50-State Blog Network

Bank of America - A Unique Display of Corporate Greed

October 4, 2011 by Calitics

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:

Big, bad sheriff huffs and puffs, but Abele's house is still standing

October 4, 2011 by Uppity Wisconsin

Bruce Murphy of Milwaukee Magazine on the Abele-Clarke budget battle we wrote about recently:  

 "This is a fascinating dispute pitting a champion verbal pugilist like Clarke against a political neophyte like Abele, yet Clarke is so far getting the worst of it. An unruffled Abele is simply letting the attacks roll off him citing facts and analysis, while an angry Clarke huffs and puffs away."  

Murphy's take here.

Kaiser Forced to Repay Small Businesses for Overcharging

October 4, 2011 by Calitics

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.

Whoa folks, I have to defend American rich and super rich

October 4, 2011 by Left in Alabama

Whoa folks, I have to defend American rich and super rich -- they didn't get profitable by dumb luck, they're smart.  
They know that the public now may make noises critical of their acts, but that same public is dumb as their poverty and economic situation proves.

They pay themselves outrageous amounts of money unrelated to performance, bribe the representatives and senators to give them tax breaks while they make enormous profits, and they know that their political messages convince enough middle class, poor folk, and po' folk to vote in representatives who tax rich folk less and everyone else more.

They are truly smart.

They deserve largesse that smart folk deserve.

You deserve the less you deserve.

They know that you will vote them more.

They know that a majority of you do not associate your problems with excessive greed of some of the rich and super rich.

Majority of you continue to vote in representatives and senators who vote in tax breaks for the rich that dont produce

Will Alabama's Immigration Debate Focus On Scary Muslims Next?

October 4, 2011 by Left in Alabama

The Beason-Hammon Immigration Law is all about making life in Alabama unbearable for brown people (with a whole lot of collateral damage to legal residents!) but is there a religious component as well, namely an anti-Muslim sentiment?  Former Bob Riley policy advisor and current state Senator Bryan Taylor about an arrest under the new law:

Is the first man charged under Alabama's new immigration law an Islamic fundamentalist?

Gov. Jobs? More like governor jobbing Wisconsin

October 4, 2011 by Uppity Wisconsin

To boldly go....Gov. Scott Walker's job-creation fervor so far has been mostly all tax cuts for corporations ... and hot air. The state's employment shortfall actually has worsened in Walker's first year but the one thing he wants us to believe is that "job creators" -- that would be businesses which, in the main, are creating virtually no jobs while shedding scads of others -- are "uncertain" about the future and thus need more hand-holding and palm-greasing from the state Capitol.

And look at this: Walker's antics have come at the cost of the state's highest budget in history, significant cuts in wages and benefits for state employees and more spending on loyalist hacks. He's replaced scads of civil servants with political appointees answerable to him, paying some of them tens of thousands of dollars more annually than the veteran professionals they have replaced, despite their lesser experience.

Dear Scott Beason.... How Do You Feel About "Them" Now?

October 4, 2011 by Left in Alabama

Back in February, we wrote that "Scott Beason could use a little education about immigration," but of course, he knew more than church leaders, local law enforcement, county commissions, citizens standing in the "Beason Lines," or even those "Aborigines" in the state.  Now he's getting an earful from local business owners.  Reckon his hearing has improved?

Supreme Court Hears Medi-Cal

October 3, 2011 by Calitics

High Court to consider massive cuts to services and reimbursement rates.

by Brian Leubitz

The United States Supreme Court opened up its 2011-2012 term, and oh yeah, they're talking California:

The Supreme Court began a new term Monday by refereeing a major healthcare dispute to decide whether cash-strapped states like California can cut their Medicaid payments to doctors and hospitals who serve low-income patients.
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Lawyers for California and the Obama administration urged the court to rule that Medicaid is a "voluntary" effort to provide medical care for the poor and that disputes over funding should be resolved by healthcare officials in Sacramento and Washington, not by federal judges in San Francisco.
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Kooyenga: Butter my butt and call me a biscuit

October 3, 2011 by Uppity Wisconsin

"I literally Googled 'stupid Wisconsin laws' and this one came up as No. 1," said Republican state Rep. Dale Kooyenga, a 32-year-old accountant from Brookfield who wants to undo law he calls silly, antiquated and anti-free market. --Associated Press.

Well, maybe not literally.

I'll tell you what: If you Google stupid Wisconsin laws and can find one site where that is on the top of the list, I'll eat a stick of margarine.

Here's one site's list to get you started:

One may not camp in a wagon on any public highway or risk a fine of up to ten dollars.

It is a class A misdemeanor to wave a burning torch around in the air.

Livestock have the right-of-way on public roads.

The government may not prohibit manual flushed urinals.

Margarine may not be substituted for butter in restaurants unless it is requested by the customer.

Butter substitutes are not allowed to be served in state prisons.

Who knows if some of those are even on the books?