AARP Dirty Secrets – Part 5: Gouges Seniors to Fund PR Blitz

arkansasgopwing.blogspot.com

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Democrats Cut Back-Room Deals Benefiting AARP
“There’s an inherent conflict of interest….They’re ending up becoming very dependent on sources of income.” — Former AARP Executive Marilyn Moon, quoted in Bloomberg article
ARRA News Service - Speaker Pelosi recently called insurance companies “immoral villains,” and Sen. Jay Rockefeller derided their tactics as “rapacious,” yet the majority has simultaneously relied on an organization that has received billions of dollars in windfall profits from those same insurers as an “independent” source to support their government takeover of health care — AARP. An analysis of Democrats’ rhetoric and actions reveals that in exchange for its support of a government takeover of health care, AARP has received special considerations regarding several provisions in health “reform” legislation that could benefit the organization quite handsomely:

• While the AARP website claims that the organization supports “guaranteeing that all individuals and groups wishing to purchase or renew coverage can do so regardless of age or pre-existing conditions,” a review of the New York State Insurance Commissioner’s website finds that AARP – branded Medigap coverage imposes a six-month waiting period for individuals with pre-existing conditions. Yet Section 111 of H.R. 3200 would exempt Medigap policies from new limits on pre-existing condition restrictions — thus allowing AARP to continue to deny Medigap claims of individuals with serious health conditions.

• The health “reform” bill approved by the Senate Finance Committee would eliminate the tax deductibility for all insurance company executive salaries over $500,000. However, as drafted by the Committee, the legislation would exempt AARP from this requirement, even though fully 38% of its $1.1 billion in 2008 revenue came directly from “royalty fees” paid by United Healthcare — more than AARP received in membership dues, grant revenue, and private contributions combined. But for Chairman Baucus’ exemption, AARP salaries would in fact be subject to the penalties in the Finance bill — in 2008, then – CEO William Novelli received total compensation of $1,005,830—more than 78 times the average annual Social Security benefit of $12,738.

• Speaker Pelosi has recently discussed the imposition of a new “windfall profits” tax on insurance companies as a potential addition to the House’s health “reform” bill. However, she has made no comments indicating that she would apply a similar tax to AARP — even though the organization by its own admission has received nearly $3.4 billion in profits from selling health insurance and other similar products. Thus it is entirely possible that Democrats could exempt AARP from the insurance windfall profits tax, in the same way that Chairman Baucus created a loophole to allow AARP to continue paying its CEO more than $1 million per year without penalty.

• White House senior advisor David Axelrod recently offered Administration support for price control provisions included in H.R. 3200 that would require insurance companies to pay out a minimum percentage of their premiums in medical claims. However, while H.R. 3200 would place strict price controls on Medicare Advantage plans — requiring them to pay out 85% of premium revenues in medical claims — Medigap policies face a far less strict 65% requirement. In other words, under the Democrat bill, seniors could pay as much as 20 cents more out of every premium dollar to fund “kickbacks” to AARP – sponsored Medigap plans.

• A Bloomberg news analysis published in December highlighted what one observer called AARP’s “dirty little secret”—overcharging its senior members, many of whom who felt betrayed after paying hundreds of dollars above market price for AARP-branded coverage. One noted that “AARP has great buying power, and people should be able to get the best deal….This is unconscionable, what AARP has allowed to happen.” Another disillusioned senior wrote to the organization’s leadership asking whether AARP had a “‘special relationship’ with [insurance carriers] by which it receives commissions, incentives, rebates, or dare I say ‘kickbacks?’”

• In November, news sources reported that AARP suspended the sale of “limited-benefit” health insurance policies, largely as a result of pressure from Republicans in Congress concerned that the organization was selling policies advertised as a “smart option for the health care insurance you need,” even though the policies would only pay up to $10,000 for surgery costs. However, the fate of the more than 1 million policy-holders who purchased limited-benefit coverage from AARP remains unclear—and the organization has made no public offers to return the “royalty fees” on the “bare bones” policies it sold under questionable pretenses.

The special deals provided to AARP in the House and Senate health care bills raise questions about whether and why the Democrats are ignoring a de facto insurance conglomerate in their midst:

• Why did Finance Committee Chairman Baucus exempt AARP from the salary requirements imposed on all other insurance carriers in his health “reform” legislation? Did Chairman Baucus cut another “rock-solid deal” with AARP behind closed doors so that its executives’ ability to earn million-dollar compensation packages would not be impaired?

• Will Speaker Pelosi exempt an organization that earns more than 60 percent of its revenue from “royalty fees” — and obtains more of its revenue from United Health Group than from membership dues, grants, and private contributions combined—from the windfall profits tax she proposes to levy on insurance companies?

• If Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Waxman wants to investigate the compensation levels and corporate practices of insurance companies, why did he not submit requests for information to AARP, which makes 60 percent of its income by selling health insurance and related products to seniors? More to the point, why has the Committee not focused any of its investigative efforts on the widely-reported instances of abuses related to AARP – branded products to ensure executives are held to account and seniors adequately protected?

• Do the Administration and Democrats in Congress support exempting AARP and its Medigap policies from the same regulations they propose to place on other insurance companies? In other words, do Democrats want seniors to be less protected from inflated profits and denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions than the rest of the American population?

Beneath these questions lie two broader issues: Is AARP a seniors’ advocacy group, or a billion-dollar insurance company masquerading as a “charity” organization? And are Democrats so intent on enacting a government takeover of health care that they would knowingly ignore seniors being exploited in “unconscionable” ways to maintain the support of an organization who will lobby for their efforts?

---

AARP Dirty Secrets – Part 1: Helping Seniors or Helping Itself
AARP Dirty Secrets – Part 2: AARP “Kickbacks” Fund Donations to Liberal Causes
AARP Dirty Secrets – Part 3: Will the Real AARP Please Stand Up?
AARP Dirty Secrets – Part 4: Does Not Exactly Help Seniors

Labels: AARP, dirty secret, government healthcare, kickbacks, medicare, royalties, seniors

posted by Bill Smith at 12:54 PM

Senate approves a $447 billion omnibus bill

arkansasgopwing.blogspot.com

Sunday, December 13, 2009

This afternoon, the Senate The Senate approved a $447 billion omnibus bill Sunday, clearing a package of six appropriations bills for President Obama’s signature. The measure, which passed the House last week, was approved by the Senate, 57 to 35. The vote was mostly along party lines — three Republicans voted for the bill, and three Democrats voted against it. The Washington Post identified that, “The package contains funding for dozens of federal agencies and the District of Columbia. Including spending on mandatory programs like Medicare and Social Security, the bill’s price tag totals $1.1 trillion. The measure also carries thousands of earmarks and double-digit spending increases for many programs, prompting Republicans to attack Democrats’ priorities. . . .

Obama is expected to sign the measure, and when he does, several longstanding restraints on how the District can spend federal money will be removed. The measure ends restrictions — promulgated by Republicans but unpopular among local leaders — that banned needle-exchange programs, medical marijuana use and local government-funded abortion.”

U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) today said that he voted against the $445 billion Consolidated Appropriations bill because it includes $236 billion in spending that was suddenly added by a committee — that only met last Tuesday night—without being considered or debated by the full U.S. Senate. “$236 billion was added to this bill in the middle of the night on matters never considered by the full Senate. This is no way to manage federal spending,” Alexander said. “I’m glad this bill contains funding that I requested for worthy projects in Tennessee, but I can’t support hundreds of billions of dollars of spending that has never even seen the light of day.”

Our ancestors must be rolling over in their graves. They would never have considered working on Sunday especially to pass a bill that could well have been passed on Monday. We all realize that Reid, Pelosi and Obama are “hell bent” on taking America further into debt. And to add to the effort, Reid brokers an additional $236 billion middle of the night deal. The Devil must have been truly in the details.

Labels: government spending, omnibus bill, US Senate

posted by Bill Smith at 4:10 PM

Deficit Spending – You should be scared, Part II

The current Omnibus bill  going to the Presidents desk for his signature can only be called irresponsible.

Congress should be ashamed at this point in our economy of growing government more than 14%, adding more than 500 billion in new spending, and more than 5000 pork barrel projects.  This year $.42 of every dollar is borrowed,  next year it goes even higher.  I’ve updated the previous graph with the effects of this bill projected for the next 5 years.  By 2014, we will be spending $2.5 Trillion dollars more than the government receives in tax receipts, all of it borrowed.

As a country we are BROKE!

Mike Sabot

Deficit Spending – You should be scared

Below is a story sent to me from Mike Sabot, Mike is very concern like most of us about our country and the direction it is headed. I know Mike has been very active and set up local tea parties event. I the pleasure to met and like Mike on a personal base and believe in most of his ideas. At this point our country needs more people like Mike. Please read his story below………………….

The Tea Party goers, turned out in the millions across our county protesting
Out of Control Spending by our Government this year.  Our president has said
that the current deficit spending was unsustainable.

The graph below was create with data provide by the U.S. Government showing
spending and tax receipts from 1962 and projected 5 years to 2014.

Data provided courtesy of your Tax dollars and www.data.gov

To use a favorite word of our President, the projected rate in the next 5
years of growth in government spending and tax increases is un-presidented.
In the current year there are 319 tax receipt catagories, in 2011 a new tax
category appears, and it jumps to the top of all catagories for Taxes, with
only Personal Income and Corporate Taxes higher.   It’s called CAP & TRADE.
They have already determined it will pass and  Healthcare is not even
included.

Financial ratings services have said that the US AAA rating is in danger of
being downgraded in the next few years and there are increasing number of
counties calling for the removal of the US dollar as the world reserve
currency.

This week Blue Dog and so called Fisical Conservitive Congressman Sanford
Bishop (D-GA) voted for an Omnibus bill of more than $1 trillion dollars and
more than 3,000 earmarks.  This bill increases government agencies on the
average of 14% while the country’s GDP is going negitive.  That 14% is not
included in the above graph.  Want to bet the President will break his
promise again, on earmarks and sign the bill?

And in an email from Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) today, he says “Long-term
projections show an unsustainable imbalance between government spending and
revenues. Gross debt is likely to exceed 100 percent of GDP within the next
few years”.

They are going to raise the debt ceiling in the next week,  first it was
going to be $1.2 Trillion but because they thought it would need to be
raised again in July and with elections in November, that would be a no-no,
they are going to make it closer to $2 trillion and hope the voters won’t
remember.  They also hoping they won’t have to raise it again until after
the elections.

So unless we kick out every tax and spend Democrat, every RINO, every so
called fiscal conservative that votes only to  slow government growth but
not cut government, your children and grandchildren won’t have to worry
about paying off the debt we are creating today, because there won’t be a
dollar.

Mike Sabot
Lee County Georgia

House Approves $1.1 Trillion Spending Measure

www.cnsnews.com

Friday, December 11, 2009
By Andrew Taylor, Associated Press

Washington (AP) – Democrats are muscling through a deficit-swelling spending bill, giving domestic programs their third major boost this year and awarding lawmakers with more than 5,000 home-state projects.

The House voted 221-202 Thursday to pass the 1,088-page, $1.1 trillion measure — combining $447 billion in operating budgets with about $650 billion in payments for federal benefit programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. The Senate immediately voted to begin debate, with a final vote likely this weekend.

No House Republicans voted for the bill. Some 28 Democrats, chiefly moderates and abortion opponents, opposed it.

The measure provides spending increases averaging about 10 percent to programs under immediate control of Congress. It comes on top of an infusion of cash to domestic agencies in February’s economic stimulus bill and a $410 billion measure in March that also bestowed budget increases well above inflation.

Also Thursday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., confirmed that the House will vote to raise the cap on government borrowing, currently set at $12.1 trillion. The hike in the debt ceiling is likely to exceed $1.5 trillion so that another politically excruciating vote to raise the limit won’t be needed next year.

The deficit for the 2009 budget year registered $1.4 trillion and a comparable deficit is expected for 2010 — and that’s before Congress spends up to $100 billion to renew extended jobless payments and health insurance subsidies for the unemployed and passes legislation intended to create jobs.

“When are we going to say, ‘Enough is enough?’” asked House GOP Leader John Boehner of Ohio. “Let’s stop the madness.”

In fact, the gravy train may slow next year, assuming President Barack Obama follows through on his promise to bring unsustainable trillion-dollar-plus deficits under control. His budget director has ordered agencies to brace for a spending freeze as part of a midterm election-year push to rein in record budget shortfalls.

The spending bill blends increases for veterans’ programs, NASA and the FBI with a pay raise for federal workers and help for car dealers. It bundles together six of the 12 annual spending bills, capping a dysfunctional appropriations process in which House leaders blocked Republicans from debating key issues and Senate Republicans dragged out debates.

Just the $626 billion defense bill would remain. That’s being held back to serve as a vehicle to advance must-pass legislation such as the debt increase.

The measure contains 5,224 so-called earmarks totaling $3.9 billion, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, a Washington-based watchdog group. Republicans and Democrats share in the largesse, which includes grants to local police departments, money for road and bridge projects, and community and economic development grants.

Democrats made no apologies for the spending increases, saying that domestic programs starved under eight years of President George W. Bush.

“I see these bills as an opportunity to reverse years of neglect — neglect to our roads and bridges, neglect to our lower-income neighbors and friends, neglect to our education system, neglect to our veterans,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.

Democrats forced a $151 million cut to Obama’s almost $2.8 billion request for economic and security aid to Afghanistan this week. Obama’s $1.6 billion request for aid to Pakistan would be cut $124 million. But Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis. — a top skeptic about the Afghanistan war — said the cuts were not intended as a rebuke to Obama.

For the more than 2,000 Chrysler and GM dealers closed or facing closure, the bill would offer an improved binding arbitration process to challenge the automakers’ decisions. It also renewed for two more years a federal loan guarantee program for steel companies.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, protested a provision to let Amtrak passengers carry handguns in their checked baggage, provided the guns are unloaded and locked in a secure container. The policy would go into place within a year.

The bill caps a heated debate over Obama’s order to close the Guantanamo Bay jail in Cuba. It would permit detainees held at Guantanamo to be transferred to the United States to stand trial but not to be released.

Republicans also blasted moves by Democrats to drop several social policy provisions that conservatives had championed for years. A long-standing ban on the funding of abortion by the District of Columbia government would be overturned, igniting strong opposition from anti-abortion lawmakers. The bill also overturns a ban on federal money for needle exchange programs in the city, phases out a D.C. school voucher program favored by Republicans and opens the door for the city to permit medical marijuana.

It would also lift a nationwide ban on the use of federal funds for needle-exchange programs.

Federal workers would receive pay increases averaging 2 percent, with people in areas with higher living costs receiving slightly higher increases.

Republicans claimed the measure would mean a 33 percent increase for foreign aid and the State Department, but once war-related funding and emergency funding shuffles are taken into account, the increase is more like 10 to 15 percent. A Democratic press release actually claims a modest overall spending cut but then lists a host of sizable gains when describing specific programs.

The increases to foreign aid were not directed at individual countries as much as initiatives such as health programs, food aid and developmental assistance for poor countries, and funding for additional foreign service officers.

The Senate voted 56-43 to take up the measure, short of the 60 votes needed to defeat a GOP filibuster. But Democratic leaders are confident several senior GOP members of the Appropriations Committee will support the measure when a 60-vote threshold is needed, most likely Saturday.

Embryonic stem-cell funding – an incentive to kill

www.onenewsnow.com

im Brown – OneNewsNow – 12/4/2009 6:00:00 AM

An internationally recognized expert on stem cells and cloning says President Obama’s decision to lift restrictions on federal funding of human embryonic stem-cell research is wasting lives and taxpayer dollars when all resources should be going towards adult stem cells.

The Obama administration on Wednesday approved 13 new human embryonic stem-cell lines for taxpayer-funded experiments. The 13 lines are the first to be approved under an executive order from President Obama, and the National Institutes of Health says dozens more cell lines will be available soon.

During the Bush administration, federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research was limited to cell lines that were already in existence before August 2001.

Dr. David Prentice, senior fellow for life sciences with the Family Research Council, says that by approving funding for new lines, the Obama administration continues to push political ideology, not science.

“Embryonic stem cells have not helped any human being.  In fact, [they] haven’t helped that many rats and mice in the lab,” Prentice notes.  “Only adult stem cells are actually helping patients.  The unfortunate part of this new approval is there are now more incentives for researchers to destroy young human embryos just so they can get taxpayer funds.”

Prentice reports that nearly 80 diseases or injuries have been treated successfully with adult stem cells.

545 vs 300,000,000

EVERY CITIZEN NEEDS TO READ THIS AND THINK ABOUT WHAT THIS JOURNALIST HAS SCRIPTED IN THIS MESSAGE. READ IT AND THEN REALLY THINK ABOUT OUR CURRENT POLITICAL DEBACLE.

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.
Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?
You and I don’t propose a federal budget. The president does.
You and I don’t have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.
You and I don’t write the tax code, Congress does.
You and I don’t set fiscal policy, Congress does.
You and I don’t control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don’t care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator’s responsibility to determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits.. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.
The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace 545 people who stand convicted — by present facts — of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can’t think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.
If the tax code is unfair, it’s because they want it unfair.
If the budget is in the red, it’s because they want it in the red ..
If the Army &Marines are in IRAQ , it’s because they want them in IRAQ
If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it’s because they want it that way.
There are no insoluble government problems.
Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like “the economy,” “inflation,” or “politics” that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.
Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.
They, and they alone, have the power.
They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.
Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.
We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

545 PEOPLE
By Charlie Reese
Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.

What you do with this article now that you have read it……… Is up to you.

This might be funny if it weren’t so darned true.
Be sure to read all the way to the end:

Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table
At which he’s fed.

Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the rule.

Tax his work,
Tax his pay,
He works for peanuts
Anyway!
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat
Tax his ties,
Tax his shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.

Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to think.

Tax his cigars,
Tax his beers,
If he cries
Tax his tears.

Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his ass.

Tax all he has
Then let him know
That you won’t be done
Till he has no dough.

When he screams and hollers;
Then tax him some more,
Tax him till
He’s good and sore.
Then tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he’s laid.

Put these words
Upon his tomb,
Taxes drove me
to my doom…’

When he’s gone,
Do not relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance tax.
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge T ax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Sales Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Ser vice FeeTax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge=2 0Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY? Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.
What in the hell happened? Can you spell ‘politicians?’
And I still have to ‘press 1′ for English!?

I hope this goes around THE USA at least 100 times!!! YOU can help it get there!!!
GO AHEAD – - – BE AN AMERICAN!!!

Tell Congress to Oppose $2 Trillion Climate Tax!

This is an email sent to me by National Taxpayers Union

Dear Charlie,

Congress will soon begin debating a so-called “cap-and-trade” energy bill that proposes to combat global warming. Unfortunately for taxpayers, it utilizes the same solution that big-government boosters employ for virtually every problem this country faces: higher taxes!

NTU and our friends at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) are joining together to point out the dangers of this scheme and expose nearly $2 trillion worth of tax hikes on American families. Picking taxpayers’ pockets for more money won’t help us turn the corner on today’s difficult economy. NTU and CEI are asking you to join us in telling Congress: Don’t turn 2009 into 1984! Sound off to your Representatives today!

Send a letter to the following decision maker(s):
Your Congressperson
Your Senators

Below is the sample letter:

Subject: Oppose Cap-and-Trade Tax Hike!

Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],

Carbon dioxide emissions pose less of a threat to our country than the energy tax policies now being considered by Congress. Cap-and-trade proposals, such as President Obama’s blueprint and the Waxman-Markey bill, would pile a multi-trillion-dollar indirect tax onto the backs of consumers. Cap-and-trade would make energy prices unbearable and put millions more people out of work.

I strongly urge you to vote against the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill and any other energy-rationing legislation.

Sincerely,

Charlie Prochaska