Amgen Pimps US Senator Baucus Et Al For Pennies On The Dollar

Amgen Gets a Gift From Congress - NYT
For a disheartening example of how intense lobbying and financial contributions can distort the legislative process in Washington, consider what happened to the “fiscal cliff” bill approved three weeks ago by Congress.

Senators who play a major role in federal health care financing were happy to help Amgen, the world’s largest biotechnology company, evade Medicare cost-cutting controls by delaying price restraints on a class of drugs used by kidney dialysis patients, including Sensipar, a drug made by Amgen. That provision was inserted into the final fiscal bill by Senate aides. Many members of Congress did not know it was in the bill until just hours before it was approved.

Although other companies will benefit financially from that delay, Amgen, which has 74 lobbyists in Washington, was the only company to lobby aggressively for the provision. The delay will cost the Medicare program up to $500 million over a two-year period.

The disturbing details were revealed in a report by Eric Lipton and Kevin Sack of The Times on Sunday. The maneuvering to exempt these drugs undercuts a five-year effort to change the incentives used to pay for kidney dialysis care. Previously, Medicare had paid providers separately for the drugs and for administering dialysis treatment, a system that often encouraged overprescribing.

But, in 2008, Congress reversed the incentives by requiring Medicare to pay a single, bundled rate for a patient’s dialysis treatment and related medications, starting in 2011. But certain oral drugs, including Sensipar, were given a two-year reprieve, to expire in 2014, from being included in that more cost-effective bundled system. The fiscal bill has now extended that exclusion for an additional two years.

Supporters of the delay — notably, Senator Max Baucus, a Democrat of Montana, who leads the Senate Finance Committee, and Orrin Hatch, of Utah, the ranking Republican on that committee — say it is needed to give the Medicare system and dialysis providers time to absorb other complicated changes in federal reimbursements for kidney care. But there is good reason to suspect other factors were involved as well. Both senators have political and financial ties to Amgen, as does Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, who exerted great influence over the fiscal negotiations and praised the Medicare provisions.

A top aide to Mr. Hatch, who was involved in negotiating the dialysis delay, previously worked as a health policy analyst for Amgen. The current lobbyists for Amgen include former chiefs of staff for both Mr. Baucus and Mr. McConnell. And the three senators have received substantial contributions from Amgen’s employees and its political action committee since 2007 — almost $68,000 to Senator Baucus, $59,000 to Senator Hatch, and $73,000 to Senator McConnell.

Amgen’s strong influence prevailed even though it had pleaded guilty just weeks ago to marketing an anti-anemia drug illegally and agreed to pay criminal and civil penalties of $762 million, a record settlement for a biotechnology company.

This dreadful episode is a classic example of the power of special interests to shape legislation and shows how hard it may be to carry out the reforms needed to cut health care costs.

See Original NYT story (here).

James C. Collier

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Sandy Hook School And Top Ten Myths About Mass Shootings

Reposted From Chronicle of Higher Education (here)...

Top 10 Myths About Mass Shootings December 18, 2012, 2:42 pm

By James Alan Fox

Even before the death toll in last Friday’s school massacre in Newtown, Conn., was determined, politicians, pundits, and professors of varied disciplines were all over the news, pushing their proposals for change. Some talked about the role of guns, others about mental-health services, and still more about the need for better security in schools and other public places. Whatever their agenda and the passion behind it, those advocates made certain explicit or implied assumptions about patterns in mass murder and the profile of the assailants. Unfortunately, those assumptions do not always align with the facts.

Myth: Mass shootings are on the rise. Reality: Over the past three decades, there has been an average of 20 mass shootings a year in the United States, each with at least four victims killed by gunfire. Occasionally, and mostly by sheer coincidence, several episodes have been clustered closely in time. Over all, however, there has not been an upward trajectory. To the contrary, the real growth has been in the style and pervasiveness of news-media coverage, thanks in large part to technological advances in reporting.

Myth: Mass murderers snap and kill indiscriminately. Reality: Mass murderers typically plan their assaults for days, weeks, or months. They are deliberate in preparing their missions and determined to follow through, no matter what impediments are placed in their path.

Myth: Enhanced background checks will keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of these madmen. Reality: Most mass murderers do not have criminal records or a history of psychiatric hospitalization. They would not be disqualified from purchasing their weapons legally. Certainly, people cannot be denied their Second Amendment rights just because they look strange or act in an odd manner. Besides, mass killers could always find an alternative way of securing the needed weaponry, even if they had to steal from family members or friends.

Myth: Restoring the federal ban on assault weapons will prevent these horrible crimes. Reality: The overwhelming majority of mass murderers use firearms that would not be restricted by an assault-weapons ban. In fact, semiautomatic handguns are far more prevalent in mass shootings. Of course, limiting the size of ammunition clips would at least force a gunman to pause to reload or switch weapons.

Myth: Greater attention and response to the telltale warning signs will allow us to identify would-be mass killers before they act. Reality: While there are some common features in the profile of a mass murderer (depression, resentment, social isolation, tendency to blame others for their misfortunes, fascination with violence, and interest in weaponry), those characteristics are all fairly prevalent in the general population. Any attempt to predict would produce many false positives. Actually, the telltale warning signs come into clear focus only after the deadly deed.

Myth: Widening the availability of mental-health services and reducing the stigma associated with mental illness will allow unstable individuals to get the treatment they need. Reality: With their tendency to externalize blame and see themselves as victims of mistreatment, mass murderers perceive the problem to be in others, not themselves. They would generally resist attempts to encourage them to seek help. And, besides, our constant references to mass murderers as “wackos” or “sickos” don’t do much to destigmatize the mentally ill.

Myth: Increasing security in schools and other places will deter mass murder. Reality: Most security measures will serve only as a minor inconvenience for those who are dead set on mass murder. If anything, excessive security and a fortress-like environment serve as a constant reminder of danger and vulnerability.

Myth: Students need to be prepared for the worst by participating in lockdown drills. Reality: Lockdown drills can be very traumatizing, especially for young children. Also, it is questionable whether they would recall those lessons amid the hysteria associated with an actual shooting. The faculty and staff need to be adequately trained, and the kids just advised to listen to instructions. Schools should take the same low-key approach to the unlikely event of a shooting as the airlines do to the unlikely event of a crash. Passengers aren’t drilled in evacuation procedures but can assume the crew is sufficiently trained.

Myth: Expanding “right to carry” provisions will deter mass killers or at least stop them in their tracks and reduce the body counts. Reality: Mass killers are often described by surviving witnesses as being relaxed and calm during their rampages, owing to their level of planning. In contrast, the rest of us are taken by surprise and respond frantically. A sudden and wild shootout involving the assailant and citizens armed with concealed weapons would potentially catch countless innocent victims in the crossfire.

Myth: We just need to enforce existing gun laws as well as increase the threat of the death penalty. Reality: Mass killers typically expect to die, usually by their own hand or else by first responders. Nothing in the way of prosecution or punishment would divert them from their missions. They are ready to leave their miserable existence, but want some payback first.

In the immediate aftermath of the Newtown school shootings, there seems to be great momentum to establish policies and procedures designed to make us all safer. Sensible gun laws, affordable mental-health care, and reasonable security measures are all worthwhile, and would enhance the well being of millions of Americans. We shouldn’t, however, expect such efforts to take a big bite out of mass murder. Of course, a nibble or two would be reason enough.

James Alan Fox is the Lipman Family Professor of Criminology, Law, and Public Policy at Northeastern University and the author of Violence and Security on Campus: From Preschool Through College (Praeger, 2010).

James C. Collier

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Responding to Newtown, Aurora, Blacksburg, et al

I watched President Obama's speech at the Newtown Memorial last night. My college and high school-aged kids and some of their friends and cousins were there too. It gave me a chance to not only consider how to pick myself up after such a senseless tragedy, but to also grasp what I could do as a father. But I was speechless, my internal BS detector was not having any of it.

During the President's words, all the kids, and adults, oscillated between silent tears, squirms, and nervous comments, reflecting the raw emotion and tension of the moment. It was clear that they were translating the events of Newtown to their own school and work lives. I was silent, because nothing I could say could assure them, or make them feel the safety that is supposed to be my parental job.

This morning I woke still without answers, but with a resolve that I did not have last night. Whatever I do going forward, it must be with a simple notion in mind. Mental health services must be more accessible to everyone, and guns must be more difficult to acquire. With my vote and my wallet I will support leaders who support this, and jettison support for those who dance around the issues.

Down? Yes. Out? No.

James C. Collier

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Gov. Christie (R) Stumps For Obama

There are some moments in blah-blah-blah politics that deserve mention. This is one of them. Gov. Christie (R) New Jersey, aggressively thanking President Obama for his efforts to help the state, hit by super tropical storm Sandy. Of course, Christie left out the part about the deep shit NJ would be in if his boy Romney was president, with his campaign promise to eliminate FEMA, the instrument of the President's aid.

“I have to give the president great credit,” Christie, who delivered the keynote address at Romney’s nominating convention, said on the Fox News Channel. “He’s done, as far as I’m concerned, a great job for New Jersey.”

What Governor Crispie Creme is really saying is that for all his lambasting of President Obama and the Federal government, before, during and after his blow-hard Republican convention speech, his ample-ass would be in one fat jam were it not for the President and his ability/willingness to send aid, most importantly critical disaster funds to help patch and re-float Christie's state.

Meanwhile, Romney supporters will claim that Obama created and routed Sandy, as part of his socialist plot to steal the election from Mitt. Of course, Mitt has gone completely deaf on whether he still would eliminate FEMA, "since the states are so much better at this stuff". Obama has issues, for sure, and FEMA can always do better, nevertheless, Romney's pants are around his ankles on this one - ask anyone from Jersey.



James C. Collier

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Racist Gov. John Sununu (R) Stumps For Obama

Everytime one of these Republican gadfly's opens their mouth to spout some racist dribble, Obama gets more votes because of race. How stupid is that?

"Frankly, when you take a look at Colin Powell, you have to wonder whether that's an endorsement based on issues or whether he's got a slightly different reason for preferring President Obama," Sununu said in an interview on CNN. When pressed on what those reasons might be, he replied, "Well, I think when you have somebody of your own race that you're proud of being president of the United States, I applaud Colin for standing with him."

Former NH Gov. Sununu claimed that General Powell is endorsing Obama because of race, despite all that Republicans have come to know about this most widely respected modern-day Black Republican - serving three Republican administrations, and Democrats as well.

So in response, a bunch of otherwise centrist 'Rockefeller' Republican voters, who had planned to hold their noses and vote for Mitt, decide to hold their noses and vote for Obama, so at least they can look themselves in the mirror and imagine that they are NOT as Mr. Sununu portrays them.

Everyday it becomes more clear, the Dems don't need a good story to stay in power, just a story that is slightly better than their opponents. It seems to be the job of these gadfly politicians and pundits, like Sununu, to continuously pump stupidity into the contest.

James C. Collier

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Disintermediation: The End of Black America

If the economic troubles of this country were a swimming pool - black folks, including their inability to swim, are definitely in the deep-end. Low-level jobs, not just the ones in manufacturing - are disappearing at an alarming rate.

I was buying something at the Apple store recently and was told that I did not need a sales clerk to 'check out'. There is now an app for this. I found my item, scanned and paid for it with my iPhone, and walked out without any intervention. I even asked the black security guard how he knew I was not shop-lifting, whereupon he instantly pulled up my name and picture of my purchase on, you guessed it, his iPhone.

Expect to see this capability in all retail stores soon - along with more double-digit black unemployment. It's called disintermediation when middle channel jobs go away due to whatever the reason - technology, globalization of labor, etc. - you name it. It is the process of squeezing out every penny of cost from the goods we just can't live without.

Blacks, as the lowest educated/skilled demographic (of size) in this country, are unemployed at minimally 2x the national average, and well beyond the reach of the Congressional Black Caucus, President Obama, or Bill Gates/Warren Buffet. Add to this the carte-blanche that US financial institutions have been given to exploit black financial ignorance (via financial deregulation), and you get one unmitigated economic and social disaster, with no end in sight!

James C. Collier

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Why Do Some People Hate Jews?

This was the question asked by Business Insider's Henry Blodget (here), and it seems that it caused quite a storm. Many people took offense to the question, but I was not one of them - similar to my non-offense to the same question about blacks. If it is true that Jews receive a disproportionate share of hatred, and I believe they do, it is very reasonable to ask why. Having said this, care must be taken that the question is not an invite to pile more hatred (as often happens on hate-sites) upon a group that has historically endured as much as any group. In the case of Hitler, the Nazi's, and WWII, that particular instance of genocide has properly come to define the worst that modern humankind has ever offered itself, in one sitting. I present the question for only one reason - to validate it as truth and contribute to stopping it.

To the question, very simply, Northern European Jews, otherwise known as Ashkenazi Jews, catch hell because they consistently and predictably overachieve in disproportion to their relative percent of the population, in areas that influence the concentration of wealth and power, beginning with education. Because of religion, more so than visible ethnicity, members of the group cluster and are readily identifiable, facilitating those whose level of jealousy, envy, and opportunity has them act out their hatred.

Finally, why do Jews overachieve, you ask? I will save this question for another post, but I will say that there is nothing sinister about it or it's origins, and humankind has benefited tremendously because of it.

James C. Collier

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Obama's Gay Marriage Head Fake

When I first heard that President Obama was coming out in support of same-sex marriage, I thought for once that he was playing it 'straight', so to speak - but no such luck. I say this because the president added the caveat that laws granting this 'civil-right' of union, should be left up to the states. Say what?

As a constitutional scholar, Mr. Obama knows too well, after studying Brown v. Board of Education (desegregation), that state implementation of civil-rights protection is a dog that does not hunt. In other words, he knows that gay marriage left up to the states does not stand a chance in hell of becoming a right, by law. His Harvard legal education showed him, in no uncertain terms, that when the Supreme Court, under Justice Earl Warren, handed-off the implementation of their landmark rebuke of 'separate but equal' (Plessy v. Ferguson) in 1954, it took the states another twenty years to make it a reality. Even then, desegregation occurred amid street battles. To hear former NAACP lawyer and Justice Thurgood Marshall tell it at the time, the Warren Court was being purposefully "S-L-O-W" in handing their desegregation decision to the states, as I believe is Mr. Obama in his caveat-ed support of gay marriage.

Obama is denying what he knows - that it is the role of the federal government, as outlined in the constitution, to defend the civic-rights of every citizen (including equality under the law), particularly when individual state pursuits might abridge such rights. In true political slight-of-hand, Mr Obama is looking for voter credit, for gesture over real substance, while giving the politician's wink/nod to anti-gay factions that know history, especially those folks in the South.

Thurgood Marshall is certainly shaking his head, somewhere in the after-life, and maybe wishing Obama had attended Howard Law (Marshall's alma mater), rather than Harvard.

James C. Collier

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Obama vs. Biden On Gay Marriage, And Euphemisms

The other day, when Vice-Presiden Joe Biden usurped President Obama's yet-announced position on gay marriage with his own "I'm comfortable with it", I'm sure many things ran through Obama's head in response - before he hastily put out his own position of support. Here is my quick list of Obama's thoughts...

1. Obama the Urban President... "Biden let his mouth overload his hips on that one!"

2. Obama the Gangsta' Prez... "Biden f_cked-up!"

3. Obama the Black Intellectual President... "Excuse me Joe, it's woodshed time!"

4. Obama the Post-Racial President... "Biden's timing could have been better!"

5. Obama the Two-Term President... "Joe got out a little bit over his skis...but out of a generosity of spirit!"

President Obama's challenge, as I see it, is to be as good a leader of a nation-in-decline, as he is a politician looking for re-election.

James C. Collier

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Gloom Of Our Doom: Money, Power, And Wall Street

I just watched Part One of a PBS Frontline show on the financial crisis in America, and how it came to be.

I thought I was fully aware, yet I was amazed at the level of greed and incompetence of the financial community, willing to take us to the brink of another 1929 type of disaster. Alan Greenspan and his supporters are true idiots to have believed and behaved as though the bankers, and their markets, would regulate themselves. When bankers are allowed to prey upon the ignorant masses, without scrutiny or fear of reprisal from the authorities, our great society is destined for the scrap-heap - an so we are.

Sadly, no one has or will go to jail for the biggest heist in history. The taxpayers are left with the bill, while Long Island is up to its neck in estates, and the country has more million and billionaires than ever. Decline is our fate, regardless of the color of your state, party, or skin.

Go to "MONEY, POWER, AND WALL STREET", at PBS Frontline (here) - if you dare!

James C. Collier

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Swedish Culture Minister Celebrates With LIVE Genital Mutilation Cake

"STOCKHOLM (FRIA TIDER). A macabre scene with racist undertones took place on Saturday when Swedish minister of culture Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth attended a tax funded party for the Stockholm cultural elite. The self-proclaimed "anti-racist" Liljeroth declared the party officially started by slicing a piece of a cake depicting a stereotypical African woman.

(Minister) Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth was invited to open the festivities by performing a clitoridectomy on the cake, which she did by slicing off the part of the cake depicting female genitalia. She then proceeded to feed that part of the cake to a performance artist, done up in blackface, his head protruding through the table." (here)

Sometimes you just have to see things with your own eyes to believe that someone with intelligence and authority actually thought it was a good idea. YouTube below: WARNING: VIDEO IS DISTURBING!!!



James C. Collier

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Newark Mayor Cory Booker Saves Woman From Fire

It is not too often that a mayor risk his life by running into a burning building, orders his security detail to "let me go!", and saves a women from serious injury/death. I have heard other good things about this mayor, mostly that he is hard working, honest and caring. He pretty much proved that. If only the rest of our leaders were so capable. Better be careful, Booker just might wind up Governor of NJ. Story (here).

James C. Collier

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Tiger Wood's Real Challenge, Not Nicklaus, But Growing Up

After Accusations, Sex Scandals, Car Crashes, Divorce, Injuries, and 30 months of losing, Tiger Woods has finally won a golf tournament, but that was the easy part. While the surface layer of the golf world can now credibly discuss Wood's hunt for Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major tournament wins, even that monumental challenge will be far easier than redeeming his place as one of the greatest sports athletes that ever is/was. The reason for this is simply illustrated. Ali's greatness had to do with his boxing skill, coupled with the man he grew to be, both while boxing, but well after he hung up his gloves for good. You can't separate the person's impact from their professional accomplishments.

Tiger is a golf champion, no doubt, but he is a poster child for arrested emotional development. He has done little or nothing over the last thirty months to signal to people that he is on any comeback as a man, if he was ever there to begin with. And for the record, building yourself an estimated sixty-million dollar bachelor pad (here), is a big step in the wrong direction to growing up (IMHO).

James C. Collier

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Democrats Square Off Against Obama On Indefinite Detention

Today, two Democrats, Senator Mark Udall (D-Colo.) and Congressman Adam Smith, (D-Wash.) presented a bill that will repeal indefinite detention of US citizens, on US soil. This effort is squarely at odds with Obama, regardless of the spin/rhetoric put into the air. (here)

Last year, on December 24 to be exact, President Obama signed NDAA 2012, which notably included, at the White House's insistence (threat of veto), indefinite detention of US citizens. Now, there is a Democratic plan afoot to repeal the inclusion, thereby acknowledging that no president, even a cool one, or branch of government is above the US Constitution dictate, protecting due process and the right to speedy trial.

The White House will try to keep this low-key through the election - but many Democrats should worry about looking un-American in their home states, while supporting the President's ill-advised and un-constitutional power grab.

James C. Collier

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Is Obama Good For African-Americans?

Finally, someone is getting around to asking the reasonable question, even if black voting support for Obama is already locked up for Decision 2012.

If you ask the Congressional Black Caucas for their honest answer to Obama's impact on the status of blacks, they would say little or none. (here) Congresswoman Waters makes it clear that perception is blocking reality when it comes to black voters and the president.

The short answer to the question goes like this...Republicans don't want black votes, Obama has done little for blacks, but he is still the only hope the group sees, so hope wins.

Conventional wisdom would say that Obama is very good for 'immigrant-minded' blacks, as he demonstrates what one black man can do for himself, and family, if he puts his mind to the task and utilizes all of the available resources here in America.

So I guess the answer is - it depends.

James C. Collier

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Obama Attempts Backing Off Indefinite Detention Law

I'm sure readers will recall my recent rail (here) against the president for tearing down the Constitution, via the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), on Christmas Eve of 2011. Obama insisted that the NDAA give his office the power to indefinitely detain US citizens for alleged acts deemed terrorist and occurring on US soil - in direct violation of the first, fifth, and sixth constitutional amendments. (here)

As of February 28, 2012, the White House now says, "Section 1022 does not apply to US citizens, and the President has decided to waive its application to lawful permanent residents arrested in the U.S." Problem here is that this waiving and promising applies, not to indefinite detainment law, but rather WHO is doing the the detaining - the military or civilian authorities. Frankly, that ain't the part that should worry us.

So, why go through this bit of seemingly meaningful-less political slight-of-hand? Obama is simply attempting to camouflaged the election bulls-eye, in the NDAA, that he placed on his own backside, uncertain whether Romney is competent to understand and challenge him on it (probably not). Also, the Executive Branch fears the military as much as it also needs them to stand ready in times of unrest, so this posturing is inevitable.

Of course, NDAA as law is still on books and ready for enforcement in full-weight, whenever the President, whoever he/she may be, sees fit. So, thanks but no thanks! Bad law, get rid of it, except if you think the country is headed for anarchy, then maybe it's okay...recall that Europe is still teetering on the financial brink, world debt crisis still looms, China bubble could burst, Afghanistan is killing us, Syria, etc.

If the Occupy Movement et al ever catches any real steam, look for 'rumors' of terrorist-group funding to pop-up, because this is all that is needed to start locking protesters up - indefinitely. And in this case, the White House will be doing some waiving for sure - bye-bye to the First Amendment trouble-makers.

It's tough walking the hero-traitor tightrope, in these challenging times.

James C. Collier

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Distorted Reality: Steve Jobs, Barack Obama et al

Much is being made about Steve Jobs, and his penchant for 'distorting reality'. This includes contributions from FBI interviews, when he was alive. Not that he needs defending - and I never personally worked for him - but I have worked closely or directly for five CEO's and feel I have good experience from which to speak.

Distorting reality is such a consistent feature of CEO's, it's almost ignorant to proper it as a negative, or dis-qualifier. I submit that the ability to do it well, however that's defined, makes it a prerequisite to extraordinary results, good and bad. Who is to say that distortion is not required in order to go places, where no one has gone before. I'm sure people thought Einstein was distorted.

The better question is if this distorted leadership is taking us someplace good - particularly in the case of our political leadership on both sides of the aisle. In this case, and whether each knew it or not, at the end of his life Jobs was definitely the teacher, Obama the student.

James C. Collier

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