Category: Philosophical

Olbermann: Insurer Ends Health Program, Calls High-Cost Patients “Dogs”

Posted on by TL

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Here’s the beginning of the story from the Washington Times:

Ian Pearl has fought for his life every day of his 37 years. Confined to a wheelchair and hooked to a breathing tube, the muscular dystrophy victim refuses to give up.

But his insurance company already has.

Legally barred from discriminating against individuals who submit large claims, the New York-based insurer simply canceled lines of coverage altogether in entire states to avoid paying high-cost claims like Mr. Pearl’s.

In an e-mail, one Guardian Life Insurance Co. executive called high-cost patients such as Mr. Pearl "dogs" that the company could "get rid of."

A federal court quickly ruled that the company’s actions were legal, so on Dec. 1, barring an order by the federal Department of Health and Human Services, Mr. Pearl will lose his benefits.

His medical treatment costs $1 million a year.

Most of that is for ’round the clock, in-home nursing care – for operation of his ventilator, hourly breathing treatments and continuous intravenous medication.

(Corrected paragraph:) A Guardian spokesman said policies such as Mr. Pearl’s – which offered unlimited home nursing – had simply become too expensive for new small-business customers to buy, and that even Medicaid and Medicare do not cover 24-hour home nursing. His parents, Warren and Susan Pearl of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said their health insurance premiums had risen over the years to $3,700 a month.

You can contact Guardian Life Insurance Company here.

And now for your moment of Zen…

President & CEO Dennis J. Manning touts Guardian Life’s financial strength on the company’s Web site:

Two Rating Upgrades 
Guardian earned upgrades from two major credit rating organizations in 2008, a distinction that no other major life insurer can claim. We were one of only five life insurers upgraded by Standard & Poor’s, which raised our rating to AA+ (Very Strong). Additionally, noting Guardian’s “superior capitalization,” “successful execution of key strategic initiatives,” and our “comprehensive risk management strategy,” A.M. Best Company awarded us its highest rating, A++ (Superior). Only six other life insurers received ratings upgrades from A.M. Best last year.

Operating on Firm Financial Footing 
Guardian generated good financial results last year, in spite of challenging economic conditions. Pre-tax statutory income – the primary way we build capital and surplus – was $267 million. Capital, which serves to cushion potential adverse events and functions as a source of continuing future income, was $4.3 billion at year end. And our capitalization ratio, a standard industry measure of capital strength, was 14.7%. We believe this ratio is among the highest in the life insurance industry.

Record Dividend Payout
Guardian’s solid financial results, supported by a prudent investment strategy, allowed us to avoid many of the losses suffered by so many other companies and put us in a strong competitive position, which we leveraged to benefit policyholders. We declared the largest ever dividend payout in our 149-year history, paying a record $723 million dividend to policyholders in 2009, $60 million more than we did in 2008.

Good for them.

Remember 37-year-old Ian Pearl on December 1, 2009,

Christopher Columbus and The Myth of ‘America’

Posted on by TL

From ENEWSPF:

To mark Columbus Day In 2004, the Medieval and Renaissance Center in UCLA published the final volume of a compendium of Columbus-era documents. Its general editor, Geoffrey Symcox, leaves little room for ambivalence when he says, “This is not your grandfather’s Columbus…. While giving the brilliant mariner his due, the collection portrays Columbus as an unrelenting social climber and self-promoter who stopped at nothing – not even exploitation, slavery, or twisting biblical scripture – to advance his ambitions…. Many of the unflattering documents have been known for the last century or more, but nobody paid much attention to them until recently. The fact that Columbus brought slavery, enormous exploitation or devastating diseases to the Americas used to be seen as a minor detail – if it was recognized at all – in light of his role as the great bringer of white man’s civilization to the benighted idolatrous American continent. But to historians today this information is very important. It changes our whole view of the enterprise.”

But does it?

I don’t want to jump on the annual “bash Christoper Columbus” bandwagon.  But this article is worth your consideration.

Read more here.

President Obama’s Weekly Address: New Momentum for Health Reform

Posted on by TL

Washington, D.C.– The historic movement to bring real, meaningful health insurance reform to the American people gathered momentum this week as we approach the final days of this debate. Having worked on this issue for the better part of a year, the Senate Finance Committee is finishing deliberations on their version of a health insurance reform bill that will soon be merged with other reform bills produced by other Congressional committees.

After evaluating the Finance Committee’s bill, the Congressional Budget Office – an office that provides independent, nonpartisan analysis – concluded that the legislation would make coverage affordable for millions of Americans who don’t have it today. It will bring greater security to Americans who have coverage, with new insurance protections. And, by attacking waste and fraud within the system, it will slow the growth in health care costs, without adding a dime to our deficits.

This is another milestone on what has been a long, hard road toward health insurance reform. In recent months, we’ve heard every side of every argument from both sides of the aisle. And rightly so – health insurance reform is a complex and critical issue that deserves a vigorous national debate, and we’ve had one. The approach that is emerging includes the best ideas from Republicans and Democrats, and people across the political spectrum.

In fact, what’s remarkable is not that we’ve had a spirited debate about health insurance reform, but the unprecedented consensus that has come together behind it. This consensus encompasses everyone from doctors and nurses to hospitals and drug manufacturers.

And earlier this week, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg came out in support of reform, joining two former Republican Senate Majority Leaders: Bob Dole and Dr. Bill Frist, himself a cardiac surgeon. Dr. Louis Sullivan, Secretary of Health and Human Services under President George H.W. Bush, supports reform. As does Republican Tommy Thompson, a former Wisconsin governor and Secretary of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush. These distinguished leaders understand that health insurance reform isn’t a Democratic issue or a Republican issue, but an American issue that demands a solution.

Still, there are some in Washington today who seem determined to play the same old partisan politics, working to score political points, even if it means burdening this country with an unsustainable status quo. A status quo of rising health care costs that are crushing our families, our businesses, and our government. A status quo of diminishing coverage that is denying millions of hardworking Americans the insurance they need. A status quo that gives big insurance companies the power to make arbitrary decisions about your health care. That is a status quo I reject. And that is a status quo the American people reject.

The distinguished former Congressional leaders who urged us to act on health insurance reform spoke of the historic moment at hand and reminded us that this moment will not soon come again. They called on members of both parties seize this opportunity to finally confront a problem that has plagued us for far too long.

That is what we are called to do at this moment. That is the spirit of national purpose that we must summon right now. Now is the time to rise above the politics of the moment. Now is the time to come together as Americans. Now is the time to meet our responsibilities to ourselves and to our children, and secure a better, healthier future for generations to come. That future is within our grasp. So, let’s go finish the job.

Source: whitehouse.gov

Keith Olbermann’s Closing Commentary on Health Care Reform

Posted on by TL

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

If you missed Countdown tonight, at least watch the last 11 minutes of tonight’s show, which was dedicated in its entirety to a call for health care reform.

I was expecting a rant.  Instead, Keith personalized the issue by talking about his father. This was no rant.

Olbermann’s right.  We need the medical community on our side.

Go to MSNBC to watch the entire show.

As Afghanistan Enters Year 9, We Tally the Cost of War

Posted on by TL

It’s time to take stock of the numbers again, as the war in Afghanistan enters its ninth year Tuesday.

Our National Debt stands at $11,930,445,364,162.68 as of this writing. That’s a tad under $12 trillion.

The Total Cost of War since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began is currently $917,149,614,395. That’s just under $1 trillion. $688,690,605,993 has been spent in Iraq, $228,459,269,025 in Afghanistan. If the numbers don’t add up, that’s because the counter at CostofWar.com is constantly moving. The total right now is $917,150,203,805.

Yes, they’re pretty accurate. Here’s more about the counters:

The numbers indicate all of the approved funding for the wars to date. In addition to this approved amount, the FY2010 budget shows a $130 billion request for more war spending. This would bring total war spending in Iraq and Afghanistan to more than $1 trillion. When all FY2010 war-related amounts are approved, we will adjust the counters so that they reach the new totals at the end of FY2010.

If you should compare the amount displayed on the Cost of War counters with the numbers available in our information sheets, please note that the information sheets include all war spending to date, the same number that the counters will reach at the end of the 2009 fiscal year.

Total War Funding since 2001

To date, $915.1 billion dollars have been allocated to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This counter is designed so that on September 30, 2009, the end of the federal government’s 2009 fiscal year, the counter will reach that total number. Likewise, counters found here for states and towns will also reach their portion of this number at the end of FY2009.

Cost of War in Iraq since 2003

To date, $687 billion dollars have been allocated to the war in Iraq since 2003. This counter is designed so that on September 30, 2009, the end of the federal government’s 2009 fiscal year, the counter will reach that total number. Please note that the cost of war in Iraq has decreased since our last estimate. This is because a larger proportion of spending was allocated to Afghanistan than originally estimated.

Cost of War in Afghanistan since 2001

To date, $228 billion dollars have been allocated to the war in Afghanistan since 2001. This counter is designed so that on September 30, 2009, the end of the federal government’s 2009 fiscal year, the counter will reach that total number. To learn more about the cost of war in Afghanistan, see our April 2009 publication.

Here’s the Cost of War in Iraq:

Here’s the Cost of War in Afghanistan:

Here is the total of both wars combined:

Now, the human loss…

4,347 Americans have died in Iraq since the war began on March 19, 2003. 3,475 of them died in combat.

869 Americans have died in Afghanistan. 219 from the UK died in Afghanistan, 356 from other countries, for a total of 1,444 dead on the coalition side.

Somewhere between 93,345 and 101,862 Iraqi civilians have died in the war in Iraq. That’s civilians. Just Foreign Policy puts the total number of civilians due to the war at 1,339,771.

The Washington Post currently lists 5,130 Americans dead in both wars, and has pictures of all of the fallen.

President Obama, these are your wars now.

Franklin D. Roosevelt: “The Economic Bill of Rights”

Posted on by TL

This was once America, rescued at last from the gilded age.

We can do this again. We can revive and seal the New Deal.

The rich were on board because they had lived through the Great Depression, and they knew a thriving middle class was the path to the future of a strong America. Less for a few meant more for all.

Let’s make this happen again.

From FDR:

It is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for the winning of a lasting peace and the establishment of an American standard of living higher than ever before known. We cannot be content, no matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people—whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth—is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure.

This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights—among them the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and liberty.

As our nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.

We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. “Necessitous men are not free men.” People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.

In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.

Among these are:

The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;

The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

The right of every family to a decent home;

The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

The right to a good education.

All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.

America’s own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for our citizens.

source: The Public Papers & Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt (Samuel Rosenman, ed.), Vol XIII (NY: Harper, 1950), 40-42 

Seal the New Deal, President Obama: Invite Paul Krugman to an Economic Summit, and Listen to Him

Posted on by TL

Barack Obama and FDR: The New Deal

Top left: The Tennessee Valley Authority, part of the New Deal, being signed into law in 1933. Top right: FDR (President Franklin Delano Roosevelt) was responsible for the New Deal.Bottom left: A public mural from one of the artists employed by the New Deal’s WPA program. Bottom right: President Barack Obama. Is he ready? (Photo montage: Wikipedia, and ENEWSPF.)

Mr. President, it’s time to Seal the New Deal. It’s time for true health care reform: Health Care for All.

Take up the cause, and believe in it. Do what you do well. Inspire. Inspire the American people, Inspire Congress.

I’ve been reading economics recently, and I’ve learned a lot. Most of all, I’ve learned I need to keep reading, and learn more.

If you’ve never read anything on economics (I suspect you have), the so-called “dismal science,” you should get started. Don’t read to reaffirm your own beliefs or preconceptions on how an economy should work. Instead, read to learn, realizing that the science of economics can be about anything and everything. And we need to understand it better.

Allow me to suggest some reading material for you. Please consider the following economics cuisine.

To begin, I suggest Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (P.S.), by Steven D. Levitt, as your ecomics appetizer. This little gem is a wonderful way to begin to get a grasp on economis theory. It made a splash when first published because of Levitt’s research on crime and abortion statistics. I don’t buy Levitt’s conclusions, but that’s for another post. The book is wonderful. If you’ve never been exposed to economics before, or it’s been a long time, Levitt’s book is a good start.

Next, please consider Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science, by Charles Wheelan, as your salad. Levitt taught me that economics is about anything, because anything and everything can impact the economy. Wheelan took me further down the rabbit hole. I learned about interest rates, why it matters when the Fed raises or lowers them. And I learned a lot more. More importantly, Naked Economics will whet your appetite for the main course.

For the main course, I suggest Paul Krugman’s The Conscience of a Liberal. Krugman won the 2008 prize in ecomics. And he deserves it.

Krugman is fantastic. The Conscience of a Liberal will give you a solid background on economics in the United States. Consider it a complete history of economics in the United States. After memorizing what you then considered useless statistics in high school, you will finally understand the New Deal, and why we need to seal the New Deal by providing universal health care to everyone in the United States of America.

If you read nothing else on ecomics, read The Conscience of a Liberal.

For dessert, I recommend The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008. You’ll get more history, but, more importantly, you’ll get more Krugman.

Mr. President, I know we have readers from Washington, D.C. on Turning Left. If you’re one of them, you can do better.

Besides reading Krugman, invite Paul to Camp David for an Economic Summit. And listen to him. Learn from him. Pick his brain.

And strongly consider his advice.

Seal the New Deal, Mr. President. Find the courage to protect the middle class, to inspire congress — yes, this congress. This is your time, your moment in history.We need you to make it spectacular. Convince us that you haven’t grown too comfortable in the White House. Find the courage to protect the middle class, to inspire Congress — yes, this Congress. This is your time, your moment in history. We need you to make this moment spectacular.

Seal the New Deal. Call Paul Krugman, chat with him, listen to him, and do what he says.

For the rest of us, read up on economics. And then read more. And then call your honorable representative in congress, and call the White House.

Let’s demand that they Seal the New Deal, once and for all. It’s the only way to preserve and protect the middle class, and lift up those now living in poverty.

Our moment is now.

The Terrible Tragedy of Chris Kelly’s Death

Posted on by TL

I absolutely feel nothing but profound regret learning of the death of Chris Kelly, one of the ex-governor’s closest friends and advisers.  I fear that this terrible tragedy is only harbinger of things to come in the weird mess that is Rod Blagojevich’s soap opera.

I can’t even comment on Blago’s response in the aftermath of Kelly’s death, today ruled a suicide by Country Club Hills police.

From the Sun-Times:

Country Club Hills police confirmed today that Chris Kelly — a one-time top aide to former Gov. Blagojevich — committed suicide Saturday.

No one else is believed to have been involved in his death.

The political insider, who sources said ingested an “extraordinarily large dose of aspirin,’’ did so in a construction trailer in a lot where he kept construction equipment, police said.

A sleeping bag, photos of his three children, an empty bottle of Aleve, and an unopened box of rat poison were found at the scene near 173rd and Cicero, police said.

How tragic.  What a terrible way to go.

And it’s not over.  The legacy of Rod Blagojevich is shrouded in the blood of his friends.

From the Chicago Tribune:

[Country Club Hills Police Chief Regina] Evans said the suburb’s investigation has concluded the death “was an apparent suicide” and no one else was involved. “There is no evidence whatsoever of involvement by other persons.”

The chief said a friend of Kelly’s gave police a note that may have been written by Kelly. She stopped short of calling it a suicide note, and declined to describe its contents in deference to Kelly’s family. 

Evans described the note as rambling and “personal in nature,” but not addressed to anyone in particular.

She said it hasn’t even been confirmed it was written by Kelly, but the “implication was it may have been.” The note has been sent to the state crime lab for analysis, she said.

What a mess.  Thanks, Rod.  Continue to argue for your innocence.

But, remember, Rod, the death of Chris Kelly is now your legacy.

The Noise Lunacy of the Grand Old Party

Posted on by TL

I learned a new phrase tonight: “Noise lunacy.”

It’s how the writers at the Conservative News Digest (CND) describe the current leadership of the Republican Party.

These people seem desperate in their attempt to restore conservatism to its, what, true roots?  It’s difficult for me to really understand what “true conservatism” means, although I was, at one time, quite the conservative, I’m sure.  In high school, I fought for every conservative cause, wanting desperately to champion every Catholic cause the Christian Brothers threw my way.

I’m glad I eventually met some thinking Catholics.

At any rate, it appears the writers of the CND are looking for some true conservative thinkers:

Government is not the problem.  Movement conservatives are the problem, and they’re ruining our party.  The Republican Party must disown them.

We desperately need the leadership and direction from those who still have a spark of moderation, like Senator John McCain.

The Tea Parties must stop.  The Birthers must be silenced.  As it stands now, wise conservative voices are lost in the bedlam of movement conservatism.  The inmates are running the asylum.  We must take our party back and focus once again on ideas, not ideology.

We must ask ourselves, which do we love more: the United States of America, or the noise lunacy our current Republican leaders substitute for leadership?

This really blows me away. I’ve read about movement conservatives from Paul Krugman, but never heard of conservatives who, well, owned the term, so to speak.

Well, if you look at the last sentence of that inglorious post, you’ll see the words “noise lunacy,” and I agree, that’s a great discription of the Teabagging Birthers.

Let’s all get back to the table, and talk ideas.