And how the response to his act—both by public officials and everyday people—gives us an opportunity to look at one thing Democrats can do to flip the narrative
Lawyer here, and I spent my entire career working in the regulated utility sector. The reason we regulate utilities is because the free market does not work well to deliver service at reasonable cost. I believe this is true for health care as well. I can hear all the jokes even as I type. But it sure seems to me that we have allowed ourselves as a country to believe that the market forces can deliver health services at lower cost, when it is abundantly clear that health care is not amenable to the kind of shopping and cost comparisons that will discipline most areas of the economy. And, we have allowed insurance companies to do the ‘work’ for us. We don’t really need a health insurance industry. But we have it because the money in that industry swamps most democratic efforts at reform.
In regulated industries, it is usually possible to discern 1. The actual cost to produce a unit of the product or service (e.g., a kilowatt of power) 2. The actual price being charged to the consumer of that product (e.g. my electric rates), and 3. The profit made by the provider. Although you can also get that information about many less regulated companies, I challenge anyone to find that information for any health care provider, insurance company, or other health-system-affiliated company. You can’t even have an intelligent conversation about reform without those numbers.
In my brief excursion into Traditional Medicare, I saw Medicare being ripped off 'biggly' by two different hospitals. Medicare discovered these two ripoffs about 6 months later, but in neither case did they get enough money back. Can you believe being charged $10,000 for a 5 minute 6 lead EKG? In the other case, the hospital charged 2 days for rooms, when the time was spend just sitting for about 6 hours, with a bunch of Ambulance people. The room charge was about $10,000 per day.
I do not see this murder as anything other than murder in cold blood. Think about it. What if that young man was upset with lawyers, then started murdering lawyers in cold blood. Lots of people are pissed at lawyers. I think this is a story of someone boldly at 7 a.m. in the morning picking off a fellow citizen walking to a meeting in NYC. That is the primary story here. What if it was a priest murdered in cold blood walking toward a building in NYC murdered by another citizen bound and determined to make a statement about the prevalence of child abuse in the church? What if it was a teacher, nurse or anyone whose very profession caused another citizen harm shot in the back on a morning walking in NYC or anywhere. Be careful of the profession you choose and think of yourself as never to be a target before you cheer on and even think this act of murder can be justified because of the problem we have in this country in health care. If you want our "system" to change then vote and write and march and be careful who you put in elected positions in our government; don't take them out thinking that is justified or heroic. What has become of this country where the news of a person killed in cold blood is celebrated? I've been aggrieved we all have our grievances but I'm not in the basement constructing a weapon and shooting people in the back. The next target could be any one of us. Don't you realize it?
But the shooter didn't just randomly pick someone off. They specifically targeted a healthcare CEO who was at a meeting to congratulate himself and his company on what a great job they've done denying people healthcare to inflate their profits. He specifically targeted someone whose decisions contribute to 68,000 needless deaths per year from Americans. Brian Thompson was particularly heinous because he oversaw the implementation of an AI with a NINTEY PERCENT ERROR RATE that denies people's claims automatically. He is a terrible person, and the world is a better place now that he is not in it. As long as we keep allowing these people to "calmly" implement systems that kill people to increase their profits, they will keep doing it. Stop limiting your perception of violence to only physical violence. The violence of these systems kills more people than any shooter every could.
If imagine the only reason you're willing to accept violence from the wealthy without repercussion is that it hasn't personally affected you yet. I've noticed that people are way more about "no violence" in this case when they're higher in the schema of privilege in our society.
Assumption is not a valid or proven method for any decision much less judging that anyone who disagrees with you has never suffered. Also, conclusions cannot be made upon "noticing" something and then interpreting and drawing an opinion based on what you have been "noticing" without an awareness all of our observations are biased. It takes discipline to step away from bias and it is sloppy to posit as fact anything thru a "word salad" of what you've noticed and how you feel. You are advocating targeted cold-blooded murder. Be careful what you say and even more so what you do.
We're going to have to agree to disagree. You claim "Assumption is not a valid or proven method for any decision" and yet you made many assumptions in your message. "What if..." People can "what if" all day long, but none of those "what ifs" are relevant to this case. I agree with others and believe that Luigi's trial would result in an acquittal. Any reasonable person would have their own "delay, deny, depose" experiences. My own experiences are similar to Luigi's. My back was injured over 10 years ago in a car accident. I've had over a dozen surgeries and, similar to Luigi's x-ray, I have several screws, rods and pins in my spine. I have not experienced a day without pain since the accident. I've been in a wheelchair for over 10 years and because of my physical condition, along with a TBI (traumatic brain injury) I require round-the-clock care. But I can't afford to pay for that care and my benefits don't cover it. My claims, authorized and submitted by my surgeons, have been delayed and denied multiple times. Every attempt to better my life medically, has been delayed and denied by insurance companies. Prior to the accident, I had an amazing life - an extremely well paying job, A condo near the beach, where I walked an average of 5 miles a day after work. I could afford several vacations each year and never wanted for anything. But now, I no longer have the job, or the condo, or the beach, or the vacations. I am solely dependent on social security for my income (which is NOT a livable wage) and Medicare as my health insurance. Do you think Medicare covers my medical expenses? How about all of the prescriptions the doctors write for me. People faced with medical hardships are frustrated with insurance companies and they're exhausted from fighting with insurance companies when claims are denied, and the reason for the denial is that the insurance company doesn't believe the procedure, therapy, personal care or prescriptions are necessary. People are dying, either waiting for approval for life saving medical treatments, or because those lifesaving medical treatments have been denied. People are dying by their own hand because they can't take the pain, the frustration, or the exhaustion any more - because of insurance companies and their "policies" their ever ballooning profits their lack of compassion and so much more. So yes, murder is wrong, but there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Americans that feel for Luigi and some that probably wish they could have done what he did.
Sorry, but I have enough self respect not to just accept violence that causes suffering every single day without repercussion. And if you think about it, I'm sure you don't want to live in a world like that either. Brian Thompson's entire career was violence. If someone wanted to shoot him, I wish that person nothing but the best.
Sorry, we cannot just start equating actions we disagree with as violence. Brian Thompson ran a business. He didn't go out killing people. You can disagree with our medical system, I certainly do, but these are not equivalent things. He was murdered in cold blood. That is not acceptable as recourse for any political disagreement. You shouldn't believe that because you feel the reasons behind it were worthy enough, he should be allowed to be sacrificed.
If you can't agree that manufacturing conditions that cause people to die is violence, then I don't think we have anything further to talk about. I hope the ruling class gives you the pat on the head you're looking for while you stick up for their "right" to cause suffering. I respect myself and the people I care about more than just accepting such an philosophically lazy and morally bankrupt position. But if you're happy to let the people in your life suffer, well... I guess that means you have exactly the world you deserve.
Do you honestly believe that Luigi's actions had anything to do with a "political disagreement"?? Brian Thompson was responsible for tens of thousands of deaths. And insurance companies have been held responsible for deaths due to their " policies" and negligence.
When the nation was formed, I firmly believe the founders felt that to the core. They also felt they had the capacity to affect change... How do we affect change today? Maybe its rhetorical, but how *do* we reform a politically created system? I agree, not through violence... but tell me what's working? Dialogue and compromise only are effective when there are grown-ups committed to that type of thing.
Education is the key to any country's ability to EFFECT change. But our society has been dumbed down to a childish level of comprehension. When the USA was formed, it wasn't the third most populated country in the world; now we're a bloated land mass of spoiled, complacent, borderline cretins! We need campaigns for mandatory civics classes in all levels of public education with true, relevant history thrown in. Above all, though, keep religion out of schools, except as it may apply to historical events based in reality.
Religious Studies in a school should be one that is truly a study of religion, all religion. It can start by introducing the youngest to the cultures and practices of other nations. Learning languages is important but the mastery of our own language must be a priority. The introduction of allowing our children to use artificial intelligence to help them structure a paragraph or essay will do much harm. The only way to learn to write is to read voraciously and then write often. A diary can be given to the youngest to draw in or dictate entries at the end of their day; or do nothing no pressure. It makes a good gift in the New Year to do so. A notebook and a pencil or pen on the night table invites reflection on the day that children respond to in fact. As long as there is no pressure and also respect and privacy for the contents of the diary. Our children cannot read or write cursive which is embarrassing for them when asked to sign a document. It's ridiculous.
So, it is obvious that you are well acquainted with the CEO, and the operations of the company he was running, and all of his greedy misdeeds, as well as the details of all the people wrongly affected by his decisions.
Or is it that you just accept the story that Lucas provided?
Yes, it is difficult to prosecute anyone with more disposable money than you have. But before opening the floodgates of murder by rumor, you really should be finding ways to seek justice without shooting suspects in the back.
If we live in a society, where everyone is trying to get whatever they can from everyone else, we may as will go live in the jungle in a small tribe. At least in a small tribe, everyone sticks together for the common good.
When justice prevails, everyone is calmed, and violence doesn't break out. When justice is denied, then violence is prone to break out, and in ignorance more injustice is done.
What was his "proper" recourse? What is the proper recourse to having been killed by being denied healthcare? How does someone go back after the fact and receive justice for that? If we live in a society where a very small portion of people (~2700 billionaires on the entire planet and a larger but still relatively very small number of wealthy executives) deliberately harm public health for the sake of increasing their own profit, and it is legal for them to do so in our country, what are you expecting people to do to get justice? Are you expecting people who are struggling to afford healthcare to somehow also come up with the money for a huge legal battle? If they're struggling with healthcare, they may also be struggling with housing or food security. More than half a million people in are driven into medical bankruptcy every year in this country. Meanwhile, we've criminalized being unhoused in all but three states, while large corporations are padding their profit margins by using prison slave labor instead of paying people to work for them. All is these things are connected. I'm not saying violence is the ideal solution to our problems. I'm saying that when you take away people's dignity and ability to survive, when you give them no recourse to seek justice, you shouldn't be surprised when you are targeted with violence in return. Frankly, I'm surprised it took this long for someone to do something like this.
I mean, we obviously aren't agreed, as I just detailed in this entire argument that the working class shouldn't be forced to silently accept the deprivations caused by wealthy people with no recourse. If you want there to not be physical violence (as you clearly aren't nearly as concerned with the non-physical violence that causes exponentially more harm), then get to work building the infrastructure to get people the care they need and timely recourse when they are being killed by a system for profit. That infrastructure does not exist now, so people are going to take recourse wherever they can get it. Stop trying to shame people into quietly dying for the sake of capitalism. That value is not aligned with humanity.
Mangione presents as someone with adult-onset schizophrenia a diagnosis that can only be given by a professional for a disease that commonly effects young adults in their twenties. In my opinion Mangione is very ill and in need of help himself. A reaction to drugs legal or illegal is also a possibility as you suggest. His mother's comment that the murder did not surprise her and was something she could see him doing suggests the family witnessed his decompensating long ago which was followed by his dropping out whereabouts unknown. It is tragic all around. But murder can never be justified. This was murder.
It sounds like he was doing a lot of reading to try to manage his pain outside of pharmaceutical intervention (Back Mechanic, books like that), but it wouldn't surprise me if he has struggled with substances at various times since his injury. At the end of the day, I think living with chronic, debilitating pain is a lot like living with ongoing trauma. It makes it really difficult to function and even think clearly. There's a breadcrumb trail of his book reviews showing how his thought process evolved. It looks like the path was pretty straightforward after he started having back problems in 2022. Before that, he was another wealthy white son in a family that made their money in long-term care facilities that seem to have good reputations, but that background probably gave him some insight into the problems he faced after his injury.
And do you not think that Luigi sought justice from United Health Care? A patient can only appeal decisions so many times. Do you not think that he sought recourse as much as was allowed?? No, violence is not the answer, but, when, as you say, justice is denied...
On the subject of violence when justice is denied, where do you stand on the violence on January 6, 2021? Do you believe that justice prevailed on that day? Do you believe the violence was justified? Do you believe the deaths of the law enforcement officers was justice, or justified? How about the common good? Was the common good served that day?
I sooooooooo get it, Jen. While all these folks clutch their pearls because of the sin that young man committed, I bet they don't think twice when someone like George Floyd is murdered in cold blood. I bet they don't do that when Black men & women are murdered in cold blood at the hands of the pohleece every day or by people like Zimmerman who is walking around a free man. Sure, the system worked real well for Trayvon Martin (eye roll). In fact, they don't care as long as the perp has a badge, is rich, or is white. I find their arguments hypocritical, because they're still not talking about the fact that that CEO coauthored murdering people by the policies he created/maintained. So very strange.
If any of you be Christians, how come you don't live by, "He/she without sin cast the 1st stone?" Most of you are sinners and one sin is not better than the other. Jesus (or someone) said you're ALL sinners. Unless you're one of the jury members who get to convict the assassin for this crime, stop being judge, jurors, and executioners yourselves. Judgmental fools who don't really care about the suffering of others at the hands of the rich & powerful. That's what they want and nothing they can say will justify what the CEO was doing with his business.
Now, I don't condone murder by anyone, including that CEO. The assassin was probably thinking an eye for an eye. Some people live by that, others don't, but these naysayers are not in the young man's shoes. Something or someone was bothering him so much, he didn't see any other way to deal with it.
People do want the system torn down & rebuilt, but I'm afraid the one they chose to do it will perpetuate the same system or worse. He's incompetent and it's clear he's in bed with Putin. The rich want to keep getting richer and making the middle-class disappear. They don't care one bit for humanity or the lives of people who aren't rich (or white) like them. These same people will step right over the increasing number of homeless folks in this country. SMFH
It is beyond imagination how you argue this case for cold blooded murder with the attempt to assert innocence with the following statement: "But the shooter didn't just randomly pick someone off. They specifically targeted a healthcare CEO who was at a meeting to congratulate himself and his company on what a great job they've done denying people health care to inflate their profits." Perhaps you should exercise your right to petition and lobby your elected representatives for a change in our laws. Not doing so is broadcasting your disinterest in doing what you can to make murder justified in specific incidents that thru your efforts and lobbying and letter writing and peaceful protest will influence our Justice Department to change our laws. Go for it!
OMG, stop clutching your pearls. Your arguments are so one-sided. One man's murder is no better than the other. Neither side is "right" or "righteous" and neither are you. No wonder you tried to jump down my throat elsewhere in here.
The system is broken, people are getting way out of whack, and I don't blame them anymore than I did the folks who almost burned L.A. down for the pohleece who beat up Rodney King to walk away with no consequences. I almost went down there myself, and I'm a law-abiding citizen. The frustration was real!
It's clear where you live (zip code) and how out-of-touch you are with average Americans. Get your head out of the clouds and stop wagging your finger at people. It is NOT helping ... not at all. Nobody's changed by your rhetoric nor empathetic to your cause. Murder happens everyday, either by policy decisions or literally. I don't see you whining about any other murder than the literal version. Hmmmmmm...
Perhaps you should exercise your right to leave me alone and go lick boots on your own time. I've already told you why working through the "proper channels" is just resigning to letting more vulnerable people needlessly die. Your argument remains ignorant and morally bankrupt. Bye.
Do you protest this much every time law enforcement murder another unarmed civilian? Do you protest this much all the people sleeping in the street after being driven into medical bankruptcy? Do you protest this much for all the people dying for lack of healthcare? Do you protest this much as billions of dollars of our tax money are stolen and used to murder hundreds of thousands of innocent people in Palestine? It seems to me like you’re actually extremely selective about the violence you decide to care about, and it seems to be limited only to the acts of private individuals. You’re happy to give people with power and authority a free pass to murder anyone they like, but as soon as the target is a wealthy executive who kills people every single day with his business decisions, here you are, spending your energy trying to shame poor people for finally standing up and saying enough is enough.
I'm sure you're more than happy to turn a blind eye to the violence of this empire every day. It's evident from your argument. Maybe you should try to muster the same nonchalance for people who are suffering and trying to find some path to justice in a system that offers them no recourse. Maybe you should care more about humanity than you do about "civility" for wealthy people.
I agree 100% with the points you are making. My initial comment though was really limited to the question of why we allow health insurance companies to set the terms of health care services.
Agree entirely; thank you! Work to reform the system politically, but don't excuse violence! Lucas' comments about Democrats under Obama are very misleading. Yes, the health insurance industry needs far more regulation to guarantee fairness and equity, but if it hadn't been for Democrats in Congress plus Obama, we wouldn't have the Affordable Care Act and probably, we wouldn't have any government-regulated healthcare at all? I supported Lucas financially inasmuch as I live in California, but some of his rhetoric about Obama and the Democratic Congress which saved Obamacare is very concerning.
No disrespect, but this apples and oranges, as the saying goes.
People might be angry at lawyers, priests, teachers, and nurses. But, individually, I would guess, no lawyer, priest, teacher, or nurse is responsible for the deaths of hundreds or thousands—or, hundreds of thousands—of people. Whereas, healthcare CEOs are.
Ordinarily, I would agree with you: murder is wrong. But, I don’t see this as murder. I see this as an act of public service.
Sorry? Not sorry. (Actually, I am sorry for the man’s family).
But, he knew what he was doing. He woke up *every day* and chose murder. He was directly responsible for the deaths of so many of his fellow humans—including innocent children.
murder is murder and it is singularly wrong that will never change unless our laws change; and everyone is free to work to change the laws so we may discriminate as to when cold blooded murder is right and when it is wrong; currently, however, and for eons it is and has always been wrong; for which I am grateful
Who amongst all of us is willing to do this murder? Would you throw the first stone so to speak? Or do you prefer being hidden in the crowd inciting more violence and threats and murder? Would you choose and target this particular CEO and shoot them in the back? Or do you prefer that others do so for you? If you are comfortable behind your masks and as part of a nameless/faceless mob broadcasting your support of this act of cold-blooded murder, then what keeps you from doing so yourself? Do you feel it is "wrong" for you to do so, but "right" for Mangione to do it for you? Murder is murder and cannot be justified. It is wrong whether you pull the trigger or celebrate it. If you advocate for murder and so eloquently justify it, then you too are guilty of murder. The mob is just as guilty of the ensuing slaughter and fear they incite as the brutes who do their bidding. But that should not cause you any discomfort given your argument it was right and justified.
The point is NOT whether or not this was a cold blooded murder, no one disputes that it was.
I feel the same way about school shootings, and wonder at the folks who get indignant at Thompson's murder, but don't have much to say about murdered school kids or right wing vigilantes killing unarmed people.
The point you're purposely missing is the bipartisan public reaction to thus particular murder, and how rare it is that so many of us had the same reaction.
Right or wrong, it's obvious Lucas has a point here. The system is broken, everyone knows it....but who'll be the ones to pull the populist thread that's been revealed?
The "populist thread that's been revealed" has shown itself down the ages. It is also less elegantly described as "the mob" cheering for slaughter of a targeted group or individual. Millions have died this way and just as many have stood by and watched hiding under the skirts of "the mob."
He had a detailed plan. He shot a defenseless man. In the back. Then shot him again. I don’t believe there is either a sympathetic or apologetic narrative that can overcome those facts to either a grand jury or trial jury. But I may be proven wrong.
The problem with your analysis is that it doesn’t sufficiently emphasize how dangerous anarchy is. Trump and his MAGA thugs gain support for breaking down a broken system. But in the aftermath, the very forces that perpetuate the broken system benefit and the people supporting the political anarchy are left worse off than before. Can anyone reasonably think insurance companies will be kinder and gentler in the aftermath of the killing? Can anyone reasonably think that John and Jane Q. Public will be better when Republican thugs decimate Medicare, Social Security and the right to decent healthcare? The Democrats’ main failing is their inability to make the case that Trump and his cronies are completely corrupt, that Republicans in power means a constant assault on democracy, and that the only ones who benefit are big corporations and the ultra wealthy. Are we going to be better off if we survive the next four years? We will not. Let’s make a convincing case for this and people will return to the Democratic fold.
Sometimes I think the Democrats and Republicans are on the same side, and that they are essentially enacting "good cop - bad cop" behavior to gain their goals. And those goals appear to be 1) make obscene amounts of money, and 2) cull the "herd" so they have healthier slaves and fewer old ones who can no longer work.
They are on the same side. They have been working together for decades to stall progress and strip away our rights. Republicans haul everything to the right, and Democrats work together to stop things from ever moving back to the left. It seems like they're on the same side because they are. They went to school together, worked together, lived in the same neighborhoods--they don't care about us. We are an annoyance to these people, at best.
This was a cold-blooded murder, which can never be justified, carried out by an indignant and self-righteous coward who shot his victim in the back on a busy NYC sidewalk, endangering if not traumatizing everyone around him. This is a story of pre-meditated murder not health insurance or claims adjusters. I've been aggrieved and hurt by many, but I'm not going to shoot any one person or those in their profession in the back. Be careful to not normalize this murderer.
Okay. And what about the murderer who oversaw the deaths of thousands upon thousands of Americans in order to earn millions for himself? What about the murderer who oversaw the implementation of an AI with a NINETY PERCENT ERROR RATE to deny people access to the healthcare WE HAVE ALREADY PAID THEM FOR? The murderer who calmly sat in a board room with all his best buds and made decision after decision after decision to deny people healthcare in this country with the full knowledge that doing so was causing suffering, not just to the 68,000 people who needlessly die every year in this country from lack of healthcare, but to literally millions of us who have to fight this system to receive a service we pay more for than anyone else in the entire world. Your perception of violence is skewed to excuse mass violence perpetrated by the wealthy for the sake of profit while we lock people away in prison for years for ridiculous crimes like stealing baby formula or a backpack.
As if. We did make the case. Weren’t you listening? Now that we lost, Democratic leadership is TEPID. No urgency. Let’s wait and see. Yeah, well, I hope the Claims Adjuster isn’t finished with his work, and I’m a 60-something, law-abiding woman.
The case has been being made, and until now not much attention has been paid to it. If change will come no other way, let the violence continue, only out in the open like this instead of hidden among the private trials and sorrows of families and citizens. Brian Thompson headed a system at UHC that was intended to profit off the sufferings of others.
Let the violence continue? And your preference for the slaughtering is out in the open like the murder of Thompson? Obviously, if this is your stand then threats and intimidation are fine and dandy as well. In other words, a complete collapse of our society where no one place will be safe from being a victim or witness to cold blooded murder. Would you like to pick a month in 2025 we should heed your cry? Will you be there armed and ready or behind your computer screen hiding a faceless/nameless member of the rallying mob calling for picking off whomever is on the menu today. How wonderfully inspired!
I referenced nobody in what I said. You assume way too much and put words in my mouth. I mean what I said and said what I mean. Everything else is YOU projecting. I referenced you accusing anybody of anything like that. It was a stretch.
Execs. may be momentarily "nervous", but the company will just hire security, pass the cost on to those they insure, and life will go on. I can understand the vigilantism attitude, especially for those as in Lucas' example, but in the long run it will make matters worse not better. In all things, anymore, American's only think short-term when we really need long-term (100 year) thinking.
Apres Moi, les deluge - The real question... is this a one-off killing, or the bow-wave of something bigger. This killing will remain embedded in the American psyche for quite some time, and how it resurfaces could be... exciting.
Now that the billionaire class has installed their puppet, they hope to foment a revolution that will further enrich and empower them, at the expense of the people and their regulatory state; but revolutions eat their young and once the passions of the mob are unleashed, just staying atop the beast will be a challenge many of these self-imagined masters of the universe are manifestly ill-prepared to manage.
If you imagine that baskets full of heads and bodies stacked on tumbrels are relegated to 1793, I suggest you think again. Republicans have systematically stepped over or erased the red lines and dismantled the guardrails of civil governance without understanding that without these constraints, the system can respond stocastically, and too quickly for the wealth to deploy their mechanisms of social and informational control. Widespread economic hardship affecting ordinary citizen could feedback into this in ways that are completely unforeseeable. Imagine, if you will, the societal equivalent of a bomb cyclone; rapid and unpredictable intensification.
I think "dismantle the regulatory state" is much less catchy than "eat the rich".
It can never be justified. Cold blooded murder once justified by any of us will be normalized and your new tomorrow. Watch your back. Watch what you do for a living. Watch out!!
"If it is okay for someone to murder a person who works in corporate health care."
It is disingenuous to compare the CEO of UHC to "a person who works in corporate healthcare". He is a prime mover of a business that enriches itself and its ghoulish shareholders by causing suffering and death to people who payed UHC to insure them against the cost of falling ill.
Perhaps if you, like me, had had UHC cause your mom's death by refusing appropriate care, you would be more sanguine about the matter.
Consider that citizens allow the government to maintain a monopoly on violence, but that this compact requires the government the reciprocal responsibility to dispense justice and constrain wrong-doing. If the government fails to uphold its part of the compact, citizens can, and will, reclaim their right to violence. The government has manifestly failed to constrain wrong-doing, as committed by the wealthy, so...
Democracy is slow and complicated. One problem is the big three monopolies in most industries. Democrats went after monopolies, Republicans give them tax breaks.
Democrats tried to get to universal heal care with the ACA and helped millions of Americans to get health insurance and gave peace of mind to people in their 50's and 60's who did or may have been laid off. They would not have been able to buy healthcare when laid off except for the ACA. Republicans want to repeal the ACA.
While I would love to see the criminals in Wall Street and the healthcare industry in jail, the rule of law is more important. Without it, there is chaos and everything is worse. And the fix will take decades. And it won't affect billionaires one iota. Their life styles won't change. Mine will.
Constant improvement. Democrats improve. Sometimes not fast enough, but most of the time as fast as can be. Crashing and burning is worse for everyone.
When a person's son or daughter, etc. has long, drawn-out suffering not just due to disease but compounded by a so-called insurer's unwillingness to enable treatment, thinking about negatives "in the long run" just isn't present. The murder of a CEO or two at least provides a sense of agency in the situation.
Except few Americans can think beyond the current Tik-Tok video they’re watching, much less next month, or next year. Too many people live only in-the-moment, day to day, because that’s all they have, or can afford.
You must be young. There are tons of people who aren't consumed by Tik-Tok, Fuckerbook, IG, or Twitter. I'm 67 and perhaps you're talking about a majority of a certain generation. I guarantee you this is not the case.
If we do not stand up and speak out against glorifying a coward who shot a man in the back, then we invite and normalize it. Who are we (any of us) to be so indignant self-righteous and Avante Garde in doing that to our society?
Let's make the case that neither party is interested in changing the system. The Dems
are in the best position to change this and win back a solid majority by simply implementing progressive policies that enjoy majority support: Universal healthcare, complete funding of the SSA (including removing the cap on wages subject to FICA tax), increased taxes on the uber-wealthy and a meaningful increase in the minimum wage, mandated nationally and tied to the cost of living. Simple and no shots need be fired. But the Dems won't do it b/c they are complicit in the pay for play system. Ergo, not simple and jury still out on shots needing to be fired.
Dems tried for universal healthcare and could not get the votes. They did get the ACA and it is a good thing.
If you increase the FICA cap you will anger many who now vote Democratic. Healthcare costs twice as much in this country as other countries. Democrats (Biden) focused on reducing healthcare costs successfully.
It is slower than we want, but democracy is slow and often messy.
Who amongst the readers here would shoot someone in the back? This murderer is a coward not a hero. And cowards are out there with hate and faux purpose justifying their plans to kill any one of us. What do you do for a living? Has anyone in that line of work pissed someone off? Well, watch your back literally.
Who among readers would be dumb enough to admit that out loud? SMFH
You're being egregious with your rants. BTW, I'm a retired/disabled veteran. I never pissed someone off in my line of work. I was a software consultant. AND? If you did, "Hmmmmm..." Glad I never had to work with/for you.
Elliot, unfortunately I must agree with you. One of the first articles I read in the aftermath of the shooting was about companies that provide private security services and were besieged with phone calls from corporate executives wanting their services right now.
I wonder if any of these upper level employees have since stopped to wonder why Thompson was targeted? Or to question why our politicians and other “bigwigs” are mouthing appropriate words while the rest of us, while decrying murder, are wallowing in mixed feelings.
Thompson's annual salary was $10.2M...Taking all the salaries of healthcare insurers leaders together, there might just be enough to pay for a national health insurance program...
What is crazy is that as a surgeon, I consider myself rather well compensated… and I make <5% of what Thompson did, working 60-70 hours a week, with only 4 weeks off per year.
And the RepubliKKKan response to a sensible healthcare system that:
Works
Works for everyone
At lower cost (elimination of multiple administration systems, no need for advertising, no profit?
SOCIALISM!
And the rubes have been conditioned to believe Socialism = Bad. Even though roads, bridges, police, military, judiciary, disaster relief, etc etc are examples of socialism that people like/love/expect.
Yes, and the socialism fear mongering by Republicans (and lately their wingnut MAGA cult) has gone on for TOO DAMN LONG. Democrats need to wake the fuck up, progressively radicalize, and quit kowtowing to corporate puppeteers. Starting with FINALLY catching up to rest of world with a universal healthcare system. YES it has its problems, longer waits, etc, but are the providers getting shot by bankrupt patients for denying claims and hoarding profits?
My daughter worked for a clinic that was purchased and destroyed by a United Health Care sub-group. After the clinic was raided for all valuable assets, my daughter left it because she was no longer able to "do no harm" to her patients. Most people have no idea how brutal the "health" industry became after United Healthcare began purchasing clinics.
Yes. I believe allowing insurance companies to purchase the medical provider businesses should be outlawed. Maybe use "antitrust" to fight to stop/rollback this activity.
Sadly there will be little was can do about this as trump and the GOP totally support the for profit model for everything. Seems there is not even one GOP member of congress who does not support trump on this
Good for you Lucas. In the 1970s and 1980s I served in Western Europe where there were small groups of lethal radical fringe groups like the Red Army Faction/Bader-Meinhof Gang attacking industrialists and government figures (they even took a shot at NATO CG Alexander Haig.) We had our own Weather Underground and others, and there were similar anti-capitalist fringes and anarchists before WW I. Such group sprang up when Robber Barons got to greedy, and Union-busting became too effective and workers felt helpless.
We seem to be back in a similar Gilded Age, and there are lots of plutocrats in the Health, Airline, and other industries who are screwing people for all they're worth. When the Big Boys get too greedy, Robin Hoods appear---and this guy seems pretty sophisticated.
Maybe we should ask the Big Boys if "burdensome regulations" and human decency/fairness wouldn't be preferable to living their lives in fear of modern Robin Hoods.
I hate to say that if I were in a room with both men, I'd feel more comfortable with the assassin than the CEO. I have such mixed feelings about all this, and I'm late to the party.
Good to hear from you again. We are having a mainly good time now in Massachusetts and found a very anti-Christian nationalist UCC church here. Our granddaughters have gone to two musical events (including a hootenany) with us and I took them to see "Moana 2" last week. Working with some local groups to put on some concerts up here (I will not be singing) and working with some environmental groups as well.
In my adopted state of Missouri, I did get involved in politics. Started out as a Pennsylvania conservative in pretty tough times during the depression. I started school in Butler and was forced to pray in the public schools. We weren’t religious, and the prayer led me to atheism, where I have been ever since. In Missouri, I became more liberal and involved in politics. I have been planning to write it up in detail one of these days. Doing what I can.
When I was first old enough for Medicare, I was married to a very tight fisted man who convinced me I should not get AB MEDICARE, and instead get the United Healthcare option, because, (he claimed) " I would receive many more benefits, "like dental".
2 years after, I was sent to the ER, then in patient at the hospital, with an occluded jugular vein. The doctors weren't sure why or what to do. By the grace of God, my good friend was a social worker at that very good hospital. She found out I was upstairs. She came in, looking over her shoulder saying she shouldn't be telling me BUT I needed to go directly to a different provider and get on regular AB Medicare ASAP! She explained I was now in the territory of needing very expensive testing and possibly surgery, that my existing UH insurance was going to fight, or not pay for.
I went to a different supplemental provider and was able to answer the questions honestly, and change to the AB Medicare and subscribe to a supplemental policy. SO this info has been known (by health providers) for a long time!!! United Health is a money tree for the owners of the company and has been for a long time.
"Converting patient health into profit " is exactly what insurers (and providers generally) don't do! If there were no fires, fire insurance companies would be out of business. Fee-for-service medicine converts ill-health into profit: docs make more money the sicker you are--unlike docs in comprehensive providers like Kaiser Permanente, where the healthier they keep you, the more they earn. Incentives matter!
Thats one thing Obama got right on ACA. I remember clearly during the fight his quote, "the incentive structure is all wrong."
I turned 65 a little over a year ago, and so far, navigating health care, and experiencing reasonable costs , has been working pretty damn well for me. I think Medicare for all is the way forward. Private insurance should be reduced to supplemental insurance, and that would save literally trillions of dollars to consumers in the coming decade.
However, Mike, Kaiser can be penny-pinching too at times. A Canadian friend has to wait 3 months for an MRI and she is in constant abdominal pain. Canada is bleeding doctors and can't afford good equipment (like MRIs.) A lot of work needs to be done at the drawing board to design a U.S. health care system that helps people (sounds simple) and is financially stable, with fair salaries for docs, nurses, techs, janitors, and admins. But Lucas is right, we have to start somewhere, and SOON!
As much as I want to hide and be depressed about the incoming felon and his minions, I agree with you that Democrats have an opportunity to actually stand up and represent the people who will be further harmed by the actions of the felon's
self-serving 'administration'. Opportunity is knocking. . . let's open the door
A man was murdered in cold blood in an American city, on an American street! I don't give a rat's ass about his occupation -- he was a human being, he had a family, but more than all that, murder is NEVER to be cheered by decent human beings and I for one will not celebrate the ugliness, the cruelty of the act. Others may rejoice all they like but I find nothing celebratory about this horror.
As a person who supports kindness and compassion and decency in our society, I disagree on this "execution." It is a signal. It is a message. This CEO was making MILLIONS by denying critical care to people who then DIED because of that denial. In other words, his decisions KILLED INNOCENT PEOPLE. Therefore, he was executed for his evil actions. Perhaps that is why so many people support this execution of a person who killed many.
I'm afraid you are correct, Laurella. What happened shows raw feelings, and raw feelings come out when you or those you love are hurt. That's why Lucas picked up on the reaction that was vengeful instead of sympathetic to the victim. Signal and message, it sure was! Let's heed it.
I haven't noted a lot of celebration, but, have to say "sometimes justice is a process that requires someone to "pay" for bad, or untruthful, decisions that hurt others. "Vigilante payment" is not right, but neither are the bad, or planned decisions that hurt lots of innocent others .
Excellent post, Lucas! Not only have you identified the symptoms, you have also correctly diagnosed the disease that afflicts our party. Now is the time when we must come together to cure this disease.
Excellent writing. Thanks. The cancer medication that I take costs $2,000 a month with insurance. Without insurance it’s $3,000 a month. When looking up prices on the internet veterinary supply places popped up and I found that I could get the exact same medication and dosage for a dog at a cost of $240 for a 3 month supply. My guess? They still made $. Fortunately, since I’m a veteran (Army 66 – 70) I got my ID and now get the medication through the VA for $8 a month. I’ve been taking the medication for 4 years and have 1 more year to go. What do less fortunate people do? They die. I’m sorry the guy got assassinated but fuck insurance companies. They’re killing people and no one is getting charged.
Agreed. When insurance company decisions deny doctor recommended care and the patient dies...isn't that murder???? Not directly, but just the same, murder.
Lucas, thanks for a well-written and thought-out article.
May the Democratic Party rally around to change these many points of injustice that have kept workers real wages stagnant for over 40 years and created a billionaire oligarch class in the US. It’s little wonder people are very very angry.
Here are some places to start, in no particular order:
* Outrageous medical costs
* Union busting
* Zero real wage growth since the 1970’s
* Outrageously high credit card interest rates (anyone old enough to remember our usury laws?)
* Unnaturally low taxes on the uber wealthy.
* Loss of consumer protections
* Loss of environmental protections
* My goodness, the Roberts Supreme Court (Citizens United, really!?)
You said it about usury. I just got a credit card offer from Wyndham hotels supplied by Barclay's Bank. My credit score is in the upper 700, but the interest rate on the card was 35%! Seriously? WTF?
That list of problems needing to be addressed hould provide a great platform for an ORGANIZED effort on the part of the Democratic party. That list should galvanize public support as so many of us regular citizens have had to experience the negatives on that list! This list describes REALITY in the USA for the average person!
Insurance companies don’t want to cover the cost of spoilage when the power company has a shortage; sounds like the power companies are liable for not providing the power.
power company will declare "Act of God" and never compensate people without a trial. The only thing that could save her is the refrigerator clause on homeowners' insurance. She should up her coverage for valuable items in her home. Sorry, it is so hard to just live a normal life, with logical help from those who are supposed to protect you. It sucks and WE need to rise up to defeat abuse of humanity by the powerful.
Lawyer here, and I spent my entire career working in the regulated utility sector. The reason we regulate utilities is because the free market does not work well to deliver service at reasonable cost. I believe this is true for health care as well. I can hear all the jokes even as I type. But it sure seems to me that we have allowed ourselves as a country to believe that the market forces can deliver health services at lower cost, when it is abundantly clear that health care is not amenable to the kind of shopping and cost comparisons that will discipline most areas of the economy. And, we have allowed insurance companies to do the ‘work’ for us. We don’t really need a health insurance industry. But we have it because the money in that industry swamps most democratic efforts at reform.
In regulated industries, it is usually possible to discern 1. The actual cost to produce a unit of the product or service (e.g., a kilowatt of power) 2. The actual price being charged to the consumer of that product (e.g. my electric rates), and 3. The profit made by the provider. Although you can also get that information about many less regulated companies, I challenge anyone to find that information for any health care provider, insurance company, or other health-system-affiliated company. You can’t even have an intelligent conversation about reform without those numbers.
In my brief excursion into Traditional Medicare, I saw Medicare being ripped off 'biggly' by two different hospitals. Medicare discovered these two ripoffs about 6 months later, but in neither case did they get enough money back. Can you believe being charged $10,000 for a 5 minute 6 lead EKG? In the other case, the hospital charged 2 days for rooms, when the time was spend just sitting for about 6 hours, with a bunch of Ambulance people. The room charge was about $10,000 per day.
Was that a private, for profit hospital?
For sure. Charity hospitals are rare.
It’s a fair point, Jim. It might be more difficult, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
Agreed; and we all know they won’t offer that information.
I do not see this murder as anything other than murder in cold blood. Think about it. What if that young man was upset with lawyers, then started murdering lawyers in cold blood. Lots of people are pissed at lawyers. I think this is a story of someone boldly at 7 a.m. in the morning picking off a fellow citizen walking to a meeting in NYC. That is the primary story here. What if it was a priest murdered in cold blood walking toward a building in NYC murdered by another citizen bound and determined to make a statement about the prevalence of child abuse in the church? What if it was a teacher, nurse or anyone whose very profession caused another citizen harm shot in the back on a morning walking in NYC or anywhere. Be careful of the profession you choose and think of yourself as never to be a target before you cheer on and even think this act of murder can be justified because of the problem we have in this country in health care. If you want our "system" to change then vote and write and march and be careful who you put in elected positions in our government; don't take them out thinking that is justified or heroic. What has become of this country where the news of a person killed in cold blood is celebrated? I've been aggrieved we all have our grievances but I'm not in the basement constructing a weapon and shooting people in the back. The next target could be any one of us. Don't you realize it?
But the shooter didn't just randomly pick someone off. They specifically targeted a healthcare CEO who was at a meeting to congratulate himself and his company on what a great job they've done denying people healthcare to inflate their profits. He specifically targeted someone whose decisions contribute to 68,000 needless deaths per year from Americans. Brian Thompson was particularly heinous because he oversaw the implementation of an AI with a NINTEY PERCENT ERROR RATE that denies people's claims automatically. He is a terrible person, and the world is a better place now that he is not in it. As long as we keep allowing these people to "calmly" implement systems that kill people to increase their profits, they will keep doing it. Stop limiting your perception of violence to only physical violence. The violence of these systems kills more people than any shooter every could.
We DO NOT ACT VIOLENTLY to reform health care or any other politically created system!!!!
If imagine the only reason you're willing to accept violence from the wealthy without repercussion is that it hasn't personally affected you yet. I've noticed that people are way more about "no violence" in this case when they're higher in the schema of privilege in our society.
Assumption is not a valid or proven method for any decision much less judging that anyone who disagrees with you has never suffered. Also, conclusions cannot be made upon "noticing" something and then interpreting and drawing an opinion based on what you have been "noticing" without an awareness all of our observations are biased. It takes discipline to step away from bias and it is sloppy to posit as fact anything thru a "word salad" of what you've noticed and how you feel. You are advocating targeted cold-blooded murder. Be careful what you say and even more so what you do.
We're going to have to agree to disagree. You claim "Assumption is not a valid or proven method for any decision" and yet you made many assumptions in your message. "What if..." People can "what if" all day long, but none of those "what ifs" are relevant to this case. I agree with others and believe that Luigi's trial would result in an acquittal. Any reasonable person would have their own "delay, deny, depose" experiences. My own experiences are similar to Luigi's. My back was injured over 10 years ago in a car accident. I've had over a dozen surgeries and, similar to Luigi's x-ray, I have several screws, rods and pins in my spine. I have not experienced a day without pain since the accident. I've been in a wheelchair for over 10 years and because of my physical condition, along with a TBI (traumatic brain injury) I require round-the-clock care. But I can't afford to pay for that care and my benefits don't cover it. My claims, authorized and submitted by my surgeons, have been delayed and denied multiple times. Every attempt to better my life medically, has been delayed and denied by insurance companies. Prior to the accident, I had an amazing life - an extremely well paying job, A condo near the beach, where I walked an average of 5 miles a day after work. I could afford several vacations each year and never wanted for anything. But now, I no longer have the job, or the condo, or the beach, or the vacations. I am solely dependent on social security for my income (which is NOT a livable wage) and Medicare as my health insurance. Do you think Medicare covers my medical expenses? How about all of the prescriptions the doctors write for me. People faced with medical hardships are frustrated with insurance companies and they're exhausted from fighting with insurance companies when claims are denied, and the reason for the denial is that the insurance company doesn't believe the procedure, therapy, personal care or prescriptions are necessary. People are dying, either waiting for approval for life saving medical treatments, or because those lifesaving medical treatments have been denied. People are dying by their own hand because they can't take the pain, the frustration, or the exhaustion any more - because of insurance companies and their "policies" their ever ballooning profits their lack of compassion and so much more. So yes, murder is wrong, but there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Americans that feel for Luigi and some that probably wish they could have done what he did.
Look at your with your well thought out argument that offers no actual information. Good job.
Sorry, but I have enough self respect not to just accept violence that causes suffering every single day without repercussion. And if you think about it, I'm sure you don't want to live in a world like that either. Brian Thompson's entire career was violence. If someone wanted to shoot him, I wish that person nothing but the best.
Sorry, we cannot just start equating actions we disagree with as violence. Brian Thompson ran a business. He didn't go out killing people. You can disagree with our medical system, I certainly do, but these are not equivalent things. He was murdered in cold blood. That is not acceptable as recourse for any political disagreement. You shouldn't believe that because you feel the reasons behind it were worthy enough, he should be allowed to be sacrificed.
If you can't agree that manufacturing conditions that cause people to die is violence, then I don't think we have anything further to talk about. I hope the ruling class gives you the pat on the head you're looking for while you stick up for their "right" to cause suffering. I respect myself and the people I care about more than just accepting such an philosophically lazy and morally bankrupt position. But if you're happy to let the people in your life suffer, well... I guess that means you have exactly the world you deserve.
Do you honestly believe that Luigi's actions had anything to do with a "political disagreement"?? Brian Thompson was responsible for tens of thousands of deaths. And insurance companies have been held responsible for deaths due to their " policies" and negligence.
Agree, of course. There is no justification for murder.
Bravo! Everyone should nurture self-respect and not accept violence. On that we can agree.
When the nation was formed, I firmly believe the founders felt that to the core. They also felt they had the capacity to affect change... How do we affect change today? Maybe its rhetorical, but how *do* we reform a politically created system? I agree, not through violence... but tell me what's working? Dialogue and compromise only are effective when there are grown-ups committed to that type of thing.
Education is the key to any country's ability to EFFECT change. But our society has been dumbed down to a childish level of comprehension. When the USA was formed, it wasn't the third most populated country in the world; now we're a bloated land mass of spoiled, complacent, borderline cretins! We need campaigns for mandatory civics classes in all levels of public education with true, relevant history thrown in. Above all, though, keep religion out of schools, except as it may apply to historical events based in reality.
Religious Studies in a school should be one that is truly a study of religion, all religion. It can start by introducing the youngest to the cultures and practices of other nations. Learning languages is important but the mastery of our own language must be a priority. The introduction of allowing our children to use artificial intelligence to help them structure a paragraph or essay will do much harm. The only way to learn to write is to read voraciously and then write often. A diary can be given to the youngest to draw in or dictate entries at the end of their day; or do nothing no pressure. It makes a good gift in the New Year to do so. A notebook and a pencil or pen on the night table invites reflection on the day that children respond to in fact. As long as there is no pressure and also respect and privacy for the contents of the diary. Our children cannot read or write cursive which is embarrassing for them when asked to sign a document. It's ridiculous.
It was already founded by the Native Peoples'!!!!
Yes, they really should say discovered and then stolen by colonizers. That would be accurate.
Agree.
So, it is obvious that you are well acquainted with the CEO, and the operations of the company he was running, and all of his greedy misdeeds, as well as the details of all the people wrongly affected by his decisions.
Or is it that you just accept the story that Lucas provided?
Yes, it is difficult to prosecute anyone with more disposable money than you have. But before opening the floodgates of murder by rumor, you really should be finding ways to seek justice without shooting suspects in the back.
If we live in a society, where everyone is trying to get whatever they can from everyone else, we may as will go live in the jungle in a small tribe. At least in a small tribe, everyone sticks together for the common good.
When justice prevails, everyone is calmed, and violence doesn't break out. When justice is denied, then violence is prone to break out, and in ignorance more injustice is done.
What was his "proper" recourse? What is the proper recourse to having been killed by being denied healthcare? How does someone go back after the fact and receive justice for that? If we live in a society where a very small portion of people (~2700 billionaires on the entire planet and a larger but still relatively very small number of wealthy executives) deliberately harm public health for the sake of increasing their own profit, and it is legal for them to do so in our country, what are you expecting people to do to get justice? Are you expecting people who are struggling to afford healthcare to somehow also come up with the money for a huge legal battle? If they're struggling with healthcare, they may also be struggling with housing or food security. More than half a million people in are driven into medical bankruptcy every year in this country. Meanwhile, we've criminalized being unhoused in all but three states, while large corporations are padding their profit margins by using prison slave labor instead of paying people to work for them. All is these things are connected. I'm not saying violence is the ideal solution to our problems. I'm saying that when you take away people's dignity and ability to survive, when you give them no recourse to seek justice, you shouldn't be surprised when you are targeted with violence in return. Frankly, I'm surprised it took this long for someone to do something like this.
Not by murder. Let's start from there. Agreed?
I mean, we obviously aren't agreed, as I just detailed in this entire argument that the working class shouldn't be forced to silently accept the deprivations caused by wealthy people with no recourse. If you want there to not be physical violence (as you clearly aren't nearly as concerned with the non-physical violence that causes exponentially more harm), then get to work building the infrastructure to get people the care they need and timely recourse when they are being killed by a system for profit. That infrastructure does not exist now, so people are going to take recourse wherever they can get it. Stop trying to shame people into quietly dying for the sake of capitalism. That value is not aligned with humanity.
I'm also wondering if Mangione was addicted to opioids since his back surgery. I'm trying to put the pieces of the behavior puzzle together.
Mangione presents as someone with adult-onset schizophrenia a diagnosis that can only be given by a professional for a disease that commonly effects young adults in their twenties. In my opinion Mangione is very ill and in need of help himself. A reaction to drugs legal or illegal is also a possibility as you suggest. His mother's comment that the murder did not surprise her and was something she could see him doing suggests the family witnessed his decompensating long ago which was followed by his dropping out whereabouts unknown. It is tragic all around. But murder can never be justified. This was murder.
It sounds like he was doing a lot of reading to try to manage his pain outside of pharmaceutical intervention (Back Mechanic, books like that), but it wouldn't surprise me if he has struggled with substances at various times since his injury. At the end of the day, I think living with chronic, debilitating pain is a lot like living with ongoing trauma. It makes it really difficult to function and even think clearly. There's a breadcrumb trail of his book reviews showing how his thought process evolved. It looks like the path was pretty straightforward after he started having back problems in 2022. Before that, he was another wealthy white son in a family that made their money in long-term care facilities that seem to have good reputations, but that background probably gave him some insight into the problems he faced after his injury.
And do you not think that Luigi sought justice from United Health Care? A patient can only appeal decisions so many times. Do you not think that he sought recourse as much as was allowed?? No, violence is not the answer, but, when, as you say, justice is denied...
On the subject of violence when justice is denied, where do you stand on the violence on January 6, 2021? Do you believe that justice prevailed on that day? Do you believe the violence was justified? Do you believe the deaths of the law enforcement officers was justice, or justified? How about the common good? Was the common good served that day?
I sooooooooo get it, Jen. While all these folks clutch their pearls because of the sin that young man committed, I bet they don't think twice when someone like George Floyd is murdered in cold blood. I bet they don't do that when Black men & women are murdered in cold blood at the hands of the pohleece every day or by people like Zimmerman who is walking around a free man. Sure, the system worked real well for Trayvon Martin (eye roll). In fact, they don't care as long as the perp has a badge, is rich, or is white. I find their arguments hypocritical, because they're still not talking about the fact that that CEO coauthored murdering people by the policies he created/maintained. So very strange.
If any of you be Christians, how come you don't live by, "He/she without sin cast the 1st stone?" Most of you are sinners and one sin is not better than the other. Jesus (or someone) said you're ALL sinners. Unless you're one of the jury members who get to convict the assassin for this crime, stop being judge, jurors, and executioners yourselves. Judgmental fools who don't really care about the suffering of others at the hands of the rich & powerful. That's what they want and nothing they can say will justify what the CEO was doing with his business.
Now, I don't condone murder by anyone, including that CEO. The assassin was probably thinking an eye for an eye. Some people live by that, others don't, but these naysayers are not in the young man's shoes. Something or someone was bothering him so much, he didn't see any other way to deal with it.
People do want the system torn down & rebuilt, but I'm afraid the one they chose to do it will perpetuate the same system or worse. He's incompetent and it's clear he's in bed with Putin. The rich want to keep getting richer and making the middle-class disappear. They don't care one bit for humanity or the lives of people who aren't rich (or white) like them. These same people will step right over the increasing number of homeless folks in this country. SMFH
It is beyond imagination how you argue this case for cold blooded murder with the attempt to assert innocence with the following statement: "But the shooter didn't just randomly pick someone off. They specifically targeted a healthcare CEO who was at a meeting to congratulate himself and his company on what a great job they've done denying people health care to inflate their profits." Perhaps you should exercise your right to petition and lobby your elected representatives for a change in our laws. Not doing so is broadcasting your disinterest in doing what you can to make murder justified in specific incidents that thru your efforts and lobbying and letter writing and peaceful protest will influence our Justice Department to change our laws. Go for it!
OMG, stop clutching your pearls. Your arguments are so one-sided. One man's murder is no better than the other. Neither side is "right" or "righteous" and neither are you. No wonder you tried to jump down my throat elsewhere in here.
The system is broken, people are getting way out of whack, and I don't blame them anymore than I did the folks who almost burned L.A. down for the pohleece who beat up Rodney King to walk away with no consequences. I almost went down there myself, and I'm a law-abiding citizen. The frustration was real!
It's clear where you live (zip code) and how out-of-touch you are with average Americans. Get your head out of the clouds and stop wagging your finger at people. It is NOT helping ... not at all. Nobody's changed by your rhetoric nor empathetic to your cause. Murder happens everyday, either by policy decisions or literally. I don't see you whining about any other murder than the literal version. Hmmmmmm...
Perhaps you should exercise your right to leave me alone and go lick boots on your own time. I've already told you why working through the "proper channels" is just resigning to letting more vulnerable people needlessly die. Your argument remains ignorant and morally bankrupt. Bye.
100 percent correct
Do you protest this much every time law enforcement murder another unarmed civilian? Do you protest this much all the people sleeping in the street after being driven into medical bankruptcy? Do you protest this much for all the people dying for lack of healthcare? Do you protest this much as billions of dollars of our tax money are stolen and used to murder hundreds of thousands of innocent people in Palestine? It seems to me like you’re actually extremely selective about the violence you decide to care about, and it seems to be limited only to the acts of private individuals. You’re happy to give people with power and authority a free pass to murder anyone they like, but as soon as the target is a wealthy executive who kills people every single day with his business decisions, here you are, spending your energy trying to shame poor people for finally standing up and saying enough is enough.
I'm sure you're more than happy to turn a blind eye to the violence of this empire every day. It's evident from your argument. Maybe you should try to muster the same nonchalance for people who are suffering and trying to find some path to justice in a system that offers them no recourse. Maybe you should care more about humanity than you do about "civility" for wealthy people.
I agree 100% with the points you are making. My initial comment though was really limited to the question of why we allow health insurance companies to set the terms of health care services.
OK. I stand corrected for not appreciating my audience.
Agree entirely; thank you! Work to reform the system politically, but don't excuse violence! Lucas' comments about Democrats under Obama are very misleading. Yes, the health insurance industry needs far more regulation to guarantee fairness and equity, but if it hadn't been for Democrats in Congress plus Obama, we wouldn't have the Affordable Care Act and probably, we wouldn't have any government-regulated healthcare at all? I supported Lucas financially inasmuch as I live in California, but some of his rhetoric about Obama and the Democratic Congress which saved Obamacare is very concerning.
Murder is evil Designing and running a for-profit health care system is evil.
No disrespect, but this apples and oranges, as the saying goes.
People might be angry at lawyers, priests, teachers, and nurses. But, individually, I would guess, no lawyer, priest, teacher, or nurse is responsible for the deaths of hundreds or thousands—or, hundreds of thousands—of people. Whereas, healthcare CEOs are.
Ordinarily, I would agree with you: murder is wrong. But, I don’t see this as murder. I see this as an act of public service.
Sorry? Not sorry. (Actually, I am sorry for the man’s family).
But, he knew what he was doing. He woke up *every day* and chose murder. He was directly responsible for the deaths of so many of his fellow humans—including innocent children.
Luigi only woke up and chose murder *one* day.
murder is murder and it is singularly wrong that will never change unless our laws change; and everyone is free to work to change the laws so we may discriminate as to when cold blooded murder is right and when it is wrong; currently, however, and for eons it is and has always been wrong; for which I am grateful
Who amongst all of us is willing to do this murder? Would you throw the first stone so to speak? Or do you prefer being hidden in the crowd inciting more violence and threats and murder? Would you choose and target this particular CEO and shoot them in the back? Or do you prefer that others do so for you? If you are comfortable behind your masks and as part of a nameless/faceless mob broadcasting your support of this act of cold-blooded murder, then what keeps you from doing so yourself? Do you feel it is "wrong" for you to do so, but "right" for Mangione to do it for you? Murder is murder and cannot be justified. It is wrong whether you pull the trigger or celebrate it. If you advocate for murder and so eloquently justify it, then you too are guilty of murder. The mob is just as guilty of the ensuing slaughter and fear they incite as the brutes who do their bidding. But that should not cause you any discomfort given your argument it was right and justified.
The point is NOT whether or not this was a cold blooded murder, no one disputes that it was.
I feel the same way about school shootings, and wonder at the folks who get indignant at Thompson's murder, but don't have much to say about murdered school kids or right wing vigilantes killing unarmed people.
The point you're purposely missing is the bipartisan public reaction to thus particular murder, and how rare it is that so many of us had the same reaction.
Right or wrong, it's obvious Lucas has a point here. The system is broken, everyone knows it....but who'll be the ones to pull the populist thread that's been revealed?
The "populist thread that's been revealed" has shown itself down the ages. It is also less elegantly described as "the mob" cheering for slaughter of a targeted group or individual. Millions have died this way and just as many have stood by and watched hiding under the skirts of "the mob."
He had a detailed plan. He shot a defenseless man. In the back. Then shot him again. I don’t believe there is either a sympathetic or apologetic narrative that can overcome those facts to either a grand jury or trial jury. But I may be proven wrong.
The problem with your analysis is that it doesn’t sufficiently emphasize how dangerous anarchy is. Trump and his MAGA thugs gain support for breaking down a broken system. But in the aftermath, the very forces that perpetuate the broken system benefit and the people supporting the political anarchy are left worse off than before. Can anyone reasonably think insurance companies will be kinder and gentler in the aftermath of the killing? Can anyone reasonably think that John and Jane Q. Public will be better when Republican thugs decimate Medicare, Social Security and the right to decent healthcare? The Democrats’ main failing is their inability to make the case that Trump and his cronies are completely corrupt, that Republicans in power means a constant assault on democracy, and that the only ones who benefit are big corporations and the ultra wealthy. Are we going to be better off if we survive the next four years? We will not. Let’s make a convincing case for this and people will return to the Democratic fold.
Sometimes I think the Democrats and Republicans are on the same side, and that they are essentially enacting "good cop - bad cop" behavior to gain their goals. And those goals appear to be 1) make obscene amounts of money, and 2) cull the "herd" so they have healthier slaves and fewer old ones who can no longer work.
They are on the same side. They have been working together for decades to stall progress and strip away our rights. Republicans haul everything to the right, and Democrats work together to stop things from ever moving back to the left. It seems like they're on the same side because they are. They went to school together, worked together, lived in the same neighborhoods--they don't care about us. We are an annoyance to these people, at best.
This was a cold-blooded murder, which can never be justified, carried out by an indignant and self-righteous coward who shot his victim in the back on a busy NYC sidewalk, endangering if not traumatizing everyone around him. This is a story of pre-meditated murder not health insurance or claims adjusters. I've been aggrieved and hurt by many, but I'm not going to shoot any one person or those in their profession in the back. Be careful to not normalize this murderer.
Okay. And what about the murderer who oversaw the deaths of thousands upon thousands of Americans in order to earn millions for himself? What about the murderer who oversaw the implementation of an AI with a NINETY PERCENT ERROR RATE to deny people access to the healthcare WE HAVE ALREADY PAID THEM FOR? The murderer who calmly sat in a board room with all his best buds and made decision after decision after decision to deny people healthcare in this country with the full knowledge that doing so was causing suffering, not just to the 68,000 people who needlessly die every year in this country from lack of healthcare, but to literally millions of us who have to fight this system to receive a service we pay more for than anyone else in the entire world. Your perception of violence is skewed to excuse mass violence perpetrated by the wealthy for the sake of profit while we lock people away in prison for years for ridiculous crimes like stealing baby formula or a backpack.
You nailed this one!
I appreciate the validation! ❤️
THAT PART!
I think the exact same thing. Yup!
As if. We did make the case. Weren’t you listening? Now that we lost, Democratic leadership is TEPID. No urgency. Let’s wait and see. Yeah, well, I hope the Claims Adjuster isn’t finished with his work, and I’m a 60-something, law-abiding woman.
The case has been being made, and until now not much attention has been paid to it. If change will come no other way, let the violence continue, only out in the open like this instead of hidden among the private trials and sorrows of families and citizens. Brian Thompson headed a system at UHC that was intended to profit off the sufferings of others.
Let the violence continue? And your preference for the slaughtering is out in the open like the murder of Thompson? Obviously, if this is your stand then threats and intimidation are fine and dandy as well. In other words, a complete collapse of our society where no one place will be safe from being a victim or witness to cold blooded murder. Would you like to pick a month in 2025 we should heed your cry? Will you be there armed and ready or behind your computer screen hiding a faceless/nameless member of the rallying mob calling for picking off whomever is on the menu today. How wonderfully inspired!
Are you threatening the claims adjuster?
Oh THAT'S a stretch! I so need emojis with my computer. My eyes are rolling at you, Raissa. You are a self-righteous one. Damn.
How is your reference to the claims adjuster not interpreted as a threat of violence toward the claims adjuster. How else can what you wrote be read?
I referenced nobody in what I said. You assume way too much and put words in my mouth. I mean what I said and said what I mean. Everything else is YOU projecting. I referenced you accusing anybody of anything like that. It was a stretch.
You write: "Can anyone reasonably think insurance companies will be kinder and gentler in the aftermath of the killing?"
Not kinder but scared into less evil behavior when enough board members and senior execs. are executed.
Execs. may be momentarily "nervous", but the company will just hire security, pass the cost on to those they insure, and life will go on. I can understand the vigilantism attitude, especially for those as in Lucas' example, but in the long run it will make matters worse not better. In all things, anymore, American's only think short-term when we really need long-term (100 year) thinking.
Apres Moi, les deluge - The real question... is this a one-off killing, or the bow-wave of something bigger. This killing will remain embedded in the American psyche for quite some time, and how it resurfaces could be... exciting.
Now that the billionaire class has installed their puppet, they hope to foment a revolution that will further enrich and empower them, at the expense of the people and their regulatory state; but revolutions eat their young and once the passions of the mob are unleashed, just staying atop the beast will be a challenge many of these self-imagined masters of the universe are manifestly ill-prepared to manage.
If you imagine that baskets full of heads and bodies stacked on tumbrels are relegated to 1793, I suggest you think again. Republicans have systematically stepped over or erased the red lines and dismantled the guardrails of civil governance without understanding that without these constraints, the system can respond stocastically, and too quickly for the wealth to deploy their mechanisms of social and informational control. Widespread economic hardship affecting ordinary citizen could feedback into this in ways that are completely unforeseeable. Imagine, if you will, the societal equivalent of a bomb cyclone; rapid and unpredictable intensification.
I think "dismantle the regulatory state" is much less catchy than "eat the rich".
It can never be justified. Cold blooded murder once justified by any of us will be normalized and your new tomorrow. Watch your back. Watch what you do for a living. Watch out!!
"If it is okay for someone to murder a person who works in corporate health care."
It is disingenuous to compare the CEO of UHC to "a person who works in corporate healthcare". He is a prime mover of a business that enriches itself and its ghoulish shareholders by causing suffering and death to people who payed UHC to insure them against the cost of falling ill.
Perhaps if you, like me, had had UHC cause your mom's death by refusing appropriate care, you would be more sanguine about the matter.
Consider that citizens allow the government to maintain a monopoly on violence, but that this compact requires the government the reciprocal responsibility to dispense justice and constrain wrong-doing. If the government fails to uphold its part of the compact, citizens can, and will, reclaim their right to violence. The government has manifestly failed to constrain wrong-doing, as committed by the wealthy, so...
Democracy is slow and complicated. One problem is the big three monopolies in most industries. Democrats went after monopolies, Republicans give them tax breaks.
Democrats tried to get to universal heal care with the ACA and helped millions of Americans to get health insurance and gave peace of mind to people in their 50's and 60's who did or may have been laid off. They would not have been able to buy healthcare when laid off except for the ACA. Republicans want to repeal the ACA.
While I would love to see the criminals in Wall Street and the healthcare industry in jail, the rule of law is more important. Without it, there is chaos and everything is worse. And the fix will take decades. And it won't affect billionaires one iota. Their life styles won't change. Mine will.
Constant improvement. Democrats improve. Sometimes not fast enough, but most of the time as fast as can be. Crashing and burning is worse for everyone.
The civil rights movement didn’t respect the rule of law… just saying.
In four years, let’s revisit the notion of constant improvement.
If laws are manifestly unjust, just what does an adherence to the rule of law accomplish?
When a person's son or daughter, etc. has long, drawn-out suffering not just due to disease but compounded by a so-called insurer's unwillingness to enable treatment, thinking about negatives "in the long run" just isn't present. The murder of a CEO or two at least provides a sense of agency in the situation.
Except few Americans can think beyond the current Tik-Tok video they’re watching, much less next month, or next year. Too many people live only in-the-moment, day to day, because that’s all they have, or can afford.
You must be young. There are tons of people who aren't consumed by Tik-Tok, Fuckerbook, IG, or Twitter. I'm 67 and perhaps you're talking about a majority of a certain generation. I guarantee you this is not the case.
If we do not stand up and speak out against glorifying a coward who shot a man in the back, then we invite and normalize it. Who are we (any of us) to be so indignant self-righteous and Avante Garde in doing that to our society?
Inciting fear is violence which is not acceptable in a society of laws. Nor is murder.
Nice apologia, but you entirely missed my point, assuming it was me that you were responding to.
Let's make the case that neither party is interested in changing the system. The Dems
are in the best position to change this and win back a solid majority by simply implementing progressive policies that enjoy majority support: Universal healthcare, complete funding of the SSA (including removing the cap on wages subject to FICA tax), increased taxes on the uber-wealthy and a meaningful increase in the minimum wage, mandated nationally and tied to the cost of living. Simple and no shots need be fired. But the Dems won't do it b/c they are complicit in the pay for play system. Ergo, not simple and jury still out on shots needing to be fired.
Dems tried for universal healthcare and could not get the votes. They did get the ACA and it is a good thing.
If you increase the FICA cap you will anger many who now vote Democratic. Healthcare costs twice as much in this country as other countries. Democrats (Biden) focused on reducing healthcare costs successfully.
It is slower than we want, but democracy is slow and often messy.
Who amongst the readers here would shoot someone in the back? This murderer is a coward not a hero. And cowards are out there with hate and faux purpose justifying their plans to kill any one of us. What do you do for a living? Has anyone in that line of work pissed someone off? Well, watch your back literally.
Who among readers would be dumb enough to admit that out loud? SMFH
You're being egregious with your rants. BTW, I'm a retired/disabled veteran. I never pissed someone off in my line of work. I was a software consultant. AND? If you did, "Hmmmmm..." Glad I never had to work with/for you.
Elliot, unfortunately I must agree with you. One of the first articles I read in the aftermath of the shooting was about companies that provide private security services and were besieged with phone calls from corporate executives wanting their services right now.
I wonder if any of these upper level employees have since stopped to wonder why Thompson was targeted? Or to question why our politicians and other “bigwigs” are mouthing appropriate words while the rest of us, while decrying murder, are wallowing in mixed feelings.
I have a solution. The tip of the iceberg of it is PeopleCount.org
AMEN!
Who is going to make this case?
Thompson's annual salary was $10.2M...Taking all the salaries of healthcare insurers leaders together, there might just be enough to pay for a national health insurance program...
What is crazy is that as a surgeon, I consider myself rather well compensated… and I make <5% of what Thompson did, working 60-70 hours a week, with only 4 weeks off per year.
Ditto, before I retired...
I totally agree! Dems should support people, not huge corporations.
And the RepubliKKKan response to a sensible healthcare system that:
Works
Works for everyone
At lower cost (elimination of multiple administration systems, no need for advertising, no profit?
SOCIALISM!
And the rubes have been conditioned to believe Socialism = Bad. Even though roads, bridges, police, military, judiciary, disaster relief, etc etc are examples of socialism that people like/love/expect.
Yes, and the socialism fear mongering by Republicans (and lately their wingnut MAGA cult) has gone on for TOO DAMN LONG. Democrats need to wake the fuck up, progressively radicalize, and quit kowtowing to corporate puppeteers. Starting with FINALLY catching up to rest of world with a universal healthcare system. YES it has its problems, longer waits, etc, but are the providers getting shot by bankrupt patients for denying claims and hoarding profits?
Flip side of the same coin. They're all in it for the money. Corporations are running everything and it's getting worse. THEY own politicians.
My daughter worked for a clinic that was purchased and destroyed by a United Health Care sub-group. After the clinic was raided for all valuable assets, my daughter left it because she was no longer able to "do no harm" to her patients. Most people have no idea how brutal the "health" industry became after United Healthcare began purchasing clinics.
Yes. I believe allowing insurance companies to purchase the medical provider businesses should be outlawed. Maybe use "antitrust" to fight to stop/rollback this activity.
Sadly there will be little was can do about this as trump and the GOP totally support the for profit model for everything. Seems there is not even one GOP member of congress who does not support trump on this
That's venture capitalism for you. Buy out a company, bleed out all the cash then leave the company bankrupt.
Good for you Lucas. In the 1970s and 1980s I served in Western Europe where there were small groups of lethal radical fringe groups like the Red Army Faction/Bader-Meinhof Gang attacking industrialists and government figures (they even took a shot at NATO CG Alexander Haig.) We had our own Weather Underground and others, and there were similar anti-capitalist fringes and anarchists before WW I. Such group sprang up when Robber Barons got to greedy, and Union-busting became too effective and workers felt helpless.
We seem to be back in a similar Gilded Age, and there are lots of plutocrats in the Health, Airline, and other industries who are screwing people for all they're worth. When the Big Boys get too greedy, Robin Hoods appear---and this guy seems pretty sophisticated.
Maybe we should ask the Big Boys if "burdensome regulations" and human decency/fairness wouldn't be preferable to living their lives in fear of modern Robin Hoods.
I hate to say that if I were in a room with both men, I'd feel more comfortable with the assassin than the CEO. I have such mixed feelings about all this, and I'm late to the party.
One of the many reasons I gave you funds in your campaign and helped raise other funds for your effort. Thanks for this.
Barry, Barbara Stocker here. Amazing how separation of church and state issues support economic issues. Stay involved and stay in touch.
Good to hear from you again. We are having a mainly good time now in Massachusetts and found a very anti-Christian nationalist UCC church here. Our granddaughters have gone to two musical events (including a hootenany) with us and I took them to see "Moana 2" last week. Working with some local groups to put on some concerts up here (I will not be singing) and working with some environmental groups as well.
In my adopted state of Missouri, I did get involved in politics. Started out as a Pennsylvania conservative in pretty tough times during the depression. I started school in Butler and was forced to pray in the public schools. We weren’t religious, and the prayer led me to atheism, where I have been ever since. In Missouri, I became more liberal and involved in politics. I have been planning to write it up in detail one of these days. Doing what I can.
Barbara
When I was first old enough for Medicare, I was married to a very tight fisted man who convinced me I should not get AB MEDICARE, and instead get the United Healthcare option, because, (he claimed) " I would receive many more benefits, "like dental".
2 years after, I was sent to the ER, then in patient at the hospital, with an occluded jugular vein. The doctors weren't sure why or what to do. By the grace of God, my good friend was a social worker at that very good hospital. She found out I was upstairs. She came in, looking over her shoulder saying she shouldn't be telling me BUT I needed to go directly to a different provider and get on regular AB Medicare ASAP! She explained I was now in the territory of needing very expensive testing and possibly surgery, that my existing UH insurance was going to fight, or not pay for.
I went to a different supplemental provider and was able to answer the questions honestly, and change to the AB Medicare and subscribe to a supplemental policy. SO this info has been known (by health providers) for a long time!!! United Health is a money tree for the owners of the company and has been for a long time.
It's SHAMEFUL.
"Converting patient health into profit " is exactly what insurers (and providers generally) don't do! If there were no fires, fire insurance companies would be out of business. Fee-for-service medicine converts ill-health into profit: docs make more money the sicker you are--unlike docs in comprehensive providers like Kaiser Permanente, where the healthier they keep you, the more they earn. Incentives matter!
Thats one thing Obama got right on ACA. I remember clearly during the fight his quote, "the incentive structure is all wrong."
I turned 65 a little over a year ago, and so far, navigating health care, and experiencing reasonable costs , has been working pretty damn well for me. I think Medicare for all is the way forward. Private insurance should be reduced to supplemental insurance, and that would save literally trillions of dollars to consumers in the coming decade.
However, Mike, Kaiser can be penny-pinching too at times. A Canadian friend has to wait 3 months for an MRI and she is in constant abdominal pain. Canada is bleeding doctors and can't afford good equipment (like MRIs.) A lot of work needs to be done at the drawing board to design a U.S. health care system that helps people (sounds simple) and is financially stable, with fair salaries for docs, nurses, techs, janitors, and admins. But Lucas is right, we have to start somewhere, and SOON!
As much as I want to hide and be depressed about the incoming felon and his minions, I agree with you that Democrats have an opportunity to actually stand up and represent the people who will be further harmed by the actions of the felon's
self-serving 'administration'. Opportunity is knocking. . . let's open the door
A man was murdered in cold blood in an American city, on an American street! I don't give a rat's ass about his occupation -- he was a human being, he had a family, but more than all that, murder is NEVER to be cheered by decent human beings and I for one will not celebrate the ugliness, the cruelty of the act. Others may rejoice all they like but I find nothing celebratory about this horror.
As a person who supports kindness and compassion and decency in our society, I disagree on this "execution." It is a signal. It is a message. This CEO was making MILLIONS by denying critical care to people who then DIED because of that denial. In other words, his decisions KILLED INNOCENT PEOPLE. Therefore, he was executed for his evil actions. Perhaps that is why so many people support this execution of a person who killed many.
I'm afraid you are correct, Laurella. What happened shows raw feelings, and raw feelings come out when you or those you love are hurt. That's why Lucas picked up on the reaction that was vengeful instead of sympathetic to the victim. Signal and message, it sure was! Let's heed it.
This harkens back to “The needs of the many…”
I haven't noted a lot of celebration, but, have to say "sometimes justice is a process that requires someone to "pay" for bad, or untruthful, decisions that hurt others. "Vigilante payment" is not right, but neither are the bad, or planned decisions that hurt lots of innocent others .
Two eyes for an eye.
Don't think most of us are celebrating, however, what's that old saying? "Lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas",, some people get what they deserve.
There's no rejoice --- just a sense of empathy.
This is a remarkable commentary, and it does help explain what Democrats need to do. Keep writing!
Excellent post, Lucas! Not only have you identified the symptoms, you have also correctly diagnosed the disease that afflicts our party. Now is the time when we must come together to cure this disease.
Excellent writing. Thanks. The cancer medication that I take costs $2,000 a month with insurance. Without insurance it’s $3,000 a month. When looking up prices on the internet veterinary supply places popped up and I found that I could get the exact same medication and dosage for a dog at a cost of $240 for a 3 month supply. My guess? They still made $. Fortunately, since I’m a veteran (Army 66 – 70) I got my ID and now get the medication through the VA for $8 a month. I’ve been taking the medication for 4 years and have 1 more year to go. What do less fortunate people do? They die. I’m sorry the guy got assassinated but fuck insurance companies. They’re killing people and no one is getting charged.
Agreed. When insurance company decisions deny doctor recommended care and the patient dies...isn't that murder???? Not directly, but just the same, murder.
Lucas, thanks for a well-written and thought-out article.
May the Democratic Party rally around to change these many points of injustice that have kept workers real wages stagnant for over 40 years and created a billionaire oligarch class in the US. It’s little wonder people are very very angry.
Here are some places to start, in no particular order:
* Outrageous medical costs
* Union busting
* Zero real wage growth since the 1970’s
* Outrageously high credit card interest rates (anyone old enough to remember our usury laws?)
* Unnaturally low taxes on the uber wealthy.
* Loss of consumer protections
* Loss of environmental protections
* My goodness, the Roberts Supreme Court (Citizens United, really!?)
You said it about usury. I just got a credit card offer from Wyndham hotels supplied by Barclay's Bank. My credit score is in the upper 700, but the interest rate on the card was 35%! Seriously? WTF?
That list of problems needing to be addressed hould provide a great platform for an ORGANIZED effort on the part of the Democratic party. That list should galvanize public support as so many of us regular citizens have had to experience the negatives on that list! This list describes REALITY in the USA for the average person!
Insurance companies don’t want to cover the cost of spoilage when the power company has a shortage; sounds like the power companies are liable for not providing the power.
power company will declare "Act of God" and never compensate people without a trial. The only thing that could save her is the refrigerator clause on homeowners' insurance. She should up her coverage for valuable items in her home. Sorry, it is so hard to just live a normal life, with logical help from those who are supposed to protect you. It sucks and WE need to rise up to defeat abuse of humanity by the powerful.
But, while the insurance company and the power company are fighting it out, a young man was forced to use possibly spoiled insulin............
I would think Homeowner’s or renters insurance would cover it
Mine does. But maybe the poor woman couldn't afford to have it.
The system is definitely broken.