remarkable superhero demigod…and yes a delicious and chocolaty studbunny too
Posted by Michelle Moquin on April 13th, 2011
Good morning!
Out late last night. Up late this morning. I’ll share tomorrow of last night’s events, but today…this is all you’re gonna get from me.
The great Barack Obama conundrum
And suddenly we come to the crux of the problem: What shall we do about Barack in 2012?
Have you heard this question recently? Have you felt its icy breath on your neck, its uncomfortable presence in your day, your heart, your daily media grind? I bet you have.
Right now, it looms bright and large. For our fair president has just announced, via slick email/tweet/video clip showing all sorts of dorky postcard Americana — red barns, fluttery flags, babies on a stick, $9 coffee drinks — that he is officially running for re-election.
Yes, already. This is apparently now how it works in American politics: You are allowed no more than 2.4 years of impossibly difficult service as redeemer president, shouldering the overwhelming burden of failure foisted on you by your pathetic predecessor, before you have to start fundraising, glad-handing and talking wistfully about your Kenyan father all over again.
But never mind that now. Because liberals are, as they say, up against it. Many are fidgeting and fussing, puling about the fact that, while they grudgingly admit Obama has mostly been a fine, articulate, highly regarded president who has passed a huge amount of progressive legislation and returned America to a place of relative honor in the international community, turns out he’s not been nearly fine enough.
Just the opposite, in fact. To the sneering disappointment of the puritanical left, Obama has turned out to be pretty much exactly what he said he’d be during his ’08 campaign: flawed, exceedingly moderate, a resolute compromiser, overly pragmatic when he should’ve been a badass, temperate when he should’ve been white hot and furious, offering concessions when he should be bringing the hammer down.
In short, Obama has failed. He has not at all been the delicious chocolatey superjesus of radical sociopolitical transformation most on the hard left hoped, prayed and sacrificed precious Prius bumper ad space he would be.
Hence, the conundrum. Given all this mealy disappointment, how now to best rally the troops and get out the vote in 2012 with anything resembling the passion and fervor of 2008, so as to defy any further sickening GOP onslaught? How to champion a guy who has been such a general liberal letdown, even though, when all is said and done, he’s been mostly completely remarkable?
Let us now check the liberal Whine-O’-Meter. Guantanamo is still open. Military tribunals have been (reluctantly) re-established. The Patriot Act still exists. Military spending has actually increased. You still have to hand over your tweezers at the airport. Obama had an astonishing, historic chance to overhaul Wall Street’s most vile system of pigf–kery, and instead has allowed the fattest hogs to keep right on rigging the game and raping the Treasury at will.
On it goes. Talk of serious environmental legislation has completely vanished from Obama’s speeches. Ditto major education reform. Health care reform, while still desperately needed, has been a modest success at best and far too easily beaten down by a hateful GOP as pathetic with ideas and integrity as it is impressive with self-loathing and brass knuckles.
What else you got? Obama only half-assedly backed the unions in the Wisconsin debacle. He only took a definitive stand against Mubarak when it was clear that U.S.-backed thug was going down hard. He finally took a step to kill DADT and DOMA, the latter of which wasn’t really a step at all but more like the a decision not to take any more steps. Effective, but hardly the glorious, from-the-rooftops declaration of gay rights support most hoped for.
And then there’s Libya. Obama’s decision to involve the U.S. in yet another military operation threw everyone, right and left, for a loop. Because while he did nearly everything right — full UN support, the U.S. only in a limited, supporting role, a truly insane dictator who really was massacring his own people, a rapid timetable for withdrawal — the last thing Americans want is a third war, particularly from a guy who seemed like the closest thing we’d get to an anti-war activist in our lifetime.
It can be a little whipsawing. Sure, the extremely difficult Iraq drawdown is going brilliantly, on time and on target. Sure, the economy is recovering, a little. Sure Obama saved GM and a million jobs. Sure he’s great on women’s rights, unemployment and housing aid, college loans, science, high-speed rail, all sorts of non-sensational but still hugely impressive triumphs that never make screaming 300-point headlines in HuffPo, TPM and Politico.
Then again, the gap between the wealthy and the middle class is worsening. CEO pay has soared while most workers can barely hold on. Afghanistan is still an expensive mess. And who the hell is buying a Volt?
Now, you can argue, as I often still do, that Obama has a sense of the long view like no president in our lifetime. He seems to understand that his true positive impact will be felt cumulatively, over time, way down the road (your kids will love him). He thinks not egomaniacally, not insta-gratifyingly, but historically. This alone makes him one of the most remarkable politicians of any stripe, now or ever.
And this is precisely the problem. As it stands right now, by the inflammatory, Glenn Beck/Charlie Sheen standards of the day, Obama isn’t merely annoyingly calm and liberally imperfect, he also just a little bit … boring.
But therein lies the answer. The solution to this conundrum is actually very easy.
If you’re unsure of Obama because he’s been less the demigod superhero studbunny you hoped for, well, you have but to merely glance at the competition.
Across the board and down the line, the GOP contenders for 2012 so far are laughingstocks and charlatans, complete caricatures of actual humans with brains. The Palins and the Bachmans, the Huckabees and the Newts, the Trumps and the Romneys — it’s all birthers and paranoids, adulterous slugs and ditzball sociopaths, fringers and terrified Mormons, a bloody madhouse clown car of cutesy whiffleball glop. I can hardly wait for the debates.
So while libs can whine all they want about Obama’s imperfections and so-called failures, the instant you turn it all around and look at the alternatives, and then hitch them to the current GOP-led House’s plans to gut the budget and spew hate on women and gays, the arts and the poor, promote Islamophobia and kowtow to the rich, well, suddenly Obama shines all over again like the gleaming savior we all want him to be.
Suddenly all the complaining turns into nitpicking. Suddenly that vague dissatisfaction is instantly overshadowed by this shuddering, sour tang deep in the gut that just about screams OMFG, thank God Obama’s there, how much worse off we’d be without him, how much good he’s actually accomplished, how blessed his articulate intelligence, how proud we are every time he travels abroad — please, please, please don’t ever leave and sorry we complained in the first place and oh my God please don’t leave.
Yes, it’s moral and political relativism, writ large. Who cares? What else could it ever be? So count your presidential blessings, libs, for while they may be tattered and rashy and often pinch and ride up, they are, on the whole, still plentiful and hugely impressive and just shockingly better than any alternative you can name, much less vote for. And you know it.
By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist
Readers: I just have to add before I sign off…Obama is remarkable, a superhero and yes a demigod, in my opinion. And certainly a delicious and chocolaty studbunny if you want to get personal. No other president has even come close to deserving such a title.
And unlike those out there questioning whether they should vote for him again, I don’t need to compare Obama to the laughingstock GOP contenders to know how exceptional he is. But if that’s what it takes for others to vote for him again, so be it. Let the spectacles speak so they can be silenced. I look forward to Obama’s second term, and like the first I will do my best, to ensure he’s successful again. Are you with me?
As usual…Blog me on whatever….
PEACE OUT.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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April 13th, 2011 at 11:13 am
HI Misch, have lots to say on this one but must run out right now, just wanted to leave a link http://getyourlifebalanced.com/2011/04/resistance-what-is-yours-the-exercise-the-conscious-eating-or-the-thought-patterns-hee-hee-hee/ bc if you’re feeling resistant at all, maybe this will snap you out of it.
I’ll ask this: have you heard of Cornell West? Robert, I’m quite sure you have. Your thoughts on the man, you or anyone else?
Catch you later, a good read like this, I want to read again…thanks, Misch for posting it, Luv, Zen Lill
April 13th, 2011 at 11:54 am
AH:
Thanks for the input. I can’t understand why someone would take the time to write in with such vitriol. After all if he/she felt that way just don’t read it.
I’m writing in because it strikes me that since me would allow women to compete with them for jobs in politics, medicine, law, restate, accounting, etc, etc. women were left very few options except menial jobs or prostitution.
Thus even though Katie King was left perhaps ill gotten gains from Quantrill, she was left to investing in areas that men regulated women towards.
Claire
April 13th, 2011 at 12:02 pm
Does Your Will Contain These Terrible Errors?
Mary Randolph, JD
Make a seemingly minor misstep when you draft your will, and your assets might be divided in a very different manner from what you had intended.
The biggest mistake of all is dying without a will, so don’t let fear of making a mistake prevent you from drafting one — either with the assistance of an attorney or on your own with the help of a guidebook or will-creation software program. Just be sure that you — and your attorney, if you have one — avoid these common errors…
Overdoing equal apportionments. Parents often try to divide every asset exactly equally among their children in wills. This can cause problems when it means that a large, difficult-to-divide asset, such as a vacation home or a valuable piece of art, is left to more than one person.
Example: You leave each of your four children a share of your vacation home. Two of your kids love the home and want to keep it in the family, but the other two are not doing as well financially and would rather sell it. Despite your good intentions, your gift sparks a family fight that could last for years.
Better: Find out in advance how each of your children feels about your most valuable possessions. If some of them are especially fond of particular items, consider leaving these assets exclusively to them.
Give other children a larger share of other assets to balance things out. Explain your decision in a letter kept with your will so that everyone understands your reasoning.
Including unexplained “surprise” heirs. Surprises are dangerous in wills. They can lead to hurt feelings, confusion and even legal battles. Family members often become suspicious or resentful when someone they do not know very well receives a significant portion of an estate.
Better: To minimize problems, include a letter with your will explaining who this “surprise” heir is and why he/she is receiving the bequest. An explanation should blunt any concerns among — and potential legal claims from — family members that this person exerted undue influence on you when you wrote the will.
Example: “I’m leaving this money to my neighbor to thank him for the many hours he spent looking after me and my home during these past few years, when I no longer could get around well myself.”
Setting conditions. Some wills say that the kids or grandkids must graduate from college, marry or achieve some other goal to receive their inheritances.
Unfortunately, these attempts to influence heirs from beyond the grave usually result only in headaches for the executors, because heirs often find ways to subvert the intent of the contingencies.
Examples: A potential heir might “graduate” from a Caribbean diploma mill to satisfy a college requirement… or marry and then quickly divorce to satisfy a marriage requirement.
Better: If you trust your heirs, give them their bequests outright (or outright upon reaching a certain age). If you do not, do not leave them much money under any circumstances.
Trying to cut a spouse out of a will. In most states, spouses are legally entitled to no less than one-quarter to one-half of the estate. (The exact minimum depends on the state.)
In community property states — spouses legally own half of anything acquired or earned during the marriage (exceptions include items received as gifts or inheritances), so up to half of “your” property may not really be yours to give away. (Ask your tax advisor if this applies to you.)
If you cut a surviving spouse out of the will despite these restrictions, he/she can claim the share allowed by state law. This means that other beneficiaries would have their shares reduced.
Better:If you want your spouse to get less than the amount legally mandated and the spouse agrees, he/she can waive the right to claim the share provided by state law.
Leaving everything to a spouse. Married people often simply leave all of their assets to a surviving spouse. If your spouse later remarries and then dies before his/her new partner does, the partner might wind up with all of your money, leaving your children and/or other intended heirs with nothing.
Better: If you want to be sure your assets stay in your family, an attorney can help you set up a trust that passes your assets from you to your spouse, then on to your children after your spouse’s death.
Disinheriting children (or grandchildren) by omitting them from the will. You are not legally required to leave money to all (or any) of your children or grandchildren. If you do choose to disinherit a descendant, however, it still is smart to mention this person in your will.
If you fail to do this, depending on circumstances, the descendant might be able to contest the will on the grounds that you simply forgot to include his name.
Some people try to solve this problem by giving the disinherited descendant a token bequest of $1… or by writing straight out that this particular descendant receives nothing. These strategies are unnecessary.
Better: Include a list of all of your descendants in the will — including this person — to show you have not forgotten anyone and then state who gets what.
Assuming a will takes precedence over other financial documents. The beneficiary designations on your retirement accounts, life insurance policies and living trusts supersede your will.
People often neglect to update the beneficiaries for these accounts on the flawed assumption that the instructions in their wills will dictate the distribution of these funds after death.
Examples: If you fail to change the beneficiaries on your retirement accounts when you divorce, your ex-spouse could wind up with your IRA, even if your will states that your assets — including specifically this IRA — should go to someone else.
Better: Update of all your beneficiary designations whenever there is a major event in your life that would warrant such a change, such as a birth, death, divorce or marriage.
Being too specific. Some people try to spell out in a will who should get every last teacup. Extreme specificity in wills is more likely to cause problems than solve them.
You are bound to accidentally leave something off the list, and your inventory of possessions is likely to change many times between the time your will is written and your death, forcing frequent updates.
Better: Provide specific instructions for the distribution of possessions of particular financial or sentimental value, then let your heirs divide up the rest, perhaps by stipulating that they select items in turn.
Not signing the will legally. People sometimes fail to realize the importance of signing the will in the presence of witnesses.
Wills have been invalidated because people stepped into the next room to find a flat surface to sign on while a witness remained behind.
Better: Sign the will in the presence of at least two adult witnesses.
Personal interviewed Mary Randolph, JD, an editor with legal publisher Nolo Press and author of four books on estate matters and avoiding probate. http://www.nolo.com. She is coauthor of the book and software package Quicken WillMaker Plus 2008 (Nolo). She is based in Berkeley, California.
April 13th, 2011 at 12:03 pm
Michelle;
I have been told by workers at the Fukushima nuclear site that they are just dumping tons of radioactive water back into the sea. They also say that the sea will further be polluted by radioactive fuel rods that will be put into steel boxes and dropped into the sea.
Akane
April 13th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
Hafa adai, Michelle:
The same restate scam that was used on the mainland is being implored on Guam. Suddenly our property values have gone up a whopping 50%. Soon we will be offered the “opportunity” to take some of that “equity” out in the form of loans.
__________________________________________
The median price of a single-family home on Guam is more than 50 percent higher than the national average.
Prices soared 18 percent from a year earlier to $260,000, according to the latest figures released by Captain Real Estate Group.
This pushes the affordability index into “increasingly unaffordable levels,” according to Nick Captain, president of the real estate group.
The national average for single-family homes is $170,000.
Captain attributes the price increase to market recovery and to a change in “product mix.”
“The median price increase occurred as transaction activity has slowed significantly with only 118 units closing during the first quarter of 2011, reflecting the slowest pace in 8 years (except for 113 units sold during peak of financial crisis in Q1 2009),” Captain wrote. “Stricter lending guidelines are one factor contributing to what could be Guam’s first major housing crisis in 20 years as federal regulators have proposed rules that will likely boost interest rates and fees on many low-down payment loans.”
___________________________________________
After they have made a sufficient amount on the returns, the bottom will drop out of the market as it did on the mainland and the artificially raised home values will plummet leaving the owners without a means to pay and eventually forcing them into foreclosure.
Peter
April 13th, 2011 at 12:07 pm
Claire, I agree with your assessment. Back then men made sure that women needed a man to make it comfortably in the world. It is basically the same today. We are paid less for the same labor and in most parts of the world treated like little more than herd animals.
This doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Men who are in a position to impose trade sanctions on nations that abuse women as a principle like the islamic nations don’t do it because they don’t care about what happens to the women as long as they can make a buck form the men in those countries.
As Robert said, it is important to understand and remember our history. If we fail to do that we are destined to repeat the terrible events of our past. If it makes some men reading this blog uncomfortable, too bad.
Men were responsible for the degradations forced upon women back then, and if we fail to keep the vigil because it disturbs men who proclaim “I didn’t do it, so I don’t want to hear about it,” then it will be those men who do it to us again because unless we are aware of what and how it happened, the same perpetrators will bring it back. n
Mattie
April 13th, 2011 at 12:27 pm
Zen Lill
I liked that mirror thing on your blog. I could take it if I was loved just for my face.
April 13th, 2011 at 12:28 pm
Hafa adai Peter:
I am unhappy to inform you that because of the heavy build-up of military coming to your island, it has been targeted for a build up similar to Singapore. We have assessed the land size and it is close to that nation in size. Singapore is only about 60 square mile larger, but holds 4,250,000 more people.
Singapore’s population is about 4.4 million while Guam’s is 160,000. That difference portends huge profits in so many areas it is causing potential investors to drool.
If we drive up the land values we now hold on Guam and introduce casinos to the island we stand to make $billions in only a few years from out investment. You have been forewarned.
It will begin with the opening of commuter airports because readier access to your island will be needed to provide for gamblers. Of course smugglers, drug dealers, slave traders, pimps, etc, etc, will also use the same convenient commuter airports. And since there is profit in the transportation end for our investors, even though they may not be in those trades, they will look the other way for the profit.
We are presently about to re open the Rota Treasure Island Casino to take advantage of the deluge of gamblers from Japan and the surrounding areas. Stop by and learn first hand what to expect when we bring our dream of enriching ourselves at the expense of the people of Guam to your island.
My advice is that you get as many concerned people, with the power to act, to take this warning seriously. Otherwise, someone is going to make all that money, if you don’t do something to prevent it. My take is if it is going to happen because the people of Guam can’t or won’t stop it, it might as well be me making it as some other greedy bastard. Hafa Adai.
From the desk of Anonz
April 13th, 2011 at 12:34 pm
Michelle, this white girl thinks Pres. Obama is soo hot too. I love his smile and the way he teases Michelle when he dances with her. Bet that man is hot stuff in bed.
Trish
April 13th, 2011 at 1:06 pm
Michelle, I read took the lead from some of the info on your blog about how nasty the South was to Mr. Lincoln when he ran for President. Then I looked at President Obama’s treatment, they are simply despicable. There is now a book by David Freddodo, with a picture of Obama on the cover over the title “Gangster Government.
======================
Barack Obama: Gangster in the White House
“A bestseller!”—Sean Hannity
“Gangster Government is all the rage!”—Neil Cavuto
Bribery….coercion….intimidation. Sounds like a movie review of The Godfather, but unfortunately we’re talking about our federal government.
So says bestselling author David Freddoso in his controversial new book, Gangster Government: Barack Obama and the New Washington Thugocracy.
In his 2008 New York Times bestseller, The Case Against Barack Obama, Freddoso examined Obama’s pre-presidency actions and ideologies, revealing an extremely liberal Senator with shady alliances who would stop at nothing to become president of the United States.
Picking up where The Case Against Barack Obama left off, Gangster Government not only reveals the damage Obama has done since he has been in office, but exposes a side of Obama few have seen before—the corrupt Chicago politician whose number one goal behind any bill, stimulus, or regulation is to reward his friends and punish his enemies.
As Freddoso reveals, whether those “enemies” are oil companies, small businesses, or ordinary taxpayers like us, Obama will do—and has done—whatever it takes to sideline those who oppose him.
“Americans are used to politicians who help their friends when they can,” says Freddoso. “But no one expected President Obama to reshape the presidency to the extent he has. So far, he has overturned hundreds of years of lawmaking in America, betrayed our Constitution, and mocked millions of voters.”
A devastating and shocking look at a president whose training on Chicago’s political playground shines though every bent law and every broken promise, Gangster Government documents the first two years of an administration that is so corrupt, it would make Al Capone blush.
===================
These guys make me ashamed to be white sometimes. It is bases racial attacking under the guise of political differences.
Mike
April 13th, 2011 at 2:00 pm
Michelle, your bed head picture is the hottest one yet
April 13th, 2011 at 2:47 pm
TRAIN ROBBED — A NEW CRIME FOR MODERN TIMES:
We are in 1866==========The Reno gang of iIndiana have devised an entirely new crime; and since it earned $10,000, “train robbery” will probably overtake stagecoach robbery in highwaymen’s esteem.
Brother’s Joh, Simeon (“Slim”) and William reno have led a robber gang in the lawless west for some time. Hitherto their activities have comprised highway robbery, burglary, and hold-ups in saloon bars.
But on October 6 they halted and boarded a train near Seymour, Indiana. Making their way to the express coach, they forced the guard to open the safe and removed the money. Then they mounted their horses, which were tethered beside the railway track, and galloped their way across the prairie.
Mr. Allen Pinkerton, whose “Private Detective Agency” now commands all his time since the war has ended, gives high priority to capturing the Renos. He hopes that depredations against American trains may be nipped in the bud.
April 13th, 2011 at 3:35 pm
Jeff #21 April 12:
Whether you trust the aliens or not, they have been here and are thousands and millions of years more advanced than we are. We would have no choice should they wish to conquer our planet.
If you look back at Jewish, Greek, Roman, Indian and Norse Mythologies, Aliens have been interacting with Humans for millennia. Humans have built many great monuments in honor of the Gods (Aliens) which have withstood the onslaught of time. They had direct contact with them. They taught us Animal husbandry, Farming and gave us laws to follow in order to evolve socially from hunter-gatherers to social groups into cities and Empires.
Some aliens were worshipped, some were helpful, some fell in love and had children (Hybrids) with Humans. All this can be studied in ancient Religions and Myths.
The famous Goliath, was a Philistine giant killed by David, the future King of the Israelites. The myth of Heracles (Greek) or Hercules (Roman), he was the son of a God/Alien (Zeus or Jupiter) and a mortal woman. Other children of alien/human mating brought us strange hybrids such as Giants (Nephilim), which are mentioned in the Old Testament. The Nephilim are said to be the offspring of the “sons of God” (Aliens) and the “daughters of men.” They were thought to be destroyed by the Great Flood of Noah written in Genesis in the Bible.
There were also many Hybrids in ancient mythologies, including Centaurs, Mermaids and let us not forget Dragons and the Sphinx. Humans in those times had no clear explanations for their existence so they made myths about them which have stuck with human cultures through time.
So Jeff, Aliens of all sorts have been with us as long as we have been here and they have not taken over or destroyed the earth yet. We have come close by our own hands. Who would you trust?
They do not need to lull us to sleep since they can take us by force should they wish to. I would trust them over ourselves anytime. Besides we would have no choice. You must draw your own conclusion about what reality is to you.
HOWIE
April 13th, 2011 at 4:06 pm
Howie you are the man. That was clear, believable and very well thought out and presented.
Grace
April 13th, 2011 at 4:19 pm
Walking unexpected and unannounced into her husband’s business inner sanctum one day. The wife found him “flagrante delicto” with his shapely young secretary. “Don’t try to explain,” she hissed, “let me guess! This is one of your hard days at the office, right?”
Bob
April 13th, 2011 at 4:23 pm
This is a great article, my fave part is that he’s a free thinking legacy man, not an egotistical, look what I did that will reap bene’s now kind of politician.
So far, he as looked like a chocolate stud bunny to me, in all ways ; ) I love that he’s mending fences around the world and that he sounds articulate, intelligent and yep, he’s a lookin’ good, too.
Thanks for that recipe on my site,, I’ll be posting it so people see it better, it would help if I told them to click on the ‘comments’ button, though I don’t have aliens…or maybe I do if they’re everywhere : )
Dell, the ‘I love you’ in the mirror exercise is so you look yourself in the eyes and love yourself for everything in there, NOT just your slammin’ mug ; ) try it again – please? Thanks for commenting.
Luv, Zen Lill
PS where’s Miles, Ra, Raj…Anon 24-36-24?! I would love to hear more…and HOwie, yep, your da man, great commentary, thanks.
April 13th, 2011 at 4:25 pm
Misch, yes, great bed head also : ) ZL
April 13th, 2011 at 4:52 pm
So that was the first train robbery. I would’ve guessed Texas or California as the spot. Indiana? I live in Indiana and I didn’t know that.
Thanks for the history lesson. I hope you won’t let a few assholes stop you from sharing. I’m a big Western fan, but I can appreciate the other stuff too.
Irving
April 13th, 2011 at 5:13 pm
More %&%(#)@ crooks! This has to stop. How do we take back our country from corporations? How much do you think they’ll have to pay for what they’ve stolen? Certainly not as much as they took.
Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones went to the streets of San Francisco Wednesday to announce that his office has intervened in a multimillion-dollar whistleblower lawsuit against Sutter Health for alleged false billing of anesthesia services.
Also named in the lawsuit is Multiplan Inc., a New York corporation that acts as cost management intermediary between health insurers and hospitals, including those in the Sutter network. All Sutter hospitals and surgery centers appear to be named in court documents, including five hospitals in the Sacramento region.
The lawsuit alleges Sutter used an anesthesia code to charge for services and supplies that patients and their insurers had already paid for through other charges on the hospital bill or separate billing by the anesthesiologist. In some cases, court documents allege, the billing code was charged even though no anesthesiologist was present in the operating room or general anesthesia provided.
Rates apply to all Sutter hospitals and have increased over time, the lawsuit alleges.
“As a consequence, Sutter hospitals routinely charge, on average, $3,000 to $5,000 under the … code, when they are entitled to no more than $150 to $250 under that code, if anything,” court documents alleged.
Jones used his authority under the California Insurance Frauds Prevention Act to intervene in an existing lawsuit and bring action in the name of the state. He seeks triple damages for each claim, civil penalties of $10,000 for each violation, attorneys fees and court costs — and an award to the whistleblower, Rockville Recovery Associates Ltd., a New York corporation hired by Guardian Life Insurance Co. to perform an audit of bills it received from 2002 to 2008.
This action ups the stakes, brings the case into the limelight — and changes recovery so, if successful, Rockville Recovery gets 30 percent of money recovered by the case. The state gets 70 percent.
“Sutter’s alleged fraud comes at the expense of the private health insurance industry, which initially pays for the services, but, ultimately, this unjust burden falls on the shoulders of California’s consumers, who must foot the bill for inflated health care premiums,” Jones said in a statement. “We believe the amount of the fraudulent charges is in the hundreds of millions of dollars, if not more. As Insurance Commissioner, I will use the full resources of this department to root out insurance fraud in all forms and hold all those who engage in such fraud fully accountable.”
Sutter spokesman Bill Gleeson said in a statement the Sacramento-based health system believes the case is without merit and the company will “vigorously” defend itself.
“Sutter Health is committed to compliant billing and charging practices,” Gleeson said. “Our charges are transparent and available to the public, and our contracts with health insurance plans are thoroughly negotiated with these sophisticated companies. Since these rates are negotiated, they cannot be fairly characterizes as false after the fact.”
Sutter has asked the plaintiffs since the beginning of the case to provide evidence to support their claims of billing improprieties, Gleeson said.
“To date, they have produced nothing to suggest that any bills submitted by any Sutter hospitals were false or fraudulent,” the statement reads. Negotiated prices reflect significant financial commitment by Sutter to comply with state earthquake safety rules, bring life-saving technology to the bedside and care for increasing numbers of patients who are unable to pay, Gleeson said.
The initial whistleblower case was filed by Rockville Recovery in February 2009 in San Diego County Superior Court. As required by law, it was filed under seal. The case was transferred to Sacramento County Superior Court in May 2010 at Rockville Recovery’s and Sutter’s request. In January, the court tossed out Sutter’s motion to compel arbitration.
April 13th, 2011 at 5:40 pm
Hafa adai to you too Anonz; or should I be addressing this to the Big Bad Guy(s) at his desk?
Looks like as you said a mouthful and, as per you, it was truthful. The greedy are stepping out from every corner and country to dip their greedy little fingers into Guam. I read this today and moaned. I guess it was because I wanted to believe that for once you were joking. I know Sir, you don’t joke about money!
Anyway, here’s the article:
________________________
Countries seeking a share of bonus from Guam military build up
Updated April 14, 2011 08:46:44
The regions business sector is rubbing its hands together with the prospects of huge earnings off the back of the military buildup in Guam.
??Guam’s population of about 171,000 includes about 14,000 people connected to the Defense Department, but that is expected to triple, to more than 40,000, in a five-year period..??That includes 8,000 Marines and their 9,000 family members relocating from Okinawa to Guam by 2014, as well as the addition of about 1,000 airmen at Andersen Air Force Base.
??Tropiclinks from Australia’s far north a non profit organization is in Guam at the moment scouting for work and its the second trade delegation from Australia in as many weeks.??New Zealand thinks the business connection is important enough to set up a consulate in Guam.?
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Anonz, my question to you is what would you do if you were in Guam’s position?
Any advice coming from you would be greatly appreciated.
Hafa Adai
Peter
April 14th, 2011 at 10:35 am
To All of The Tao:
I have never agreed to work for you, and I won’t ever.
Also I have not sold my soul to you, so if you want to kidnap me, go ahead. I still will never work for you, so you are wasting your time. EAT ME, if you want to, but you better be quick if you like your humans fresh.
Has anyone ever told you this before? FUCK YOU. You are alien scumbags.
Al