IS AC back to Sq. one 1970's ?

The Traymore Hotel in its pre- demolition glory

I was present both of the days in spring 1972 when the famous AC landmark hotel The Traymore was imploded as they say. It was the end of an era for AC and the new AC wasn't to be born till the 2nd casino referendum was passed in fall 1976. Two yrs. after that another old AC hotel Haddon Hall would be re-born as Resorts Int'l Hotel and Casino and the present era would commence. By the way I was @ that opening and was the 2nd person in NJ to gamble legally. I was however the 1st to win ( @ a slot machine I won a qtr.). @ the title link today is a guest editorial in the today's AC press editorial area. It's an excellent col. by a noted local author and Superior Ct. judge. I don't agree with much of what he has to say but I do agree that we are on the cusp of another radical decline era like the 50's and 60's. The implosion of the Sands casino 3 yrs. ago marked the beginning of the end of the present era. Ever since that day AC has declined precipitiously. Today, we find ourselves losing business to some many different venues its getting hard to count them all. AC is in short in deep trouble once again and has started the hard process of re-inventing itself once again!

Read the Press col. its pretty good as far as it goes.

BALANCING ACT?

MIAMI BEACH

@ the title link is another story about how hard its becoming for beach communites in Fla., to maintain their artifically replenished beaches. If they think its hard now wait till the sea levels really rise mid-century! Fla., is going under the waves by 2100 by the EPA's own estimate. So, if your thinking of buying the family retirement estate in Fla. make sure you check out the EPA maps first!

SAN DIEGO - SURFRIDERS ASSOCIATION OPPOSE BEACH REPLENISHMENT

The old beach level in the 1970's

@ the title link is another story about the battle now raging on every coast between those of us that believe just tossing $$ into the ocean isn't fixing anything and those who want to profit from this procedure. That rising sea levels from rapid global warming and the subsequent melting of glaciers and the Greenland Ice sheet are going to accelerate the destruction of our existing beaches and barrier islands. Even if we start today to lower the levels of greenhouse gases we are pouring into the atmosphere ( which were not) the rising sea levels will go on for hundreds of years anyway. By 2100 the coast lines of America will look nothing like they do today. The "Sand Lobby" though could care less they go from one sinking community to the next with their greedy little project sucking up billions. They are like necromancers who stand by a dying person's family and promise them they'll save the dying person if only the family pays up. ( Kind of like our present so called Health care Ins. Industry). In any event, it's not working, except for the Army Corp. and it's legions of parasites and politicians ( same thing.)

22 Million More into the Gulf of Mexico

The Federal Gov't & the State of Fla. are pouring $22 mil. onto the beaches of one of the most Hurricane prone stretches of barrier Island beach in America, all this to protect a few homes in a place very few tourists even know about! You gotta wonder what Congresscritter , State Senator or one of their wealthy campaign contributors owns a Vacation mansion or two on this sunny Isle, right? Check out the rest of the story @ the title link. One more thing to note if you've read enough of these stories as I have now for almost 10 yrs. you'll notice certain talking pts. over and over again like this one as an example, “It’s like a highway, it’s infrastructure … and if you want that to be on your list of assets, you have to maintain it,” Woodruff said. Whenever I see these tag lines I know it's an Army Corp. project and the DC K street Lobbying firm of Marlowe and company has been in town. They hand these stock lines out to the local pols and journalists. This is a well oiled machine folks and it makes billions for it's clients. This is your money and it could be paying for a real Nat'l Health system, instead it's being arrogantly pissed in the sea to protect the vacation homes and businesses of a very tiny group of people and of course to feather the nest of the Sand Lobby and it's clients.

LBI BEACH PROJECT GETS $600K FROM CONGRESS

Harvey Cedars

Congress pissed more $ into the Atlantic today. $ 600K won't go to far however, not on LBI. Keep in mind many of these same people don't want to spend a dime on Health care Reform. Frank Lobiondo is one of them! They have no problems tossing boat loads of tax payer cash into the sea, however. This is the stupid assholes you elect folks. This is where their priorities are!

Read all about it @ the title link.

SCIENCE FRIDAY: HEALTH CARE - THE ART , The SCIENCE & The Politics

ART & SCIENCE

It's been said that Medicine is both an Art and a Science. I'm not so sure about the art part and what exactly that means? Actually, considering that our bodies are the canvas I'd prefer to not think about what that might mean. As far as it being a science, until very recently it wasn't much of one to speak of. As my old Family MD once told me in a moment of candor, " God does all the healing and we ( Drs.) collect the fees." Nevertheless, what science does exist these days has become enormously successful in many cases and also increasingly expensive. It's in the cost for this so called scientific medicine that lies the real problem with today's Health care dilemma. As the cures and the science behind them mount so does the cost. Another problem with this kind of approach to medicine ( as car mechanic) is the presumption that preventive medicine is nearly all bunk.

If we do nothing to reform the present trajectory of our medical sciences were going to go bankrupt. It's simply impossible to provide every American with the very best scientific medicine today. We don't have the $$ resources to do it.

PREVENTION

It is possible though to provide good care that puts the emphasis on prevention. It's a whole lot cheaper to prevent an illness then to pay the price fixing it after the case. A near perfect example of this method is immunization of children. This single idea has probably saved the lives of millions since it first appeared back in the 17th century. This is the kind of preventive science that we need to move us ahead. Genetic research is one of the areas where I believe many preventive cures lie. It won't be cheap getting to them but is well worth the cost.

DEVICES & PREVENTION

The use of diagnostic devices like MRIs , X-rays, Cat scans, Pet scans and others are also good uses of preventive medicine. The problem with the devices are their cost. The cost for using these devices is becoming ruinous and for the life of me I cannot see why? Why should 10 mins in a Cat scan cost $2,000? It seems just because that's what the owners want to charge. This is not a sustainable method of prevention and it alone is one of the reasons, that along with the ruinous increases in drugs has driven health care costs into the sky these last 20 yrs.

REFORM WE MUST

It's been said that American medicine can provide the very best care available anywhere on Earth today. I believe this is true. Then why are we ranked 37 th among the list of nations in providing over all health care to our people? Is this really necessary? I believe as do many others that health care as it's being practiced in America today has become a huge business that's first priority is profit not care. This has to be reversed.

Medicine as a Business

I hear way to many young people today telling me and others that they want to get into medicine because of the $$, not because they want to heal people. If your starting pt. is profit then your a business person not a healer and I'm worried at what that portends. I've seen these young businessman Drs. and I have to tell you I don't like what they're about. I've also seen the other kind of young Drs. and we need more of these men and women. Medicine is a sacred Art and a science and only thirdly a business.

So called HEALTH INS.

The more I examine this whole controversy the more I arrive again and again at one central issue...so called Health Ins. today. Why, do we need this Industry at all? It doesn't provide any health care. It's essentially a parasitic infection that feeds off of both patients and Drs. It serves no practical purpose from what I can see beyond skimming off trillions from the real health care system and providing the profits to a few dozen huge Mega-Corps. and the very few individuals that own and run them. We need to cut this cancer out or suffer the consequences. We are in fact already suffering them. For profit health Ins. companies have absolutely NO interest in reforming the present system and are hoping they've bought off enough key U.S. Senators to stop it DEAD in it's tracks.

THE CURE

Having looked at many of the world's present health care delivery systems in so called 1st world nations I've concluded the most civilized are like the Canadian and better yet the Swedish, British and Japanese models. In these systems Health care is very closely controlled by the respective Gov'ts involved. Costs are far lower then our system and care is far better for the great majority of the population. No one in these countries goes bankrupt trying to pay off ruinous medical expenses. This fact alone makes these systems more humane and wildly popular in the countries where they're practiced.

The Politics

The President keeps saying we need a uniquely American solution to the health care crisis today. I disagree, why should we reinvent the wheel? It's not like we don't have a whole world of existing systems out here already that work or have features we could adapt that would work very well for us. I think that phrase is just code for "I can't politically beat the hugely poweerful Health care lobby out here. " I hope I'm wrong on this. I hope that Obama is really a political genius and he's playing these people, but in the end he wants REAL reform , not some phony thing called reform or worse another BIG Corp. bail out. We'll all see soon enough.

TWO 70's Icons Pass Away

Two of the biggest American Pop idols of the 70's and 80's died today. Michael Jackson was 50 and died of a sudden heart attack. Farah Fawcett had been suffering from cancer and was expected to die soon. Both were POP Stars of the first order. Both led lives filled with fame and fortune, but both also had a tragic part of their lives that haunted them. Farah was terribly abused by her lovers and Jackson had a very questionable relationship with children. The poster of Farah above was probably to be found on the wall of every teenage boy in America in the mid-to late 70's. Jackson's music was the background pop music for an entire generation from the early 70's to the early 90's.

THE OTHER SHOE FALLS: TABLE GAMES IN PA ADVANCE IN PA LEGISLATURE

It's just a blurb in the back pages of today's AC Press but it's really BAD news for AC's faltering Casino Industry and bad news isn't something it needs right now. It appears that the Pa, legislature is getting prepared to pass an expansion of it's gaming law, specifically allowing table games in Pa casinos. This was predicted to happen yrs. ago and now using the Recession as an excuse, Pa is going ahead with this idea. For AC it means increased competition as AC's casinos lose another advantage over the rising Pa casino Industry. The funny part of the story was some person from the NJ casino Control Commission saying AC has so much to offer gamblers, that this change isn't a problem. LOL! Oh really? What do we have to offer? We don't even have the ocean view anymore , but oooohhhh were safe because of the Army project. IDIOTS!

WE NEED MORE

AC needs a real revival of it's faltering RESORT Industry folks , not just it's slowly dying CASINO sector. When are the local powers to be going to realize the Casino ONLY era in AC is over? When are they going to care about the rest of the community? Since 1978 and the opening of Resorts Int'l the State and the local leadership has acted as if the AC problem is solved. Is it it? Maybe, these people should take a ride around what is AC today and open their eyes to what it has become. They seem to only care about having BIG CORPS. in town and show a decided contempt for anyone else.

DINO ( Democrats in Name ONLY) ON THE BIG CORP. TAKE

DINOCRATS AKA BLUE DOGS

The Pressure is mounting on these so called Blue Dog Democrats. It's pretty obvious who they answer to. They should be aware of one thing though. Corps. don't vote, people do. Health Care reforms time is here and those so called Democrats that stand in the way will pay a price if they do.

HEALTHCARE TODAY A PIC.

This picture is a good analogy of our existing so called Health care system. Think a patch will fix it? Alexander "the Great" once found himself confronted with a similar puzzle that we all are taught about, it was called the Gordian knot. Remember how he solved it? Eventually, we'll have to solve our Gordian knot the same way. If not this time , eventually.

Why that Knot won't be easy to cut:

Here's just a small taste of what's @ stake here for the BIG So called health Ins. Corps. Listed below is what their CEOs make in a yr. Now try to imagine what they need to Gross to earn these kind of salaries. Think these people want us to have good affordable Health Care?

Here's what they are afraid of losing:

ANNUAL COMPENSATION (2006 and 2007):
� Ronald A. Williams, Chair/ CEO, Aetna Inc., $23,045,834
� H. Edward Hanway, Chair/ CEO, Cigna Corp, $30.16 million
� David B. Snow, Jr, Chair/ CEO, Medco Health, $21.76 million
� Michael B. MCallister, CEO, Humana Inc, $20.06 million
� Stephen J. Hemsley, CEO, UnitedHealth Group, $13,164,529
� Angela F. Braly, President/ CEO, Wellpoint, $9,094,771
� Dale B. Wolf, CEO, Coventry Health Care, $20.86 million
� Jay M. Gellert, President/ CEO, Health Net, $16.65 million
� William C. Van Faasen, Chairman, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, $3 million plus $16.4 million in retirement benefits
� Charlie Baker, President/ CEO, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, $1.5 million
� James Roosevelt, Jr., CEO, Tufts Associated Health Plans, $1.3 million
� Cleve L. Killingsworth, President/CEO Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, $3.6 million
� Raymond McCaskey, CEO, Health Care Service Corp (Blue Cross Blue Shield), $10.3 million
� Daniel P. McCartney, CEO, Healthcare Services Group, Inc, $ 1,061,513
� Daniel Loepp, CEO, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, $1,657,555
� Todd S. Farha, CEO, WellCare Health Plans, $5,270,825
� Michael F. Neidorff, CEO, Centene Corp, $8,750,751
� Daniel Loepp, CEO, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, $1,657,555
� Todd S. Farha, CEO, WellCare Health Plans, $5,270,825
� Michael F. Neidorff, CEO, Centene Corp, $8,750,751

The US SUPREME CT. TO HEAR EMINENT DOMAIN CASE INVOLVING A BEACH REPLENISHMENT CASE

@ the title link is an article about a case that will be heard by the U.S. Suprenme Ct. this year involving a Beach Replenishment Project in Fla., which it's being challenged on an eminent domain issue. This could have vast implications for NJ and other coastal states. If the Kelo case is any guide we can probably expect the court to rule in favor of the State of Fla. and the taking. However, you never know for sure. We'll be watching this one.

STILL NO SIGNED COPY OF VENTNOR'S 2003 AISPP CONTRACT

Below is a copy of a Doc. ( all personal info of the requester has been removed ) from the NJDEP. The Doc. is the NJDEP's answer to a a citizen group request for a copy of the 2003 contract for the Absecon Island Shore Protection Project. The group asking , wanted a copy to specifically determine if Ventnor ever signed the LEGAL CONTRACT which officially had them join the Federal Army Project. It appears that no such document exists. In other words, it seems that after holding an election in fall of 2002 - in which the public was being led to believe their vote was specifically about joining this Project, Ventnor's Commissioners NEVER SIGNED THE CONTRACT!

What all this means is up in the air? Nevertheless, you have to wonder why this document appears never to have been executed by the LEGAL authorities in Ventnor after putting the whole town through an election? Maybe, they didn't do anything illegal, and maybe they did? But, why did they essentially hide this from the public for years? Again, if in fact they did sign, I call on any one of the Commissioners from that time to come forward and say they did and they know where the signed contract is today! This is the second time at this BLOG I have called on them to do this. Call City Hall guys and let them know you signed and when. If you didn't, that's another story that we'd all like to hear as well. Were waiting. In the mean time , with the Info we have were assuming you didn't sign. That you allowed the voters in VENTNOR to go to the polls in 2002 thinking they were joining the Army project and then for some unknown reason you balked.

State of New Jersey

Department of Environmental Protection

GOVERNMENT RECORDS REQUEST FORM

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Please read this entire form carefully as it contains important information concerning the response to your record request, accessing records,

disputing denials, and your rights concerning government records. For further information, access WWW.NJ.GOV/DEP/OPRA.

Requestor Information State Use Only

First Name MI Last Name

Tracking #

Company:

Received

Date 05/26/2009

Mailing Address:.

Access

Method Send Electronic copies

City: State: Zip: Email:

Business Telephone:)

Facsimile Telephone: () -

All matters relating to the response and

access of any records identified for this

request should be directed to:

NJDEP – Office of Record Access

401 East State Street

PO Box 442

Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0442

Tele #: (609) 341-3121

Fax #: (609) 292-1177

Record Request Details:

Please furnish a copy of the executed agreement for the Absecon Island Shore Protection Project which

involved NJ DEP, Army Corps of Engineers, Atlantic City and Ventnor City. It is believed that

Ventnor's former Mayor Tim Kreischer would have signed on Ventnor's behalf and sometime after November

2002, the date of a Referendum Ballot to authorize the agreement. City Clerk's office can find no

executed document. The City Solicitor in 2002 was John Scott Abbott who was asked to turn over his

legal files in July 2008 to a new Solicitor, Tim Maguire. Upon information and belief, no executed

AISPP agreement was in those files.

Disposition Notes Record Request Response

In Progress - Open

Filled - Closed X

Denied - Closed

Based on the record request, no responsive records have been identified. Requester

should contact the Office of Record Access at 609-341-3121 with any questions.

Partial - Closed

06/02/2009

Addendum Disposition Notes: NONE

Custodian Signature Date

Access to Government Records Under the New Jersey Open Public Records Act (N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq.)

SONJ-RRF-2 OPRA # 81392

Information Regarding the Requested Records

If your request is in reference to a single facility, please provide the name of the

facility, and the name of the operator name of the facility:

Facility Name:

Operator Name:

Please provide the owner name the facility or parcel of land: Owner Name:

If your request is in reference to a specific parcel of land, please provide the street

address, block, lot and property owner of the parcel of land:

(Note: if the property in question is over multiple blocks and lots, please list all in

the description field below)

Street Address 1:

Street Address 2:

Block: Lot:

If your request is in reference to a facility, site or parcel of land, please provide the

Municipality and County where the facility, site or parcel of land is located:

County:

Municipality:

If the request is in reference to a particular permit issued by NJDEP, please

provide the type of permit and any identifying numbers such as permit, incident or

case numbers. (i.e. Fishing, Hunting, Hazardous Waste, Solid Waste, Land Use,

NJPDES, Pesticides, Stream Encroachment, TWA, UST, Water Allocation)

List Permit Type: List ID Numbers:

If your request is in reference to an individual, please provide the individual's

name and type, and if the individual is a DEP employee, your relationship with the

individual:

Individual’s name:

Type of Individual:

Relationship:

If the an individual was specified above, the individual was DEP Licensed, please

specify the license type the individual holds: License Type:

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has responded to your submitted Open Public Records Act (OPRA)

record request. The following information will help you understand the response and your next available actions.

Tracking #: This is the Department’s assigned Tracking # to your OPRA record request, which should be used in all

corresponding matters.

Record Request Response:

• In Progress – Based on the nature of the request, the records sought, and/or the manner to which the records may exists, the Department requires

additional time to investigate and respond to the request.

• Filled – Based on the information provided in your request, the Department was able to investigate and respond to your record request.

• Denied – Based on the nature of the request and/or the records sought, the Department has denied your request pursuant to a specific exemption(s)

cited in N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 seq.

• Partial – The Department has identified both responsive government records and records being denied based on the nature of the request and/or

the records sought, that do not meet the definition of a government record pursuant to a specific exemption(s) cited in N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 seq.

Disposition Notes: Provides detailed information concerning the Department’s response to your request.

Accessing Records: Dependent on the volume of records and your interest, there are four (4) methods available to access the

responsive government records:

• File Review – Schedule a file review with the Department to directly access the records and take notes or tag records of interest for copying.

Copying can be performed by either the onsite Department of Treasury’s DEP Copying Unit at State duplication fee costs or by the requester

employing a Copy Vendor Service. If there are records stored in archives, a five-day processing period will be included prior to scheduling a

review.

• Copy Request – All records of interest will be copied by the onsite Department of Treasury’s DEP Copying Unit at State duplication fee costs

unless a Copy Vendor Service is employed.

• Fax Request – Based on the number of pages, the Department faxes the responsive records.

• Web Access – The responsive records can be access directly through the Department’s web site. Web address will be provided.

Access to Government Records Under the New Jersey Open Public Records Act (N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq.)

SONJ-RRF-2 OPRA # 81392

1. The fees for duplication of a government record are specified below. We will notify you of any special charges, special

service charges or other additional charges authorized by State law or regulation before processing your request. Payment

shall be made by cash, check or money order payable to the State of New Jersey and mailed to the address specified below.

Hard Copies: Pages 1 through 10 = $0.75 per page Electronic Records: Compact Discs (CDs) = $9.77 per CD

Pages 11 through 20 = $0.50 per page Diskettes = $ 0.55 per diskette

Pages 21 on = $0.25 per page Over-sized Maps: = $5.00 per map

2. Pursuant to OPRA (C.47:1A-5C), whenever the nature, format, manner of collation, or volume of a government record

embodied in the form of printed matter to be inspected, examined, or copied pursuant to this section is such that the record

cannot be reproduced by ordinary document copying equipment in ordinary business size or involves an extraordinary

expenditure of time and effort to accommodate the request, the public agency may charge, in addition to the actual cost of

duplicating the record, a special service charge that shall be reasonable and shall be based upon the actual direct cost of

providing the copy or copies.

The Department charges $48/Hr Fee for Extra-Ordinary Time (EOT) Service Charges. If a request is applicable for an EOT

charge, the Requester will be notified of such and payment of the charge must be received prior to access of the subject

records. Please note, based on the nature of a request and the records being sought, if the record request processing time is

over the Department’s normal request processing time, the Department may assess an EOT charge. Being that there is no

manner for the Department to ascertain the charge prior to the time being incurred, the Department will notify the Requester

in its response to a record request and payment must occur prior to accessing records.

3. By law, the Department must notify you that it grants or denies a request for access to government records within seven

business days after the custodian of the record requested receives the request, provided that the record is currently available

and not in storage. If the record requested is not currently available or is in storage, the custodian will advise you within

seven business days when the record can be made available and the estimated cost. You may agree with the custodian to

extend the time for making records available, or granting or denying your request.

4. You may be denied access to a government record if your request would substantially disrupt agency operations and the

custodian is unable to reach a reasonable solution with you.

5. If the Department was unable to comply with your request for access to a government record, the custodian will indicate the

reasons for denial on the request form.

6. Except as otherwise provided by law or by agreement with the requester, if the custodian of the record requested fails to

respond to you within seven business days of receiving a request form, the failure to respond will be considered a denial of

your request.

7. Resolution of Disputed Findings:

In the event that a requester does not agree with the Department’s record response, the requester should:

No Records - Reexamined the request details to evaluate if all of the information was provided that could aid the Department

in locating records. The Department’s ability to identify records of interest is in direct correlation to matching the Department

information with the information provided on the request. Such important identifiers are Facility/Site Name, Address, Case #,

Permit #, Block/Lot.

Denial - If your request for access to a government record has been denied or unfilled within the time permitted by law, you

have a right to challenge the decision by the Department to deny access. The Department denies access to records only when

those records do not meet the definition of a government record and/or public access is not allowed pursuant to the law. At

your option, you may either:

a. Contact the Office of Record Access to re-visit the matter or provide further explanation.

b. Institute a proceeding in the Superior Court of New Jersey

c. File a complaint in writing with the Government Records Council (GRC). You may contact the GRC by toll-free

telephone at 866-850-0511, by mail at PO Box 819, Trenton, NJ, 08625, by e-mail at grc@dca.state.nj.us, or at their

web site at www.state.nj.us/grc. The Council can also respond to other questions about the law.

8. Information provided on this form may be subject to disclosure under the Open Public Records Act.

Revised Addendum Task Description: NONE

THE GOP HEALTH CARE HORROR SHOW

Enjoy. I was a bit dissapointed that they couldn't somehow shoe horn a few references to 9/11 and terrorists in there somehow? I think Dick Cheney is even scarier then Lon Cheney. All the GOP has is FEAR these days , they've run out of ideas.

Here's a link http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/health/policy/21poll.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss to a very recent Nat'l poll on health care reform by Times/CBS

OBAMA LAYS AN EGG

Obama's Health Reform Waterloo

by Dave Lindorff

The Obama administration and the Congressional Democrats are finally hitting the inevitable wall that was bound to confront them because of the president's congenital inability to be a bold leader, and because of the party's toxic decades-old decision to betray its working class New Deal base in favor of wholesale corporate whoredom.

The wall is health care reform, which both Barack Obama and the Democratic Party had hoped would be the ticket for them to ride to victory in the 2010 Congressional elections and the 2012 presidential election.

But you cannot achieve the twin goals of reducing health care costs and providing access to health care to 50 million uninsured people, while leaving the profit centers of the current system--doctors, hospitals and the health insurance industry--in charge and in a position to continue to reap profits.

Watching President Obama address the American Medical Association was a cringe-inducing experience as he assured the assembled doctors he was not going to expand Medicare payments "broadly" to cover all patients, or end the current "piece-work reimbursement" system that has so enriched physicians, or as he told them that savings would "not come off your backs." It was particularly cringe-inducing when he told the AMA that he knew that making money was not why its members were in the profession, saying, "That is not why you became doctors. That is not why you put in all those hours in the Anatomy Suite or the O.R. That is not what brings you back to a patient's bedside to check in or makes you call a loved one to say it'll be fine. You did not enter this profession to be bean-counters and paper-pushers. You entered this profession to be healers--and that's what our health care system should let you be."

Oh please. I know there are plenty of wonderful doctors who are dedicated to their patients and to patient care. But I also know plenty of doctors who have told me how half their classmates in medical school were mainly in it for the money, and that study halls and cafeterias of American med schools echo with the conversations about what can be made working in particular specialties. Not to mention the corrupt and insidious profit-sharing arrangements doctors enter into with labs, CAT-Scan and MRI test centers, pharmaceutical companies and other businesses, to earn profits by sending patients for unnecessary tests and treatments.

One can only imagine what he would be saying to insurance industry executives about his "reform" plans.

Because Obama and Congressional Democrats are unwilling to cut themselves off from the lucrative campaign-funding bonanza that is the health care industry, they cannot address seriously either the cost or the access crisis that plagues health care in the US, and that makes health care in this country cost 20 percent of GDP--twice what it costs in any other modern nation on a per capita or GDP basis, and that still leaves one in six Americans without ready access to even routine health care.

The answer to this crisis is obvious: a single-payer "socialized" system, in which you still have private doctors, and private or publicly run hospitals, but where the government sets the payment rates for treatment, and provides all compensation to health care providers.

If Democrats in Congress were serious about health care reform, they would immediately order the Congressional Budget Office to conduct a cost study of instituting such a program--a study that would include an estimate of the savings to individuals and employers if health care costs were lifted entirely off their backs (because obviously it would require considerable new government revenue to fund a single-payer program, but that's only half the equation--the other half, the savings, is simply ignored by critics and doomsayers on the right and in the health care industry). Instead, Obama and the Democratic Congress are studiously avoiding even allowing any mention of the single-payer option. (A New York Times report today on the various health care plans working their way through Congress, and coming out of the White House, completely blacked out any mention of a single-payer bill in the House authored by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which the House leadership has prevented from even getting a token hearing.)

Obama's unwillingness to lead on this issue will doom his health care plan. There is obviously no way Congress is going to shake off its corrupt leech-like attachment to corporate sponsors and their cash-spreading lobbyists, but had the new president wanted to make a historic mark and cruise to victory in 2012, he could have, like President Lyndon Johnson before him in his campaign for Medicare in 1965, put himself solidly behind a single-payer plan and made the case that it could cut America's collective health bill in half while opening the door to every American.

Instead, he's likely to end up with worse than nothing--that is with even more uninsured Americans come 2012, and with health care costs moving up as a share of GDP--and could well find himself out of a job. The policy that his handlers, like White House Chief-of-Staff Rahm Emanuel, had conceived of as Obama's ticket to re-election, health care reform, could well prove instead to be his Waterloo.

That is if his adoption of a policy of expanded war in Afghanistan--another example of a failure to lead--doesn't prove to be this president's bigger policy disaster.

Dave Lindorff is a Philadelphia-based journalist and columnist. He is author ofMarketplace Medicine: The Rise of the For-Profit Hospital Chains (BantamBooks, 1992), and his latest book "The Case for Impeachment" (St. Martin's Press, 2006). His work is available at www.thiscantbehappening.net

More in our cont. series on Health care reform this summer. I think Dave is probaly closer to the truth then anybody yet.

CLIMATE CHANGE PICTURE BOOK

Theres a great new picture book about the evolving Climate change situation called "Climate Change" Picturing the science. I linked it to Amazon. The pictures are stunning! Good table top picture book.

BEACH BANTER:

SUMMER ARRIVES TODAY!

With all the rain locally you'd never know it was summer. My lawns loving it though. Maybe, the bad weather fits this summer of economic woe for AC and environs. It's funny though, an economic Recession is a little like an earthquake or a hurricane in that it strikes the populace unequally, such is life. Nevertheless, it appears even the wealthy have cut back. I haven't heard one EGO boat roar by the beach yet and even the fancy restaurants are struggling so far this summer from what I've heard. Last fall and winter were ugly even for the well heeled. The times feel different as well. We have a new President and the Dems. are once again in charge in DC. So far though, I have to agree with comedian Bill Maher when he says that the Dems. are the "new GOP" and the GOP is so far to the right now it's gone "bat shit" crazy. So essentially we have two right wing parties running the show , one just a bit more Liberal on social issues then the other. Both , parties though are owned by CORP. interests. I think one of the late night shows or maybe, it was Jon Stewart said they should all have to wear their Corp. sponsors on their clothes the way NASCAR Race Car drivers do. This way we'd know who owns them up front, instead of thinking they represent us anymore.

HEALTH CARE DEBATE:

The really big issue of the week and maybe of the decade happening right now in DC is the faltering attempts by the Dems. and Pres. Obama to ( LOL) reform the horrific so called Health Care Industry in this country today. This is a system that is literally killing thousands and has put America down below Morocco as a provider of health services for it's population. In short it's a friggin disgrace and those that defend it are obviously reaping it's benefits hugely , so don't want it to change. However, every poll out here done on this issue shows HUGE majorities want to see some kind of Gov't run option ( The so called Public Option: and a majority actually would like to see a "Single Payer" system like in Canada and other countries out here. Single payer has been shuffled off the table though by Congress critters who to be frank are wholly owned spokespersons for BIG HEALTH INC. and could care less what the voters want. It's a few DEMOCRATIC SENATORS that now stand in the way of a reform desperately needed by the country. Every president since FDR has tried and slowly the system is being changed, very slowly. The same forces that fought Medicare and Medicaid in the 60's are working hard today with vast sums of cold cash to defeat any change. You can see who they are easily enough. Just watch TV, every 5 mins they are running scary ads about what would happen if GOD forbid the Gov't was to take over health care. Could it be any worse then what they're delivering?

DUNES to HIGH for Ya?

On the local front the big news earlier in the week was a Press editorial about a local group of Boardwalk merchants and their spokesperson the popular radio talk show host " Pinky Kravitz." They're gripe was about the height of the AISPP dunes in AC. They now want the dunes lowered so visitors to AC can see the ocean and enjoy the view and the sea breeze. The surprise here is why it took these people 6 yrs. to figure that one out? It's going to be interesting watching these people try and convince the NJDEP to lower them. I can't in good conscience say that I have much in the way of sympathy for these people however. Many of these same people were the one's that arrogantly declared to those of us that fought against the Project , "That the View didn't matter!" It didn't?

OBAMA'S M.D. ON HEALTH CARE REFORM

Here's Obama's own personal MD when he lived in Chicago. Read @ the title link what he has to say about the ongoing debate on health care.

MASSIVE TEAHUPOO

Our ZEN moment for the month. Sit back, sip some coffee and just watch.

SAND WARS CONTINUE:

CONDO in VA. BEACH

@ the title link another article in the continuing saga ( I call "Sand Wars") that's happening up and down every coast. This one also includes and intersects another ongoing battle everywhere over so called Eminent Domain.

Two More Casinos to Fail

A local investment analysis firm that specializes in Casinos had an article in the The AC Press the other day declaring that as many as two more local Casinos might possibly fail within the coming yr. No surprise here. I've been predicting such an event for yrs. I'd say it's more likely we'll see at least three fail or go bankrupt with the next yr. or less. If this yrs. drop in profits continues, and I have no reason to believe other wise, next winter is going to be ugly, very ugly for AC. No wonder the view off the boardwalk has become so important. What else did we have to offer tourists? Their other prediction was that when REVEL opens it would further cannibalize the local market possiblly leading to even more failures and bankruptices. At this rate we'll be right back to where it all started back in the mid-70's. Except that the rest of the town now resembles a third world slum.

PRIVATE MUSCLE & THE PUBLIC OPTION In HEALTH CARE

By PETER BOROSAGE

We're headed into the end game for health care reform. The president has put himself in the arena. The insurance lobby is unleashing the scare campaign. A strong bill will pass the House. But at this point, too many Senators are still standing in the way.

The reform includes a broad range of measures to extend and improve care and help curb rising costs, but the epicenter of the debate is over what is called the "public option." Health care reform will mandate businesses provide insurance or pay into a general fund. Individuals will be responsible to get health insurance, with subsidies for those that can't afford it. We'll able to retain the insurance we have, or have the choice of a range of plans, including a public option, modeled after Medicare. A strong public option, competing with private insurance, is key to helping to get costs under control.

And costs must be brought under control. We now spend nearly 50% more on health care per capita than any other country, with mediocre results. We ration care by price, with some 47 million Americans uninsured. It costs the rest of us about $1000 a year to pay for the price of their care when they are forced finally to check themselves into emergency rooms.

Tell stories, not statistics, the pollsters tell us. But after adjusting for inflation, health care costs have soared by 58% since 2000; while wages for most Americans were stagnant or lost ground. As the auto companies showed, businesses increasingly can't afford health care. Families find it unaffordable. Virtually the entire long term debt challenge facing the US government is from the projected rise of health care costs. Get health care costs under control, the US has no long term fiscal problem. Fail to get them under control, the costs will bankrupt the federal government, state governments, businesses that offer health care (and increasing numbers won't) and families. Reform that gets costs under control is imperative. There is no choice.

A key to getting costs under control is the public plan. It can take advantage of its purchasing power to gain cost reductions. It can model best care practices. Private insurance -- which in most localities translates into a couple of dominant providers that don't compete on price -- will be forced to measure up with greater efficiency, innovation, and cost savings techniques.

Yet the debate in the Senate has been fixated on how to weaken or abandon the public plan rather than strengthen it. Republicans, for the most part, have taken themselves out of the adult conversation. Like first generation robots, they endlessly repeat the exact same wordscrafted by Frank Luntz - "government takeover," "no choice of doctor," "bureaucrats not doctors prescribing medicine." It's frankly pathetic. We have no choice as a society but to figure out how to fix this - and Republican leaders have chosen simply to peddle lies and scare stories and absent themselves from any serious discussion.

A gaggle of Democratic Senators -- led by Senator Baucus and the so-called "moderate" Senators -- have publicly thrashed around for ways to weaken or gut the public option. Outside groups like the Third Way have provided guidelines for disemboweling it. Some have suggested putting it off until private insurance competition proves it can't get costs under control -- as if that hasn't been proven over the last decades. Baucus suggested decentralized local "co-ops" would serve as the public option -- an idea notable for being both unmanageable and ineffective. Even if a network of coops somehow arose to insure that people had an option, they wouldn't have the clout to hold costs down and force private insurance to compete.

Others, remarkably, have detailed ways to deprive the public option of the power to lower costs. They call for a "level playing field" with private insurance. The public plan can't be subsidized, can't use its buying power to lower costs, can't take advantage of lower administrative overhead.

This sounds silly. We face soaring health care costs that will literally cripple our future. Surely, no Senator concerned about the country would work to undermine the key idea that would help get a lid on costs. They wouldn't, as Barack Obama warned, just "create a system where the insurance companies have more customers on Uncle Sam's dime, but still fail to meet their responsibilities." If you assume that, you would be wrong. They've done it repeatedly in the past.

For example, early in Bush's first term, Republicans decided that passing a prescription drug benefit for seniors would help cement Karl Rove's permanent majority. The benefit would help 41 million Americans with a soaring cost of care not yet covered by Medicare. It would also create massive new market for the drug companies. And, of course, Medicare could do what governments across the world do -- use its buying power to lower the cost of the drugs.

Only, when Republicans passed the law -- in the dead of night, twisting arms to get it done -- it actually prohibited Medicare from negotiating a lower price for drugs. Don't worry, they argued, competition would lower drug costs (even as they banned the import of cheaper drugs from Canada or Mexico).

Why? Well, using government muscle violated "free market" sensibilities. More importantly, the drug companies have one of the most powerful lobbies on Capitol Hill. Billy Tauzin, the chair of the key House committee ushering the bill through, left soon after to get a two million dollar a year job as a head of Big PhRMA, the drug company lobby. Tom Scully, the administration's point person who helped secret the actual cost of the bill, was already negotiating his million dollar job as the debate was going on. In all, 15 congressional representatives, aides and administration officials involved in the debate left shortly thereafter to take jobs with the drug lobby. With a $9 billion increase in annual profits at stake, the drug industry got an amazing return on its investment.

Today, seniors pay 60% more for the same drugs than the price charged veterans becuse the Veteran's Administration does negotiate lower prices.

Extreme? Not really. The health insurance companies decided they should be allowed to compete with Medicare in providing health insurance options to seniors. Seniors would get more choice; Medicare, the bureaucratic behemoth, would get agile competition. Win, win, they argued, calling the program "Medicare Advantage."

Only the insurance companies couldn't compete with Medicare straight up. So they demanded subsidies from the government to enable them to vie with the Medicare program they described as horrendously inefficient, unpopular and bureaucratic.

And they stand to pocket an estimated $177 billion in excess payments over 10 years to compete with Medicare - subsidies that Obama would sensibly cut to help pay for health care reform.

Money talks. Nine Republican Senators on the key Senate Finance Committee wrote President Obama to say they would oppose any reform with a public plan. The Center for Responsive Politics reports that the nine had had pocketed $17.7 million in contributions from insurance and health care interests over the course of their careers.. http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news-1/Senators-Who-Signed-Letter-Opposing-Public-Health-Plan-Took--2417-7-Million-in-Campaign-Donations-from-Health-Care-and-Insurance-Industries-48233-1/

Not surprisingly, the 20 largest insurance and drug companies and their trade associations have pumped up their lobbying by 41% over last year -- with reported spending over $75 million in the first quarter alone.

This is the corruption of crony capitalism; a compromised congress using taxpayer's money to enrich entrenched interests. Only now, the cost of this in health care is not sustainable. Dramatic reform is vital or we all follow the auto companies and go belly up.

So if your Senator says he or she is opposed to a public option, or wants a weaker public option, or a non-profit co-op that isn't big government, or prates about the "government takeover of health care," about losing your choice of doctor, about bureaucrats not doctors prescribing medicine, don't fall for it. Either he or she is either utterly clueless or more likely is representing the interests of the industry, not the voters.

This business as usual is no longer affordable or acceptable. We shouldn't let cynicism lower our expectations. Soaring health care costs and the human tragedy of those without insurance can no longer be ignored. Reform can't be postponed. It is a stunning disservice that Republicans have taken themselves out of serious discussion. And it is an open scandal that Senators are catering to the private insurance industry that has profited from the problem rather than helping to solve it. We must expect more and demand more from those given the privilege to represent us.

There is so much great writing out here on this topic these days it's starting to get hard to decide which articles to present or to link to. Unfortunately, the other side owns the MSM for the most part and the Congre$$ creatures that count. BIG VAMPIRE CARE has war gamed this whole thing with it's billions and doesn't intend to lose no matter how badly the Public wants Change in this area. The bottom line here is they don't give a damn about the Publics' health.