Social Issues
Original Author:
(James Rowen)
If you examine the Walker/Fitzgeralds' agenda and accomplishments [sic] to date- - the Voter ID bill locking in Republican advantages, a parade of business tax breaks, the shift of agency rule-making to the Governor's office, the management of the DNR with
a "chamber of commerce mentality," the easing of mining approvals and wetlands protections, the boosting of private school choice, the crippling of public employee unions and members' collective bargaining rights, the starving of local bus systems, outright killing of both a Madison-to-Milwaukee Amtrak extension and separate SE Wisconsin commuter train, and more - - there's only one way to interpret it:
The far right, with Walker as the front-man CEO, is re-shaping Wisconsin as a subsidiary of the private sector run by the Class "A," preferred shareholders - - the WMC, major conservative donors and Americans for Prosperity-type advocacy groups, and ALEC, which provides secretive, members-only ideological and technical guidance.
That group is rewarding itself with dividends guaranteed, across the board, by Walker, the Fitzgeralds and other compliant legislative/managers on behalf of the majority, controlling Class "A" shareholders.
Original Author:
(James Rowen)
Another
document dump - - the
second in the last few weeks - - shows cozy relationship among the players, including American regulators now reviewing whether a major new pipeline from Canada to Texas should be approved.
With
most of the oil ticketed for export via Houston, and not for domestic usage.
Not a good development for the White House and the public interest.
Original Author:
California Labor Federation
by Mitch Seaman, California Labor Federation
Forbes magazine as gutsy consumer advocate? Well, not really, but even the favored rag of corporate shills everywhere seemed stunned by Bank of America’s $5 debit fee announcement on Friday, accusing the banking behemoth of committing
a common mistake large corporations make: taking the customer for granted, holding the belief that whatever products or services they offer are unique and indispensible, so their customers will always be there.
While we agree that Bank of America’s incompetence runs rampant throughout the banking industry, by several measures of greed and arrogance, this troubled corporation stands alone. Allow us to present Bank of America with the following uniquely dubious titles:
Original Author:
Brian Leubitz
HMO faces scrutiny for their arithmetic
by Brian Leubitz
Kaiser is something of a mixed bag. They get some good press for focusing on areas that help to reduce health care costs, preventative care, that sort of thing. On the flip side, they are usually somewhere in the background on lobbying efforts, killing any attempts to make health care insurance more consumer friendly in California.
Well, today's news is more on the dark side. It turns out that they've been overcharging small business customers and not really providing the data to back it up:
Kaiser Permanente has retroactively rolled back rate increases that went into effect for small businesses on July 1 by 1.2 percent.
The welcomed - albeit small - bit of news for thousands of California enrollees comes after a bit of wrangling with the state regulators.
Kaiser in April had proposed a 10.7 percent rate hikes for the bulk of its small business customers. The state Department of Managed Health Care, armed with a new law that allows them to scrutinize actuarial data behind the rate filings, pushed back.
"We've been concerned about the lack of data they provided to support their trends and we requested they reduce their rates," said department spokeswoman Lynne Randolph.
The new increase of 9.5 percent translates into a total savings of $13.5 million, Randolph said.
Original Author:
Democracy for New Mexico
This month's DFA-Democracy for New Mexico Meetup is set for TONIGHT, Tuesday, October 4, at 7:00 PM at the Social Hall of the First Unitarian Church on the SW corner of Carlisle and Comanche in Albuquerque. Please RSVP. All are wecome to attend!
We'll be hearing from former ABQ Mayor MARTY CHAVEZ, who's a candidate in the Democratic primary race for Congress in New Mexico's First District. He'll be discussing his campaign and positions on the issues, and answering your questions.
Labor leader JON HENDRY, who serves as President of the New Mexico Federation of Labor and the business agent for IATSE local 480, will also be speaking to the group. He'll discuss workers' rights and the role of unions in today's anti-working class, anti-middle class political environment dominated by corporate and right-wing greed.
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