Duane Tron re: .... I'll bet you aren't a "friend of Angelo!" This one cuts across party lines....and it cuts!?

Duane Tron to John Curry, June 25, 2008
Subject: Re: I'll bet you aren't a "friend of Angelo!" This one cuts across party lines....and it cuts!

Wow! I need a loan to pay for this work that Everdry is going to start on tomorrow morning in our lower level. Have you ever heard the old saying, "when it rains it pours?" That has been so very and literally true at our house for quite some time. When it rains it runs into our family room and has ruined our carpet and caused other damage.

And then our friends at STRS announce they're going to increase our health insurance premiums another $1,600.00/year this coming January. I haven't even told my wife because she's been so down over the present rates we're paying, the gas price increases and how they're affecting us due to her daily commute to Cincinnati, and our straining budget. As soon as she finds out, she's going to tell me to drop her health insurance because she keeps saying, "we can't afford to insure her."

Darn, that has to make the HC policy makers at STRS proud! Oh! I'm so sorry! They are proud because they don't really give a rats you know what now do they? The people that work there all have a Cadillac health insurance program and are living well! I hope that when all of these people retire, someone screws the hell out them and destroys their retirement so they have to go back to work like all of us have been doing. What goes around comes around.

We've been married for 43 years and the worst arguments we have had during the 43 years have been over the STRS health insurance premiums, as she wants me to cancel her insurance and I refuse. I wonder if I can become friends with Angelo? Maybe he can get me some really low rates.

This again points out why I keep pushing for the creation of a new third party in this country and kick the Dems and Republicans out of Columbus and DC. I sound like a broken record, but we aren't going to be able to really fix anything in this country until we create a new and moderate third party, that will work for the people and future of this nation. The people we've been sending to Washington are the biggest problem; they are our problem and they just don't get it! Oh! They get our money, but they don't get it when it comes to why they are in D.C. and what they are supposed to be doing while serving, "THE PEOPLE" and not themselves.

Mr. T

Conde Nast Portfolio.com
Countrywide's Many 'Friends'
by Daniel Golden, Jun 12, 2008

Senators Dodd and Conrad are among the government officials who scored V.I.P. loans from C.E.O. Angelo Mozilo.

An exclusive Portfolio investigation.

Angelo's Friends

Countrywide Financial Corporation (CFC)

Industry: Real Estate

Summary: A holding company which through its subsidiaries, is engaged in mortgage lending and other real estate finance-related businesses, …

Primary executive: Angelo R. Mozilo,

View Full Profile

Angelo R. Mozilo

Industry: Real Estate

Biography: Mr. Mozilo is the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Mr. Mozilo is a co-founder of the Company …

Two U.S. senators, two former Cabinet members, and a former ambassador to the United Nations received loans from Countrywide Financial through a little-known program that waived points, lender fees, and company borrowing rules for prominent people.

Senators Christopher Dodd, Democrat from Connecticut and chairman of the Banking Committee, and Kent Conrad, Democrat from North Dakota, chairman of the Budget Committee and a member of the Finance Committee, refinanced properties through Countrywide’s “V.I.P.” program in 2003 and 2004, according to company documents and emails and a former employee familiar with the loans.

Other participants in the V.I.P. program included former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson, former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, and former U.N. ambassador and assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke. Jackson was deputy H.U.D. secretary in the Bush administration when he received the loans in 2003. Shalala, who received two loans in 2002, had by then left the Clinton administration for her current position as president of the University of Miami. She is scheduled to receive a Presidential Medal of Freedom on June 19.

Holbrooke, whose stint as U.N. ambassador ended in 2001, was also working in the private sector when he and his family received V.I.P. loans. He was an adviser to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

James Johnson, who had been advising presidential candidate Barack Obama on the selection of a running mate, resigned from the Obama campaign Wednesday after the Wall Street Journal reported that he received Countrywide loans at below-market rates.

Most of the officials belonged to a group of V.I.P. loan recipients known in company documents and emails as “F.O.A.'s”—Friends of Angelo, a reference to Countrywide chief executive Angelo Mozilo. While the V.I.P. program also serviced friends and contacts of other Countrywide executives, the F.O.A.’s made up the biggest subset.

According to company documents and emails, the V.I.P.'s received better deals than those available to ordinary borrowers. Home-loan customers can reduce their interest rates by paying “points”—one point equals 1 percent of the loan’s value. For V.I.P.'s, Countrywide often waived at least half a point and eliminated fees amounting to hundreds of dollars for underwriting, processing and document preparation. If interest rates fell while a V.I.P. loan was pending, Countrywide provided a free “float-down” to the lower rate, eschewing its usual charge of half a point. Some V.I.P.'s who bought or refinanced investment properties were often given the lower interest rate associated with primary residences.

Unless they asked, V.I.P. borrowers weren’t told exactly how many points were waived on their loans, the former employee says. However, they were typically assured that they were receiving the “Friends of Angelo” discount, and that Mozilo had personally priced their loans.

The V.I.P. loans to public officials in a position to advance Countrywide’s interests raise legal and ethical questions. Countrywide’s ethics code bars directors, officers and employees from “improperly influencing the decisions of government employees or contractors by offering or promising to give money, gifts, loans, rewards, favors, or anything else of value.” Federal employees are prohibited from receiving gifts offered because of their official position, including loans on terms not generally available to the public. Senate rules prohibit members from knowingly receiving gifts worth $100 or more in a calendar year from private entities that, like Countrywide, employ a registered lobbyist.

Senator Dodd received two loans in 2003 through Countrywide’s V.I.P. program. He borrowed $506,000 to refinance his Washington townhouse, and $275,042 to refinance a home in East Haddam, Connecticut. Countrywide waived three-eighths of a point, or about $2,000, on the first loan, and one-fourth of a point, about $700, on the second, according to internal documents. Both loans were for 30 years, with the first five years at a fixed rate.

The interest rate on the loans, originally pegged at 4.875%, was reduced to 4.25% on the Washington home and 4.5% on the Connecticut property by the time the loans were funded. The lower rates save the senator about $58,000 on his Washington residence over the life of the loan, and $17,000 on the Connecticut home. The former employee says the float-downs were free. Senator Dodd’s wife, Jackie Clegg, said in a brief interview that two other lenders they checked with offered comparable interest rates. The senator’s office said Thursday afternoon that it is preparing a response.

Countrywide has also contributed a total of $21,000 to Dodd’s campaigns since 1997. While a presidential candidate last year, he filed a bill to ban lenders from charging prepayment penalties and steering home buyers to more costly loans—both practices in which Countrywide reportedly engaged. He also called for criminal charges for such predatory lending.

Senator Conrad borrowed $1.07 million in 2004 to refinance his vacation home with a balcony and large porch in Bethany Beach, Delaware, a block from the ocean. Mozilo instructed a subordinate to “take off 1 point,” or $10,700, according to a March 17, 2004, email.

Later that year, Conrad refinanced an eight-unit apartment building that he and his brothers owned in Bismarck, North Dakota. According to the former employee, the loan violated Countrywide’s normal policy of providing loans for buildings of four units or fewer. In an April 23, 2004, email, Mozilo encouraged an employee to “make an exception due to the fact that the borrower is a senator.”

Senator Conrad acknowledged in a statement that he received financing from Countrywide. “I never met Angelo Mozilo,” he said. “I have no way of knowing how they categorized my loan. I never asked for, expected or was aware of any special treatment…From what we have been able to determine, it appears that we were given a competitive rate.”

A spokeswoman for Countrywide, which is slated to be acquired by Bank of America, declined to comment. A Bank of America spokesman said that senior executives there “do not get involved in the origination of mortgages,” but will refer inquiring friends to the right loan programs.

Mozilo co-founded Countrywide in 1969 and helped build it into the nation’s largest home mortgage lender. While interest rates were dropping in the first half of this decade, prompting widespread demand for refinances and home-equity loans, Countrywide loaned hundreds of millions of dollars per year through its V.I.P. program to politicians, government officials, business executives, entertainment celebrities and other customers singled out for special treatment. Account executives at Countrywide’s call center in Rosemead, California, handled the bulk of the loan applications, which were processed by a separate V.I.P. underwriting unit that had its own branch number in Countrywide’s record-keeping system.

Jackson, the former H.U.D. secretary, borrowed $346,331 from Countrywide in June 2003 to refinance his Alexandria, Virginia, townhouse. That December, he applied for a $308,000 mortgage to buy a vacation home on a golf course in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. The loan came through on January 21, 2004, a week before President Bush named him to the H.U.D. post. He resigned in March 2008 amid unrelated cronyism allegations.

H.U.D. has wide-ranging relationships with Countrywide and other lenders. It regulates real estate settlements and closing costs, and runs the Federal Housing Administration, which guarantees mortgages.

The former employee says that Jackson received discounts on both loans. Defending his transactions, Jackson said he was a Countrywide borrower long before he met Mozilo or worked for H.U.D. Asked if he received any breaks on the loans, he said, “Not to my knowledge. If I did, it certainly wasn’t discussed with me.”

Former H.H.S. secretary Donna Shalala received two V.I.P. loans, for $338,685 and $202,300, in 2002. “Normally, I would not ask for special consideration toward a certain loan/customer, but the complexity of the Shalala deal calls for it,” one Countrywide executive wrote in an August 20, 2002, email, explaining that the University of Miami president was buying an interest in a timeshare. “Angelo asked me to ensure that we ‘knock her socks off’ with our great service.” On September 21, another Countrywide staffer wrote that Shalala’s loans were “ready to close…I floated both of them down to current pricing.” Shalala did not respond to messages, and an assistant at the University of Miami said that she was traveling.

Holbrooke’s wife, author Kati Marton, received loans totalling $1.4 million to refinance two properties in 2002. “Look for these,” one Countrywide manager wrote in a September 27, 2002, email, alluding to Marton’s loan applications. “These loans are incredibly important to Angelo and as such they are incredibly important to us.”

The next year, Holbrooke borrowed $1.2 million to refinance a vacation home in Telluride, Colorado. Countrywide waived at least 1.25 points, or $15,000. “Per Angelo, this loan is to be at zero points,” a Countrywide manager wrote in a February 20, 2003, email. Also in 2003, Holbrooke’s son, David, and daughter-in-law Sarah received a half-point discount on a $559,500 loan, or about $2,800, when they refinanced their Brooklyn high-rise co-op, and five-eighths of a point discount on a $428,000 loan, or about $2,600, when they bought the floor above it. Neither Holbrooke nor his wife and son returned messages.

Holbrooke and Johnson are both vice chairmen of the private banking firm Perseus. Besides the discounted interest rates reported by the Journal, Countrywide also waived points for Johnson, a former chief executive of government-sponsored mortgage reseller Fannie Mae. In 2003, Countrywide took 1.375 points, about $13,000, off a nearly $1 million loan to refinance Johnson’s Washington home. When he borrowed almost $1.3 million in 2003 that same year to refinance a 4,400-square-foot, Southwestern-style home with four bedrooms and five baths beside the second green of a golf course in Palm Desert, California, Countrywide waived 1.875 points, or about $24,000.

In 2004, Johnson borrowed $3 million to upgrade to a larger estate—a 5,875-square-foot house, with a guesthouse and pool—on the same course. Although the size of the loan exceeded Countrywide’s limit for a second home, Mozilo told an employee to “do the deal.”

Brian Brooks, a lawyer for Johnson, said that he never asked for a discount on his loans, and that it is “common knowledge” that individuals of high income and high net worth receive lower rates than other borrowers. “We don’t see anything out of the ordinary here.”

Widely criticized for spurring the country’s mortgage crisis with over-aggressive lending policies, Countrywide saw its share price plunge from $45 in February 2007 to less than $5 in January 2008, when Bank of America agreed to acquire the company in a $4 billion stock swap.

Countrywide is reportedly under F.B.I. investigation for alleged securities fraud, and Mozilo has drawn criticism for unloading $474 million in Countrywide shares between 2004 and 2007 as the housing crisis neared. He’s defended the sales as part of his retirement planning.

Additional reporting by Julia Ramey; this story was adapted from a feature in an upcoming issue of Condé Nast Portfolio.
From John Curry

Duane Tron re: public education, charter schools, & NCLB

From John Curry, June 25, 2008
Duane....truer words were never spoken! John

From Duane Tron, June 25, 2008
Subject: Re: NCLB and the worm is turning

Gee! I think I have written all of this a hundred times over the past 20 years! Even more so since working with Dave Speas during the past eight years. Dave and I have stated all of these points over and over in published letters and public discussions for years. We see it and live it every day!

John, the problem in public education is everyone, with the exception of a very tiny number, have attended public or private school. Since they have gone to school they automatically think this qualifies them as authorities on everything in education. Listen to all of the former jocks who attend high school, college, and professional sporting events. Everyone of them thinks they could do a better job coaching than the people coaching the teams.

I sit at events and listen to them rip and snort at the refs and coaches and they actually think they know what they're talking about. Therefore, it isn't a surprise that politicians, and our President, think they know better how to run education than those of us who are working in it. We keep telling them what we need and they ignore us and do what they want.

We have talked to them about the fact that most children's learning issues are rooted outside of the schools, and the classrooms. They refuse to listen to us and initiate ridiculous and phony charter schools. They try and treat public education the same way we treat private business and when working with children they are NOT just some expendable commodity being processed.

Duane Tron

From John Curry, June 25, 2008
Subject: NCLB and the worm is turning

Time, June 8 2008

No Child Left Behind: Doomed to Fail?

By Claudia Wallis

There was always something slightly insane about No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the ambitious education law often described as the Bush Administration's signature domestic achievement. For one thing, in the view of many educators, the law's 2014 goal — which calls for all public school students in grades 4 through 8 to be achieving on grade level in reading and math — is something no educational system anywhere on earth has ever accomplished. Even more unrealistic: every kid (except for 3% with serious handicaps or other issues) is supposed to be achieving on grade level every year, climbing in lockstep up an ever more challenging ladder. This flies in the face of all sorts of research showing that children start off in different places academically and grow at different rates.

Add to the mix the fact that much of the promised funding failed to materialize and many early critics insisted that No Child Left Behind was nothing more than a cynical plan to destroy American faith in public education and open the way to vouchers and school choice.

Now a former official in Bush's Education department is giving at least some support to that notion. Susan Neuman, a professor of education at the University Michigan who served as Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education during George W. Bush's first term, was and still is a fervent believer in the goals of NCLB. And she says the President and then Secretary of Education Rod Paige were too. But there were others in the department, according to Neuman, who saw NCLB as a Trojan horse for the choice agenda — a way to expose the failure of public education and "blow it up a bit," she says. "There were a number of people pushing hard for market forces and privatization."

Tensions between NCLB believers and the blow-up-the-schools group were one reason the Bush Department of Education felt like "a pressure cooker," says Neuman, who left the Administration in early 2003. Another reason was political pressure to take the hardest possible line on school accountability in order to avoid looking lax — like the Clinton Administration. Thus, when Neuman and others argued that many schools would fail to reach the NCLB goals and needed more flexibility while making improvements, they were ignored. "We had this no-waiver policy," says Neuman. "The feeling was that the prior administration had given waivers willy-nilly."

It was only in Bush's second term that the hard line began to succumb to reality. Margaret Spellings, who replaced Paige as Secretary of Education in 2005, gradually opened the door to a more flexible and realistic approach to school accountability. Instead of demanding lockstep, grade-level achievement, schools in some states could meet the NCLB goals by demonstrating adequate student growth. (In this "growth model" approach, a student who was three years behind in reading and ended the year only one year behind would not be viewed as a failure.) "Going to the growth models is the right way to go," says Neuman. "I wish it had come earlier. It didn't because we were trying to be tough."

Neuman also regrets the Administration's use of humiliation and shame as a lever for school reform. Failure to meet NCLB's inflexible goals meant schools would be publicly labeled as failures. Neuman now sees this as a mistake: "Vilifying teachers and saying we are going to shame them was not the right approach."

The combination of inflexibility and public humiliation for those not meeting federal goals ignited so much frustration among educators that NCLB now appears to be an irreparably damaged brand. "The problems lingered long enough and there's so much anger that it may not be fixable," says Neuman. While the American Federation of Teachers was once on board with the NCLB goals, she notes, the union has turned against it. "Teachers hate NCLB because they feel like they've been picked on."

Is there a way out of the mess? Neuman still supports school accountability and the much-maligned annual tests mandated by the law. But she now believes that the nation has to look beyond the schoolroom, if it wishes to leave no child behind.

Along with 59 other top educators, policymakers and health officials--including three former surgeon generals, she's put her name to a nonpartisan document to be released on Tuesday by the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think tank. Titled "A Broader, Bolder Approach to Education," it lays out an expansive vision for leveling the playing field for low-income kids, one that looks toward new policies on child health and support for parents and communities. The document states that much of the achievement gap between rich and poor "is rooted in what occurs outside of formal schooling," and therefore calls on policymakers to "rethink their assumptions" about what it will take to close that gap. Neuman says that money she's seen wasted on current programs, including much of the massive Title 1 spending should be reallocated according to this broader approach. "Pinning all our hopes on schools will never change the odds for kids."

Mr. Tron writes legislators Husted & Jordan re: charter school founder pleading guilty to embezzlement

‏

From Duane Tron, June 4, 2008
Subject: Charter school founder pleads guilty to embezzlement

Dear Jim & Jon,

And another unregulated charter school director bites the dust. Just more of the ongoing corruption in what have been basically unregulated and unsupervised charter schools across America. I think you call this the practical and preferential alternative to public schools. I have spent 36 years serving public education and I can't recount a single incident of theft that is equal to anything we have witnessed with charter schools. In my 36 year career I haven't personally encountered a single public school employee who has been indicted and convicted of theft in public office.

Duane Tron

St. Paris, Ohio 43072

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

TUESDAY, June 3, 2008

By Dani McClain

School official pleads in embezzling case

A former operator of a Milwaukee public charter school pleaded guilty this morning to embezzling more than $300,000 in public funds intended for the charter school she founded and led from 2003 to 2006.

Rosella Tucker, 55, appeared in federal court Tuesday to confirm the plea agreement she signed late last month.

In 2003, Tucker founded the New Hope Institute of Science and Technology through a charter agreement with MPS.

In court today, she acknowledged unlawfully obtaining about $300,000 in U.S. Department of Education funds and spending about $200,000 of it on personal expenses including cars, funeral arrangements and home improvement. Tucker has argued that the remainder of the money she received was legitimate reimbursement for school-related expenses.

Tucker, who has worked in MPS and taught at Milwaukee Area Technical College, faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines. She will also be required to pay MPS $200,000.

Tucker's sentencing hearing is set for September 4, pending recommendations from the U.S. probation office.

Duane Tron: The Biggest Scam in History

From Duane Tron, June 1, 2008

Subject: The Biggest Scam In History

If you want to know what the problem is on Wall Street and in this country watch the attached [link below]. You're barking up the wrong tree when it comes to the corrupt entanglements of American finance and our government. The United States Congress has shirked and abrogated its duty to the American people for a very long time and this show sheds light on the root of our problems. You have to allow the Active X control and then scroll down and read the history of the Federal Reserve. I'm sure you have never known any of this and have never read the actual history of the problems facing this country. As an old history teacher I discovered this miserable and dirty little secret about 40 years ago. Very informative reading!

Duane

Click: The Biggest Scam In History

Duane Tron to Congressman Jim Jordan (his former student): Why I want to boot you and other 'career' politicians out of D.C.

From Duane Tron, May 31, 2008
Subject: Do you think it has finally started to sink in?

Congressman Jim,

This article [below] is a keeper. It really sums up the reality of things as my wife and I have been experiencing serious financial issues since 2002 when the Ohio State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) eliminated the spousal subsidy on health insurance four years after I retired. I am currently paying over $10,200.00 of my retirement check each year to maintain health insurance for my wife and myself. During the past four years I have paid nearly half of my annual retirement check for health insurance premiums, co-pays, deductibles, and prescription costs. Now we're paying nearly four dollars a gallon for gas and I have seen the price increases in everything we have to purchase to live. My wife works in Cincinnati as this is the only place she could find a job at her age after being unceremoniously pink slipped when her company closed its Columbus office in 2000 after she served over 36 years of exemplary service with them. They told her she no longer had any health insurance and tried to beat her out of her pension. We obtained an attorney and fought them. For all of our efforts she obtained a paltry retirement benefit of $10,000.00 a year. She gave 36+ years to a company, trained her replacement when they were bought out, and they told her to have a nice life.

I have been aware of the economic decline across Ohio for the past six years as we have been living it. Some have asked why we don't move to Cincinnati or closer? Because our house in St. Paris isn't paid off and it's almost impossible to sell houses in St. Paris. We have seen houses up for sale for years and they haven't sold. Secondly we would never get enough out of it to buy another house or condo because at our age we can't obtain any long term financing. The most we can get is a 15 year mortgage at higher interest rates. And you want to know why I'm angry and bitter? You want to know why I want to boot your fanny out of office along with the rest of the career politicians? Ask a silly question! I've worked for the past 50+ years only to arrive at a point in life where we're trying to figure out how we're going to pay the bills down the road!

Last month we saw our stock portfolio take another big hit with heavy losses. Since 2002 we have watched our stock investments lose over $80,000.00. And you want to know why middle class Americans are ticked off and the approval rating for Congress remains lower than the President? Granted there are several parts of the country where their economies are booming, Ohio just doesn't happen to be one of them and hasn't been for the past eight years.

I was wondering how long it would be before the people in many parts of this country started speaking up and fighting back. I'm now seeing this happen after six years of struggling in our household to maintain what I describe as a frugal lifestyle. The car I'm driving is eight years old and we can't afford to replace it. I keep it in very good shape and most people don't have any idea it's that old. I have strong mechanical skills so I am able to do a lot of my own maintenance. Not everybody is equally blessed. I doubt that you are!

The backlash I have been predicting has finally started. You tout all of this "free market" economy stuff when citing oil prices. Jim, I am an educated man who majored in social studies with a strong background in economics so I understand the basics of economics quite well. There isn't any "free market" at play in the world of oil. I remind you that oil prices are controlled by a cartel of foreigners who are NOT friends of the United States or the American people. They set oil prices, they create bogus shortages when they want to drive prices up, they conspired by announcing over three years ago that they were going to raise gas prices in the USA to $7.00/gal, and they continue to play games with our economy and national security. Then I have to listen to your remarks in the Urbana Daily Citizen spewing a bunch of economic garbage that just ain't so! The oil companies have been, and are, conspiring to drive up gas prices by every means at their disposal and to harm the American economy! In doing so they are undermining the national security of the United States and undermining and destroying the American way of life. Please don't insult us by telling us a bunch of hogwash about how this is just the result of a "free market" economy at play coupled with the "laws of supply and demand," in a world where a small group of people hold a virtual monopoly over oil and can blackmail and hold the American people hostage to get what they want. Some might be stupid enough to buy your arguments. We're not among them! We know better!!

I listened to a so-called economic guru on Fox News recently touting the ideals of the "Laws of Economics & Supply and Demand" I don't want to burst his bubble, or yours. but there is no such thing as "Laws of Economics or Supply and Demand." There are 'economic principles' but they are not "laws!" There are 'laws of gravity' but there is no such thing as "laws of economics!" This is a bunch of crap and I used to teach students that there aren't any laws governing economics apart from what men make them. Quit defending big oil and the lies they are spewing! The only thing driving gas prices higher is excessive greed and the desire by the oil cartel to destroy the United States! Read the following article from Mr. Marshall of the Plain Dealer.

Sincerely,
Duane & Mary Tron
St. Paris, OH 43072

Reality undergoes a revival at Statehouse -- Aaron Marshall's Round the Rotunda

Posted by Plain Dealer
May 30, 2008

Reality rears its ugly head rarely enough at the Statehouse that it often seems as if the entire building were sheathed in heavy-duty bubble wrap that keeps bad news at bay.

Spend enough time being wined and dined over $30 steaks by the just-got-the-new-Beemer crowd and it becomes hard for even the most grounded state lawmakers to see that everything isn't so hunky-dory in the streets.

Not this year, though. The economic hard times that have sent this state reeling are puncturing even the insular, backslapping world of state government.

Just ask Lyndhurst Rep. Josh Mandel, freshly back stateside after a second stint with the Marines in Iraq. Mandel spent most of a recent Sunday knocking on doors in Mayfield Heights, a solidly middle-class area.
The Republican said he heard hard luck story after hard luck story from his constituents about jobs lost and budgets torn to tatters thanks to rising fuel and grocery prices.

"It was a lot of 'My brother lost his job' or 'My wife lost her job,' " said Mandel, who rang 20,000 doorbells during his first run for state representative in 2006. "Now knocking on doors, this is by far the worst that I've ever heard it."

And it's not just Northeast Ohio. Reporting back on rumbling in suburban Cincinnati, Sen. Bill Seitz told his colleagues that it was the absolute worst he has seen in all his years as they debated an economic stimulus package last week.

So even suburban voters are broke and (presumably) angry from one corner of the state to another? That's going to make for an especially long and hot summer as politicians of all stripes make their case for why they deserve to stay in office.

OEA and quack, quack, quack!

Duane Tron to John Curry, May 16, 2008
Subject: Re: From CORE President, Dave Parshall

[Duane's response to Dave Parshall's "Rebuttal to OEA's slanderous comments about CORE", 5/15/08]

John,

Excellent!

- I am a former local president and treasurer.

- I served as a building rep for 15 years.

- The group that is irrational has been the self serving leadership at OEA.

- OEA sold us all out after we retired.

- They conspired to reduce the HC contribution down to 1% and removed the spousal subsidy for many of us after we had retired.

- The 35 year and 88% is NOT cost neutral as they alleged and they did create an environment of "haves and "have nots" among retirees. In other words, a two tier system.

- They have refused to address the inequities among Ohio's retired teachers and present a plan to offset the inequities that presently exist due to their selfish and self serving interests.

- They did hire Herb Dyer and rubber stamped the poisonous atmosphere he created at STRS.

- They have attacked us for trying to defend ourselves and our retirement from their abuse, lousy leadership, and mismanagement of OUR retirement system.

- They have been devoid of compassion and empathy for retirees who are suffering due to their callous disregard for the dignity and welfare of ALL retirees, especially those of us who retired prior to 1999.

- They have demonstrated total disregard for those they feel are no longer dues paying members of THEIR union.

- Legislators are absolutely correct about HB 315 and their contention that STRS has created enhanced benefits for newer retiring members. In fact, I am not aware of a single retirement system anywhere in the country where a retiree can get 88% of their three highest salary years when retiring at 35 years of service. Not a single plan anywhere except at STRS.

Do I respect the leadership at OEA? NO! Do I trust the leadership at OEA? NO! Do I support the leadership at OEA? NO! Will I support the current OEA leadership in anything? NO! Will I support any move to get rid of OEA and render them irrelevant? YES!

OEA's criticism of CORE is nothing but a smokescreen to deflect criticism away from THEIR failed policies and lack of leadership in doing what's right, and in the best interest of ALL retirees! Will I continue to attack OEA? YES! Will I continue to provide proof of their self serving behaviors and arrogance toward older retirees? YES!

My personal take? The present leadership at OEA makes President Bush look like a truly kind, compassionate, considerate, and caring president! This is a really profound statement and indictment as to who they are, what they are, and what they honestly represent! Dave is correct! They can't stand the truth because it hurts their fragile and big egos, and shows them for what they really are! If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, has large web feet, waddles like a duck, has feathers, and lays eggs; it is an overwhelmingly fact that it is a DUCK! They are what they are and they can blame CORE and try and deflect criticism away from themselves but all I can say is quack, quack!

I want OEA to know that I am not, and have never been, officially a member of CORE. I have supported CORE on many issues on behalf of retirees but have NEVER been a member, so that shoots the heck out of their contention that ALL of the criticism directed toward OEA has originated from CORE! Sorry guys! It just ain't so!!

Duane Tron

Duane Tron re: cost of healthcare increase for the "average family" this year

Duane Tron to John Curry, May 15, 2008
Subject: Re: How much will the cost of healthcare increase for the "average family this year?"

John,

Amazing? They indicate that in 2007 a family plan for four cost $14,500.00 and yet we are paying $10,200.00 for a family of two in 2008. Granted they are going to say it is due to our older age! That is a bunch of baloney as I know some of the most expensive medical bills are incurred by families with children. I had my tonsils removed as a child. That was paid for by my father's health insurance. I fell on a milk bottle that exploded and had surgery on my chin, mouth, and face. Insurance. I was accidentally pushed through a plate glass door in high school while horsing around and that was paid for by insurance (big bucks). I was hospitalized with bronchial pneumonia and that was paid for by insurance. I broke my nose twice and broke ribs. That was paid for by insurance! I suffered two ingrown toenails. Yep! Paid for by insurance. Wound up with blood poisoning in my right leg. You guessed! Paid for by insurance. Played in a couple of intramural softball leagues between the ages of 25 and 40. Tore my Achilles in my right ankle, blew out a bicep, suffered a concussion, and separated a shoulder. All paid for by insurance! You know back in the days when insurance costs due to younger age are lower than older age.

Let's see in 1994 underwent colon rectal surgery due to job related stress. In 1985 spent time in the hospital due to smoke inhalation and heat stroke from fighting a house fire. In 1995 fell on the ice and destroyed my right hand, wrist, elbow and shoulder. Total cost at the age of 51 from a fall? A cool $125,000.00. You know in that age range when insurance costs are much lower than for us old people! John, age has nothing to do with insurance costs as a whole! During the past 43 years my wife has been hospitalized twice. Once to have our daughter and once for a hysterectomy. That's the extent of her hospital expenses during 43 years of marriage.

The insurance company has spent much less on me since I retired 12 years ago than at any time in my entire life. I have been hospitalized twice. Once for three days and once for two days. The only cost that has increased for my care since retirement is medication and that has only increased about 20% overall from what it had been. I am actually doing more to take care of myself, eating better, getting more exercise, monitoring my blood pressure and other areas of concern now than at any time in my life! I rarely drink any alcohol (an occasional glass of beer or wine with a meal)! I don't smoke cigarettes and haven't for over 35 years. I have cut out almost all fried foods. I don't use sodium except for what's in the food being prepared. I drink skimmed milk, use Eggbeaters, and have reduced my bad cholesterol down to less than 40 count total. I have cut my intake of red meats and increased my diet of vegetables, nuts and fruits. Do we receive any discount or reduction for healthy lifestyles? NO!

Most of these costs are the same crap we're getting from the oil and gas companies and others intent on destroying this country and our way of life. They invent a lot of bullshit and pass the costs on to consumers alleging the need for the increases due to increased costs. The increased costs aren't being driven by consumers but are being driven by greedy people who want to make as much money as they can while spending as little as they can! And they are doing this at the expense of average Americans and for their personal gain.

I studied statistics at the graduate level and am very good with using them. I know how to use statistics and make them say anything I want them to say. I know how to work the numbers to make any situation look bleak. This is what the health insurance companies, oil companies, pharmaceutical companies and all of the rest have been doing for the past 20 years. They just spread the numbers out to say what they want and then they lie, and lie, and lie about what's happening. Note, they always point to statistics, supply and demand, the markets, shortages, price increases, etc. As I said, most of the huge price increases are linked to creating excessive profits by using false and bogus statistics. My take for what it's worth!

Duane

From John Curry, May 15, 2008
Subject: How much will the cost of healthcare increase for the "average family this year?"

Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report

Health Care Marketplace | Average 2008 Employee Out-of-Pocket Costs for Family Health Care To Increase 10.5%, According to Milliman Index [May 15, 2008] The cost of health care for the average U.S. family with employer-sponsored health coverage will increase 7.6% this year, due in part to rising prescription drug prices, according to a Milliman study released on Wednesday, Dow Jones reports. The fifth annual Milliman Medical Index analyzed historical claims data and trends in provider contracting and examined the drivers and components of medical spending. According to the study, the cost of medical services, including premiums, will increase by $1,109, from $14,500 in 2007 to $15,609 in 2008 for an average family of four enrolled in an employer-sponsored PPO.

The study also found that the cost of pharmacy services is expected to increase by 10.6% to $2,302, compared with single-digit increases for physician services, inpatient and outpatient care (Knight, Dow Jones, 5/14). Drug spending has slowed the past two years, according to the study. However, this year's increase is a trend that Milliman believes will continue, the Wall Street Journal reports (Fuhrmans, "Health Blog," Wall Street Journal, 5/14).

According to the study, employers are expected to pass on more of the cost to their employees. Employers will shift around 10.5% more of the cost to workers through higher premiums and out-of-pocket costs, such as deductibles, copayments and coinsurance, the study found. Of the total $15,609 cost, employers will pay $9,442, while employees will spend $3,492 on premiums and $2,675 in out-of-pocket costs (Dow Jones, 5/14). In 2008, employers will pay roughly 60% of medical costs, while employees will pay 40% (Johnson, CQ HealthBeat, 5/14).

Comments According to study co-author Lorraine Mayne, a Milliman principal and consulting actuary, this is the second consecutive year employees' share of spending will increase by double digits (Dow Jones, 5/14). She added that the report is "likely to increase pressure on the next presidential administration to address health care costs" (Fuhrmans, "Health Blog," Wall Street Journal, 5/14).

Gary Brace, Milliman principal and study co-author, said, "This is a trend we expect will continue for several years, as fewer high-volume drug patents expire," adding, "For many Americans, this rate of increase is exceeded only by fuel and certain food costs" (Dow Jones, 5/14). According to CQ HealthBeat, "The study adds to the existing gloom and doom related to medical costs as projections by federal analysts show that health spending in the United States will double by 2017" (CQ HealthBeat, 5/14).

The study's findings are available online.

What does ORTA know re: Stimulus Checks?

From Duane Tron, May 5, 2008
Subject: Re: CORE President re. Stimulus Check

I told everybody so! We must have a lot of people with selective listening. Oh! That is a common characteristic among teachers and it obviously doesn't go away with retirement. What the hell do I know?? I made one telephone call and got the skinny on all of this from close to the top. I guess that wasn't good enough for everyone else. And these are the same people who think there is some miraculous difference between the Republicans and Democrats running for office. The problem is they are ALL running for office and none of them are running for US! You get the idea! I've made this statement several hundred times during the past eight years. And the garbage just keeps piling up election after election.

Duane

CORE President re. Stimulus Check
David Parshall to John Curry, May 5, 2008

John, I contacted the IRS several months ago and found out the same thing. I announced this at a CORE meeting. It must have been in the minutes. Nancy was not at this meeting. Thursday I called the large well known accounting firm that does my taxes (not H & R Bock) and also a friend of mine who also is a STRS pensioner called them. They told us that our names are on the list for the $600 stimulus check. ORTA does not know what they are talking about as usual. However, I will let you know when I actually have my check. My last two SS numbers are early so I guess sometime this week or next are the predicted dates. God knows what the government may actually do.

Dave Parshall

Duane Tron re: ORTA press release

Duane Tron to John Curry, May 3, 2008
Subject: Re: Recent ORTA Press Release regarding economic stimulus money

I went straight to the top and inquired and anyone who files a federal income tax return is eligible for the economic stimulus check. People who do NOT meet the so-called 'minimum' income requirement explained by Ms. Hanning and ORTA are eligible if they simply file their 1040 form even if they didn't pay any federal income tax. They will receive a check. I didn't ask for specific information as to how they determine how much each applicant will receive. I was told that anybody who files is eligible regardless of the status of their pension system, public or private. When I read the information that was sent out from ORTA I was incredulous as I knew of several people who are on public assistance, they filed a tax return, and they already received their checks. Maybe the only people who shouldn't receive a check are those sitting on the ORTA Board, providing lousy information, and causing panic among poor retirees.

Duane

Mr. 'T' re: the pillmakers and the election

From Duane Tron, April 24, 2008

Subject: Re: So...you don't think the pillmakers are interested in the Presidential election? ...read on!
We need a NEW third party and kick all of the bums out. Do you honestly think the pill makers would have any sway with someone like me??? NOT!! Do you honestly think I'd suck up to the health insurance companies??!! NOT!!! We aren't going to fix anything in DC with the same old garbage year after year and with all of the same old promises year after year. One would think the American people, both Republican and Democrat, would have wised up by now. My take?? We deserve every piece of garbage we get in DC because we are so STUPID we just keep sending them back time and time and again, and saying kick us some more! I've listened to all of their campaign bullshit, all of the empty promises, all of the same old, same old, and we're just going to get four more years of stick it up our you know what's because we love it!! Sorry! I don't feel sorry for anyone in this country any more apart from those of us who recognize that the people running aren't going to provide any real change. The only way we're going to change in this country is when the freaking economy hits rock bottom and we all start out equal again like in 1929. You heard it right here!

Mr. T

From John Curry, April 24, 2008
Subject: So...you don't think the pillmakers are interested in the Presidential election? ...read on!

Pharma Is Still Betting On Barack Obama

www.pharmalot.com

April 24th, 2008
By Ed Silverman

An industry that usually favors Republicans voted in favor of Barack Obama during a mock election held this week at the annual DTC National Conference. The Democratic hopeful won a “primary” vote against Hillary Clinton by a wide margin of 59 percent to 40 percent. And against John McCain, the Republican nominee, Obama garnered a 53 percent majority.

“Given the Republican leanings of the drug industry, it is somewhat surprising to see Barack Obama so handily defeat John McCain,” Bob Ehrlich, ceo DTC Perspectives, which hosted the conference, says in a statement. “Of course, that could be an indication that McCain’s frequent anti-industry comments have made him unpopular with drug company marketers. Or, it could reflect that drug industry marketers do not vote with their employer interests as their primary concern.”

Obama is outdistancing everyone when it comes to contributions [click image to enlarge], which so far total $636,327, compared with $567,581 for Clinton and just $172,750 for McCain, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In general, 59 percent of the combined $2.4 million given to all of the various contenders, including those who have since dropped out, went to Democratic candidates. The totals include PAC contributions and contributions from individuals giving more than $200, as reported to the Federal Election Commission through March 31.

In a separate vote by the attendees, 61 percent look for additional regulations on DTC to be approved by year’s end or by early 2009. The group also was pessimistic about the direction of ad spending, with 35 percent expecting a reduction in ad budgets and 36 percent saying that budgets wouldn’t change this year. Only 28 percent expect DTC budgets to increase in 2008.

Hat tip to Pharmagossip

Duane Tron re: All Children Matter....& so do campaign contributions!

From Duane Tron, April 13, 2008

Subject: Re: All Children Matter....& so do campaign contributions!

Yes! I am thankful the Ohio Election Commission took a strong stand on this issue. It's about time those who are leading our state start stepping up and dealing with those who try and operate outside the law. Conservative or liberal, it's time to start equally applying the law to groups and person's who think they can do what they please to promote their personal agendas. We have encountered groups and individuals in recent years who think because they possess great wealth they can do what they want, when they want, and where they want. This mindset has been at the very root of the problems we are facing across this country. Review the arrogance and condescending behavior of members of Congress and those running for our highest office and you will see a mirror image to which I am referring. We have people who think they are above the law! We have seen them emerge in some federal law enforcement agencies. elected public office, and in the corporate sector. They believe that because of their power, wealth, and or both, they possess the belief that they are above the Constitution and other laws. They are not!

The Devoses made their fortune through creation of a company called, "Amway." Let's talk briefly about Amway. My wife and I were approached 30 years ago and asked to sell Amway and become distributors for the company. We attended meetings that guaranteed a "get rich" quick scheme. They told us that we should go out and recruit family and friends and convince them to become distributors with the idea they would recruit more family and friends. The more we could recruit the more money we would make. The idea was as we recruited more and more people the less we would have to do and the more money we would make! As they put it "you can sit back and just enjoy the continuous flow of money into your bank account as more people are recruited by each new contact. As we got higher up the ladder we wouldn't have to sell the products because we would have a whole host of people beneath us selling for us. My brother and I attended meetings and even attempted to sell the product and recruit others. I looked at my brother one evening and said, "you realize this is nothing more than a sleazy pyramid scheme?" He replied, "Yes," and I said Mary and I are getting out because we don't want to do this. Somewhere in the midst of all of this some people are going to get hurt badly! The people who can't recruit large numbers aren't going to make anything. They will just become the mules who help others make a lot of money and at their expense." My brother agreed and he dropped out as did we!

Ah! And this is how the Devoses made a huge fortune! Did they work hard? Yes! Are they highly motivated people? Yes! Could they become successful in most enterprises? Yes! But they chose to make their fortune operating a "pyramid" scheme and to this end I find them to be disgusting because they made their fortune off of the backs of a lot of people who just wanted to have a better life and most never got there. Was the scheme they used illegal? No! On the other hand in my opinion it was very immoral. I view all "get rich quick" schemes as immoral and dishonest. I look at a guy named Oreck down in Mississippi. He sold vacuum cleaners door to door for years and he decided to design and sell his own brand of vacuum cleaners and he did. He set up a business, stopped selling door to door, built a factory, hired employees, and marketed his product. He has become a successful and respected businessman, building an American product, using American labor, and selling his product for a fair and reasonable price. He didn't build his business on a pyramid scheme of getting rich quick. He did it the old fashioned way by selling a quality product, at a fair price, and with honesty and integrity.

The Devoses think they are above the law! They operate the PAC's the same way they operate their Amway business. After all . . . .all is fair in love and business! Right? This is why they tried to circumvent campaign finance laws. They truly believe that since they have a lot of money they make the rules and play the way they want. I commend the Ohio Election Commission for slapping them down and hitting them right in a place they understand, their pocketbook! I hope and pray the judges in the courts uphold the Ohio Election Commission and send a very strong message to those who abuse the system. It is long past time to put certain people in their place! Being a lifelong Republican I can assure all of you that my comments are very non-partisan as you can determine from what I have written. What these people are doing is undermining and destroying public education in this country, a public education system that moved this country to the most powerful and greatest country in the world over a 150 year period of time. Because of the excessesses of people like the Devoses they are placing the prominence of this country in extreme jeopardy!

Duane

From John Curry, April 13, 2008
Subject: All Children Matter....& so do campaign contributions!

"The [Ohio] vote on the fine was 5-0, the votes coming from two Republicans, two Democrats and an independent."

"Acting chairman Martin Parks, a retired Republican judge, said politics had nothing to do with their decision."

Mlive.com (Grand Rapids, MI Press)

Record fine could present problems for DeVoses

Posted by tfettig April 12, 2008

[Photo: Dick DeVos]

It is a slogan few would argue: All Children Matter.

A national political action committee network under that name embodies founders Dick and Betsy DeVos' long-held passion for private school vouchers and charter schools.

But in the wake of a record $5.2 million fine levied April 3 by the Ohio Elections Commission, the issues pose a challenge to their stake in Michigan politics. It would not be the first time.

In 2000, the DeVoses poured nearly $5 million into a failed ballot measure in Michigan that would have offered vouchers for private schools.

Betsy DeVos resigned as state GOP chairwoman that year, due in part to clashes with Republican Gov. John Engler over the tactical wisdom of putting it on the ballot. Nearly 70 percent of voters rejected it.

Former Amway President Dick DeVos tried to put vouchers behind him in his 2006 GOP bid for governor, saying the people of Michigan "spoke clearly."

But the same year, the All Children Matter PAC in Virginia funneled $870,000 to the All Children Matter PAC in Ohio.

Donors to the Virginia PAC frequently cut checks in 2006 for six figures -- or higher.

There was just one problem, according to the Ohio Elections Commission: The Virginia All Children Matter PAC was not registered in Ohio.

Acting on a complaint by the Ohio secretary of state, the bipartisan commission found the Virginia PAC could not legally transfer that money to the Ohio All Children Matter PAC.

Its fine -- the biggest anyone at the commission could recall -- could revive controversy over vouchers and big money should DeVos make good on hints he will run for governor in 2010.

Michigan Democratic Chairman Mark Brewer says you can count on it.

"This is just another example of a family that thinks they are above the law," Brewer said. "If you are going to insert yourself into the public debate, we are going to hold you accountable."

Lansing political analyst Bill Ballenger says it could be a potent argument if the fine is upheld.

"They could make a case that Dick DeVos is not only out of step with the sense of Michigan voters, but his wife is running a PAC trying to instill vouchers in other states and doing it illegally," Ballenger said.

Political motives?

William Todd, a Columbus lawyer who represents All Children Matter, says the politics already have commenced.

"They are getting tripped up by what looks like a very, very vicious attack on their philosophy," Todd said. "If this was a union group, no one would have done anything in Ohio," he said.

Todd asserts that, beyond politics, All Children Matter is victim to a campaign finance system so tangled it penalizes even those who try to follow the law.

Todd says groups such as All Children Matter encounter a maze of state campaign laws and ambiguous regulations as they try to move their agenda.

In Ohio, he maintains, the PAC ran afoul of an overzealous bureaucracy determined to stop its activities.

"I think the whole thing is unconstitutional, the way it is being interpreted by this agency," Todd said.

In his view, Ohio law allows unlimited transfer from out-of-state PACs to Ohio PACs as long as they are affiliated.

"Bureaucrats do not have the power to override statutes," he said.

Todd said All Children Matter will appeal, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary.

John Truscott, spokesman for Dick DeVos, said he is no longer involved in the issue. "Dick has no involvement in this. He hasn't since 2005," Truscott said.

Neither DeVos responded to requests for comment.

Advocating school choice

Following the 2000 defeat of vouchers in Michigan, the GOP power couple set up All Children Matter in 2003 to promote vouchers in other states and to push tax credits for businesses that create scholarships for children to attend private schools.

It operates out of West Michigan with funds channeled through Virginia, then dispersed to campaigns around the country.

Dick DeVos was its initial chairman, passing on that role in 2005 to Betsy DeVos.

Since 1999, the couple and their immediate family have pumped more than $7 million into expanding school choice -- vouchers, tuition credits and charter schools -- and promoting candidates who back those causes.

Its Web site says its mission is "to work for the election of public officials who are committed to the enactment of meaningful reforms to ensure that all children in America -- without regard to race or family income -- have equal access to a quality education."

While it has numerous critics, All Children Matter is regarded as a key voice by advocates of school choice.

"There is no more effective advocate of meaningful school reform than All Children Matter," said Colorado state Sen. Bob Hagedorn, a maverick Democrat and a strong advocate of vouchers and school choice in that state.

Complaints and opinions

In Ohio, the PAC spent $856,559 in 2006, including $10,000 contributions to House Speaker Jon Husted, a Republican, and 2006 GOP gubernatorial candidate J. Kenneth Blackwell, both staunch charter-school supporters.

An additional $71,500 went directly to other candidates, records show.

The PAC also spent nearly $360,000 for campaign mailings on behalf of GOP candidates and nearly $287,500 in radio and cable TV advertising.

In Wisconsin, a complaint was filed in 2006 alleging All Children Matter laundered money and violated campaign rules by failing to register with the state and disclose its donors. The matter stands before the state's Government Accountability Board.

Philip Richter, executive director of the Ohio Elections Commission, said All Children Matter flouted a May 2006 advisory opinion issued by the commission.

The opinion stated that the Virginia All Children Matter PAC would have to file documentation to establish its existence in Ohio. It never did so.

But it proceeded to transfer hundreds of thousands to the Ohio All Children Matter PAC, triggering the secretary of state complaint. Ohio law at the time limited individual contributions to PACs to $10,000.

"One of the reasons for the issuance of the advisory opinion was to make sure there was no skirting of laws on where money came from and how it was received," Richter said.

The $5.2 million fine was split between the Virginia and Ohio PACs. The amount was determined by statute that calls for fines three times the amount spent.

The vote on the fine was 5-0, the votes coming from two Republicans, two Democrats and an independent.

Acting chairman Martin Parks, a retired Republican judge, said politics had nothing to do with their decision.

"I have been here for five years," Parks said. "We really haven't had a problem with partisan politics."

Rich Robinson, executive director of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, a nonprofit watchdog agency, finds it hard to believe All Children Matter was unaware what it was doing in Ohio.

"This whole thing is built on enormous contributions. This vehicle (All Children Matter) has been created to push what I view as the DeVos signature issue.

"If you are going to do this kind of stuff, you obviously have to know what the laws are today," he said.