Democratic Party

In 2005, the California Criminal Intel Bureau reported the following Executive Summary regarding crimes committed by gangs and terrorists. This report is compiled in order to predict and stop these types of illegal criminal enterprises. Here are some of the trending behaviors the report found:

Many communities have been experiencing a reduction in gang activity as a result of gang injunctions. These efforts have reduced various gang-related activities and made some California communities safer from the dangers of gang violence.

While violent activity between gangs has been part of their history, in 2005 there was a marked redirection of violence toward law enforcement. Tragically, this re-focusing resulted in the deaths of more than 10 California law enforcement officers.

A governmental anti-gang initiative known as Community Shield, has been active in targeting MS-13 members (which is a Sureno gang). Several MS-13 members have been arrested relating to various crimes both violent and non-violent. Some of these include: narcotics offenses, grand theft auto, and various violations relating to paroled individuals.

Authorities note that many Asian gang members suspected of serious crimes flee to other states to elude capture.

The raketeer influenced corrupt orgs. Act, informally referred to as RICO, has led to many convictions for criminal conspiracies. RICO has been especially successful in getting convictions of outlaw motorcycle gangs. Convictions for murders, drug dealing, and other criminal enterprises have been obtain through continued use of RICO.

California has not suffered an attack by al-Qaeda. Authorities successfully prevented plots in 2000 and 2002 aimed at Los Angeles. It is believed that law enforcement initiatives specifically targeting this group have been largely successful in preventing their activities.

The United States prison system is the latest arena to experience an increase in terrorist organization. Recent investigations into these prison-system groups has heightened law enforcement’s awareness of these activities. These groups continue to grow and get more attention from U.S. law enforcement agencies.

Great article by Michael Hiltzik on LA Times today about tort reforms role as health cares circus sideshow. As Hiltzik puts it:

“Insurance companies love it because the less money they pay out to plaintiffs, the more they get to keep. Republicans love it because trial lawyers give three-quarters of their political donations to Democrats. And Democrats pay it lip service because theyre afraid to look like lawyer lovers.

Scapegoating medical liability as the reason for high health care costs is certainly nothing new. It just so happens that it is a convenient argument to make during debates on health care. “Frivolous lawsuits are causing this problem,” they shout. Are you surprised that the only people making these arguments are the ones who would benefit from not medical responsibility?

That facts according to Hiltzik are:

Liability for medical mistakes is estimated to contribute to no more than three percent of all U.S. health care spending. That means out of the over one-trillion dollars of annual health care costs, approx. fifty-billion dollars is comprised of malpractice litigation. In other words, even if we eliminated medical liability altogether, we would be in the exact same situation with health care.

The myth of medical liability being the main cause of health care costs has to end. We need to start focusing on the real problems and inefficiencies of the current system and stop chasing ghosts. Even if we got rid of medical liability in total, we would still be facing the same problems. Therefore, let’s shift the discussion to the real problems and stop filing in with the insurance lobby.

In fact, in places where tort reform has taken firm root, we have not seen a dramatic decrease in health care costs. Do you know what we have seen in those areas? Greater profitability for insurance companies. Even worse, people with legitimate personal injury and medical malpractice claims go without compensation.