Senator Tony Rand

Persons interested in North Carolina politics have been all abuzz over the last two weeks about the surprise decision of Senate Majority Leader and uber-lawmaker Tony Rand to retire.

Equally surprising – and yet still related to Senator Rand – is the most common reason for visitors to my Wayne’s World blog over the last year, including as recently as yesterday.

Specifically, these Internet guests from around the globe (including Japan, Norway and Australia) all want to read about the legendary Rockingham Peachtree Rock Festival held in Richmond County, North Carolina at the North Carolina Motor Speedway.

Kudos to Dan Kane at the N&O for breaking this story about claims processing fees at Blue Cross and Blue Shield. I wish I understood the technical details better, but it sure looks like their fees are out of line with what's fair. And just in case you're wondering how things got to this point, we have a strong assist from Senator Tony Rand:

A state law sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand had kept the PPO contract's contents private from all but a handful of state officials. Plan officials had repeatedly denied requests to make contract information public, but reversed their position after The (Raleigh) News & Observer protested, contending that Rand's law did not pertain to the cost of claims-processing contracts.

If there's one thing we learned from the Bush administration, it is this: when there is no transparency, we the people get screwed.