The financial industry has its bailout. Now the states, led by California and Massachusetts, want low interest loans from the Federal government? Who's next?

Related articles

California asks Fed for $7B loan

Massachusetts looks into federal aid

Now Massachusetts Wants A Bailout

First, some good news for the 44 million elderly and disabled beneficiaries of Medicare. The government has announced that there will be no premium increase in 2009. This is only the sixth time in Medicare's history that rates have held steady for two consecutive years, according to the Bloomberg News.

Rick Foster, Medicare chief actuary, said holding the line on premiums had NOTHING to do with this year's presidential election. Really??????

As Election Day approaches, wouldn't it make smart political sense for an unpopular Administration to hold the line on premiums when the nation's seniors and disabled are struggling with the costs of health care, food, transportation and housing? 

In fairness, we'll give Foster the benefit of the doubt.

Now for a related story...the Los Angeles Times reported the arrest of an ex-con for scheming to bilk the Medicare for millions.

Turns out the con, who is now singing to the feds, was a small player in a larger fraud scheme aimed at fleecing the Medicare system for $33 million. The arrests were made by the Medicare Strike Force. The Times reported that since its inception, the Strike Force has indicted 175 people alleged to have ripped off Medicare for half a billion dollars.

"We're talking about losing billions of dollars annually through fraud and abuse," said Kirk Ogrosky, the Justice Department prosecutor.  Really?

The Miami Herald reports that healthcare fraud is "massive" in South Florida. In the year ending Sept. 30, 245 defendants were charged with filing $793.5 million in false Medicare claims, according to U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta.

While most cases resulted in convictions, the Herald reports that the government has recovered little from the Medicare crooks because they spent it quickly on lavish lifestyles.

In the meantime, the nation's seniors and disabled are shortchanged on what Medicare will--and will not--cover for their healthcare needs.

How much more fraud is out there? If aggressive fraud investigation and enforcement are made a priority by the federal government perhaps more millions can be saved--and maybe the Medicare system will no longer be the subject of dire predictions about its financial solvency. 

Maybe Medicare premium increases could become permanently frozen--or even decreased? Maybe the nation's seniors and disabled, who rely on it for their health care, will no longer see premiums and copayments rise every year.

A new president looking for ways to fund a better health care system for Americans should take a hard look at increased policing of the Medicare system for fraud and inefficiency. 

How to Report Medicare fraud

Let's make something very clear: Pay Day loans are a scam.

They are predatory. The people involved in the pay day loan business are evil.

By the industry's own admission, a $500 loan can cost you $3,900.

Got it?

With few exceptions, pay-day loans are a very poor deal, often charging as much as 391% interest according to the FTC.  The creeps who run The Personal Money Store know this, so in order to improve their reputation, they have been posting frivolous blogs here at UCAN.org.

The purpose is two-fold: 1) they want to appear "consumer friendly" because UCAN is a respected consumer advocacy group. By blogging on our Web site, they increase their search status with google and gain credibility they don't deserve.

2) By blogging on our Web site, they are making it look as though they either work for or with UCAN, which is deceptive.

3) By blogging on our Web site, they create the impression of a tacit endorsement by UCAN.

Finally, if we had meaningful usery laws in the United States, the Personal Money Store would likely be put out of business.

UCAN has a very open policy on blogging. We want to hear your opinions, but if you engage in blogging for advertising, you may learn to regret it.

To learn more about Pay Day Loans from an industry perspective, we urge you to visit the Predatory Lending Association.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payday_loan

Big business really wants to shove the $700 billion bailout down America's throat. AT&T and others want to scare us into supporting the bailout.

Related articles

Businesses Pressure Congress on Bailout Plan from the Wall Street Journal

AT&T feeling credit crunch strain from cnn.com

Today's successful business model exemplified by Detroit. Make SUVs and trucks nobody wants to buy, post record losses, get government bailout.

As a reward for posting record losses, the federal government is providing $25 billion in loans to GM, Chrysler and Ford as part of a $630 billion spending bill.

The loans can be made for up to 25 years with payments deferred for up to five years. Interest rate on the loans will be about 5 percent.

I would like my mortgage set to the same terms.

Related articles

Bush approves $25 billion loan package for auto makers

Big Three to Get Check From Government

Detroit wants its bailout too

Auto industry's federal loans may not arrive in time

The largest single award, about $50 million, would go to Riverside County, where the foreclosure crisis is so dire that bobcats recently took up residence in an empty home.

HUD's neighborhood stabilization program, which was championed by U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), is part of a housing bill approved in July. It gives money directly to local governments to buy and fix up foreclosed homes.

Critics of the program say it could hurt recovery, explaining that governments will now be competing with lenders and private homeowners who have been struggling to sell in a depressed market.

Last month, The Times contacted housing officials in the 12 California counties with the highest concentrations of foreclosed properties. Most said they had not lobbied for the bill, and several wondered whether they had the staff to make use of the funding.

Under the program, governments can demolish or rehabilitate blighted homes, then either resell them or use them for affordable housing.

jessica.garrison [at] latimes [dot] com

Alan Fishman might want to leave his brief tenure as the new WaMu CEO off his resume. Hired September 7, Fishman oversaw the biggest bank failure ever when federal regulators seized WaMu on September 25.

Not to worry, Fishman stands to get $18 million for less than three weeks at the helm.

Hopefully the failure of WaMu will nix the implementation of a $5 fee for cashing personal checks drawn on WaMu.

Related links

Nightly Business Report. WAMU Is Going, Going, Gone...Sold to J.P. Morgan | PBS

WaMu CEO: 3 weeks work, $18M

Alan H. Fishman Joins Washington Mutual as Chief Executive Officer

Washington Mutual's free checking -- give or take $5

Power Net Global (PNG) customers have reported to UCAN that their local AT&T phone bills show they've been switched to a new long distance carrier called Williams Communications.  Although PNG insisted customers received notice of this change, not one customer reported ever seeing any notice.  PNG told UCAN it had an agreement with AT&T not to charge UCAN customers.  AT&T said it had no information about any agreement and by law, had to charge. 

PNG told UCAN that as a reseller of phone service, it uses the phone lines of other companies.  Prior to switching its agreement to Williams Communications, it used Quest's lines.  PNG alleged it switched to Williams because Quest's prices were too high.  UCAN does not endorse PNG.  In about 2002, PNG promised to provide great customer service to UCAN members and there were no added fees.  Now that PNG does charge fees and because it did not take care of its customers as promised, UCAN no longer believes it is the best long distance choice for customers.  

If you are a victim of a long distance "switch" charge, immediately call PNG at 1-877-441-6096 to request a credit for the charge.  Please also feel free to call UCAN at 619-696-6966 or write sue [at] ucan [dot] org to learn about better long distance options.  

UCAN is distressed at calls from relatives of AT&T customers trying to cancel service for deceased parents.  And when we say "trying", that's exactly what is meant both literally and figuratively.  Without the account passwords, cancellation of service for deceased persons is almost impossible.  A FierceTelecom article written by Doug Mohney summed up the problem and provided two examples showing consumers in two states are not happy with these AT&T billing and cancellation practices that can be read by clicking on the link above. 

Sons and daughters of AT&T customers have called UCAN to state that death certificates faxed to the company are not enough.  In addition, callers are promised return calls that never happen.  When relatives call the company again to see what else is needed to cancel an account and get credits, they are asked for passwords that no one knows.  In some cases, relatives reported to UCAN that their parent(s) never had passwords and therefore, it would be impossible to provide them.  FierceTelecom jokingly suggests putting all passwords into wills so accounts can be closed.  It turns out that it can be a very frustrating hurdle that no one needs while dealing with grief and burial plans.  

The only preventative measure UCAN can suggest is to make sure you are added to parents' accounts if they are ill or when you come to the realization that they may not be able to handle these account affairs on their own.  Because my mom is now almost 87 and although still very aware and bright, her vision and hearing are both impaired.  It was time to put myself on her accounts to protect her interests. 

But only for state law lawmakers. While Californians struggle to pay record prices at the pump, we get the distinct honor of paying for our Legislators gasoline purchases without any oversight. Read about this absurd perk at AP Exclusive: Gas cards give Calif. Leg. free ride.