A Golden Handshake For eHealth Incompetence

Ontario Liberal Health Minister David Caplan finally threw a body under the bus to take the glare off of himself, and the victim was the one most complicit in the abuse of eHealth that has defrauded taxpayers of millions in a few short months. CEO Sarah Kramer has stepped down, resigned is what they’re calling it, after less than a year in the electronic health records company. Ms.Kaplan began her position with eHealth last November, leaving her position as vice-president of Cancer Care with only two days notice, but gave herself a hefty, and illegal, $114,000 bonus within four months of working for eHealth.

Now, it appears that Sarah Kramer will be able to walk away from the job she mangled, destroying public confidence in the crown corporation, with a golden handshake:

The embattled CEO of eHealth Ontario Sarah Kramer will receive nearly $317,000 in compensation after leaving the crown organization.

The decision on Kramer’s departure was mutual, said Steve Erwin, press secretary for Health Minister David Caplan.

Kramer, whose appointment as president and CEO of the agency was revoked Sunday, will receive the equivalent of 10 months’ salary under an agreement reached with eHealth’s board, officials confirmed.

That’s less than what she was entitled to under her contract, which would have included 15 months’ severance, an unspecified bonus and benefits, they said.

$317,000 is already an insulting amount of money to reward a person who is responsible for overseeing and allowing:

- A consultant who submitted an invoice for eight hours of work in which she said she consulted herself, then followed up with questions for herself.

- At least $2 million in untendered contracts were awarded by eHealth to long-time associates of agency chair Dr. Alan Hudson and CEO Kramer.

- An eHealth consultant billed for tea and a dessert square while earning $2,700 a day.

- Another consultant being paid $2,750 a day collected $75 a day for expenses, flying home to Edmonton 31 times in five months at a cost of nearly $21,000.

Health Minister David Caplan said that the severance was required to avoid any possible lawsuits by Ms.Kramer since her contract would have awarded her a 15-month severance package. It will be interesting to see if David Caplan, too, can avoid being thrown under the bus in this scandal. Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath said the optics of a generous compensation package adds insult to injury during a recession:

“It’s very apparent that she was removed for a reason, and I think that people will be outraged if they see yet another golden handshake.”

The worst part is that history will note that she has “decided to leave” the organization, instead of being publicly fired and rebuked for incompetence and abuse of taxpayers. For true justice, Ms.Kaplan should be held accountable for her mismanagement that borders on corruption. eHealth is the second electronic health records government boondoogle, after the first one blew through $650 million before being shut down without producing anything.

Sheesh. And I got audited for my $2,300 request for a tax return this year.

The Muslim World Reacts To The Big O “Suck Up”

The above picture seems surreal to me. The idea that seven Islamic thugs replete in camo gear, kalashnikov rifles, and facemasks, would sit down civilly to watch President Barack Obama make a speech about western relations with Islam, seems preposterous. It’s almost like watching Adolf Hitler take a bubble bath listening to Enya or something similarly unusual. One can only imagine the banter between the terrorists as they watch the speech, elbowing one another and rolling their eyes.

The President attempted a reconciliation with Islam by highlighting the aspects of the religion and it’s history that have had positive effects on the world. In a very carefully selective speech, Barack Obama finally used his own heritage that he had until now downplayed, as a means of trying to “fit in” with a world that feels alienated to the west. It’s true that Muslims the world over stopped and listened to the speech out of curiosity, and a few were no doubt filled with a little “hope and change”. But others saw it as a transparent form of opportunism, playing an ethnic card that doesn’t quite fit with the previous character he played to get elected as U.S. President.

As for the nice things he had to say about Islam, and the quotes he used, one in particular was used to rebuke terrorism by paraphrasing a passage from the Qur’an: “The Holy Koran teaches that whoever kills an innocent, it is as if he has killed all mankind; and whoever saves a person, it is as if he has saved all mankind.”

Actually, this is taken from the verse 005.032:

On that account: We ordained for the Children of Israel that if any one slew a person – unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land – it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people. Then although there came to them Our messengers with clear signs, yet, even after that, many of them continued to commit excesses in the land.

What was omitted is the next verse directly after that seeks to compel jihad in verse 005.033:

The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter;

The attempted public relations coup with Islam seems to have therefore fallen rather flat, as excerpts from this list would indicate:

“There is a change between the speech of President Obama and previous speeches made by George Bush. But today’s remarks at Cairo University were based on soft diplomacy to brighten the image of the United States.” — Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza.

[...]

“This vision is so out of touch with reality. … You can have your speechwriters find every good thing a Muslim has ever done. But more modern history is that the Muslim world is at war with the Western world.” — Aliza Herbst, 56, a spokeswoman for Yesha, the West Bank settlers’ council.

If Barack Obama’s intent was to open a dialogue with Islamic leaders and adherents, the approach is likely to have a mixed effect. The moderates who were already reasonably understanding of why there exists conflict between the middle east and the west will probably not have been influenced much either way. But the more radical proponents still believe that the problems in the middle east exist due to the American presence there, and their support of Israel in the region. Nothing Barack Obama can do or say, even by pronouncing his Muslim bloodline in a vain attempt to gain some credibility, will change that.

h/t American Thinker for the quotes from the Qur’an