As with the interview with Vernon Jones, I am posting this interview with Jim Martin without comment. Just do not have the time today and the primary run-off is tomorrow.
VOTE!!!!! TOMORROW!!!!!!!!
Monthly Archive for August, 2008
This is a quick post of an interview with Vernon Jones, one of the candidates for the Democratic Nomination for U.S. Senate. I apologize for the shortness of this post, but it is the best I could do.
VOTE!!!!! TOMORROW!!!!!!!
Since 2005, when the Republicans captured a majority in the Georgia House and elected the first Republican Speaker in 130 years, Glenn Richardson has been more concerned with promoting Glenn Richardson, than working for the people of Georgia. His Late, Great Tax Plan in 2008 is a prime example. A dumb idea promoted for his personal gain, i.e., his anticipated run for Governor in 2010.
As speaker, he is a little dictator, punishing anyone who dares defy his commands. He wants to be something he is not, and hopefully never will be: Governor. He loves to pick fights and promote gridlock with Casey Cagle and the Georgia Senate. He is inaccessible, arrogant, sleazy and the number 1 soldier in the Chamber of Commerce’s war on justice in Georgia. But lets not dwell on Glenn’s good points!
Many people, me and hopefully some legislators, are tired of buffoonery orchestrating ever increasing animosity in the Georgia legislature. Fratricide is not pretty or productive, even when it is primarily within the Republican Party. Enter, horse and rider.
David Ralston (R-7, Blue Ridge) is an attorney and Chairman of the House Judiciary - Non-Civil Committee. David recently announced his intention to seek the position of Speaker of the House when the Republicans caucus in November. In doing so, he is literally putting everything on the line, including his chairmanship, because Glenn is known for his passion for vengence and retribution. And thank goodness for Glenn’s passion. It’s the one thing that insures his ultimate failure!
David wants to bring civility back to the Georgia Legislature. In these times of budget shortfalls, working together is going to be more important in 2009 than ever before. Listen to the interview and see if David Ralston sounds like the kind of guy you want running the Georgia House. If he is, call your representative and tell him to support David. Without hearing from you, your representative might be too chicken to buck Glenn.
That appears to be the case with Toombs County’s representative, Greg Morris, a Democrat who switched to Republican “after” being elected as a Democrat. I hate to talk bad about Greg, but he’s just the kind of guy Glenn Richardson loves to say “boo” to.
Political elections are important, but the truth is, they are not as important as judicial elections. Why? Enacting laws is a group effort. It requires the agreement of dozens. The participants are by no means focused on being fair or impartial.
Judges, on the other hand, decide what the law means. More importantly, their decisions impact the lives of individuals in a personal and permanent way. The job requires knowledge of the law and the wisdom of Solomon in judging each specific case. Each judge is supposed to make up his own mind without being concerned that another judge may disagree with him.
If you have any respect for the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, you will pay special and close attention to the candidates for this important position. If you don’t care, someday you may find yourself in a place like Guantanamo Bay and wish there was a judge you could rely on to protect you.
Chris McFadden has thrown his hat in the ring seeking the position of Judge on the Georgia Court of Appeals. Chris specializes in appellate law, which means he helps lawyers like me when a case is appealed from a lower court to either the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court. It is his job, not to just know the law, but to know how to argue issues, convincingly and successfully. In addition to studying cases, he studies the judges that write them. He tries to understand what issues and approaches work with which judges so he can craft the most persuasive argument and present it in the most effective way.
Chris is a co-author of a book on appellate practice in Georgia. He has also worked with the Georgia Innocence Project which works to free men who have been convcted of crimes they did not commit. He has also been active in the Atlanta Bar Association and the Georgia Bar Association.
I always get nervous interviewing judicial candidates because it is quite possible I will find myself in the candidate’s court if elected. I took a real chance in 2006 when I interviewed Mike Wiggins who was running for the Supreme Court of Georgia. Now, that was an interview! However, if you listen to my interview with Chris and then listen to the one with Wiggins, you will understand, and hopefully, appreciate how important it is to elect judges without agendas, particularly hidden agendas.
Judge’s aren’t perfect. We all gripe when we lose a case, whether you are the lawyer or the client. Neither is the law perfect. But, these are not reasons which justify apathy. If anything, they require vigilance. Vigilance in electing judges who are fair and impartial. Every judge, like every person, has beliefs, biases and prejudices, but a judge knows, or should know, how to put aside his personal preferences and focus on the law. It is hard, but that is exactly what judges learn to do.
All the more reason to listen to this interview (and those to follow) to make sure you consider and vote for the person whom you believe would make the best judge.
There are just some things I am not inclined to believe without cold, hard proof. When someone told me there was a winery in Bulloch County, I thought they had been hitting a bottle from somewhere, just not Bulloch County. Well, slap me silly! There is a winery in Bulloch County (Statesboro), Georgia: Meinhardt Vineyards and Winery.
In this interview, Ken Meinhardt, the owner, tells us all about winemaking in South Georgia. This is a relatively new and growing industry, not only in Georgia, but also North Carolina. Now, this isn’t Chardonnay or Cabernet wines, this is Muscadine Wine! While similar to the scuppernongs and muscadines that many of us picked off vines down by the creek, these grapes are not nearly the same when it comes to quality and winemaking. These grapes have been and are still in the process of being developed and refined in research centers like the University of Georgia.
Ken doesn’t grow all the grapes himself. Farmers across Bulloch and surrounding counties are clearing their fields and converting to grapes. It takes a few years to grow a grape suitable for making wine, but it must be worth the investment and the wait.
Meinhardt Vineyards, not only makes wine, but provides an opportunity to sample it. The Vineyard also hosts weddings and other events where you can really have a party!
I will see you there!
We all know our healthcare delivery system is screwed up. Some blame lawyers and lawsuits. Some blame insurance companies. Some blame the unknown and the unknowable. One thing is for sure, there is plenty of blame to go around, but lets not forget the “thief.”
Who is this thief? Those who cheat the government out of precious healthcare funds by submitting fraudulent claims. I am not talking about Aunt Betty who lied to get Medicaid. I am talking about the big boys, the hospitals and healthcare organizations that make Aunt Betty look like a saint. And we should not forget another thief: the government that lets them get away with it through poor or non-existent enforcement. I don’t know which one makes me madder or more disgusted.
In his book “Undercover: How I Went From Company Man to FBI Spy–and Exposed the Worst Healthcare Fraud in U.S. History” author John Schilling tells a story of corporate greed, fraud, and criminal indictments involving Columbia/HCA Hospitals, at the time the largest healthcare provider in America. It is also the story of John Schilling, who discovered the fraud, reported it to his superiors and was forced to become a whistleblower. Many years later, he became a multi-millionaire as a result of his courage and determination.
When he first discovered that his employer, Columbia/HCA, was filing false reports with the government and receiving more than they were entitled to in reimbursement from Medicare/Medicaid, John thought it would be simple to get the error corrected. Just tell your superiors! Well, it did not take long to find out that if he wanted to keep his job, he had better keep his mouth shut. Many employees did. The problem John faced was that if he continued in his job with knowledge of the fraud, he would, in effect, be committing a crime.
The alternative John chose was to contact a lawyer at Phillips & Cohen who represented whistleblowers. Whistleblowers are individuals who report government fraud in return for which they are supposedly protected from retaliation and may be awarded a percentage of any recovery the government may obtain as a result of their reporting the fraud. Believe it or not, the Fraud Claims Act which created the first whistleblower was enacted during Abraham Lincoln’s administration to deal with all the fraud going on in fulfilling government contracts during the Civil War, …er, I mean the War of Northern Agression!
John’s efforts at being a whistleblower turned out to be fairly successfull. The government settled with Columbia/HCA for about $1.7 billion. John and another whistleblower had to share about $100 million (before paying their attorneys and taxes) which left him financially secure. Currently, he owns a consulting company that provides services to whistleblowers and their attorney in gathering the evidence necessary to prove fraud.
Even though John received a fantastic financial reward, when he first stepped out on that limb and put his trust in the law, he did so whether he got a dime, a dollar or nothing. He “did the right thing” not because of financial reward, but because he knew his employer was cheating the taxpayers, you and me and him.
But John’s story will also make you mad. Mad that it takes so long to get these crooks to pay up. Mad that at some point the government settles with the crooks for something less than they are entitled to. Under the law the government can recover 3 times the amount fraudulently taken, plus attorney fees and the costs of the prosecution. In the case of Columibia?HCA, that would have been more than $5 billion. It might have put the big corporation out of business. The government puts people out of business every day for their crimes, but it seems corporations always get a break, after all they are big business and employ thousands. I still don’t like it!
What is even more maddening is the fact that several Columbia/HCA big shots, were indicted, tried and convicted of fraud, only to have the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals (Atlanta) overturn their convictions and set them free. Had that happened with a convicted sex offender, you can hear the uproar, but when it is good old corporate big shots, it is just the way the system works.
One other item of interest. HCA was started by the Frist Family from Tennessee. You know the Frist Family, one of whom was Bill Frist, the former Senator (R-TN) from 1995 - 2007 and Senate Majority Leader 2003 - 2007. Bill’s brother, Thomas, was Chairman of HCA in 1989 when it merged with Columbia Hospitals and became the biggest healthcare provider in the United States. At the time Bill Frist was a doctor. The HCA fortune put him in the Senate in 1995. Old Bill, sold all of his stock for $20 million in 2005–just before a disappointing earnings report. Sounds like insider trading, doesn’t it! That little shenanigan by Frist and other corporate executives got HCA sued. It settled for $20 million.
And to think Frist, not to long ago, was rumored to be a potential presidential candiate in 2008. Heaven help us!
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