BLOGS BY BOB

 Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubris

Hubris (/hjuːbrɪs/) or hybris (/’haɪbrɪs/) (ancient Greek ὕβρις), mythology is a term used in modern English to indicate overweening pride, superciliousness, or arrogance, often resulting in fatal retribution. In ancient Greece, hubris referred to actions which, intentionally or not, shamed and humiliated the victim, and frequently the perpetrator as well. It was most evident in the public and private actions of the powerful and rich. The word was also used to describe actions of those who challenged the gods or their laws, especially in Greek tragedy, resulting in the protagonist’s downfall.

Does any of this sound familiar?  Not only does it pertain to the A.I.G. situation but to several others as well.  Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Dakota is a mini-A.I.G. but even worse is the fact that the very politicians that are berating A.I.G. for its excesses, are quietly ripping off the very taxpayers they represent.  Let’s start with North Dakota Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS).  “North Dakota,” you say?  Yes, North Dakota a small state with an abundance of hubris (you think New York has a monopoly on arrogance?). www.in-forum.com (The Fargo Forum newspaper charges for access to archived stories).

North Dakota’s biggest health insurance company has had a policy of rewarding key employees and their spouses with trips to exotic places to participate in unnecessary meetings.  This reward was given in spite of the fact that North Dakota BCBS lost $9 million last year.  The most recent absurd perk was a trip for some executives and spouses to the Cayman Islands at a cost of a quarter of a million dollars of member’s money.  Money they paid to get health insurance at rates that go up every year.  It would seem to me that members of BCBS of North Dakota (and elsewhere) have a right to expect that their money will not be used for frivolous purposes ever…never mind when the company is losing money.  It makes you think — how many other insurance companies are doing the same thing, charging outrageous prices for their product and then spending the money on ridiculous perks for incompetent executives? 

But North Dakota BCBS didn’t stop the nonsense with the $250,000 trip.  When the outrage over the travel perks got so loud they couldn’t stand it they fired CEO Mike Unhjem.  “Hooray,” you say.  Not so fast — they fired him but gave him $2 million to get out.  He was given two million dollars for losing $9 million and then rewarding his subordinates for their poor management skills.  Maybe if he had been involved in an armed robbery they would have given him four million.

And then, according to the National Taxpayers Union there are members of the U.S. House and Senate along with other federal employees who (http://www.ntu.org/main/press.php?PressID=343) enjoy a vast web of perquisites that benefit them personally as well as professionally, including:

• Pension benefits that are two to three times more generous than those offered in the private sector for similarly-salaried executives. Taxpayers directly cover at least 80 percent of this costly plan. Congressional pensions are also inflation-protected, a feature that fewer than 1 in 10 private plans offer.
• Health and life insurance, approximately 3/4 and 1/3 of whose costs, respectively, are subsidized by taxpayers.
• Wheeled perks, including limousines for senior Members, prized parking spaces on Capitol Hill, and choice spots at Washington’s two major airports.
• Travel to far-flung destinations as well as to home states and districts. Despite recent attempts to toughen gift and travel rules, “junkets” are still readily available prerogatives for many Members.
• A wide range of smaller perks that have defied reform efforts, from cut-rate health clubs to fine furnishings.

·         Exemptions and immunities from tax, pension, and other laws that burden private citizens — all crafted by lawmakers themselves

On October 3, 2007 MSNBC reported an Associated Press story headlined, GAO finds employees used $146 million on unjustified premium-class travel   (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21107902/)

WASHINGTON – Federal employees wasted at least $146 million over a one-year period on business- and first-class airline tickets, in some cases simply because they felt entitled to the perk, congressional investigators say.

A draft report by the Government Accountability Office, obtained Tuesday by the Associated Press, is the first to examine compliance with travel rules across the federal government following reports of extensive abuse of premium-class travel by Pentagon and State Department employees.

The review of travel spending by more than a dozen agencies from July 1, 2005, to June 30, 2006, found 67 percent of premium-class travel by executives or their employees, worth at least $146 million, was unauthorized or otherwise unjustified.

Where was the congressional outrage about the GAO report?  It’s almost as much as the amount paid out by A.I.G. in bonuses to the employees that ran the company into the ground.  The point in this blog is that we can’t have double standards — one for business and the other for government.  I think A.I.G. and North Dakota BCBS actions are reprehensible, but I also think that the standard should apply to our elected and appointed officials as well. 

Please comment here or by email bob@baronson.org.  Also, please read and comment on my Organ Donation and Transplantation blogs on http://bobsnewheart.wordpress.com .   You can visit my Facebook site, Organ Transplant Patients, Family and Friends at http://tinyurl.com/225cfh  OR — my Facebook home page http://www.facebook.com/home.php