Quote by wickedpam:
Here's some for that whine, caller Matt.

Quote by TriSec:
Wha?

The VA has processed only 75 claims electronically, ever?

The last test file I got was bigger than that. And we processed almost 15,000 claims electronically yesterday.

What the hell???

Quote by Raine:

Sorry, if you're seeing this message our Free Republic server is still down. We're working to bring it back online. Nothing sinister and no hack attack. Just a hardware crash. Definitely will have to replace our database server.
We're in the process of purchasing a new db server and hope to install it later tonight today.

Very sorry about the downtime.

You may wish to bookmark one or more of the following discussion sites where we leave messages:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freerepublic2/

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Thank you very much,

Jim and John Robinson

jimrob@psnw.com

Quote by Mondobubba:
Here is today's installment of Republicans Say the Darnest Things!

As a bonus, dig his creepy official photo! He looks like a certain memeafied Romney!

Quote by Scoopster:
Mornin' all & Happy Hump-dee!

Quote by Mondobubba:
Here is today's installment of Republicans Say the Darnest Things!

As a bonus, dig his creepy official photo! He looks like a certain memeafied Romney

Damn.. I'm the first to admit I'm not really a looker, but if I had this dude's mug.. SHEEEIT

Quote by Mondobubba:
Coming soon to strip mall near you: Max Office Depot!

Quote by Raine:
I love Harlem!

Quote by wickedpam:

Quote by Raine:
I love Harlem!

what is the Harlem Shake? I feel out of touch....

Quote by Mondobubba:
BTW Mala, the Grump Cat version has links to other versions so you can get up to pop culture speed.

Quote by Raine:

Quote by wickedpam:

Quote by Raine:
I love Harlem!

what is the Harlem Shake? I feel out of touch....

It's a new Meme and it is really stupid.

Quote by Scoopster:
The teadiots take their case to the briny deep!

Quote by Scoopster:

Quote by TriSec:
Your Local Disaster Geek reminds everyone that today is the tenth anniversary of The Station fire.

As I remarked at the time..."60 years after the Cocoanut Grove, and people are still dying in nightctlub fires..."

I just posted my remembrance on FB..

Federal and state agencies raided the Scooter Store's corporate headquarters on Wednesday morning as part of an ongoing probe into possible Medicare fraud.

Agents from federal and state agencies gathered in the parking lot in the 1600 block of Independence Drive in New Braunfels around 9 a.m.

They walked inside the smaller building on the south side of the complex and told the employees to gather their belongings and go home for the day. They were directed to leave their workspace untouched.

As hundreds of workers filed out of the building, investigators handed out small white slips of paper with the phone number 1-800-CALL FBI.

Quote by Raine:
Well well well... THIS is interesting.

Federal and state agencies raided the Scooter Store's corporate headquarters on Wednesday morning as part of an ongoing probe into possible Medicare fraud.

Agents from federal and state agencies gathered in the parking lot in the 1600 block of Independence Drive in New Braunfels around 9 a.m.

They walked inside the smaller building on the south side of the complex and told the employees to gather their belongings and go home for the day. They were directed to leave their workspace untouched.

As hundreds of workers filed out of the building, investigators handed out small white slips of paper with the phone number 1-800-CALL FBI.

I always thought they were sketchy -- and I suspected serious fraud -- looks like the big mean gummint is actually doing something about it.

Take Leder, Romney’s Boca Raton host, whose Sun Capital firm bought a stake in the Scooter Store last year. The company, known for its ubiquitous television ads promising seemingly free motorized wheelchairs for Medicare beneficiaries, has struggled as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency that governs the programs, implements rules to curb rampant billing fraud. As a CMS report noted last year, 80 percent of the claims for scooters and power wheelchairs did not meet Medicare requirements, meaning that $492 million a year is being improperly spent.

In 2007, the Scooter Store gave up $13 million in Medicare payments and paid $4 million to settle with the Justice Department over allegations that it had overbilled for its electric wheelchairs. The company, which has been bleeding money over the years as regulators moved to curb waste, still faces challenges that could make or break its business model—challenges that could be mitigated by pressure from the executive branch.

A Romney administration, for example, would have a role in the fate of a recently launched pilot program ensuring that patients see a doctor face to face to determine if a Medicare scooter is medically necessary—a program that has reportedly already reduced billings to the Scooter Store. Another challenge for the company is Section 3136 of the Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act. If Romney wins and repeals significant portions of the ACA, would he retain this provision, which compels Medicare to have a competitive bidding process for motorized wheelchairs?

Leder, who has donated nearly $300,000 to Romney and other Republicans in this campaign and another $225,000 to a pro-Romney Super PAC, didn’t respond to a request for comment. Disclosures, however, suggest that pressuring the government is the only way his investment in the Scooter Store can turn a profit.

Since Leder’s firm invested in the Scooter Store, the company has spent nearly $900,000 on lobbyists to push back on these two latest challenges to its motorized-scooter empire. Lobbyists not only try to influence legislation; they are also paid to gather information. Tips about government regulatory decisions can be as good as gold to investors who can act before the information is public knowledge. But what if the company had the ultimate lobbyists: the president’s oldest son, brother and personal fundraiser?

Quote by TriSec:

Quote by Raine:
Well well well... THIS is interesting.

I always thought they were sketchy -- and I suspected serious fraud -- looks like the big mean gummint is actually doing something about it.

I long suspected their high-pressure sales tactics and ads touting "Medicare will pay for it" were more because they could get away with it, instead of patients actually needing the power chairs.

(My own aunt being a fine example - she can walk just fine, but got a scooter anyway because somebody told her it would be paid for.)

Quote by Raine:
You know, My grandmother is 94 -- she doesn't have a scooter. I truly appreciate that some people do need them -- I really do but those scooters always seemed a bit over the top for me. I'm glad to see the FBI looking into this. It's been medicare fraud for a long time, and I am glad to see it stop.

Quote by clintster:
I think most everyone here knows of my affinity for the ersatz competition called "professional wrestling".Recently the WWE brought back a wrestler named Jack Swagger, accompanied by a manager named Zeb Colter.

Coltrer's gimmick is that he is a Teabagger-type who rails against the fact that "his" America has gone away and that "illegal immigrants" are taking all the jerbs; basically a walking, talking Right Wing World. I find it fascinating that the WWE is making someone like this a heel, especially since their owner's wife has tried to ride Teabagger fever into the US Senate (twice).

Nonetheless, the character has stirred up a bit of controversy; from FOX News and Breitbart of all people.

BTW, the character apparently takes some of its qualities from Walter Sobcek from "The Big Lebowski", which makes me hopeful that they'll introduce a Dude-like character.

Quote by trojanrabbit:
My annual review starts in about 5 minutes.........quiet down tummy....

Quote by Mondobubba:

Quote by clintster:

Quote by Mondobubba:

Quote by clintster:
I think most everyone here knows of my affinity for the ersatz competition called "professional wrestling".Recently the WWE brought back a wrestler named Jack Swagger, accompanied by a manager named Zeb Colter.

Coltrer's gimmick is that he is a Teabagger-type who rails against the fact that "his" America has gone away and that "illegal immigrants" are taking all the jerbs; basically a walking, talking Right Wing World. I find it fascinating that the WWE is making someone like this a heel, especially since their owner's wife has tried to ride Teabagger fever into the US Senate (twice).

Nonetheless, the character has stirred up a bit of controversy; from FOX News and Breitbart of all people.

BTW, the character apparently takes some of its qualities from Walter Sobcek from "The Big Lebowski", which makes me hopeful that they'll introduce a Dude-like character.

No, Clint I didn't know you were a wrasslin' fan. Has Colter said he can get a toe, no questions asked? With green nail polish?

Not as of yet, but the moment it happens, you can be sure that I will squee loud enough to be heard all the way across the Eastern Seaboard.

FYI, the guy that Colter's charge is supposed to battle at Wrestlemania in April is the World Heavyweight Champion, Alberto Del Rio - a Mexican national who is a third generation wrestler.

Speaking of The Dude, I am an ordained Dudeist Priest. Did a wedding over the weekend. We had a rug that tied the room together.

Quote by clintster:

Quote by Mondobubba:

Quote by clintster:

Quote by Mondobubba:

Quote by clintster:
I think most everyone here knows of my affinity for the ersatz competition called "professional wrestling".Recently the WWE brought back a wrestler named Jack Swagger, accompanied by a manager named Zeb Colter.

Coltrer's gimmick is that he is a Teabagger-type who rails against the fact that "his" America has gone away and that "illegal immigrants" are taking all the jerbs; basically a walking, talking Right Wing World. I find it fascinating that the WWE is making someone like this a heel, especially since their owner's wife has tried to ride Teabagger fever into the US Senate (twice).

Nonetheless, the character has stirred up a bit of controversy; from FOX News and Breitbart of all people.

BTW, the character apparently takes some of its qualities from Walter Sobcek from "The Big Lebowski", which makes me hopeful that they'll introduce a Dude-like character.

No, Clint I didn't know you were a wrasslin' fan. Has Colter said he can get a toe, no questions asked? With green nail polish?

Not as of yet, but the moment it happens, you can be sure that I will squee loud enough to be heard all the way across the Eastern Seaboard.

FYI, the guy that Colter's charge is supposed to battle at Wrestlemania in April is the World Heavyweight Champion, Alberto Del Rio - a Mexican national who is a third generation wrestler.

Speaking of The Dude, I am an ordained Dudeist Priest. Did a wedding over the weekend. We had a rug that tied the room together.

Ah, but did you administer the White Russian sacrament?

Quote by clintster:

Quote by Mondobubba:

Quote by clintster:

Quote by Mondobubba:

Quote by clintster:
I think most everyone here knows of my affinity for the ersatz competition called "professional wrestling".Recently the WWE brought back a wrestler named Jack Swagger, accompanied by a manager named Zeb Colter.

Coltrer's gimmick is that he is a Teabagger-type who rails against the fact that "his" America has gone away and that "illegal immigrants" are taking all the jerbs; basically a walking, talking Right Wing World. I find it fascinating that the WWE is making someone like this a heel, especially since their owner's wife has tried to ride Teabagger fever into the US Senate (twice).

Nonetheless, the character has stirred up a bit of controversy; from FOX News and Breitbart of all people.

BTW, the character apparently takes some of its qualities from Walter Sobcek from "The Big Lebowski", which makes me hopeful that they'll introduce a Dude-like character.

No, Clint I didn't know you were a wrasslin' fan. Has Colter said he can get a toe, no questions asked? With green nail polish?

Not as of yet, but the moment it happens, you can be sure that I will squee loud enough to be heard all the way across the Eastern Seaboard.

FYI, the guy that Colter's charge is supposed to battle at Wrestlemania in April is the World Heavyweight Champion, Alberto Del Rio - a Mexican national who is a third generation wrestler.

Speaking of The Dude, I am an ordained Dudeist Priest. Did a wedding over the weekend. We had a rug that tied the room together.

Ah, but did you administer the White Russian sacrament?

Quote by Mondobubba:
Hey blogger peeps check it out!

1943 – The Saturday Evening Post publishes the first of Norman Rockwell's Four Freedoms in support of United States President Franklin Roosevelt's 1941 State of the Union address theme of Four Freedoms.