Daily Archives: March 26, 2011

Weekend Open Thread

Welcome to your weekend open thread. Is this the last weekend of winter? I certainly hope so. Heard we could actually get snow tomorrow.

Florida Governor Rick Scott is one of the brazen new teabagger governors elected in 2010. Just how brazen? He’s now proposing a new Medicaid scheme that directly helps his own family.

Republican governor Rick Scott’s push to privatize Medicaid in Florida is highly controversial—not least because the health care business Scott handed over to his wife when he took office could reap a major profit if the legislation becomes law.

Scott and Florida Republicans are currently trying to enact a sweeping Medicaid reform bill that would give HMOs and other private health care companies unprecedented control over the government health care program for the poor. Among the companies that stand to benefit from the bill is Solantic, a chain of urgent-care clinics aimed at providing emergency services to walk-in customers. The Florida governor founded Solantic in 2001, only a few years after he resigned as the CEO of hospital giant Columbia/HCA amid a massive Medicare fraud scandal. In January, he transferred his $62 million stake in Solantic to his wife, Ann Scott, a homemaker involved in various charitable organizations.

Florida Democrats and independent legal experts say this handover hardly absolves Scott of a major conflict of interest. As part of a federally approved pilot program that began in 2005, certain Medicaid patients in Florida were allowed to start using their Medicaid dollars at private clinics like Solantic. The Medicaid bill that Scott is now pushing would expand the pilot privatization program to the entire state of Florida, offering Solantic a huge new business opportunity.

That’s right, his own family stands to make a fortune from this. In private business you would be fired for this type of ethical behavior. Amazing!

In Canada, the government of Steven Harper has fallen. It’s one of the quirks of the parliamentary system.

CORNWALL — The federal government fell in a vote of nonconfidence on Friday, setting the stage for a spring election.

The final vote on the Liberal motion declaring the Commons had lost confidence in this government was 156 for and 145 against.

“A government that breaks the rules and conceals the facts from the Canadian people does not deserve to remain in office,” Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff told the Commons as he introduced the motion.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to visit the governor general at Rideau Hall in Ottawa at approximately 9 a.m. Saturday morning to officially have the election called.

Voting day is expected to be May 2.

One thing that’s unusual about this is that Harper is likely to win again, this time with an outright majority.

Breaking: Geraldine Ferraro Has Died

The first woman to be on a presidential ticket from a major party has died. Geraldine Ferraro was 75 years old.

More info when it’s available.

Despite some miscues and missteps (remember when she said Barack Obama had it easy?) she was a trailblazer for women in politics. I’m sorry she didn’t live to see the first woman president elected. RIP.

Arrogance, Thy Name Is Wisconsin GOP

Holy crap, the GOP in Wisconsin must think they’re untouchable. Either that or they just don’t care if they burn the whole state down. This story is a bit complicated and involves arcana of Wisconsin state law. I hope this excerpt explains the issue:

After splitting the bill and jamming it through both houses without Democrats present, Wisconsin Republicans are now taking the position that the law goes into effect on Saturday even though just last week, a judge issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) enjoining any implementation of the law while the court considers several lawsuits challenging it. Here’s what happened as far as I understand it:

The Republicans jammed the bill through on March 9. Walker signed the bill on March 11. Secretary of State La Follette designated today as the date of publication. After the court issued the TRO, La Follette told the Reference Bureau (a non-partisan legislative bureau which publishes bills) that he was rescinding the publication date. The Reference Bureau published the law today anyway calling the publication “merely procedural,” and stating that it was required to publish the law within 10 working days of the governor signing the bill, on the date designated by the Secretary of State. (If La Follette rescinded the publication date, then why did the Reference Bureau publish it anyway? Inquiring minds want to know.)

In any event, and despite the Reference Bureau calling the publication “procedural” and categorically stating that publication does not equal implementation, the question becomes is that true?1 Is publication implementation or is it just a procedural measure? It’s a question the courts will have to answer.

Of course Walker and Cronies (specifically Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald) are claiming that the law has been published and therefore goes into effect tomorrow, which makes exactly zero sense since the judge enjoined its implementation. Fitzgerald is claiming—stupidly—that because the TRO does not reference the Reference Bureau specifically, that the TRO does not apply to the Reference Bureau.

The short explanation is that Walker published the new union-busting bill despite a judge’s order not to by publishing it through a state agency not specifically named in the temporary restraining order. Now Walker is claiming that means the bill is now state law.

We will have to see how this plays out. I’m no lawyer but I can’t imagine that there is one pissed-off Wisconsin judge. I wonder if the judge will sanction the state?

Related update: Wisconsin labor groups have announced that they have already gathered enough signatures to force a recall election of Randy Hopper (the one with the mistress with the state job). They have until May 2 to gather signatures.

Ignite Wilmington Not Evil, Just Busy

Things fall through the cracks. It happens. We’re a busy people.

Nevertheless, I have to admit that I was pissed off when I read the speakers list for April 7th’s Ignite Wilmington. The “voting” conceit effectively tapped into the competitive portion of my brain. This miniature “Ted Talk” concept is right in my wheel house, and like any red blooded American capitalist, I wanted to win the prize.

It sucks to lose, so imagine thinking that you won the game by 20 points and then a referee says, “That scoreboard doesn’t count. I’m keeping score in my head and you lost.” That really sucks, right?

Anyway, long story short, the score is being kept in the Archer Group’s head and they are perfectly entitled to do that. It is marketing for them and there is some risk to them if the event sucks, so they decided to keep score in their heads. They have apologized for leaving a web site up that included an outdated voting feature related to a past Ignite Wilmington event, and I accept that apology.

As I said, it happens.

The cool thing is that Ignite Wilmington is a great event. I’m a huge fan of the concept and I’m sure that The Archer Group has put together a fantastic group of dynamic speakers. I’m looking forward to enjoying it as an audience member.

Comment Rescue: State Trooper Flat Out Lying to Claymont Man

I have a lot of slack for law enforcement. They have an exceedingly tough job, but as “Another Mike” points out, this Claymont basketball hoop drama is effed up in a score of ways.

By now, you’ve heard of the removal of offending basketball hoops in Claymont and the family who would not give in so easily. I was wondering if any of you watched the video at TNJ of the eventual removal of their hoop. (Catch it here)

I’m not here to debate the law or the decision to remove the hoops, although I really see no sense in taking harmless property because one neighbor has a problem with it. No, I want to know if the conduct of the female state trooper in the video bothered anyone as much as it did me.

First, she was not dressed in a uniform. She was there in an FBI hoodie and a pair of jeans. Is this how we send troopers out on official duties? No uniform, no visible badge, nothing.

Second, before the pole was removed, the owner asked if DelDOT could lay it in his driveway. The trooper said yes. Then, as soon as it was out of the ground, it was secured to the front-end loader. The homeowner said he had just been told he could keep the pole, and the trooper said she told him he could go pick it up from DelDOT. Then she denied ever telling him it could be left in his driveway. Just flat-out lied to him.

Lastly, while Mr. and Mrs. McCafferty stood in their front yard yelling “You lied to me” at the trooper and the crew, the trooper told them to go back in their house and stop talking or she would arrest them. When Mr. McCafferty asked on what charge, she said “You can’t taunt these people.” There was no obscenity or physical threat. When he mentioned the First Amendment, suddenly the threat of arrest went away.

This entire affair has been unsettling, but it’s this trooper who bothers me most. This is not a homicide suspect they’re trying to get a confession out of. All the trooper really did was make a bad situation worse.