Senator Kent Conrad likes Co-ops. Making Health Care Co-ops a reality is his pet project and his alternative to a Public Option. The President and others are starting to listen. Conrad's primal fear of a Public Option should come as no surprise: just in the 2009-10 cycle Conrad's received almost 3/4 of a Million $$$ in donations/bribes from "Health" PACs and industry-related individuals -- so far.
So he's pushing "Co-ops":
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"[P]rivate, consumer-owned, non-profit cooperatives that would provide affordable health care to families, individuals and small businesses."
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Conrad says this "bridges the gap" between the GOP-endorsed status quo and the Public Option. In fact, the Public Option is the compromise between the status quo and Single Payer. Conrad is a tool of the Health Insurance Industry. Let's get that straight.
Co-ops have a track record. A good one, that became a bad one, that's getting worse.
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In the 1930s under The New Deal electric Co-ops were established throughout the Rural South to bring electricity to vast swaths of the country still virtually living in the 19th Century. They were wildly successful at first. They were a Godsend to millions of Americans.
Then, over the decades, the coal industry, the power industry, local "Boss Hoggs" and the lure of a different kind of Power infested and captured them.
Conrad's Co-ops will be political bodies whose Boards of Directors will be captured and populated by the politically-connected, powerful and wealthy. They'll be riddled with sell-outs, insurance industry shills and apologists. We'll see scandal after scandal develop in these things over the years as health insurance companies will pull out all the stops to pack them with "their people" and bribes, kickbacks, and all sorts of chicanery, both criminal and generally nefarious will eat-up these Co-ops like so many cancers.
Check out "Rural Coop Litigation News", an entire website I've discovered dedicated entirely to the legal tangles the utility versions of these things get wound-up in. Who thinks that Health Care "Co-ops" will be any different? They'll be as bad or worse.
And, of course, the Health Insurance industry and their boy, Kent, are salivating at the prospect of these little horror shows supplanting the Public Option.
For examples of what I'm talking about, I invite you to read these and contemplate the same thing coming to Health Care:
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ALABAMA
"Wiregrass Electric", a utility (electricity) "Co-op" formed in 1939 in Southeast Alabama whose stated purpose is:
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"[P]roviding quality electrical service as well as improving the quality of life of its consumers through a variety of programs and services available to all consumers."
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That's nice.
And here's the Video that's smack in the middle of Wiregrass Electric's Home Page, under the heading, "Balancing Environmental Concerns with Affordable Energy Prices... Be informed . . . get involved . . . know the facts! Wiregrass Electric's latest WEC Update shows how climate legislation could affect your electric bill":
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And here's Wiregrass Electric's "CEO Blog", from two (2) days ago:
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"Climate change legislation has been discussed for several years now, and it’s arrived in the form of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES). Commonly referred to as the Waxman-Markey bill because it was sponsored by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Ca.) and Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), this legislation has the potential to begin a cycle that will revolutionize the electricity business.
"When Wiregrass Electric Cooperative’s (WEC’s) business changes, it means big changes for you the consumer as well. The bill is intended to boost energy efficiency, develop renewable energy sources and curb greenhouse gas emissions; however, I fear that the cost of Waxman-Markey will far outweigh any actual benefits.
"According to the Heritage Foundation, the higher energy costs kick in as soon as the bill’s provisions take effect in 2012. For a household of four, energy costs will go up $436 that year. They estimate costs will eventually reach $1,241 in 2035 and average $829 annually over that span. Your electricity costs would go up 90 percent by 2035, gasoline by 58 percent and natural gas by 55 percent. The collective higher energy costs for a family of four by then will be nearly $20,000. . . ."
(Emphasis Added)
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ARKANSAS
Read a little about Capps vs. Carroll Electric Cooperative Association, a:
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"class action lawsuit. . . filed in the District (Circuit) Court of Benton County, Arkansas on June 10, 2009. The Plaintiff seeks recovery on behalf of a class of current and former members of Carroll Electric Cooperative Corporation of a portion of more than $170 Million in patronage capital or capital credits owed by members and former members of the Coop."
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And if you want the original source, here's a pdf of the Original Complaint filed in the Benton Co., Kansas Circuit Court.
Props and h/t to Rural Coop Litigation News.
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TEXAS
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Pedernalas Electrical Cooperative
June 17, 2009: "A grand jury in Blanco County has indicted two people after an investigation into unlawful conduct at the Pedernales Cooperative. . .
"While it has not yet been made clear what specifically lead to the indictments, in an excerpt from the videotaped hearings, Senator Troy Fraser said, "When we get rid of the four directors, then we might consider that we have a new Pedernales [Electric Co-op]. I estimate that they either misspent or took close to $50 million from me [and] the other customers of Pedernales [Electric Co-op. . . ."
Source
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Even more from [ good ol' Pedernalas Co-op]:
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"Austin-based law firm Clark, Thomas & Winters will pay Pedernales Electric Cooperative $4.1 million to settle a law suit over improper payments to relatives of former cooperative officials.
"The settlement comes a day after a Blanco County grand jury indicted Walter Demond, formerly attorney at the firm, and former PEC general manager Bennie Fuelberg. Demond was the cooperative’s co-counsel when payments were made to Curtis Fuelberg, a lobbyist and Bennie Fuelberg’s brother, and William Price, son of former board director E.B. Price. . .
(Emphasis Added)
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GEORGIA
The headline says "Raids stall image repair". Gee, you think? This article, from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, found over at Rural Coop Litigation News, on its "Criminal Investigations" page.
From April, 2009:
"The Cobb County (Metro Atlanta) district attorney’s office and local and state law enforcement agencies executed search warrants Wednesday at five locations related to the Cobb Electric Membership Corp.
"The search warrants, unsealed Wednesday, said agents were seeking evidence related to theft and racketeering at the electric cooperative. . . ."
From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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The list goes on. Really. It does.
THIS is what Kent Conrad wants for the Health Care in America.
BenGoshi
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