Special from NewsMax's Most Informed Sources
Aug 11, 2002

1. Why Did Bush OK Medical Record Sharing?
2. Castro Accuses Jeb of CIA Ties
3. Zell Miller Wins Cheers
4. Sen John Kerry Running for President
5. Hillary Still Eyeing 2004 Race

1. Why Did Bush OK Medical Record Sharing?

On Friday, the Bush administration announced new changes to medical "privacy" rules promulgated by the Clinton administration.

Of course, the new rules completely opened the barn door for massive abuse of your personal, confidential medical records.

Under the Clinton rules, patients needed to sign a consent form to have their records released – but even that requirement was a joke. Under those rules, doctors and medical providers could have you sign a waiver of consent before even seeing a doctor. If you refused to sign, under the Clinton plan you could have been refused treatment.

Now the Bush rules, promulgated by Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, go even further than the Clinton rules. Doctors don't even need to get patients' consent to share their medical records with others – they just need to make a good-faith effort to keep records confidential.

The Bush rules also keep open the use of your medical records for marketing purposes by third-party marketing firms and pharmaceuticals.

Obviously, the Bush administration knows this issue is a loser; that's why the new rules were announced on Friday – just in time for the weekend graveyard for news. (NewsMax particularly likes "Friday stories" – we highlight them and carry them on the top of our page on Monday just to teach the politicians the Friday trick doesn't work with us. In fact, it backfires.)

Why is the Bush administration moving ahead with such rules?

Washington insiders tell NewsMax that pharmaceutical companies made mega-donations to the Republican Party and the Bush 2000 campaign. These same companies want access to medical records to increase their ability to sell drugs to consumers.

No matter, the new changes to medical records pose a significant threat to your right to privacy. It should be opposed by citizens of all political parties.

2. Castro Accuses Jeb of CIA Ties

Granma, Fidel Castro's English news service, claims that Jeb Bush is nothing more than a CIA stooge of the Cuban-American "mafia."

Apparently angry that Bush remains well ahead in the polls against Castro favorite Janet Reno (remember, she returned Elian to his communist enclave), Castro's news agency alleges that the current Florida governor was dispatched to Florida by his CIA director father, George H.W. Bush, to claim the state's governorship with the help of CIA-backed Cubans in Miami.

Castro's writer claims that Cuba has done extensive research about Jeb Bush by "reading articles on him in the alternative press on Internet.

Granma continues: "Suckled by the most sinister Miami mafia circles since taking his first steps in Florida's political jungle, Jeb has quite a few skeletons in his cupboard.

"When his father – a former CIA agent who rose to head the agency – was selected as U.S. vice president in the Reagan administration, young Jeb moved to Florida. No doubt due to his father's recommendations, he was given a job there by Armando Codina, a businessman on the Cuban-American National Foundation (CANF) executive [committee?].

"It's been known for some time now that the CANF – created, directed and maintained by the CIA – was always a secure source of funding for Cuban-American terrorists. It's also known just how many of its leaders were directly involved in terrorist plans both inside and outside the United States."

The last we checked, Cuba was still on the State Department's list of nations sponsoring terrorism. No wonder Castro is angry with Jeb Bush and his family – especially since Jeb's brother W. says that after Iraq, other countries will be targeted. Cuba has already been identified as a purveyor of biological weapons.

3. Zell Miller Wins Cheers

Georgia's Democratic Senator Zell Miller received wide praise after his speech this past Friday at the national conference of ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council).

Miller blasted Clinton policies that he said made America weak and vulnerable to terrorism. (Read more about Miller's speech on NewsMax.com on Sunday night and Monday.)

But Miller received several standing ovations from the conservative crowd. Even New York radio host Bob Grant was rising for the ovations. Grant said, "I have never given a Democrat a standing ovation in my life."

4. Sen. John Kerry Running for President

No doubt about it, Massachusetts Senator John F. Kerry is running for president.

Kerry will be trying to buck recent history, when liberal Democrats from Massachusetts have failed to gain the White House, notably Sen. Ted Kennedy and Gov. Mike Dukakis.

Kerry is already trying to give himself a more moderate feel. In June, he joined with conservative Republican Senator Rick Santorum in proposing legislation that would protect workers from on-the-job discrimination related to religious beliefs and practices. The legislation would require employers to reasonably accommodate an employee's religious practice or observance unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the employer.

Kerry should have no money troubles for his run. He is married to Teresa Heinz, whose late husband was heir to the Heinz fortune.

So far, Kerry is competing against other apparent candidates: Gore, Lieberman, Edwards, Gephardt and Hillary.

5. Hillary Still Eyeing 2004 Race

We hear Washington is still abuzz about Hillary's presidential prospects.

NewsMax first reported earlier this year that Hillary was preparing for a national run for the White House.

That view is becoming inside-the-beltway thinking.

In late July, Weekly Standard editor William Kristol said Hillary was preparing for a presidential run, with a strategy that includes accepting a draft by her fellow Democrats, who will see her as more presidential than her competition.

"Look, she's not going to say she's running at this point," Kristol told Fox News Channel's "On the Record" host Greta Van Susteren.

But that doesn't mean much right now, the influential Republican warned.

"[Hillary's] going to be very visible. And I suspect what will happen is that around October-November of 2003 people might look at the field: There's Gore again, there's Gephardt, there's Kerry. People aren't too enthusiastic about any of them."

Kristol predicted that at that point, disheartened Democrats will turn to Hillary to rescue their party.

"There will be a little bit of a draft-Clinton bandwagon the way there was for [Colin] Powell in 1995.

Or the way there was for Mario Cuomo in 1991. Now, Cuomo chose not to get in at the last minute, but I don't rule out Mrs. Clinton getting in."

And if she does, says Kristol, "she will be a formidable candidate."

The GOP journalist noted that Clinton "stole the show" at the Democratic Leadership Council convention in New York on July 29.

"She gave a presidential-level performance," Kristol observed – and no other candidate measured up.

Meanwhile, NewsMax hears that Gore and other presidential candidates have found difficulty raising funds. Apparently, Hillary and her minions at the DNC are telling big Democratic donors to remain on the sidelines and not commit. If they obey, this most assuredly will help Hillary.

Editor's note: You can read NewsMax's special report on Hillary's presidential run – from her HillPac political action committee to other revealing facts – Click Here.