Pen-pricks
• Bank of America raised the chances of a recession to one in three Thursday. The bank always looked out for me. When B of A installed their first ATMs 40 years ago in West Hollywood, every time I withdrew a hundred dollars at two in the morning, the screen printed out, Coke Again, Argus?
• Wall Street went into near-panic Wednesday when the Dow Jones average fell 800 points. The stock prices crashed right off the bat. You can bet this was the last time the New York Stock Exchange ever allows the guard in charge of watching Jeffrey Epstein to ring the Opening Bell.
• Jeffrey Epstein’s death in jail Saturday had much of the country doubting it was suicide since it was so convenient to so many powerful people. The story gets even stranger as more news comes in from New York. Yesterday while the medical examiner was at lunch, Jeffrey Epstein cremated himself.
Argus Hamilton is the host comedian at The Comedy Store in Hollywood and a speaker. His email address is argus@argushamilton.com.
This is an open letter to Jerry Nadler, Congressman from New York and Chairman of the House Committee of the Judiciary.
Mr. Chairman, Democrats need to come to grips with the fact that your party lost the presidential election in 2016. You want to blame anyone and everyone for that loss. You want to know why Hillary Clinton lost the election? Look at the candidate your party put forward and look at how your party has taken so much for granted. Mostly, the black vote. For as long as I can remember, your party has made promises and promises but to date, you haven’t delivered. Your party assumed that some black Americans were satisfied with the status quo. Your party thought black Americans enjoyed living in poverty. You thought they were happy living in the run-down, rat-infested cities like Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland. Well sir, I’m here to tell you that after all the promises Democrats have made and none kept, is it any wonder that when Donald Trump the candidate rhetorically asked “what have you got to lose?” black Americans responded at the polls.
Donald Trump was duly elected president; Hillary Clinton was not. It is long past time for you and your fellow Democrats to accept the results of 2016. It is time to move on. It is time to do the people’s business. It is time to pull up your big boy pants and try to get something done. Stop with the obstruction.
Thank you for the guest column, “Congress must curb surprise medical billing.” Many people have no idea what to do when this happens. As described in the column, Debbie Moehnke’s heart attack was a surprise, but what happened after she’d been treated was even greater.
People who have insurance believe they will be covered, and in an emergency, there is no opportunity to make choices about where to get treatment or who will administer it.
Congress is now addressing the surprise bill issue. Insured patients simply cannot be saddled with charges denied by their insurance carrier. Doctors and hospitals must be adequately reimbursed for their services.
If Congress relies solely on insurance companies for a solution to this problem, they may choose government rate-setting as an answer. That will certainly cause some doctors and hospitals to close. There must be a better remedy. We hope Congress will look carefully at this situation. The situation is untenable.