Behind The Headlines

The shooting of Brian Thompson, the CEO of United Healthcare, has dominated headlines since the crime occurred. While none of us should take any satisfaction in the murder of a fellow human being, what I have found fascinating is the embargo on network television news of inconvenient truths about the deceased's life.

Before delving into that, I highly recommend David Graham's latest post, An Unsympathetic Death. Graham provides outstanding information about the health insurance business in America, and the daily perils Americans face even when they have healthcare insurance. It is a reminder of how fortunate we are, despite its shortcoming, to have socialized medicine in Canada.

In its refusal to 'blame the victim',  mainstream media have sanitized certain facts. 

The business run by Thompson brought in $281 billion in revenue last year, making it the largest subsidiary of the Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group. His $10.2 million annual pay package, including salary, bonus and stock options awards, made him one of the company’s highest-paid executives.

If you read Graham's post, you will see that much of that profit and bonus accrued from United Health Care's 33% denial rate of medical insurance claims. One need not have a particularly vivd imagination to see the emotional and physical toll this would have on the 'insured'.

However, there is much more to Brian Thompson's story.

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was facing a lawsuit accusing him and other executives of insider trading related to an ongoing Justice Department investigation before he was fatally shot outside a New York City hotel on Wednesday.

Thompson, 50, was one of three UnitedHealth Group executives named in a class action lawsuit filed in May that accused them of dumping millions of dollars worth of stock while the company was the subject of a federal antitrust investigation, which investors say wasn’t immediately disclosed to shareholders.

“UnitedHealth was aware of the DOJ investigation since at least October 2023. Instead of disclosing this material investigation to investors or the public, UnitedHealth insiders sold more than $120 million of their personally held UnitedHealth shares,” the suit filed by the City of Hollywood Firefighters’ Pension Fund alleges.

 Nearly $25 billion in shareholder value was erased once the investigation was publicly revealed in February. Thompson was able to sell off more than $15 million of his own UnitedHealth shares [emphasis mine] before the value dropped, however, the suit states.

In my view, mainstream media's withholding of such information is both a disservice to loyal viewers and additional fuel for the almost endless criticism directed at the legacy outlets. Even I, an unrepentant supporter of such media, have had my faith shaken.

Life in the United States is often described as "dog eat dog." It would appear that some dogs live a charmed life, until they don't.

 

 

Friends In High Places: The NEB Continues Its Bromance With Enbridge

Last week I posted a story about the National Energy Board taking pity on Enbridge, reducing a fine levied against the energy delivery giant for the damage it caused to private property in Manitoba. Unfortunately, we now learn that this was just the start of a flurry of absolutions granted the company.

The National Observer's Mike De Souza reports the following:

For the second week in a row, politically-appointed members of Canada’s pipeline safety enforcement agency have agreed to reverse penalties imposed by inspectors against Enbridge Inc. for alleged violations, citing a lack of evidence.

The National Energy Board sent two letters last Friday, Feb. 12 to Enbridge, Canada’s largest pipeline company, confirming that it was rescinding two fines, worth $104,000, explaining that its inspector or inspectors failed to make strong enough cases to uphold the proposed penalties.

The letters were published on the NEB website one week after the regulator announced it had reduced two other separate fines, worth $200,000, down to a single fine for $76,000 for environmental and property damage.

While mere mortals (i.e., you and me) are expected to pay for their mistakes, apparently a different standard is being applied to companies with friends in high places (a.k.a., Harper NEB appointees):

In both of the two newest cases, the inspector or inspectors who proposed the fines maintained that the evidence indicated — on a balance of probabilities — that Enbridge had committed the violations by not respecting mandatory conditions of its operations, the letters said.

In one of the cases, a previous letter from the NEB alleged that Enbridge had changed design specifications, such as wall thickness and maximum operation pressure of a pipeline, without getting permission.

But three members of the NEB, two of which were appointed by the previous Conservative government of former prime minister Stephen Harper, disagreed. These board members, led by the NEB chair, Peter Watson, said that they agreed with Enbridge’s arguments that there was not enough evidence to confirm that it deserved the fines.

At a time where it seems to be increasingly common for companies to thumb their noses at financial penalties, the message is becoming clear: corporate malfeasance isn't such a bad thing, no matter what you and I might think.

Our World - The Illustrated Version

Sometimes, words only muddy the message, so I'll let the following speak for themselves:









H/t Felipe TeTz

An Awakening Public?

I certainly applaud the spirit of this Star letter:

As the mayors of the GTA come together to ask for funds to clean up from the recent ice storm, I hope that they will recognize the likelihood that this disaster and recent GTA floods were “acts of man.” While most climate change scientists, conservative as they are, will not point at a single extreme weather event and proclaim it the result of global climate change, they do recognize the resultant increased frequency of severe weather events.

The provincial government has followed through on a promise to close coal-fired power stations as one step toward reducing CO2 emissions in Ontario. The Harper government has done little except interfere with efforts to reduce human caused climate change. Driven by the dictates of the fossil fuel industry, the federal government continues to pave the way for tar sands expansion and the transportation of dangerous and CO2 emission-rich products in the form of bitumen.

I implore the municipal mayors to seek relief funds from those who have contributed to climate change and profited (directly and/or indirectly) from the expansion of the tar sands. The costs of global climate change are mounting. Ontario citizens should not have to pay for this.

We must seek compensation from those who are increasing the risks of extreme weather events, namely the fossil fuel industry and their puppet regime, the Harper government.

James S. Quinn, Professor, Biology Department, McMaster University

With the latest Nanos poll suggesting that Canadians are awakening from their long slumber, perhaps the idea isn't as far-fetched as some might think?

Think This Couldn't Happen Here?

It already has, many, many times. Given the Harper cabal's abysmal record on the environment, this is surely a timely cautionary reminder for Canadians:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Harper Lies: The Dismal Truth About Corporate Tax Evasion

My friend Gary recently alerted me to this, which should sicken all Canadian citizens. It is a story of corporate greed, massive amounts of lost tax revenues, and a government that aids and abets both. After viewing it, be sure to read the missive from Star letter-writer Robert Bahlieda that follows, and think about it when you hear the empty rhetoric from the Harper cabal about its 'tough on crime' agenda:



Recently, a Global TV investigative report on offshore tax havens indicated that as much as $20 billion of uncollected taxes are owed by major Canadian corporations and other wealthy individuals who employ these tax loopholes to evade/avoid taxes in Canada.

To add insult to injury these same individuals are given generous tax credits for moving their businesses offshore, leading many corporations like Gildan and the Toronto-Dominion Bank to pay little or no taxes year after year while making millions and billions in profits. This is not new — it has been going on for decades and there are thousands of companies doing this.

In effect, the Canadian government is subsidizing Canadian companies for moving jobs offshore to other countries, killing jobs in Canada and raising everyone else’s taxes in the process while implementing austerity measures here to supposedly stimulate the economy.

The final insult is all this is legal. While federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty talks a good game on tax cheats, it appears he has intentional blindness about these egregious abuses of his own tax policy and no interest in pursuing his corporate friends.

Even more disturbing is the complete lack of interest and deafening silence on this important issue by government, business, academia or the public and particularly the media as indicated by the recent headlines. The antics of Rob Ford, senators like Mike Duffy who have evaded a few thousand dollars or selected abuses by a few nursing homes are deemed to be a more salacious and newsworthy headline than $20 billion in missing tax money owed by the corporate elite of Canada.

The self-righteous opposition parties are also silent on this issue. Better not to bite the hand that feeds them. Academics and economists who regularly opine on the abuses of unions have nothing to say about this unrealized multi-billion dollar tax windfall.

The massive amount of money owed by these upstanding Canadian tax cheats is a serious issue and should be top of the agendas of all in Canadian society. It is unfair, unjust and illegal despite what the tax law says. These “loopholes” (a polite term for legal corporate tax fraud) are quietly put in place and ignored by governments of all stripes to maintain their cozy relationships with powerful big business interests who have them in their hip pockets.

This is how capitalist democracy works. Powerful special interests lobby the government to get special treatment that ensures they remain powerful special interests. Meanwhile we prevaricate about increasing the Canada pension by a niggling amount or introducing a Guaranteed Income Supplement that would massively reduce social support costs in the long run, saving taxpayers additional billions.

Capitalist economics isn’t about making democracy work better, its about making it work better for the select few. Let’s start getting angry and take action on things that really matter in this world and relegate Rob Ford and the Senate scandal to the comics section.

Robert Bahlieda, Newmarket

I'm Sure It Is Just A Coincidence ...

...but if I were paranoid, I might see a connection between this and this.

Now It All Makes Sense

RBC CEO Gord Nixon

I just knew there had to be a logical explanation. This explains that.

The Royal Bank's Abasement of Its Employees

It may be helpful to remember the following video the next time you see an RBC ad portraying the bank as the solution to everyone's problems. Forty-five soon-to-be-former employees (after they have trained their replacements) would beg to differ with the characterization. I suspect if I had an account with RBC, I would be closing it very soon in protest.

H/t Kev

A Progressive Voice In The Mainstream Media

Although her views are not radically different from those found at alternative news sites such as The Raw Story, Truthdig or Alternet, jounalist Linda McQuaig is always a treat to read, if for no other reason than the fact that her views make it into the mainstream media, so often the mere repository and purveyor of 'establishment' views.'

In today's Star, where she writes a monthly column, this former Globe and Mail writer b.p (before the purges) points out a truth that concerned citizens may be very much aware of, but which rarely sees print. Entitled Fight against climate change blocked by Luddites at Big Oil, McQuaig explores why Big Oil stoutly resists and fights efforts to combat climate change, despite the tremendous environmental, human, social and economic costs that are becoming increasingly evident with each passing season.

Her piece is yet one more arrow in the quiver of knowledge all of us need if things are ever going to improve.

Caterpillar, Inc. - A Reprehensible Corporate 'Citizen'

When I think of caterpillars (which, until recently, I have to admit, has been rarely), I think of a slow-moving yet determined creature on its way to metamorphosis, often into something quite beautiful. Unfortunately, that gentle imagery must be cast aside when considering Caterpillar Inc., an ugly corporate entity intent on wreaking havoc to those in its employ.

As previously noted, Electro-Motive Canada, a subsidiary of the company, has made untenable demands of its workers, resulting in a lockout at its London plant. In The Star today, David Olive writes on how the gutting of contracts is a practice well-documented in Caterpillar''s American operations, employing a tactic best described as a war of attrition against its employees:

The firm has a practiced skill at “taking a strike” for as long as required until workers straggle back to work across their own picket lines.

Indeed, the usual excuse of seeking increased productivity during difficult times doesn't even apply to its ruthless tactics:

Well ahead of the Great Recession, during a banner year for the world’s largest maker of construction and mining equipment, Cat insisted that its managers gird for a worst-case scenario of an 80 per cent plunge in sales over two years.

And on a single day in 2009, Caterpillar blithely laid off 11,000 employees, or 9 per cent of its global workforce. Like most U.S. employers, Cat has a hair-trigger for layoffs at the first sign of tough times.

Despite this well-documented practice, it was given permission by Industry Canada in 2010 to purchase Electro-Motive Canada in London, for generations the North American locomotive arm of General Motors Corp.

And yet silence over this outrageous corporate behaviour, which would assumes violates the terms of the foreign takeover, ensues from both the Harper government in general, and Industry Canada is particular.

Where is the outrage?

What were the terms, if any, that Industry Canada stipulated for Electro-Motive's purchase?

Where are the leaders of the opposition parties, who have thus far observed the same stony silence as the government?

Who will speak up in defense of good-paying Canadian jobs?

One shudders to consider the answers.

Funny, But True

Enjoy this satire that really isn't a satire about the 1%:

Tim Harper on the One-Year Anniversary of U.S. Steel's Hamilton Lock-out

We are approaching the one-year anniversary of U.S. Steel's lockout of the workers from its Hamilton plant; the lockout would seem to be in contravention of the guarantees that the company undertook when seeking approval from the Harper government for its foreign takeover of the steel-making facility. (We citizens, of course, are not allowed to know the details of the agreement.)

The Star's Tim Harper offers his analysis of the situation in an article entitled Broken promises and impotent government hurt Hamilton
and reminds us that last year, while in a minority situation, the Harper government promised a review of the Investment Act, responding to prompts by the NDP and Liberals. Needless to say, now that he has achieved a majority, Mr. Harper has backed off from that promise.

I guess he doesn't want to send the wrong signal to the corporations. As for the locked out workers? Well, they don't really count, do they?

Please sign this petition urging Prime Minister Harper to stop threatening Michaela Keyserlingk and to stop exporting asbestos.

Things Go Better With Coke (Except Taxes)

People of a certain age will remember the old ad slogan, "Things Go Better With Coke." Apparently France disagrees, as it seeks to impose a minuscule tax on the sale of sugary sodas.

In an unusually bald and public attempt to pervert government policy, the Coca-Cola corporation is suspending plans for a $24 million dollar investment in France, pending the outcome of the proposed legislation. As well, it is embarking on a propaganda campaign questioning the relationship between the consumption of high-calorie sugar-laden sodas and obesity.

Perhaps we can only infer that by targeting France in this way, the mighty cola corporation is sending a message to all countries who might have the temerity to in any way compromise Coke's unquenchable thirst for profit.