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Aug. 28, 2009 – Florida Power & Light (FPL), a company which is requesting to hike electricity rates by a whopping 30%, admitted today at a state utility commission meeting that the company spent $25 million to purchase corporate jets and helicoptors. These perks have been used by its top employees for personal travel. While resisting calls to reveal how much the company pays its top employees, FPL did reveal that 368 of them earn a total of $96 million.
Florida's state utility commission is holding hearings on whether to approve FPL’s rate hikes while its executives jet around in private planes. The state commission is minus one top staffer after it was revealed that he attended social functions at the home of a top FPL executive. Talk about a glaring conflict of interest! How can we trust these regulators if they are befriending the very people they should be regulating?
Aug. 27, 2009 – Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez used taxpayer dollars to quietly lavish obscene pay raises on his inner circle. The pay raises ranged from an 11% increase to his chief-of staff (who now earns a whopping $206,000) to a 54% pay increase to his Communications Director.
The additional outrage over these unheard of pay raises and salaries is that the mayor is proposing a budget that includes layoffs, service reductions, and across-the board pay cuts. “Nobody wants to see people lose their jobs,” Alvarez stated, “but something has to give”. Yes, something has to give all right … how about Mayor Alvarez give up his job and take his high-paid cronies with him.
Aug. 25, 2009 – Now I know how more than 60% of Americans feel. I just had my latest blood work denied by Humana. Why? Aparently, my coverage no longer includes blood work (?). It gets better. The lab (LabCorp) wants to charge me $453. My last blood work was $360. How much did Humana pay then? $44! That’s right, the Humana discount on $360 of blood work was over $300.
This is exactly how the American people are being gouged by the private health care companies today. By my calculation, if Humana had paid the bill, they would only have paid roughly $60 of the $453. The rest would have been ‘excluded’ and I would have owed $0. But me? I am expected to pay the full $453.
Aug. 24, 2009 – Records reveal that Governor Sanford of South Carolina took dozens of undisclosed flights on private planes, thus ignoring state law that requires him to reveal who paid for these flights. Records also show that Governor Sanford used the state plane for personal reasons. This from a man who so espoused government frugality that he insisted government employees use both sides of a post-it note. Maybe someone should remind Governor Sanford that a stack of post-it notes costs $.75 while one of his jaunts cost the taxpayer $1,252 (overall, his plane travel has totaled a whopping $373,000, including $50,000 for his children’s plane travel).
But Governor Sanford’s hypocrisy also extends into the personal domain. In 1998, he demanded that then-President Clinton resign or be impeached for Clinton’s extramarital affair. Now in the same position, having had an affair with a woman and initially lying about it, Governor Sanford insists on clinging to office.
Aug. 23, 2009 – The former chief of staff for the Voice of America has been indicted on corruption charges for his link to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. He is accused of accepting gifts in exchange for advancing the interests of Abramoff and his clients. While Abramoff is the posterchild for the corrupting influence of lobbyists, the difference between Abramoff and most other lobbyists is that he got caught!
Aug. 23, 2009 – Health insurance companies are ecstatic over how health care reform will benefit them. “It’s a bonanza …” said a health insurance executive, who further stated that the industry’s reaction boiled down to one word: “Hallelujah!”.
The health insurance companies, who have amassed huge profits on the health of ordinary Americans, are pleased over two things: 1) the requirement that all Americans have insurance — this at a time when a government option is in doubt, thus forcing Americans to turn to these health insurance companies for health care; and 2) a proposal that will allow insurers to cover only 65% of a patient’s health care bill, thus forcing Americans to pay more out-of-pocket for their health care treatment. Currrently, most group health plans cover between 80% to 90% of a patient’s health care bill.
The bogeyman in the form of “socialized medicine” has been tossed out there to distract Americans from this very real threat to their ever-increasing health care cost. Again, we see the results of lobbying on the political system.
Aug. 22, 2009 – Even though thousands of disabled veterans are still waiting for their backlogged claims to be processed, the Department of Veterans Affairs saw fit to award $24 million dollars in bonuses to thousands of its employees. A report investigating these bonuses states that “the frequent and large dollar amount awards given to employees were unusual and often absurd,” and “not fiscally responsible.”
Remember, this is our tax dollars at work. Ironically, the meaning of the word “bonus” seems lost on these government bureaucrats. Bonuses are intended for a job well done. So, why the backlog at the Department of Veterans Affairs?
Aug. 21, 2009 – The first part of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act took effect this week. Credit card companies can no longer raise interest rates without adequate notice. This act was passed by Congress to “protect” consumers from the predatory lending practices of credit card companies and banks. The law is being phased in over the course of six months — at the request of the credit card companies.
Here is why: The credit card companies want to continue raising their rates with impunity for the next six months. The proof? Today, we received notice that our credit card interest rate was being raised from 13% to 20%; this despite the fact that we are fiscally responsible, our credit rating is stellar, and we have never even so much as bounced a check. According to the Pew Research Center, credit card companies are raising rates on those least likely to default! And as Pew also noted, these increases have come during a period when the banks’ cost of borrowing has declined!
A spokesman for the American Bankers Association was quick to place the blame for this greed on Congress. Regardless, this new law that was touted as “consumer protection” does not mean that these predatory practices will end; it simply means that consumers will have a better idea of what they are paying for.
Note: In our case, the rate increase notice was buried at the end of a privacy policy opt in/out form. The bank is JPMorgan Chase.
Aug. 20, 2009 – Rep. Barney Frank rebuffed a woman who confronted him at a town hall meeting. The woman was waving a picture of President Obama doctored to look like Adolf Hitler. “Trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. I have no interest in doing it,” stated Frank.
This is a sign of how rancorous and confrontational public discourse has become in this country. While this heckler has a right to free speech, there is something tasteless when the President of the United States is compared to Adolf Hitler, the worst mass murderer in history. As President Truman stated after he fired General MacArthur “I fired him [MacArthur] because he wouldn’t respect the office of the presidency, not because he didn't respect me.” Well said, President Truman. Let’s bring respect back into our civic debates.
Aug. 19, 2009 – Most cities in Broward County, Florida, and the county itself, are looking to raise taxes on homeowners. Some cities are proposing a tax hike of 25%. These tax hikes are being proposed even though Florida citizens voted to cap tax hikes in a recent referendum. The cities and county have found a loophole in which to defy the voter’s wishes.
As a representative of an umbrella group of homeowner associations stated: “It is an outrageous lack of responsibility. These governments are living in a world that doesn’t exist anymore and are literally bleeding people dry.” We couldn’t have said it better.
Aug. 18, 2009 – The U.S. government is preparing criminal charges against 150 millionaire tax cheats — clients of Swiss Bank UBS — who have avoided paying taxes on more than a billion dollars of assets. One account alone was worth $200 million. Why did it takes so long? Well, better late than never. UBS is turning over information on 5,000 more American millionaires who may have evaded U.S. taxes.
Now we know where we’ll find the money to finance healthcare reform!
Aug. 17, 2009 – Florida Power & Light, a company that posted a 700 million profit last year, is requesting to raise rates by 30%. “We are not insensitive to the impact of price on our customers” states an FPL representative … but they are going to ask for the money anyway! Opponents state these “regulated” monopolies have been accumulating vast profits and paying their executives substantial salaries while at the same time asking struggling Americans to pay much more for electricity.
Government regulators will either approve or reject FPL’s request by December. Such requests have been approved in the past … surprise surprise! Stay tuned!
Best reader comment: To add to your section on FPL. Now not only do they want to increase bill by a whopping 30%, but they are also asking the Utilities Commissioners NOT to divulge the salaries of their managers to the public! What, are they ashamed at the disgusting and obscene payscales of their employees that the people of Florida are supporting? FPL is the posterchild for American corporate greed and everything that is wrong with this country today. The Great State of Florida runs the schools, the law enforcement, the roads, the State Parks. Why not the utilities? – Robert
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