While there’s no indication that state employees intentionally helped the two inmates with their “early release,” it will be interesting to see what role friends or relatives of the two men played in assisting them, as it would take outside assistance in order for this to have happened.
In a letter to the company’s president, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius voiced serious concern over the rates, which go into effect March 1 for many of the insurer’s estimated 800,000 individual policyholders.
The increases have triggered widespread criticism from Anthem members and brokers, who say the premium hikes will put health coverage out of reach for some and very costly for others.
“With so many families already affected by rising costs, I was very disturbed to learn through media accounts that Anthem Blue Cross plans to raise premiums for its California customers by as much as 39%,” Sebelius wrote to company President Leslie Margolin.
While Anthem Blue Cross has not indicated the exact rate increase or how many customers will be affected by the increases, brokers who sell policies for Anthem Blue Cross have noted the increases are many and large, and the increases come on the heels of similar rate increases last year. Considering Wellpoint Inc., the parent company of Anthem Blue Cross, posted profits of $2.5 billion in 2008, I’d be curious to find out the company’s justification for the steep rate increases.
I’ll admit it – I love the Superbowl as much for the commercials as for the game itself, and Sunday’s Superbowl ads didn’t disappoint, at least in my opinion. Personally, my favorite of all the ads was the Careerbuilder.com “Casual Fridays” ad, but I’d like to know what you thought. What was your favorite ad from Superbowl XLIV?
“Sunday will be anything but super for abortion-loving liberals”
So says conservative bomb-thrower Kevin Fischer, who’s clearly a subscriber to the notion that all liberals think exactly alike on every issue, allowing for all liberal to be lumped together in sweeping generalizations.
However, as grumps of The Happy Circumstance notes in a comment replying to Fischer, there were more than a few liberals who said, “let the commercial run,” including yours truly. While I may not support taking away a woman’s right to choose, as do Tim Tebow and his mother, I’m glad they had an opportunity to speak their minds about an issue they obviously care deeply about. I’m also in agreement with grumps, who went on to note how glad he was that he and Fischer are now on the same side when a church wishes to run a message of tolerance or an advocacy group shares a message of peace.
In case you missed it, here’s the ad that was supposed to have all us liberals in a tizzy:
Posted by MadCityMan on February 8, 2010, at 1:14 pm
Last week I wrote about some offensive comments made by White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, and at the time I agreed with Sarah Palin, who called for Emanuel to be fired, but here’s where the story gets really interesting. After Palin’s statement, conservative squawker Rush Limbaugh made more than one reference to the demeaning word on his show on Wednesday, saying “Our political correct society is acting like some giant insults taken place by calling a bunch of people who are retards, retards” and “I think their big news is he’s out there calling Obama’s number one supporters f’ing retards. So now there’s going to be a meeting. There’s going to be a retard summit at the White House”.
Despite Limbaugh’s comments, Palin did not call for his ouster, with a spokesperson for Palin saying only, “Gov. Palin believes crude and demeaning name-calling at the expense of others is disrespectful.” So while Sarah Palin felt Rahm Emanuel deserved to be fired for one offensive remark, she apparently didn’t feel Rush Limbaugh deserved the same for not one, not two, but four references to the word retard. That’s hypocrisy, plain and simple.
Tom Beebe has an idea for raising $850 million a year for Wisconsin schools, easing property taxes for homeowners and buying some time to devise a long-term solution to the state’s Byzantine school funding system — raise the state’s 5 percent sales tax by 1 percentage point.
It might not be politically viable. But supporters say at least it’s an idea.
In order to address the state’s school funding problems, a group called A Penny For Kids has started a petition to tell Wisconsin legislators that our schools need their attention now and a penny-for-kids sales tax increase is a good way to start. If passed, a one-cent increase in the sales tax will raise about $850 million annually, according to the group, with one example of how the money would be distributed as follows:
$280 million to increase equalization aid and reduce property taxes
$280 million for additional aid to children from poverty
$170 million to offset the regressively of the sales tax
$66 million for additional aid to children with disabilities
$25 million in additional aid for rural districts
$15 million in additional aid for children who are English language learners
$10 million in additional aid for transportation expenses
$10 million to slow the decline in aid to districts with declining enrollment
So the national “Tea Party” convention was held this weekend, as despite the presence of conservative darling Sarah Palin as the keynote speaker, 600 folks attended the “Tea Party” convention. For a supposed “national movement,”attendance of 66 at your national convention isn’t that impressive. As James Rowen notes, he’s been to local weekend conferences with that many people.
Down in Illinois, there’s a fascinating (and disturbing) story breaking about Scott Lee Cohen, the Democratic nominee for Illinois Lt. Governor. According to the Chicago Tribune, Cohen has some significant skeletons in his closet, having been accused of abusing women, failing to pay child support and spending lavishly on extramarital affairs. When Democratic gubernatorial candidate Pat Quinn suggested that Cohen drop out of the 2010 race for the good of the Democratic Party, Cohen, a pawnbroker and political neophyte, vowed to continue as a lieutenant governor candidate after voters nominated him Tuesday. Perhaps more disturbing than the allegations of past wrongdoing are new disclosures showing that even as Cohen spent more than $2 million of his own money to run TV and radio ads for his campaign, as recently as December his ex-wife was accusing him in court of being $54,000 behind in child support payments.
While the allegations surrounding Scott Lee Cohen are certainly disturbing, what’s equally as disturbing is the fact that none of Ilinois’ print or news media outlets picked up on the story until after Cohen won the Lt. Governor’s race. As Deke Rivers of Caffeinated Politics notes, one of the vital jobs the media undertakes should be in-depth investigative reporting. The media in Illinois certainly dropped the ball with a story that certainly could have (and likely would have) changed the outcome of the Lt. Governor race, leaving plenty of egg on everyone’s face.
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