So Who Does Privatization Benefit? Not the Taxpayers; Look at Delaware’s Prisons

In 2005, the Delaware Department of Correction signed a contract with the company Correctional Medical Services (CMS) to provide medical services to inmates in state prisons. The promise of cost savings quickly evaporated, and the state was left with low quality healthcare for inmates. Inmate health deteriorated under the new contractor and several deaths resulted from lack of adequate medical care. The contractor’s performance has forced the state to spend extra time and money associated with litigation arising from the substandard care.

Today the Port of Wilmington faces the same fate… as it is about to be privatized by a large oil/gas conglomerate: Kinder Morgan

LET US BRIEFLY REVIEW THE MYTHS REGARDING PRIVATIZATION.

Myth #1: Privatization saves money.
The Truth: Privatization often raises costs for the public and governments.

Myth #2: Private companies do a better job than the public sector.
The Truth: Many examples show declines in service quality under private contractors.

Myth #3: Privatization allows governmental entities to better anticipate and control budgetary costs.
The Truth: Cost estimates are extremely unreliable and privatization can cause result in unforeseen budgetary consequences.

Myth #4: Privatization allows governmental entities more administrative flexibility.
The Truth: Privatization requires substantial administrative resources for monitoring and oversight.

Myth #5: The public still maintains control over a privatized asset or service and the government retains the ultimate ability to make related public policy decisions.
The Truth: Privatization can bind the hands of policymakers for years, allowing private companies significant control of a privatized asset or service and the ability to dictate important policy decisions.

Myth #6: If anything goes wrong, the government can easily fire the contractor or adjust the contract.
The Truth: Reversing privatization involves huge costs and service interruptions.

Myth #7: Companies are chosen for privatization contracts on the merits, not based on political or financial connections.
The Truth: Government for profit opens doors to unscrupulous behavior by politicians and businesses.

These were compiled by the group In the Public Interest and if you wish further information or explanation, I would suggest a deeper reading here.

The one truth coming out of all privatization plans, is that privatization winds up costing taxpayers more, as well as disrupt the services we need to survive.

Is Jeb Bush Worse Than Adam Lanza?

Gosh, that is a shocking headline. Of course headlines are meant to grab attention. I hope this one works….

The common denominator is in “hurting students.”

Obviously there are different ways. Jeb Bush’s way though honestly not even in the same ballpark as the other one I paralleled him with, is probably the greatest danger…

Here is what will happen.

Private educational corporations are giving standardized tests out to students. They are warning that classrooms are not ready to take these standardized tests, because the material on them has not been covered by teachers in the classroom…

The poor scores, then, will force state legislators to buy their products to correct that balance.

Imagine I am your teacher. I say here is your study guide and when you are done I will give you a test. I make up both. I make up the study guide, and then I make up the test with nothing from the study guide on it… You take the test and go WTF! I never saw any of it…. I use the bad grades to shake down Representative Pete Schwartzkoph to give me $30 million dollars… Then I pull a switcheroo and give you the real study guide, and voila, you get a 100%… I say: “See, I told you I was good.” Your education problem is now fixed.

Is this illegal? It was done in Kentucky. And it appears it is about to be done in New York…

The problem is Common Core. The owner is Jeb Bush…. The charge is that to increase corporate earnings (and private paycheck) students are purposefully being made to flunk by switching tests to stuff they don’t know, and then, profiting handsomely by putting the correct test guide into circulation….

“I don’t think people fully realize the challenges that will come when the reality sets in that so few of our kids are college and/or career ready,” former Florida Governor Jeb Bush said recently, speaking at an education conference in Washington, D.C. The conference was sponsored by the Foundation for Excellence in Education, which Bush created to promote some of the ideas he backed as governor, including early reading tests, vouchers and charter schools.

“Moms and dads are going to be mad,” Bush said. “The reality is going to create problems for elected officials across the spectrum.”

When you lose a whole year… do you ever get that year back?

Super Pac’s November 30th Totals Are Out….

This is from open secrets.org. It has accumulated evidence throughout the election how much money superpacs have collected….

This money is just from the SuperPac’s. It does not include money given directly to the candidate…

Over all, during the election of 2012, SuperPacs collected total receipts of $663,014,402 and total independent expenditures of $680,716,540 in the 2012 cycle. Notice the $17 million deficit for which revenues still must be acquired….

Briefly put, here are the donations broken down by industry…..

Agribusiness…….. 23 million
Communication/Electronics…….. 25 million
Construction………15 million
Defense.………….14 million
Energy/Natural Resources……….29 million
Finance/Insurance/Real Estate…..65 million
Health.……………55 million
Single Issue……….60 million
Labor……………..64 million
Lawyers/Lobbyists…..16 million
Misc. Business……..38 million
Other……………..01 million
Transportation……..21 million

Keep in mind this is over and beyond what may have personally been given to the candidates and filed with the FEC….

One begins to see what’s behind some rather peculiar pieces of legislation we have had thrust upon us…. Oddly, the balance for the most part was even between Democrats and Republicans…

GREENLAND MELT RECORD GETS SMASHED………

Courtesy of Climate Code Red

If you kinda thought the weather was wild this year, you were right. The most ice lost is taking place right while you read this. A large chunk was broken up by a freak storm. Another similar on is on its way. The question that no one knows the answer to, is… will this affect the circulation pattern.

We all know in our lives that as human beings we can put up with aggravation rather well, unless we are Type A. Whether it is aggravation from our boss, from our spouse, from our in-laws, from our choir director, from that guy selling papers on the corner,… we put up with it, accepting it as the normal course of business. Except once or twice in our lives, we just snap. And the consequences of that, momentary snap, cause big changes… maybe in our employment, maybe in our marriage, maybe in our in-law’s will, maybe from the choir director’s husband, maybe from the police…. things change for us in a big way…..

That is how we have to see this. From a mud core taken from an ancient lake, Lough Monreach, in Ireland in 2009 it was discovered that in a matter of one month 12,900 years ago, we went from normal seasonal temperatures to an ice age. The cause came from a switch in ocean currents. As cold fresh water entered the ocean, warm water stopped flowing north. That Ice Age lasted 1300 years before the thaw returned. It flipped in one month…. 30 days more or less.

So is that happening?

The science is too big. We don’t know. It will be like on the Day after Tomorrow where we first find out from buoys scattered across the Atlantic. It cannot be predicted.

What can be foretold is that the earth has never had this much stress before during civilized mans span on earth. Do you know when you snap, or does it take you off guard as well?

That is where we are…

Of course nothing could come about it… Just like when your boss insults you in front of all your staff, your office competitor’s staff, and ridicules you like you have never been before… You just take it…

The boss tells your competitor… “I knew he was a wus… I wasn’t worried one bit… you have nothing to worry about him…”

Republicans will say in Tampa:… “I knew it was a scam…. I wasn’t worried one bit… we have nothing to worry about burning carbon fuels and putting carbon dioxide into the air.”

News Flash: The earth is not a wus……..

2012, day 230, 2.87743 million square kilometers
2011, day 253, 2.90474 million square kilometers (previous record low)

Raise Corporate Taxes Mr. President, And Bring Back Those Jobs…..

Stats and Chart Courtesy of Northeastern University

Stats and Chart Courtesy of Northeastern University

In a Study by Northeastern University, the rise in corporate profits was matched to the fall in real wages. Whereas corporate profits surged by 48%, real wages fell by more then 1%. When coupled with the 14 million still unemployed, people who work for a living are getting hit twice.

Two things come out of this study. One we need to use another method besides unemployment to evaluate an economic system’s recovery, for Obama has truly engineered a magnificent recovery. Two, if we elect Romney who promises nothing will change, we will continue to have the same result; high corporate profits and high levels of unemployment.

Not included in this study is the financial strength of the government. We know that is a failure. To assist and enable corporate profits to grow this much, the Federal Government has gone $5 Trillion deeper in debt.

So lets look at the balance sheet.

Corporate Profits……….. Through The Roof

Federal Government….. $5 Trillion in New Debt

American Workers…..12.8 million unemployed

Any business person investigating his companies balance sheet upon seeing  such imbalance would automatically say, we need to transfer assets from the corporate side to first the American People.  There are two ways to do that. One is pass laws that every American be given a gigantic humongous raise, and that businesses stop recording high profits, and instead invest in themselves.

The other way would be to raise the tax rates, so high, that businesses would do that anyway, themselves.

Which is easier?

And why is ANYONE still supporting the Republican Party out of which all its candidates said, they would use painful cuts instead of raising taxes one penny to balance the deficit?

Courtesy of mjperry.blogspot.com

So taxing America’s corporate profits  100% at 1.7 trillion per quarter, would in ten quarters or 2 and one half years, totally, completely, irrevocably  erase our national debt to zero.

In the meantime, corporations would hide their profits in their business, as anyone alive during the forties, fifties, sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties, can tell you, it is what everyone did…  And life was good for all… Only starting in 2001, did the profits start to soar with money coming out of the American People’s pockets…..

It didn’t trickle down, did it?

Well it can… Do not vote for a Republican again until the deficit is 0, and unemployment is under 3% …. They are the cause.  If you need further proof, see how the red and blue lines are conjoined after TARP?  That is due to the tax cuts Republicans insisted upon… There is no tax being paid by corporations…. Real profits and Nominal profits are identical…..

So… how well is that benefiting you?  Long for the good old days under Clinton?  You are not alone.  Join America in demanding corporations pay 100% tax rate until the deficit is down…..

For Those Who Follow DelawarePolitics.Net

I’m trying to put all your ideas together into one package. So, let me get this right… All you are asking is for, is a country where:

1) There is no universal healthcare.
2) Few entitlement programs.
3) Low Flat Tax System.
4) Faith based Government.
5) A deep reverence for God.
6) Extremely strict rules against abortion.
7) Marriage has already been strictly defined as between man and woman.
8) Homosexuality is a sin, and illegal.
9) Dress Codes are strictly enforced.
10) Tattoos, piercings, baggy pants, are banned.
11) Has the Death Penalty which they aren’t shy about using.
12) Strong private school system with religious focus.
13) Widespread dependency on oil and natural gas drilling.
14) Growing nuclear program
15) Nonexistent environmental nuisances
16) Culture that promotes family and stereotyped roles for men and women.

I’ve endeavored to put all your values on one page. I share your frustration because today, ever since 2008, it seems like America is moving further and further away from these values.

But you don’t have to be frustrated anymore. I have looked far and wide and have discovered a place already in existence that has those values in place, and more. If you sorely long for those values above, it is sincerely a place where you and your family would be very happy.

It is Iran.

You don’t have to pay me. I don’t need any commission. Just glad to help a fellow Delawarean out…. No problem.

Give Pete Rose His Hall Of Fame Spot

If you didn’t live baseball, this is probably over your heads.  You can get background here.

But this just came out.  Eric Cantor, the Tea Party Republican who documented here was solely responsible for the Budget Crises of August 2011, who was solely responsible for the lowering of America’s Standard and Poors Rating, who was solely responsible for the stock market crash and ensuing two quarters of luckluster growth that put the recovery back on its heels as well as putting many out of work,  that Eric Cantor who killed the $4 Trillion agreement between Speaker Boehner, Mitch McConnell, and the White House, actually heavily bought US Treasuries short in late June and early July.

When you buy something short, it means you make money when they lose value.  In baseball terms, it means you bet on an outcome and then use your position to “throw the game”…

There is no difference between what Eric Cantor did, and what Pete Rose did.  The only possible explanation is that Congress is not run by standards of excellence as high as that of baseball.

It needs to be.

Eric Cantor is not in your district.  But, you can take it out on Republicans.  All of them.  If they feel your anger, your hate, your passion, your fire, it will be a long time before the likes of  Eric Cantor return to the hallowed halls of Congress.

This is corruption in its most viable form.

How can you deny Pete Rose his spot in history, when you have someone much, much worse as second in command of the Republican Party?

How?

 

Boycott UPS: Switch to FED-EX

The following is a list of corporations that still support ALEC.…. and here is the board….

CenterPoint 360,   W. Preston Baldwin – Chairman
Altria Group,   Daniel Smith
American Bail Coalition,  William Carmichael, Jerry Watson
AT&T,  William Leahy
Bayer Corp.,  Sandy Oliver
Diageo,  Kenneth Lane
Energy Future Holdings, Sano Blocker
ExxonMobil Corporation,  Randall Smith
GlaxoSmithKline,  John Del Giorno
Johnson & Johnson,  Don Bohn
Koch Companies Public Sector,  Mike Morgan
Peabody Energy,  Kelly Mader
Pfizer Inc.,  Michael Hubert
PhRMA,  Jeff Bond
Reed Elsevier, Inc.,  Teresa Jennings
Reynolds American,  David Powers
Salt River Project, Russell Smoldon
State Farm Insurance Co.,  Roland Spies
United Parcel Service (UPS), Richard McArdle
Wal-Mart Stores,  Maggie Sans

If you don’t know, ALEC collects corporate money, to hire people to write legislation that benefit corporate interests.  They wrote anti union legislation. If you are union, you need to boycott UPS.

They wrote the legislation that  bans abortions. and requires women to have things stuck up their privates.  If you are a woman, you need to boycott UPS.

They wrote the legislation that bankrupted government.  They are responsible for running up our debt, without finding means to pay for it.  If you love your money, you need to boycott UPS….

They wrote the legislation that protected Zimmerman, keeping him from being arrested as anyone else would have been, standing over a dead man, gun still smoking.  Arrest him and acquit him.. That is what trials are for.  If you think Zimmerman should have been arrested a long time ago, and not 44 days later by a state prosecutor because the sheriff was too involved with ALEC, you need to boycott UPS.

UPS funds ALEC…

Until recently,  so did McDonalds.  Not anymore… So did Wendy’s.  Not anymore.  So did Bill and Melinda Gates:  Not any more.. So did Kraft Foods:  not any more… So did Coca Cola…. not anymore.  So did Pepsi… not anymore….

But… UPS still does…   Make your postal dollars benefit you, and not some freaking cultish society called ALEC… Send your packages FED-EX instead, or use the post office… They have union employees…..  And go ahead, do UPS a favor and Twitter them to let them know why you are choosing FED-EX ground, and why you are so angry you don’t care if it costs you a couple of cents more…..

First Peak Into the SuperPACs…. We Don’t Like What We See

Thank you Christian Science Monitor for jumping on this so quickly.

Best way to go forward is throw out facts…..

Romney, picked up more than $30 million SuperPAC contributions in 2011, mainly from financial industry executives and hedge-fund managers. (These are the guys who crashed the economy by selling junk as derivatives as well as jacked your $1.40 a gallon gasoline price up to $4.50 in 2008. Most people don’t really like them very much.)

Mr. Gingrich, raised $2.08 million through 2011, nearly half from the daughter and son-in-law of Las Vegas casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson. In January, after the FEC’s reporting window, Mr. Adelson and his wife, Miriam, gave Winning Our Future two $5 million checks – and the capacity to fight on in South Carolina and Florida’s high-cost media markets. (Translated: the Mafia is buying a candidate)….

The Red White and Blue Fund, backing former Sen. Rick Santorum, raised $764,000 in 2011, backed mainly by mutual fund manager Foster Friess ($331,000). (Without this one man, the campaign would have folded months ago)…..

Make US Great Again, a super PAC supporting Texas Gov. Rick Perry, raised $5.3 million, mainly from energy company executives. After he dropped out, one donor, Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons gave $500,000 to Gingrich’s SuperPAC.

GOP hopeful Ron Paul is backed by three super PACs – Endorse Liberty Inc., Santa Rita Super PAC, and Revolution PAC – which have spent $3.7 million supporting his campaign. Venture capitalist Peter Thiel, a founder of PayPal, is the leading donor at $900,000.

Super PACs supporting President Obama, together, raised $3.1 million in the second half of 2011. By contrast, super PACs attacking the president, such as American Crossroads and FreedomWorks for America, report raising $20.3 million over the same period.

Translated: Obama’s supporters don’t have money; Big money wants him out… (And no wonder, he is the last thing protecting us from them)…

But, if we factor in the way things used to be, before all restrictions on campaign giving were lifted, in a straight race for individual campaign contributions, limited by law to $2,500 per donor per election, Mr. Obama vastly outpaces the GOP field. The Obama campaign reports raising nearly $130 million in 2011, compared with $56.9 million raised by the Romney campaign, the top GOP fundraiser.

So, you see, WE the People, have done our part, but are getting outspent…. by at best count… 10 people…..

But a wildcard in the 2012 race is how outside super PACs could tip that balance by giving anti-Obama groups access to unlimited individual and corporate contributions.

As Florida shown, SuperPAC’s can decide the elecion…

Translated, this year our president is being picked by a fight between ten people, each who has a special interest in getting “their” man into that leadership position…..

Thanks to the Citizens-United decision by the Supreme Court, we just actually lost our democracy. It might as well be warlords fighting among themselves to be King……

I’m calling on every citizen to ignore both TV and ads this time around, and read the damn papers instead……

It is our last chance.

(I Owe Ya) ……… or I-O-WA

I attack the bastion that Iowa should be the first primary… For one, it is not a primary. For two, it is not indicative of the whole United States, and three, it has been hyperbolated far beyond it’s own net worth.. In essence, both Iowa and New Hampshire, are harmful to the American voting process…. very harmful.

Essentially we allow less than 100,000 campaign volunteers, to determine the front runner. Not even close to the population of one entire state… The Iowa Caucus is not a contest that determines who is the best candidate for our nation. It is a contest of whom can organize the most of their supporters… buy them outright, if need be…..Hitler would win Iowa. Obviously the candidate who states, I will protect the wealthy’s money, has quite an edge….

How many is 100,000……?

And how does that compare to the entire USA?

(right click on picture to display full image)

The stats are as follows…

100,000 / 307,000,000 = 0.00033 or 0.033%….

African Americans make up just 2.8% of Iowa’s population. Worse, when Reagan won, in 1980 they were below 1.4%…

Iowa was ranked number two, behind Wisconsin as the worst place for blacks to live…

Latinos make up 5% of the Iowa’s population.

On a better note, 11.4% of Iowa’s are represented by unions… compared to the national average of 11.4%…

Iowa was estimated to be 56% metropolitan in 2007. Meaning 44% of it’s population is non metropolitan… The national rural/urban split is 21/79%.

In 2008, estimated $51,593,849 was spent by candidates on the 2008 Iowa Caucus. The 16 candidates for the 2008 presidential election raised and spent a grand total of $457,802,866 by the end of 2007, with the winners continuing on to spend in future races.

If there ever was an situation set up perfectly where an election could be bought, Iowa would become the perfect model.

Which could explain the extreme and excessive variables that Iowa has shown this cycle… First it was Michelle Bachmann who was hot… Then she disappeared as Rick Perry waltzed across the stage… Even his jobs record became outshown by the devil’s plan turned upside down, .. 999.… Until a too cocky Cain, resigned.. Gingrich lurched into favoritism… until he too discorporated … Suddenly a surge swept up number 2, Ron Paul.. but now, with the endorsement of a two single preachers, Rick Santorium, who I believe was originally under the 1% threshold at the beginning, is now rumored by ABC News to be able to win it all!!..

This is madness. This is Iowa. This is why we do not get qualified people into office… (from either party.) Are Iowa people dumb? Can Iowa people not make up their mind? Are Iowa people that uninformed? Are Iowa people that crazy? ….

Or,

…. are Iowa people being played by the press, and hoopla, and rest of the nations is stuck with their decisions…..

It is time another state issues a challenge to the prognosis that New Hampshire and Iowa need to be first.

ideally it would be state that was the first to ratify the Constitution. Ideally it would be a state that mirrors the national statistics a little better than some of the others. ideally it would be a state that has no television station. Ideally it would be a state where no one listens to the radio. Ideally it would be a state where one-on-one contact was possible with a large proportion of that state’s population. Ideally it would be a state with 11.9% of its workers represented by unions, equivalent to the national average of 11.9% of its workers represented by unions. Ideally its rural/urban split at 22/78% would mirror the nations rural/urban split at 21/79%… Ideally its African American mix (21.4%) would mirror that of America, 12.4%… Ideally its Hispanic population would do the same…. (8.2%/16.3%) and most particularly, in order to be representative of America as a whole, the non Hispancic white race should mirror that of the nation as a whole… 65.3% to 63.5%

There is a state that is far more similar to any pre campaign state out there.. it is the first state to ratify the Constitution….

It is time for courage to take over the wheel.. Those timid party reps who cow at the the National Political Machines, when it is nothing more than a self bloated paper tiger, need replaced by human beings who deeply care about the country.

Delaware losing representation at a convention, will make little difference in that convention’s outcome.. But sticking to our small state’s guns, and making Delaware the first state to hold a primary, would put a voice of reason, a system of control, and even sanity, back into our electoral process. It would also inspired a national media Maddow conversion, named after her experience in the Deer Park Tavern last cycle, where she was blown away that there existed a state, who’s citizens actually were well informed by sources other than commercials and the main stream media, and actually knew what was happening…. For it was a revelation: like “duh, common people aren’t stupid after all.” Perhaps the sanity that is Delaware, needs to become more mainstream… after all…

Looking at Iowa this year, it sure as hell couldn’t hurt….