180,000 apply for Road Home aid

Posted on Fri, Aug. 03, 2007
Number to grow with mail-ins
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BATON ROUGE --
The mailed forms aren't all in yet, but nearly 9,000 homeowners filed last-day applications for the state's Road Home hurricane repair and buyout program by phone, online and in person, bringing the total to more than 180,000, a spokeswoman said.

Even without the mailed form, which had to be postmarked Tuesday, the last-day total is far greater than any other single day, Gentry Brann said.

Once all homeowners who have applied attend an initial appointment, officials will have a better handle on the multibillion-dollar shortfall expected for the program, which could run out of money in December. The state is seeking more money from Congress.

About 140,000 homeowners are expected to be eligible for the federally-funded, state-administered grants of up to $150,000 for uninsured losses from hurricanes Katrina or Rita in 2005. Homeowners had to have suffered major or severe damage from the storms. FEMA initially estimated that 123,000 Louisiana homeowners would be eligible for aid.

Brann said more than 39,100 homeowners had received Road Home aid by the close of business Monday. More than 129,000 have had an initial appointment, she said, and benefits have been calculated for nearly 112,000.

The Road Home has $6.4 billion in federal recovery money, but some officials have estimated it would cost another $5 billion to help every eligible applicant. About $2.8 billion has been distributed. More than $7.7 billion in benefits had been calculated as of July 23.

State officials plan to add another $1 billion by reshuffling federal recovery dollars and tapping into a state surplus. That plan still needs legislative and congressional approval.

Midnight Tuesday also was the application deadline for the second round of the Road Home small rental property program. Owners of one- to four-unit buildings, including town homes and condominiums, could apply for up to $100,000.

Some 82,000 rental units in Louisiana suffered major or severe damage during Katrina and Rita. The small rental program only has enough money to fix an estimated 18,000 units.

Under the first round of the program, $202 million in federal funds was conditionally awarded to about 2,700 applicants in 13 storm-affected parishes to help restore more than 5,100 rental units. Some $300 million is up for grabs in the second round. More than 10,000 applications have been filed.

Original posted here.

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Miss. Insurance Commissioner Finds Self in Political Harm's Way

by Ana Maria

Once again, Mr. Foot-in-Mouth Diseased Insurance Commissioner of the State of Mississippi—George Dale—has implied that the majority of Americans ought to move. That’s right, George Dale thinks that the 55% of Americans whom the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency reported live within 50 miles of our nation’s gloriously beautiful coastlines should move from our homes, families, communities, places of worship, jobs, and friends . . . and that if we don’t, then—by George—we get what we deserve from the worst of Mother Nature.

Oh, George, you are such a horse’s patoot!

Rather than having worked tirelessly as an exceedingly strong, faithful, and compassionate advocate on behalf of every Mississippi family and business owner—especially in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, George Dale has spent his tenure being in the pocket of the very insurance industry he is responsible for regulating.

Gary Anderson is Dale’s opponent in next week’s Democratic primary. Anderson’s television ad asserts that Dale has received $260,000 in campaign contributions from the insurance industry and raised insurance rates 29%.

Mississippians for Fair Elections is running a television ad asserting that the insurance industry is denying valid claims all over the state while making over $60 billion in profits in 2006 alone. The ad asserts further asserts that George Dale raised insurance rates implying that raising the rates may be the reason the industry has invested over $200,000 in his campaign.


A month and a half or so ago, Dale clearly showed his hand to the Clarksdale Lion’s Club.

Katrina was “the worst natural disaster in U.S. history . . . and put an undue burden on insurance companies.”

Yeah, I feel so sorry for the corporate fat cats whose boards of directors have insisted on drowning their CEOs in millions. State Farm increased the salary of its CEO by 82%. Last year, Allstate gave its CEO a $5 million annual raise on top of a nearly $10 million bonus. That sure would have paid for an awful lot of homes and businesses to be repaired.

Heck, rather thandefending the billions in profits from an industry that is hurting his own Mississippi people, George Dale should have pro-actively sent down boatloads of folks from his office—hired more if needed—to help his constituents fill out the paperwork to get the insurance claims filed and to apply for the state grants. Then, Dale should have led the charge to ensure that the insurance companies honored their legal contracts rather than pull the “wind vs. water” baloney he apparently allowed to go unchecked.

We have elderly and mentally disabled folks. We have folks simply devastated from the magnitude of Katrina’s force. We have folks exhausted from battling insurance companies. The commissioner of insurance should have battled the insurance giants on behalf of his constituents. Instead, Dale forced these good people of all political, religious, and economic backgrounds to turn to trial attorneys such as our state’s very own Dickey Scruggs to get the helping hand they needed from a good friend.

To my knowledge, Dale has NEVER mentioned the significant burden that the insurance companies have placed on Mississippi families and businesses by refusing to pay legitimate claims on their wind policies. No, he has not used his office as a bully pulpit to get the insurance companies to honor their contracts. Rather, Dale is using the power of his office to bully Mississippians who live on the Gulf Coast into believing that we deserve no help from our government or our insurance company regardless of whatever bad weather comes our way damaging our homes, our businesses, our communities, and our places of worship . . . and no matter the legal contract we had signed up for with our insurance company. Oh, George, how utterly vile and contemptible.

Now that he is in a tough election campaign for the job he has held for 32 years, Dale is choosing to attack the fact that his constituents live on one of America’s coastlines. Speaking recently before the Rotary Club in Columbus, Miss., Dale asked

“Should we be allowed to live wherever we choose even if it's in harm's way? Should we make taxpayers pick up the tab of those who choose to live in harm's way?”

Mississippi Insurance Commissioner George Dale
Dale discusses Katrina's impact on insurance, campaign
The Commercial Dispatch

Excuse me?! Since when is Dale in charge of determining whether a geographic area constitutes being in “harm’s way”?

Perhaps George Dale would like to list the “safe” geographical places in our nation so that the 55% of us who live within 50 miles of our nation’s “unsafe” coastlines can immediately pack up and move to this alleged “safe place”. By the way, according to the Census Bureau, 55% of our nation’s population equals 167 million Americans. I wonder where George is anticipating us to move? Where exactly is this fictitious place where we can live outside of harm’s way?

If that list of “safe from all of Mother Nature” isn’t at Dale’s finger tips, perhaps some of his buddies inside Big Insurance can provide him with it—should such a list exist. Of course, where ever these “safe-from-Mother-Nature” cities and towns are, well, surely to goodness our need for insurance will evaporate into thin air. After all, as the “billionaire insurance titan” himself stated

"We are in the insurance business. We are in the risk business. And if you start taking away every risk that industry is exposed to, then what do you need an
insurance company for?"

C.V. Starr & Co. Chairman Maurice "Hank" Greenberg
Insurance Journal
May 2007

But really, why would George stop at recommending only the 55% of Americans who live within 50 miles of America’s magnificent coastlines? He had told the Columbus Rotarians

“over $122 million in claims have been paid in Hinds County alone, which is more than 150 miles inland.”

Shall we infer that Dale will eventually recommend that any American who lives within 150 miles of our coastlines also deserve whatever Mother Nature dishes out and perhaps should move in order to obtain insurance and governmental assistance? What an utterly ridiculous thing to consider. The whole thing is George Dale’s attempt to deflect from answering key questions.

Why is George Dale running away from his post-Katrina record on the coast? He’s so ashamed of it that he didn’t even buy any air time for campaign television or radio spots. [See George Dale is a Coward.]

Why is George Dale essentially saying that the 55% of Americans who live, work, and worship within 50 miles of our nation's beautiful and spectacular coastline deserve all the Katrinas that Mother Nature can dish out?

Why is George Dale defending the insurance industry he is supposed to be regulating on behalf of the people of Mississippi?

Why did George Dale fail to vociferously, aggressively, and faithfully advocate in a successful manner on behalf of the families and business owners who had religiously paid their insurance premiums only to be screwed over by various companies that refused to honor their wind policy contracts?

All of George’s hatred spewing with him telling the Gulf Coast residents to move if they don’t like the way he permits insurance companies to run all over them? Bizarre campaign strategy, really. What could be the point other than sour grapes because the folks on the Gulf Coast aren’t thanking him for enabling the insurance industry to harm families and businesses by the thousands?

Then, a celestial spirit again visited me in the night sharing these ever-important poignant insights.

George is still trying to divide Mississippians one against the other. His standard line to audiences in North Mississippi:

“Should we be allowed to live wherever we choose even if it's in harm's way? Should we make taxpayers pick up the tab of those who choose to live in harm's way?”

He plays to the worst instincts of his audience by making them think they will have to pay higher premiums just because other people live near the Coast.

Wow! Now that makes it fall into place. While it explains his behavior, it does not excuse it. The commissioner of insurance is supposed to be a trusted public servant. Down here on the coast, his actions have instilled betrayal rather than trust. Personally, I don’t cotton to that.

Insurance commissioners don’t have to be that way
Let’s contrast Mississippi’s insurance commissioner with California’s former insurance commissioner John Garamendi, who won his race for Lt. Governor in last November’s election. Garamendi has a fierce reputation for defending California’s policyholders and going up against insurance companies like State Farm. About a year ago, Garamendi went public “accusing California's largest auto insurers of using political extortion to get him to delay implementing laws that would save California motorists money,” See video here.

San Francisco’s CBS television station reported that Garamendi received a phone call in which

“he was offered a take it or leave it deal. [Garamendi] says a lobbying group that represents the state's top auto insurers threatened to spend over $2 million in a negative ad campaign unless he delayed new insurance regulations - regulations that require auto insurance companies to give more weight to how people drive rather than where they live, a practice known as red lining.”

Garamendi said the lobbying group behind the threats “is funded by State Farm, Farmers, Safeco, Allstate and other top insurers.” The San Francisco television station reported that “State Farm confirmed to CBS 5 that the phone call to Garamendi did take place, but they denied blackmail or coercion.” State Farm sure is busy these days, and apparently not with taking great care of its policyholders.

Rather than buckling under the weight of the alleged blackmail and extortion, Garamendi went public. View news clip. He also turned the matter over to the FBI and state officials. Read Garamendi’s letter to the FBI and state officials.

Garamendi is proof positive that standing up to corporate bullies can be successfully accomplished. All it takes is courage, character, and commitment to the public good.

Clearly the sun needs to set on George Dale’s tenure as insurance commissioner. So here are a few political hell raising activities that will help push over the finish line a candidate who has signed a pledge not to take money from the insurance industry AND with our help has a chance to win.

Contribute a few dollars into Gary Anderson's campaign, volunteer with the campaign--maybe phone banking long distance if the campaign is dong that, and vote for him are all steps that can be taken to be part of a solution to the problem with George Dale's cozy relationship with the insurance industry that has ravaged the coast in ways beyond what Katrina did. This is how we help George Dale understand that by deliberately placing others on a path of financial and emotional distress has consequences, he placed himself in harm’s way.

___________________________________________

If you enjoyed this piece, you may also enjoy reading the following.

George Dale is a Coward

Mr. “I can do my job” isn’t doing his job


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Winds of Change in Hurricane Season

by Ana Maria

Today marks the beginning of hurricane season. I know. You thought hurricane season began June 1st. Locally inside Katrina Land, though, we think of hurricane season in terms of when the big storms have hit us, which historically have been in August and September.

• Hurricane Betsy hit New Orleans in September 1965.
• Camille hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast mid-August 1969.
• Katrina hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast on August 29th, 2005.

See the pattern? The hope, of course, is that if we are lucky enough to get to October without a major storm, the construction boom will begin, and a much more robust recovery will ensue. God, I sure hope the general perspective is accurate.

However, the biggest impediment to recovery remains the cost of insurance, as one Gulf Coast county chamber of commerce executive director said. The second impediment she mentioned is the lack of employees, which is brought on by the lack of available housing. Of course, housing is hindered by the lack of insurance: not paying the claims they owe policy holders, jacking up the costs, reducing coverage while jacking up the cost to policyholders, or cutting out of the area altogether. So, insurance remains the biggest impediment to recovery now as well as after this hurricane season blows over.

There we have it. Insurance is the big bugaboo to a vibrant, robust, rock-your-socks off post-Katrina recovery.

When I talked with a shop owner in New Orleans, she told me that neither the storm nor the levee breaks touched her store. Burglars looted it after the after levees were breached, and all chaos broke out across the city. Since then, her insurance carrier no longer offers wind insurance—only fire. Oh, it no longer offers her theft insurance—the only thing she needed to use after Katrina.

Thus the reason customers like yours truly, my niece and her little friend had to ring a door bell to get into the front door rather than the usual walking in off Magazine Street to see what kind of goodies we might like to buy. I don’t know about you, but I would imagine that installing a buzzer to let in customers may just be another barrier to a shop returning to business as usual. Another impediment to business brought to us by the good neighborly types in the insurance industry.

The industry’s pattern didn’t start with Katrina. No ma’am. For a number of years, businesses and homeowners in Florida have been suffering from this insurance affliction. Today, things remain, uh, grim. A few days ago, a Miami Herald article told a story that was quite revealing.

South Florida's business owners, like homeowners, aren't seeing relief from soaring windstorm rates.

What may be around the corner for them: rates that could double or even triple. Some insurers covering commercial property, including shops, restaurants, hotels and offices, have requested rate increases ranging from 142 percent to 225 percent. . . .

These come at a time when insurance at any price is still hard to find. The stakes are huge for South Florida's economy, fueled by thousands of small- and medium-sized companies already struggling with the slumping real estate market and high cost of living. Rising insurance premiums not only strain their balance sheets, the extra costs ripple into consumers' pockets.

Miami Herald
July 29, 2007

A taste of this week’s headlines in the Southeast—including Georgia and South Carolina—are equally telling of the state of insurance for business owners.

Alabama
• Study: Businesses hurt by rising insurance costs Mobile Press Register

Florida
• Florida's insurance crisis hitting businesses hard Miami Herald
• Little insurance relief for businesses Miami Herald
• Florida's biggest storm this summer might not be tropical. Insurance commissioner Kevin McCarty has seen the future of property insurance rates in Florida. And he's preparing for war. St. Petersburg Times
• At least that crisis is fixed - oh, wait ... St. Petersburg Times

Louisiana
• EDITORIAL: Don't gamble on coverage New Orleans Times Picayune

Mississippi
• Home insurance qualify of life issue for Coast Mississippi Press

South Carolina
• Rate hike to hit coast: Homeowners with wind pool insurance to pay an average of 35 percent more The State (Columbia, SC)
• Wind (pool) of change: State Insurance Department OKs 35 percent increase Charleston Post and Courier
• Bigger wind pool to show up in bills: Rates to increase by 35 percent on average Myrtle Beach Sun News
• Wind pool premiums to rise 35 percent (Hilton Head) Island Packet

The Winds of Change for Insurance Reform Picking Up
With the private insurance corporations abandoning American families and businesses en masse, the good news is that that business owners are hailing as a piece of much welcomed news the Multiple Peril Insurance Act that Gulf Coast Congressman Gene Taylor (D-MS) authored in the House of Representatives. Last week among party lines with only a few good Republicans joining the leadership of all the Democrats, the House Financial Services Committee passed the reauthorization bill for the National Flood Insurance Program which included the multiple peril insurance act on which Taylor has been working diligently.

The multiple peril insurance act follows the Democratic House rules of fiscal responsibility—a breath of fresh air after years of Republican spending like a bunch of drunken sailors. Speaker Pelosi demands that new legislation pay for itself, and Taylor’s bill does just that. So anyone who starts yammering to the contrary is, well, full of hot air. Thankfully, the winds of change for insurance reform are picking up speed.

A Miami Herald editorial stated, “One bit of potential good news: Insurance reform is on the Washington agenda.

Another Miami Herald piece reported

“A development last week in Washington could potentially help very small businesses. A U.S. House committee passed a bill that would extend the National Flood Insurance Program to include windstorm protection, although the proposed coverage limits for businesses are low. The bill faces stiff resistance from Republicans, insurers . . . and [r]elief can't come soon enough for many businesses.”

Little insurance relief for businesses
Businesses are finding little relief
in the commercial insurance market:
Rates are still high, and windstorm coverage is scarce.
Miami Herald
July 29, 200

Business owners, particularly small and medium-sized ones, are getting on board to push for insurance relief. These owners are a critical ally in our success to pass this important proposed legislation in the House of Representatives.

If either you or someone you know is a business owner or an employee of a small to medium-sized business, then by all means, mention this critical piece of information when contacting your congressional representatives. They need to know that the multiple peril insurance part of the bill has wide spread support from business owners as well as homeowners.

''Insurance is the oil that keeps the economy going. You couldn't build anything or run a business without it. But it's very frustrating now to find the coverage clients need.''

Pablo Conde
president of A&A Underwriters in Miami

Today’s political hell raising activities are to contact (again, if that is the case) our congressional representatives. When we do, we'll tell them we are voters in their districts. If we are a business owner or work for a small to medium sized business, let's be sure to mention it as well.

Heck, small businesses are the engine that runs our economy. Anything we do to keep those businesses running and keeping their employees on the payroll will assist in putting good food on the tables of America’s families. Having a well-fed nation of people is a good thing—inside and out of hurricane season.


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Statement by Dick Scruggs, Attorney

$250,000 contribution to Mississippians for Fair Elections

OXFORD, MISS (July 31, 2007)--Today, I am announcing that I have contributed $250,000 to Mississippians for Fair Elections, an organization that was created to raise awareness about the role the Insurance Commissioner plays in the everyday lives of Mississippians.

The amount I have contributed may seem like a lot of money. But, it is nothing in comparison to the millions that insurance companies are refusing to pay to help Mississippians rebuild their homes and businesses or the millions big insurance pays to influence politicians at the expense of homeowners.

Big insurance has its voice in George Dale. Now, it's time for consumers to have a voice. I am donating this money as an advocate for families who continue to be abused by big insurance. That abuse is not limited to the residents of the Coast. Big insurance has proven it will abuse victims of tornados, ice storms, fires and illness with the same arrogance and contempt they have shown to hurricane victims.

I have contributed to this effort because it's past time for us to have an Insurance Commissioner who works for the people instead of the big insurance bosses. George Dale has been coached by big insurance for years on what he should say. He even turns to their lobbyist for free legal help. When you listen to his comments and statements, it sounds like he is reading a script written by big insurance. He consistently parrots their distorted numbers on claims paid. He never mentions the $68 billion in profits they made in 2006 or the hundreds of millions in bonuses paid last year to big insurance CEOs. Instead, he went so far last month as to imply that Katrina put a burden on the insurance industry.

Every word George Dale says probably comes from some speech writer in the Mid-Western headquarters of big insurance. They tell him what to say and how to regulate. Of course they are coaching him now to say he is running against me. But he is not. George Dale is running against Gary Anderson, Mike Chaney and other candidates who want to work for consumers, not the big insurance companies. By attempting to divert attention from the real issues in the race, George Dale is once again running from his record as the voice of big insurance.

Contact:
For more information, visit scruggskatrinagroup.com on the web
For media inquires, please contact Scruggs Katrina Group at: 662 528 2922
Send emails to: scruggskatrinagroup@gmail.com

####

About the Scruggs Katrina Group

The Scruggs Katrina Group is a legal team consisting of Mississippi attorneys from the following firms: Don Barrett, Marshall H. Smith, Jr. and David McMullan, Jr. of the Barrett Law Office; Richard Scruggs, Sid Backstrom and Zach Scruggs of the Scruggs Law Firm; Dewitt Lovelace of the Lovelace Law Firm; and David Nutt, Mary E. ("Meg") McAlister and Derek Wyatt of Nutt & McAlister, PLLC.

See tv spot here.

###

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For more on Scruggs Katrina Group, you may wish to read the following.

State Farm, Partners, and RICO: What a Racket!

Scruggs Katrina Group File RICO Suit Against State Farm

Additionally, you may wish to read this A.M. in the Morning! series.

Broadening Katrina’s Lens: A five Part Series
Part 1: Broadening Katrina's Lens
Part 2: Recovery’s Two Major Impediments: $$$ and the "F" word
Part 3: The "F" Word: FEMA
Part 4: Katrina’s Bigger Picture
Part 5: Katrina’s Karmic Payback: Insurance Reform

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Over Dale: Commercial by Mississippians for Fair Elections

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A Kid’s Birthday Party Clarifies Post-Katrina Insurance Questions

by Ana Maria

Saturday afternoon, I attended the birthday party of my friend’s nephew who was turning a whopping six years old. A gathering filled with family, extended family, friends, and, of course, tons of kids busy going up and down that water slide thing-a-ma-jiggy. Those sweet little things had one thing on their minds: having fun playing on the water slide.

Little girls and boys screamed with glee as they slid to the bottom only to giggle as they marched up the plastic stairs that brought them to the top so they could slide to the bottom all over again.

On the grill was fish freshly caught that morning in the water that flowed right by the house. On a table unto itself sat the delicious chocolate cake that required three sttempts for the little boy to blow out his six candles. A buffet of grilled hot dogs and hamburgers with all the trimmings were on the bar next to the stairs that went up to the house itself. From some 20 or so feet away from the kids, I watched . . . the whole time being quite cognizant of the fact that the house had had 24 feet of water in it when Katrina blew through town. The house is built on stilts, and the party festivities were on the ground level in between the stilts.

I’ll guarantee that not a one of those children playing on the water slide had a single thought of Katrina or Katrina-related stress in those glorious joyful moments of fun in the sun. That is how it should be. When the kids throughout the Katrina region are again joyously and consistently playing and laughing and giggling in their own yards, that will be one measure of our recovery’s success. There are other measures, but this is one.

One man's story
The grandfather told me his story. Originally from New Orleans—as are most residents in Bay St. Louis and Waveland, Miss., two of the three tiny beach towns that comprised Katrina’s ground zero., he and his wife built a life in Waveland where they had six kids and built a life with several businesses. For weeks after Katrina, he and his chainsaw hacked through trees to clear up the mess around his home. Being alone in this endeavor—his wife safely in Louisiana, as I recall, he hardly showered or shaved for those weeks. A typical scenario I’m told over and again.
For those weeks, he couldn’t bear the thought of what had become of his life’s work. Finally ready to face it, he showered, shaved, then drove to his businesses. As he topped the railroad tracks, he realized that he could see the Gulf of Mexico three or so blocks away. Nothing remained standing between the railroad tracks and the beach. Not a thing. And he cried for the devastation that had been wrought, for what had been lost, for what will not ever be again.

He had had several chances to sell and retire, but he didn’t want that. The day they left for Dallas, he received a call from his agent. They arranged to meet and sign the deal when they returned. But there was nothing to sell, and the six-figure check had to be returned. I didn’t ask about the insurance. I felt it would have been inappropriate to bring up what is a routinely sore and sour topic when we’re trying to have fun at a kid’s party. A forced retirement, indeed. Though he is now happily retired, I’d bet his insurance didn’t pay what they should have after faithfully paying 35 years of premiums.

This is real life in any town, USA. Kids doing their jobs: being kids, reminding us of what is most important such as eating, watching over loved ones, having a good belly laugh, having fun, and playing fairly in every aspect of life.

Funny how a child’s birthday party can bring into crystal clear perspective the essence of what is at stake in the Mississippi race for insurance commissioner.

A Fair Shake
Ensuring that insurance companies treat families and businesses fairly in the aftermath of a disaster is the job of the insurance commissioner. It matters. Fairness is the difference between having the resources to create a day of good old-fashioned fun for a six year old’s birthday party at home and not having a home in which to celebrate a child’s birthday.

I think that Mississippi’s current insurance commissioner has a peculiar way of defining fairness and justice. As I mentioned in yesterday’s piece titled “Ending Corporate Looting on the Gulf Coast,” State Insurance Commissioner George Dale’s idea of justice is more of an insurance insiders “Just Us” mentality. His idea of being fair is equally disturbing.

We can see for ourselves how the man defines “fairness” through what he does and says without apology. For example, a week after Katrina hit, Dale finally took a helicopter ride over the Katrina damaged Gulf Coast. The following month, an insurance industry magazine published Dale’s response.

“Nothing was there. All you could see standing from the beach inward were maybe a few trees and some markers. Even with that, there would be a building standing out in the middle of all of this. It was eerie.

“People are calling in droves and in e-mails, demanding that I make the insurance companies pay for all of their losses. I’m calling it a Catch-22. If I could make the insurance companies pay under the wind-driven clause, then how many insurance companies would I be breaking? On the other hand, people are living down there with nothing. Either way, I can’t win.”

Miss.Regulator Faces Katrina Aftermath
Best’s Review
October 2005

Whoa. Hold on there, buddy. What do you mean with the comment that “either way, I can’t win?” Is that some Freudian-like slip of the tongue? I’ve got news for you, George. This isn’t about making you a winner. In fact, this isn’t about you at all except in terms of how well you are doing your job on behalf of the insurance consumers. You got that? George, this isn’t about you.

This has always been about the people for whom the position of Insurance Commissioner was created, regular Mississippians whether they live in the Delta or the Northern or the Gulf Coast part of the state.

Over the last few decades, the overwhelming majority of folks who cast their ballots for you were not the corporate fat cats who had funded your campaigns. Rather, they were nurses and teachers, coaches (like you used to be) and electricians, grocery clerks and firefighters, farmers and shipyard workers, retired seniors and administrative staff members.

Gulf Coast resident James “Bud” Ray of Long Beach, Miss., "offers this view of the insurance commissioner."

“We were in a state of total chaos. If he had been out front and put the hammer down initially, I don’t know what the result would have been, but it certainly would have been comforting for us to know that the person we elected as our insurance commissioner was out there beating the drums on our behalf.”

George, this is what handling Katrina’s aftermath has been all about. Leadership would have established in house policyholder advocates to help the thousands of insurance policyholders get their claims filed and approved for the wind damage to their homes and businesses. Instead, George, you let an insurance industry PR hack set up shop inside of your government office. You’re a putz, George. A putz.

Robert Hunter, former Texas insurance commissioner and now a consumer advocate, said
"I certainly can't think of anything he's done that has been pro-consumer. [Dale] hasn't taken leadership in a pro-consumer way . . . He's just there. For a long time, too." To be sure, being hired as a consumer advocate after he leaves office isn’t something for which George Dale would be very well qualified.

Even the Mississippi State Supreme Court has weighed in on the fact that when it comes to fairness for Mississippi’s policyholders, George Dale is as AWOL as his buddy George W. Bush had been during the last two years of his stateside only weekend warrior adventure in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War. As other young male military airplane enthusiasts joined their fellow Americans in Vietnam, George W. Bush chose the Texas Air National Guard at a time when the National Guard was always kept stateside. Even with that cushy position, the man abandoned his post. Some would say Bush deserted it.

In a similar way, Dale has long abandoned his post, deserting the people who had elected. An insurance industry publication noted this about Dale.

On more than one occasion, the Mississippi Supreme Court has ruled in an insurance consumer's favor, agreed with a jury's monetary award to punish the insurance company for bad behavior, then admonished in its opinion: "Once again, this court is called upon to redress grievances which might have been avoided by proper state regulation of insurance company practices."

In yet another example, Dale abandoned his post deserting Mississippi’s policyholders when he deliberately permitted insurance companies to write into their policies that disputed claims have one year to file a lawsuit. Oh really? One year, George? An industry trade magazine states that Mississippi’s law is three years. That’s an additional TWO years to file a lawsuit. What is the legal basis upon which you are allowing insurance companies to deceive Mississippians deliberately? There is no legal basis. You just deceive Mississippians, because you can.

The impact is easy enough to see. A company lowballs its customers. Drags it out beyond 12 months. Then in the middle of the second year or so, the company reminds the customer that their policy states they had 12 months to file for a lawsuit, and well, time’s up! Of course, the unsuspecting policyholder sees the information in black and white and believes that the insurance company is telling theme the truth about their rights. After all, the insurance commission would not permit the companies to lie to us.

They believe the insurance company because clearly no honest and fair insurance commissioner would permit the insurance industry to deceive its policyholders deliberately. George, you have allowed insurance companies to lie to your own constituents, which means that you have betrayed us.

Lastly, George, you push mediation before lawsuits. In a mediation, the deck is stacked in favor of your insurance industry buddies, the ones you allows to set up shop inside of your state office—the office in which you are supposed to be regulating the insurance industry rather than providing office space to them. That would be the same insurance industry buddies you allow to deliberately deceive Mississippi policyholders into believing that they have only 12 months instead of 36 months to file a lawsuit against their insurance company. George Dale, you really are kind of slimy. The more I learn about you, the more I hope that the voters cast their ballots in favor of Gary Anderson.

When it comes to your mediation program, the Insurance Journal states that your program “is not binding and is paid for by the insurers.” So State Farm, Nationwide, Allstate and the like pay for it but are not required to go through with anything they agree on. So, then, what is the point?

Moreover, you apparently do not require the insurance company to disclose all of their evidence. Well, this is another foundation for the racketeering case that the Scruggs Katrina Group has brought against State Farm and its engineering partners. Apparently, these business devised a plan through which to hide from policyholders reports that engineers had filed stating that wind had caused a policyholder’s damage.

The video below is former Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore explaining the case in everyday language.



Former Attorney General Mike Moore Explains the RICO Case on WLOX's This Week
Watch the video: Hi-Res Lo-Res



How in the living hell can anyone defend themselves when Insurance Commissioner permits the corporate giants to be deceptive, to keep secretive of evidence that would be in favor of you and me? No one can. That is the beauty of our legal system, which allows trial lawyers to be our legal eyes and ears for us.

Because of the work that the Scruggs Katrina Group has been doing on behalf of Mississippi’s policyholders, we now know that State Farm and partners apparently “actively and fraudulently . . . concealed information and prevented the plaintiffs from obtaining information that could be used in their favor.” This is George Dale’s mediation program. A game of hide and seek with the evidence and the truth. This is not a child's game. We're talking about people's homes and businesses, schools and government buildings like court houses, jails, city halls, police stations, fire stations, etc.

George Dale's mediation program is deceptive, yet still he claims, "This is a good program.”

With insurance companies wrongfully deny paying claims, the consequences have been massive. Parents have no money to rebuild their homes and businesses. Schools cannot afford to construct safe buildings for their students and teachers. Communities ache because too much has been destroyed, and the day of returning to some sense of normalcy seems rather far off to believe a come back is possible in our lifetimes. These are the measures of your failure, George Dale.

You want to play games like hide and seek? Then go to a kid’s birthday party, George, If you observe the kids, you just may get your priorities back in order.

In the meantime, with a lot of smart work and a bit of luck on our side, you’ll have a lot of time on your hands after the August 7th election has Gary Anderson as our next Democratic candidate for Insurance Commissioner. Hopefully, you’ll be singing a new tune on August 8th. Might I suggest you bone up on Happy Birthday?

____________

If you liked A Kid’s Birthday Party Clarifies Post-Katrina Insurance Questions, you may also enjoy the following pieces.

George Dale is a Coward
Ending Corporate Looting on the Gulf Coast

Broadening Katrina’s Lens: A five Part Series
Part 1: Broadening Katrina's Lens
Part 2: Recovery’s Two Major Impediments: $$$ and the “F” word
Part 3: The "F" Word: FEMA
Part 4: Katrina’s Bigger Picture
Part 5: Katrina’s Karmic Payback: Insurance Reform


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Gary Anderson's Radio Spot

Here's a nice radio spot for the Gary Anderson for Insurance Commissioner Campaign.



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Gary Anderson's Powerful Pocketbook Primary Ad

by Ana Maria

There is great cause for hope. Gary Anderson, an African-American male who got his master's at Ole Miss--the state university that had to be forced to intergrate many decades ago, is on the cusp of winning against George Dale, a good ol' boy who has come to symbolize the corporate greed of the insurance industry he is supposed to regulate.

The Clarion Ledger's Red/Blue Blog just released poll numbers with Anderson leading Dale by 33-28 margin. Clearly with some work from this moment until the polls close August 7th, Anderson can win.

This is positive and uplifting news on a number of planes. First, it is terrific to be able to defeat a man (George Dale) who betrayed the families and businesses that took a beating in Katrina and another at the hands of the insurance industry. Secondly, it is terrific that here in Mississippi where racism has been so central, so prominent in the culture, that an African American man can be within striking distance of this kind of electoral win.

Third, to have a man of integrity--an African American man of integrity who was born, raised, and educated here inside of this state--to come within striking distance of putting the nail in the coffin of greed is a gloriously uplifting event, indeed.

As we move toward all of our numerous political goals, it will do us quite a bit of good to keep our eye on the goal as we move the ball down the field one play at a time understanding what every football player (and fan) understands quite well. Every sweet victory comes with understanding the fundamental nature of the game to be a contact sport. And so it is with politics.

This campaign is an example of where the rubber meets the road, where we can be part of the solution. That is what each of us really seeks--to be part of the solution., to make a difference. You know what to do.

Suiting up to play the game to win includes several options. Contributing a few dollars into Gary Anderson's campaign, volunteering with the campaign--maybe phone banking long distance if he campaign is dong that, and voting for him are all steps that can be taken to be part of a solution to the problem with George Dale's cozy relationship with the insurance industry that has ravaged the coast in ways beyond what Katrina did.

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Ending Corporate Looting on the Gulf Coast

by Ana Maria

Recently, a man got four years in prison for burglarizing a neighbor’s home to loot it right after Katrina. What kind of jail time will the insurance industries’ corporate cronies get for deliberately contriving to steal the claims money from policyholders in the Katrina-ravaged areas that crossed three states: Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama?

Here in Mississippi, we have two state officials responsible for holding these corporate crooks accountable to the people. We have State Attorney General Jim Hood who is doing his job to bring justice to the people of Mississippi, and we’re grateful to him for his strength and fortitude in the face of tremendous pressure to go along to get along—a position of weakness, for sure.

We also have State Insurance Commissioner George Dale, whose idea of justice is more of an insurance insiders “Just Us” mentality.

Dale’s own words portray a man in the back pocket of the insurance industry.

Katrina was “the worst natural disaster in U.S. history . . . and put an undue burden on insurance companies. . . .”
Mississippi Insurance Commissioner George Dale

What a lovely sentiment coming from a public official who should be the first defender for us as policyholders. Those words should be put on bill boards, television ads, and radio spots throughout South Mississippi. What a betrayal this man has wrought upon the families and business owners inside Katrina Land.

Of course, it would be unrealistic for us to expect a man who is in the pocket of the insurance industry to be our protector against the industry’s fraudulent practices.

"We take money from anybody who is interested in good government.''
Mississippi Insurance Commissioner George Dale

Who are these folks interested in “good government”?

Miss. Commissioner Dale Raised 40% of Campaign Funds from Insurers
Insurance Journal

And that was in 2006.

Dale: A Democrat? An Independent? A Dino?
Earlier this year, the Mississippi Democratic Party leadership stood up to Dale voting to strip him of the ability to run as a Democrat. Dale had publicly campaigned on behalf of Bush and Cheney in 2004. To fight being prohibited from claiming himself to be a Democrat, Dale hired Greg Copeland, a big time insurance industry lobbyist attorney—and a Republican—to represent him in court.

Simultaneously, Dale’s Republican attorney argued that the Democratic Party MUST allow Dale to run as a Democrat AND that Dale ought to be allowed to run as an Independent because he can’t win as a Democrat. Huh?!

Dale pulled the ultimate Lieberman, as in U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman who ran on the Lieberman Political Party of Connecticut—or some such nonsense—when the Connecticut Democrats voted Ned Lamont as their Democratic nominee last year sending Lieberman packing his bags. Lieberman then started his own political party and accepted help from the Karl Rove wing of the Republican Party. Dale apparently took a page out of Lieberman’s playbook. I’m a Democrat! I’m an Independent! I’m a DINO! (Democrat in Name Only)

Conflicts, Conflicts Everywhere
On its website, Copeland’s law firm brags about its prominence within the insurance industry.

"The firm serves as general counsel to Mississippi's largest property and casualty insurer and as local counsel for numerous other insurance companies. The American Insurance Association selected the head of the firm's insurance practice group to serve as Mississippi counsel for the Association."

Regarding the fact that he was being represented by a big insurance lobbyist attorney, Dale said
“I don’t see any conflict.”

Apparently, the man is blind. Too bad it is not in the way that Justice is blind.

In another glaring example of Dale’s cozy conflict-of-interest ridden relationship with the insurance industry, he allowed State Farm to pick up the tab for the attorney who was helping Dale’s Deputy Insurance Commissioner Harrell prepare for a deposition in a lawsuit that the Scruggs Katrina Group was bringing against . . . State Farm. Ding! Ding! Ding! By now, alarms should be going off in a major way.

Yes, you read that correctly.

State Farm was paying the attorney fee for the lawyer helping the Mississippi Deputy Insurance Commissioner prepare for his testimony under oath and representing him at the proceedings in one of the large lawsuits that Mississippi policyholders are bringing against . . . State Farm.

Can you believe it?! Talk about the fox guarding the hen house!! But this is really more like a criminal defense team paying the salary of the local prosecuting attorney assigned to its case. What a whopper of a conflict of interest.

Here’s a guide to the deposition and links to the deposition itself. The only reason we found out this horrifyingly awful but important piece of information is because the Scruggs Katrina Group deposed Deputy Commissioner Harrell as part of its ongoing case of Thomas and Pamela McIntosh vs State Farm. The SKG website characterizes the Harrell deposition as “one of the most eye-popping depositions our group has ever seen.” Now that’s saying something.

You know, most of us think of the insurance commission as a consumer advocate, the place where we can turn for real assistance when an insurance company isn’t treating us or our family members fairly. Unfortunately, Dale acts as if his job is to advocate on behalf of the insurance companies.

Are we in good hands with George Dale? Hardly. The man is a walking betrayal of public trust. And in a matter of days, with some effort, George Dale can be sent his walking papers when the voters go to the polls on Tuesday, August 7th.

Like George Dale’s only Democratic opponent Gary Anderson says. "You can't protect the pocketbook of consumers, if you are in the pocketbook of insurance companies."

Indeed, indeed. To bring good old-fashioned, mom and apple pie kind of justice to the people of South Mississippi, we can raise a little political hell! You know what that means. If you are a registered voter inside of Mississippi Vote. Inside or out contribute. Inside or out volunteer.

Turning out for this election to turn out our current insurance commissioner—who thinks he is in the business of carrying water for corporate insurance executives, is the way we stop George Dale’s permissive reign of corporate looting.


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Katrina looter gets 4 years

Neighbor's home was raided day after storm

By ROBIN FITZGERALD
rfitzgerald@sunherald.com

GULFPORT -- A former Gulfport resident will serve four years in prison for burglarizing and looting a neighbor's home after Hurricane Katrina.

Charles David Dodwell, 40, who later moved to Birmingham, Ala., pleaded guilty to both charges on Friday. Circuit Judge Steve Simpson sentenced him to four years in prison. Simpson also ordered him to pay a $2,000 fine and to serve three years' probation after his release.

Dodwell was living on Windridge Drive when Katrina struck. The next day, the neighbor returned home to discover a break-in and noticed a trail of his belongings leading to Dodwell's back yard, said George Huffman, an assistant district attorney.

"We're not talking about food or anything, " Huffman said. "It was computers, electronics, DVDs and personal items. We're assuming he had to make more than one trip and was carrying so much that he dropped some along the way, leaving a trail."

Windridge is in Orange Grove near Three Rivers and O'Neal roads. Huffman said the stolen items were recovered from locations including Dodwell's residence and a mobile home in Hattiesburg.

Dodwell faced three to 25 years for the burglary conviction. State law sets no minimum penalty for looting, but the maximum is 25 years.

Defense attorney Joe Gautier offered mitigating circumstances, telling the judge that Dodwell was bipolar and under stress, according to Huffman.

"The judge told him a lot of people on the Coast were under stress at the time and not all of them were breaking into people's homes," Huffman said.

Originally published in Sun Herald on July 29, 2007.

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