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Hightower Lowdown
"You can put earrings on a hog, but it won't hide the ugliness." -- Jim Hightower
In This Issue
but it's not guys in black helicopters, it's GLOBAL CORPORATIONS
There's a plan for one world government
Also in this issue:
February's Lowdown
How corporate money took over Washington--and created the mobs who rant against reform
Despite a constant racket from the forces of the far-out right (Fox television's yackety-yackers, just-say-no GOP know-nothings, tea-bag howlers, Sarah Palinistas, et al.), the great majority of Americans support a bold progressive agenda for our country, ranging from Medicare for all to the decentralization and re-regulation of Wall Street. Indeed, in the elections of 2006 and 2008, people voted for a fundamental break from Washington's 30-year push to enthrone a corporate kleptocracy.
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Aetna's hoggishness
Our March Hog features the biggest porker in American corporatized medicine: Aetna US Healthcare, a leader in killing the 'Patient's Bill of Rights" in last year's Congress.
Mr. Joseph Plocica could tell you about the need for this bill of rights ... except he's dead. Even though he was medically unstable, he was released from a Fort Worth psychiatric ward against the pleas of his own psychiatrist who said he needed more hospital time. Right after his release, Mr. Plocica drank a half gallon of anti-freeze, killing himself.
He was released into that dark night by a faraway doctor who'd never seen him. This doctor worked for Aetna, Mr. Plocica's HMO, and he decreed that the company would not pay for another night in the hospital. An Aetna lawyer said HMOs don't decide when patients go home, just whether their stay is paid for. Try explaining that distinction to Mr. Plocica's family.
Aetna lobbyists are back in Washington this year, trying once again to kill the Patient's Bill of Rights. To hog be Aetna and support patents' rights, contact Families USA: (202) 628-3030 or www.familiesusa.org