What does Michigan's Attorney General have against Blue Cross?
BCBS is the state's insurer of last resort and Mike Cox seems determined to make it difficult for them to do their job. He has some legitimate points about executive compensation and the treatment of their for-profit subsidiaries, but is seems to me that 90% of his behavior stems from him desire to be governor.
This is far from the first example of Cox's obtuseness on complex issues.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Tom Pauli
Dear Tom;
I wanted to thank you for your thoughtful piece about the tragic death of Tom Pauli.
As you point out, this is a difficult subject. The laws governing the behavior of sex offenders are draconian and more the result of political hysteria than thoughtful consideration. I pity anyone who gets on this list, because their life is essentially over in any normal sense of the word. They are the 21st Century lepers, and if it happened to me I would see no choice but to leave the country.
As you noted, you will probably receive letters saying he deserved to freeze to death. Recidivism is clearly a problem for some sex offenders, who have what can only be called a disease. However, I suspect many of them are normal people who made a stupid and reprehensible mistake and are punished for the rest of their lives.
I hope you have the opportunity to follow up on this and see if tragically stupid laws like the one that kept Pauli out of a shelter can be changed. Unfortunately it takes something like this to make politicians realize the impact of what they do. There is no lobby for these unfortunate people and I'm not sure if anyone is brave enough to take up their case.
I wanted to thank you for your thoughtful piece about the tragic death of Tom Pauli.
As you point out, this is a difficult subject. The laws governing the behavior of sex offenders are draconian and more the result of political hysteria than thoughtful consideration. I pity anyone who gets on this list, because their life is essentially over in any normal sense of the word. They are the 21st Century lepers, and if it happened to me I would see no choice but to leave the country.
As you noted, you will probably receive letters saying he deserved to freeze to death. Recidivism is clearly a problem for some sex offenders, who have what can only be called a disease. However, I suspect many of them are normal people who made a stupid and reprehensible mistake and are punished for the rest of their lives.
I hope you have the opportunity to follow up on this and see if tragically stupid laws like the one that kept Pauli out of a shelter can be changed. Unfortunately it takes something like this to make politicians realize the impact of what they do. There is no lobby for these unfortunate people and I'm not sure if anyone is brave enough to take up their case.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Employee Free Choice Act
An interesting tidbit here from KOS on the gathering storm about the EFCA.
The establishment is going to hammer EFCA relentlessly with this very media-friendly line:
Learn more here
The establishment is going to hammer EFCA relentlessly with this very media-friendly line:
EFCA will take away the sacred right of workers to use secret ballots when deciding whether to adopt a union!This is bullshit, but it will become overwhelming unless union supporters get their POV into the press. We need tightly focused letters to the editor that explain why this bill is needed and why the union movement is fundamental to this country. If the corporations are allowed to frame this issue, they will win and we will have only ourselves to blame.
Learn more here
Public Pulse Returns
Not that anyone cares.
It's been nice basking in the Obama honeymoon, but it's increasingly clear that the right wing shitheads have spent the past two months sharpening their knives, so it's back to work.
It's been nice basking in the Obama honeymoon, but it's increasingly clear that the right wing shitheads have spent the past two months sharpening their knives, so it's back to work.
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