By Shawn J. Soper, News Editor
Originally published January 29, 2010
BERLIN – With public sentiment growing against the so-called “mega-bank” financial institutions across the country, a growing movement calling for a return to the traditional values community banks offer is gaining momentum.
Large corporate banks, often chastised for their impersonal service and perceived attitude of indifference to their customers, have taken a hit as the current recession drags on, creating a groundswell of support for a return to traditional Main Street banking values. Last year, the federal government doled out billions in relief to the major corporate banks whose shaky lending practices and top-heavy corporate structures have largely been blamed for the current fiscal crisis.
Now, a significant grassroots effort to “Move Your Money,” encouraging Americans to deposit their money in stable neighborhood banks, is gaining momentum everyday as citizens are heeding the advice and closing accounts at large banks and moving their deposits to smaller institutions.
Even the federal government, which was so quick to dole out billions in bailout money to the handful or so of the top banking institutions in the country, is beginning to recognize the distinction between Wall Street and Main Street. Just last week, the House approved a crucial exemption in a regulatory reform bill, which essentially recognizes the difference between the large corporate banks and their smaller community brethren, and the Senate is expected to approve the measure.
While the mega-banks are faced with increased scrutiny and an insistence by the federal government to return to sound lending practices, the small community banks, such as the Bank of Ocean City, Calvin B. Taylor Bank, the Bank of Delmarva, Farmer’s Bank of Willards and several others in the area, have been doing it all along. As a result, more and more people are getting on the “Move Your Money” bandwagon.
“This has turned into a real grassroots effort and it’s starting to gain some momentum,” said Bank of Ocean City Executive Vice President Reid Tingle this week. “Local money is deposited and reinvested right in the community. We’re not in the business of selling off loans. The money deposited here is reinvested here.”
Taylor Bank President Ray Thompson said this week there has been some sentiment for breaking up the big corporate banks blamed in large part for the current financial crisis, and at the same time, the smaller community banks are gaining in popularity and political clout.
“There has been this movement in Congress to disassemble the mega-banks,” he said. “I really feel some of the largest banks should be disassembled. At the same time, there has been a grassroots movement to ‘move your money.’ A bunch of folks are getting together to urge citizens to get back to the traditional, more stable Main Street banks.”
As a result, the movement to go back to smaller community-based institutions is gaining momentum, largely because the faces and names behind the desks are familiar to the customers.
“The community banks are locally owned and operated,” said Thompson. “The management and the boards of directors are from right here in the community and they understand the needs of the community.”
Tingle agreed, saying the community-based banks, like his Bank of Ocean City, for example, have developed relationships with their clients over the years in sharp contrast to the cold, impersonal mega-banks.
“Most community banks serve a tighter geographic area and they know their customers’ names and faces,” he said. “It’s more about personalized service. We know who we are lending to. We know the borrower and they know us. This area is extremely fortunate to have several strong community banks.”
Traditionally, deposits made in smaller community banks are reinvested in the neighborhoods from whence they came, creating a symbiotic relationship of sorts between depositors and borrowers. The community banks serve as a middleman to ensure money deposited in the community is returned to the community.
“We have a vested interest for our customers to be successful,” said Tingle. “When the customer succeeds and does better, the whole community does better.”
Thompson agreed, saying loans to small businesses and private citizens in the community are fueled by the deposits of their neighbors and the people who support them.
“Community banks extract deposits from the local market and lend it right back into the community,” he said. “It’s all based on sound banking practices. We’re not writing exotic loans and we’re verifying income and verifying the borrowers have the ability to repay the loans. There is substantially less risk because we know our borrowers.”
For Bank of Ocean City and Taylor Bank and several others in the area, those same sound banking practices have been adhered to for over a century in the local community, and the current financial crisis has triggered a return to that.
“They’re talking about getting back to fundamentals, but the smaller community banks have never left them,” said Thompson. “We’re doing what we’ve always done – verifying income and verifying collateral to ensure the borrowers have the ability to repay the loan.”
Thompson said a return to the traditional practices of the smaller community banks offers an opportunity to turn the financial crisis around.
“We were not part of the financial crisis that erupted a couple of years ago and peaked in 2008,” he said. “We weren’t part of the problem then, but we can part of the solution now.”
For example, a common practice in the resort area is for local community banks to loan seasonal businesses start-up capital to get going again after closing up for the winter. The loans are based on solid track records of the borrowers and their ability to repay them as the season develops. The banks know their borrowers and are confident in their ability to repay the loans based on a proven track record, a partnership nearly impossible with corporate mega-banks.
“You deposit your money with us and we lend it to your neighbors who own and operate the businesses you frequent,” said Thompson. “The mega-banks don’t make loans to restaurants and seasonal businesses. Imagine what that would do to Ocean City.”
Thompson said the federal bailout of several mega-banks in the last year or so soured many customers struggling with their own personal finances, contributing to the movement to return to traditional community banks that did not receive or seek the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds.
“The Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department made those big banks take the money,” he said. “The local community banks were never part of that, nor did they need to be. Taylor Bank never lined up at the TARP window and we never felt the need to do so.”
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Friday, January 29, 2010
More Local Banks Embrace Growing Grassroots Effort
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
PSC staff say AmerenUE's Pure Power misleads customers about green energy - WDAF
PSC staff say AmerenUE's Pure Power misleads customers about green energy
ST. LOUIS (AP) — AmerenUE's Pure Power program is under scrutiny by the Missouri Public Service Commission.Regulators say the utility's customers don't know what they're getting when they agree to pay extra to support renewable energy development.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Tuesday that PSC staff are concerned that many of the 6,000 AmerenUE customers who are paying an extra monthly fee don't know how little of it actually supports green energy.
PSC says that less than half is spent on renewable energy certificates. The rest goes to a San Francisco-based administrator's marketing, administration or profits.
The group says that at least 75 percent of the renewable energy certificates will be purchased from wind projects and at least half will be in Missouri and Illinois.
Are you a Pure Power subscriber? What do you think?
Foreign oil dependence breeds terrorism
"Operation Free arrives at Washington University in St. Louis for a discussion on America's dependence on foreign oil."
Rich Nations Call for Haiti Debt Relief
PARIS Broadening the relief effort, the Paris Club of international creditors issued an appeal Tuesday for nations owed money by Haiti to cancel the debts to help reconstruction after the devastating earthquake a week ago.
A statement from the informal grouping, which meets each month in Paris and is composed of major industrialized countries, came as international agencies pressed for the provision of greater security to protect the distribution of aid in Haiti and the supply route leading from the neighboring Dominican Republic.
The Paris Club said that last July its members canceled all their claims on Haiti, at that time totaling $214 million.
Considering the financing needs that Haiti will face in reconstructing the country, Paris Club creditors call upon other bilateral creditors also to urgently provide full debt cancellation to Haiti, the statement said.
The response from creditors was not clear. The Paris Club said that Haitis public external debt, before factoring in relief offered to very poor countries, totaled $1.885 billion at the end of September 2008. The appeal came as relief efforts in Haiti were still stymied by bottlenecks and security fears.
The United Nations Security Council is expected to agree on Tuesday to send an additional 3,500 soldiers and police officers to Haiti, a move requested by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to protect the distribution of emergency supplies and to ensure public order if post-earthquake frustrations boil over.
Thousands of American troops are being deployed in Haiti, but they are expected to concentrate on humanitarian aid, not security, said Alain Le Roy, the head of United Nations peacekeeping operations.
Aid experts say they view Haiti as a challenging environment in which to operate: even before the earthquake, a United Nations peacekeeping force was deployed there.
Greg Barrow, a spokesman for the World Food Program, said the agency an arm of the United Nations wanted a formal system in place to ensure security arrangements for the distribution of food from four hubs in Port-au-Prince, the capital, and 40 more such focal points around Haiti.
He said diesel fuel was being shipped in from neighboring Dominican Republic by road and the convoys required a security escort.
Because of the lack of security in Port-au-Prince, he said, we had to scale back some distributions, not because we werent able to reach the people but because we didnt have security.
But, he said in a telephone interview, security was not the primary obstacle to the distribution of aid.
The primary issue is the catastrophic damage to the infrastructure from ports to roads to bridges that affects the ability of all relief agencies to stream aid to survivors of the earthquake.
It's time to do this.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
1959 Bel Air vs. 2009 Malibu crash test
Peace,
Mike Baldwin
314-974-7432
1538-A N. 17th Street
Saint Louis, MO 63106
From: Posterous (mlbaldwin) [mailto:post@mlbaldwin.posterous.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 13, 2010 12:56 PM
To: mlbaldwin@charter.net
Subject: Posterous | Re: Catholic relief agencies. Please be generous.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Catholic relief agencies. Please be generous.
The following international aid agencies are working with partner agencies and local religious leaders in Haiti and are accepting donations for victims of the Jan. 12 earthquake.
• Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops’ international relief and development agency, is accepting donations by phone at 1-800-736-3467; online at www.crs.org;
or by mail to CRS, P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore, MD 21203-7090.• The Salesians are accepting donations by phone at 1-914-633-8344; online at www.salesianmissions.org;
or by mail to Salesian Disaster Relief, Salesian Missions, P.O. Box 30, New Rochelle, NY 10802-0030.• The Archdiocese of Miami, which has a large Haitian population, has set up a place to donate via its website,www.newmiamiarch.org
.• Caritas Internationalis is accepting donations for Haiti atwww.caritas.org
.• Food for the Poor is also accepting donations atwww.foodforthepoor.org
Peace,
Texting Relief Funds only takes a moment: Haiti Earthquake Relief: How You Can Help:
An earthquake centered near the impoverished Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince caused the collapse of several buildings and an unknown number of fatalities Tuesday. The quake measured 7.0 on the Richter scale and at least 1.8 million people live within the area where the earthquake had its highest intensity.
President Obama said on Tuesday that his "thoughts and prayers" were with the people of Haiti. "We are closely monitoring the situation and we stand ready to assist the people of Haiti," Obama said in a statement. The Obama administration said that the State Department, USAID and the U.S. military were working to coordinate an assessment of the situation and any possible assistance.
Huffington Post Impact is working to collect a comprehensive list of links and ways to get involved in relief efforts, detailed below.
NOTE: We will continually be updating this page. The best way for you to help right now is to give through one of the organizations below.
•The American Red Cross is pledging an initial $200,000 to assist communities impacted by this earthquake. They expect to provide immediate needs for food, water, temporary shelter, medical services and emotional support. They are accepting donations through their International Response Fund.
•UNICEF has issued a statement that "Children are always the most vulnerable population in any natural disaster, and UNICEF is there for them." UNICEF requests donations for relief for children in Haiti via their Haiti Earthquake Fund. You can also call 1-800-4UNICEF.
•Donate through Wyclef Jean's foundation, Yele Haiti. Text "Yele" to 501501 and $5 will be charged to your phone bill and given to relief projects through the organization.
•Operation USA is appealing for donations of funds from the public and corporate donations in bulk of health care materials, water purification supplies and food supplements which it will ship to the region from its base in the Port of Los Angeles. Donate online at www.opusa.org, by phone at 1-800-678-7255 or, by check made out to Operation USA, 3617 Hayden Ave, Suite A, Culver City, CA 90232.
Story continues below
');}•Ben Stiller's Stillerstrong campaign will be temporarily diverting all donations to support the Haiti relief effort.
•Partners In Health reports its Port-au-Prince clinical director , Louise Ivers, has appealed for assistance: "Port-au-Prince is devastated, lot of deaths. SOS. SOS... Temporary field hospital by us at UNDP needs supplies, pain meds, bandages. Please help us." Donate to their Haiti earthquake fund.
•Mercy Corps is sending a team of emergency responders to assess damage, and seek to fulfill immediate needs of quake survivors. The agency aided families after earthquakes in Peru in 2007, China and Pakistan in 2008, and Indonesia last year. Donate online, call 1-888-256-1900 or send checks to Mercy Corps Haiti Earthquake Fund; Dept NR; PO Box 2669; Portland, OR 97208.
•Direct Relief is committing up to $1 million in aid for the response and is coordinating with its other in-country partners and colleague organizations. Their partners in Haiti include Partners in Health, St. Damien Children's Hospital, and the Visitation Hospital, which are particularly active in emergency response. Donate to Direct Relief online.
•Oxfam is rushing in teams from around the region to respond to the situation to provide clean water, shelter, sanitation and help people recover. Donate to Oxfam America online.
•The Baptist Haiti Mission is operating an 82-bed hospital that is "overflowing with injured." Donate online to BHM and 100% of your donation will go to the relief effort.
•International Medical Corps is assembling a team of first responders and resources to provide lifesaving medical care and other emergency services to survivors of the earthquake. Donate online.
The world is so much smaller with the advent of social media. Show your care and concern in just seconds, by texting relief funds to the various organizations who have set up such text lines. Then, spend a moment in prayer/meditation/thought for those most directly impacted by this natural disaster.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
A great bunch of people made for a great party!
Mike
Friday, January 8, 2010
How to help the homeless in the cold - CNN.com
How to help the homeless in the cold
January 8, 2010 9:13 a.m. ESTHomeless people line up outside a shelter in Atlanta, Georgia, as unusually cold weather came in this week.STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- If someone is in need, call social services hot line or 911, experts say
- Agencies have the necessary training and resources, they say
- Gift of blanket or coat could keep someone from seeking long-term help
- Respect people's right to refuse help, advocate says
(CNN) -- The weather has turned dangerously cold in much of the country, putting homeless people at high risk of injury or even death. If you encounter someone and want to help, what should you do?
The specific answer depends on the circumstances, but those who work with the homeless every day agree you generally should leave social services to the professionals.
"Most communities have some kind of crisis hot line, or the local United Way will have a 211 line," said Brian O'Malley, executive director of the Homeless Services Coalition of Greater Kansas City, in Missouri. In some cities, including New York, the hot line number is 311.
Your hot line call will prompt a local homeless services agency to dispatch outreach workers to help the person in need, said O'Malley and his counterparts in New York and Charlotte, North Carolina.
"We've been doing this work for a very long time, and what we tell people is it is better to donate funds and resources to organizations that are in the business of helping homeless people and have professionals on their staff who know how to do this," said Stephan Russo, executive director of Goddard Riverside Community Center, the lead homeless services agency in Manhattan.
Or, come to Little Christmas at Little House and bring a hat, gloves, or blankets for the Winter outreach.
"If you see someone who needs a coat and you have a coat, offer it to them. I don't have a problem with that," O'Malley said. "If the person is reluctant, lay the coat on the ground and leave."
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Consider Becoming a Board Member of Project COPE
Welcome to Project COPE
Each year, 5,000 people leave prison for St. Louis —
most with no job, no housing and no future. What happens to them next?For nearly 25 years, Project COPE has been helping newly released men and women: matching them with teams of volunteers from Christian, Jewish or Muslim congregations in year-long partnerships; and providing transitional housing, both in St. Louis and St. Charles counties. Our low recidivism rate shows that offering practical and emotional support can help people make productive new lives.
Contact me if you are interested.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Why N.T. Wright is Wrong About Social Media - Julie Clawson - God's Politics Blog
The Out of Ur blog recently posted a video of N.T. Wright going off on the dangers of social media. He warns that blogging and the like will stand in the way of real communication with others and he calls the popularity of social media “cultural masturbation.” Now it’s nothing new to hear some voice or other going off on modern technology, putting their own particular “it’s the end of the world as we know it” spin on the matter. And on many issues I truly love and respect N.T. Wright, so I was disappointed to hear someone so knowledgeable about history and faith jump on the “caution people about the perceived dangers of the Internet” bandwagon. Admitting the irony that his video was posted on a blog to be discussed on blogs, Facebook, and Twitter, let me just rant for a moment about why I am tired of this discussion.
Let’s just get it out of the way: The warning that Wright and others give is that social media takes people away from actual face-to-face interaction. If we spend too much time blogging and tweeting, we will reduce our time spent with huggable (Wright’s term) people. The problem is – that just isn’t true. A recent Pew Study busted that myth. It reported that, yes, about 6% of the population are isolated and asocial, but that is a number that has stayed steady since 1985 – before the widespread advent of the Internet. The study also found that people who spend time on the Internet are actually far more likely to go out and be with real live people than those who don’t use the Internet. The point – social media actually builds community, even of the huggable people sort. Not only that, but that community is actually more diverse than the communities of those who don’t use social media.
Now I admit, there is the temptation online to not present one’s true self to the world. I think using the Internet for role-playing and gaming is one thing (come on, you can freaking FLY in Second Life!), but aside from people who are already social deviants, I see most people being themselves online. For example, I recently decided to alter my blogroll to a list of people’s names. Aside from group blogs and the occasional anonymous blog, most people are known these days by their true identity and not just their blog name. That wasn’t the case when I first started blogging or interacting online. Back then, most people hid behind cute avatars and handles. Most of the blogs I read, especially those by women, were anonymous, but over the years people have moved towards being themselves by using their real name. Same thing with e-mail addresses. It used to be that everyone had some personal descriptor/alter ego as their e-mail – like JesusGirl98 or SurfrBoy123. And yes, my first email address was EponineJMG@aol.com (ah, the musical obsessed highschool girl demographic). I still cringe a bit when I sign into a site I’ve been on for a long time (like The Ooze) and have my user name be some variation of MaraJade. Back then, I assumed that the internet wasn’t real community and that I could hide behind my username, but I’ve come to realize that I have to be true to myself. And that involves using my real name and only writing the things I am not afraid to own up to.
So Pew Research shows Social Media builds social ties? Imagine.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Population of the 20 Largest U.S. Cities, 1900–2005 — Infoplease.com
Population of the 20 Largest U.S. Cities, 1900–2005
The table below lists the largest 20 cities in the United States based on population for select years between 1900 to 2005.
1900 1920 1940 Rank Place Population Place Population Place Population 1. New York, N.Y. 3,437,202 New York, N.Y. 5,620,048 New York, N.Y. 7,454,995 2. Chicago, Ill. 1,698,575 Chicago, Ill. 2,701,705 Chicago, Ill. 3,396,808 3. Philadelphia, Pa. 1,293,697 Philadelphia, Pa. 1,823,779 Philadelphia, Pa. 1,931,334 4. St. Louis, Mo. 575,238 Detroit, Mich. 993,078 Detroit, Mich. 1,623,452 5. Boston, Mass. 560,892 Cleveland, Ohio 796,841 Los Angeles, Calif. 1,504,277 6. Baltimore, Md. 508,957 St. Louis, Mo. 772,897 Cleveland, Ohio 878,336 7. Cleveland, Ohio 381,768 Boston, Mass. 748,060 Baltimore, Md. 859,100 8. Buffalo, N.Y. 352,387 Baltimore, Md. 733,826 St. Louis, Mo. 816,048 9. San Francisco, Calif. 342,782 Pittsburgh, Pa. 588,343 Boston, Mass. 770,816 10. Cincinnati, Ohio 325,902 Los Angeles, Calif. 576,673 Pittsburgh, Pa. 671,659 11. Pittsburgh, Pa. 321,616 Buffalo, N.Y. 506,775 Washington, DC 663,091 12. New Orleans, La. 287,104 San Francisco, Calif. 506,676 San Francisco, Calif. 634,536 13. Detroit, Mich. 285,704 Milwaukee, Wis. 457,147 Milwaukee, Wis. 587,472 14. Milwaukee, Wis. 285,315 Washington, DC 437,571 Buffalo, N.Y. 575,901 15. Washington, DC 278,718 Newark, N.J. 414,524 New Orleans, La. 494,537 16. Newark, N.J. 246,070 Cincinnati, Ohio 401,247 Minneapolis, Minn. 492,370 17. Jersey City, N.J. 206,433 New Orleans, La. 387,219 Cincinnati, Ohio 455,610 18. Louisville, Ky. 204,731 Minneapolis, Minn. 380,582 Newark, N.J. 429,760 19. Minneapolis, Minn. 202,718 Kansas City, Mo. 324,410 Kansas City, Mo. 399,178 20. Providence, R.I. 175,597 Seattle, Wash. 315,312 Indianapolis, Ind. 386,972
1960 1980 20051 Rank Place Population Place Population Place Population 1. New York, N.Y. 7,781,984 New York, N.Y. 7,071,639 New York, N.Y. 8,143,197 2. Chicago, Ill. 3,550,404 Chicago, Ill. 3,005,072 Los Angeles, Calif. 3,844,829 3. Los Angeles, Calif. 2,479,015 Los Angeles, Calif. 2,966,850 Chicago, Ill. 2,842,518 4. Philadelphia, Pa. 2,002,512 Philadelphia, Pa. 1,688,210 Houston, Tex. 2,016,582 5. Detroit, Mich. 1,670,144 Houston, Tex, 1,595,138 Philadelphia, Pa. 1,463,281 6. Baltimore, Md. 939,024 Detroit, Mich. 1,203,339 Phoenix, Ariz. 1,461,575 7. Houston, Tex. 938,219 Dallas, Tex. 904,078 San Antonio, Tex. 1,256,509 8. Cleveland, Ohio 876,050 San Diego, Calif. 875,538 San Diego, Calif. 1,255,540 9. Washington, DC 763,956 Phoenix, Ariz. 789,704 Dallas, Tex. 1,213,825 10. St. Louis, Mo. 750,026 Baltimore, Md. 786,775 San Jose, Calif. 912,332 11. Milwaukee, Wis. 741,324 San Antonio, Tex. 785,880 Detroit, Mich. 886,671 12. San Francisco, Calif. 740,316 Indianapolis, Ind. 700,807 Indianapolis, Ind. 784,118 13. Boston, Mass. 697,197 San Francisco, Calif. 678,974 Jacksonville, Fla. 782,623 14. Dallas, Tex. 679,684 Memphis, Tenn. 646,356 San Francisco, Calif. 739,426 15. New Orleans, La. 627,525 Washington, DC 638,333 Columbus, Ohio 730,657 16. Pittsburgh, Pa. 604,332 Milwaukee, Wis. 636,212 Austin, Tex. 690,252 17. San Antonio, Tex. 587,718 San Jose, Calif. 629,442 Memphis, Tenn. 672,277 18. San Diego, Calif. 573,224 Cleveland, Ohio 573,822 Baltimore, Md. 635,815 19. Seattle, Wash. 557,087 Columbus, Ohio 564,871 Fort Worth, Tex. 624,067 20. Buffalo, N.Y. 532,759 Boston, Mass. 562,994 Charlotte, N.C. 610,949 1. Populations for 1900–1980 are Census figures. 2005 figures are population estimates.Source: U.S. Census Bureau. For 2000 Census figures, see Top 50 Cities in the U.S. by Population and Rank, 1990, 2000, and 2005.
Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Top 50 Cities in the U.S. by Population and Rank U.S. Cities Metropolitan Areas with Population of 5,000,000 or More More on Population of the 20 Largest U S Cities 1900 ndash 2005 from Infoplease:
- U.S. Population by Region, 1990–2006 - United States > U.S. Statistics > Population
- U.S. Population by Region, 1990–2006 - United States > U.S. Statistics > Population
- U.S. Population by Region, 1990–2006 - United States > U.S. Statistics > Population
- U.S. Population by Region, 1990–2006 - United States > U.S. Statistics > Population
- Ancestry of U.S. Population by Rank - Ancestry of U.S. Population by Rank This page displays the number of people who self-identified ...
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Related content from HighBeam Research on: Population of the 20 Largest U.S. Cities, 1900–2005
The Effects of Workforce Creativity on Earnings in U.S. Counties (Agricultural and Resource Economics Review)
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Notice how STL drops out of the top 20 btwn 1960 and 1980. The trend is reversing, but how far can we get?
Saint Louis was #4 largest city in 1910 #52 in 2000 Thanks @tlwriter
Table 14. Population of the 100 Largest Urban Places: 1910
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census
Internet Release date: June 15, 1998
-------------------------------------------------------------
| | | | Density
| | | Land| (average
| | | area| popula-
| | | (sq.| tion per
Rank | Place |Population| miles)|sq. mile)
-------------------------------------------------------------
1 New York city, NY *...... 4,766,883 286.8 16,621
2 Chicago city, IL......... 2,185,283 185.1 11,806
3 Philadelphia city, PA.... 1,549,008 130.2 11,897
4 St. Louis city, MO....... 687,029 61.4 11,189
5 Boston city, MA.......... 670,585 41.1 16,316
6 Cleveland city, OH....... 560,663 45.6 12,295
7 Baltimore city, MD....... 558,485 30.1 18,554
8 Pittsburgh city, PA *.... 533,905 41.4 12,896
9 Detroit city, MI......... 465,766 40.8 11,416
10 Buffalo city, NY......... 423,715 38.7 10,949
11 San Francisco city, CA... 416,912 46.5 8,966
12 Milwaukee city, WI....... 373,857 22.8 16,397
13 Cincinnati city, OH...... 363,591 49.8 7,301
14 Newark city, NJ.......... 347,469 23.2 14,977
15 New Orleans city, LA..... 339,075 196.0 1,730
16 Washington city, DC...... 331,069 60.0 5,518
17 Los Angeles city, CA..... 319,198 99.2 3,218
18 Minneapolis city, MN..... 301,408 50.1 6,016
19 Jersey City city, NJ..... 267,779 13.0 20,598
20 Kansas City city, MO..... 248,381 58.5 4,246
Note to my Kansas City fans: Kansas City was 20 in 1910 and is #42 in 2000.
Peace,
Mike Baldwin
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Link to Invitation from Evite
All Tweeps and FB friends invited.
[Causes] Remembering Vic Chesnutt by Hammering Health Insurers
As we start 2010, let’s take a moment to remember the latest victim of the US profits-before-healthcare mantra. This time we lost someone fairly high profile, who died on Christmas day while $70,000 in debt to an Athens, Georgia hospital that had placed a lien on his house. He was supposed to be insured. Then we’ll add a bit of needed levity courtesy of a former self-described insurance industry ‘spokesjerk’ – you can actually tell him where to go.
Vic Chesnutt, a folk-rocker with low-level quadriplegia due to a car accident at age 18 (his arms were partially functional, allowing him to play the guitar), died of an apparently deliberate overdose. He was 45. Chesnutt got his big break when Michael Stipe of R.E.M. discovered him and produced his first two albums. In 1996 the tribute album Sweet Relief II featured covers of his songs performed by none other than Madonna, Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage, Indigo Girls, and more. Ironically, it was precisely because Chesnutt chose to be a productive member of society, cutting 16 albums and inspiring thousands, that he was prevented from acquiring comprehensive health insurance.
He chose to fight his disability, and found a way to play guitar with only two working fingers. Because he could now earn some income, the government did not consider him to be disabled, meaning he was not eligible for Medicare. No other options were available to him either, because Vic was uninsurable in the individual market. Darn quadriplegic. His only group insurance came during his stint with Capitol Records. After that he opted for $500-a-month COBRA. When that ran out, the only coverage he could get was hospitalization insurance. Sometimes this coverage includes all hospital costs but not physician services and medications, other times it only covers room and board.
Unsurprisingly, Chesnutt was an outspoken critic of US healthcare. Still, he had no idea what to expect after two needed surgeries. Despite his insurance paying $100,000, he was sent bills for $35,000, then $50,000, then $70,000. For what, he wasn’t sure. He was a musician, not a healthcare expert. Still, he made payments until he couldn’t afford to anymore, at which point the hospital demanded payment in full. Then it filed suit against him, putting a lien on his house. The sheriff came by and tacked the notice on his door.
His Canadian bandmates couldn’t comprehend how his situation was possible in a civilized country. As he said in November, "They do feel for me, but it's something that blows their minds; there's nowhere else in the world that I'd be facing the situation I'm in right now. They cannot understand what kind of society would inflict that on their population. It's terrifying." Worse, he knew he needed more surgeries. “It seems absurd they can charge this much,” he said. “I could die tomorrow because of other operations I need that I can't afford. I could die any day now, but I don't want to pay them another nickel."
Chesnutt was admittedly a tortured genius – he attempted suicide 3-4 times through his 20’s. But depressed though he was, he soldiered on for his love of music, until US healthcare put him over the edge. Friend and filmmaker Jem Cohen put it in perspective: “Vic's death, just so you all know, did not come at the end of some cliché downward spiral. He was battling deep depression but also at the peak of his powers, and with the help of friends and family he was in the middle of a desperate search for help. The system failed to provide it." RIP, Vic, I’m sorry US healthcare failed you.
At least one of the industry’s ‘spokesjerks’ admits it. This fun video features Andy Cobb, former Blue Cross Blue Shield pitchman, telling you the truth about the US health insurance industry. Because of that, he’s obviously fired. So tell him where he should work his spokesjerk powers next. Thanks to Change.org Martin for reminding me of this enduring skewerfest.
Friday, January 1, 2010
[Causes] Scrooge Award Goes to Goldman Sachs Subsidiary
'Tis the season for lambasting companies that choose profit over relieving this country's housing crisis. This time around, the Scrooge Award goes to Goldman Sachs, whose loan collection subsidiary Litton Loan Servicing blocks attempts to modify loans while its parent company doles out massive bonuses to company executives.
According to ABC News, "With the exception of maybe AIG, no firm has come to symbolize Main Street's disgust with Wall Street practices more than Goldman. In a move that caused a global backlash, Goldman has said it expects to set aside more than $20 billion for bonuses and other forms of employee compensation and benefits at the end of the year."
Looks like a visit from the Ghost of Christmas Past is in order. Goldman Sachs was a major beneficiary of the taxpayer bailout TARP. While they've paid back the $10 billion we loaned them in this agreement, they've apparently turned a blind eye to the importance of social capital, choosing growth at the narrow bottom line and top-level incentive over the creation of sustainable communities.
Meanwhile, Litton makes it harder for families to keep their homes. "Loan servicers [like Litton] make their money on late fees, so there is a perverse incentive for them not to work out solutions," said Julia Gordon, senior policy counsel at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Responsible Lending. "Meanwhile, there is zero incentive for them to help a family stay in their home." To date, Litton has assisted in the modification of only 12 percent of qualified client home loans. This is the worst variety of stinginess.
This holiday season, let's send a message to Goldman Sachs and other Scrooges who profit from an unhealthy and broken housing system: no more.
Image from Yahoo!
