Undernews For June 9, 2009

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9 June 2009
WORD
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice; in practice there is - Chuck Reid

If the Mafia attacks someone in this country, we don't bomb Italy. - Ron Paul
PAGE ONE MUST

ON PRESIDENTIAL WORDS ABOUT THE MID EAST
John Caruso, Distant Ocean - I decided to read Obama's speech again, but this time with a mind cleared of all prejudice and preconceptions-and as much as it pains me to say so given how hard I've been on him in the past, I have to admit I was impressed to hear an American politician (finally) say some of these things. Let's look at a few excerpts. First, there was the deference for Muslim culture and traditions:

"We have great respect for the commitment that all Muslims make to faith, family, and education. And Americans of many backgrounds seek to learn more about the rich tradition of Islam. . . I have asked young Americans to study the language and customs of the broader Middle East. And for the first time in our nation's history, we have added a Koran to the White House Library.". . .

The flip side of his respect for Islam was the way he used the secular and inclusive "E Pluribus Unum" to characterize the U.S. rather than the more divisive or religious alternatives favored by some other presidents I could mention:

"Our country's citizens come from diverse backgrounds and cultures, which has enabled us to realize the vision embodied in our first national motto: 'E Pluribus Unum,' meaning 'Out of many, one.'"

These are all just platitudes, you might say (and I wouldn't argue with you) -but consider the importance of this respectful approach, given the audience. And in any case, there were plenty of specifics as well, like his commitment to a state of Palestine and his recognition of the suffering of the Palestinians:

"I'm committed to two democratic states -- Israel and Palestine -- living side-by-side in peace and security. I'm committed to a Palestinian state that has territorial integrity and will live peacefully with the Jewish state of Israel. . .

"Israel also has a large stake in the success of a democratic Palestine. Permanent occupation threatens Israel's identity and democracy. A stable, peaceful Palestinian state is necessary to achieve the security that Israel longs for. So I challenge Israel to take concrete steps to support the emergence of a viable, credible Palestinian state. . .

"Israeli settlement activity in occupied territories must stop. And the occupation must end through withdrawal to secure and recognize boundaries consistent with United Nations Resolutions 242 and 338. . . Israel should also show a respect, a respect for and concern about the dignity of the Palestinian people who are and will be their neighbors."

And then there were his thoughtful overtures to the people of Iran and his embrace of multilateralism on a host of global issues. . .

"Let me speak directly to the citizens of Iran: America respects you, and we respect your country. We respect your right to choose your own future and win your own freedom. And our nation hopes one day to be the closest of friends with a free and democratic Iran. . . "

Yes, it was quite a speech. After reading it a second time I think I can almost begin to understand the ecstatic praise so many liberals offered Obama after they heard it (which I admit I first thought was not only embarrassing but dangerously naive). After all, who could fail to respond to such an intelligent, thoughtful, nuanced, articulate, compassionate attempt to begin a genuine dialogue with the rest of the world? . . .

There's just one problem: none of these quotes were actually taken from Barack Obama's speech. Not a single word. They are quotes from an American president, though. No points for guessing which one at this point, but if you need a hint I can tell you that he was in office from January of 2001 through January of 2009. . .
MORTGAGE RESCUE PLAN NOT WORKING
Dick Morris & Eileen McGann - In the month ending on May 26th, [there were] 464,983 foreclosures of subprime and Alt-A mortgages (out of a universe of 3.2 million studied). So 15% of all subprime mortgages were foreclosed in May. Only 19,041 -- a paltry 6% -- were modified during this period. And of those modified, only 11,200 involved any reduction in the monthly payments. Only 12% involved any write-off of interest, fees, or principal and 27% of the loan modifications actually increased the monthly payments due. Alan M. White of the Valparaiso Law School, who conducted the study, noted that the data showed that "the Administration's plan to stimulate mortgage modifications does not seen to have had much effect yet, at least in this market segment" [i.e. subprimes].

And the trend lines are all bad:

- The number of loan modifications dropped 11% from April to May.

- The ratio of foreclosure losses to modification write downs (the amount lost in foreclosure: the amount rescued by write-downs) doubled in the past month. For every dollar saved in modifications, $150 was lost in foreclosure.

When Obama launched his mortgage rescue plan, he promised that it would help five million households. So far, he is about 4,969,000 short of his goal.
HISPANIC OR LATINO?
Philip B. Corbett, NY Times - The nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court prompted discussion about our use of "Hispanic," "Latino" and related terms. It's not a simple issue, and I consulted with a number of reporters and editors here who offered good counsel.

Here are some key points to keep in mind:

= While both "Latino" and "Hispanic" are generally acceptable, some people have a strong preference. We should respect those preferences as much as possible in referring to individuals and groups; reporters and editors should routinely ask.

- Specific references like "Puerto Rican" or "Mexican-American" or "Guatemalan immigrant" are often best.

- Judge Sotomayor clearly uses "Latina" for herself, and we should respect that preference whenever feasible. In more detailed references, we can note that her parents moved to New York from Puerto Rico. Once again, remember: they were not immigrants.

- In describing one distinction she would attain if confirmed, I think we have to say she would be "the first Hispanic justice," despite her own use of "Latina." Calling her "the first Latina justice" isn't quite what we mean, and several people I consulted agreed that calling her "the first Latino justice," while perhaps grammatically defensible, seems awkward or wrong.

- I will adjust the current entry in The Times's stylebook to clarify that "Latina," like "Latino," can be used as an adjective as well as a noun. We should be aware, though, that for many English speakers the use of inflected adjectives may still be unfamiliar.

- As always, references to ethnicity should be used only when they are pertinent, and the pertinence is clear to readers. One reporter pointed out that many second- and third-generation Latinos regard themselves as simply "American" or "Texan" or whatever. If ancestry is relevant, phrases like "a lawyer of Mexican descent" or "a New York native of Puerto Rican descent" might serve.

- Our stylebook defines "Hispanic" as "descended from a Spanish-speaking land or culture." But be aware that opinions vary on how broadly to apply these terms. Can "Hispanic immigrants" describe a group that includes Brazilians or other Portuguese speakers? Can "Hispanic" describe immigrants from Spain itself? Once again, being specific will help minimize confusion or ambiguity. . .

A brief report from the Pew Hispanic Center offers some interesting background. Here's one section:

Q. How do Hispanics themselves feel about the labels "Hispanic" and "Latino"?

A. The labels are not universally embraced by the community that has been labeled. A 2006 survey by the Pew Hispanic Center found that 48% of Latino adults generally describe themselves by their country of origin first; 26% generally use the terms Latino or Hispanic first; and 24% generally call themselves American on first reference. As for a preference between "Hispanic" and "Latino", a 2008 Center survey found that 36% of respondents prefer the term "Hispanic," 21% prefer the term "Latino" and the rest have no preference.
AIR FRANCE 447 THEORIES
Times, UK - Air France scrambled to replace pressure sensors on its A330 Airbuses yesterday after a pilots' union urged crew to boycott the long-range jets because faulty airspeed readings are suspected over last week's crash off Brazil.

"To prevent a repeat of this disaster we call on flight deck and cabin crew to refuse flights aboard the A330 and A340 series which have not been modified," said Alter, a union to which 10 per cent of the airline's crew belong. . .

"The first data from the doomed airliner reported a pitot failure and Air France has acknowledged that its jets had suffered several similar incidents. The Airbus went out of control as the electronic flight system failed after receiving conflicting airspeed readings via its three pitot tubes.

Pitot tubes have long been prone to blocking by ice, rain and insects. A failure in airspeed indication is a big handicap for a pilot but the aircraft can still be flown by hand with power settings and attitude, the orientation of the aircraft in relation to its flight direction. . .

Nearly 1,000 aircraft from the A330/340 series of long-haul airliners are in service. None had killed a passenger before. However, pilots and experts focused on what some see as a fatal chain of events that highlights flaws in the highly automated flight system on Airbus airliners.

In modern aircraft, particularly the ultra-automated Airbus family, pilots have less direct control. With defective computers in the heart of a tropical storm, the crew of the stricken Air France jet may have lacked the information to keep it flying.

The recovery of the aircraft's rudder has strengthened suspicions among some experts that the plane went out of control and broke up as a result of flying either too slowly or too quickly in severe turbulence.

Unsilent Generation - Parts of the tail appear intact; the tail looks like it was ripped off the plane at the points of attachment. . . To some observers, this bears a striking resemblance to the loss of the tail in the devastating American Airlines 587 crash in New York in November 2001. That plane was an Airbus 300. In an interesting comment on the Whatsupwiththat blog, a reader, Adoucette, writes:

"The disturbing thing to me is that the A330 design is derived from the A300. Both have composite tails. In the AA-587 crash in Nov of 2001, the NTSB blamed the failure of the A300's composite tail on the co-pilot. The NTSB claimed that the pilot made dramatic rudder inputs to counter wake turbulence from a 747 which had departed Kennedy two minutes earlier. The NTSB said that the pilot, to combat mild turbulence, over controlled the aircraft by swinging the rudder fully to one side and then all the way to the other side, and it was this over-control which exceeded the tail's design limits. . . .

"Now if this is possible from rudder inputs in mild turbulence in clear air at relatively low airspeed over NY, consider what could happen at high speed in major turbulence over the Intertropical Convergence Zone, a storm-prone area where trade winds converge."

Also making its way around the web is a report from NASA's Langley Research Center on the possible effects of lightening on composite aircraft:

"Traditional aircraft act as Faraday cages when struck by lightning, which means that the charge stays on the exterior of the aircraft. However, as more aircraft are built using composite materials, we will need to understand the direct and indirect effects of lightning on those aircraft. The researchers at LaRC are studying the hazards of lightning on composite aircraft. Some of the issues include the fact that magnetic flux can penetrate avionics wiring, and that lightning damage is often more severe than tests would predict. Magnetic flux can penetrate composite aircraft more easily than metallic aircraft, inducing voltage and current on avionics wiring."
WASHINGTON STATE HIKES HEALTH PLAN PREMIUMS TO DRIVE POOR OFF ITS ROLLS
Seattle Times, WA - Premiums for Washington's Basic Health Plan will as much as double in January as part of a strategy to drive thousands of members off the popular but cash-strapped state-subsidized insurance program.

Ending weeks of deliberations, officials announced this morning that they will boost Basic Health's rates by an average of 70 percent as part of their effort to boot 30,000 to 40,000 working-class people off its rolls.

Officials rejected four other potential options on how to shrink the 100,000-member pool, including a lottery and ejecting members based on how long they'd been on the program.

In the end, officials punted on the dilemma, leaving it up to the members themselves to decide whether to stay or to leave.

"This is the best possible option out of difficult choices," said Preston Cody, deputy administrator of Washington State Health Care Authority, the agency that operates Basic Health. . .
FOLLOW THE BOUNCING 'JOBS SAVED'
William McGurn, Wall Street Journal - The inability to measure Mr. Obama's jobs formula is part of its attraction. Never mind that no one -- not the Labor Department, not the Treasury, not the Bureau of Labor Statistics -- actually measures "jobs saved." As the New York Times delicately reports, Mr. Obama's jobs claims are "based on macroeconomic estimates, not an actual counting of jobs." Nice work if you can get away with it.

And get away with it he has. However dubious it may be as an economic measure, as a political formula "save or create" allows the president to invoke numbers that convey an illusion of precision. Harvard economist and former Bush economic adviser Greg Mankiw calls it a "non-measurable metric." And on his blog, he acknowledges the political attraction.

"The expression 'create or save,' which has been used regularly by the President and his economic team, is an act of political genius," writes Mr. Mankiw. "You can measure how many jobs are created between two points in time. But there is no way to measure how many jobs are saved. Even if things get much, much worse, the President can say that there would have been 4 million fewer jobs without the stimulus."

Mr. Obama's comments yesterday are a perfect illustration of just such a claim. In the months since Congress approved the stimulus, our economy has lost nearly 1.6 million jobs and unemployment has hit 9.4%. Invoke the magic words, however, and -- presto -- you have the president claiming he has "saved or created" 150,000 jobs. It all makes for a much nicer spin, and helps you forget this is the same team that only a few months ago promised us that passing the stimulus would prevent unemployment from rising over 8%.

It's not only former Bush staffers such as Messrs. Fratto and Mankiw who have noted the political convenience here. During a March hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, Chairman Max Baucus challenged Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on the formula.

"You created a situation where you cannot be wrong," said the Montana Democrat. "If the economy loses two million jobs over the next few years, you can say yes, but it would've lost 5.5 million jobs. If we create a million jobs, you can say, well, it would have lost 2.5 million jobs. You've given yourself complete leverage where you cannot be wrong, because you can take any scenario and make yourself look correct.". . .
THE FINANCIAL WAR AGAINST US
Shamus Cooke, Global Research - History will likely show that these bailouts involved the largest transfer of wealth ever - from the working class to that small group of billionaires who own the corporations. This fact is recognized by most people now and is such common knowledge that even the mainstream media feels comfortable discussing it. . . matter-of-factly.

These corporations have also exerted tremendous influence in other realms of politics, working towards destroying Obama's campaign promises of health care, job creation, civil liberties, the Employee Free Choice Act, peace, etc.

In each case, the promised reform was gutted of its essence, and "compromise" versions of the bills are now being discussed: instead of universal health care, we will likely be universally mandated to purchase health insurance; instead of "job creation" we are told that the stimulus has "saved jobs" (contrary to the evidence); while troops are "drawing down" from Iraq, the war in Afghanistan/Pakistan is being escalated; instead of allowing workers to organize unions easier, a compromise version – Employee Free Choice Act, minus card check - seems more politically "pragmatic," etc.

Even Obama's smaller reforms face similar partial abortions in Congress. For example, Obama recently signed into legislation the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act. But, as The New York Times pointed out, the bill "was missing its centerpiece: a change in bankruptcy law he [Obama] once championed that would have given judges the power to lower the amount owed on a home loan."

Obama was not demanding that foreclosures cease, or that those who've recently lost their homes - because of the economic crisis - be allowed to return to them; he was merely advocating that those who can still afford mortgage payments be allowed to lower their balances.

Even this small crumb for homeowners was rejected by Wall Street, whose profits would have suffered.

The New York Times explains: "the [bill's] real threat was to their [the banks] profits. The proposal would have shifted negotiating power to the millions of troubled homeowners who could use the threat of bankruptcy to wrest lower monthly payments from lenders."

This truth prompted an oddly blunt reply from Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse:

"This is one of the most extreme examples I have seen of a special interest wielding its power for the special interest of a few against the general benefit of millions of homeowners and thousands of communities now being devastated by foreclosure."

The New York Times article also quieted those apologists for Obama who claim that he is an honest leader held back by an unreasonably conservative Democratic Congress:

"Throughout it all, the banks took advantage of the Obama administration's seeming ambivalence. Despite its occasional populist rhetoric, the White House was conspicuously absent from weeks of pivotal negotiations this spring."

And: "While Mr. Obama reaffirmed his support for the proposal shortly after becoming president, administration officials barely participated in the negotiations, a factor that [corporate] lobbyists said significantly strengthened their hand."

It must be noted that the corporation's next big demand on the government will be to eliminate the tremendous U.S. debt, which they rightly view as a destabilizing factor for making profits. The problem lies in how they will propose to correct the problem: through the gutting of the U.S. social safety nets such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs that benefit working families and the poor.

This government debt is the direct result of trillion dollar bank bailouts and wars of aggression that benefit only the rich. The working class, however, is being enlisted to pay for these polices. . .

The political power of the corporations is dramatically exposing the rotten nature of America's political and economic system - represented by the Republicans and Democrats - where the tremendous wealth of a small group allows them unprecedented power at the expense of millions of others. Without an independent political voice, the working class will continue to be betrayed by Democratic politicians whose pie in the sky campaign promises fail to yield even crumbs.

Copyright Shamus Cooke, Global Research, 2009
THE ULTIMATE FORECLOSURE: CITY BOARDS MAN UP IN HOUSE HE LOST
Star Tribune, MN - On May 12, the day the city inspector came to board up his house, Ted Poetsch was eating lunch. After living all of his 53 years at 823 Penn Av. N., Poetsch had an hour left to pack his stuff and get out.

Cane in hand, he lurched around, throwing a few things in bags, putting Kitty in the carrier. He heard the contractor outside starting to drill into the door frame.

Poetsch made his way down his narrow stairway, resigned to the end he had resisted for three years, through personal financial missteps, the false promise of a foreclosure "rescue" and a court victory that gave him short-lived hope.

He came to the door and realized that he was too late. A truck had driven away from the house, prompting those outside to think the tenants were gone. Poetsch had been boarded up inside his house.

City officials say Poetsch had ample warning that they were coming that day, but they say his brief incarceration was an unprecedented mistake. .

The house at 823 Penn, vacant and already a target for thieves, is now owned by Fannie Mae. In September, the federal government took over the mortgage giant in a multibillion-dollar bailout after it was brought to the brink of collapse by the housing meltdown.

Poetsch got no such assistance. The city determined that the house was potentially unsafe and that Poetsch was essentially a squatter in the only home he had ever known. Now this North Side neighborhood has one fewer neighbor and one more boarded house.
SUPREME COURT DENIES CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS TO GAYS WITH SUPPORT OF OBAMA
CNN - A former Army captain who was dismissed under a federal law dealing with gays and lesbians in the military lost his appeal at the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to intervene in the challenge to the "don't ask/don't tell" law. . .

The Obama administration had asked the high court not to take the case, and White House officials had said they would not object to homosexuals being kicked out of the armed services.

During the presidential campaign last year, President Obama said he supported throwing out the federal law but has taken no specific action on the controversy.
ACLU CHARGES AMERICAN SEIZED & TORTURED AT U.S. BEHEST
ABC - An American citizen has been detained and tortured in the United Arab Emirates at the behest of the U.S. government, according to an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit filed in federal court. The judge has called for a hearing today in Washington, DC, and ACLU lawyers say they hope to hear that their case on behalf of Naji Hamdan, 42, will go forward.

Hamdan, who had moved to Dubai several years ago after living in the U.S. for more than 20 years, becoming an American citizen, and raising a family in California, was arrested in August 2008 by state security forces of the UAE. Several weeks before the arrest, FBI agents interrogated Hamdan at the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi, the lawsuit said.

In a handwritten statement given to the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi, Hamdan said he was kept in a frigid cell with blinding lights on 24 hours a day, and only left to be interrogated and tortured and to go to the toilet.

"They sat me on an electric chair; they tied my wrists to it but they did not turn it on," Hamdan wrote in the statement. "He started punching me on the sides of my head, and slapping me straight to my head from the top. I started to sweat then I lost conscious (sic)"

He also said in the statement that one person spoke perfect English, and that he believes to be an American, was present at the interrogation: "He said do what they want or these people 'will [expletive] you up.'"

Hamdan said in his written statement, "I am not a terrorist, I never was, I am a regular American Muslim who's looking to raise his kids and live a comfortable life with his family," but that under the pressure of torture and threats of harm to his wife, he agreed to sign a self-incriminating document in prison.

UAE authorities have charged Hamdan with terrorism-related activities, and the Supreme Court there will hold a hearing on June 14.

Three months after he was detained, and one week after ACLU lawyers filed their lawsuit, Hamdan was moved from the high-security detention center to another jail in Abu Dhabi, where he can now communicate periodically with his family.
HILLARY CLINTON THREATENS IRAQ-TYPE WAR AGAINST IRAN
Anti War - Citing the disastrous 2003 US invasion of Iraq as an example, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that by continuing to refuse to abandon its civilian nuclear program, Iran was risking the possibility of an invasion by the US or "some other enemy that would do that to them."

The comments came during an interview on ABC's "This Week" program, and when asked by interviewer and former Clinton-era official George Stephanopoulus, Secretary Clinton reiterated "that's right, as a first strike.". . .

Already six years in, the Iraq occupation has killed thousands of US soldiers, sucked trillions from the American economy, and is stretching the military to its limits.
OBAMA'S AFGHAN WAR CHIEF LINKED TO TORTURE
Democracy Now - Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal formerly served as commander of the Joint Special Operations Command from 2003 to 2008. During that time, he oversaw a secretive program to hunt down and assassinate suspected terrorists around the globe. Last year, lawmakers delayed Stanley McChrystal’s nomination for a key position because of questions about prisoner abuse by forces under his command. Many of the reports of abuse center on Camp Nama, a US base near Baghdad’s airport where Special Operations troops ran an interrogation and detention center.
The abuses including beating prisoners with rifle butts, stripping them naked, subjecting them to extreme cold and sleep deprivation, and using them for target practice in paintball games.
ETHNIC MEDIA GROWING
One World - Nearly 60 million Americans now regularly get information from ethnically oriented TV, radio, newspapers, and Web sites, many of which are published or broadcast in languages other than English -- and that number is on the rise.

As mainstream newspapers and cable news channels in the United States are losing more money, readers, and viewers each year, ethnic media appears to be "maybe the most vibrant part" of the media landscape, said pollster Sergio Bendixen, releasing the latest statistics. "The ethnic media is growing, and it is growing at a very impressive rate," Bendixen told a meeting of media producers here. . .

To determine where the 69 million Hispanics and African and Asian Americans in the United States get their information, Bendixen's company conducted a poll in eight languages -- Cantonese, English, Hindi, Korean, Mandarin, Spanish, Tagalog (a language of the Philippines), and Vietnamese.

They determined that more than four out of every five Americans of those ethnic backgrounds are now being informed on a regular basis by ethnic media. Many consider non-English programming their primary source of information, though most also get information from mainstream, English-language media . . .

The number of U.S. adults consuming ethnic media is up 16 percent -- from 51 million to 57 million -- since 2005, when Bendixen conducted the first poll of this sort.

Among all the ethnic print media, African American newspapers and magazines showed the sharpest rise in readership, up 42 percent since 2005. Poll respondents said coverage of national politics was a significant reason they read African American publications like the Oakland Globe. Bendixen couldn't say for sure that the candidacy and election of Barack Obama has caused this spike in readership, but he suspects the two "are linked."

Spanish-language radio is also growing across the country -- and in many non-traditional Hispanic states including North Carolina, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, Washington, and New Hampshire.

The pollsters surveyed over 1,300 ethnic Americans in April and May, but due to budget constraints they did not examine the reach of Arab American, Native American, or other ethnic media outlets. . .
THE FLEETING VIEWS OF BARACK OBAMA
From Killing Hope

Reporter: Thank you, Mr. President. You've heard from a lot of Latin America leaders here who want the U.S. to lift the embargo against Cuba. You've said that you think it's an important leverage to not lift it. But in 2004, you did support lifting the embargo. You said, it's failed to provide the source of raising standards of living, it's squeezed the innocent, and it's time for us to acknowledge that this particular policy has failed. I'm wondering, what made you change your mind about the embargo?

The President: Well, 2004, that seems just eons ago. What was I doing in 2004?

Reporter: Running for Senate.

The President: Is it while - I was running for Senate. There you go.
OBAMA NAMES ANTI-ABORTION FIGURE TO KEY HEALTH JOB
Mike Allen, Salon - President Barack Obama's appointment of Alexia Kelley, founder of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, as director of the Department of Health and Human Services' Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives took the pro-choice movement by surprise. . .

What [it] will want to know is why the post, which includes oversight of the department's faith-based grant-making in family planning, HIV and AIDS and in small-scale research into the effect of religion and spirituality on early sexual behavior, has gone to someone who both believes abortion should be illegal and opposes contraception. That's right -- Kelley's group of self-described progressive Catholics takes a position held by only a small minority, that the Catholic church is right to prohibit birth control. Were there no qualified religious experts who hold more mainstream views on family planning and abortion, views that are consistent with those of President Obama?
MORNING LINE
Politico reports: "President Barack Obama is announcing that he is ramping up stimulus spending exponentially in the next three months, allowing the administration to “save or create 600,000 jobs - four times as many as during the first 100 days since he signed the bill. The spending plans include national parks, summer youth jobs, veterans medical centers, police and teachers." Which sounds good, except:

- There is no accurate way of determining when the administration can fairly take credit for "saving" a job. "Saving" a job is not an economic stat but a public relations concept.

- This does not take into account the jobs that will be lost by the closing of auto dealerships in another part of the Obama economic plan.

- The number is paltry compared to those achieved during the Roosevelt administration. For example, Obama promises rehab and improvements at 98 airports, a far cry from the 1,000 airports built or repaired by the Works Progress Administration. Obama promises work on 107 national parks; the WPA built or repaired 8,100 parks. Of course, the WPA took longer but at this rate the Obama administration won't even come close.
EXCERPTS FROM READER COMMENTS
THOUGHTS ON SINGLE PAYER HEALTH INSURANCE

Richard Scheerer - Early in my work history, the manager of our personnel department came to me with a moral, ethical, and legal dilemma he was facing. Once a month, the president of the company directed this manager to provide him with a copy of the group medical claim report prepared by our plan administrator. From this report, the president could determine which employees or dependents had medical expenses and the severity of the condition involved. If the conditions had the potential of reoccurring costs, the president would indicate his dissatisfaction to the employee's superior leading to the employee being terminated or better yet, being forced to resign without unemployment benefits. Even valued employees or company officers did not escape; they would be slowly stripped of responsibilities and would never again qualify for a raise or promotion. What makes this situation so reprehensible and eye opening is that this was an insurance company that sold personal health insurance policies.

This is no longer an isolated situation as employers today continue to eliminate employees for medical reasons to reduce health care costs. The "downsizing" craze of a few years ago was a way to get rid of older long term employees and the higher expenses associated with them - salaries, longer vacations, higher health care costs, higher pension contributions, etc.

I have spent most of my career as an officer of various insurance companies and finished my career as a reinsurance intermediary. My insurance colleagues may look disdainfully upon this writing, but I strongly believe that private health insurance can not, and will not, result in the greater good for our society. I have watched the health insurance industry completely change. At one time, probably 30% of all life insurance companies and a number of casualty companies sold medical insurance. Today we are down to a handful that sell individual medical plans; probably no more that five to ten in any one state including a few national marketers.

The employer group insurance choices are not much better. Although there are a limited number of insurance companies offering group health insurance plans, there are a number of insurance companies and non-insurance administrators that provide claim services for employer self-insurance plans. Self-insured plans have become the trend in recent years as another way to control costs. Even these plans need reinsurance for excess and catastrophic losses, but here again we are down to only a few reinsurers willing to offer such coverage. Have one or two large claims and lose a reinsurer, and your plan is in real trouble.

The real problem with our system of reliance on private insurance, whether individual, group or for that matter employer self-insurance plans, is that no plan wants to pay claims. The primary goal of any private company operating under our capitalistic system is to generate as much profit as possible; as a result, the structure of our private health insurance system operates against good public health policy. Care is not the goal; profit is. The welfare our society is not considered. Greatest profit occurs by charging high premium and eliminating or restricting claims. Underwriting, pre-existing condition clauses and terminations are used to eliminate potential claims by assuring only the healthiest receive coverage. With high deductibles, coinsurance percentages, pre-certification, coverage restricted to certain providers, most plans are designed to reduce claims costs to the insurer and transfer these costs directly to the insured. Additionally, it is becoming common for plans to limit one's choice of providers and to limit treatment by requiring the provider have prior approval.

We spend 15% of our gross national product, basically twice that of most other developed countries, to insure 80-85% of our population. Are we getting twice the benefit? The answer appears to be no, as we have higher infant mortality, lower life expectancy, 50 million uninsured, and many more underinsured - the latter being the number one cause of bankruptcy. Since our system is not universal and public based, we are probably in the worst position of all developed countries to handle a epidemic or pandemic. Our employers are at a competitive disadvantage due to health care costs.

There are two insurance programs that are directly related to health care that also need discussion. First, almost all medical plans, group or individual, eliminate coverage for occupational accident and sickness. Employers are generally required to carry or furnish occupational sickness and accident coverage under mandatory worker's compensation laws. The cost of mandated workers compensation alone exceeded the wages in many third world companies; a reason in itself for outsourcing.

The second insurance program not being discussed is medical payment coverage under automobile insurance policies. This should not be confused with liability coverage. Medical coverage is immediate and does not require the assessment of liability. This is duplication of costs, but not a duplication of benefits. Injuries can be collected on only one policy.

There is only one true reform that addresses all - universal single payer health. Anything other than universal single payer will simply be a costly government band-aid to continue a broken system that is destined to fail. A universal single payer system will cover everyone. It could eliminate the need and costs of medical coverage under worker's compensation, and reduce auto insurance premiums by eliminating redundant medical coverage. Universal single payer health care is not a question of additional cost, but a reallocation of that which we already spend.

Richard Scheerer is President Intermediaries Plus

DEMOCRATS EXPRESS CONCERN OVER DEALERSHIP CLOSINGS

Since when do we like or care about car dealers? They are a shady lot who don't need to exist. Gasoline powered cars are not people and we shouldn't care about them. And how many of us have been screwed over by a car salesman, anyway? How many of us would dump our cars in a heartbeat if we genuinely thought we'd still be able to get around unimpeded?

If we were sensible at all, then we'd have programs set up so these dealers could learn something useful and then go work in their new field. Say, for example, a massive public transportation system with electric trains. And on top of that we'd have a safety net so that no one who loses their job has to be cast out onto the streets. Save these people, screw their jobs.

Dealers are already the beneficiaries of protectionist state laws which forbid the sale of cars by the manufacturer. - Well Basically

HILLARY CLINTON THREATENS IRAQ-TYPE WAR AGAINST IRAN

Now the Obama administration advocates preemptive war. Change.

DEMOCRATS REFUSE TO END USURY BY BANKS GETTING BAILOUT

What angers me about the debate on this issue is that the "defenders" of the po' folks who are raped by usurious payday loans never bother to attack the cause that so many of us have for taking those loans - keeping utilities from shutting off services and equally usurious bounced-check fees. A twenty-dollar charge on a hundred dollar loan is a bargain if it keeps your electricity on; and it's cheaper than bouncing a check. As is too often the case, the do-gooder "solution" (end payday loans) would leave us victims worse off and sitting in the cold and dark.

FRENCH SUPREME COURT ADDS TO COST OF REALITY TV SHOWS

Reality shows are sadistic-competitive and function to passively normalize sadism and reinforce blind allegiance to the acute glorification of competition.

It might wreck equal treatment under the law to add infinite costs to reality show budgets, but it would certainly provide an opportunity for improving the quality of mass entertainment.

But mayhaps I am too optimistic -- the worse in mass entertainment is consistently replaced by the worst.

JEWISH EXTREMISTS TARGET BERKELEY PAPER

When the Hate Speech law passes Congress, Abe Foxman will be able to shut down this paper.

LIFE & HEALTH INSURERS INVEST BILLIONS IN TOBACCO COMPANIES

Why shouldn't health insurers invest in tobacco companies? As investers they aren't contributing to tobacco use, they are merely making money off its users. This helps to offset the money they lose by treating tobacco users in corporate plans where the insurers have to charge the same for every employee regardless of the individual's unhealthy habits. No one, except a smoker, sees anything wrong or hypocritical about making smokers pay more for health care, so why this uproar over collecting that money at the cash register, instead of through a payroll deduction? - Gary Fee

STATE UNEMPLOYMENT FUNDS IN DEEP TROUBLE

Unemployment is engineered by business, through government, to cow the workforce to accept lower wages. Unemployment can be got rid of at any time, simply by floating the point at which overtime rates kick in. Lowering the overtime point (hrs/wk) drives employers to hire more people rather than pay overtime rates. When employment is full, the overtime point can rise. When unemployment exists, the overtime point is lowered until the surplus labour is absorbed.

Right to work is unalienable. Society is bound to at least do no harm; there is no point in society if it doesn't help rather than hurt us - and work is vital to health, self-esteem, etc. No society has a right to withhold work.

STUDENT'S GRAD SPEECH REJECTED AS TOO REAL.

Why all the attention for such a mediocre speech?

I'll tell you what is wrong with it: it makes the faculty look like schmucks, if that is all she got out of four years of "higher" learning.

Congrats to Ms. Lugo for not stringing together a bunch of butt-kissing cliches and sleep-walking her way thru a pre-approved performance , as per the usual grad speech.

Wow, she figures out the most important thing about surviving exposure to organized education: keep your wits about you and don't forget you can always think for yourself if you'd prefer, and she gets panned for it by a couple of dim-bulb PR readers. (of all people and places! )

Cast off your chains, for heaven's sake, if a kid can do it so can you. Lucky for the rest of us citizens somebody got churned out of the business end of one of our high schools and actually has a functioning intellect, a helping of strength of character to go with it , and a large measure of common sense , to boot No doubt, one or two schmucks in the faculty lent her a helping hand, somewhere along the way. Kudos to a gutsy grad - John A. Joslin, Detroit

It's weird to even see this speech highlighted here at ProRev. What did you see in it, that made you think it should be read more widely? I have no wish at all to target this rather childish-seeming young woman for disparagement, but I agree the speech mostly ranges from unoriginal mediocrity to, yes, outright unenlightening dreck.

I don't think it was the most incredible speech but it definitely wasn't horrible. This life or society we've enslaved ourselves to isn't that complicated but its a bitch and I think that's the speech writer's point. It's pretty down to earth and makes sense and isn't all fluffy and fake. You guys that are sipping your coffee sitting there scoffing at the speech are the losers. That's the point: find joy in your life and don't take shit so seriously. The life the faculty and the establishment have planned for us sucks. You're all gold mines and they want to deplete you, so create your joy when and however you can and, hey, for starters relax.

Now we see loadocrap's problem . She/he's a teacher which means she/he took the safe path, siding with an establishment which eats its young to preserve its fat content and is never so irked as when the young rebel against the crap she/he's digested and turned into more crap. Marlon Brando in "One-eyed Jacks","Yore a real one-eyed jack around here,Dad, but I seen the other side of yore face",

US RANKED 83RD MOST PEACEFUL COUNTRY

Guess the research group didn't bother to ask about New Zealand's Maori biker gangs, or the Fijian illegals; and I bet they don't have a clue about the gangs in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, both homegrown and from former Soviet bloc countries.

And just how useful are direct comparisons between homogeneous countries with tiny populations and huge nations with hundreds of millions of very diverse people?

130 CLERGY PUBLICLY SUPPORT GAY MARRIAGE IN DC

My grandmother believed the basis of Christianity was to do unto others as you would want them to do unto you. I am assuming that applies to souls of different origins and persuasions including sexual preference.

JUDGE UPHOLDS UNCONSTITUTIONAL PHONE SPYING.

If criminalizing an act that was legal when it was performed is an ex post facto law and therefore unconstitutional, how can a law exempting someone from prosecution ex post facto for a crime performed before the law was passed be legal?

WORD

Close, but a misquote. Letter to John Taylor (1816): "And I sincerely believe, with you, that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies. . .

TEACHER CREDENTIALS

The correlation between advanced academic credentials and success as a teacher is tenuous and often inverse. Paul Blair, former center fielder for the Baltimore Orioles, couldn't get a job as a high school baseball coach (or maybe phys ed teacher) in New York State because he lacked a teaching credential. The school system is credential heavy and that's one of its problems.

I'm not supporting Klein's approach. But to the extent that he was challenging credentialism in the public schools he was starting at a good place, even if he went wrong from there. - JR

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