The Real AIG Scandal…It’s not the bonuses.

It’s that AIG’s counterparties are getting paid back in full.

By Eliot SpitzerPosted Tuesday, March 17, 2009, at 10:41 AM ET

from Slate http://www.slate.com/id/2213942/

To AIG from “Faith,” a caring daughter

My mother is an 83-year-old single woman suffering from Post Polio Syndrome. She has been waiting for more than one year for payment of the money AIG approved for damage due to a broken pipe that destroyed the first floor of her single family, two-story house in January, 2008. During the past year, AIG has done everything in their power NOT to pay the money due, including subjecting her to a 5+ hour deposition for which she had to hire an attorney. I would like to ask one of the AIG executives who received a $1M+ bonus: would you consider giving my mother a loan while your adjusters and underwriters at AIG continue to delay the payment AIG has already approved? Because right now, she’s living on balance transfers and hand-outs from her children — taxpayers who paid for your bonus. After spending a lifetime at work so that she could afford to pay her homeowner’s insurance premium each month, on time, every year for the last 49 years, do you think you could do her this one little favor?

Two UFCW Locals Voice Support for HR 676

Two United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) local unions have joined the growing list of labor organizations voicing support for HR 676, single payer healthcare legislation introduced by Congressman John Conyers (D-MI).

In South St. Paul, Minnesota, the Executive Board of UFCW Local 789 overwhelmingly endorsed HR 676 on March 10.  The 7,000 member local represents workers in retail, grocery, long term care and meat packing.

Bernie Hesse, Local 789 Director of Special Projects, spoke of the endorsement:  “Healthcare is a right not a privilege, and Medicare for all
is the right direction for us to follow.  We call upon elected officials to move legislation which will benefit all workers and strengthen our
economy.  We stand ready to educate, agitate, and build power to pass healthcare for all.”

In Tigard, Oregon, the Active Ballot Club (ABC) of UFCW Local 555 voted to recommend to the UFCW International Union that it endorse HR 676.  The Active Ballot Club is the political arm of the 18,000 member UFCW Local.

In a letter to UFCW International President Joseph Hansen, UFCW Local 555 President Dan Clay wrote:  “We would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to review, and if possible, to endorse HR 676 on a national level.”  The letter continued:  “Health care, as you are well aware, is on the verge of bankrupting this country.  In its current form, if allowed to continue, it will decimate people’s lives and make annual budgets a
nightmare for anyone to allocate for.”  In concluding his letter asking for the International Union to endorse HR 676, President Clay said that HR 676 “.will also provide the best benefit to a system that is exhausted and on the verge of collapse.”

Go to next page for rest of interview

Continue reading Dr. Quentin Young, Longtime Obama Confidante, Criticizes Administration’s Refusal to Consider Single-Payer Healthcare (2 parts) →

Rally: Single-Payer/Improved Medicare for All
at Regional Forum on Health Reform

Time: Tuesday the 17th at 11am

Where: Davis Center, UVM

The Obama Administration has asked governors to host regional forums on health reform. The forum in Vermont is on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th at the Davis Center, UVM, hosted by Governor Douglas and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.

This should be the beginning of a serious dialogue that recognizes that health care is a human right. Fundamental health reform – which enjoys solid majority support from the public – has become even more urgently needed with the severe economic recession. But we’re told by a Douglas spokesperson, “the session may have a limited guest list.” The President has promised an open, transparent process, with all proposals considered — yet there’s no information about how to participate!Health Insurance CEOs Pocket Average $14.2 Million

The Labor Campaign for Single Payer is joining with the Health Care is a Human Right campaign, Vermont Health Care for All and others to organize a peaceful protest in front of the summit meeting at noon – hopefully in support of single-payer/improved Medicare for All spokespersons inside the meeting. If there ever was a day to drop what you are doing and come, this is it. Continue reading Vermont AFL-CIO Calls Single Payer Rally at Burlington Regional Health Care Forum →

No Reason to Demonize U.S. Single-Payer Health: John F. Wasik
Commentary by John F. Wasik

 

 

March 11 (Bloomberg) — It’s time to stop kicking sand in the face of single-payer health care. It may be the trongest solution around to insure every American at a lower cost.

After decades of industry campaigns against this model — dubbed by its critics as “socialized” medicine — it’s important to stop whining and evaluate the many economic benefits. Health care is a fundamental human right.

If President Barack Obama wants real change in American health care, he will have to get over the fear of even mentioning single-payer concepts. At his health-care summit last week, only the threat of a demonstration garnered late invitations for Oliver Fein and Congressman John Conyers, two leading proponents of the single-payer plan.

Health-care costs have become a crippling personal-finance burden for 45 million uninsured and 25 million underinsured Americans. Those outside of the fractured employer-based system are only one illness away from financial ruin.

Lose your job and most likely your health coverage will disappear unless you want to pay exorbitant rates. And it’s getting worse. Because of the growing jobless rate, some 14,000 Americans are losing their coverage daily, according to the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

A single-payer plan would cover everybody regardless of employment situation and save money by cutting out middlemen.

Continue reading Bloomberg Financial News: Single Payer Healthcare is Strongest Solution →