50 arrested in largest anti-Walmart protest

<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>From The Huffington Post via <a href="http://ourfuture.org/">ourfuture.org</a></b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>“Surrounded by about 100 police officers in riot gear and a helicopter circling above, more than 50 Walmart workers and supporters were arrested in downtown Los Angeles <span class="Object" id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT381">Thursday</span> night as they <span class="Object" id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT382">sat</span> in the street protesting what they called the retailer’s ‘poverty wages.’</b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Organizers said it was the largest single act of civil disobedience in Walmart’s 50-year history.</b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The 54 arrestees, with about 500 protesting Walmart workers, clergy and supporters, demonstrated outside LA’s Chinatown Walmart. Those who refused police orders to clear the street after their permit expired were arrested without incident. Those who fail to post $5,000 bail would be jailed overnight, Detective Gus Villanueva, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman, told The Huffington Post.</b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Their primary demand to Walmart: pay every full-time worker at least $25,000 a year.”</b></span></span>

CONSUMER NEWS NATIONAL NEWS SIGN OF THE TIMES 50 arrested in largest anti-Walmart protest

From The Huffington Post via ourfuture.org“Surrounded by about 100 police officers in riot gear and a helicopter circling above, more than 50 Walmart workers and supporters were arrested in downtown Los Angeles Thursday night as they sat in the str…

Read more »

How insurers are hiding Obamacare benefits

<div class="imgon2"><img alt="(illustration: AP)" border="0" height="181" src="http://readersupportednews.org/images/stories/article_imgs10/011029-health-care-scare-110513.jpg" title="(illustration: AP)" width="400" /> <br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>(illustration: AP)</b></span></span></div><div class="noslink"></div><div class="txtimg"><h1 class="txttitle"></h1><div class="txtauthor"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>By Dylan Scott, Talking Points Memo</b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="date"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>05 November 13</b></span></span></div><div class="date"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>readersupportednews.org </b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><img border="0" src="http://readersupportednews.org/images/stories/alphabet/rsn-D.jpg" />onna received the letter canceling her insurance plan on Sept. 16. Her insurance company, LifeWise of Washington, told her that they'd identified a new plan for her. If she did nothing, she'd be covered.</b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>A 56-year-old Seattle resident with a 57-year-old husband and 15-year-old daughter, Donna had been looking forward to the savings that the Affordable Care Act had to offer.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>But that's not what she found. Instead, she'd be paying an additional $300 a month for coverage. The letter made no mention of the health insurance marketplace that would soon open in Washington, where she could shop for competitive plans, and only an oblique reference to financial help that she might qualify for, if she made the effort to call and find out.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Otherwise, she'd be automatically rolled over to a new plan -- and, as the letter said, "If you're happy with this plan, do nothing."</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>If Donna had done nothing, she would have ended up spending about $1,000 more a month for insurance than she will now that she went to the marketplace, picked the best plan for her family and accessed tax credits at the heart of the health care reform law.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>"The info that we were sent by LifeWise was totally bogus. Why the heck did they try to screw us?" Donna said. "People who are afraid of the ACA should be much more afraid of the insurance companies who will exploit their fear and end up overcharging them."</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Donna is not alone.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Across the country, insurance companies <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303983904579093620345333370" target="_blank">have sent</a> misleading letters to consumers, trying to lock them into the companies' own, sometimes more expensive health insurance plans rather than let them shop for insurance and tax credits on the Obamacare marketplaces -- which could lead to people like Donna spending thousands more for insurance than the law intended. In some cases, mentions of the marketplace in those letters are relegated to a mere footnote, which can be easily overlooked.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The extreme lengths to which some insurance companies are going to hold on to existing customers at higher price, as the Affordable Care Act fundamentally re-orders the individual insurance market, has caught the attention of state insurance regulators.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The insurance companies argue that it's simply capitalism at work. But regulators don't see it that way. By warning customers that their health insurance plans <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/what-happens-to-people-whose-insurance-is-cancelled-because-of-obamacare" target="_blank">are being canceled</a> as a result of Obamacare and urging them to secure new insurance plans before the Obamacare launched on Oct. 1, these insurers put their customers at risk of enrolling in plans that were not as good or as affordable as what they could buy on the marketplaces.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>TPM has confirmed two specific examples where companies contacted their customers prior to the marketplace's Oct. 1 opening and pushed them to renew their health coverage at a higher price than they would pay through the marketplace. State regulators identified the schemes, but they weren't necessarily able to stop them.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>It's not yet clear how widespread this practice became in the months leading up to the marketplace's opening -- or how many Americans will end up paying more than they should be for health coverage. But misleading letters have been sent out in at least four states across the country, and one offending carrier, Humana, is a company with a national reach.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>"If you're an insurance company, you're trying to hang onto the consumers you have at the highest price you can get them," Laura Etherton, a health policy analyst at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, told TPM. "You can take advantage of the confusion about what people get to have now. It's a new world. It's disappointing that insurance companies are sending confusing letters to consumers to take advantage of that confusion. The reality is that this could do real harm."</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Before Obamacare, Donna paid a $724 monthly premium for $10,000 deductible, catastrophic health coverage from LifeWise, a subsidiary of the state's Blue Cross/Blue Shield affiliate. She asked that TPM withhold her last name because she was disclosing personal financial information.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The Sept. 16 letter from LifeWise told her that her existing plan was being canceled to comply with the new requirements of Obamacare and that she would automatically be rolled over into a new plan that was the "closest match" to her old plan. "If we don't hear from you, we'll automatically move you to this plan and you'll be covered starting January 1, 2014," the notice read.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Under the new LifeWise plan, Donna would have to pay more than $1,000 a month, a nearly $300 per month increase and a huge hit for a family with an income around $40,000. It was bare-bones coverage by ACA standards, with a $6,350 deductible.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The letter, which you can read here, made no mention of the insurance marketplace that was about to open, where she could shop around for other options. It did mention that she might qualify for financial help in the form of a tax credit but the onus was on Donna to call the insurer for more information.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Fast forward a month, and Donna was able to log onto Washington's marketplace and shop for insurance. And what did she find? Options. A LifeWise plan with the same deductible they offered her outside the exchange was a little cheaper. Plans with a lower deductible had the same or lower premiums as the LifeWise plan. What she ended up buying was a plan through Community Health Plan of Washington with a $250 deductible.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>And crucially, she also discovered she would qualify for a federal tax subsidy that would knock her monthly premium to $80. Her daughter could enroll in Medicaid, at no cost to the family.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>  </b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>So here's the bottom line: If Donna had taken the default option that LifeWise offered outside of the marketplace, she would have paid nearly $1,000 more per month for a worse plan than she was able to obtain on the marketplace.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>A LifeWise spokesman told TPM that the Washington marketplace had done plenty of its own advertising and the company assumes that customers know they have other options. He also noted that more information was available on the company's website.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>"Our experience is that our customers are already aware that they have other options in the market and that we've never had to tell them in the past that we have competitors," Eric Earling, director of corporate communications at Premera Blue Cross/Blue Shield, said. "We knew that (the marketplace) would have a robust marketing campaign for themselves and knew they didn't need any additional help from us."</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>As a result of the letter LifeWise sent to Donna and other customers, state regulators in Washington issued a <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/180817948/Washington-Consumer-Alert-pdf" target="_blank">consumer alert</a> on Sept. 19, warning residents about the misleading information. "Don't just take what your insurance company says, make sure you shop around. You have the right to buy any plan inside the new exchange or in the outside market," Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler said in the alert.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>But the agency doesn't have the statutory authority to stop LifeWise from sending the misleading letters, a spokeswoman told TPM. The company controls one-third of the state's 300,000-person individual health insurance market -- leaving a lot of people at risk of being duped.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>"Yes, that's possible," Stephanie Marquis, the spokeswoman, said when asked if some Washingtonians could be paying much more for insurance than they could if they went on the exchange because of LifeWise's actions.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>"One of our concerns has been that people don't know they have these new rights," Marquis said. "The insurance companies can manipulate or withhold that information to increase their market share. It's just really disingenuous."</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Donna's experience isn't an isolated incident, however. And the wider spread the issue is, the likelier it becomes that some people have been manipulated into spending more for insurance than they should.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Kentucky <a href="http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013309240089" target="_blank">fined</a> Louisville-based Humana for sending out letters with similarly misleading information to customers in that state. They received complaints about an Aug. 21 letter that pressed customers to renew their policy now or risk increased rates under Obamacare.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>But like LifeWise, Humana downplayed the fact that people could search the marketplace for other insurance options or that they might qualify for Obamacare's financial assistance, state insurance commissioner Sharon Clark, pictured, told TPM in an interview. A footnote referenced the "open enrollment period" that started Oct. 1. Humana directed customers to their website for more information about the marketplace, but offered no further explanation.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>After receiving the letter, which you can read here, some customers were badgered through phone calls to make a decision, Clark said. Of the 6,500 people who received a letter, 2,200 actually responded and gave the company their answer before they had a chance to look at what the Kentucky marketplace had to offer.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>But Clark's office soon stepped in. They fined Humana $65,000 for the "misleading" information, and the 2,200 respondents were released from their obligation to Humana and freed to shop for insurance through the Obamacare marketplace starting Oct. 1.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The most troubling part of the Humana case is that the company was pushing customers into a Humana insurance plan that was more expensive than the plan Humana was selling on the Obamacare marketplace, without the financial help available under Obamcare.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Clark gave the example of a single mother with children who was urged to sign up for a Humana plan with a monthly premium of $719.86. That price is higher than any comparable plan for sale on the state's insurance marketplace, Clark said -- not to mention that the mother might have qualified for tax subsidies to help pay for it if she went through the marketplace, as Donna did.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>"People don't think about insurance every day," Clark said, "and in an environment with so many changes, this has been a period of confusion and uncertainty for people."</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Colorado regulators also received complaints about a similar Humana letter, dated Aug. 28 on a <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/180818879/Colorado-Humana-Letter-pdf" target="_blank">copy</a> obtained by TPM, that went out to 3,400 customers in their state.</b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>It explained options available on the Obamacare marketplace and financial help in, again, a footnote. The company wasn't fined as it was in Kentucky, but state officials forced Humana to send out an apology and a corrected letter that met the state's standards.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>"The letter appeared threatening," Vincent Plymell, a spokesman for the state insurance department, told TPM. "You've got to let people know their options. You can't make it seem like they have to stick with your company."</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>State officials in Missouri also told TPM that they have received complaints about misleading letters from Humana and were in the process of investigating them.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Asked by TPM about the Kentucky letter that resulted in a fine, Humana senior vice president for corporate communications Tom Noland offered the following statement via email, but declined to comment further.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>"In retrospect, the letter could have been more consumer-friendly and we've rewritten it with that in mind. We are continuing to work closely with the Department of Insurance to ensure our messaging is clear and not adding confusion to consumers during this period of adjustment and transition."</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Clark, the Kentucky insurance commissioner, told TPM that Humana executives had told state officials that there had been "a major disconnect" between the marketing and government compliance arms of the company.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>"That was the excuse they gave us," she said. "That was the rationale."</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>"This is a great example of the kind of consumer abuses that are typical of the insurance industry, and they're supposed to stop under the ACA," Ethan Rome, executive director of Health Care For America Now, a pro-Obamacare advocacy group, told TPM. "In this case, they're trying to get in just one more abuse."</b></span></span></div></div>

CONSUMER NEWS NATIONAL NEWS NATURAL HEALTH by Leilah SENIORS How insurers are hiding Obamacare benefits

(illustration: AP)By Dylan Scott, Talking Points Memo05 November 13readersupportednews.org onna received the letter canceling her insurance plan on Sept. 16. Her insurance company, LifeWise of Washington, told her that they'd identified a new pla…

Read more »

PetSmart makes Gazette's 'Good Business' list

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCC2oVVMH7m769tX1SFVVq_FD7GPxjvXdcA5-9MNuChvalsVr_68adNAviQUv8jRW-jmCd80GVQ_4qiCd7fzEYWkywdRaUM95Ou5WpNyaHsYRwm6ejcnzq__SGXpLU6RJRSfXwXBILzz-_/s1600/header-logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCC2oVVMH7m769tX1SFVVq_FD7GPxjvXdcA5-9MNuChvalsVr_68adNAviQUv8jRW-jmCd80GVQ_4qiCd7fzEYWkywdRaUM95Ou5WpNyaHsYRwm6ejcnzq__SGXpLU6RJRSfXwXBILzz-_/s320/header-logo.png" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Over the past few years, we've recommended avoiding a number of retail establishments because they mistreat employees (WalMart and McDonald's), are homophobic (Chick-Fil-A), support divisive idiots like Rush Limbaugh (Aamco), and a variety of other reasons.</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>We've also encouraged patronizing a smaller list of businesses that do the right things by their people and the causes they believe in (Costco, Starbucks).  Well here's one to put on your list of places that deserve your support - and we have an outlet right here in the Rim Country.</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>According to an article in today's (Nov. 4) <i>Arizona Republic</i>, Phoenix-based PetSmart has signed an Arizona Unity Pledge supporting gay rights.  What that means is that PetSmart is committed to creating an environment that is free of discrimination and bullying against workers or members who are gay.</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>That may not sound like a big deal, but it is.  A lot of companies are afraid to sign the pledge for fear of alienating homophobic customers.</b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>As an additional bonus, the local Payson PetSmart works closely with the Humane Society of Central Arizona to help find homes for abandoned and abused animals. </b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>So here's to PetSmart.  Please patronize them.</b></span></span><br /><br /><i><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>(To read the entire article, click on <a href="http://news.azcentral.com/">news.azcentral.com</a>.  And for home delivery of the best newspaper in the Rim Country, call 1-800-332-6733.) </b></span></span> </i>

CONSUMER NEWS GOOD NEWS HUMANE SOCIETY LOCAL NEWS NATIONAL NEWS STATE NEWS PetSmart makes Gazette's 'Good Business' list

Over the past few years, we've recommended avoiding a number of retail establishments because they mistreat employees (WalMart and McDonald's), are homophobic (Chick-Fil-A), support divisive idiots like Rush Limbaugh (Aamco), and a variety of other r…

Read more »

Proof positive it's time to ban plastic bags

<div id="main_menu" style="border-top: 2px solid #8cc63f; bottom: 0; margin-left: 10px; position: absolute;"></div><a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" id="main-content-area" name="main-content-area"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgosHkserY11xlvhpudfkxKw3_OgqePemAlM4X2pEDtJTG3N_YnUdAvk3WE2C90r45NoQP4cMJp-8W2b_BEZPD3F6gAxdhzLmanyd91L5yx3JNAUAjSU_yENVM2DFOWexT937bVsjMEgxwH/s1600/BanPlasticBags110213.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgosHkserY11xlvhpudfkxKw3_OgqePemAlM4X2pEDtJTG3N_YnUdAvk3WE2C90r45NoQP4cMJp-8W2b_BEZPD3F6gAxdhzLmanyd91L5yx3JNAUAjSU_yENVM2DFOWexT937bVsjMEgxwH/s400/BanPlasticBags110213.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="author times"> </div><div class="author times"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>By Bill Hickman</b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b> </b></span></span><div class="source times"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><a href="http://ecowatch.com/2013/11/01/proof-positive-time-to-ban-plastic-bags/" style="color: #4f4f50;">EcoWatch</a> / News Analysis</b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b> </b></span></span><div class="published"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b> Published: Saturday 2 November 2013</b></span></span></div><div class="published"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><a href="http://www.nationofchange.org/">www.nationofchange.org</a> </b></span></span></div><div class="published"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b> </b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b> </b></span></span><div class="deck"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b> In theory, it’s a good idea to segregate plastic bags so they can be recycled separately but in reality that does not work if plastic bag recycle rates continue to hover in the single digits.</b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b> </b></span></span></div><div class="deck"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b> </b></span></span></div><div class="deck"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>A recent exclusive report from the Associated Press (AP) highlighted the deficiencies with the California state law passed in 2006 that requires larger food retailers to recycle plastic bags. It’s been clear to us that <a href="http://ecowatch.com/2013/05/22/could-federal-bill-lead-death-plastic-bags/">plastic bag recycling</a> does not work and this is more proof. While the plastics industry and manufacturers often push for curbside recycling because of the convenience, the message to take certain items back does not work without a financial incentive.</b></span></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Here’s an except from the <a href="http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/5501d61fdc79422bba3c0f9936bc7f0c/CA--Plastic-Bags-Forgotten-Law/#.UnFfJySvyKM">AP report</a> the the <em>Daily Journal</em>: </b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Stores are required to submit annual reports detailing how many bags were bought by the store, how many were returned by consumers and which recyclers processed them, yet the state recycling department cannot say how many stores are complying. A review by the Associated Press found data has not been analyzed since 2009, two years after the law took effect. Then, three percent of California’s plastic bags were being recycled, a one percentage point increase from the previous year.</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b> </b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>While totals of bags purchased and recycled during the last three years were made available after an AP request, Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery spokesman Mark Oldfield said those numbers have not been verified so the official recycling rate can be updated. He said the program lacks resources to analyze recent reports. No fees are charged to bag manufacturers, recyclers or retailers to help pay for staff. While the law allows for fines if stores do not comply, no violations have been issued.</b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The AP report focuses on <a href="http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/05-06/bill/asm/ab_2401-2450/ab_2449_bill_20060930_chaptered.pdf">AB 2449</a> which was passed by California legislators in 2006, then the plastic bag recycling portion was extended until 2020 by legislators in 2012 through <a href="http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB1219">SB 1219</a>. AB 2449 was a bit controversial at the time because many environmental groups were pushing for a stronger bill to address <a href="http://ecowatch.com/2013/08/06/the-danger-of-plastic-bags-to-marine-life/">plastic bag litter and associated impacts</a>. AB 2449 included a provision that prevented local communities from putting a fee on plastic checkout bags so the local response has been <a href="http://www.surfrider.org/pages/plastic-bag-bans-fees">65 plastic bag ban ordinances</a> and counting.</b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Most recyclers don’t want to deal with plastic bags and film because they can ‘gum up’ the machinery that processes more profitable items such as plastic bottles and aluminum cans. In Washington, Thurston County <a href="http://www.theolympian.com/2013/08/09/2664230/lemay-to-stop-recycling-plastic.html">recycling provider Lemay, Inc. stopped collecting plastic bags</a> and film in October because of a lack of market for the material. <a href="http://www.wdde.org/48636-dnrec-plastic-bag-recycling">Delaware recently changed their policy</a> and is directing residents not to put plastic bags in their curbside or other single-stream recycling bins.</b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>In theory, it’s a good idea to segregate plastic bags so they can be recycled separately but in reality that does not work if plastic bag recycle rates continue to hover in the single digits. <a href="http://www.surfrider.org/">Surfrider</a> will continue to advocate plastic source reductions such as <a href="http://ecowatch.com/2013/07/31/texas-town-bans-plastic-bags/">plastic bag bans</a> and fee-based policies to help reduce plastic litter affecting the marine environment. </b></span></span>

CONSUMER NEWS ENVIRONMENT NATIONAL NEWS SIGN OF THE TIMES Proof positive it's time to ban plastic bags

 By Bill Hickman EcoWatch / News Analysis Published: Saturday 2 November 2013www.nationofchange.org   In theory, it’s a good idea to segregate plastic bags so they can be recycled separately but in reality that does n…

Read more »

Young winery now on Amazon

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia8h7BZlTb8z1mMtHXIgH1GdMVdJMx_CybCAsmusQAtNitJ4aUcTBHokMvJSG-c_eN-gMBxQfjSXG8WO7LbRIXvUGktH_cscI2Tfjj3kI90zG0Zf_NjQ3dC_Sw6VcGi62wDBFb8NxdgtKN/s1600/winery+097.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia8h7BZlTb8z1mMtHXIgH1GdMVdJMx_CybCAsmusQAtNitJ4aUcTBHokMvJSG-c_eN-gMBxQfjSXG8WO7LbRIXvUGktH_cscI2Tfjj3kI90zG0Zf_NjQ3dC_Sw6VcGi62wDBFb8NxdgtKN/s400/winery+097.JPG" width="303" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Owners Jim and Marie Petroff are pleased to announce that Pleasant Valley Winery is one of the first wineries invited to offer our products on<span style="color: #1f497d;"> </span>the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/r.html?R=1WDPLM90USAVR&C=3TG14KBDH777U&H=QOSJK85L8AXVBCBUOFJ5GFHGLREA&T=C&U=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fref%3Dpe_385040_30332190_pe_175190_21431760_3p_M3T1_ST1_g_i" target="_blank" title=""Visit Amazon.com" "><span style="color: #1f497d; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Amazon" border="0" height="31" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=391ad0bf7c&view=att&th=141f1a3583e6dfb7&attid=0.2&disp=emb&zw&atsh=1" width="107" /></span></a> launch of their new premier site, AmazonWine.com.  </b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Please visit our shop on AmazonWine.com:   <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/shops/PleasantValleyWinery" target="_blank">Amazon.com/shops/<wbr></wbr>PleasantValleyWinery</a></span></b></span></span>

CONSUMER NEWS GOOD NEWS LOCAL NEWS TONTO BASIN Young winery now on Amazon

Owners Jim and Marie Petroff are pleased to announce that Pleasant Valley Winery is one of the first wineries invited to offer our products on the  launch of their new premier site, AmazonWine.com.  Please visit our shop on AmazonWine.com:   Amazon.c…

Read more »

U.S. marijuana usage timeline says it all

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJmBF6sj_olcdJTV1sh1ofkDJxao97V55iqc8KwBb8upR_NboVCXxIaOOVmdpKhWtrXPiT7LKysqE-DVF5rPhlDug0lzjxkyCrOm9tWY4CTRK5RoqO5hHxa71TtHYlVyFNOAUXeGU5larz/s1600/history.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJmBF6sj_olcdJTV1sh1ofkDJxao97V55iqc8KwBb8upR_NboVCXxIaOOVmdpKhWtrXPiT7LKysqE-DVF5rPhlDug0lzjxkyCrOm9tWY4CTRK5RoqO5hHxa71TtHYlVyFNOAUXeGU5larz/s1600/history.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>To see an enlarged version, click on <a href="http://bit.ly/1djrBVh" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1djrBVh</a></b></span></span>

CONSUMER NEWS HEALTH HERITAGE NATIONAL NEWS U.S. marijuana usage timeline says it all

To see an enlarged version, click on http://bit.ly/1djrBVh…

Read more »

5 reasons why cutting Social Security is irrational...

<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.nationofchange.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/article_main_image/CuttingSocialSecurityisIrrational102813.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Article image" border="0" class="imagecache imagecache-article_main_image" height="240" src="http://www.nationofchange.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/article_main_image/CuttingSocialSecurityisIrrational102813.jpg" title="article image" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>By Paul Buchheit</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><a href="http://www.nationofchange.org/">nationofchange.org</a></b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Even for Congress. They, and others who apparently don't study the facts, believe that Social Security is a government handout. But 'entitlement' means that people who have paid into a program all their lives are entitled to a reasonable return on their investment. A better definition, as pointed out by <a href="http://truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/18268-social-security-pumps-$2-into-us-economy-for-every-benefit-dollar-spent">Mark Karlin</a> at Truthout, is a "mandated retirement savings plan."</b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Cutting this popular and well-run and <i>life-sustaining</i> program would be irrational. There are many reasons for this.</b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>1. Americans Have Paid For It Throughout Their Working Lives</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>As of 2010, according to the <a href="http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/412660-Social-Security-and-Medicare-Taxes-and-Benefits-Over-a-Lifetime.pdf">Urban Institute</a>, the average two-earner couple making average wages throughout their lifetimes receives less in Social Security benefits than they paid in. It is the same for single males and same, by now, for single females. One-earner couples get back more than they paid in.</b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>2. It's a Small Benefit, But Most Seniors Depend On It</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The average Social Security benefit is less than <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/video/2013/04/05">$15,000</a> a year, but most of our <a href="http://truth-out.org/news/item/16213-social-securitys-explosive-injustices">seniors rely</a> on this for the majority of their income. Even the <a href="http://www.alternet.org/economy/dont-cut-social-security-double-it">second richest</a> quartile of Americans depends on Social Security for over half of its retirement income.</b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>3. It's Been Well-Run for Over Half a Century </b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The poverty rate has <a href="http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/11023-ignore-the-deficit-hawks-social-security-is-easy-to-fix">decreased</a> dramatically over the past 50 years, in large part because of the benefits of the Social Security program. </b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><br /><div class="imgcontainer" style="margin-bottom: 16px; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span> </div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Social Security is running on a <a href="http://ssa.gov/oact/TRSUM/index.html">surplus</a> of $2.6 trillion, it's funded until <a href="http://www.alternet.org/economy/dont-cut-social-security-double-it">2037</a>, it <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/johntharvey/2013/01/07/social-security-rerun/">cannot</a> run out of money, it <a href="http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/lesson-for-reporters-social-security-does-not-add-to-the-budget-deficit">cannot</a> contribute to the deficit, it has <a href="http://www.nextnewdeal.net/deficit-hawks-we-people-know-best-social-security">lower</a> administrative costs than private sector 401k retirement plans, and it's wildly <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/158834/economy-entitlements-iran-americans-top-priorities.aspx">popular</a>.</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>  </b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>On top of all this, a report by the <a href="http://www.aarp.org/politics-society/advocacy/info-09-2013/social-security-strengthens-us-economy.html">AARP Public Policy Institute</a> found that Social Security stimulates the economy, adding more than $1 trillion to the U.S. economy each year as recipients spend their benefits on goods and services.</b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><a href="http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/why-big-bucks-donors-dont-want-president-obama-champion-social-security">Dean Baker</a> calls Social Security "perhaps the greatest success story of any program in US history."</b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>4. The Free-Market Alternative Doesn't Work</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The free-market alternative is everybody for them. That's fine for people with good jobs and retirement plans. But stunningly, the number of private sector workers <a href="http://www.alternet.org/economy/dont-cut-social-security-double-it">covered by a pension</a> with a guaranteed payout has dropped from 60 percent to 10 percent in a little over thirty years.</b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Americans are <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/many-americans-accumulating-debt-faster-than-theyre-saving-for-retirement/2013/10/23/b7a9c85e-3b3e-11e3-b6a9-da62c264f40e_story.html">going into debt</a> faster than they're saving for retirement, and those able to put something aside often make <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/05/01/it_s_a_401_k_world_and_it_sucks.html">wrong choices</a> with their money.</b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b> Financial experts, who generally speak for the people with enough money to hire a financial expert, tell us to have $200,000 to $300,000 in personal retirement <a href="http://www.alternet.org/economy/dont-cut-social-security-double-it">savings</a>. Most Americans have about a tenth of that, less than <a href="http://www.ebri.org/publications/ib/index.cfm?fa=ibDisp&content_id=5175">$25,000</a>.</b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>5. Redistribution Has Moved Retirement Money from the Middle Class to the Rich</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Tax Expenditures -- subsidies from special deductions, exemptions, exclusions, credits, capital gains, and loopholes that move <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2012/04/13/opinion/sunday/0415web-leonhardt2.html?ref=business">tax money to the richest</a> taxpayers -- are <a href="http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/UploadedPDF/412404-Tax-Expenditure-Trends.pdf">estimated</a> to be worth up to <a href="http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/julyaugust_2011/features/20000_leagues_under_the_state030498.php">8 percent</a> of the GDP, or about $1.2 trillion.</b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>That alone is more than enough to pay for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_United_States_federal_budget">Social Security</a> ($883 billion).</b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Because of this misdirected revenue, government has been forced to <a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/fact-check-social-security-adds-budget-deficit-161813776.html">borrow from Social Security</a> to fund its programs. Most notably, <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/01/26-1">George W. Bush</a> took our retirement money to pay for his two wars and his tax cuts for the rich.</b></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>This last reason, more than any of the others, reveals the overwhelming unfairness of cutting Social Security. In effect, the middle class is being told to <i>replenish its own savings account</i> after those savings were passed along to the military and the super-rich.</b></span></span>

CONSUMER NEWS HEALTH NATIONAL NEWS SENIORS TRUTH 5 reasons why cutting Social Security is irrational...

By Paul Buchheitnationofchange.orgEven for Congress. They, and others who apparently don't study the facts, believe that Social Security is a government handout. But 'entitlement' means that people who have paid into a program all their lives are …

Read more »

McOutrage: poverty wages, $30m corporate jet

<div class="mod" style="background-color: rgba(228, 236, 217, 0.64); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', 'Helvetica', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; margin: 0; padding: 15px;"><h2 style="color: black; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue Light', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 12px; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizccEzThvbZJjItz9eKHEc-deH1Oy4aI9MrjlUq4j71WIxhoqs1sll6_XL95zdkD6WUEDlI7mxGYZMtpEXmd35cqW34N8Ri_KG_5rhE05JhjEBGiTD91lZMtZAC-XZJ35o1wvkbVPXARmg/s1600/3F44EEB3B35AFE5786C2781F4F879D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizccEzThvbZJjItz9eKHEc-deH1Oy4aI9MrjlUq4j71WIxhoqs1sll6_XL95zdkD6WUEDlI7mxGYZMtpEXmd35cqW34N8Ri_KG_5rhE05JhjEBGiTD91lZMtZAC-XZJ35o1wvkbVPXARmg/s320/3F44EEB3B35AFE5786C2781F4F879D.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="mod_author" style="color: #580000; line-height: 1.6; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>By Isaiah J. Poole</b></span></span></div><div class="mod_author" style="color: #580000; line-height: 1.6; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><a href="http://ourfuture.org/">ourfuture.org</a> </b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><br /><div style="color: #222222; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>McDonald’s says it can’t afford to pay her and the company’s more than 700,000 other American nonmanagement employees a wage that would lift them above the poverty line. What McDonald’s Corp. can afford to do, though, is buy itself a new corporate jet. </b></span></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>That’s right. Bloomberg News reported earlier this week that McDonald’s Corp. has purchased for the use of its executives a Bombardier Challenger 605, a 12-seat plane that goes for between $27 million and $35 million ... Meanwhile ... other McDonald’s employees have been offered a “McResources” telephone help line to call that offers them helpful advice if they are having problems meeting their expenses on their minimum-wage McPaycheck. </b></span></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The advice: Sign up for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“food stamp”) benefits and Medicaid ... it is criminal that CEOs of corporations like McDonald’s pay their full-time workers wages that keep them below the poverty line.</b></span></span></div></div>

CONSUMER NEWS NATIONAL NEWS OPINION McOutrage: poverty wages, $30m corporate jet

By Isaiah J. Pooleourfuture.org McDonald’s says it can’t afford to pay her and the company’s more than 700,000 other American nonmanagement employees a wage that would lift them above the poverty line. What McDonald’s Corp. can afford to do, thoug…

Read more »

Pros and cons of legal cannabis

<div class="imgon2"><img alt="A vendor displays products in Seattle. Washington State was one of the first to legalize recreational marijuana. (photo: Jason Redmond/Reuters)" border="0" height="181" src="http://readersupportednews.org/images/stories/article_imgs10/010719-washington-state-092913.jpg" style="border: 0px none;" title="A vendor displays products in Seattle. Washington State was one of the first to legalize recreational marijuana. (photo: Jason Redmond/Reuters)" width="400" /> <br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>A vendor displays products in Seattle. Washington State was one of the first to legalize recreational marijuana. (photo: Jason Redmond/Reuters)</b></span></span></div><div class="imgon2"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b><b> </b><b></b></span></span><div class="txtauthor"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>By Carl Gibson, Reader Supported News</b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="date"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>29 September 13</b></span></span></div><div class="date"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><a href="http://readersupportednews.org/">readersupportednews.org</a> </b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><img border="0" src="http://readersupportednews.org/images/stories/alphabet/rsn-A.jpg" />t the CPC, or Center for Palliative Care, in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle, a friend and I walked into Ben Reagan's office in the back of the clinic. The walls were lined with extracts, concentrates, and edibles. Rotating shelves containing tubes of different strains of cannabis were neatly labeled with the name of the strain, the price per gram, and the percentage concentrations of Sativa and Indica. My friend asked Reagan what the difference was between White Widow and Widow's Peak.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>"The White Widow species produces several different kinds of plants that produce different kinds of effects," Reagan said. "Widow's Peak is usually seen as the height of potential for White Widow. What kind of effect are you looking for?"</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>"I want to have really great sex," said my friend, who was visiting the CPC as a carrier of a medical card that gave him permission by the state of Washington to use medical cannabis for the back pain he had contracted from his years as a firefighter. "And I don't want my partner to fall asleep."</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>"Then you want to blend the Harlequin and the White Widow," Reagan said. "It's kind of heady, but still a little more on the fun side than the sleepy side. The White Widow is 60% Sativa blend, making it more of a daytime thing. The Indica strain is more for joint pain and insomnia."</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Washington approved the use of medical cannabis in 1998, and the CPC has been in business in Seattle for roughly four years. Just last year, voters in both Colorado and Washington State <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/07/news/economy/marijuana-legalization-washington-colorado/index.html" target="_hplink">approved ballot initiatives</a> that legalized the recreational sale of cannabis while instituting regulations similar to those governing the sale of alcohol.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>For example, nobody under the age of 21 can buy it, it's still illegal to consume it in public, and getting caught driving under the influence of cannabis will still result in a DUI charge. It's still not possible for anyone without a medical card to buy cannabis in Washington, but regulations are expected to go fully into effect by spring of 2014.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>"As a business that's been around for a long time, Ben and I have been lucky to serve as consultants to state legislators, city officials, police departments, and district attorneys who now have to figure out how to regulate a product that can be used as medicine, fuel, polymer, plastic, and other products that are already regulated," said Jeremy Kaufman, executive director of the CPC. "The entire world is watching [Washington State] and how we're handling this, how we're putting it all together."</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The CPC is still legally classified as a nonprofit medical R&D firm. Kaufman explained the concept of palliative care as the type of care you receive for various ailments and conditions, and said there hasn't been one case that's walked through his doors whom he hasn't been able to help with cannabis.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>"A big part of what we do is education," Kaufman said. "We've been able to help treat cancer, chronic pain, loss of appetite, insomnia, nerve disorders, psychological disorders, and a lot of other conditions. As symbiotic, organic organisms, human beings and cannabis have a very unique relationship."</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>However, Kaufman still hasn't reclassified his business under the new 502 law that was passed by Washington voters last fall, because the end result would be more costly to customers. Under the new system, there would be an additional 50 to 70 percent increase in sales taxes on top of the 9.8 percent sales tax the CPC <a href="http://dor.wa.gov/content/getaformorpublication/publicationbysubject/taxtopics/medicalcannabis.aspx" target="_hplink">already charges</a>. Kaufman said the additional taxes come from a 25% sales tax any time the product changes hands.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>"You get taxed 25 percent when it goes from the grower to the extractor, to the processor, to the baker, to the retailer, before it even gets to the end user," Kaufman said. "The state is seeing the CPC as a model to build off of going forward, so a big part of our education is also showing that there are more efficient ways of regulating cannabis."</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Under the new laws, the sale of recreational cannabis is being regulated by the same state agency that regulates the sale of liquor. But because cannabis used to be regarded as an illegal substance, there's no existing case law establishing legal precedent for how cannabis can be sold and regulated by a public entity. According to Kaufman, this means the laws literally are up to interpretation by anybody who participates in any part of the trade whenever a product changes hands, making the process a giant headache for both producers and consumers.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>"At first, there was an immediate flooding of the market, and a huge free-for-all when 502 passed," Kaufman said. "People were opening all kinds of businesses, shipping in stuff from out of state, getting really cannibalistic."</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Obviously, legalizing and taxing cannabis for recreational use would mean a huge increase in state tax revenues. A <a href="http://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/DrugProhibitionWP.pdf" target="_hplink">2010 Cato Institute study</a> estimated $8.7 billion in new federal and state tax revenue if cannabis were to be legalized all over the United States. Washington State's I-502 alone is projected to generate <a href="http://vote.wa.gov/guides/2012/I-502-Fiscal-Impact.html" target="_hplink">$1.9 billion</a> in additional tax revenue in the next five years.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>But at the same time, as an illegal substance becomes legal, other budgets will be cut. Because of the lack of people being arrested, jailed, and prosecuted for smoking or possessing marijuana, Washington State just passed through <a href="http://www.doc.wa.gov/aboutdoc/budget/docs/Governors2011-2013ProposedBudgetRequest.pdf" target="_hplink">sweeping cuts</a> to the departments of public safety and corrections. While there's a clear benefit in fewer lives ruined from the war on drugs, the budget cuts are nonetheless <a href="http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/how-local-murders-child-rapists-would-be-unsupervi/nYTRH/" target="_hplink">laying off people</a> like parole officers who are monitoring murderers, rapists, and sex offenders who are out on bond.</b></span></span></div><div class="indent"><br /></div><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Washington's shortcomings in the process of legalizing and taxing marijuana shouldn't discourage other states from trying, as Oregon, California, Hawaii, Alaska and Maine are <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/30/marijuana-legalization-states_n_3838866.html" target="_hplink">likely to do soon</a>, but should serve as an example of what went right and what can be improved the next time.</b></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><hr size="3" style="width: 25%;" /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span><div class="indent"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><em>Carl Gibson, 26, is co-founder of US Uncut, a nationwide creative direct-action movement that mobilized tens of thousands of activists against corporate tax avoidance and budget cuts in the months leading up to the Occupy Wall Street movement. Carl and other US Uncut activists are featured in the documentary "We're Not Broke," which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. He currently lives in Madison, Wisconsin. You can contact him at <a href="mailto:carl@rsnorg.org">carl@rsnorg.org</a>, and follow him on twitter at @uncutCG.</em></b></span></span></div>

CONSUMER NEWS HEALTH NATIONAL NEWS SIGN OF THE TIMES Pros and cons of legal cannabis

A vendor displays products in Seattle. Washington State was one of the first to legalize recreational marijuana. (photo: Jason Redmond/Reuters) By Carl Gibson, Reader Supported News29 September 13readersupportednews.org t the CPC, or Center for…

Read more »