In response to the proposed stimulus rebates, Mike Huckabee said: Whose economy are we stimulating? Ours or China's. I would go further than Mr. Huckabee and suggest that we have also done a lot to stimulate the Venezuelan, Iranian, Saudi Arabian and other oil producing economies too with the stimulus rebates.
What is my theory? That the stimulus rebates were created to increase demand for goods. And, that by artificially driving up demand for goods, the stimulus rebates increased demand for the diesel oil that is required to ship those goods. (Not to mention directly increasing the individual's amount of money that he can spend on gasoline.) Thus, if demand for goods increased by 100 billion dollars more than what otherwise would have been shipped as a result of the stimulus rebates and the diesel oil required to ship such goods is 7-10 billion dollars, such an increase in demand above what otherwise would have been the case caused the price of oil to rise rather than fall. Therefore, its not simply a coincidence that the highest oil prices in history coincided with the stimulus payments.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Bribery 301
So this is how a pharmaceutical company bribers doctors and hospitals to approve and pay for certain drugs. They make contributions to a doctor's private foundation. The doctor invests it with a crooked businessman in the hopes of a big payoff.
The Chicago Sun Times has the story. But they have no idea what is really going on. The pharmaceutical companies had no intention of investing in the doctor's research. This was a payoff. Pure and simple? Why are we paying 17% of GDP for healthcare? Because of these types of scams.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/watchdogs/1072480,CST-NWS-watchdog24.article
While on the county payroll, a top urologist at Cook County Hospital solicited nearly $1 million from drug companies over the last decade for his private foundation.
Dr. Paul S. Ray's pitch was that the money would go toward medical research and education.
Dr. Paul S. Ray has been granted immunity from prosecution to testify against Tony Rezko in a still-pending criminal case. (Courtesy)
But most of the money hasn't gone to health care at all. Instead, Ray invested it -- mostly in Tony Rezko.
Rezko is the convicted influence-peddler who had been a prodigious fund-raiser for politicians including Sen. Barack Obama, Gov. Blagojevich and the late Cook County Board President John Stroger, the ultimate boss of the county hospitals.
Ray had long worked with Stroger's godson, Orlando Jones, a top administrator at Cook County Hospital who became Stroger's chief of staff. Jones eventually left county government for a job with Rezko. Last September, after he had been questioned by the FBI, Jones committed suicide.
Ray set up the Paul S. Ray Urology Education and Research Foundation 16 years ago. It began investing with Rezko's companies in 2002, according to reports Ray filed with the Internal Revenue Service. The foundation invested $500,000 with Rezko Concessions, which operated Panda Express and Papa John's Pizza restaurants. It also put $100,000 into a proposed housing development Rezko unsuccessfully sought to build on a 62-acre site along the Chicago River in the South Loop.
Ray, 63, of Chicago, also invested his own money with Rezko, spending millions to buy real estate and Papa John's Pizza restaurants from Rezko.
Ray's Rezko deals didn't turn out well:
• • Ray's foundation appears to have lost the $500,000 it invested with Rezko Concessions -- nearly half of the foundation's assets. But the foundation apparently got back the $100,000 invested in Rezko's failed South Loop development.
• • Ray is battling lawsuits over two deals with Rezko. One was filed by Jabir Muhammad, a son of Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad, claiming Rezko and Ray fraudulently took ownership of the South Side mansion where Muhammad lives. The other involves a $646,949 loan Ray allegedly got from a Rezko associate, Elie Maloof, to buy the Papa John's restaurants that Rezko owned in Wisconsin.
• • Ray's purchase of those restaurants is part of a second, still-pending criminal case against Rezko. Federal prosecutors say Rezko engaged in a conspiracy so Ray could buy the Papa John's stores in Wisconsin. Ray -- who has not been charged -- has been granted immunity from prosecution to testify against Rezko.
Sources say Ray has lost at least $3 million on his deals with Rezko. After 25 years, Ray resigned June 30 as chief urologist for the county's hospitals, including Stroger Hospital, which replaced Cook County Hospital. Ray's attorney, Thomas A. Durkin, declined to comment.
Cook County officials did not answer questions about Ray -- including whether he had permission to set up the foundation that he once ran from his county office, whether the foundation did studies or research on county patients and why the foundation paid Jones an $8,319 consulting fee in 2002 while Jones was John Stroger's chief of staff.
GlaxoSmithKline, the pharmaceutical giant, has been the biggest supporter of Ray's foundation, giving more than $420,000 since 1998. A GlaxoSmithKline spokesman said the company paid Ray's foundation and the county hospital to conduct clinical research.
Ray's foundation has taken in more than $1.2 million since 1998 and spent $583,000. The biggest expense: more than $160,000 for travel, conferences and meetings. The foundation also reported spending $26,000 on unspecified "contracted services" and $25,799 on "recruiting fees/medical study.'' Much of the other money went for computers and office supplies, Ray told the IRS.
Ray was one of the people Rezko tried to get Blagojevich to appoint to the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, the state agency that must approve major medical construction projects.
Last summer, Ray landed in the national spotlight when Obama, seeking to distance himself from Rezko, gave to charity $6,000 that Ray had contributed to Obama's U.S. Senate campaign.
The Chicago Sun Times has the story. But they have no idea what is really going on. The pharmaceutical companies had no intention of investing in the doctor's research. This was a payoff. Pure and simple? Why are we paying 17% of GDP for healthcare? Because of these types of scams.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/watchdogs/1072480,CST-NWS-watchdog24.article
While on the county payroll, a top urologist at Cook County Hospital solicited nearly $1 million from drug companies over the last decade for his private foundation.
Dr. Paul S. Ray's pitch was that the money would go toward medical research and education.
Dr. Paul S. Ray has been granted immunity from prosecution to testify against Tony Rezko in a still-pending criminal case. (Courtesy)
But most of the money hasn't gone to health care at all. Instead, Ray invested it -- mostly in Tony Rezko.
Rezko is the convicted influence-peddler who had been a prodigious fund-raiser for politicians including Sen. Barack Obama, Gov. Blagojevich and the late Cook County Board President John Stroger, the ultimate boss of the county hospitals.
Ray had long worked with Stroger's godson, Orlando Jones, a top administrator at Cook County Hospital who became Stroger's chief of staff. Jones eventually left county government for a job with Rezko. Last September, after he had been questioned by the FBI, Jones committed suicide.
Ray set up the Paul S. Ray Urology Education and Research Foundation 16 years ago. It began investing with Rezko's companies in 2002, according to reports Ray filed with the Internal Revenue Service. The foundation invested $500,000 with Rezko Concessions, which operated Panda Express and Papa John's Pizza restaurants. It also put $100,000 into a proposed housing development Rezko unsuccessfully sought to build on a 62-acre site along the Chicago River in the South Loop.
Ray, 63, of Chicago, also invested his own money with Rezko, spending millions to buy real estate and Papa John's Pizza restaurants from Rezko.
Ray's Rezko deals didn't turn out well:
• • Ray's foundation appears to have lost the $500,000 it invested with Rezko Concessions -- nearly half of the foundation's assets. But the foundation apparently got back the $100,000 invested in Rezko's failed South Loop development.
• • Ray is battling lawsuits over two deals with Rezko. One was filed by Jabir Muhammad, a son of Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad, claiming Rezko and Ray fraudulently took ownership of the South Side mansion where Muhammad lives. The other involves a $646,949 loan Ray allegedly got from a Rezko associate, Elie Maloof, to buy the Papa John's restaurants that Rezko owned in Wisconsin.
• • Ray's purchase of those restaurants is part of a second, still-pending criminal case against Rezko. Federal prosecutors say Rezko engaged in a conspiracy so Ray could buy the Papa John's stores in Wisconsin. Ray -- who has not been charged -- has been granted immunity from prosecution to testify against Rezko.
Sources say Ray has lost at least $3 million on his deals with Rezko. After 25 years, Ray resigned June 30 as chief urologist for the county's hospitals, including Stroger Hospital, which replaced Cook County Hospital. Ray's attorney, Thomas A. Durkin, declined to comment.
Cook County officials did not answer questions about Ray -- including whether he had permission to set up the foundation that he once ran from his county office, whether the foundation did studies or research on county patients and why the foundation paid Jones an $8,319 consulting fee in 2002 while Jones was John Stroger's chief of staff.
GlaxoSmithKline, the pharmaceutical giant, has been the biggest supporter of Ray's foundation, giving more than $420,000 since 1998. A GlaxoSmithKline spokesman said the company paid Ray's foundation and the county hospital to conduct clinical research.
Ray's foundation has taken in more than $1.2 million since 1998 and spent $583,000. The biggest expense: more than $160,000 for travel, conferences and meetings. The foundation also reported spending $26,000 on unspecified "contracted services" and $25,799 on "recruiting fees/medical study.'' Much of the other money went for computers and office supplies, Ray told the IRS.
Ray was one of the people Rezko tried to get Blagojevich to appoint to the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, the state agency that must approve major medical construction projects.
Last summer, Ray landed in the national spotlight when Obama, seeking to distance himself from Rezko, gave to charity $6,000 that Ray had contributed to Obama's U.S. Senate campaign.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
High Speed Rail Transportation
Let's look at the economics of high speed rail transportation.
One of Sen. Obama’s energy and environmental proposals is that high-speed rail (which has enormous costs to start up) would provide great environmental benefits.
My own view of high-speed rail transportation is that this program would greatly benefit elites who would love to cut their travel time from New York to Washington from the current rail system's 3hr. 20 min. but it would do nothing for the people who take the bus, which burns about 1/3 of the energy of Amtrak per passenger mile, because the bus costs much less than Amtrak.
If people switched from flying from New York to Washington, then this might save some energy. However, if people switch from the currently slower rail service to the high speed rail service, then energy use almost doubles, a point made by the U.K. rail minister in rejecting a high speed line from London to Glasgow. (See link below.) So if 50% of the passengers switch from regular rail to high-speed rail, you have almost doubled the per passenger mile energy use for those passengers.
So you have the likelihood that the beneficiaries of this expenditure after it is built are business executives and Congressmen who can now get from downtown Boston, New York or Philadelphia to the federal district in Washington in half the time it used to take and those who will have high paying jobs on the rail line. Meanwhile, towns that currently benefit from Amtrak but where stops will not be made on the high speed line will have service dropped.
Britain's Rail Minister
(http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article4075781.ece)
Britain is to be left out of Europe’s high-speed rail revolution because the Government has decided that 200mph trains are bad for the environment.
Despite repeated promises to consider the benefits of a dedicated new line capable of carrying passengers from London to Scotland in less than three hours, ministers are thinking again.
In a letter obtained by The Times, Tom Harris, the Rail Minister, said: “The argument that high-speed rail travel is a ‘green option’ does not necessarily stand up to close inspection. Increasing the maximum speed of a train from 200kph [125mph – the current maximum speed of domestic trains] to 350kph leads to a 90 per cent increase in energy consumption.”
One of Sen. Obama’s energy and environmental proposals is that high-speed rail (which has enormous costs to start up) would provide great environmental benefits.
My own view of high-speed rail transportation is that this program would greatly benefit elites who would love to cut their travel time from New York to Washington from the current rail system's 3hr. 20 min. but it would do nothing for the people who take the bus, which burns about 1/3 of the energy of Amtrak per passenger mile, because the bus costs much less than Amtrak.
If people switched from flying from New York to Washington, then this might save some energy. However, if people switch from the currently slower rail service to the high speed rail service, then energy use almost doubles, a point made by the U.K. rail minister in rejecting a high speed line from London to Glasgow. (See link below.) So if 50% of the passengers switch from regular rail to high-speed rail, you have almost doubled the per passenger mile energy use for those passengers.
So you have the likelihood that the beneficiaries of this expenditure after it is built are business executives and Congressmen who can now get from downtown Boston, New York or Philadelphia to the federal district in Washington in half the time it used to take and those who will have high paying jobs on the rail line. Meanwhile, towns that currently benefit from Amtrak but where stops will not be made on the high speed line will have service dropped.
Britain's Rail Minister
(http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article4075781.ece)
Britain is to be left out of Europe’s high-speed rail revolution because the Government has decided that 200mph trains are bad for the environment.
Despite repeated promises to consider the benefits of a dedicated new line capable of carrying passengers from London to Scotland in less than three hours, ministers are thinking again.
In a letter obtained by The Times, Tom Harris, the Rail Minister, said: “The argument that high-speed rail travel is a ‘green option’ does not necessarily stand up to close inspection. Increasing the maximum speed of a train from 200kph [125mph – the current maximum speed of domestic trains] to 350kph leads to a 90 per cent increase in energy consumption.”
Friday, April 11, 2008
Union City Schools
Query: How much of the districts contracts represent kickbacks? Which board members have relatives that are school bus drivers?
http://www.nj1015.com/absolutenm/templates/?a=10378&z=1
Millennium Radio News reported exclusively yesterday on an audit of the Union City School District done by KPMG and paid for the State Department of Education.
(1) The audit revealed that school bus drivers in the district are paid six hours of overtime per month just to charge their cell phones. In a written response to the findings in the audit, Union City School District Superintendent Stanley Sanger says of the overtime for charging the cell phones, "This item was part of a Contracted Collective Bargaining Agreement. It is a priority item to be negotiated out of the collective bargaining agreement for September 2008."
(2) The district spent just under $73,000 for cable television spots to advertise the district and $55,000 for a PR company to prepare a monthly superintendent's newsletter. (Can you say kickback?)
(3) Another $50,000 was spent for brochures and posters to promote the superintendent's agenda. (Can you say kickback?)
(4) Another $148,000 was spent on website development. (Can you say kickback?)
(5) One school bus driver in the 04-05 school year earned $61,456 in overtime. Another bus driver in the 05-06 school year earned $51,725 in overtime. Another driver in the 05-06 school year, Got $73,000 in overtime. (Query: How many school bus drivers are related to board members?)
(5) The audit report says $150,000 is paid for an annual lease of the Ronald Dario Swimming Complex, which was used only part-time in year 05-06; and $100,000 for 04-05, again for part-time use. Sanger responds, "Facilities are used for middle and high school swim teams, alternative and special education students, after school and summer programs, which enhances physical wellness for our students."
The Union City School District stands to receive a 16% increase in State aid under Governor Jon Corzine's new school funding formula this year for a total of roughly $150 million. That 16% translates into roughly $20 million extra dollars.
http://www.nj1015.com/absolutenm/templates/?a=10378&z=1
Millennium Radio News reported exclusively yesterday on an audit of the Union City School District done by KPMG and paid for the State Department of Education.
(1) The audit revealed that school bus drivers in the district are paid six hours of overtime per month just to charge their cell phones. In a written response to the findings in the audit, Union City School District Superintendent Stanley Sanger says of the overtime for charging the cell phones, "This item was part of a Contracted Collective Bargaining Agreement. It is a priority item to be negotiated out of the collective bargaining agreement for September 2008."
(2) The district spent just under $73,000 for cable television spots to advertise the district and $55,000 for a PR company to prepare a monthly superintendent's newsletter. (Can you say kickback?)
(3) Another $50,000 was spent for brochures and posters to promote the superintendent's agenda. (Can you say kickback?)
(4) Another $148,000 was spent on website development. (Can you say kickback?)
(5) One school bus driver in the 04-05 school year earned $61,456 in overtime. Another bus driver in the 05-06 school year earned $51,725 in overtime. Another driver in the 05-06 school year, Got $73,000 in overtime. (Query: How many school bus drivers are related to board members?)
(5) The audit report says $150,000 is paid for an annual lease of the Ronald Dario Swimming Complex, which was used only part-time in year 05-06; and $100,000 for 04-05, again for part-time use. Sanger responds, "Facilities are used for middle and high school swim teams, alternative and special education students, after school and summer programs, which enhances physical wellness for our students."
The Union City School District stands to receive a 16% increase in State aid under Governor Jon Corzine's new school funding formula this year for a total of roughly $150 million. That 16% translates into roughly $20 million extra dollars.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Obama's Education Plans and New Jersey
Given my experiences living in New Jersey, Barack Obama's comments really tick me off.
"I'm talking about the larger American community, to acknowledge that we've never even come close to providing equal opportunity to the majority of black children. Real opportunity would mean quality prenatal care for all women and well-funded and innovative public schools for all children. "
Let me give Barack a piece of my mind here. Listen to this Barack:
For the first four years of my schooling, I went to school with a lot of black children. So I have four more years of going to school with black children and studying black history than you do. Was I disadvantaged because of this? Not in the least. You went to some fancy private school for wealthy white kids and now you look down your nose at the rest of us.
Why is it that white or Asian children can do fine in the schools that you call inferior? In New Jersey, in Demographic Group A (the poorest schools), 22.1% of Asian 8th graders and 15.1% of white 8th graders are advanced proficient in Math while only 2.5% of black 8th graders are in that category? How do you explain that, Sen. Obama? In Demographic Group J (the wealthiest group), only 18.4% of black 8th graders are advanced proficient in Math. With Asians, its almost 71%.
Another thing. I live in New Jersey and let me tell you that nothing pisses me off more than someone telling me we need to spend more on poor children's education. We spend over 18K per student in Newark, NJ and what have we accomplished. Absolutely nothing! We are fed up with having our property taxes raised to support the urban school districts.
Don't tell me tests don't measure achievement. I can't look into these children's souls as you claim to be able to do. Tests are the only way I can measure performance. And the tests show that all this education spending in NJ has been an absolute waste.
So, no I do not support the same stupid educational theories that have been tried in NJ and failed for 20 years. So stop this blame whitey nonsense. And don't call me a racist when you have been listening to that quack reverend for 20 years.
"I'm talking about the larger American community, to acknowledge that we've never even come close to providing equal opportunity to the majority of black children. Real opportunity would mean quality prenatal care for all women and well-funded and innovative public schools for all children. "
Let me give Barack a piece of my mind here. Listen to this Barack:
For the first four years of my schooling, I went to school with a lot of black children. So I have four more years of going to school with black children and studying black history than you do. Was I disadvantaged because of this? Not in the least. You went to some fancy private school for wealthy white kids and now you look down your nose at the rest of us.
Why is it that white or Asian children can do fine in the schools that you call inferior? In New Jersey, in Demographic Group A (the poorest schools), 22.1% of Asian 8th graders and 15.1% of white 8th graders are advanced proficient in Math while only 2.5% of black 8th graders are in that category? How do you explain that, Sen. Obama? In Demographic Group J (the wealthiest group), only 18.4% of black 8th graders are advanced proficient in Math. With Asians, its almost 71%.
Another thing. I live in New Jersey and let me tell you that nothing pisses me off more than someone telling me we need to spend more on poor children's education. We spend over 18K per student in Newark, NJ and what have we accomplished. Absolutely nothing! We are fed up with having our property taxes raised to support the urban school districts.
Don't tell me tests don't measure achievement. I can't look into these children's souls as you claim to be able to do. Tests are the only way I can measure performance. And the tests show that all this education spending in NJ has been an absolute waste.
So, no I do not support the same stupid educational theories that have been tried in NJ and failed for 20 years. So stop this blame whitey nonsense. And don't call me a racist when you have been listening to that quack reverend for 20 years.
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