Tom Kean on United Health's board since 1993:Did He Trash Clinton for $$$?

[McCamy Taylor]

While reading this piece by Joe Conason at Salon which asks the question why a politician of such formerly impeccable credentials as Tom Kean lent his name to the pack of lie "The Path to 9/11", I noticed something.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2006/09/15/kean/index.html?source=rss

"Since Kean's retirement as president of Drew University, his chief occupation is sitting on various corporate boards, including major financial firms such as CIT Group and Franklin Resources, Pepsico and the huge insurance firm known as United Health Group. He has sat on United Health's board since 1993 -- where he seems to have filled the same role of useful idiot that he played for the ABC producers."

<snip>

"Kean 's ... own compensation as a United Health director in 2004 reached $650,000 -- much higher than average for corporate directors, especially since he missed nearly a quarter of that year's meetings."

We all know that under the umbrella of United Health can be found companies such as United Healthcare. And we all know that health insurance companies have a lot of reason to fear a Democratic takeover of Congress and the White House. Right now,the majority of Americans favor some sort of universal, single payer health care. So do physicians, because of hassles with paperwork, reimbursements, denials. So do employers, because of rising premium costs, problems getting new employees because of pre-existing health insurance conditions, problems with valuable employees leaving in search of better insurance. Almost everyone's life would be easier of either states or the federal government started managing a single payer cradle to the grave program. Plus, with the private insurer cut out, it would be cheaper.

The only people whose lives would not be easier are the CEO's of health insurance companies, like United Health Care. And the Democrats whom they hate more than any other are Hillary and Bill Clinton. Imagine the horror of the executives at BC/BS or United Health Care if Hillary Clinton were to be elected in 2008? And if Congress were Democratic? It would be their worst nightmare.

We all know that Big Oil directs US federal government policy right now, thanks to the fact that Bush, Cheney, Condie, Rove and almost everyone in the administration came from the oil industry. I suggest that Tom Kean was showing his loyalty to his industry, the health care industry, when he signed off an a docudrama which sought to trash the reputation of Bill Clinton and ruin Democrat's chances to take over Congress in this election cycle. This would not be the first time that right wing ideology has been used by big business in America to maximize profits.

As an aside, I believe that America has a right to know exactly who financed this docudrama. There has been much talk about it being financed by Richard Melon-Scaiffe or other right wing ideological groups and broadcast by ABC as a freebie political ad for the RNC. This is bad enough. However, if any private companies (such as the health insurance industry or the pharmaceutical industry or retailers) donated money in order to sway the results of elections in order to protect their profits, this is just as bad.

Anyway, the bottom line is that no one who has been associated with the health insurance industry as long as Tom Kean has can be expected to be anything but biased against the Clintons, and I think that his actions in regard to "The Path to 9/11" prove this. His actions were shameful, and he has shown himself to be just another public servant ready to capitalize on his fame to line on his bank account, without regard to the risk to the health and wellbeing of the American public.

[EST]

1. Kean represented the worst of the 9-11 commission apologists

Only recently have I noticed an increase in the DU discullions concerning his version of the Karl Rove shuffle, in his own "election" fraught with vote fraud, voter intimidation and suppression, and bribery. I am pleased to see it happening.

This man, however much he strokes his public persona for an appearance of integrity, represents the worst of the publiclown fascists. Those affable idiots who lay claim to being publiclowns without actually delving into what it means to have an "r" after your name are refusing to acknowledge the existence of evidence of that fact.

What a sick, sick world we humans create.

[McCamy Taylor]

2. Take comfort. Everyone who trashes Clinton, loses. Kean has lost, too.

His career is toast and his so called integrity has melted clean away.