Fact: The NC Department of Correction's spending on hospital care for prison inmates has been out of control over the past decade: it shot up from $17.5 million in 1999 to $55.8 million in 2009.Fact: Last Aug. 5, the NC General Assembly passed its budget bill, which included a provision mandating that inmates treated at hospitals would be billed at the same rates as the State Health Plan for state workers and teachers, a reform that would have saved the state millions on hospital treatment for inmates.
Disgusting Fact: On the day that Gov. Perdue signed the budget law, state Democratic Sen. Tony Rand inserted language in a legislative housekeeping bill that effectively gutted the money-saving provision.
Really Disgusting Fact: It comes to light in an investigation by the Raleigh News & Observer (published today) that Blue Cross Blue Shield of N.C. was sending secret e-mails to Sen. Rand containing the language that he subsequently inserted to help that monopolistic health-insurance provider (so to speak) continue to rip off the state's taxpayers.
These are the same corporate tools who have gotten hysterical over the threat of actual health-insurance reform, like the "public option," and who have used the U.S. mails to induce their naive subscribers to put pressure on Sen. Kay Hagan and others not to do anything in Congress that might cause their cash cow to give less milk.
Non-profit corporation ... there's an oxymoron!
Tony Rand is now gone from the State Senate, pursued closely by the bears of prosecutorial retribution. Might his collusion with BC/BS of NC be added to the list of offenses, or was that perfectly legal in the way that only politicians could devise unethical string-pulling to be "perfectly legal"?
48 comments:
The health insurance industry is obsolete anyway. With the information available from the human genome project, doctors will be able to predict who is at risk for many if not most diseases. This will take the randomness out of the insured pool. The only way to spread the risk in a cost effective way is to have everyone, sick and healthy, in the same pool. In other words, single payer.
I don't believe in the ideas of the Tea Party movement, but I am beginning to get on board with "throw them all out and start over." That may be the only thing that saves our country. The entire House & Senate needs to go & be replaced with ordinary people (and their terms need to be limited).
choose reps and senators at random from the phone book and we will be better of than the corrupt "system" we now enjoy watching.
Nonny 2: Limited terms sounds good to me. They get to used to the power and benefits.
The amount we spend on health care in prisons is gross. We have too many folks imprisoned that should not be due to a multitude of undeeded laws as well as too many police on the street trying to find something to do. Adding to this are the thousands of illegal aliens in North Carolina jails that drain our hard earned taxpayer dollars as we pay to house, clothe, and doctor them. One estimate of 49 million dollars for incarcerating illegal aliens in North Carolina is almost beyond belief!!! Let's take a look at what some law enforcement professionals in North Carolina have to say about the effects illegal aliens are having on our jails:
"Kevin Jastzabski, prison captain for the Lee County Sheriff’s Department, said the number of Hispanics clogging the county’s system is getting larger everyday. “We do have a problem, and it is going to keep on growing,” he said “It doesn’t look like it’s going to slow down any time soon.”
Randy Jones, director of public information for the Alamance County Sheriff’s Department, said about 40 percent of the inmates in the county’s jail are Hispanics and most of those have illegally entered the country.
“It’s draining the system, and you’re looking at disaster,” he said. “Some of the public is just coming to grips with (illegal immigrants). Right now, there’s not a way to solve the problem until the government solves the problem. The issue needs to be addressed on both the federal and state level.”
Why is Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) not doing what we have hired them to do - deport illegal aliens? It seems as if ICE is more concerned with fake Nike shoes coming into our borders than illegal aliens. Here in Watauga County, illegal aliens have and continue to take jobs from local residents who want them.
This was a great post topic - we need to continue to take a look at factors related to over-incarceration of the American public.
Boggeydosh
I don't think this is the preferred method at all. There are candidates out there who are truly independent and abhor what the politicians have done to our country. Alan Keyes is a prime example. Most politicians hate debating anything with Keyes because he make them all look bad. They in turn try and make him out as crazy. Of course, maybe some of the independents are indeed crazy for not wanting free health care, no term limits, free travel for themselves and their families on government jets, secret service protection, a bountiful retirement system, and a host of other incentives they voted on in the middle of the night.
"Here in Watauga County, illegal aliens have and continue to take jobs from local residents who want them." -Boogeydosh
Really? When did YOU stand in line to cut and haul Christmas trees or clean the bathrooms at the Holiday Inn Express? Or Maybe you wanted a job of mowing lawns and spreading mulch at minimum wage or below? Balderdash, Boogeydosh!
biker; didn't you know? thats why all of our fellow americans are outraged at illegal imigrants. they take the jobs we want. i want you to know all of us would be lining up to trim and cut xmas trees, mow lawns and other such enviable and high paying jobs those nasty mexicans are taking away from us. now for my own self, i have a dishwashing job in mind for when i can get that nasty illegal arrested so the job will be open.
its the wonders of capitalism on display.
My family owned and operated a Christmas Tree Farm, I mowed grass in grade and high school for spending money, and cleaned restrooms in one of our state parks prior to doing what I do now. In perusing your comments you seem to think that illegal aliens are second class citizens and should be treated that way. Is this what you are saying?
Mr. Dudley,
If I might, Christmas trees were sheared and cut by US Citizens prior to the mid 1990s when Xmas Tree farms started hiring illegal aliens. Lawns were mown by enterprising young whippersnappers (again Americans), some of whom paid their way through college by the excellant pay they recieved from mowing grass.
What you fail to realize here, is the reason illegal aliens are here is due to our (yours and mine) greed. Needless greed. You can say all you want about Americans not wanting to do the jobs that illegal aliens do, but it just ain't so. Aside from the fact Americans were doing these exact same jobs prior to the mid 90s, it all boils down to greedy businessmen and women making even more money than they normally could - by illegally hiring illegal aliens. A christmas tree will only sell for so much before folks will decide to either cut their own or go artificial. The good thing about a market economy (capitalism as you say) is that it is self correcting. Christmas tree prices won't go much above where they are at now, you can bet on that. With this being said, the Christmas Tree grower, by paying a higher wage to Americans, also called a living wage, simply won't make as much on those trees when they are sold. What we are doing as a society is denying this living wage to our own citizens because of greedy folks like you perpetuate the myth in the form of implying they are doing jobs that Americans don't want.
Take homebuilding as another example. Have the costs of constructing new homes fallen? According to what you say, with illegal aliens doing all the unwanted work in construction, our new home prices should be drastically reduced. But they aren't. Again, the contractor is making even more money than he/she normally would and IS NOT passing the savings on to you and me. In the meantime our carpenters are out of work while illegal aliens are still employed. In Ashboro, NC the average price per hour for carpenters has been cut in half because illegal aliens are willing to do the work for cheaper.
Continued from above........
<span>Common sense alert! Common sense alert!!! - If illegal aliens were not here in the first place the carpenters, lawn mowers, Christmas Tree workers would be Americans making a wage high enough to both support their families and the families of the businessmen and women they work for. At the same time our (yours and mine) greed would not be realized.</span>
<span> </span>
<span>In addition, the comments by the below prison captian of the Lee County Sheriff's Department would not be a problem; the 40% of inmates at the Alamance County Sheriff's Department being illegal aliens wouldn't be a problem; and the illegal aliens taking jobs from the 10% of the American population out of work would not be a problem.</span>
<span> </span>
<span>Do you see a problem in any of this?</span>
Craig: EXACTLY! Illegal immigrants are keeping THEIR OWN wages low? Thats a good one! "Guest" longs for the day when he could take advantage of a "young whippersnapper" to cut his lawn for a buck. Now he has to pay an illegal five bucks! My home, built within the last 5 years had no illegals on site. Once again- Boulderdash, Boogerdosh! You are simply a mass of examples proving nothing substantial.
Graig: P.S.: I'm going for that tomato-picking job. I'm ready for a warmer climate!
No sir, YOU are keeping illegal aliens wages low through your own greed. I do look forward to the day I can hire a young Whippersnapper to mow my grass - I do it myself right now. How do you know there were no illegal aliens building your home - did you check documents? And what have I said about Xmas tree prices and home prices that you don't agree with? And do you agree with what the below law enforcement professionals are currently saying about the problems illegal aliens present our jails here in NC?
And are you profiling illegal aliens as second class citizens - you appear to be from your comments?
Profiling?? I'm not chasing that red flag.
"If illegal aliens were not here in the first place the carpenters, lawn mowers, Christmas Tree workers would be Americans making a wage high enough to both support their families and the families of the businessmen and women they work for." - Boggeydosh
Now THAT'S PROFILING!
And "THAT"S ENTERTAINMENT!"
Previous post was me, BikerBard.
i have spent many hours driving nails, stacking rocks, and at other times in large kitchens both being supervised and doing the supervising. i have never seen a hispanic take a job from someone. in large part they have been doing jobs that "white" america refuses to do as its important for them to be able to be important. can't be important when washing dishes or mixing mud.
Exactly! Go to a Home Depot at 6 am.
You have never seen a Hispanic take a job from an American? Then how do you explain the fact that carpenters in Ashboro, NC make less than half they did 10 years ago, and that most carpenters in that area are illegal aliens? Are you saying those out of work American carpenters are out of work because they no longer wanted to be carpenters? How about stone masons. The Blowing Rock Fire Substation on Highway 221 was built by Lentz Construction in Blowing Rock. The stonemason (won't name him to protect the innocent) who usually works for that company was laid off, and illegal alien stone masons were used to construct the fire substation (in other words, your tax dollars were used to hire illegal aliens while putting Americans out of work) because they were much, much cheaper.
So again, I say that illegal aliens have put many Americans out of work right here in Watauga County. The Christmas Trees will be cut, lettuce picked, lawns mowed, houses painted, and rocks laid if they were not here just like it was being done prior to 1998. And also, again, I say it is YOUR greed that has allowed this to happen. You seem to think that stacking a few incidental rocks in Sampson without help from the illegal aliens makes you an expert on the situation, yet you fail to identify with the stone mason who really would like to be stacking rocks for an actual living.
Mr. Dudley, what would you say to out of work stone masons here in Watauga County if they questioned you on your comment that you have never seen an illegal alien take a job from an American?
That is not profiling. I am calling them what they are - criminals in the country illegally. You on the other hand, seem more than willing to let the 2nd Class citizens do the dirty work that you somehow think Americans are not willing to do.
boggeydosh;
i didn't say i never saw a hispanic take a job from an american, though since most of them are natives of this contentient since before columbus, they could be called the first americans.
what i said is that in this area most do jobs "americans" won't do.
going thru houston in the late seventies i couldn't get a carpentry job since i wasn't mexican.
here in restaurants and on construction jobs, i never saw a hispanic in any other than jobs americans wouldn't take.
in wva, where i came here from, there weren't any hispanics because there everyone did any job that came their way.
Yes sir, and to a degree you were right. I say "were" as things have changed. As illegal aliens have moved across the continent (I say native Americans were the first here, and there is a difference between them and Mexicans), they most certainly did jobs that Americans did not want to do. As time passed, these illegal aliens became entrenched within communities and started to branch out and do jobs that Americans were/are doing. Carpentry, stone masonry, house painting are skilled labor jobs that Watauga County natives have done for over a hundred years. Right now, many of them are not doing those jobs as illegal aliens have figured out that they can capitalize on our greed to their own benefit.
I was in Australia last year, and talked with a bellboy who worked at the hotel I was staying at. I was amazed to learn that a living wage was paid to what we think of here in America as a job that an American won't do. We are doing a sorry job of getting away from the living wage due only to greed. At what point will the greed come back to haunt us? I think it already has. The stones have to be laid, the grass mowed and all these "un American" jobs done - we simply might have to pay a bit more for them. In the long run it will make us all stronger.
boggey; i see how this reply thing works, i think.
the original mexicans are called indios, which is mexican for indians, like mayans, aztecs and such. so native mexicans works as well as native americans, though six hundred years ago i doubt they would have made as much of imaginary lines as we do.
i don't condone illegal activities, if the laws are "fair and balanced". notice how i slipped that fox crap in there?
we have illegals because of two major causes; the first is nafta and you may remember what ross said about nafta, only he forgot it would work both ways.
for example because of nafta the mexicans who used to make a living farming corn are out of business because monsanto can sell their poison in mexico cheaper than those who live there and used to sell corn.
another easy to find example would be a well known chicken factory in our area that was busted a year or so ago because of their illegal employee census. the corporations that prosper from such activities do so with a wink and a nod from "our leaders" who also prosper from such reduced payroll costs.
Yes, Craig. Poverty is a great incentive to work - for ALL people so inclined.
boggeydosh;
<span>i opened a new page in part to answer your comment about stacking a few rocks around my house. i have done it for pay on and off for some years. the attached photo is one of the rock jobs i did in watauga county. in wva one of the last i did there was a tower twenty four tall and across. it has a gargoyle done by a stone carver who worked on the national cathedral.
i am in full support of a law requiring a living wage be paid. our government and its denizens work for corporate and military america. follow the money and looks who gets congressional support, like recently when they bailed out their banker friends at our expense.
there are few like greyson, kucinich and paul, for example, who try to honor and work for, the average american.
we have the imigration problem we do because those in power benefit from it. we don't stop it and only run our mouths. the last time the public took to the streets in a large enough size to stop something was vietnam and that took forever.
our government pays monsanto and their working farmers something called agriculture supports. that made our corn cheap enough to put the mexican farmers out of business so they came here.
they found work here because those in power benefited from cheaper labor. also because they worked. i did a rock job for a landscaper in watauga county who hired mexicans because they worked and were reliable. i asked him why he didn't hire locals and he said because they were unreliable when they even applied and were hired. dirty, hard landscapping work. now, i ain't saying thats true of all locals anywhere and there are those who would fill his job description but where were those when he needed employees? i been one of those locals who would have worked if it were available.</span>
boggey; click on that photo and it gets bigger. i tried to add an image of the tower but it was wrong format.
Excellant rock masonry sir! I have always wanted to learn stone masonry, however the time needed to undertake such an endeavor alludes me. How long did it take you to build those steps? It appears the stones were cut - I suppose you cut the stone also. This is an excellant segway into what you were talking about with corporate/military America, bank bailouts and the whole nine yards. They do not want folks like you being self-sufficient. It rankles them to no end. In fact, it is now illegal for you to build your own home out of stone if you so choose. It doesn't matter that homes built 200 years ago out of stone are still standing, we now work for the mighty building inspector who is but a tentacle attached to the corporate/military America you speak of. I agree fully with what you say. It is not about safety, or that your home might fall in and crush you, it is about control. We need to ouster ALL the politicians and start anew.
I hear your neck of the woods is full of rattlesnakes. Do you ever see any of them?
Unfortunately, the bank bailout was an evil necessity to counteract an impending depression. The real question is what measures will we take to prevent a recurrance.
The law, if one exists, to prevent you from building your own house out of stone, is to protect your sorry ass from premature burial due to incompetence. I believe it is called, the "Fred Flintstone Act."
Boy, Mr. Bard, you seem quite taken with yourself. I am not sorry nor is my arse fine thank you. I really don't like to engage in that type of talk. As for the Fred Flinstone Act, I can do just fine without corporate America and all its trappings telling me how to build my house. They didn't need anyone telling them how to build houses 200 years ago, and they survived. Craig Dudley looks like he did a fine job wiht his steps. Do you think he needs an inspectior to come over to his house and have him build those steps to the satisfaction of the state? I hope you don't think that. A fool will hurt himself anyway, so why bother with the freedom and money robbing petty rules?
Boggeydosh, would you feel safe buying a house without having it inspected first? Maybe you can build a fine house, but there are builders who do shoddy workmanship. This is why we need laws. Think about the buildings in China that toppled in the earthquake, including a school in which many children died. They later found out that those buildings had not been built properly to start with. Your smug indignation is wearing thin.
boggey;
glad you enjoy my rock pile. i do cut them as well as was the case in this set of stairs. sometimes its just trimming corners. it took me and a helper a bit more than a week to do the stairs.
you might be careful as i agree with the rest of your statements as well.
part of why i lived in wva was because in my area there were no codes or inspectors but that had troubles as well; you should have seen some of the things people paid for and lived in. it was criminal which is why there are codes and inspectors but then the federalies get all puffed up and self important leading to some of the crap builders here have to deal with.
corporate/military america does indeed do everything they can to own us and continue to do so with the willing aquiencience of "my fellow americans" in their silence and belief of the crap fed to them every evening on the "news".
i do all i can to be as self sufficient as possible.
my area has rattlesnakes, copperheads, bears, mountain lions, bobcats and peckerwoods all looking for trouble.
keeps one aware and alive.
and one more word on illegeal immigrants; we are all descended from such ancestors and if you were to ask any native american/indian they would agree.
when i lived in oregon there were bumper stickers saying "don't californicate oregon".
the point was after they had reached paradise they didn't want any more refugees to crowd them.
biker;
the bailout didn't do anything other than delay the depression. there will be no measures taken to prevent more of the same as the bankers are the true ones in charge. otherwise how could they have been given our future income to paper over their crimes?
I built my own home in 1986. It annoyed me greatly when the building inspector would not pass the structure until the rafters were extended and more insulation was added to the ceiling. I came up with the money and have been grateful ever since that the insulation is there. It also protects future buyers and makes my house a better investment.
Well, Mr. Boggey: If YOU promise you will build your own house, by yourself, with NO inspections, I'LL GIVE YOU THE STONE! :-D :-D As you so aptly put it, you will hurt yourself, anyway!
Now, no tears. I know you are such a sensitive soul. :'(
Bikerbard,
Do not make fun of me or call me sensitive. To RV and Bridle - houses built in Watauga County before there were building inspectors don't seem to have any problems with falling in or anything else. You might feel greatful with an inspector telling you how to build your home, but I don't. There was never a problem in the first place, and now you have manufactured a problem that adds government to your lives. How is that different than the corporate/military America that we so hate? Also, don't you think Criag Dudley should have his fine steps inspected by an inspector to ensure they are built correctly?
boogey;
the steps aren't at my house. i built them for another.
on the inspections/permit subject i come down on both sides. i have seen what happens without codes/standards. greedy and incompentent contractors will do their worst. i have also seen good hardworking builders run into the ground with stupid, egotistic inspectors. its a beast.
i have, in wva, seen handicap ramps built at steep angles requiring a hearty helping push for those in the chair and septic tank leach lines running up hill.
i have seen builders here nickled and dimed into exhaustion. there is no one size fits all solution to this one.
Good points, Craig. I hope the stupid, egotistic inspectors don't keep their jobs long!
Craig: I have no doubt about the quality of your work. But just have someone trip down those stairs, find out there was no inspection, and you could lose YOUR house. We are in a "sue-me" era, and inspectors are there to protect the builder as well as the buyer.
And you, BD, or Pisher, perhaps. You will be stuck with construction you cannot insure nor sell. Enjoy, and Good luck! PS: The offer of free stone still stands. :-D
Boggydosh, Are you serious? First of all, many of the houses built before building codes have already tumbled into ruin or burned down because of faulty wiring. Secondly, all the ones that are still standing require extensive remodeling and refitting to make them anywhere near what most people consider comfortable. Just because the old folks were OK with an outhouse over the creek doesn't mean we can tolerate it nowadays.
Bridle,
Yes, you are correct in the outhouse assessment. But if I wanted to build and use an outhouse then what difference does it make? Most of those old houses that you think tumbled into ruin did so because no one was living in them. Possibly they were not comfortable enough as you pointed out, but construction in the old days was much sturdier and more finely detailed than it is today. If I cannot sell my home because it was built without an inspector, then why would you care? It is my problem.
As a note of interest, near Mountain City there are still a couple of families who use outhouses if you can believe that.
But are they over a creek? That I care about. You said "construction in the old days was much sturdier". That is what we are saying. People back then built their home for themselves to live in throughout their lives. Nowadays, builders throw up houses to make a profit. Most people don't build their own houses anymore.
Some construction was sturdier and some was inferior. You don't see the inferior houses now because they burned down or rotted by now.
And I don't think you need an inspection if you plan to create a shelter that doesn't involve other subcontractors or the municipal infrastructure. (Is that correct?)But if you want to hook up to the electric grid, or hire someone to plumb your house, or take advantage of the benefits of our infrastructure and modern civilization, you must conform to a code.
It is a fallacy that there ever was a time when people were more free to live as they please. There have always been rules and regulations, even in tribal societies. Look at some of the anachronistic laws still on the books in some places.
BD only cares about BD. So what if he craps in a creek on his property and the creek runs onto someone else's property creating sanitation and health problems.? Not HIS problem.
What in the world are you talking about Bikerbard? RV was the one who brought up outhouses, not me. I just said that if I wanted to use an outhouse then so be it. Outhouses were not typically built over creeks anyway - never heard of that until RV said something about it. I could just as easily pipe sewage from a septic tank into creeks as I could an outhouse. In fact, I bet this occurs more than you think. Talk about health problems, do you remember when the elitest town of Blowing Rock dumped chemicals into Middle Fork of the New River not once, but twice in a 6 month period. Fish were killed from the Blowing Rock water plant all the way to Watauga River. They were fined less than 5000 dollars. I have heard of people fishing illegally being fined more than that!!!!!! The threat is not from me, but from folks and entitites already doing it.
Actually, Bridle first mentioned the placement of outhouses over creeks. And, you are right in saying that some people piped untreated sewage into creeks. It may still be happening. When our actions jeopardize the health and safety of other people, we need for the government regulatory authorities to step in. That is why we need government. If we want to live as a civilized society, then we must agree to having governmental agencies that will monitor the slackers. If we want to live in a third world country, then by all means tear the government apart and let every man be for himself. Some people will not do the right thing unless it is required by law. Sad but true.
bridle;
the code requirements are for anything larger than twelve foot by twelve foot that has power and/or plumbing. then you need a permit and inspectors come with any building permit.
Good post, RV ! I heartily concur! :)
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