tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30130444.post6963575482164932090..comments2024-02-16T09:00:32.845-06:00Comments on FromDC2Iowa: Bridges to Governance - Richardson - Wellmark BullyingUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30130444.post-44961771824776557062007-08-05T20:54:00.000-05:002007-08-05T20:54:00.000-05:00Des Moines Register News IMMEDIATE RELEASEAugust 5...Des Moines Register News <BR/>IMMEDIATE RELEASE<BR/>August 5, 2007<BR/><BR/>Hansen Column Renamed for Wellmark Blue Cross-Blue Shield<BR/><BR/>DES MOINES – Marc Hansen’s column in The Des Moines Register today was renamed The Wellmark Blue Cross-Blue Shield Marc Hansen Column, Register Publisher Mary P. Stier and columnist Hansen announced.<BR/><BR/>“This new name will allow me to dispense with the fiction that I have any commitment to those pointless journalistic principles like independence and fairness,” Hansen said. <BR/><BR/>Publisher Stier approved the naming because she said it fits with the Register’s strategic plan of pulling back from being “The newspaper that all of Iowa depends upon,” to being “The newspaper that depends on Des Moines’ insurance industry.”<BR/><BR/>Hansen got the idea for the naming, he explained, after going to coffee at Starbucks recently with Wellmark public relations director Cliff Gold. “Cliff gave me two great columns ideas. First, he explained how I could criticize the University of Iowa College of Public Health, and then he explained why we don’t need any hospitals in West Des Moines. Both ideas made sense to me, and they allowed me to get out on the tennis court a lot earlier in the day.”<BR/><BR/>The naming involves no exchange of money. “Cliff explained that insurance companies don’t work that way,” Hansen said. “It was really funny in a way. After we ordered coffee and I paid, I showed him my debit card receipt and asked him to reimburse me. He took a big rubber stamp out of his pocket and marked the receipt ‘Claim Rejected.’ The whole place was in stitches over that one!”<BR/><BR/>Hansen is not the first Register employee to take a name associated with Wellmark. For several years David Elbert has held the Wellmark CEO John Forsyth Is A God That Should Be Constantly Praised columnist chair. Several Register staffers hold Wellmark CEO John Forsyth Is A God To Be Feared And Not Criticized editorships.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30130444.post-695929938681495372007-08-03T21:06:00.000-05:002007-08-03T21:06:00.000-05:00Re: Bridge CollapseYou give the people a free ride...Re: Bridge Collapse<BR/><BR/>You give the people a free ride...You blame the people in government, blame the media...anyone but the public. People get the government they deserve. Bridges are inspected every year, we don't need the empty suit result of nepotism Chet Culver making some public declaration of what's done anyway.<BR/><BR/>"Free men will remain free as long as they are aware of their responsibilities"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30130444.post-9445143795995817402007-08-03T18:05:00.000-05:002007-08-03T18:05:00.000-05:00I find it interesting that a hospital needs to be ...I find it interesting that a hospital needs to be approved by a state board controlling health care delivery.<BR/><BR/>On one hand people don't want socialized medicine, because 'the market' or 'free enterprise' is better than a Gov't program.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, a quasi-Gov't organization approves or disapproves private firms hospital building plans. Talk about conflicts of interest? Talk about distortion of market forces.<BR/><BR/>If there really was a free market, there should be little control of what provider builds what medical facility. Does Gov't have rules against how many law firms can relocate to Des Moines? Rules on how many accountants are needed for Polk county? No. Rules on how many auto companies decide to make cars? No. The market generally decides.<BR/><BR/>I understand some people believe that health care is a different market (mainly because it seems so gerrymandered). That each new facility increases the costs of health care. (and each new hospital is very costly) Thus it needs this 'regulation'. <BR/><BR/>It is obvious this regulation isn't working very well. Every prediction involving health care has been mostly wrong.<BR/><BR/>So why do we reject 'socialized medicine' but accept a sort of communistic 'collectivization' with central planning of the distribution of health care? And why allow Wellmark to bully the central planning committee. Isn't that like letting Kirk Ferentz determine where Iowa State can recruit football players because 'there aren't enough good football players in Iowa to fill up 2 D-1 teams'?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30130444.post-71715154630270982242007-08-03T14:43:00.000-05:002007-08-03T14:43:00.000-05:00I agree about Richardson. He clearly is the person...I agree about Richardson. He clearly is the person most ready to be President.<BR/><BR/>Yet, I do not hear ANYONE addressing the coming Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid Crises in the campaign. People may not have liked Bush's proposal, but at least he approached the issue. I am a Generation X member having been born in the late 60's, and I expect to get little, if any Social Security benefit, and when I do get it, I will be 75.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com