Tag: Fraud

Say Bye Bye To Pricey

Pricey?  Now that was a pun intended.

It is official the Rep. that bitched about people that used private flights to conduct government business in 2007 has resigned his post for the use of private flights to conduct governmental business

Sec of HHS, Price has made it official and resigned his post effective immediately….

President Trump’s health secretary has resigned after his travel on costly charter flights triggered investigations and angered his boss, the AP reports. Tom Price’s partial repayment and public regrets couldn’t save his job. The Health and Human Services secretary became the first member of the president’s Cabinet to leave office in a turbulent young administration that has seen several high-ranking White House aides ousted. Price served less than eight months.

Trump had said he was “not happy” with Price for hiring private charters on the taxpayer’s dime for official travel, when cheaper commercial flights would have worked. The flap over Price has overshadowed Trump’s agenda and prompted scrutiny of other Cabinet members’ travel. The House Oversight and Government Reform committee has launched a broad investigation of top political appointees.

This douche spent $1 million dollars on private flights and is willing to repay $51,000…..

Just another nail in the coffin of the corruption that is the Trump Administration.

Don’t fret…there is more to come……

Turn The Page!

 

Closing Thought–29Sep17

Come Fly With Me!

It appears that there is  problem in DC…..Sec of HHS, Price, has been caught with his fingers in the cookie jar.

Ever noticed that when the GOP is NOT in power they are staunch opponents of any wasteful spending….and then they take the power lead and they piss money away like there is no tomorrow.

The GOPers start looking for ways to get “free” stuff for themselves and their families….well that is what happened with Price…..seems he does not like the inconvenience of flying coach….

Price has booked a plethora of private flights to take him around to do his worse as the Sec of HHS…..to the tune of about $1 million in costs.

He has been chastised and has agreed to reimburse the government….

Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price is apologizing for taking costly charter flights on the taxpayer’s dime and says he is cooperating with investigations into his travel. Price says he’ll reimburse the government by writing a check Thursday to reimburse Treasury, and he’s pledging not to take any more charters, the AP reports. He says he wasn’t “sensitive enough” to the concerns the charters would create about the use of taxpayer dollars.

His statement comes after White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said President Donald Trump was not thrilled with Price’s flights. Trump had publicly declared his displeasure a day earlier. Trump left open the possibility that Price would be fired, but Price said Thursday he thinks he still has the president’s confidence. The brouhaha started with a Politico investigation into the flights.

He will write a check for $52,000…….he spent a million and he only owes $52,000….not bad like a plea agreement with a bank robber that stole a million but only has to pay $52,000 in restitution.

Apparently Price cannot use commercial flights for it may expose him to a lethal dose of “human cooties’….he cannot be bothered with doing the right thing….he is just echoing those thoughts of his master.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price is apologizing for taking costly charter flights on the taxpayer’s dime and says he is cooperating with investigations into his travel. Price says he’ll reimburse the government by writing a check Thursday to reimburse Treasury, and he’s pledging not to take any more charters, the AP reports. He says he wasn’t “sensitive enough” to the concerns the charters would create about the use of taxpayer dollars.

His statement comes after White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said President Donald Trump was not thrilled with Price’s flights. Trump had publicly declared his displeasure a day earlier. Trump left open the possibility that Price would be fired, but Price said Thursday he thinks he still has the president’s confidence. The brouhaha started with a Politico investigation into the flights.

is master…..

Why does this thief not have to pay the entire price tag?  The flights were for his benefit….he owes the entire bill!

Time to get my ass ready for the weekend…..hope everyone had a good week and that they will please get some relaxation in for the next couple of days.

Peace Out My Friends!

Is Fraud An Electoral Technique?

There is much been said and written these days about the strategy used to win the last election…..some have even called it….Fraud!

To be honest….games and yes even a hint of fraud have been used in the past to win elections.

Let’s take a look at our recent past in presidential politics……

People are wondering out loud about the parallels between today’s Republican Party and organized crime, and whether “Teflon Don” Trump will remain unscathed through his many scandals, ranging from interactions with foreign oligarchs to killing tens of thousands of Americans by denying them healthcare to stepping up the destruction of our environment and public lands.

History suggests – even if treason can be demonstrated – that, as long as he holds onto the Republican Party (and Fox News), he’ll survive it intact. And he won’t be the first Republican president to commit high crimes to get and stay in office.

Source: The Past 5 GOP Presidents Have Used Fraud and Treason to Steer Themselves to Electoral Victory | Alternet

As you can see there is very little that is good or innocent about American presidential politics….and it only gets worse with each passing election…..where will this cycle end?

Natalia Veselnitskaya Strikes Again

Does that name sound familiar?

It should…she is the Russian lawyer at the center of the Don, Jr. email mash up…..but that is not the only place she has been busy….

Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday asking why the Department of Justice settled a major money-laundering case involving a real-estate company owned by the son of a powerful Russian government official whose lawyer met with Donald Trump Jr. last year.

That attorney, Natalia Veselnitskaya, represents the family of Pyotr Katsyv, the former vice governor of the Moscow region, whose son, Denis, owns the real-estate company Prevezon. The DOJ had been investigating whether Prevezon laundered millions of dollars through New York City real estate when the case was unexpectedly settled two days before going to trial in May.

Source: Why was Russian money-laundering case settled? House Dems want answers – Business Insider

Wait!  Who leads the DoJ?

That would be Jeff Sessions.

Is he part of this whole Russian thingy going on in DC right now?

Yes, he is.

And now a Russian gets off from a money laundering charge by the DoJ?

Yes he does.

Really?

Go figure.

I guess there really is nothing going on with the Russian influence thing after all….(that is sarcasm in case you missed it)…….but if you listen close enough you will be able to hear the eye rolls from those dim lights on the Right.

Their defense is natural….for they know that if the shoe were on the other foot they would be ass deep in all this legal crap….but of course they will never admit it for they cannot see past their nose hairs.

This is all too much fun to pass up.

Some Kinda Hero

This is a sad story about a guy that just had to try and get his time in the limelight.  As reported in the AP:

A so-called war hero who claimed to have been wounded when he dived to shield a buddy from a grenade in Afghanistan is facing a court martial by the US Marines for making the story up.

Sergeant David W Budwah was allegedly never in Afghanistan, was not wounded and did not earn the medals he wore. Prosecutors say he accepted invitations to rock concerts, baseball games, banquets and other events meant to fete wounded servicemen. He allegedly bluffed his way into 33 events in 2008. Mr Budwah faces more than 30 years in prison and a dishonourable discharge if convicted next month.

Budwah joined the Marines in October 1999 and spent nearly all of the next six years with a radio communications unit in Okinawa, Japan, according to the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia, where Budwah has been stationed since February 2006.

The charges include making false official statements, malingering, misconduct and larceny. Budwah faces up to 31 1/2 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge if convicted on all eight counts at a trial set for Oct. 20.

It is time to BBQ this a/hole…..I will agree that ALL vets embellish there days as a soldier a bit….but few claim to be a “war hero”.  This story only diminishes the role of a real hero who does heroic acts in a nightmarish atmosphere.

Why Not Eliminate Fraud?

Of all the debate being spit out in Washington, of all the lies and misinformation flying out the butts of pundits….why is there very little mention to the fraud that occurs in the health care system?

In an article written in the Huffington post by Sen Bernie Sanders:

What we have seen over the last several decades is the systemic fraud perpetrated by private insurance companies, private drug companies, and private for-profit hospitals ripping off the American people and the taxpayers of this country to the tune of many billions of dollars.

The rampant fraud is another reason why our current health care system, dominated by private insurance companies, is the most costly, wasteful, complicated and bureaucratic in the world. Its function is not to provide quality health care, but to make huge profits for those who own the companies. With 1,300 private insurance companies and thousands of different health benefit programs designed to maximize profits, our country spends an incredible 30 percent of each health care dollar on administration and billing, exorbitant CEO compensation packages, advertising, lobbying and campaign contributions. Public programs like Medicare, Medicaid and the VA are administered for much less.

In recent years, not only have we seen massive fraud by the health care industry, but we also have been paying for a huge increase in health care bureaucrats and bill collectors. Over the last three decades, the number of administrative personnel has grown by 25 times the number of physicians. Doctors and nurses in Vermont have described to me in painful detail the amount of time and money they are forced to waste negotiating with insurance companies about how they can treat their patients.

Just a little fraud that has been found and prosecuted:

In 2004, Warner-Lambert, a division of Pfizer Inc., pled guilty to two felonies and agreed to pay $430 million for fraudulently promoting the drug Neurontin.

In 2003, GlaxoSmithKline paid $88 million in civil fines for overcharging Medicaid for its anti-depressant Paxil.

In 1999, Hoffmann-LaRoche paid a $500 million criminal fine for leading a worldwide conspiracy to fix prices for certain vitamins.

In 2009, UnitedHealth, a leading insurance company, paid $350 million to settle lawsuits brought by the American Medical Association and other physician groups for shortchanging consumers and physicians for medical services outside its preferred network.

On the personal side….when I had my accident that shattered my leg….I was put into an ambulance and when I got the bill I was being charged for a cervical collar and a gown…a total of $80…neither of which I got in my ride to the hospital….I informed the Insurance company of the add ons and they paid it anyway.  Now using a little math, one ambulance overcharging riders on 3 shifts a day comes to if they have the average pick up of 8 people a day, comes to $430,000 a year….and that is ONE unit in ONE town…now if you take it further to a state we are talking millions and in the country billions….maybe that should be addressed.

And let us not go into the fraud with Medicare…that would make you sick.

My point is while all the cowards are bitching about the cost of the program, the industry is fleecing the public…but to them that is somehow okay.  Fraud is rampant and for the most part accepted….maybe that should change and savings could be a boom to offsetting any expenditures.

So my question is…why do not these concerned politicians actually go after the fraud instead of looking the other way while accepting their contributions for the re-election fund?

Oh wait!  The Repubs have this idea of tort reform as a way to make the uninsured more likely to get insurance…..tort reform?  Yeah, you know those frivolous lawsuits that lead to an increase in the insurance that doctors pay for protection from malpractice?  I will agree that some of the lawsuits are outrageous, but that accounts for about 1% of the total cost of health care…I do not beliueve that controlling 1% of the costs will help anyone to get health insurance.  As Det. Joe Friday always says,  “Yes facts, sir”.

Tort reform is a typical ploy to keep everything the way it is…….

Fraud Is Fraud

For years I have heard all about the “welfare queens”, you know those people that defraud the government on assistance programs like food stamps, welfare payments, etc.  Oh, the outrage at finding one of these offenders.  Then more recently it has been the CEOs of banks that have been the target of the people’s rage.  You know all those massive paychecks they got for killing a company or the massive benefit packages they got.  LOts of outrage from the average person.

I just thought I would add to everyone’s rage with this tidbit.

For anyone who wants to know where underfunding and under-staffing of the Small Business Administration leads, check out this report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

The GAO writes of rampant abuse of the SBA’s HUB(Historically Underutilized Business)Zone program, which awarded $8 billion in federal contracts to some 4,200 certified small businesses in 2007. Specifically, the report details misrepresentation by 19 companies that falsely claimed HUB status to qualify for nearly $30 million in prime contracts and $187 million in federal contracts between 2006 and 2007.

According to the report:

“One Alabama firm listed its principal office as ‘Suite 19,’ but when GAO investigators performed a site visit, they found the office was in fact trailer 19 in a residential trailer park. The individual living in the trailer had no relationship to the HUBZone firm.”

The same company, which performs ground maintenance, received nearly $1 million in HUB contracts between 2006 and 2007, the GAO says.

Small businesses that participate in the HUBZone program must meet various criteria, including having a main office and at least 35% of their employees living in the zone. The report blames lack of SBA internal and fraud controls, including failure to make site visits to a majority of the companies applying for HUB status.

Another excellent program that has fallen into crap.  I point this out because I would like to see “fair and balanced” report on ALL fraud not just some little old lady in Peoria that is trying to make a buck extra.

Ugly Side Of The Stimulus Plan

Billions upon billions are flying out of Washington and little is making it to the people who need it and now a whole new industry has grown up around the people’s concern for their future and their livelihood.

With big banks and automakers getting government bailouts, it’s no surprise that consumers would want a hand, too.

Scammers are capitalizing on that.

Some are hard at work trying to trick individuals into paying for access for government grants, and the Federal Trade Commission is urging consumers to be careful.

Phony Web sites and scam e-mails have “mushroomed up overnight,” offering to help consumers qualify for economic-stimulus payments, said Eileen Harrington, acting director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, during an online news conference yesterday.

The sites ask consumers to provide personal details or a small payment to cover shipping to get information on how to apply for grants. But scammers then use the information to drain the consumer’s bank account or commit identity theft. E-mail solicitations with the same theme load spyware onto consumers’ computers when they click on a Web link.

“Scammers are using the stimulus bill as a more appealing lure to prey on their victims,” Coughlin said. “These offers are very enticing for families in financially desperate situations, and scammers are taking advantage of that.”