is no question that the association of the union movement with shared wealth is absolutely a reality—and we need to get back to it. Corzine, who is in a tough fight with challenger Chris Christie in one of two governor’s races this fall, said the distribution of income in this country is skewed—with the nation’s tax policy ”completely tilted toward corporations against labor.” (Media reports today tie Bush-backer Christie with Karl Rove and the illegal firing of U.S. attorneys. Find out more about Christi’s anti-worker stances here.)...
London Mayor Criticizes Tube Contractor Over Delays (Update2) (click here) By Brian Lysaght Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- London Mayor Boris Johnson criticized the work of Tube Lines Ltd., the largest contractor on the London Underground, over its delays on a project to upgrade the Jubilee Line. “I am hugely frustrated at their progress to date, which is simply unacceptable,” Johnson said in an e-mailed statement today. The company may not meet its contractual deadline to finish work on the line by Dec. 31, and has “stretched Londoners’ patience almost to breaking point,” he said. Tube Lines, owned by Spain’s Grupo Ferrovial SA and San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp, said it will complete the work on time if it’s allowed to shut the line for five extra days to allow work crews into the tunnels. The company has a 30-year contract, called a public-private partnership, to maintain and upgrade the Northern, Piccadilly and Jubilee lines....
Halliburton breaks ground in Williston (click here) WILLISTON, N.D. (AP) An international oil service company is expanding in Williston.Halliburton Co. broke ground Thursday on a complex estimated at about $20 million in the city's Industrial Park.Halliburton provides oil field services to major companies and independent firms, and employs more than 300 people in northwestern North Dakota and eastern Montana.The new complex is to open next year with space for tools, truck washing, sand and parking.Halliburton officials say they had to lay off workers in Williston recently but they believe the economy will change....
Food for thought. Is the newspaper business about reporting 'the truth' or 'promoting politics?'
He Said, She Said Journalism, Horse Race Journalism, & the Church of the Savvy (click here) August 19, 2009 I’m posting something Jay Rosen, an NYU Journalism professor posted two years ago on “he said, she said”/horse race political journalism. Rosen calls it the “church of savvy,” and I guess others do as well. The issue is that don’t journalists don’t actually cover the issue and whether a claim is true or not, they just report on the politics of the situation. Or, better put in one of Rosen’s tweets: “Is it true? vs. Will it work? The church of the savvy disgusts Paul Krugmanhttp://tr.im/wrTr ”...
So good to know former Senator Bill Frist believes in American Labor.
Sen. Bill Frist uses Cash for Clunkers, junks Suburban for Prius (click here) by Jeremy Korzeniewski on Aug 25th 2009 at 9:02AM Apparently, it's a common misconception that all Prius drivers are Democrats. Not true. In fact, recently retired Senator Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) just got himself a shiny new hybrid hatchback from Toyota. The former senator even got a few thousand dollars off the price of his new eco-friendly ride courtesy of the just-concluded Cash for Clunkers program here in the United States. In an interview on Larry King Live, Frist responded to King's quip that "You don't see a lot of Republicans driving a Prius" with the response that the hybrid's 50 miles per gallon along with the fact that "the taxpayer gave me $6,000 to do it" as reasons for the Prius purchase....
Follow the Government MONEY !!!! Oh, it's only Halliburton, Jr - KBR. Shoddy Work To Follow !!!
Analyst: KBR moving from military to energy work (click here) HARTFORD, Conn. Shares of KBR Inc. rose Tuesday after an analyst raised his price target on the engineering and construction company's shares, saying KBR is moving successfully into large energy projects and away from military contracts. Broadpoint AmTech analyst Will Gabrielski raised his price target to $29 from $24 and reiterated a "buy" rating on KBR. The Houston company, which was spun off from Halliburton Co., is doing a "solid job of transitioning" its work from the Army's Logistics Civil Augmentation Program, or LogCap, though it took longer than expected, Gabrielski said. Last month, defense contractors DynCorp International Inc. and Fluor Corp. received a combined $3 billion contract from the Army for support services to U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The award excluded KBR. However, Gabrielski said two large Iraq orders could be awarded by the end of the year and KBR's "positioning in Iraq remains intact given the company's entrenched status."...
Halliburton Company HAL, builds concrete plant, will cost $10 million to $12 million (click here) Halliburton Company Rochester, NY 8/25/2009 03:12 PM GMT (TransWorldNews) Halliburton Company said that it has agreed to begin construction on a concrete plant to serve north-central Pennsylvania's expanding natural gas drilling industry. The cost estimation will be $10 million to $12 million, including a concrete plant, warehouse, offices, truck wash and maintenance bays. The site is appealing because it is close to areas where exploration companies are drilling into the potentially lucrative Marcellus Shale gas formation, says Halliburton officials.
Bush bashing (click title to this entry - thank you) Cheney’s next target is apparently his former boss HOUSTON CHRONICLE Aug. 14, 2009, 8:39PM
During the last two presidential terms, an oft-repeated assertion by journalists covering the White House was that the real power in the George W. Bush administration was Vice President Dick Cheney. A New Yorker Magazine cover satirized the relationship by depicting Bush as Cheney's manservant cleaning up behind him. Apparently that image wasn't too far from Cheney's own conception of his role as one of the most influential No. 2's in American history. A report in the Washington Post by Barton Gellman indicates Cheney is hard at work on a tell-all memoir that will unload on his former boss for failing to continue following the veep's policies in the closing years of his presidency....
...By the early '90s, working out of the U.S. attorney's office in Connecticut, he was receiving national attention heading cases against New England crime kings, providing evidence to put John Gotti behind bars, and going after crooked politicos like former Connecticut governor John Rowland. In 1999, he was asked by former attorney general Janet Reno to investigate a number of corrupt state police officers and FBI agents in Boston that had been working with the mob (a case whose players served as inspiration for characters in the Oscar-winning film, The Departed). During the '80s and '90s, Durham became known in New England as the "white knight": dogged, spotlight-shy, puritanical, and successful. He's a devout Catholic that takes no prisoners in the court room. As of 2001, he'd never lost a case. In July 2004, he was awarded the Award for Exceptional Service by then-Attorney General John Ashcroft....
(CN) - The 9th Circuit dismissed a lawsuit for insurance benefits filed by victims of the Armenian genocide. The court said the claims were trumped by the U.S. government's refusal to use the term genocide to describe the systematic slaughter of more than 500,000 Armenians during and after World War I....
...Senior Circuit Judge Thompson cited the Bush administration's efforts to quash a 2007 Armenian Genocide Resolution, which sought official recognition of the genocide. Former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates argued in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that passage of such a resolution "could harm American troops in the field, constrain our ability to supply our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and significantly damage our efforts to promote reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey." Then-President George W. Bush added that the resolution "is not the right response to these historic mass killings, and its passage would do great harm to our relations with a key ally in NATO and in the global war on terror."...
6 Confirmation Questions For Ben Bernanke (click here) August 25, 2009 03:57 PM ET Rick Newman It’s not surprising that Ben Bernanke is getting a second round as chairman of the Federal Reserve. Had President Obama bounced Bernanke after one two-year term, it would have sent an unsettling message just as the economy appears to be turning the corner. And history may show that Bernanke’s aggressive intervention in the economy over the last 18 months has been much more prudent than the hands-off approach his detractors would have preferred....
...Why did Goldman Sachs get AIG bailout money? Six months after the beginning of the AIG bailout, we learned that $12.9 billion worth of AIG bailout money actually went to Goldman Sachs, which had multiple deals with AIG that the government basically redeemed at 100 cents on the dollar. Three European banks got more than $30 billion in AIG bailout money, with other AIG trading partners getting lesser amounts. There may have been a sound reason for passing through so much money to AIG counterparties. So what was it? And why didn’t those trading partners even take a haircut on their deals with AIG, when the government itself will probably lose a bundle? This deal is especially fishy given that former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson came straight to Washington from Goldman, where he was CEO. Bernanke has the standing to put conspiracy theories to rest—if there’s a convincing explanation for the Goldman payouts that for some reason we haven’t heard so far....
...John Rendon (click here) spoke and gave an assessment of how they had done in the run-up to the war. And he said, “Well, there were three things we tried to do, and we did well on two, but not the third.” The first was to make the news be theirs 24/7, and they did that by the morning briefings from Baghdad—or from Kuwait and then the afternoon press conference from the Pentagon. “We wanted to control the printed media, and that was primarily done by the embedded program.” He said, “The one thing we failed at was we didn’t have people who provided the context. We lost control of the military analysts, and they were giving context.”...
The article below illustrates the degree health care is already paid for by public funds. The leap to insure the uninsured isn't all that much of a fiscal burden. It is already paid for taxpayer funds. It is just that it is in emergency rooms rather than physician examining rooms where costs are higher and care is fragmented without a consistent physican.
Almost half of the patients treated at VCU Health Center don't have private health insurance or depend on Medicaid services for the poor.
An additional one in four of the 32,484 patients treated last year in the hospital were covered by Medicare, the federal health program for the elderly.
All of these patients depend on big government subsidies for their care. VCU received $118 million in federal and state funds last year, primarily to treat the uninsured. While VCU is reimbursed better than most hospitals for the Medicaid patients it treats, the health center and its doctors lost almost $32 million last year on Medicare patients.
"It's a big burden," said Dr. Sheldon M. Retchin, chief executive officer of the VCU Health System. He agrees the way people receive and pay for medical care in the United States needs to change, especially to ensure that tens of millions of Americans without health insurance are able to get universal coverage for primary medical care, drugs, and mental-health treatment....
Page 256 starting with line 1 addresses the payments made to physicians that change their record keeping to electronic records. Basically, physicians will receive a 5% increase in their rates when they change their records to electronic. The participation is decided based on geographic location as to the number of participating physicians to receive the increase. One physician in any region that is alone changing to electronic medical records without peers or hospitals able to participate with them is not what the system needs to expedite care and streamline diagnosis without repeated tests.
The increased fee schedule is to begin January 1, 2011 but no later than January 1, 2013. The idea is to bring all physician records on line by 2013.
The discussion of the particulars of reimbursement and quality reports goes on for quite a few pages.
The pages continue to help modify the efficiency of care, it also clarifies power driven wheelchairs and their and defining their necessity as part of a rehab environment. There is a discussion about home infusion therapy to be included as a payable component of Medicare.
There is a provision for reporting of operations of surgical centers and periodic audits of use and costs. There is inclusion of "Adjustment for Cancer Hospitals." There is removal of a 'surety bond' to pharmacies that provide durable medical equipment.
There is continuation of oxygen supply and equipment by any supplier past three year term should there be a liquidation of a supply company. The purchaser may continue the therapy with another supplier for another three years without disruption.
Page 280 discussions DRGs for the first time in relation to discharges and preventable hospital readmissions. There will be a fee adjustment to any facility if there are excessive readmissions to a facility. There is a section that discusses the fee adjustment to physicians for repeated admissions to facilities. Basically the emphasis to this section is to discharge the patient and then have the outpatient facilities pick up the care of the patient to prevent readmission including home care visits. Those equations and schedules and effective dates to all the way to Page 299 where I will end this entry.
There is an emphasis in these 50 pages to streamlining care and reducing costs. There is nothing about limiting care. If care is needed it is to be given, but, the provisions wants patients treated more often than not out of the hospital and home or otherwise non-hospital to improve quality of life while reducing costs. I find nothing neglectful about these provisions.
7-year-old girl Clio Axilrod killed by large wave in Maine is daughter of New York banker (click title to entry - thank you) BY Melissa Grace AND Helen Kennedy DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS Updated Monday, August 24th 2009, 3:55 PM A New York investment banker was hospitalized Monday in Maine after a huge freak wave swept him and his beloved 7-year-old daughter out to sea Sunday, drowning the girl. Clio Dahyun Axilrod spent more than three hours in turbulent 55-degree waters before she was located by a helicopter and recovered by a Coast Guard motorboat. She could not be revived. "When we picked her up, she was unconscious and unresponsive," said paramedic Jimmy Wilmerding, who also treated her father. "She was hypothermic." Peter Axilrod, 55, who just had a heart bypass operation, was in intensive care at the Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. Video released by the Coast Guard showed him screaming in pain as, strapped to a stretcher to protect his spine, he was transferred from a rescue boat. Friends said he doted on Clio, who was adopted from China as a baby, and would have dived into the stormy seas to save her if the monster wave hadn't taken him away, too. The girl's mom, Sandra Kuhach, 51, was also hospitalized, according to the Maine Marine Patrol. Her injuries were unknown....
