Tuesday, August 10, 2010
When I tried to describe this to a good buddy at an Art Walk just the other day, she said, ‘Oh, a political blog.’ That challenged me to decide if it was or wasn’t. You know that thing Magnum calls ‘your little voice’ ? In law school they taught me that it was right 99% of the time -- and they were spot on, I dropped out :DDD. Well my little voice answered me, and I blurted out, ‘Nope -- it’s really more of a sociological thing’.
And I think that’s exactly what it is. First hunch is always right.
Sooooooooo......
This is our start.
There are many more topics to share as together we move to common sense and common effort, looking back (and forth) and reclaiming the things that have made America great. We don’t have some magic spy-glass that lets us see any better than others. But we remember that, as Americans, we ‘own’ our government, not the other way ‘round. So it‘s up to us to make things right when those we entrust to lead us seem to have lost their way. And we think they might have.
What do you think?
It will take a quite while to bring this idea into focus, but if YOU agree that this is our birthright, please join in, and follow. Help us find the way. And ask your friends as well? This is a call to action. Together, we will do important and amazing things for our country, for our world, and for ourselves. At CommonSens, we don’t own this -- just holding the rudder for now.
It cannot be successful without YOU. And I don’t think it will be boring :).
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... for reason and freedom. CommonSenS
Netitorial No. 1 August 10, 2010
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{hint: you don’t get to the Real Question til page 5} --
{hint: you don’t get to the Real Question til page 5} --
Have Dead Peasants Morphed Into Dead Soldiers?’
And as importantly: If so, what does that say about us?
by me and my Shadow
I was recently more than a bit disturbed to learn that the prominent insurance company named in a CBS Evening News story (link below) had parked US Military Death Benefit Policies in a warm fuzzy place where they could earn some interest and pump up their profits.
So disturbed that I decided it was time to act, and created this site, enlisting Shadow as a bud and a counterweight. Like John David Souther wrote: ‘It’s hard to see the spot you’re standing on.’ Thanks, Shadow.
‘My ‘Aha’ moment...’
CBS Evening News, July 29th, 2010
the Facts (link below):
“The death of an American in uniform - no matter what the circumstances - is always a tragedy. Now, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the State of New York are investigating whether life insurance companies are taking advantage of their {sic, dead vet’s} grieving families at a time when they're most vulnerable.
This is ... based on a six-month investigation by Bloomberg Markets Magazine.
It's being called the life insurance industry's dirty little secret: revelations the nation's second largest insurer was profiting from the death benefits of fallen soldiers.
"Until today I actually believed that the families of our fallen heroes got a check for the full amount," said Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on Thursday. “
... the funds are actually held in the company's own general corporate account, allowing Prudential to earn the lion's share of the interest for itself.
"I was stunned to find out that 'yeah, I had been duped.'" Cindy {whose son was killed in Afghanistan, for clarity -- eds.} said...
...when Cindy Lohman's statement said she was earning less than 1 percent interest on her Alliance Account, public records show Prudential was earning almost 5 percent on its corporate account.”
A similar situation had come to my attention some years ago. Wal-Mart had taken out lifeinsurance polices on their workers. At a time when they refused to provide healthinsurance for many, many of their employees. These life policies are called COLI (see below) but a wag coined the term ‘Dead Peasant’ policies. They allow companies to profit from the deaths of non-key employees.
This type of insurance was, with the help of those who make our laws (that will be a topic for other netitorials), an extension of what had originated as ‘key man’ insurance -- where irreplaceable partners cross-insured each other to protect their business. That is not only just a good idea, it can mean the difference in the very survival of the company when someone working there, with unique skills in that operation, dies.
But to extend it to cover 350,000 regular employees, in whom a company has no accepted (certainly not ethical) insurable interest, to make money, really kind of offends our sensibilities.
In fact, if you read below, you’ll find there might be no incentive to protect employees at work, in order to collect on this type of insurance. Would they profit by saving $ on security and getting a whopping return when someone dies as a result? Read on, and you decide. If nothing else, one can see that it could actually get more odious.
More Facts:
The Houston Chronicle, April 15th, 2002, by L.M. Sixel, (link below):
“Companies routinely take out secret life insurance policies on the lives of their low-level employees and collect thousands of dollars when they die. The families never know the policies are in place and typically receive none of the money. The policies are called corporate-owned life insurance policies or COLIs for short. But they're better known in the insurance industry as "dead peasant" and "dead janitor" policies.
While many companies buy life insurance on their key officers, so-called "dead peasant" policies are different because the deaths of low-level employees do not affect a company's financial health.
Wal-Mart took out about 350,000 life insurance policies on the lives of its employees payable to the company, according to the lawsuit filed by Sims and other family members of deceased Wal-Mart employees. Hartford Life Insurance Co. and AIG Life Insurance Co. sold the policies to Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart borrowed money from the insurers to pay the premiums, which the company was able to write off as a business expense on its federal taxes...
A Wal-Mart representative dismissed Wal-Mart suspicions and said they were being stoked by "ambulance chasers."
Meanwhile, National Convenience Stores also has bought accidental death policies on its employees. When an employee died at work, {such as in a robbery, ital.), NCS received $250,000.
‘Because it had insurance, NCS did not have incentive to provide security at the convenience stores,’ attorney Clearman said.
{And apparently were able to profit from their own at-best negligence. What is it if that was a conscious decision? This is a story for Law and Order, ripped from the pages of today’s news.}
‘... Wal-Mart canceled its policies in January...’
The AP article I saw back then said that Wal-Mart’s actions were in response to pressure from a regulatory agency. No indication they would have cancelled without intervention. This is one reason I don’t shop there. I just cannot give them any of my dollars when they seem so be so lacking in common decency.
I met Sam Walton. He had come into town for a ribbon-cutting, flew himself to Florida from Arkansas in his Cessna 172. Seems like he’d be the type of person to be turning over in his grave about now.
Which brings us to the Real Question:
What has happened to the value sets of corporate leaders?
The ones that direct the companies that allow us the lives we have been graced with here in America? And around the world. This is a global question of fundamental importance.
I have a personal saying based on years of observations: ‘the Stock Market ain’t got no soul.’
It’s not supposed to, that’s how it works. It is a dog-eat-dog environment in which the strongest prevail and the weakest are eliminated, as a matter of fact. House rules. Survival of the Fittest. Good for them (and us). Those rules have made us perhaps the most robust and free country in the world.
It has worked, letting the market lead us to relative security and evident prosperity.
But what can we do when the ones we trust (allow) to guide our lives get so removed from day-to-day reality that they forget what their Mama’s taught them when they were still pure: Insert the Golden Rule here.
We cannot see any easy solutions, but one thing we can do when we see things like this that we feel diminish us all -- we can stand up and shout that the emperor has no clothes on. And then we can use our common wisdom to move to more common sense in our lives.
To begin with, we must not let our relative security lull us into complacency.
The recent financial melt-down looks to be a direct parallel to this particularly ugly spot in our existence. SourceAlert!: And how did we punish someone who arguably destroyed millions of lives? Anecdotally, my take on the one of the most identifiable perps at the bottom of that Mega-Mess? He walked with $500 M and is wearing an ankle bracelet in the Hamptons or Gstaad (probably so he could show them how he did it? Like they didn’t know). Somebody correct me on that if that’s not right. Suffice it to say that the Gnomes in the Woodpile made $ going in and are now making $ as we slowly try to come out of this Depression. At least that’s how we see it, here on the ground, my small business buds -- the ones that still have a business, that is.
The Real Question boils down to:
Are the cheaper prices worth allowing profit that borders on being ethically questionable?
That is a very fundamental decision point -- does one Save $, or Save Values?
And it is not an easy choice, at all.
And there is no easy answer. But there must be a right answer somewhere, and hopefully it is out there in the Cloud finding its way here, through you.
And there is no easy answer. But there must be a right answer somewhere, and hopefully it is out there in the Cloud finding its way here, through you.
Somehow, we have gotten to this point. When we vote with our attention and our actions, when we are united, not divided, we re-set the course of America. When we expose injustice to light, when we decide to keep a vigilant watch, when we work as one, even with the guys on the other side of the boat, then we own America again.
It will take quite a while to bring this idea into focus, but if you agree that this is is our birthright, please join in, and follow. Help us find the way. And ask your friends to join as well? This is a call to action. We will do important and amazing and things for our country, for our world, and for ourselves. And at CommonSens, we don’t own this, we’re just holding the rudder for now.
It cannot be successful without YOU. And I don’t think it will be boring :).
Next week: “Chicken Little: Is the Sky Really Falling?”
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Very Important Note:
We (Shadow is my alter ego and governor) will always do our best to use supporting information that meets what used to be called ‘Broadcast Standards’. As I understand, that says facts gathered have been verified by at least two, reliable, identified, sources. Since it is just me and Shadow, and we don’t see any research staff hanging out, most of the topics will come from sources that vet their stories that way. If not, we’ll likely not use them, and if we do, we’ll post a source alert:
‘ SourceAlert:‘
Shadow ‘n me
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