fotkividiki…

agent007…

:-)

Stop me if you've heard this one before.

Jeb Bush, the president's brother and former governor of Florida, is up for election Thursday as a director of troubled hospital chain Tenet Healthcare (THC Quote – Cramer on THC – Stock Picks). Assuming he's waved through, his pay in his first year would come to nearly $37,000 a day.

This is the same Tenet that had to pay $900 million to Uncle Sam last summer to settle charges that it had overbilled Medicare and Medicaid over many years.

Nine hundred million dollars.

The U.S. attorneys announcing the settlement accused the company of “fraud” and trying to “manipulate and cheat the system.”

Mike Leavitt, the Health and Human Services Secretary appointed by Jeb's brother George, said the company had “fraudulently abused the Medicare program.”

It's also the same Tenet that just paid $80 million to the IRS after an audit found it owed back taxes going back as far as 1995.

The company recently had to restate nearly five years of earnings statements after an investigation into its books.

And this is just the big stuff. Tenet's recent public filings read like a police blotter. One of its clinics in South Carolina performed 436 open heart operations without certification. The company is being sued in California by staff claiming they were systematically short-changed on pay and overtime, in breach of the state's labor code. Three former Tenet staff members, at a New Orleans hospital it owned, are under investigation for allegedly euthanizing four patients following Hurricane Katrina.

All in all, it's hardly a surprise Tenet Healthcare stock has lost 85% of its value over the past five years.

The company hadn't returned phone calls seeking a comment by press time; neither had the former governor's representatives.

Tenet isn't partisan. Among its current directors is Bob Kerrey, the former Democratic senator from Nebraska.

This will be Jeb Bush's first job since leaving the governor's office in Tallahassee four months ago.

Of course, it's not quite the election he was hoping for. Once upon a time, the dynasty was grooming him to run for president. But his older brother got there first and has probably poisoned that well forever.

Chris Matthews and Wolf Blitzer won't be on hand for the vote at Thursday's stockholders meeting. Do not expect to see many “Jeb '08″ badges around the Westin Hotel in Dallas. Somehow, the atmosphere won't quite match the excitement of waiting for the returns from Ohio.

But Jeb, look on the bright side.

You've been complaining about your finances. Your last filings as governor showed your net worth was down to just $1.4 million. Obviously, that figure won't count any of the vast Bush family fortune. But still, it's embarrassing. Who wants to ask mom and pop for extra cash every Fourth of July? At your age, you should be buying your own yacht.

Sure, the Tenet job may look pretty tacky for someone of your standing, but the pay isn't bad.

It's lucky the media aren't paying too much attention. Anyone reading the public filings would have discovered that in your first year, you'll earn $474,500 — for 13 days' work.

That's $36,500 a day. And the “work” consists of sitting in a board room, so it's not exactly heavy lifting.

If the board meetings last an average of four hours, you'll be pulling in $9,125 an hour.

Not bad for a guy who could manage only a B.A. in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas. Many of Tenet's 65,000 personnel are qualified medical staff with years of experience. Yet according to public filings, their average salary and benefits last year came to around $69,000 for full-time work.

You get that in two days.

Who says all the good jobs are going to China?

I'm sure your family lawyer has already explained the details, Jeb, but just to recap the terms: As a nonemployee director you'll get an immediate golden handshake of $260,000 in “restricted stock units.” Nothing says “welcome aboard” quite like a quarter-million. Plus you'll get another $130,000 in restricted stock units each year. That's on top of your retainer of $65,000 a year.

And all that is before you turn up for a single board meeting. For each one you attend, you get another $1,500. There's another $1,200 every time you show up at a committee meeting.

A word of advice: Avoid the audit and compliance committees. There's too much work and there's always the risk something will go wrong. For an easy life, join the compensation committee. It meets only seven times a year and you don't have to do anything. Just hire some consultants to review executive pay, and agree to whatever they suggest. The executives will be grateful, and that can pay real dividends down the road. See it as using shareholder money to stock up the favor bank.

What a deal!

:-)

:-)

Stop me if you've heard this one before.

Jeb Bush, the president's brother and former governor of Florida, is up for election Thursday as a director of troubled hospital chain Tenet Healthcare (THC Quote – Cramer on THC – Stock Picks). Assuming he's waved through, his pay in his first year would come to nearly $37,000 a day.

This is the same Tenet that had to pay $900 million to Uncle Sam last summer to settle charges that it had overbilled Medicare and Medicaid over many years.

Nine hundred million dollars.

The U.S. attorneys announcing the settlement accused the company of “fraud” and trying to “manipulate and cheat the system.”

Mike Leavitt, the Health and Human Services Secretary appointed by Jeb's brother George, said the company had “fraudulently abused the Medicare program.”

It's also the same Tenet that just paid $80 million to the IRS after an audit found it owed back taxes going back as far as 1995.

The company recently had to restate nearly five years of earnings statements after an investigation into its books.

And this is just the big stuff. Tenet's recent public filings read like a police blotter. One of its clinics in South Carolina performed 436 open heart operations without certification. The company is being sued in California by staff claiming they were systematically short-changed on pay and overtime, in breach of the state's labor code. Three former Tenet staff members, at a New Orleans hospital it owned, are under investigation for allegedly euthanizing four patients following Hurricane Katrina.

All in all, it's hardly a surprise Tenet Healthcare stock has lost 85% of its value over the past five years.

The company hadn't returned phone calls seeking a comment by press time; neither had the former governor's representatives.

Tenet isn't partisan. Among its current directors is Bob Kerrey, the former Democratic senator from Nebraska.

This will be Jeb Bush's first job since leaving the governor's office in Tallahassee four months ago.

Of course, it's not quite the election he was hoping for. Once upon a time, the dynasty was grooming him to run for president. But his older brother got there first and has probably poisoned that well forever.

Chris Matthews and Wolf Blitzer won't be on hand for the vote at Thursday's stockholders meeting. Do not expect to see many “Jeb '08″ badges around the Westin Hotel in Dallas. Somehow, the atmosphere won't quite match the excitement of waiting for the returns from Ohio.

But Jeb, look on the bright side.

You've been complaining about your finances. Your last filings as governor showed your net worth was down to just $1.4 million. Obviously, that figure won't count any of the vast Bush family fortune. But still, it's embarrassing. Who wants to ask mom and pop for extra cash every Fourth of July? At your age, you should be buying your own yacht.

Sure, the Tenet job may look pretty tacky for someone of your standing, but the pay isn't bad.

It's lucky the media aren't paying too much attention. Anyone reading the public filings would have discovered that in your first year, you'll earn $474,500 — for 13 days' work.

That's $36,500 a day. And the “work” consists of sitting in a board room, so it's not exactly heavy lifting.

If the board meetings last an average of four hours, you'll be pulling in $9,125 an hour.

Not bad for a guy who could manage only a B.A. in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas. Many of Tenet's 65,000 personnel are qualified medical staff with years of experience. Yet according to public filings, their average salary and benefits last year came to around $69,000 for full-time work.

You get that in two days.

Who says all the good jobs are going to China?

I'm sure your family lawyer has already explained the details, Jeb, but just to recap the terms: As a nonemployee director you'll get an immediate golden handshake of $260,000 in “restricted stock units.” Nothing says “welcome aboard” quite like a quarter-million. Plus you'll get another $130,000 in restricted stock units each year. That's on top of your retainer of $65,000 a year.

And all that is before you turn up for a single board meeting. For each one you attend, you get another $1,500. There's another $1,200 every time you show up at a committee meeting.

A word of advice: Avoid the audit and compliance committees. There's too much work and there's always the risk something will go wrong. For an easy life, join the compensation committee. It meets only seven times a year and you don't have to do anything. Just hire some consultants to review executive pay, and agree to whatever they suggest. The executives will be grateful, and that can pay real dividends down the road. See it as using shareholder money to stock up the favor bank.

What a deal!

http://community.livejournal.com/obama_daily/16…

Michelle Obama's Inauguration Dress: Vogue Designers Weigh In

Naturally, Vogue has a few ideas about what Michelle Obama should wear to the inauguration. Because the future First Lady has worn up-and-coming designers like Thakoon and Jason Wu, they asked a few other Vogue Fashion Fund designers for some sketches. Scroll down for two of them… click here for more.

Alexander Wang (obviously):

Marchesa: I LOVE THIS ONE!!!! :>)

THERE ARE MORE!

Coleman Sues Over Minnesota Senate Recount

(ST. PAUL, Minn.) — Republican Norm Coleman filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging Democrat Al Franken's apparent recount victory in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race, delaying a resolution of the contest for weeks or months.

At a Capitol news conference filled with cheering supporters, Coleman said he won't accept a board's determination a day earlier that Franken captured 225 more votes in the November election. He had a seven-day window to file the lawsuit.

“We are filing this contest to make absolutely sure every valid vote was counted and no one's was counted more than anyone else's,” Coleman said.

Coleman shrugged off the idea that he might concede the election to avoid a protracted fight that could leave Minnesota with only a single senator in Washington for months.

“Something greater than expediency is at stake here,” Coleman said. He added: “Democracy is not a machine. Sometimes it's messy and inconvenient, and reaching the best conclusion is never quick because speed is not the first objective, fairness is.”

State law prevents officials from issuing an election certificate until legal matters are resolved.

Franken attorney Marc Elias called Coleman's lawsuit “essentially the same thin gruel, warmed-over leftovers from meals we've all been served over the last few weeks.”

He said that Coleman has the right to sue, but that doesn't mean his claims have merit, and he is confident Franken would prevail.

Franken e-mailed supporters Tuesday to request donations to continue the fight, just as Coleman did a day earlier.

Coleman, whose term expired Saturday, led Franken by 215 votes in the Nov. 4 count but that advantage flipped during a prolonged recount.

In going to court, Coleman has three big challenges: raising money to pay escalating legal bills, proving the election was flawed and managing the public's desire to have the race over.

“They definitely have an uphill fight on their hands,” said Guy-Uriel Charles, a professor of election and constitutional law at the University of Minnesota. “Their legal theory will have to overcome a burden of proof, and then they have to find enough votes to overcome Franken's lead.”

That could prove difficult, since any bloc of new votes would almost surely include some for Franken, who declared victory Monday.

A lawsuit gives both sides options they lacked during the recount, such as accessing voter rolls, inspecting machines and introducing testimony from election workers

THERE IS MORE.

I believe that he was running LOW on FUNDS! Wonder HOW he's funding this litigation?? Oh. Well.

If you don't have cable TV, you won't be able to watch the opening inaugural ceremonies on January 18th. Barack Obama's inaugural committee announced Tuesday that HBO will exclusively air the kick-off concert and celebration on the steps of Lincoln Memorial that night. The premium cable channel will, however, offer access to cable and satellite distributors to televise the festivities for free.

FROM: http://www.politico.com/politico44/

I believe that you were directed to the “BAD CHAIR!”

Shhhhhh. This is between me and you.>/i> :>) :>)

BUT, Ima 'gree with you. It's hard ta stop laughin'! :>) :>)

Too funny. hahahahahaha

New poll shows Palin would trail Murkowski big in a Senate race

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Even with the last election barely two months in the rearview mirror, some in the national media have speculated that Gov. Sarah Palin might make a run for the U.S. Senate in 2010 as a prelude to running for president in 2012.

But a new poll out Monday shows Palin would have a tough time if she decides to take on Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

Pollster Dave Dittman just finished a statewide survey on a possible Palin-versus-Murkowski matchup – and Murkowski beats Palin, at least in this poll, hands down.

Murkowski garnered 57 percent to Palin's 33 percent; 9 percent said they were not sure.

And given the senator's popularity, Dittman says Palin would not be wise to challenge Murkowski.

“And I think there would be a feeling, too, of overreaching — going too far, too aggressive, too much too soon — if Sarah decided to run for Senate,” Dittman said. “When you've already got someone there with seniority, who most people think is doing a good job, I think it would be a huge mistake.”

Murkowski sent what many viewed as a veiled warning to Palin a few weeks ago, telling politico.com, “I can guarantee it would be a very tough election … If she wants to be president, I don't think the way to the presidency is a short stop in the United States Senate.”

The governor's press secretary, Bill McAllister, says Palin has never indicated she's thinking about running against Murkowski.

“It's unfortunate that we keep talking about this rivalry that doesn't exist,” he said. “She has not said, and I don't think needs to say, that she's going to rule something out in terms of her political plans in the future. But she's very focused on being governor now, does not see herself as a rival to Senator Murkowski.”

And McAllister points to a newspaper opinion piece Murkowski and Palin co-wrote recently, stating they are not rivals.

“There's no reason to think that she's vying for a Senate seat,” McAllister said, “I mean, in politics I suppose you never know what's going to happen.”

And in the world of politics, that is often the key question.

A poll commissioned last month by the Web site dailykos.com showed Palin beating Murkowski 55 to 31 percent, although local pollster Dittman says he has concerns about the methods used to arrive at those numbers.

Contact Mike Ross at mross@ktuu.com

B4 I read the LAST paragraph, I was 'bout ta state that a former POLL had some very different results. Well!

Now we have “DUELING POLLS!” :>) *****

Time ta call “Mr. Silvers” to adjudicate!! :>) :>)

****<a href=”

According to Gallup, I am in the minority, only 27% of Americans agree with me that Burris should be seated.

Whatever.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/113674/Americans-Burris-Should-Blocked-Special-Election-Held.aspx

There is no way to straighten hair without damaging it. Do you really think that ceramic flat iron that is permanently straightening your hair isn't damaging it?

Girlfriend please.

The analogy that helped me see the light was my hair was like my right hand. I start off with all five fingers-my hair is healthy. Relaxers weaken your hair (cut off a finger). Color weakens it even more (there goes another finger). You have to blow dry (there's another finger). Don't forget the flat iron or curling irons to silken everything out (where did that four finger go?)

You left with a thumb and damaged hair.

I recommend afrobella.com