AIG Chief Didn't Always Defend Contracts

Why didn't anyone think of this before? While at Allstate Liddy was known for dissing contracts to maximize profits. Take, for example, his response and performance in the hurricane gulf coast.

From the Times Picayune:

"Bilking American taxpayers is what insurance companies do. Why is anyone surprised?!" Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., said in a news release Wednesday afternoon about the AIG bonuses.

To many on the Gulf Coast, watching AIG Chief Executive Officer Edward Liddy talk about the sanctity of contracts in defending the award of $220 million in bonuses to employees at the embattled insurer was an ironic moment.

"How about that?" said Bob Hunter, a New Orleans native who is director of insurance at the Consumer Federation of America and author of a 2007 study documenting the decline of claims payout ratios at Allstate, Louisiana's second-largest insurer, during Liddy's tenure. "He's always disregarded contracts to maximize profits."

Liddy was appointed by the federal government in September to run AIG when the ailing insurer got its first installment of taxpayer bailout money, which now totals $170 billion.

Before caving to pressure Wednesday and saying he would ask those who received more than $100,000 in bonuses to return half of the money, Liddy argued that the money needed to stay where it was because contracts are sacrosanct.

"We cannot attract and retain the best and the brightest talent to lead and staff the AIG businesses -- which are now being operated principally on behalf of American taxpayers -- if employees believe their compensation is subject to continued and arbitrary adjustment by the U.S. Treasury, " he said earlier in the week.

Delay and deny

Liddy ran Allstate Corp. from when it was spun off from Sears, Roebuck & Co. in 1995 until the end of 2006. During that time, Allstate perfected the practice of getting tough with policyholders to delay and deny claims, as documented in the book by New Mexico attorney David Berardinelli, "From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves."

While that book dealt mainly with a strategy for tamping down car insurance claim payouts to increase profitability, many believe those same practices could be seen at work en masse after Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, where thousands of policyholders filed suit against the Illinois company.

"It's rather ironic that Ed Liddy is espousing the sanctity of contracts when it serves the interests of the insurance company, but when the sanctity of contracts is violated from the homeowners' perspective, there's no obligation and it's up to the homeowners or the courts to enforce it, " said Johnny Denenea, an attorney for Slidell homeowners Bob and Merryl Weiss, who won a verdict against Allstate in the first insurance trial to be completed in federal court after Hurricane Katrina.

My grandfather always said that insurance was for people who didn't need it. Katrina, Rita, and Gustav proved him right.

More later.
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Taxing the AIG Bonuses?

It ain't a good day when you see the head of the Fed in this pose.

There's a bill being pushed in the House to tax the recipients of AIG's biggest bonuses and it's getting lots of play on the news.

But...

How is that going to happen when the majority of those receiving the biggest bonus are in the UK division?

How can the US demand taxes be paid in another country? Am I missing something here? I'm just askin'.

More later.

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The Dirty F**king Hippies Were Right!

This arrived in my inbox. Seems to be the cool new way to offer an Op-Ed using music and images, and a bit of dirty language. But, it was THEY who used that derogatory phrase to describe us.

Still, it's good to see this compilation. Enjoy.

And so it goes.

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God Hates Figs!

You read that right... (Click to make biggen.) For the next time you're faced with Christianist nut jobs.

More later.

Happy St.Pat's Day

I'll be having Corned Beef and Cabbage leftovers for supper. It's always better the second time around.

Haven't heard "Danny Boy" once today...thank you Jeebus!

And so it goes.
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West Point Grads Come Out

Maybe this is a coincidence, coming on the heels of the report of the Army firings of January, but a welcome one, indeed. This takes a lot of courage. I wonder if the MSM will run the story anytime soon, or wait until they can't avoid it anymore.

From Navy Times:

Thirty-eight graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., came out of the closet Monday with an offer to help their alma mater educate future Army leaders on the need to accept and honor the sacrifices of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender troops.

“Knights Out” wants to serve as a connection between gay troops and Army administrators, particularly at West Point, to provide an “open forum” for communication between gay West Point graduates and their fellow alumni and to serve in an advisory role for West Point leaders in the eventuality — which the group believes is both “imminent and inevitable” — that the law and policy collectively known as “don’t ask, don’t tell” are repealed by Congress.

“We’re publicly announcing our sexuality, our orientation,” said 1st Lt. Dan Choi, (pictured above - click to biggen) a National Guardsman with the 1st Bn., 69th Infantry, based in Manhattan. “It’s just one part of who we are in saying that we are standing to be counted.”

In forming Knights Out, its 38 members are following the example of similar support and education groups formed by graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy and U.S. Air Force Academy, known respectively as USNA Out and Blue Alliance. Most if not all of these groups’ members also belong to the Service Academy Gay and Lesbian Alumni social network, a group that Knights Out claims includes some active-duty commanders serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Choi, a Korean by descent, is a combat veteran of Iraq who graduated from West Point in 2003 with a degree in Arabic language. He said his unit is aware that he’s a homosexual and added, “I’m very comfortable with all the repercussions right now. To me, it’s about doing the right thing, not about trying to fit into the process that gets you the rank or prevents you from getting a discharge.

“If that’s the repercussion, I’m ready to take it,” he said. “I think it’s more important that I let everybody know that … it is a wrong policy.”

Choi said the group has contacted West Point leadership and gotten “a very warm response.” An academy spokesman couldn’t confirm that assertion, noting that today was the first day of West Point’s spring break and that the campus was nearly empty.

Ah, playing dodge ball again...just end the frigging ban, already.

More later.

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"Coco" Video from the 1970 Tony's

In my wildest dreams I never thought I would see a reminder of this show. While not a big hit, it did run for almost a year - from 12/69 to 10/70 - and Hepburn is just as I remember her; quick, always in character, giving, and unbelievably beautiful.

If you didn't see the show, don't fret, even many gay men in NYC didn't want to see Kate attempt to sing. S0me were even cruel without even having seen the show. I was mesmerized. This video may show you why that was.

This brought back so many lovely memories.

And so it goes.
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Another Bush Phrase Bites the Dust.

Last month the new administration said it would no longer use "war on terror" and now it has eliminated "enemy combatant" as well.

From the AP via Google:

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is abandoning one of President George W. Bush's key phrases in the war on terrorism: enemy combatant. In court filings Friday, the Justice Department said it will no longer use the term to justify holding prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

Obama still asserts the military's authority to hold prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. But he says that authority comes from Congress and the international laws of war, not from the president's own wartime power.

Bush had argued that the president as commander in chief could unilaterally hold prisoners without charge.

The Justice Department says prisoners can only be detained if their support for al-Qaida or the Taliban was "substantial."

Maybe these are only minor changes, but words are powerful and BushCo used many words and phrases as fear mongering talking points to keep us all scared witless.

DADT: US Army Fired 11 Soldiers in January 09.

Our military has fired and destroyed the lives of thousands of talented LGBT personnel since 1993. As if firing translators in the middle of the Iraq war wasn't bad enough, would you believe they're still at it? Why does the Pentagon hate America? Homophobes, and that's a fact.
From Yahoo News:

WASHINGTON – The Army fired 11 soldiers in January for violating the military's policy that gay service members must keep their sexuality hidden, according to a Virginia congressman. Democratic Rep. Jim Moran said he has requested monthly updates from the Pentagon on the impact of the policy until it is repealed.

In a statement released on Thursday, Moran said the discharged soldiers included an intelligence collector, a military police officer, four infantry personnel, a health care specialist, a motor-transport operator and a water-treatment specialist.

"How many more good soldiers are we willing to lose due to a bad policy that makes us less safe and secure?" asked Moran, a member of the House panel that oversees military spending.

The Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy was instituted after President Bill Clinton tried to lift the ban on gay service members in 1993. It refers to the military practice of not asking recruits their sexual orientation. In turn, service members are banned from saying they are gay or bisexual, engaging in homosexual activity or trying to marry a member of the same sex.

The military discharged nearly 10,000 service members under the policy in a 10-year period, from 1997 to 2007. The number fired each year dropped sharply after the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, when forces were stretched thin. Whereas more than 1,200 were dismissed in 2000 and again in 2001 for violating the policy, about half as many — 627 — were fired in 2007.

The Pentagon has not released its 2008 figures.

The White House has said President Barack Obama has begun consulting with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen on how to lift the ban. But the administration won't say how soon that might happen or whether a group of experts will be commissioned to study the issue in-depth, as some Democrats have suggested.

Ya gotta wonder...

And so it goes.

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Busy, Busy...

This is what my life was like last week, stuck in the middle, to be sure. (Click to make biggen.) Not only is one person away on holiday, there was the inventory to finish up, new pieces to get into the computer system, and a whopping 38 appraisals to prepare for customer’s insurance companies. (Not all are completed, but they’ll have to wait until next week.) All this while any customers who wandered in, by the way.

Monday and Tuesday were 10-hour days. Thursday and Friday were 12 and 11-hour days, leaving me with just enough energy and brain power to prepare an evening meal without falling asleep.

The appraisals are the most difficult, requiring great concentration due to the detail that must be given to each and every piece – caret weight of gold, size, cut, colour, and quality of stones, as well as a description of the design of each piece – is time intensive and tedious work. I created a template so that appraisals can be typed into the computer and printed out rather than going through the agony of hand printing each one. That, at least, was an improvement.

I arrived last evening with barely enough energy in reserve to make a turkey burger and a glass of wine, which was followed by a hot shower, tooth brushing and bed. I don’t remember anything else. No dreams, merely pure blackness and peace.

Woke with the sun today. More relaxed this morning I was able to complete some web updates that I’ve been working on since Wednesday. Now I have the luxury of the rest of the weekend to myself. Looking forward to a meet up and dine out with friends on Sunday evening before beginning another nightmarish week pretty much a duplicate of the last one. I really can't complain, at least for the moment I have a job, albeit a part time one.

I’m not Irish, but I have a hankering for Corned Beef and Cabbage; it being nearly St. Paddy’s day and all, so I’ll start making that after lunch and a walk. Following snow showers and rain yesterday the sun is bright today and there is hardly a breeze.

I can’t remember the last time I had an entire weekend off, but it certainly feels good. I may even get to church tomorrow, and that would be one more good thing.

More later.

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Cocktail Caturday

After the week I've had, I could you a few, too.

More later when I come up for air.
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DE Anti-bias Bill Could See a Vote.

We here in the first state seldom make national news, but this has been picked up by a few progressive and LGBT blogs. I had the honor of working on Pete's first campaign. And now he's the Majority Leader. Make me proud, Pete.

Delaware Online:

DOVER -- The decade-old battle to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation began anew Tuesday with the introduction of legislation in the state House.

And this year, with the Senate's famous desk-drawer veto now apparently out of play, the bill's chances of reaching the governor's desk seem brighter than in years past.

House Bill 5, sponsored by Majority Leader Peter Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth Beach, would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in housing, employment, public works contracting, public accommodations and insurance.

"This legislation is long overdue. This is the fifth time it has been introduced in the past nine years and we have passed it in the House three times," Schwartzkopf said in a statement. "This is 2009. If the past several months have taught us anything, it's that Americans are much more tolerant and accepting of others now than ever before."

"End of story. That's it," he said in a subsequent interview. "It's not a special-rights bill. It doesn't have anything to do with gay marriage, it has nothing to do with civil unions. The bottom line is, people shouldn't be discriminated against."

Delaware already prohibits discrimination based on age, religion, gender, race, marital status and physical handicap. HB 5 would add sexual orientation to that list.

The bill would not cover religious corporations, associations or societies, even if they receive government funds. And it would not require employers to offer health insurance, pension or other benefits to same-sex couples.

The Senate has always been a dead-end for similar bills, even though it is controlled by Democrats and then-Gov. Ruth Ann Minner, a Democrat, made it a legislative priority. The bills have all died in the Senate without a floor vote.

But this year, the Senate has changed its rules to eliminate the desk-drawer veto, which gave Senate committee chairs the ability to bury a bill.

Go and read the whole thing. It's a bit long, but it's been long in coming, too.

More later.
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