DAGR Weekly Reader W2-DEC
"If you are among those who believe that the U.S. has the best healthcare system in the world - despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary - it's because my fellow spinmeisters and I succeeded brilliantly at what we were paid very well to do with your premium dollars." -- Wendell Potter
How Billionaires Avoid Paying Into Medicare
There’s this loophole, you see. It allows them to show their income as, well, not income, so Medicare can’t put a withholding ‘tax’ on it. Of course, SSA and Medicare withholding isn’t a tax. It’s a deferred income. But the billionaires, it seems, prefer not to defer. They want it now. And so the Medicare trust fund goes wanting.
Nation of Change, Dec 13, 2024
Health Insurers Gave $120 Billion To Shareholders While Denying Your Claim
The country’s largest insurers spent $120 billion on stock buybacks since 2010, with nearly half of that spent by UnitedHealth. Former Cigna exec Wendell Potter weighs in on this one. Solid information!
The Lever, Dec 11, 2024
Bernie Sanders: A Mass Movement Can Beat Health CEO Greed
The conversation covers all the points you’ll have heard Sanders make before, and the central theme holds true. We’ll have universal, single-payer when we make sure our party is doing all it can to bring it about. Medicare For All is another of those issues with upwards of 60% favorability from Americans.
Jacobin Magazine, Dec 11. 2024
The Postal Service’s electric mail trucks are way behind schedule
Defense contractor Oshkosh had only delivered 93 trucks by November — compared to 3,000 originally expected by now. The delays put Biden’s climate goals at risk. And the open question is to what extent this is Oshkosh’s fault or USPS Director Louis DeJoy’s ‘laissez faire’ attitude. Still, USPS did say the EV trucks would save a LOT of taxpayer money, not to mention replacing those 8.2 mp/g guzzlers they’re using now.
Washington Post, Gift Article, Dec 12, 2024
This National Park Is a Lab for Climate Change Mitigation Efforts
One of the most visited national parks is also one of the most vulnerable. A very long read, but informative!
Sierra Club Magazine, Dec 11, 2024
Federal Election Commission (FEC) Legislative Recommendations
The FEC met and transmitted to Congress its list of recommended changes they need to enact. FEC would like a raise in pay, but also some tightening of rules regarding campaign contributions and use thereof. Dry, bureaucratic, but fairly short and oddly informative.
FEC Record, Dec 12, 2024