Chupacabra Report

News that gets my goat:

The Chron has run a two-parter on the electricity deregulation that then-governor George W. Bush signed into law in 1999. Electric utilities have raised their rates 56% in seven years since then. Who do they think they are, health insurance companies?

Speaking of which, the NYT reports that tens of thousands of medicare clients have been victim of deceptive sales tactics and improperly denied claims by UnitedHealth, Humana, WellPoint, and eight smaller companies that administer the prescription drug program.
Medicare has fined these companies $770,000 in the past six months, a drop in the bucket for an industry that spends over $100 million a year just on campaign contributions and lobbying expenses.

Meanwhile The Peoples Pharmacy column offers advice to seniors who have hit the prescription drug expense “donut hole” and are wondering how they can afford their medications for the rest of the year.

AP reports that Massachusetts has a record number of families in homeless shelters. Most states don’t keep statistics on the homeless, much like how the US treats civilian casualties in Iraq: no news is good news.

The NYT reports that the overwhelmed Consumer Product Safety Commission is unable to recall even the dangerous and defective products that they know about before they injure and kill American consumers.

And over in “Get Fuzzy” comics, Bucky Katt talks of “killing the planet faster than a Chinese toy factory.”

Man oh Manischewitz!