DISCUSSION OF THE CURRENT MOVE TO REDUCE SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE BENEFITS ON SHARON LOCKHART AND ALEXIS BURDICK PROGRAM “EVERY WOMAN,” TOMORROW, SATURDAY, AUGUST 7^TH AT 3:00 PM

Sharon Lockhart - Co-Host of "Every Woman" on KKFI

Republicans and the DLC branch of the Democratic Party pushed poor and working class women and children deeper into poverty during the 1990s.  Now the same gang wants to push the poor elderly deeper into poverty.  The Tallgrass Activist (Dave Kingsley) will be discussing President Obama’s so-called National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform – a euphemism for “let’s balance the budget on the backs of the elderly commission” – tomorrow at 3:00 PM on Sharon Lockhart’s and Alexis Burdick’s program “Every Woman” on KKFI FM 90.1 at 3:00 PM (Saturday, August 7th).

Most Americans aren’t aware of the stealthy way Democrats and Republicans have whittled away at Social Security benefits for the past thirty years and are continuing their efforts in that endeavor to this very day.  First we had the Greenspan Commission during Ronald Reagan’s first administration, which recommended, amongst other things, pushing retirement age back and taxing Social Security payments.  The Democratic congress adopted Greenspan’s recommendations.

Not long after the Greenspan Commission, we had the Boskin Commission.  Many people are aware of the Greenspan Commission but few people know that the Boskin Commission is responsible for drastically reducing Social Security benefits.  That commission redefined the Consumer Price Index (inflation) and has consequently underestimated inflation for the past twenty years.  Instead of a real annual average of 7%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has been using several illogical techniques for lowering the CPI to an average of 2.5%.

More about the inflation manipulation will be discussed on this blog in the future.  This post is an alert about the current efforts underway by the Republicans and Republican-wing of the Democratic Party elite in Washington to devise a way for Congress to reduce the deficit by robbing Social Security and reducing Medicare benefits.

The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility & Reform, apparently appointed by President Obama, is now looking at ways to reduce the deficit through “entitlements reductions” – this commission is stacked against the elderly.  One of the few members of the 16 members that could perhaps be considered a friend of the working people, Andy Stern, recently retired head of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), told the Huffington Post today that he is in favor of investing the Social Security Trust Fund surplus in Wall Street. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/30/andy-stern-invest-social_n_631228.html

Andy Stern - Selling Out The Laboring Class

This is a bad idea!  Social Security has been just fine without Wall Street involvement.  Fight it!

Here is the Commission:

Co-Chairmen:  Alan Simpson (Conservative Republican), Erskine Bowles (Conservative DLC Democrat, Former Clinton Chief of Staff)

Executive Director:  Bruce Reed (DLC Executive Director & Former Clinton Domestic Advisor)

Commissioners:

Senator Max Baucus (D-MT)

Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA)

Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI)

Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK)

Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND)

Dave Cote (Chairman & CEO Honeywell International)

Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID)

Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL)

Ann Fudge (Former CEO, Young & Rubicam Brands)

Senator Gregg Judd (R-NH)

Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX)

Alice Rivlin (Brookings Institution)

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)

Rep. John Spratt (D-SC)

Andrew Stern (SEIU)

 Of these 16 members, only four could be said to be mildly liberal left of center – Jan Schakowsky, Richard Durbin, Xavier Becerra, and Andy Stern.  Conversely, Tom Coburn, Gregg Judd, Paul Ryan, Max Baucus, Kent Conrad, Mike Crapo, Jeb Hensarling, Alice Rivlin, and John Spratt range from mildly right of center to extreme right-wing.  Paul Ryan and Tom Coburn are right wing extremists.  All but Schakowsky, Durbin, Becerra, and Stern have signaled their intent to “reduce entitlement benefits).

With the possible exception of Jan Schakowsky, you won’t see any members of the left wing of the Democratic Party on this commission.  This is a set-up and it shakes my confidence in President Obama’s commitment to the working people and to the liberal side of the political spectrum.  My support for him in the future is beginning to waver.

I just returned from my local Target Store on South Iowa.  The purpose of my trip to the store was to hand the manager a letter on my personal letterhead.  The letter stated that I would not shop at Target due to the company’s support for Tom Emmer, candidate for governor of Minnesota, through its $150,000 donation to his campaign.  Amongst his other right-wing attitudes, Emmer has been aggressive in opposing gay rights.  Furthermore, he has denigrated low-paid service workers. 

Basically, he supports the typical cruel, insensitive, destructive, and pro-plutocracy views of the current Republican Party.  The $150,000 Target donation to his campaign reflects the new political reality following the Citizens United case.

The manager at my local Target store was quite upset and concerned.  He said that he was not aware of the controversy but that he had never known Target’s involvement in political issues.  He said that he would send my letter “up the line” to corporate headquarters.  I urge everyone who find persecution of gay, poor, immigrant, or any other groups of Americans unconscionable to take a letter to your local target store.  Boycott Target and let them know that you are boycotting them. 

 Read more about the issue, compliments of MoveOn.org:

1. “Target Corp. defends Minn. political donation,” Associated Press, July 27, 2010

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=89661&id=22226-17563536-tmEGDIx&t=4
2. “GOP-linked punk rock ministry says executing gays is ‘moral’,” Minnesota Independent, May 25, 2010

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=89716&id=22226-17563536-tmEGDIx&t=5

“Emmer Camp On Comment That Waiters Make $100K: ‘It’s An Extreme Example’,” Talking Points Memo, July 13, 2010

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=89717&id=22226-17563536-tmEGDIx&t=6

3. “Minn. Ad Puts Target At Center Of Campaign Finance Controversy,” NPR, July 27, 2010

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=89714&id=22226-17563536-tmEGDIx&t=7

Size matters – size of the crowd that is.  The media and politicians are impressed by numbers.  Believe it or not, that is a major factor in making laws and public policy these days.  Don’t believe it?  Think Tea Party.  So that is why those of us who can must show up at a rally opposing the environmentally devastating and yet unneeded 895-megawatt coal-fired power plant.  Here are the details:

The rally will be at 1:30 PM today at Blue Valley Northwest High School (where the hearing on the permit will be held)

Address:  135th & Switzer, Overland Park

 Speakers include Bruce Niles from the Sierra Club.  The hearing will begin at 2:00 PM and break at 5:00 PM.  If necessary, it will commence again at 6:00 PM.  “If necessary” apparently means that the hearing will end if no speakers are left to speak after 5:00 PM.  The opposition to this proposed travesty is so strong that it is hard to imagine that no one will be left on the docket after 5:00 PM.

Dirty Holcomb Power Plant - Now They Want Another One

If you are opposed to building a power plant that will pollute the air, further stress the Ogallala Aquifer, provide benefit only to one county in Kansas and an empire building power company, then you can help stop it by showing up early at public hearings on the permitting process.  Get your name on the docket and get a seat before Sunflower Electric has a chance to pack the place.

The following schedule has been taken from the GPACE website (www.gpace.org):

KDHE Public Hearing Schedule

• The public comment period for Sunflower’s Holcomb Station coal plant is open from July 1 – August 15. Public comments can be submitted to KDHE anytime during that period.
• August 2 in Overland Park at 2:00 PM Blue Valley Northwest High School (135th and Switzer)
• August 4 in Salina at 2:00 PM Highway Patrol Training Center Auditorium (2025 East Iron)
• August 5 in Garden City at 2:00 PM Garden City Community College Joyce Auditorium (801 Campus Drive)
• Hearings will break at 5:00 PM and reconvene at 6:30 PM, continuing until all verbal and written comments have been submitted.
• Those wishing to deliver verbal comments must sign up at the hearing location at either 2:00 PM or 6:30 PM. For more information, visit KDHE’s Website.

I will be there because I love the State of Kansas and can’t stand what is happening to it.  Maybe other parts of the country think that we should be a dumping ground for polluting power plants, irrigated corn and the like but I plan to fight back!

My great grandfather homesteaded on the Smokey River in the late 1800s.  My father raised wheat and cattle near Cedar Bluff Reservoir without center pivot irrigation and nitrous ammonia.  As a small child I was with him when he and the other farmers and ranchers put up the REA power lines so that we had electricity. 

Now we have gone from real farming to producing the raw ingredients of the corn-based U.S. diet.  It seems to matter not if we are ruining our soil and depleting a precious aquifer.  We have a State legislature hell bent on building a dirty power plant for the benefit of one small part of the state and other parts of the energy wasting U.S. that will get the electricity from this power plant.  All of this is happening for the sake of short term profit, greed, and selfishness!

David Rubenstein - Billionaire Who Wants Your Social Security Dollars

Through deceit and manipulation, and with help from the mainstream media, the capitalist elite is waging a frontal assault on Social Security and Medicare.  Make no mistake about it, NPR and PBS are clearly in the MSM, so they won’t be of any help to the elderly who are likely to lose benefits.  Keep in mind that PBS news programs are brought to you by EXXON/Mobile, Ban k of America, Coca Cola and a host of foundations that are designed to be system maintenance mechanisms.  If any social justice issue is discussed on the PBS News Hour, hacks from the Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Institute, or the Cato Institute will be brought in to oppose the pro-social justice side.

Why are hedge fund moguls such as Peter G. Peterson of the Blackstone Group and David Rubenstein of the Carlyle Group on the PBS Charlie Rose Show making their case for reduction of Social Security and Medicare benefits?  It is rather simple.  They see trillions of dollars in capital sitting in the Social Security Trust Fund and through a reduction in Medicare benefits they see trillions more for themselves in inflated medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and other ventures.

The history of Rubenstein and the Carlyle Group should tell us exactly what they are up to.  After serving in the Carter White House, Rubenstein used his connections to set up a private equity group in Washington, D.C.  He formed a partnership with former secretaries of defense (e.g. Harold Brown), the Bush family, the Saudi Royal family and so on and so forth.  Initially, they bought companies that were primarily doing business as defense contractors.  In other words, they became rich from taxpayer funded defense programs.

How rich?  David Rubenstein has purchased an original copy of the Magna Carta for $21 million.  He is considered one of the wealthiest people in the World.  He and the Carlyle Group will continue to reap benefit from tax dollars poured into useless and inordinately expensive military programs.  But they see real potential in the medical-industrial complex.  Wall Street is literally drooling over what is coming down the road in medical technology.

If that $3 trillion sitting in the SSTF is made available and a reduction in Medicare benefits frees up trillions, taxpayers can pour more into medical devices, pharmaceuticals, bio-engineering, transplantation, and the like.  As beneficiaries receive less in reimbursement for treatment, more taxpayer provided capital will be available for purchase of over-priced products and services.

Here is the ongoing lie told by the Wall Street tycoons that see another fortune in medical care:  “Social Security and Medicare are unfunded liabilities in the amount of $57 trillion.”  They also attempt to include Social Security as part of the Federal Budget.  These are lies that go unchallenged by the likes of Rose on PBS and just about everyone else in print media as well as television.

Given the nature of Social Security as a trust fund with a dedicated tax and a “pay go” rule of operation, it makes no sense to even discuss it in the context of the Federal deficit.  In fact, it is now, and has been through most of its history, “off budget,” which means that it cannot be considered in the calculation of the budget deficit.  The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1990 prohibits the use of the Trust Funds for any purpose in the unified budget, including calculation of the deficit.  These provision were included in the Budget Enforcement Act, a sub-part of OBRA.

A considerable amount of public policy is made after legislation is passed.  Much of it is even made outside of the legislative process altogether.  This post concerns the following two cases in point:  (1) the permitting process for an 895-megawatt power plant in Southwestern Kansas, and (2) regulations pertaining to recently passed health care reform (The Affordable Care Act).  Citizens have a right to be involved in these administrative policy making processes!

SUNFLOWER ELECTRIC DIRTY POWER PLANT

 In spite of its unpopularity with Kansas citizens, the Governor has cut a deal with Sunflower Electric to proceed with the permitting process for a dirty, water-wasting, 895-megawatt, power plant.  The only thing this plant will do for Kansas is create some jobs for out-of-state construction workers as well as some permanent jobs for one small part of Kansas, i.e., Garden City.

The rest of the state will reap air pollution and loss of precious water in the Ogallala Aquifer.  None of the power will be generated for the use of Kansans.  So the consequence for most of the state is environmental devastation.

Sunflower Electric, which started as a much needed REA farmer-rancher cooperative, will be able to build an empire.  The advantages to the management of this growth-for-the-sake-of-growth power producer include bigger jobs and more pay.

The permitting process requires public hearings and citizen comments.  According to the Lawrence Journal World on July 24^th, “Of 204 comments received by KDHE so far, all but 10 favored the project.”  A large portion of these “favorable comments” came on preprinted post cards submitted by out-of-state construction workers.  This is the way it works.  Powerful companies and unions with a vested financial interest in a project but with absolutely no interest in environmental impact put their considerable resources into overwhelming the administrative process.  We can do the same!  Send your comments to:

                SunflowerComments@kdhe.ks.gov

                Or, with a postmark no later than August 15, write to :

                Kansas Department of Health & Environment

                Bureau of Air

                Attention: Sunflower Comments

                1000 SW Jackson

                Suite 310

                Topeka, KS

 HEALTH CARE REFORM (PATIENT PROTECTION & AFFORDABLE CARE ACT)

One major accomplishment of President Obama’s and the Democrats’ health care reform effort (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) was inclusion of a provision that requires insurers to spend at least 85% of your premium dollars on “quality health care” (80% in individual and small markets).  This provision serves one purpose:  to prevent the lavishing of insurance dollars on dividends, salaries, bonuses, perks, and other non-patient goodies.  In other words, hard working Americans pay their premiums for a fair return in the form of services when they need them.

If an insurer’s medical loss ratio (that is what it is called) doesn’t meet the 80% or 85% criteria, the insurer must refund their excess of payout over loss (after all, it is an insurance company that should expect some losses and a fair profit).  Wall Street and the insurers do not like the 80% and 85% medical loss ratios.  They are using the opportunity to influence recently issued regulations that will determine the meaning of “quality health care.”  They want to vastly expand the term to include activities that are unrelated to treating patients.  Here is how they are doing it:

They – or rather their high paid experts – are submitting comments regarding the regulations.  For instance, the Physician Groups for Coordinated Care – a lobbying group in Washington, D.C. – argued that the term should include, “quality improvement initiatives, medical records review, evaluation of appropriate diagnoses, pharmacy treatments (including medication therapy management), clinical data collection and analysis for quality improvement purposes, care coordination activities, patient education, and many of the supporting clinical IT investments and operating expenses.”  In other words, they want the policyholder to pay for their administrative costs and for their efforts to cut their overhead.

You can read the regulations at:

http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#docketDetail?R=EBSA-2010-0010

You can comment on the regulations at:

http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#docketDetail?R=HHS-OS-2010-0004

To date, approximately 140 comments have been submitted by insurance industry advocates while only 20 have been submitted by consumers.  Write in and let the Secretary of HHS know that health care provided should be reasonable given the premiums paid.  If the insurers are intent on escalating premium costs while they deny treatment, charge large co-pays and deductibles, and lavish their excessive profits on management and investors, then the consumer merely absorbs excessive increases without an increase in services.

Michelle Bachman’s racist Tea Party caucus in the House had a press conference yesterday with an African-American woman standing front and center declaring, “We are not terrorists.”  This old trick of oppressing people by finding individuals in the oppressed group who will cooperate with the oppressor has been around a long time.  After all, both Denmark Vesey and Nat Turner were betrayed by other slaves.   Hannah Arendt and Raul Hilberg have written about how some Jews helped round up and ship off other Jews to the concentration camps.

In the more modern phase of a highly sophisticated, complex form of racism/oppression, we have the Michael Steeles and whoever the other African American crazies are that are usually well rewarded for helping right wing Republicans continue racist Republican causes.  This technique will not be examined in the mainstream press.  NBC, ABC, CBS and the like won’t touch it while PBS would only touch it if someone from the Heritage Foundation were brought in to present “the other side.”

Only in a white racist society would a black President bear the brunt of blowback caused by the racist stunt of a political movement of racists, nativists, and ignorant yahoos – a stunt coordinated with their dedicated cable channel.  Certainly, everyone knows by now that a Tea Party bigot edited a black woman’s speech and made her appear to be hateful toward whites.

She was talking about her transformation from anger toward whites to understanding how poor people of all color were oppressed – it was about being poor, not about being black or white.  The edited tape didn’t include any of this marvelous woman’s thoughts about reconciliation.

It was a lie!  Yes, the Obama Administration did a stupid thing by firing the woman without fully investigating the matter.  Dumb, dumb, dumb – but, given the “white press” and its fear of the Tea Party movement, understandable.  President Obama is accused of racism at the drop of a hat.  Remember the Reverend Wright thing?   

But every news outlet from NBC to PBS made the Obama Administration the story.  This tells me that the so-called professionals in the media are treating the Tea Party just like they treated Joe McCarthy during the 1950s.  Members of the racist, white, right wing – and that is what the Tea Party represents – is attempting to destroy the NAACP just like they destroyed ACORN.

Everyone is jumping all over the NAACP and the Obama Administration without taking into account the aggressive and vicious – perhaps even violent – reaction that comes from the far right whenever they think they have uncovered some perceived racist behavior by African Americans or other minorities.  Let’s just be honest.  The media is either enamored with, or afraid of, these Tea Party idiots.

What I don’t understand is the wailing and gnashing of teeth by the liberal and progressive media on MSNBC.  Ed Schultz and Lawrence O’Donnell have really been laying it on the President. It never fails to amaze me how good the left is at beating itself over the head.

The mantra about the dire consequences of a Baby Boom horde hitting retirement age continues unabated amongst the talking heads, on news programs, and in the media in general.  As I indicated in the last post, aging per se isn’t a threat.  However, corporations and industries such as the medical-industrial complex will take advantage of Medicare as well as Medicaid to rip off taxpayers.

I have been writing about and will continue writing about the cost of medical technology and implications of overpriced, overutilized, expensive medical equipment, device implants, pharmaceuticals, and so on and so forth, for health care reform.  In my view, a gradual increase in the proportion of 65+ Americans from 13% to 20% by 2050 should be easily managed in a country with a $13 trillion GDP.

Furthermore, contrary to conventional wisdom, expensive technologies are not concentrated in the elderly population.  Let’s take the left ventricle assist device (LVAD) implant procedure for former Vice President Cheney.  According to a New York Times interview with, Dr. O. H. Frazier, leading surgeon in the LVAD implant procedure, of the 170 LVADs he has implanted, 24 of the patients were 65+, while 11 of that 24 were 70 or older.  None of the patients receiving the device were older than 76.  Check it out:  “A New Pumping Device Brings Hope for Cheney,” New York Times/Science Times, Tuesday, July 20, 2010:  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/20/health/20docs.html?_r=1&ref=health