What does Obama care about?
He cares about hospitals, not the nurses that work in them and less about his cousin who is nurse, who works in them.
The following is part of a story titled "Your Money or Your Life" written by Dan Frosch, for The Nation in February, the 15th, 2005.
"Five long years ago, Rose Shaffer's life seemed sweet. A nurse since the early 1970s, Shaffer had spent most of her 60 years working at various Chicago hospitals, rising through the caregiver ranks and raising three kids. Now in the twilight of her career, she'd been hired as director of nursing at a home health agency in the suburb of Lombard. The position made Shaffer proud - she knew her salary could pay off the mortgage on her house a little sooner. At the time, her cousin Barack Obama was fast becoming a rising star in the Illinois State Senate.
"Seven months into her new job, Shaffer suffered a heart attack, and an ambulance rushed her to Advocate South Suburban Hospital. Shaffer assumed she was automatically covered - health insurance was a given at her previous nursing jobs. She thought she'd filled out the proper forms. But she hadn't.
"A week later, Shaffer received a bill from Advocate for the three days she'd been hospitalized. It was for $18,000. Shortly thereafter, Advocate began sending letters to Shaffer demanding payment. Then, a summons to appear in court was tossed on her porch. Advocate was suing her.
"Shaffer was terrified and didn't show at her court date. She says she even received a letter from the Cook County Sheriff's Department, threatening arrest unless she appeared. Under pressure from Advocate and now behind on her mortgage payments, Shaffer filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in December 2002, which meant her debtors would garner a reduced portion of the money she owed."
It seems, all that State Senator Barack Obama got done for her was to make her a part of the Service Employees International Union's campaign against the hospitals.
Any good elected official would have intervened and gotten action, that's what caseworkers do in elected officials offices.
Especially for relatives.
Especially when the President of the Illinois State Senate considers you his political son!
She did go to Springfield to testify in favor of a bill that would end price gouging, but that bill never became law.
Shaffer was part of a lawsuit filed against Advocate by the Union, which was dismissed.
I remind readers, that Obama once appeared on the website of that Union, with a quote under his picture that said "hospitals terrorize the uninsured".
His picture and quote were removed about the time his wife got a big pay hike from a hospital.
As for what he's doing as a US Senator about price gouging, he's protecting hospitals.
When asked to sign on to legislation sponsored by seatmate Dick Durbin aimed at forcing hospitals to disclose prices, his staff said that the Senator would not, "because he was concerned about the impact on hospitals".
As for Rose, the article finished by saying, "Rose Shaffer, for one, is still reeling. She works two nursing jobs, seven days a week for nearly 60 hours, so she can make the monthly $2,088 in Chapter 13 payments she still owes. Advocate has yet to claim its portion, but Shaffer's credit is severely damaged and will be for the next decade."
It would seem that Rose finally completed her payments in 2006, apparently without help from her cousin, who could have taken a few thousand dollars from his million dollar book advance and given it to her.
But, he was probably too busy promising to make health care more affordable.
What's really sad is Rose probably believes him.
The quotes above are from:
WhereTheMoneyGoes.Com
All quoting is in compliance with the
Fair Use Doctrine of Copyright law per
Title 17 U.S.C.
Section 107, Copyright Law.
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Today is Friday March 12, 2010
Hank Roth (on the Internet since 1982)
While I don't use a standard blog (weblog software) mostly because I've been doing this too long - having been there with Ike when the precursor to the Internet, Arpanet got started and every step of the way since, I can't get into all the many fads over the years (now it is social networking), but I have been an observer and participant in events which shape the world since my time with NSA and with Army Security and as a voice security cryptologist in the White House for the President, and the War Room at the Pentagon for the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff plus two wars. You could say this site is one of the better kept secrets [grin] on the InterNUT. You are invited back as often as you would like to see what I and others, I trust, may be saying.
For many I have met, social networking and blogs are popular because those who are enthrawed are, many of them, social misfits, but don't be deluded. The net today CAN be a huge waste of time unless you are smart enough to be discrimating about what you choose to believe as the truth (in science, a theory better than those which came before it). Much of the InterNUT is agenda driven and simply psycho babel for the otherwise lonely and delusional who invent their own reality. Take it all with many grains of salt. Read books, NOT blogs - Check credentials before you accept someone's views as informed. Separate the real from the fantasy, the customary world of us naked apes. Our species will eventually go extinct - as we should. There is nothing special about us BUT the greatest accomplishment you can ever have is (1) love and to (2) enjoy the journey. As for the truth, you will always find it unblemished and as true as I believe it to be when you read what is here. And if you don't agree, say so, but keep it sincere and as honest as you dare to be - and as honest as I always strive to be.
-- Hank Roth