UnitedHealthCare's blitzkrieg on hospitals

SHOULD YOU have any doubts about the blitzkrieg that the health insurance has assembled to destroy any semblance of reforms, check out the withering reports about UnitedHealthCare's threat to a major hospital chain in New York. As reported by the New York Times, the insurance giant has demanded that hospitals notify it of an incoming patient within 24 hours or face the loss of half of the patient's coverage. The hospitals, which include Beth Israel Medical Center and St. Luke's -Roosevelt Hospital Center, are fighting to stave off UnitedHealthCare's poison pills. The teaching hospitals would have to absorb whatever loss that arose from the insurer's reduced coverage. The insurer said it merely wants to cut costs and prove the quality of health care. Fat chance.

Is UnitedHealthCare kidding? As one who has bounced through that outfit and then moved on to Aetna before it became a burdensome nuisance, I can report from personal experience that I often wondered whether the Aetna enforcers ever read their mail. A full eight or nine months after we switched to our current insurer, I and my wife were still getting notices from it despite a number of phone calls and letters to it with reminders to Aetna that we were no longer under its so-called tent.

In the New York case, the hospitals might be pleasantly surprised if they ignored the threat. It's possible that UnitedHealthCare would not catch up with such defiance for many months. What would you lose that you might lose anyway?

Boehner, the common-sense (?) guy

ASIDE TO REP. JOHN BOEHNER: When you insist that President Obama must turn to "common-sense solutions" for Ohio's economic problems in a Plain Dealer op-ed piece, may I humbly ask you to define "common sense"? Is that what your Republican candidate for governor, John Kasich, is talking about when he calls for the elimination of the state income tax? Please help me to understand where you, as the head of the GOP House, a Cincinnatian and Deliverer from Evil, are going with this? An operator is standing by.

Texting Lieberman: Your role has been eliminated

AS WE SAT through the timely film, "Up in the Air,", with its wrenching cold-blooded scenes in which George Clooney and Anna Kendrick matter-of-factly informed employes at various companies that their jobs have been eliminated, I kept waiting for Sen. Joe Lieberman to turn up. He, as you've probably heard, was one of the big losers in that blast in Massachusetts. As one of the leading purveyors of the Hobson's Choice that eventually shredded the health reform bill - Joe's version or no version - he was able to blackmail the Democratic caucus by holding it hostage to his vote to deny a filibuster. Now that the score is 59-41 or less, Joe's bargaining power on the street is worthless. His role as a smarmy Independent go-between has been eliminated, leaving in its wake a lot of wounded Democrats who bowed to his demands to salvage the bill. Let's hope that the Democrats can muster what little courage they still have to kick him out of the caucus and strip him of his committee chairmanship.... So long, Joe. It wasn't good to know you.

To the G0P: Don't crack open the champagne yet

WHILE REPUBLICANS are celebrating their newly-found glory in Massachusetts as Democrats fall on their swords, may I add two cautionary words for the GOP? Tea Party. Throughout the land the adrenalin is flowing for the political upheaval that has taken over the dialogue, for which the traditional Republican soldiers might pause. The Tea Partyers are up and running, like unleashed pit bulls, against the Republican officeholders in the primaries. A brief recap:

In Texas, where its governor, Rick Perry, has talked of secession when it has suited his audience, eleven Republican congressmen are being challenged in the state primary by the TP's. That's not a misprint. E-L-E-V-E-N! As in football.

In Ohio, a TP candidate, State Rep. Seth Morgan, from rural Huber Heights, has declared his candidacy for Ohio Auditor with strong backing from the TPs who refer to him as a "man of principle". Should the folks at the State GOP Headquarters in Columbus risk the enmity of the hard-right conservatives by giving full support to a party-backed candidate? In Ohio's Second congressional district, a seat already held by U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt (a birther and hardly a lib) now comes Libertarian-TP activist, Marc Johnston, who has entered the race that includes Schmidt and several others. The Ohio U.S. Senate race has at least one TP-friendly candidate, Tom Ganley on the Republican side, and at the top of the ticket, gubernatorial candidate John Kasich has appeared at a TP rally or two to assure them that he is one of their brethren.

In Florida, Gov. Charlie Crist has a challenge in his bid for the U.S. Senate from a TP. In New York's 23rd District, the Republican congressional candidate withdrew from a challenge by a TP who was supported by Sarah Palin (in this instance the TP came up empty as the Democrat won.)

In Massachusetts, Illinois and other states, we may see more TP candidates in the mix. ( I was going to mention Michael Steele, the RNC chairman, too, who is fond of the TP's. But nobody takes Steele seriously these days.)

I wouldn't think that GOP regulars (read: the ones back at the club) could comfortably sniff away these challenges. The TP's are now operating on web sites named Patriotic Resistance, Tea Party Nation and FreedomWorks and they don't speak that highly of either party up on Capitol Hill.

Win or lose, any serious primary challenge will only serve to drain money that could be spent against the Democrats in November. And after all, isn't money what politics is all about these days? Well, that and, eh...socialists.

Limbaugh has a special place for tampons

I ALWAYS TELL myself to ignore Rush Limbaugh. But I am weak. For me it is those times when I try to avoid stepping on the seams in a sidewalk but step on them anyway. But with Rush, there are so many more opportunities for me to weaken. Of late it's his bombastic attempts to ridicule President Obama and others who are engaged in helping the victims of Haiti. No surprise there. With the day approaching when he will find a way to link Obama to selling steroids to Mark McGwire, Rushbo has now been bleating about former President Clinton's work on aid to Haiti, reminding all who care to listen that, "You can't even pick up a prostitute down there without genuine fear of AIDS." This from a fearless big-spending addict who returned from Venezuela with Viagra.

Don't go. There's more. To a woman listener who criticized him, he retorted that such woman callers "have tampons in their ears."Ha. Ha. Athough our supply was nearly exhausted in 2009, we still have a Grumpy Abe Linguistic Lunacy (GALL) award on hand to post one for him. That might help a little in alerting folks to where he has turned and lowered his neck to place his head.

A southern hoops league sans blacks and foreigners

THANKS TO THE anonymous commenter who alerted me to the latest proposal to illustrate the growing Southern Strategy. Seems that a fellow named Don "Moose" Lewis , a former pro wrestling promoter, told the Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle that he is forming an "All-American Basketball Alliance" down among the sheltering palms that will be composed of an all-white, all-American-born league. Let's see. That would take sports back to the days when Notre Dame was refused an invitation to the Sugar Bowl because it had a black player. But Lewis assured us that he doesn't hate anybody of color nor of non-American origin. Just wants the white guys to be able to play the game the way it should be played. I would go for the idea on one condition: The winner of his league would have to play the winner of the NBA championship to the last man standing. Hmmm.... No, not a pretty thought. Sorry I mentioned it.

Masschusetts and the words of Robert Frost

YEARS AGO, IN an interview with the poet Robert Frost, he mentioned the resiliency of Americans in the wake of a nuclear disaster. "They'll be up in heaven dusting themselves off," he airily predicted, "and saying, 'Boy, that was something, wasn't it?'"

There are a lot of living Democrats dusting themselves off today, desperately trying to find the appropriate words to describe that historicastoundingepicbombshell event in Massachusetts. The pendulum in the Bay State not only swung, but also crashed through the firewall that has long protected the most liberal state in the Union.

I haven't heard anything that has made much sense from either side in the haze of the moment. Democrats say they have to do better; Republicans credit themselves with already having done better. You can expect a lot of this in the days ahead, depending how long it will take the congressional Henny-pennies to retreat from Foxy-woxy's lair to get back to work in behalf of the American people. It won't be enough for the conservatives, the immovable rock in the Senate and House, to gloat that "We told you so." Nor for the Democrats, a skittish group that takes cover against the slightest suggestion that the other side is lying in wait, to have shaky knees..

You can take your choice of what happened in Massachusetts:. A lackluster Democratic candidate, voter frustrations, a state that already had government framed health insurance,

a helping hand from the Tea Parties, a Republican candidate who pledged his first order of business in the senate would be the 41st vote against health care reform. All the while, the Democrats simply took the state for granted. After all, this was the seat held by the late Ted Kennedy, who dedicated much of his time to such reforms.

Meanwhile, back on Capitol Hill, it remains a mystery of how the Democrats forfeited their 60-40 numerical lead over the other party other than to notice that they have often appeared gutless and duplicitous - particularly those who shared the booty from the health care industry and the pharmaceuticals. The Republicans are now operating as the majority party on all major issues. Climate change will be next.

The election couldn't come at a worse time for President Obama, with Afghanistan, Haiti, sober unemployment figures, Wall Street excesses and such Blue Dogs as Evan Bayh and Ben Nelson on his plate with Joe Lieberman in reserve. His hospitality to the other side hasn't worked, and won't work, which leads me to believe that his only option is to say: This is where I stand, take it or leave it. Put up or shut up. (Nelson, who is not above political bribery to get his way, even managed to plug into the haggard Senate plan a special benefit for his red state of Nebraska, which will later vote for him but not Obama.

What a mess! It might be a good time for rest of us to spend more time at the movies.

Blankfein engaged in "God's work"

I HAVE THE FEELING that God has never been busier than He is today in taking care of the nation's business. His schedule was further burdened by Lloyd C. Blankfein, the chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs who defended his company's modus operandi by insisting that Goldman Sachs was doing "God's work." Such heavenly labors included selling off securities with the thought that they would depreciate in value. Which they did. Boom.

According to the New York Times, Blankfein did concede that as a "market maker" Goldman Sachs was engaged in improper business and has reason to "regret and apologize..." Some, on the other hand, would simply call it plundering.

Blankfein's reference to his company's divine guidance followed closely upon Sarah Palin's gratefulness that God had led her to a great job at Fox News. Right. God and Roger

Ailes, whoever comes first over at the studio.

.

his company was that

NBC: The price of dumb decisions?

AM I THE ONLY person in the world who isn't seriously caught up in the celebrity shuffle at NBC featuring Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien? I mean, here are two well-paid, well-fed comedians (I'm told) whose bosses have tried to turn them on a splashy new axis to gain viewers. And the national media haven't got enough of it. Apparently, the front office at NBC should have left well-enough alone, which is often the case these days as dumb decisions are passed down from the top by folks who ought to know better - but don't. Leno will be back to his old spot; and O'Brien will end up somewhere else. Blah. Blah. Blah.

However, the vein that is being tapped, whether on Wall Street, sports and television is generating great wealth for the losers. Bonuses at the big banks, payoffs for departing coaches and, in this instance, O'Brien. When Charlie Weis was fired at Notre Dame, he is said to have received upward of $30 million for coaching another mediocre performance by the Fighting Irish. O'Brien will match that out the door. Obviously, recessions aren't for everybody.

Kasich-Taylor prepare to turn out Ohio's lights

THERE WAS A LOT of recycled ear candy passed out at yesterday's announcement by Republican gubernatorial candidate John Kasich that State Auditor Mary Taylor would join him on the ticket. Such events for both parties are always euphoric moments before the candidates take to the stump and are forced to explain exactly what they meant. Among Kasich's promises were his commitment to eliminate the state income tax, repeal the estate tax, deregulate industry and commerce and shrink government. So who could argue?

Trouble is, the system doesn't work that way, never has and never will. As we have so often learned the hard way, when the state shrinks its share, local governments must pick up the pieces; that is, if you want to keep the schools and a lot of other public services and projects moving along. When it comes to cash flow, Kasich, a former managing director of Lehman Brothers before it crashed into bankruptcy, knows that as well as anybody. He just won't say so in the delirium of sweet talk to the voters, not the least of whom are his Tea Party friends. Several news reports that I read noted that he was much less specific about how he would pay the bills if revenue vanished under his proposals. Fact is, he couldn't.

Maybe a report by the Ohio Legislative Service Commission will be of help to the voters: the first year of a phased-out income tax would cost the state treasury $768 million. The commission said that would translate into $79 million in cuts to local governments and libraries in fiscal year 2011. Over 10 years, it would drain $12 billion from the state revenue. In terms that might be easier to understand , the Plain Dealer pointed out that 40 pct. of the state's general revenue comes from the income tax.

I'm surprised Kasich didn't blame former Democratic governor, Jack Gilligan, of saddling Ohio with the income tax in the first place. When Gilligan ran for governor in 1970 he frequently called for the new tax to, among other things, rescue cash-starved school districts. With uncommon, if risky, honesty about the state of the universe, Gilligan told the voters that if they didn't want an income tax, they should vote for the other guy. He won anyway. And when the tax was tested with a referendum two years later to repeal it, the voters again sustained the tax. (When Rhodes later entered the job, the joke around Columbus was that although the new governor was monstrously opposed to taxes, he never lifted a finger to rid the state of the "Gilligan tax." And we knew why.

So for the next 10 or 11 months, I suspect there will be marathon of headachy harangues against Gov. Strickland, taxes and state budgets, with nothing new added to the inertial Republican agenda.

Ear candy.