Holocaust Hospitals

The only word I can think of after reading the Time Magazine article on Hospital charges is Holocaust. Even if the hospital is a so called 'non profit'.  The people who run all of these groups are the most unethical people alive.  Their greed is monumental.  You really need to understand they they are the new modern day equivalent of a slave holder in their disdain for human beings.  I am serious.  Read it.

How can a non profit hospital and insurance companies possibly defend themselves against this pricing for healthcare?  Take Presbyterian hospital for example.  They send these bills to the insurance company to be paid.  The insurance company is owned by Presbyterian and it just folds all of that into their rate structure.  It is the old shell game.  Same with the profit making Lovelace hospital system.  They send their bills to their own insurance company.  The only time charges are negotiated is when the hospital and insurance company are not related.  Or when Medicare is involved.  But, if you are underinsured or uninsured then you enter slavery.  You pay many times what Medicare would pay.

No wonder health care is devouring so much of our national wealth.  I don't blame the Docs, nurses, and other employees for this.  I blame the CEO's and Boards for having only profit in mind.  

Silly

Why are the democrats in the New Mexico Senate acting like the republican in the US Senate?  Because they are all living in their own little worlds where they get some sort of orgasmic high out of not confirming the executive's cabinet appointments.  It is silly, time consuming and accomplishes nothing except wasting time.

The Federal Senators need to approve some Federal Judges.  The State Senators need to approve Skandera as Education Secretary.  Get over it.

The Journal

Albuquerque's daily Journal today gave more space to a story about an injured puppy than to a group of democrats assailing the Mayor and City Clerk for a botched mail in election.

It is happening.  They are turning in to a TV Newscast.  Well, maybe not yet.  Their saving grace is a doggedness about going after the problems at the Albuquerque Police Department.  That is showing some semblance of real journalism.

I do have a suggestion for the Journal though.  They keep putting a sticker ad on the front page of the paper right over the masthead and teasers for stories.  Would it be possible to put that sticker over the editorial on the Opinion Page.  Most people aren't reading that craziness any more anyway.

Frustration

Sometimes folks don't understand why I get frustrated with Obama on some of the issues involving public Lands.  This chart pretty much sums it up.  What protected acreage he is given credit for in this graph was actually put together during the bush administration.  His performance in this arena of protecting watersheds and ecosystems is very strange.  Maybe his new Interior Secretary can help after she is confirmed.  It is said that he will let his appointees run with policy initiatives in this term of office.  Let's hope that pubic land protection is one of them.  

Embarrassing

It used to be when I was in appointed or elected office and consumed with some policy or initiative that I would be driving down the street and look at the person in the car next to me and realize the last thing on their mind was the public policy I was wrestling with.

For example,  no one drives around and thinks about the legislature debating permanent fund payout rates.  Or who is running the Motor Vehicle Dept. Or about whether they should worry about  the upcoming city election on runoff elections.  They just want the people who should be running things to do their jobs.

One can only wonder if anyone in the city clerk's office, Mayor's Office, or City Council in Albuquerque were doing any oversight on the upcoming mail in city election.  Did anyone of them even look at the ballots that were to be sent out to the public through the mail to see if they were understandable and user friendly?  I am betting not one of them did so.  Now, the election is suspect because so many votes will not be counted, even after voters were asked to come in and sign their ballots if they had overlooked that little important task.

 The signature requirement and signature line on the ballot envelope were not well done.  If they were then this would not be happening.  Unless, someone wanted to sow a little confusion.  Like that would ever happen.

This is what it should have looked like.

This is an embarrassment for the Mayor's Office, City Attorney's Office and City Clerks Office.  But, no one driving down the road is probably thinking about that.

Must See

This is a video that one should watch about the distribution of wealth in the USA.  It doesn't condemn anyone.  It just shows what people's view of reality is compared to the real economic situation.



Thanks to Bubba for finding this.

Water

We drove back down from Fort Collins on Sunday.  I was simply amazed at the condition of the grasslands in Northern New Mexico from Las Vegas to Raton.  Although there had been a little snow, the land is beginning to resemble a desert.  Especially where grazing is not being curtailed.  If there are not spring rains up there then ranching as a business will cease to exist.

Here in our neighborhood of Albuquerque I continue to be impressed with the amount of xeriscaping being done at everyone's homes.  More than anyone it seems that city dwellers understand that there is only so much water to be had and that everyone has to pitch in to help.

In the meantime, some of the irrigators in the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District continue to say they shouldn't make any sacrifices. Do they they deserve some sort of special consideration even in this era of extreme drought?  I am not sure.   Everyone has to do their part.  I know the MRGCD has made some strides in efficiency, but flood irrigation in the current era may no longer be wise. The picture above is an irrigation gate that leads into our property in Pena Blanca.

However, I will say that in one area Albuquerque needs to wake up.  Our neighborhood park is getting as bald as I am.  There has not been an ounce of water applied to it in months and it looks worse than it ever has.  Normally, there is enough winter rain or snow to get the parks through, but not this year.  The response to this has been non existent by the city and it will show soon.  Parks should be green for visitors.  The neighborhood is giving up sodded lawns to save water but green spaces are still very much needed.  

Luke and Noelle

We are visiting our daughter Noelle and son in law Luke in Fort Collins, Co.  They are doing great here and are well employed and super active as athletes too.  They like to sit on their front porch swing and soak in the winter sun.

They made a great decision in moving here from Phoenix.  The summers are mild and the winters are for skiing!  The restaurants are incredible in Fort Collins' Old Town.

Meet Your Constituent

I can't wait to see what happens the next time republican congressmen conduct a town hall.  It may be that a whole new group of folks show up, with tar and feathers, to discuss the loss of their jobs due to the meat cleaver job cuts that will occur in the next few weeks due to the 'sequester.'

I wonder if any of these guys would really hold a town hall.  It would be both a foolish and courageous thing to do.  I hope they do it.

Will we hear from Governor Martinez and Mayor Berry on what they will do to help New Mexico through this?  It will affect us more than most.  Could a public works job program be funded while the legislature is still in session?  Over and above the normal capital improvements spending which will take a long time to generate jobs.  But that would take some real effort and leadership and political skill.  Do they have it in them?  Things can happen quickly when needed.

We are still up here in Fort Collins, Co.  I watched TV news up here and it was actually pretty good.  Informative.  No sex story of the day.  Or rescued puppies.  Or dash cam video.  At least in the show that I watched.  They even got the Governor on camera for an interview that wasn't limited to specific topics.  Like we will ever see that in NM with our feeble journalistic efforts in TV these days.

Mail In Ballot

I can say that the current mail in ballot election of the city of Albuquerque is poorly executed.  Thousands of people are not signing the ballots and that is because the instructions and ballot are so poorly done.  I had to look hard for the signature line before I sent in my vote.  I voted for run off elections in city government.

Now, someone will undoubtedly file a law suit on this ballot process.  Mayor Berry and his folks should have done this right.  We did a mail in ballot back when I was Mayor and it went smoothly.  I don't recall a problem with signatures on that one.

Could it be that mail in balloting bothers the Republican Party?  I think maybe it does.  More people might vote.

I am up in Denver for a meeting of the Governing Council of the Wilderness Society.  The drive up yesterday was pretty.  However, the snow on the ground was surely more pronounced in Colorado than New Mexico.  Everything just north of the state's border just looks less pounded down by the drought.

A Sad Loss of History Archives

Get in  your wayback machine mode and transfer back to the 60's and 70's in the Albuquerque area. Back then there were only three TVstations.

 I started my journalism/political public service career at KOAT TV Channel 7 as a weekend news photographer after completing training as an Air Force photographer in Denver.  I was a member of the NM Air National Guard.

I had always dreamed of being a TV Newsman since I was in the 8th grade.  The dream started one night when construction crews were hauling a giant office building down Marquette Avenue near Quincy Street where I lived.  The weight of the building caused the pavement to buckle and the dollies carrying the structure sunk in to their hubs.  I thought that was interesting and called Channel 7 to let them know and they showed up to film it.  Little did I know that just eight years later I would be working there.

Albuquerque and environs were pretty different back in that era.  There were lots of interesting things going on as the region grew.  I progressed up the ladder at Channel 7 and became a reporter and assignment editor and weekend anchorman.

 Dick Knipfing, Rodger Beimer, and I even had our faces put on to milk cartons as promotional advertising for our station.    We actually took our work seriously.  The above photo shows Dick Knipfing and recently deceased Fabian Chavez in 1972's election coverage.

Because there were only 3 TV stations then most people would recognize you everywhere you went.  It was all very exciting and the work was the most fun I have ever had.  We worked even on our days off because we enjoyed it so much.  And of course, to this day I think we did a much better job of covering real news.  Yeah, we did lots of car wrecks and shootings, but we also covered meaningful politics on all levels.

Now the sad part of this story.  On a regular basis we would send our 16mm film and scripts to the New Mexico State Archives.  They carried valuable information and history about our community and we and the archivist thought it was worth preserving.  I thought about that information about six months ago and wanted to start a new blog, 40 years ago today in Albuquerque, and use the scripts and films.  Channel 7's General Manager Mary Lynn Roper liked the idea and gave me the go ahead to use the material.  But guess what?  The New Mexico State Archives, supposed protector of history and data, had thrown all of the scripts and films out.  They said they just could not find them anywhere.  They said no one could remember ever having them.  But, I know they had them because I personally took a few loads up to them and then later in the 70s went and retrieved some stories for some court cases that required them.

So, think twice before trusting valuable things to our State Archives. 

Misc.

Well, the Chamber of Commerce, the Republican Party, and the Albuquerque Journal Editorial Board think that having City run off elections costs to much.  So screw Democracy.  Especially when a Democrat might win.  So, the Mayor's race election might cost an additional 500k with a runoff.  Why would this bother the funders of Super Pacs who routinely spend millions of dollars to defeat anyone who is center or left of center in politics?  Because it would be easier to get one of their nutcase wackos elected whose only vision is to not tax the rich.

All of a sudden the Governor and Mayor are showing concern for the sequester issue and they are trying to look reasonable on getting a solution.  Have they finally figured out that the sequester will further devastate our state's and city's economy?  Yeah, maybe.  After all this time.  But, do not kid yourself, they are doing this for solely political reasons because they want their party to look like the reasonable ones.  Just a few months ago all they could talk about was tax reduction.  It turns out the voters have figured that one out, so on to something else that will help them stay in office.

The cattle industry is on the skids in New Mexico.  There has been a 14% reduction in their herds due to the prolonged drought.  And yet their political arm in the GOP continues to deny that climate change is real.  They will figure it out when they no longer can sustain their operations at all.  That won't be long I think.

Where are the Candidates?

As I watch the chaos caused by the Supreme Court's decisions on Citizens United where corporations mysteriously were construed to be human, I really shouldn't ask this question.  But where are the candidates for Mayor of Albuquerque?  Could it be that all the smart and talented people that should be running have figured out it would be no fun to run against SuperPacs funded by corporate America's deep and endless pockets?

I think so.  There are some decent people running who seem surprisingly naive in thinking that public funding will get them anywhere close where they need to be.  I suppose that some candidate could eke out a slim victory, but I think it is unlikely.  So, where does this leave us?  Other than a rich person with ethics running.

We are screwed.  I just don't know what else to say.  Mayor Berry might or might not be a recipient of some of this money.  He is the most likely at this point.  But it is not guaranteed.  Some really connected person could come out of no where and become blessed by the likes of the Koch brothers and take away the office.  Who knows?

The real danger here is not voter apathy and poor turnouts.  It is the lack of smart people who could do government some good by running for offices which now seem unattainable.  They are evaporating away from the public service careers that used to be respected and who can blame them.

Corporate War Crimes?

With the revelation in the New York Times this morning that Bank of America, Chase Bank and others are enabling and participating in so called 'pay day loans' that can charge up to 500% interest, it might be time for us to consider a new piece of legislation that would create something on the level of a war crime for banks.  These usurious rates are somewhat akin to a crime against humanity in my mind.

Meanwhile, while all the corrupt bankers who still aren't facing prosecution for stealing billions of dollars, can now rest easy because first in line for a date with the Justice Department is a doper bike racer named Lance.  The Justice department is going after him because that was such a serious crime?  How is his peddling more important that banker's peddling investments while betting against them?

Damn!

America Once Led

We are being left in the dustbin of history as a world power and leader by a pragmatic China.   It will remain so until we rid ourselves of the influence on political races by the fossil fuel industry.  You must read this.

As someone who I know says,  "The Chinese have a plan and they can implement it.  The U.S. has no plan and couldn't implement it if we did."

Sunsets

I have always thought the legislature wastes immense amount of time on memorials and fluff during their sessions.  It is like they are not busy enough to do real work.  Besides, memorials etc. really are nothing more than pandering to little constituencies to make them feel important.  I can remember when the Governor's Aide de Camp certificates were given out en masse.  They were meaningless mostly, but something that everyone thought put them a step above on the political ladder.  Feel good stuff.

If the Legislature needs to stay busy on things then there is an automatic way of assuring it.  Just put a sunset of 10 years on every bill that they pass.  Revisiting a law every ten years makes sense anyway as times and attitudes change.  If 10 year sunsets were attached to every law then the lawmakers would have real work to do as the legislation's turn for reconsideration comes along.

Ten years is a long time.  But even if it were 15 or 20 years it would make sense.

Misc.

One of the Albuquerque Journal's right wing nut case columnists, Victor Davis Hanson, is condemning left of center rich people.  For being rich I guess.  Those rich leftists are doing a lot of good.  My new blogger favorite, David Brin, wrote a really good piece about those rich liberals, and what they can do.  Read it here.

Thanks to Bubba

The El Paso Times had this in their newspaper today.  Would something like it appear in the Journal?  Happy Reading.

Misc.

The Liquor Industry and their lobbyists are having a great time in Santa Fe killing a tax that would help with alcoholism problems.  I am not going to debate if the tax would do any good.  I don't think it will, but it might be worth a try.  Just put a sunset on it.  But what is amusing is that the lobbyists have convinced some legislators that each county having the authority to levy such a tax would cause much confusion for the industry.  They say having to keep track of which counties are opting for the tax would not be possible.  What crap!  They seem to have no trouble in tracking the thousands of products, inventory and deliveries they are responsible for.  They have computers that do well in that task.  Oh, but it just wouldn't work to track 33 counties in New Mexico.  Any legislator who buys into this argument is suspect.

Speaking of legislators, the story on Domenici having a son out of wedlock is getting legs nationally.  Well, just for a day or two.  The story being spun now is that Domenici followed the wishes of the mother in keeping this a secret all these years.  He said he honored that.  Good story, but when agreeing to that do you think they might have been thinking about his political career?  Just a little?  Back in the 80's this revelation would be a show stopper for sure.  Did he do an honorable thing?  Well he even kept it a secret from his wife and eight other kids.

The Albuquerque Journal continues its kid glove treatment of Domenici.  They have a gaggle of folks saying he is a great guy in the paper today.  But really, he fathered a child who never had a dad around to guide him along the way.  Not exactly part of the Character Counts program that Pete promoted in the schools.

oops

One of my alert readers caught a large error on my part where I mixed up two incidents that APD officers were involved in.  The officer who hit the car killing a young woman after allegedly running a red light had not been drinking at a bar with other cops prior to the accident.  It was another officer in a separate incident who went home and beat his wife that was drinking.  My mistake.  Sincere apologies.  But it does point out there are sure a lot of incidents at APD that all sort of blur into one thing.  And it isn't good.

And now a District Judge has ruled that the shooting of a man at a convenience store was not justified and violated the constitution.  That will cost us dearly.