Once it was Margaritaville, but now....

Pretty funny Stoner video here, folks

(Yes, it's now Marijuanaville.)

The Obscenely Rich Get.... Richer

Earlier, in The Finest Healthcare Rip-Off System in The World, we saw how Health Management Associates' CEO Gary D. Newsome, no doubt with plenty of help from colleagues, "earned" $22,000,000 over 3 years (a mere $20,000 every day...), for organizing a naked conspiracy to rip off the Medicaid system (i.e. the Taxpayers).

Here's the Link.

If you look up this criminal's Profile, you find this:  "The company specializes in taking low-occupancy rural and suburban hospitals and transforming them into profitable, growth engines. In July, 2013, Newsome retired to head up a Mormon mission in South America", saying "My family and my faith have always been the most important parts of my life...."
"The announcement comes as two federal agencies, the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission, are conducting separate investigations into HMA's billing and accounting practices."

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I know you're delighted with Gary Newsome's well-earned success, so you'll be even more thrilled to hear that our old baby-faced chum Jamie Dimon has just been awarded a well-deserved (and of course massive) raise.

Senator Elizabeth Warren tells that story:

"JPMorgan Chase recently reached yet another settlement with the U.S. government -- a $13 billion deal with the Department of Justice for peddling deceptive mortgages. 

The banking giant broke the law, recklessly gambled with our economy, and had to pay a record government settlement. Guess what happened next? You guessed right: JPMorgan's CEO Jamie Dimon just got a 74% raise yesterday.

The New York Times speculates that Dimon got the raise because of his "active role" in negotiating government settlements last year. And as Dimon put it himself, it could have been a lot worse if JPMorgan had been forced to go all the way to a trial instead of just settling.

So here's my question: If JPMorgan is so happy with their settlements that they are rewarding their CEO with a big raise, do you really think the federal bank regulators were tough enough?

There are a lot of steps we can take to push the regulators to do their jobs and hold financial institutions fully accountable when they break the law, and I think a good starting place would be by enacting the Truth in Settlements Act.

This is the bill I recently introduced with Senator Coburn that would require accessible, detailed disclosures about settlement agreements so the public can hold regulators accountable -- no more hiding out behind closed doors and keeping the details secret.

Tell yourfriends on Facebook and Twitter about the Truth in SettlementsAct.

When I question federal regulators in Banking Committee hearings, they insist that they don't need to take big banks to trial when they break the law. They stand by their claim that settlement agreements are tough enough.

But if a settlement is so weak that Wall Street is celebrating with pay raises, it's not a good deal for the American people.

This week Jamie Dimon admitted that the big banks don't want to go to trial, so now there's no doubt: If the regulators were willing to go all the way to a trial, even once in a while, they would have a lot more leverage in the settlement negotiations. And maybe they could get better deals on behalf of consumers and taxpayers.

This is simple: Bankers on Wall Street need to be held accountable when they break the law, and regulators in Washington need to be held accountable when they enforce the law.

Tell your friends on Facebook and Twitterabout the Truth in Settlements Act. It's time for real transparencyand accountability.

Thank you for being a part of this,

Elizabeth."

The Finest Healthcare Rip-Off System in The World

Go to hospital with a cut knee or a mild temperature, and see how many days they will admit you for - if you have Medicare or Medicaid!

Take a look, oh brothers and sisters:  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/24/business/hospital-chain-said-to-scheme-to-inflate-bills.html?action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&module=MostEmailed&version=Full&region=Marginalia&src=me&pgtype=article

The Corporation in question, Health Management Associates, a for-profit hospital chain based in Naples, Fla., is trying to dump the blame on upstanding citizen and devout Christian (has he heard Pope Francis lately?), former CEO Gary D. Newsome -

"Mr. Newsome joined H.M.A. in September 2008 from a high-ranking post at Community Health. He left H.M.A. last summer to head a religious mission in Uruguay. His compensation in the three years before his departure totaled $22 million."

Ain't Dis Da Truth?