Tag: Jay Rockefeller

Sep 20 2009

IF we get the Public Option, WHO will Get the Choice?

Health Reform’s Missing Ingredient

By Ron Wyden, Senator D-OR, NYTimes Op-Ed

September 17, 2009

The various bills making their way through Congress would, as the president explained, provide some consumer choice by establishing large marketplaces where people could easily compare insurance plans and pick the one that best suits their needs.

[…]

The problem with these bills, however, is that they would not make the exchanges available to all Americans. Only very small companies and those individuals who can’t get insurance outside of the exchange – 25 million people – would be allowed to shop there. This would leave more than 200 million Americans with no more options, private or public, than they have today.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09…

Wait a second, I thought the Public Option, would give us a Choice —

give US ALL a Choice?

The Insurance Exchange will be closed to “more than 200 million Americans”?

that must be a typo!?!

Jun 23 2009

We NEED a Choice, OTHER than, Private “Insurers”

Rockefeller on Health Insurance Industry Practices

Mar 27 2009

PRESS RELEASE — SENATOR JAY ROCKEFELLER.

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator John (Jay) Rockefeller, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, held a full committee hearing this week entitled, “Deceptive Health Insurance Industry Practices – Are Consumers Getting What They Paid For?”

[…]

A recent investigation conducted by the Attorney General of New York concluded that for a number of years, the insurance industry has systematically under-estimated the out-of-network reimbursement rates it pays its policy holders, costing consumers billions of dollars in excessive out-of-pocket costs. The victims of this deceptive practice – more than 100 million Americans who pay for health insurance coverage that allows them to go outside of their provider network for medical care.

(Emphasis Added)

Press Release

Apr 24 2009

What did Congress know about torture and when did they know it?

 

Over the past 16 months, what members of Congress knew and when did they know it has slowly emerged in newspaper accounts. Four select members of Congress were notified in September 2002 when the CIA gave a secret high level briefing regarding the use of “harsh interrogation” and “overseas detention sites”.

U.S. law requires Congress be informed of covert activities, but allows for limited access to briefings in sensitive matters. In this meeting, four members of Congress were informed. They were Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Porter Goss, and Senators Bob Graham and Richard Shelby. The ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees sometimes described as the “Gang of Four”.

According to the Washington Post in December 2007, the four Congress members raised no objections to the “interrogation” techniques described, including waterboarding.

Jun 11 2008

Even with smoke and mirrors, it’s still FISA capitulation

According to The Hill, a new proposal from some of the more spineless members of the Congressional Democrats, have offered the Republicans a “proposal to break the logjam on electronic-surveillance legislation by allowing federal district courts to determine whether telephone companies seeking legal immunity received orders from the Bush administration to wiretap people’s phones.”

The new smoke and mirrors immunity was offered by flag-pin wearing House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and supported by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), chair of the Senate Intelligence committee. While the plan differs from the one championed by Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO), “in both cases, the courts would not decide whether those orders constitute a violation of the law, according to people familiar with the language.”

But, Sens. Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Russ Feingold (D-WI) are having none of this. In a 3-page letter (pdf) to their congressional colleagues, they write:

Jun 05 2008

Senate Intelligence Committee Phase II Report Released

Reported by David Kurtz at Talking Points Memo the Senate Intelligence Committee has released its “Phase II” report on pre-War Iraq Intelligence-

Report on Whether Public Statements Regarding Iraq by U.S. Government officials Were Substantiated by Intelligence Information

Report on Intelligence Activities Relating to Iraq Conducted by the Policy Counterterrorism Evaluation Group and the Office of Special Plans Within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy

Both .pdf.

David also attaches portions of a summary press release from the office of Senator Jay Rockefeller.

  • Statements and implications by the President and Secretary of State suggesting that Iraq and al-Qa’ida had a partnership, or that Iraq had provided al-Qa’ida with weapons training, were not substantiated by the intelligence.
  • Statements by the President and the Vice President indicating that Saddam Hussein was prepared to give weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups for attacks against the United States were contradicted by available intelligence information.
  • Statements by President Bush and Vice President Cheney regarding the postwar situation in Iraq, in terms of the political, security, and economic, did not reflect the concerns and uncertainties expressed in the intelligence products.
  • Statements by the President and Vice President prior to the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate regarding Iraq’s chemical weapons production capability and activities did not reflect the intelligence community’s uncertainties as to whether such production was ongoing.
  • The Secretary of Defense’s statement that the Iraqi government operated underground WMD facilities that were not vulnerable to conventional airstrikes because they were underground and deeply buried was not substantiated by available intelligence information.
  • The Intelligence Community did not confirm that Muhammad Atta met an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague in 2001 as the Vice President repeatedly claimed.

Bush lied.

People died.

Oct 31 2007

The Disgraceful Jay Rockefeller

One of the biggest disappointments of last night's debate for me was Senator Chris Dodd's refusal to discuss (sure Russert and Williams were not going to ask about it, but so what, thrust the issue into the debate) the raison de etre for his candidacy – restoration of the Constitution ad the rule of law. And today, as Glenn Greenwald discusses, Senator Jay Rockefeller reaches a new disgraceful low, as he argues for total disrespect for the rule of law:

Today there is significant debate about whether the underlying program — the president's warrantless surveillance plan — was legal or violated constitutional rights. That is an important debate, and those questions must be answered.

In the meantime, however, these companies are being sued, which is unfair and unwise. As the operational details of the program remain highly classified, the companies are prevented from defending themselves in court. And if we require them to face a mountain of lawsuits, we risk losing their support in the future.

What drivel. Losing their support in what? Breaking the law? What in blazes is rockefeller talking about? The telcos will not honor duly issued warrants because they are being sued? Ah, there's the rub. Rockefeller does not believe in the NEED for the government and telcos to follow the law. What's the rule of law to Rockefeller? Nothing at all. He is a disgrace. More.