Reese’s next book, scheduled for fall, is Conversation with Terrorists: Middle East Leaders on Politics, Violence, and Empire.

Of course I was gratified that the reviewer, Steven Weinberg, enjoyed the book and endorsed Todd’s message. Even better that Todd’s humor had him and his wife in stitches. (Me, too.) But Weinberg took it a step further, adding his own experiences with the testing industry in California. Those experiences point to a disturbing lack of accountability and deepen the critique of the current testing regime.

When we acquired this book, we had teachers like Steven Weinberg in mind. Also concerned parents. Here’s the upshot of the review: “Making the Grades reveals some shocking truths about how we are judging schools and students; Farley’s book deserves a wide readership.” Amen!

It’s gratifying to see Dean’s work recognized this way. He does have a rare ability to combine expertise with appropriate moral outrage. Given the suffering Wall Street’s recklessness and DC’s deregulatory mania has wrought, one or the other doesn’t do this topic justice.

Murray Hill Inc. in a recent photo.

This just in from p3 author Norman Solomon of the Institute for Public Accuracy.

News Release
Supreme Court Ruling Spurs Corporation Run for Congress

January 27, 2010

Following the recent Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission to allow unlimited corporate funding of federal campaigns, Murray Hill Inc. today announced it is filing to run for U.S. Congress. “Until now,” Murray Hill Inc. said in a statement, “corporate interests had to rely on campaign contributions and influence-peddling to achieve their goals in Washington. But thanks to an enlightened Supreme Court, now we can eliminate the middle-man and run for office ourselves.” Murray Hill Inc. is believed to be the first “corporate person” to exercise its constitutional right to run for office.

“The strength of America,” Murray Hill Inc. said, “is in the boardrooms, country clubs and Lear jets of America’s great corporations. We’re saying to Wal-Mart, AIG and Pfizer, if not you, who? If not now, when?” Murray Hill Inc. added: “It’s our democracy. We bought it, we paid for it, and we’re going to keep it.” Murray Hill Inc., a diversifying corporation in the Washington, D.C. area, has long held an interest in politics and sees corporate candidacy as an “emerging new market.”

The campaign’s “designated human,” Eric Hensal, will help the corporation conform to “antiquated, human only” procedures and sign the necessary voter registration and candidacy paperwork. Hensal is excited by this new opportunity: “We want to get in on the ground floor of the democracy market before the whole store is bought by China.” Murray Hill Inc. plans on filing to run in the Republican primary in Maryland’s 8th Congressional District.

Campaign manager William Klein promises an aggressive, historic campaign that “puts people second” or “even third.” “The business of America is business, as we all know,” Klein says. “But now, it’s the business of democracy too.” Klein plans to use automated robo-calls, “Astroturf” lobbying and “computer-generated avatars” to get out the vote. Added Hensal: “This is the next frontier of civil rights.”

But now the U.S. Supreme Court has decided to lift restrictions on corporate giving to politicians. That effectively sets up an open auction for Congress and the White House. It also recalls the old Bob Dylan line: money doesn’t talk, it swears.

What to do? P3 author Dean Baker has an idea. In exchange for granting limited liability to corporations, Congress should impose restrictions on them similar to those for tax-exempt organizations. Dean outlined his idea in this piece on Huffington Post.

I love the simplicity of that idea. The question is, will Congress and the White House push back on their patrons/paymasters?

Helene Jorgensen (Ph.D. American University, Economics; M.S., George Mason University, Environmental Science and Policy) studies health care, labor markets, and employment benefits. Her forthcoming book, Sick and Tired: How the U.S. Health Care System Fails Its Patients (Polipoint Press, February 2010), tells the story of her own battle with Lyme disease and examines the institutional failures of the health care system.

BOOKS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Presentation & Book Signing: 2 – 4 PM
Ernst Auditorium
Sibley Memorial Hospital
5255 Loughboro Rd., N.W., Washington, DC 20016
Click Here for Directions

Helene Jorgensen spent many sleepless nights worrying about her growing pile of medical bills. Since being diagnosed with neurological Lyme disease in 2003, her good-on-paper health insurance repeatedly denied claims. She got stuck with paying thousands of dollars out-of-pocket, because of quantity limits on prescription drugs and out-of-network care. At the same time, she had to fight for continued treatment for her Lyme disease.

Sick, sleep deprived and frustrated, Jorgensen set out to uncover why the health care system was failing her and so many other patients. What she learned surprised her and compelled her to write the book: Sick and Tired: How the U.S. Health Care System Fails Its Patients (Polipoint Press, February 2010).

In Sick and Tired, Jorgensen combines her own experiences as a patient, with her background as an economist, to discuss the role of insurance companies in determining care. She examines the incentive structures of health care providers. She exposes pharmaceutical companies influence over prescription patterns, and the deceptive billing practices by laboratories, such as Quest Diagnostics. Based on the lessons she learned, Jorgensen offers practical advice to help patients reduce their health care costs and demand better care.