Profiteer rapacity knows no limits

Or ethical standards. If, for example, you search “private equity news” you can see for yourself how they’re predictably running amok, these days.

“Investors in for-profit entities see that as an opportunity to make money,” she said, “in a space that had not historically been seen as super profitable.”

Shields and other researchers have repeatedly flagged concerns about lower quality of care at mental health facilities owned by for-profit corporations, in part due to efforts to cut staff and reduce costs. Companies have defended the quality of care they provide.

ProPublica reported (September 22) that over 90 psychiatric hospitals across the country have violated the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act in the past 15 years. The vast majority of them — around 80% — are owned by for-profit corporations. - ProPublica

Dems, watch where you send your money

I think this generated considerable controversy. But on the whole I agree with the author. I only donate directly to candidates, myself.

Nearly $678 million was raised by scam PACs during the 2024 election cycle, yet less than $11 million of that sum went to Democratic candidates or the party’s national committee. That devastating finding, from data scientist Adam Bonica, makes it clear: This is theft—pure and simple—bleeding the progressive movement dry while the right builds real power.

In July 2024, I warned readers to beware of scam PACs as the Kamala Harris campaign itself urged donors to be cautious. These are fundraising operations that pledged to “take the fight” to Donald Trump, only to funnel the donations into their own coffers. - Daily Kos

Big-time CEOs think Trump is failing, too

They're right, but, cry me a river, you know, after they did so much to put him there. They're not the ones having their lives wrecked.

The Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute’s CEO forum gathers top political leaders with Fortune 500 CEOs for a Chatham House rules discussion where direct quotes are off the record… senators from both parties and some top Trump administration officials joined us. They had to face down the near unanimous verdict from over 100 top business leaders, representing some of the world’s largest companies and most iconic brands: Trump’s policies aren’t working.

Business leaders at our forum worry that Trump is undermining an economic system that took decades to build and has long benefited the U.S. more than any other country, under both Republican and Democratic administrations, all for short-term gains…

This widespread sentiment is directly counter to the heavily trumpeted “Dear Leader” tributes of just a handful of tech titans, who are decidedly not representative of the leadership class. - MSN

FEMA employees tell it like it is

This is a gutsy, principled thing.

Nearly 200 employees and ex-employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) signed an extraordinary letter sent to Congress on August 25, denouncing the current administration’s erosion of their work and warning that it risks the occurrence of another Hurricane Katrina-sized disaster. More than 30 provided their names; the rest signed anonymously.

Named the Katrina Declaration, the letter was one of the most powerful written so far by beleaguered federal employees attempting to salvage their agencies from a predatory administration seemingly intent on bulldozing basic government functions. They have followed up on this by asking people around the country to join them in their protest by endorsing the letter…

The authors didn’t pull punches, arguing that the administration is violating the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act, which Congress passed in 2006 to improve FEMA’s performance after the agency’s dismal failures following the devastation the hurricane wrought upon New Orleans twenty years ago this week. The Trumpified Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the parent department to FEMA, is slashing funding to vital FEMA services. And the department is insisting that all grants and spending in excess of $100,000 be personally approved by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem — a choice that has created a huge backlog in contracts. - Truthout