The Dream of Martin Luther King
Day: January 16, 2006
Florida Dems Lagging GOP on Fundraising
Saving up to buy the next election: According to the Orlando Sentinel, the Republican Party of Florida raised nearly $5 million between October and December last year — a record for the party in a nonelection year. During the same period, the Florida Dems raised $1.8 million — and this is sad — that’s a record for them.
Nearly $1.5 million of the GOP dough came from health care and insurance companies at a time when Gov. Jeb and the wingnut-controlled state legislature are rolling up their sleeves to “reinvent” Medicare in Florida.
Spurred on by Bush, the Legislature last month approved a plan to give managed-care organizations a bigger role in health care for the poor. Supporters said the changes — which will begin with 210,000 low-income Floridians in Broward and Duval counties, but which backers hope to eventually spread statewide — will help hold down spending on Medicaid, a $15 billion-a-year program that currently absorbs almost a quarter of the state’s $63 billion budget.
Under the Republican governor’s plan, money the state now pays directly to doctors and hospitals who provide service to Medicaid patients would instead be parceled out largely through HMOs and other networks. Many of the companies that gave are expected to compete for new, Medicaid-related contracts.
And I’ll wager that some money that’s supposed to be “parceled out” will likely stick in the HMO’s coffers.
Speaking of wagering, the same week the Fla. GOP raised a record-setting $800,000 just happened to be the week of a special session wherein lawmakers considered both the Medicaid plan and allowing slot machines at pari-mutuel betting facilities. Want to know where the moolah came from?
- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida wrote the GOP a pair of checks totaling $50,000.
- Humana Inc. made three contributions worth $40,000 altogether.
- WellCare Health Plans gave $30,000.
- HCA, the nation’s largest for-profit hospital chain, donated $60,000 through a trio of committees.
- Mike Fernandez, a Coral Gables-based health-care entrepreneur, gave the party a $50,000 check Dec. 6 — the second day of the four-day special session.
- Pari-mutuels, a horse-racing political committee and the Seminole Tribe, which operates casinos around the state, combined to give the GOP more than $265,000.
Is there a super-lobbyist in the house? Well, kids, it looks like this swamp is still for sale to the highest bidders.
Europe Responds to Avian Flu
The European Union pledged USD 100 million in aid to boost the global fight against bird flu on Friday and Turkey stepped up the culling of birds to try to stop the deadly virus spreading further Turkey has already culled more than 800,000 birds). Following are the latest key facts about the status of bird flu in Europe:
France — Extended its poultry confinement measures to 58 departments of the 96 in mainland France, from an original 26, as fears grow over a virus believed to be carried by migratory birds.
Germany — Increased customs checks on people entering from Turkey to stop illegal import of poultry products.
Greece — Has banned all animal produce from Turkey, and is spraying vehicles entering the country through its northeastern border with Turkey as a precautionary measure.
Netherlands — The Dutch government said on Thursday it wants to vaccinate its huge poultry population against bird flu. The European Commission has yet to approve vaccination. The Netherlands, Europe’s second-biggest poultry producer after France, is home to 90 million poultry.
Romania — Has found highly pathogenic avian flu in 26 villages in and outside the Danube delta, Europe’s largest wetlands and a major migratory route for wild birds.
Russia — President Vladimir Putin told the government on Tuesday to take measures to prevent a new outbreak. Russia has been battling bird flu in poultry since July, culling more than 600,000 domestic fowl. The virus has been confined to eight Russian regions, but no case of human infection has been registered in Russia so far.
Ukraine — Mass poultry deaths were detected at the start of January 2006 at 3 poultry plants in Primorskoe village in Crimea. Ukraine reported its 1st outbreak of bird flu in a dozen villages in Crimea, a major stopover point for migratory birds, in late November 2005.
Gore Calls for Independent Counsel, Says Bush Broke the Law ‘Repeatedly and Insistently’
In a speech for the the bipartisan Liberty Coalition and the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy today, Vice President Gore said that President Bush ” has been breaking the law repeatedly and insistently” and called for a special prosecutor to investigate the president’s illegal wiretaps:
We have a duty as Americans to defend our citizens’ right not only to life but also to liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is therefore vital in our current circumstances that immediate steps be taken to safeguard our Constitution against the present danger posed by the intrusive overreaching on the part of the Executive Branch and the President’s apparent belief that he need not live under the rule of law.
I endorse the words of [former GOP Rep.] Bob Barr, when he said, “The President has dared the American people to do something about it. For the sake of the Constitution, I hope they will.”
A special counsel should immediately be appointed by the Attorney General to remedy the obvious conflict of interest that prevents him from investigating what many believe are serious violations of law by the President. We have had a fresh demonstration of how an independent investigation by a special counsel with integrity can rebuild confidence in our system of justice. Patrick Fitzgerald has, by all accounts, shown neither fear nor favor in pursuing allegations that the Executive Branch has violated other laws.
Republican as well as Democratic members of Congress should support the bipartisan call of the Liberty Coalition for the appointment of a special counsel to pursue the criminal issues raised by warrantless wiretapping of Americans by the President.
Bush to Blame for Miners’ Deaths
Molly Ivins is asking some important questions about the recent fatal mining disaster.
“I had never seen something so corrupt and lawless in my entire career.”
Some of the press is starting to get the drill. Give us something like the West Virginia coal mine disaster, and instead of standing around emoting like Geraldo Rivera, a few reporters have enough sense to ask the obvious question: What is this mine’s safety record? And when it turns out to be abysmal, a few more reporters have enough sense to ask: Who’s in charge of doing something after a mine gets 205 safety violations in one year? Where’s the Mine Safety and Health Administration? Who runs it? What’s their background — are they professionals or mining industry stooges? Who’s the Michael “Heckuvajob” Brown in this outfit? Why are so many jobs at MSHA just left completely unfilled? How much has MSHA’s budget been cut since 2001 to pay for tax cuts for the rich?
The Sierra Club has the answers to some of those questions.
Among the earliest signs of danger, however, was when the Bush administration’s first head of MSHA, Jack Spadaro, was forced out of his job when he tried to investigate another mining disaster, this one a 300-million gallon coal slurry spill in Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia. “The Bush administration came in and the scope of our investigation was considerably shortened,” Spadaro told 60 Minutes in April 2004. “I had never seen something so corrupt and lawless in my entire career.” He was replaced by Dave Lauriski, a former mining executive. It is also worth noting here that President George W. Bush raised $376,000 in campaign contributions from coal mining interests in 2000 and 2004…
Thomas Frank at USA Today also reports that MSHA has issued $9.1 million in fines since 1999 to companies for safety violations. Less than a third of that money has been collected, a trend which is getting significantly worse with each passing year. Recouping that money would more than make up for the deep budget cuts in the safety agency, which has lost more than 170 positions over the past five years.
Team Bush set up the scenario by which the 12 miners were killed. But along with flying planes into buildings, this is likely another case where – if asked to take responsibilty – they would simply say, “Who could have ever imagined such a thing could happen?” We need a president with a little better imagination. And a lot less profit motive.
Jilted Fiancee Sank Michael Scanlon with Pillow Talk
Emily Miller Was Press Aide Who Pulled MTP Camera Off Powell at Sharm el-Sheik
Woman scorned: Michael Scanlon was ratted out by his former fiancee. Emily Miller, who turned him in to authorities after he dumped her for a manicurist.
Their love affair began secretly in the late 1990’s when they both worked for then-House Majority Rep. Tom DeLay, who is now under indictment for money laundering.
Scanlon was DeLay’s communications director, and Emily was the Leader’s young press secretary.
Yes – Michael was Emily’s boss.
Last November, Scanlon pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe a congressman — allegedly Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH). He faces five years in prison and has agreed to repay over $19 million he bilked from Indian tribes. He will also testify against his former lobbying partner, Jack Abramoff, and others.
Much of the government’s case against Scanlon rests on the testimony of Emily Miller, with whom he had shared details of the crimes he and Abramoff were committing.
The Scanlon-Miller bust-up two years ago — after Scanlon had left DeLay’s office to go into lobbying, and Miller had moved to the press office at the State Dept. — reverberated into the national news and caused a brief but memorable political snafu for then-Sec. of State Powell and the Bush Administration:
In May 2004, Miller found herself at the center of attention when—while live on air—she ordered a cameraman for NBC’s Meet the Press to stop filming Colin Powell [during a live remote from Sharm el-Sheik in Egypt]. A copy of the transcript shows Miller, who also used to work as an NBC staffer, as a brusque press aide. Powell eventually ordered that the interview continue and asked Miller to step aside.
What many people didn’t realize at the time, however, is that during the Powell interview Miller was upset because her fiancee, Michael Scanlon, had broken off their engagement, two of Miller’s former State Department co-workers said. While still engaged to Miller, Scanlon had started an affair with a manicurist and broke up with Miller because he planned to marry the other woman, three of Scanlon’s former associates at DeLay’s office said. They added that the two had numerous public arguments.
Finally! Some sex in these scandals.
