Much is rightly made of the dedication and sacrifice of those willing to lay down their lives for their country. But what is rarely spoken of, within the military or American society at large, is what it means to kill - to overcome the ingrained resistance most human beings feel to slaying one of their own kind, and the haunting sense of guilt that may accompany such an action. There is a terrible price to be paid by those who go to war, their families, and their communities, say some experts, by ignoring such realities.

… Psychological injuries of war can't be tied solely to killing alone - seeing close comrades die and other horrors of war are also factors. But mental-health professionals and chaplains who've worked closely with veterans see killing as a significant contributor, along with other demoralizing elements of combat that soldiers experience or see as "a betrayal of what's right," says Veterans Affairs psychiatrist Jonathan Shay.

The devastating impact of war on soldiers was visible after World Wars I and II and the Korean War as well. But particularly evident today is the ongoing toll of the Vietnam War, whose vets are overrepresented in the homeless and prison populations. One-third are said to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

… To overcome that resistance [to killing other human beings in a war situation], the military revamped its training to program soldiers, through psychological conditioning, to make shooting reflexive. The techniques were applied with "tremendous success," Grossman says, raising the firing rate [from 20% in World War II] to 55 percent in the Korean conflict and 95 percent in Vietnam. … Many say Americans must learn to be honest about the nature of combat. In a culture saturated with media violence, killing has become almost trivialized. Many veterans have the wrenching experience of being asked, "How many people did you kill?"

Fifty-three senior executives from corporations opposed to the rule qualified as “Rangers,” “Pioneers” or “Super Rangers” - the honorary titles given to big-money bundlers who have collected at least $200,000 or $100,000, respectively, for the Bush campaigns or $300,000 for the Republican National Committee (RNC). These rainmakers personally rounded up at least $8.3 million - probably much more - for Bush campaign efforts in 2000 and 2004.

About 4,000 doctors and dentists across the nation bought tax-reduction plans in recent years from the company, Xelan, evading $420 million in taxes, not including interest and penalties, a statement from the Justice Department asserted. … Xelan had set up several types of plans aimed at helping doctors and dentists lower their tax bills. The government is focusing on two of them, one involving a charity administered by Xelan and the other, disability insurance, which the company said would allow investors to defer taxes on income for seven years. The I.R.S. says that it found some two dozen instances of doctors using the charity to make "contributions" to their children's college tuition. … [T]he Xelan Foundation, which was set up as a charity that allows the donors - and not the charity - to decide how their contributions are to be used. … The Justice Department said it found 29 instances of the foundation's accepting pretax contributions from doctors and dentists, who then used the money for their children's college tuition.

The other focus of the investigation is a Xelan insurance business, called the Doctors Benefit Insurance Company, that is based in Barbados. The company offered four types of coverage for doctors, with a supplemental disability plan as its core product. Xelan told doctors that they could put up to 100 percent of their income tax-free into the supplemental disability plan. Legitimate payments for insurance are tax-deductible. Xelan told the doctors that their contributions were tax-free for seven years, after which they would owe taxes on the principal and gains. The I.R.S. maintains that the plan was not insurance but a taxable deferred-compensation program. The $505 million in Vanguard accounts was from the insurance plan, a Justice Department lawyer said.

It was my job to lead a Bible study at 7:00 this morning [the Wednesday after the election] on the above text. The situation has some pertinence to what we are going through as a nation, so I share it with you. Feel free to comment. If it seems worthwhile, I'll do more of these from time to time.

Background

This is a part of Isaiah called "Third Isaiah" (Chs 56-66) by some scholars, who contend that it was written at some time roughly within a generation of the return of Israel from exile in Babylon (c. 538BCE). (Second Isaiah in Chs 40-55 is thought to have been written around the time of the return, but the original Isaiah in Chs 1-39 was written much earlier, during the period of 750-680BCE.) Second Isaiah at various places created an expectation of the start of the messianic age right away, so Third Isaiah tempers this message and explains why it hasn't started yet. The text of 56:1-57:13 starts by placing that "salvation" in the future and criticizes the blind "watchmen" (standard description of the prophets) and the "shepherds" (standard description for political rulers) who turn to their own gain, allowing the righteous of the community to perish, while the people fall into various kinds of idolatry.

Isaiah 57:14-59:21

This text contains some themes that are close to Christian concepts of the meaning of Jesus's life and death (or perhaps more correctly, those Christian concepts are modeled on such themes), esp. 57:18, 59:1-2,15-17,20-21. I won't dwell on those here. But the text has [generic] political implications that may be pertinent.

The text explains that God intends that there be peace (57:14-16), but there will be no peace while the self-interest, oppression, idolatry described in 56:1-57:13 continues, and while the lies, injustice, violence and shedding of innocent blood persists (57:17-21, 59:1-8). This is true even if the people are sincerely seeking and drawing near to God daily, with fasting and other observances, because at the same time, the people (at least the targets of this prophecy) "seek their own pleasure" and "oppress all the workers." The people interpret God's apparent inaction (they're still under Persian hegemony, which could be brutal and which probably snuffed out a messianic movement based on Zerubbabel - Zech 1-8) as not hearing them or seeing them. (58:1-5, 59:9-15).

Consequently, although the physical exile is over, because the people of Israel has returned to the land of Israel, there is still an experience of continuing exile because God has not yet returned to Zion (59:15-20). Although the Babylonian captivity is physically over, it effectively continues due to the sin of selfishness.

Instead, the true righteousness that will bring God's favor and peace is to stop those oppressions, to share bread with ("pour yourself out for") the hungry, to house the homeless, to clothe the naked, to satisfy the desire of the afflicted. When that occurs, God's light will dawn & God will finally "hear" and answer their calls (58:6-12). God will come back in righteousness and salvation, meting out justice against the transgressors, and effectuating the covenant by putting God's spirit upon the righteous and God's words in their mouths forever. (59:15-21).

So, what significance might this text have today? What if our country is in its own Babylonian captivity? It doesn't have to be physically located there (though a substantial number of us are captive there), but it is sufficient that the country lacks God's protection from attacks by foreign powers, and that it has been subjected to the attacks of foreign powers because of its various sins, including such things as violence and shedding of innocent blood (e.g., propping up the Saddams of the region and of the world, if not directly inflicting violence), while acting solely out of self-interest (we need their oil in this region, other resources in other regions). Although we are a nominally religious nation with numerous observances, we are not a socially just nation, so God doesn't "hear" our petitions, does not grant us peace, and leaves us to live and breathe and have our being in fear. How can we obtain God's peace? According to this text, by stopping those oppressions, by sharing with the poor, with satisfying the desire of the afflicted.

Even from a secular perspective, don't these observations make sense? Sweden isn't living in fear of terrorist attacks. Nor, likely, are France or Germany. Things are rather peaceful there. Yet, the more power we exert, the more we fear, and the more we have to fear, it seems to me.

A.I.G. paid $10 million to settle the Brightpoint matter with the S.E.C. … [I]n announcing the settlement in September 2003, the regulators said A.I.G. "played an indispensable part" in the fraud at Brightpoint by selling it a "new 'insurance' product that A.I.G. had developed and marketed for the specific purpose of helping issuers to report false financial information to the public." The contract, regulators said, was designed to look like insurance, enabling A.I.G.'s clients to receive beneficial accounting treatment. Such policies are broadly known as finite insurance or financial reinsurance. In fact, however, the contract was actually a loan that involved no risk to A.I.G. According to regulators, the contract specified that Brightpoint deposit money with A.I.G. in the form of monthly premiums, which A.I.G. then agreed to refund to Brightpoint as purported insurance claim payments. In the [earlier] PNC Financial matter, the company shifted almost $800 million in troubled or underperforming loans from its books. The loans were sold to special-purpose entities created by A.I.G. but should have been included on PNC's financial statements, regulators said.

Shares of Merck (MRK) plunged more than 7% Monday after a report said the pharmaceutical giant apparently hid or denied evidence for years that its blockbuster arthritis drug Vioxx causes heart problems. … The Wall Street Journal reported that internal e-mails and marketing materials show the company knew as far back as 2000 that Vioxx was linked to an increased risk of heart attack but tried to discredit such evidence. The newspaper says that a March 9, 2000 e-mail from Merck research director Edward Scolnick to colleagues conceded an elevated risk of heart attack and stroke was "clearly there." Neverthless, the newspaper says, Merck continued to try to discredit academic researchers critical of the drug.

… So in addition to saving an estimated $2 billion a year in paper processing costs, the banks will make loads of money on the float. [Also, b]y processing checks faster while placing holds on deposits, banks are increasing the chances of bouncing a check. As banks start using the new procedures, unsuspecting consumers will bounce an estimated seven million more checks a month and pay an additional $170 million in monthly bounced-check fees. Worse yet, to promptly correct problems that may arise from electronic processing, such as double payment of a single check or payment in the wrong amount, the new rules require a customer to present a copy of the check's electronic image, known as a "substitute check." There's nothing to prevent a bank from charging a fee for providing the copy.

[This] result[ed] in payouts to the two executives under their long-term incentive compensation plan. Although the terms of the compensation plan, which took effect in 2002, did not note that an asset sale would qualify as a change in control, the Audiovox directors amended the awards plan to clarify that the sale would count as such. Presto. [Two corporate officers] both became $1.9 million richer as a result of the deal. And because [one left] for the new company, he received an additional $2.1 million for the termination of his contract. … [One] will also receive $16 million for something called "personally held intangibles," or assets in Audiovox Communications that he says are his. According to company filings, these intangibles include [his] personal contacts and personal and professional relationships with suppliers, customers, contractors, financiers, employees and ex-employees of the wireless unit. They also include his "personal know-how," trademarks, trade names and patentable assets relating to the subsidiary.

Kaiser … emphasizes preventive care and managing chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes to keep people healthier. And that saves money because healthier people require less costly care like hospitalization. … Kaiser's approach is best illustrated in two ways: its management of chronic illnesses like heart disease and diabetes, and its $3 billion initiative to use information technology to improve clinical care and streamline operations.

… In Northern California, Kaiser has sharply reduced the death rate for its three million members there in recent years by monitoring and controlling blood pressure and cholesterol levels and by promoting the use of aspirin and beta blockers (to reduce the risk of heart attacks) and statins (to lower cholesterol). The death rate from heart disease among the Kaiser members is 30 percent lower than it is in the rest of the Northern California population, adjusted for age and gender. … IN Northern California alone, Kaiser spends $55 million a year on chronic-care management programs. "But what's really expensive is if we don't take care of these people and manage their chronic conditions," said Dr. Robert Mithun, chief of internal medicine at Kaiser's medical center in San Francisco.

… Kaiser has been investing heavily in information technology for years. Its clinical information system includes electronic records with a patient's history, prescriptions and preventive health recommendations. A doctor can call up a patient's X-ray or magnetic resonance image on a desktop personal computer. Electronic prescribing - a goal in the government plan - is routine at Kaiser. … Once [its current IT project] is in place, Kaiser clinicians will be able to tap into a vast but flexible storehouse of data that uses intelligent software to automatically flag potentially harmful drug combinations for a patient or to suggest what treatments have been most effective for other people who are of the same sex, age group and - eventually - genetic profile.

The survey attributed most of the extra deaths to violence and said airstrikes by coalition forces caused most of the violent deaths. "Most individuals reportedly killed by coalition forces were women and children," the researchers wrote.

… To conduct the survey, investigators visited 33 neighborhoods spread evenly across the country in September, randomly selecting clusters of 30 households to sample. Of the 988 households visited, 808, consisting of 7,868 people, agreed to participate. Each household was asked how many people lived in the home and how many births and deaths there had been since January 2002. The scientists then compared death rates in the 15 months before the invasion with those that occurred during the 18 months after the attack and adjusted those numbers to account for the different time periods. Even though the sample size appears small, this type of survey is considered accurate and acceptable by scientists and was used to calculate war deaths in Kosovo in the late 1990s. … There were 46 deaths in the surveyed households before the war. After the invasion, there were 142 deaths. That is an increase from 5 deaths per 1,000 people per year to 12.3 per 1,000 people per year -- more than double. … When the researchers recalculated the effect of the war without the statistics from Fallujah [a particularly violent spot that may have skewed the results], the deaths end up at 7.9 per 1,000 people per year -- still 1.5 times higher than before the war. Even with Fallujah factored out, the survey "indicates that the death toll associated with the invasion and occupation of Iraq is more likely than not about 100,000 people, and may be much higher," the report said.

Violent deaths -- … The chances of a violent death were 58 times higher after the invasion than before it, the researchers said. Twelve of the 73 violent deaths were not attributed to coalition forces. The researchers said 28 children were killed by coalition forces in the survey households. Infant mortality rose from 29 deaths per 1,000 live births before the war to 57 deaths per 1,000 afterward.

The insurer’s revelation was made to the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) in a regulatory filing obtained by FTCR. The revelation was contained in a document submitted by GE Medical Protective to explain why the insurer planned to raise physicians’ premiums 19% a mere six months after Texas enacted caps on medical malpractice awards. … According to the Medical Protective filing: “Non-economic damages are a small percentage of total losses paid. Capping non-economic damages will show loss savings of 1.0%.” The company also notes that a provision in the Texas law allowing for periodic payments of awards would provide a savings of only 1.1%. The insurer did not even provide its doctors that relief and eventually imposed a rate hike on its physician policyholders.

Medical Protective and other supporters of medical malpractice caps have repeatedly argued that damage awards are the primary reason for skyrocketing medical malpractice premiums. For example, in a March 2004 report. GE Medical Protective stated that capping non-economic damages is a “critical element [of reform] because in recent years we have seen non-economic damages spiraling out of control.”

Freeing interns from oppressive service, and improving human health

In Two Studies in New England Journal of Medicine Showing Benefits of Reduced Hours for Doctors in Training, Peter Lurie writes about a couple of studies showing that significant medical errors occur due to the practice of overworking young medical interns and residents.

I blog this both to show that a money-making practice is harmful both to doctors and patients and to vindicate the validity of medical malpractice suits.

The Market's inability to provide well for human health

In The Health of Nations, Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele write about why the market is not the best basis for operating a health system:

The article makes the point that the current problem of lack of flu vaccine is not due, as Mammon contends, to lawsuits, but it is due to economic reasons. The same point is made in Flu Vaccine Makers Are Few Because of Economics - Not Lawsuits and its study.

Although such a proposal for universal health care by a single payor is clearly the best, there is also a move afoot to patch the current system by giving the federal government the role of providing catastrophic coverage, or reinsurance. In Momentum Builds for U.S. Role in Paying Highest Health Costs, Milt Freudenheim and Robert Pear survey several of them.

PS 10/29: Vaccines Are Good Business for Drug Makers also makes the case that the lack of flu vaccine is due to market forces, not lawsuits.

Unaccountable, unnecessary costs incurred in the attack on Iraq

In Auditors Can't Account for Iraq Spent Funds, Larry Margasak writes about an audit documenting that we didn't document hundreds of millions of expenditures occasioned by the invasion of Iraq:

And, surprise, now they need more money. In White House Weighs Price Tag on Emergency Request for Iraq, Edmund L. Andrews writes:

Making tax cuts in all the wrong places

In Why Taxes Have to Go Up, the New York Times Editors write in favor of real deficit reduction, given that our deficits are financed by other nations and that those nations are reducing their investments in our debts. It calls for reversing the Bush tax cuts for the top 25% of filers and seeking alternative sources of revenue:

As for reversing the Bush tax cuts, economists at the Tax Policy Center examined those cuts in a series of articles.

In Bush Administration Tax Policy - Distributional Effects, William G. Gale and Peter Orszag summarize a study that examines who wins and loses under the tax cuts, particularly given that they must ultimately be paid for by additional revenues or reduction of services. They conclude, as before, that

In Bush Administration Tax Policy - Revenue and Budget Effects, they summarize a study that examines the effects of the tax cuts on the government.

Spending money in all the wrong places, like invading Iraq

In Counting the Hidden Costs of War, Anna Bernasek writes about the opinions of economists on the total costs of the invasion of Iraq, considering not just the layout for the war but its effects on our economy.

Spending for children, as in the last item, is trivial by comparison.

Speaking of mis-spending public funds, in Top Army Official Calls for a Halliburton Inquiry, Erik Eckholm writes about the allegations of the top civilian contracting official for the Army Corp of Engineers about the no-bid contracts between the military and a Halliburton subsidiary. Our acts speak louder than our words, and proclaim that mammoth corporate interests are more important than human children.

Investing in children as a key to the future

In High-Yield Investment: Kids, Roger Hickey writes about a new study, "Exceptional Returns: Economic, Fiscal, and Social Benefits of Investment in Early Childhood Development," written by Robert Lynch of the Economic Policy Institute, showing that the failure to invest in the development of young children is extremely costly to society in the long run, and that therefore the solution that saves us money is to invest in "basic things like nutrition, health care, pre-K education and programs to prepare and support parents" is both morally appropriate and a great fiscal benefit:

He quotes the concurrence of a Nobel-prize winning economist from the University of Chicago and members of the Federal Reserve Board of Minneapolis. As always, the political will to make the initial investment in other people's kids is the obstacle.

Unfair trade in the land of cotton

In U.S. Appeals WTO Ruling on Cotton Subsidies, Emad Mekay writes on the US's continuing violations of free trade principles by heavily subsidizing cotton production:

As previously stated, our approach to free trade appears to be favorable in those settings where we are competitive, but otherwise unfavorable.

Our version of emperor worship

In Without a Doubt, Ron Suskind writes about the closed-minded absolutism that runs our country:

For prior articles on this pseudo-Christian faith, see items 932, 835, and others in the archive under "compassionate conservatism."

Universal health care is still what's good for GM

In G.M., Missing Forecasts, Is Hurt by Loss on U.S. Autos, Danny Hakim writes on the continuing saga of GM's problems due to its inability to compete with foreign manufacturers who operate out of countries that provide national health care, whereas GM is stuck with paying pension and health care obligations. (See, most recently, item 1019.) The lack of universal health care is causing significant economic problems.

The nature of the corporate beast

In Qwest, SEC settle fraud case, Tom McGhee writes:

Qwest has agreed to pay $250 million [(the second largest fine imposed by the SEC on a telecom company)] to settle charges that the company engaged in rampant fraud, conducted by former top managers in order to dupe investors. The Securities and Exchange Commission found that Qwest fraudulently claimed approximately $3.8 billion in "spurious" revenue while excluding $231 million in expenses.

In many of the deals, Qwest swapped or sold fiber-optic capacity to other companies and reported revenues even though the money wouldn't be paid for years, if ever. … Qwest's senior management … pressured underlings to meet unrealistic revenue targets by paying bonuses only when they hit those targets. They "created a culture in which performance was measured exclusively by the numbers. Accounting rules, policies, or controls that interfered with meeting revenue targets were stretched or ignored outright, creating an environment of fraud," the complaint said.

In The Real Consequences of Pension Projections, Danny Hakim and Mary Williams Walsh write that the SEC is investigating several large corporations to determine whether their statements regarding pension obligations were also overly optimistic:

As noted in previous items, forecasting pension liabilities in the remote future gives a company a lot of leeway for making favorable assumptions. Those assumptions are typically overly optimistic, which results the appearance of greater profitability now (and higher CEO bonuses as a result) and in the consequent underfunding of those liabilities, so that employees and the taxpayers subsidize the current fraud.

On the insurance front, and following item 1081, in Insurance Investigation Widens to Include Costs, Joseph B. Treaster writes:

These excess costs were quite lucrative. In Contingent commissions 7% of MMC's 2003 revenues, Gavin Souter and Doug McLeod write that Marsh & McLennan (the world's largest insurance broker) earns about $845M a year in such extra costs, representing 12% of its revenue.

The managers of the same company (Marsh) apparently used complex deals with other business entities they controlled to profit from the purchase of company assets and apparently profited by investing in companies that worked with Marsh. In Leaders of Brokerage Made Partnerships for Private Profits, Alex Berenson explores the potential conflicts of interest:

As an aside, it is interesting to see insurers defend their contingency fees in view of their relentless attack on lawyer's contingency fees. For example, in PCI Says Industry Unfairly Painted in Light of Alleged Illegal Practices, the Insurance Journal writes about the comments of PCI President and CEO Ernie Csiszar:

In addition ot ripping off their own customers, insurers help other companies do likewise. In A.I.G. Says It Is Target of Midwest Inquiry, Joseph B. Treaster writes:

In the libertarian paradise of government limited to police services and market-enforcement, these corporations would essentially rule the country. Is this such a wise idea?

The lower and middle class in the squeeze

In Less Cash in Their Pockets: Trends in Incomes, Wages, Taxes, and Health Spending of Middle-Income Families, 2000-03, Lawrence Mishel, Michael Ettinger, and Elise Gould of the Economic Policy Institute present a briefing paper documenting the squeeze on the middle class from lower employment income and higher costs, particularly medical costs. Among its main findings:

On the subject of health costs, in Chipping Away At Health Care, Rachel Klein writes that the Bush administration allowed $1.1B that had been allocated and earmarked for spending on uninsured children under the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to return to the national treasury unspent.

On the continuing saga of vanishing pension and retirement promises, in PBGC takes over Kemper pension plan, Jerry Geisel writes:

On the subject of housing costs, in The War on Affordable Housing, the New York Times Editors write that the Bush administration seems intent on destroying Section 8 housing for the poor. They note several steps taken by HUD policy makers that seem irrational except as a means to encourage investors and developers to distrust the program, to avoid new commitments and cut back on their old ones.