Most if not all have by now heard about the landmark ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court on campaign finance law.  How this leaves any semblance of the idea that democracy will not be ruled by the financial puppet strings controlled by the wealthiest individuals and now, the wealthiest, most powerful corporations.  The only thing left, the only dividing line, the last test of common sense and honesty is the individual vote of the American public. 

Decenting Justice, John Paul Stevens said, "At bottom, the Court's opinion is thus a rejection of the common sense of the American people, who have recognized a need to prevent corporations from undermining self-government since the founding, and who have fought against the distinctive corrupting potential of corporate electioneering since the days of Theodore Roosevelt. It is a strange time to repudiate that common sense. While American democracy is imperfect, few outside the majority of this Court would have thought its flaws included a dearth of corporate money in politics." 

God help us all!

Just a taste of what has been and continues to go on with insurance extortion:  When I call Anthem Blue Cross, administered by Wellpoint Pharmacy to get a list of the prescription meds on their actuary list (which can change without notice anytime and does) they ask insistently (operators seem to be reading a script or are trained to lead calls a certain way) what medication I have been prescribed.  I tell them I'm trying to determine which meds are covered under my policy and their actuary before filling my prescription.  My doctor is waiting to write a prescription once I find out what is covered so I don't get screwed. (nice of them, isn't it)  But they tell me that they need to know what med is to be prescribed before they can give me any information about it. Great, circular bull**** is what Blue Cross is serving up.  Makes sense if you are crooked!  Also makes sense if you are willing to get screwed.  I'm not going to give up willingly.  This ridiculous conversation goes on for quite sometime, while the Blue Cross rep on the phone asks me to hold, then comes back with more ridiculousness.  If I give them the name of the originally prescribed medication they tell me what my portion of the payment is, which is 100% because it is not a generic drug and not on the actuary.  I was given the name of a couple of generic equivalents that my doctor provided and tell the phone rep.  They put me on hold and then come back and tell my my co-pay is X amount dollars, which is about $5 less than the full price of the non-generic drug.  So you cover but don't really cover this generic.  Well they explain that some generics are more fully covered than others.  Uh huh? 

Frustrated by insurance (legalized) extortion?  Just about everyone I know sure is!

Read about this fellow getting arrested for asking why Anthem Blue Cross was rasing their premium rates by 14% (again!)  http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/8235

Thank you United States Congress!  (although there are some that are honorable, far too many are not and carry water for the special interest corporate lobbyists)

(... or, Cheats, Liars and Crooks Rule)

"These times they are a changin'", not that this is anything new in society or government.  It is more a return of the pendulum swing to a time of ignorance, fraud and corruption.  We have on the one hand a political party that is more interested in "winning" than it is in governing.  The left is probably as corrupt as the right which results in a false democracy.  Corporate big shots make immoral and in many cases un-ethical decisions but there are no consequences.  Likewise the only consequences to our politicians is that they might lose office, but in many cases the special interests reward the politicians with so much money that they feel they can "buy" their seats come reelection time.   

Our new weekly post highlighting what we think is the biggest joke from the previous week.

This week Rep. Bohner talks about the Republican health plan, which is really as he points out in a TV interview, "8 or 9 ideas" by the Republican party that will become an actual bill.  Wow, it has only taken 5 months (let alone the last 40 years since Medicare was enacted) to come up with a list of 8 or 9 bullet points!  Good job Mr. Bohner and the Republican party!  This weeks joke of the week.

The 'bi-partisan' healthcare plan about to be voted on in the Senate is getting heat again.  First the Healthcare/Insurance industries were onboard with reform.  I think what they meant was that they were on board as long as reform conformed to their guidelines, which meant even more money funneled into their coffers from both the public and public tax monies.  Now (as of today) they have announced that they are no longer on board with reform because it will cause them to raise premium rates much faster than they would have.

The executives of the Health and Insurance industries are really showing their true colors.  They are greedy, crooked and immoral.  They justify their positions using the corporate mantra, profit - we are required by law to make profit!  The senate committee members that have savaged any potential to a health reform bill by avoiding any true debate regarding the bill have shown that they must be carrying water for the health and insurance lobbyists that help to line their bank accounts. 

Joe Wilson at the very least is a hypocrite if not something else...

In his outspoken opposistion to what he calls "government run healthcare" he fails to tell everyone that he and his family use free government run healthcare now!  As a retired Army National Guard colonel he qualifies for and insomuch as receives public or government healthcare called TRICARE.  TRICARE is a part of Medicare coverage.