ProgressOhio

From CBS News: Gangs Spreading in the Military

Evidence of gang culture and gang activity in the military is increasing so much an FBI report calls it "a threat to law enforcement and national security." The signs are chilling: Marines in gang attire on Paris Island; paratroopers flashing gang hand signs at a nightclub near Ft. Bragg; infantrymen showing-off gang tattoos at Ft. Hood.

"It's obvious that many of these people do not give up their gang affiliations," said Hunter Glass, a retired police detective in Fayetteville, North Carolina, the home of Ft. Bragg and the 82nd Airborne. He monitors gang activity at the base and across the military.

"If we weren't in the middle of fighting a war, yes, I think the military would have a lot more control over this issue," Glass said. "But with a war going on, I think it's very difficult to do."

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I work for the government.  The pay really is not commensurate with what others in my profession make in the private sector, but with three kids and a spouse that works in the airline industry, I am fortunate that the job provides me with security.  Health insurance security.  The advantage of working for the government vis-à-vis health insurance security is that the government has huge negotiating power that an individual insurance subscriber does not have.  That became abundantly clear to me this morning.

My 14 year old son recently had a minor medical issue that due to parental ignorance (and the three doctors that saw him who did not “educate” this parental unit) almost resulted in the amputation of his toe and sepsis- excuse me for digressing from the source of my anger for a little wallowing in parental guilt.  Anyway, I received an e-mail this morning from my insurance company indicating that a “claim” was pending, so I headed over to the insurance website to take a look.

I saw a pending claim for “Lab Corp” in the amount of $263.00.  I about fell out of my chair because I knew that there were only two relatively simple tests performed- one for infection in a blood sample and one a culture of the infection.    Then I looked closer and went a little “SICKO”.  The insurance company’s contracted rate for the two tests was $12.15.  My responsibility for the two tests, just $2.42 cents.  

ARE THEY KIDDING?  Because I have an employer that has negotiating power, my premiums are far less than lesser coverage that I could obtain as a private subscriber.  And because that insurance company has such negotiating power in this market, they are able to contract for two lab tests for an amount close to the cost of a few latte grandes?  And if I am uninsured, these tests cost $263.00-more than my two week grocery bill for my family of five?

In a recent article http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/08/1058/ published by Reuters, it was reported that U.S. hospitals charge uninsured patients about two and a half times more than those with health insurance. Obviously, Lab Corp was a bit outside the spread.  But two and a half times is nonetheless unconscionable.  I would think that the uninsured are largely those that are already on the economic edge- those that cannot afford insurance but do not qualify for Medicaid- the working poor- the people in my old neighborhood that work three part time jobs to provide for their family.   These are the people who will be charged $263.00 for two lab tests that cost me $12.15.  These are the people who will have their credit ruined by the late payments to Lab Corp or as these bills pile up declare bankruptcy.  I am angry. 

As I drove past the BP on the way home, I toyed with the idea of stopping for gas at 3.49 a gallon.  But then I thought I would wait 20 minutes to see if it would drop a penny.  Then my husband informed me it was Memorial Day weekend.  So my intuition was wrong, but hey, at least I am smarter than "the Boner".

Anyhoo, our fearless "leader" has some definite ideas of what is the root of soaring gas prices, and it isn't the fault of the Arab or Venezelan governments, it is not purposeful lack of refinery capacity, nor is it the fault of collusive oil companies.  No, this rational and intellectual man who has admirably served for 12 years in the Republican majority has dug deep into his vast reservoir of gray matter and has brilliantly laid it out for all of us lessers the source of our pain at the pump.

Fox's Brett Hume apparently just couldn't stand it anymore, and unleashed a spiteful diatribe against Rep. John Murtha this morning on air.

HUME: That sound bite from John Murtha suggests that it’s time a few things be said about him. Even the “Washington Post” noted he didn’t seem particularly well informed about what’s going on over there, to say the least. Look, this man has tremendous cache among House Democrats, but he is not — this guy is long past the day when he had anything but the foggiest awareness of what the heck is going on in the world. And that sound bite is naivete writ large, and the man is an absolute fountain of such talk, and the fact that he has ascended to the position he has in the eyes of the Democrats in the House and perhaps Democrats around the country tells you a lot about how much they know or care about what’s really going on over there.

Keep it up John Murtha- you must be getting to 'em!

So I guess it wasn’t just my imagination. The ABJ had an interesting article about the current “tortoise” legislature and the reasons therefore.

“Two years ago, lawmakers had formed committees, held hearings, introduced, passed and sent to Gov. Bob Taft a $1.5 billion capital budget bill loaded with state construction monies and pet projects for local communities all before January had come and gone.”

When Taft was newly installed as Governor, the House had already introduced 171 bills by Feb. 12th. Why the stall now?

It seems that Husted is continuing his grade school game of “show me yours, and then I’ll show you mine”. This became apparent when Husted and Harris “saved” SB 1 and HB 1 for the governor to use to fix school funding. Of course they gave the governor little or no notice of this nicety before issuing a press release on the matter, intent instead on goading the Governor into giving them fodder for further mocking press releases on school funding.

Not content with that slap down, Husted dared Strickland to unveil his school funding plan when he introduces his two-year proposed budget by March 15. If Governor Strickland does not do so, we likely will hear yet another flurry of Husted press releases.

Husted is mad. He believes that his Republican Governor and General Assembly have already fixed school funding, except maybe “charterizing” the entire state. As the article stated, Strickland’s campaign to “Turn Around Ohio” from 16 years of Republican mismanagement was unfair:

This infuriates Republicans because in their hearts they believe they have been doing a good job, and that those votes against their candidates last fall were really a great misunderstanding and the natural swing of the political pendulum.

Yes, Jonny, it was all really a misunderstanding. And we just want you, the General Assembly majority party, to sit around Columbus until you can jeer at every proposal that comes out of the Governor’s office. Grow up Husted.

Australia’s Prime Minister John Howard, set to meet with Vice President Dick Cheney at week’s end, expects Cheney to “put the squeeze” on Australia to increase its commitment in Iraq. Mr. Howard has ruled out Australia increasing its combat numbers in Iraq but said there could be room to increase personnel helping with training of Iraqi forces.

Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd said the Labor party would not back any increase in troops, even training forces.

"Our troops have been there for four years now and our policy is our combat forces should come home and secondly there should be no more troops sent, no additional troops sent, including the category you just mentioned," he said.

Sounds like deja vu time for Cheney.

I just read several scathing editorials in Ohio’s newspapers about what may have been an off the cuff statement from Governor Strickland on the Bush Administration’s plans to allow about 7,000 Iraqi refugees to settle in the United States over the next year. Governor Strickland was quoted as saying:

"I think Ohio and Ohioans have contributed a lot to Iraq in terms of blood, sweat and too many tears," the governor told the Associated Press last week. "I am sympathetic to the plight of the innocent Iraqi people who have fled that country. However, I would not want to ask Ohioans to accept a greater burden. . . ."

The editorials were bombastic, calling Ohio’s Governor “petty and ill-informed”, “narrow-minded”, and “partisan”, to name a few invectives. The partisan label was attached to Strickland after surmising that his objection to assuming the obligation of resettling Iraqi refugees was due to his own objection to Bush’s Iraqi war. And they make this presumption based upon what?

The Iraqi refugee problem is a large one. Approximately 3.8 million Iraqi’s have been uprooted from their country since the beginning of the Iraq war 4 years ago. And the federal government has done little to nothing. After 9/11, the federal government instituted a ban on Iraq refugees which was not lifted until 2004 or 2005. Since the war began in 2003, the U.S. has allowed only 463 Iraq refugees into the country much to the chagrin of the international community. The Republican-led Congress did nothing to lift the ban or provide enough money to help increased resettlement efforts.

Of the 3.8 million displaced, it is unclear how many are truly political refugees- those whose lives are in jeopardy in Iraq, because of work for the U.S. military or other Americans as translators, drivers, secretaries and aides. The Cleveland Plain Dealer makes the blanket statement that “refugee resettlement agencies can educate the governor on how many refugees from different conflicts and lands already are being resettled in Ohio - mostly with greater benefits than strains.” But is it really that simple?

The federal government sends refugees where the refugee settlement agencies are, and these agencies are not necessarily located evenly throughout the fifty states. They are located where the refugees are most likely to be able to obtain gainful employment. And when the relocation stipend runs out or does not cover the costs, the state picks up the tab.

Political refugees qualify for public assistance when they arrive in the U.S., and the tab is great in areas that have been disproportionately asked to assume the burden of relocated refugees. The large Somali refugee population of little Lewiston, Maine is heavily welfare-dependent. Likewise, Wisconsin's 4,200 Hmong refugees. Immigrants are 50 percent more likely than the native population to live in poverty. Local schools are asked to assume the burden of English as a Second language (ESL) courses and the additional resources to assure that “no child is left behind.”

Does that mean that the federal government should not allow Iraqis or other political refugees to be granted entry into this land of opportunity? Some would say yes. I suspect that Governor Strickland would not, even if these refugees are from an unnecessary war that he did not support or waged by a militaristic ideological zealot that he may not support.

It is easy to hurl invectives at Governor Strickland, but these words do not acknowledge the costs associated with such relocations. Although I do not know Governor Strickland personally, I have heard him speak on several occasions and I was particularly struck by his thoughtfulness and caring of the people who shared their trials and concerns with him. I have heard former Governors Voinovich and Taft speak, and I did not come away feeling that either held the compassion that Governor Strickland exhibits.

I would bet the family farm that he is neither “petty and ill-informed” or “narrow-minded”. Instead, I would hear what he said, “I am sympathetic to the plight of the innocent Iraqi people” and “I would not want to ask Ohioans to accept a greater burden.” I agree.

If the federal government has finally felt the shame of the international community five years from the date of the initial banning of Iraqi immigration, perhaps it is about time. But don’t ask Ohio or any other state to assume further burdens for political refugees that this President has unilaterally created without acknowledging the local burden and sending enough money to support them.

The Whitehouse PR machine was out in full force making the rounds on the Sunday talkie shows. Tony Snow, the White House Press Secretary, came out from behind the safety of his podium to appear on “Meet the Press’ and CNN’s “Late Edition”, and to shill the Bush Administration’s support for the troop surge. He came armed with a file folder worth of talking points and pat responses to Tim Russert’s questions. At one point he actually “begged Tim’s indulgence” rifling through his folder, and throwing a quote back at Tim for a comment that Russert made on his show in 2004.

As if sending the White House Press Secretary on the morning round of talk shows wasn’t bizarre enough, the Twilight Zone continued with this exchange:

 BLITZER: Is that true? Are you getting ready for war with Iran?

SNOW: No. And furthermore, I — Wolf, I am at a total loss to find any place where this administration has been trying to, quote, “create a run-up with a war on Iran.” It is interesting to me that it seems that some politicians maybe are trying to protect Iran.

First we are emboldening the terrorists and now protecting Iran? So much for the democratic process.

I read a hilarious article Link by Paul Kostyu in the Canton Repository about Auditor Mary Taylor’s megalomania and self-promotion on her official state website. Mary leaves no opportunity undone in her zeal to advertise her CPA.

“Press releases coming from her office and her office Web site are emblazoned with the Ohio seal and her name followed by CPA in big, bold letters.”

How pathetically embarrassing. I used to work with a guy that signed every letter with his name followed immediately by “M.B.A.” He was the source of much snickering and amusement in an office filled with Ph.D.s, M.D.s, J.D.s, and plenty of Masters degrees in topics I could only pretend to understand. I just want to pick up the phone and say “Mary, Mary, Mary…enough with the CPA-thing”.

People want you to be well-educated. But once they have placed their faith in you, they do not want to be reminded of it, and they are less forgiving of you when you make a mistake. I learned long ago that the secretaries, mailmen, clerks, receptionists, maintenance personnel and every other support employee are the real backbone of every office. The rest of us are pretty much expendable and things will progress smoothly until the next guy arrives. And they will cover for you and help you do your job to the best of their abilities as long as you do your job well and show them the respect that they deserve.

But watch out if you don’t. Take my father-in-law (PULEEZE :). I once sent a Christmas card with a return address label that had my name and “Esq.” I never gave it a thought, since they were the free labels that come with a plea to support disabled vets or the heart association. Three years later when he was mad at me he pulled out the gem “that I rub his nose in the fact that I am an attorney”. I was stunned as I had always been careful to avoid any discussion of politics or legal issues. When I called him on the comment, he pointed out the return address label on a Christmas card three years previous.

Mary, let my father in law and a return address label be a metaphor for the electorate. You may have gotten your job based on your credentials, but unless you do the job that you were elected to do (such as responding for a request by SOS Brunner to audit the SOS’s office), your self-aggrandizing, even if it is in the form of a free return address label, will be perceived just as it is.

The voters put you in your position but expect you to do your job. And they don’t like to hear about how much you love yourself. Save your CPA letters for when you sign an audit report, if you must. Oh, and when you write to our Governor, I hope that you follow his name with HIS credentials, B.A., M.Div., Ph.D. Somehow I suspect that you won’t.