Detroit Women's Convention, "Make Then Hear Us" sponsored by Detroit City Council Woman JoAnne Watson, March 17, 2012, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Coleman A. Young Municipal building.
Detroit Women's Convention: "Make Them Hear Us" March 17, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
George Clinton Asking Fans to Help Him Raise $50,000 for Recording Studio
The Parliament Funkadelic frontman, 70, is using online fundraising website IndieGoGo to encourage devotees to contribute
to the cause and aid the "restoration and preservation of original recordings, as well as urgent repairs and upgrades to the Parliament-Funkadelic family recording studio." So if you can donate, please do. You'll be preserving music history if you do.Clinton is offering signed CDs, T-shirts and other memorabilia in exchange for donations, so donating will earn you more than good deed points.
Rewards increase depending on how much you donate. If you can donate $5,000, a pair of concert passes for all Parliament-Funkadelic shows for a year will be offered. If you can donate $10,000, you will get yourself a chance to collaborate with Clinton in the studio.
The online fund drive runs through April 16. It has raised $3,300 so far. So if you have the means, please donate.
Are you able to donate and to help George Clinton preserve his studio? More info at IndieGoGo
Obama adminstration rips 46 thousand parents from children
Obama adminstration rips 46 thousand parents from children
Destroying families is 'collateral damage' of immigration policy
Parents risk losing custody of their children forever, as children in foster care have been ridiculously deemed by the State as “abandoned” by their parents. In reality, they want nothing more than to be together. There are currently 4.5 million U.S. citizen children with at least one undocumented parent living in the U.S., and every day their right to live in a family, with a mom and a dad, are threatened.
On a personal note, despite being here for over 20 years, paying taxes, never being in trouble with the law and pursuing higher education, both my parents still face the risk of deportation even though their sons are now legal residents.
Citizens with parents who are deported or are at risk of deportation are forced to choose between following their parents and leaving the only country they know, or staying in the U.S. and being denied a parent-child relationship forever.
Living with parents: an internationally recognized right for children
The fundamental human right of a child to live with his or her parents has been articulated in the “United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,” a document only two nations have refused to sign: the U.S. and Somalia.
Article 9 of the Convention states that nations “shall ensure that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will, except when ... such separation is necessary for the best interests of the child.” Furthermore, “In all actions concerning children … undertaken by … courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.”
In a reminder of the shared struggles between the Black and immigrant communities, the criminal justice system has produced a similar human rights disaster in the Black community as the U.S. continues to imprison low-level property offenders and non-violent drug offenders at a record breaking pace. In 1990, one in four Black children had a parent imprisoned, and by the year 2000 the number of children with a parent in prison rose by over one-third to 1,531,500. The negative effects of these sudden and indefinite separations have been documented extensively over the past decade.
Despite the lip service both Republicans and Democrats pay to the “sanctity of the family” in the presidential election campaigns, neither are advocating for family rights when it comes to undocumented workers or the racist prison-industrial complex. The Obama administration claims that it only wants to deport the criminal element of the undocumented population. However, without calling for the immediate legalization of every hardworking person in the United States whose only crime is crossing an imaginary line, families will continue to be cruelly and needlessly separated.
The current administration does not attempt to hide this fact. The White House has wholeheartedly accepted the deportation of parents as unavoidable “collateral damage” in the prosecution of its immigration policies. The administration’s top advisor on immigration, Cecilia Muñoz, has herself said, “Even if the law is executed with perfection, there will be parents separated from their children.”
Politicians compete in racist, anti-immigrant posturing
In an attempt to score political points with the anti-immigrant sector of the electorate, all the presidential candidates are competing to pose as the toughest “defender of the border.” In reality, they are doing nothing more than engaging in political posturing and using the lives of millions in order to win votes from racists.
In fact, by most accounts so-called “illegal immigration” has slowed to a trickle if not become virtually non-existent since the economic crisis peaked in 2009. Last year, The New York Times interviewed Douglas S. Massey, co-director of the Mexican Migration Project at Princeton, about an extensive, long-term survey in Mexican emigration hubs. (July 6, 2011) Massey said his research showed that “[f]or the first time in 60 years, the net traffic [of undocumented Mexicans] has gone to zero and is probably a little bit negative.” He continued, “No one wants to hear it, but the flow has already stopped.”
This fact is underscored by data suggesting that the few immigrants who do continue to risk their lives crossing the U.S.-Mexico border mainly do so because they are trying to regain the lives they lost in the U.S. after being deported. A mother trying to re-unite with her citizen children, for example, or a father attempting to return to the only world he knows after working decades in the U.S. without papers. According to recent Department of Homeland Security figures, 56 percent of apprehensions at the Mexican border in 2010 involved people who had been caught previously, up from 44 percent in 2005. According to officials, the most prosecuted federal felony is now “illegal re-entry” into the U.S.
Despite having “more boots on the border than ever before,” as Obama bragged in his State of the Union address, and despite the dwindling job opportunities, immigrants will continue to cross the border because they have fundamental social, financial and cultural ties in the United States and not in their countries of birth.
Anti-immigrant policies mean profits for capitalists
The Party for Socialism and Liberation fights for socialism because it is a system where the right to live freely and with your family would replace the right of Wall Street and the big business goons to profit from undocumented workers and the immigration system.
On top of the cheap and “flexible” labor force that immigrants provide the U.S. economy, the “free market” has produced a huge detention and imprisonment industry, turning immigrant and citizen parents alike from human beings into dollar signs.
According to Wall Street analysts, the prison industry has become one of the few “reliable American growth industries” despite and even because of the recession.
According to the report by the Applied Research Center, if rates of parental deportation remain steady, the country will remove about as many parents in just two years as it did in the 10-year period Immigration and Customs Enforcement tracked previously. Each deportation represents a tragedy to those of us who fight for justice, but to Wall Street and the growing network of private prisons, this rapid rise in deportations represents more profits for their shareholders.
The New York Times estimates that deportation costs taxpayers “at least $12,500 per person.” (Oct. 2, 2011) Between October 2008 and July 2011, “Immigration and Customs Enforcement spent $2.25 billion sending back 180,229 people who had been deported before and came back anyway.” Private prison companies like the Corrections Corporation of America and the GEO Group have made their shareholders and CEOs millions of dollars on the backs of innocent workers, and ultimately the U.S. taxpayer as well.
In the U.S., the right of a child to his or her parents is being systematically violated. The need to radically change the prison and detention system and to pass just immigration reform becomes more pressing every day.
The PSL will bring our presidential campaign to immigrant communities around the country and state unequivocally our support for full rights for all immigrants. Our 10-Point Program calls for abolishing all anti-immigrant laws, an immediate end to the raids and deportations, and a dismantling of the border wall. This year, immigrants and their allies across the country do not have to stand on the sidelines in the 2012 elections or vote for who they think is the “lesser of two evils.” This year, our immigrant brothers and sisters will be able to join our candidates on the streets, where we always are, fighting for the rights of all working people!
Destroying families is 'collateral damage' of immigration policy
In just the first six months of 2011, the U.S. government deported over 46,000 moms and dads, in most cases separating them from their young U.S. citizen children. These alarming numbers come from a recent report obtained by the publisher of Colorlines.com, the Applied Research Center. The report does not include the number of citizen children of these 46,000 parents, but the Applied Research Center estimates that there will be around 15,000 U.S. citizen children in foster care because of these deportations over the next five years.
Parents risk losing custody of their children forever, as children in foster care have been ridiculously deemed by the State as “abandoned” by their parents. In reality, they want nothing more than to be together. There are currently 4.5 million U.S. citizen children with at least one undocumented parent living in the U.S., and every day their right to live in a family, with a mom and a dad, are threatened.On a personal note, despite being here for over 20 years, paying taxes, never being in trouble with the law and pursuing higher education, both my parents still face the risk of deportation even though their sons are now legal residents.
Citizens with parents who are deported or are at risk of deportation are forced to choose between following their parents and leaving the only country they know, or staying in the U.S. and being denied a parent-child relationship forever.
Living with parents: an internationally recognized right for children
The fundamental human right of a child to live with his or her parents has been articulated in the “United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,” a document only two nations have refused to sign: the U.S. and Somalia.
Article 9 of the Convention states that nations “shall ensure that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will, except when ... such separation is necessary for the best interests of the child.” Furthermore, “In all actions concerning children … undertaken by … courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.”
In a reminder of the shared struggles between the Black and immigrant communities, the criminal justice system has produced a similar human rights disaster in the Black community as the U.S. continues to imprison low-level property offenders and non-violent drug offenders at a record breaking pace. In 1990, one in four Black children had a parent imprisoned, and by the year 2000 the number of children with a parent in prison rose by over one-third to 1,531,500. The negative effects of these sudden and indefinite separations have been documented extensively over the past decade.
Despite the lip service both Republicans and Democrats pay to the “sanctity of the family” in the presidential election campaigns, neither are advocating for family rights when it comes to undocumented workers or the racist prison-industrial complex. The Obama administration claims that it only wants to deport the criminal element of the undocumented population. However, without calling for the immediate legalization of every hardworking person in the United States whose only crime is crossing an imaginary line, families will continue to be cruelly and needlessly separated.
The current administration does not attempt to hide this fact. The White House has wholeheartedly accepted the deportation of parents as unavoidable “collateral damage” in the prosecution of its immigration policies. The administration’s top advisor on immigration, Cecilia Muñoz, has herself said, “Even if the law is executed with perfection, there will be parents separated from their children.”
Politicians compete in racist, anti-immigrant posturing
In an attempt to score political points with the anti-immigrant sector of the electorate, all the presidential candidates are competing to pose as the toughest “defender of the border.” In reality, they are doing nothing more than engaging in political posturing and using the lives of millions in order to win votes from racists.
In fact, by most accounts so-called “illegal immigration” has slowed to a trickle if not become virtually non-existent since the economic crisis peaked in 2009. Last year, The New York Times interviewed Douglas S. Massey, co-director of the Mexican Migration Project at Princeton, about an extensive, long-term survey in Mexican emigration hubs. (July 6, 2011) Massey said his research showed that “[f]or the first time in 60 years, the net traffic [of undocumented Mexicans] has gone to zero and is probably a little bit negative.” He continued, “No one wants to hear it, but the flow has already stopped.”
This fact is underscored by data suggesting that the few immigrants who do continue to risk their lives crossing the U.S.-Mexico border mainly do so because they are trying to regain the lives they lost in the U.S. after being deported. A mother trying to re-unite with her citizen children, for example, or a father attempting to return to the only world he knows after working decades in the U.S. without papers. According to recent Department of Homeland Security figures, 56 percent of apprehensions at the Mexican border in 2010 involved people who had been caught previously, up from 44 percent in 2005. According to officials, the most prosecuted federal felony is now “illegal re-entry” into the U.S.
Despite having “more boots on the border than ever before,” as Obama bragged in his State of the Union address, and despite the dwindling job opportunities, immigrants will continue to cross the border because they have fundamental social, financial and cultural ties in the United States and not in their countries of birth.
Anti-immigrant policies mean profits for capitalists
The Party for Socialism and Liberation fights for socialism because it is a system where the right to live freely and with your family would replace the right of Wall Street and the big business goons to profit from undocumented workers and the immigration system.
On top of the cheap and “flexible” labor force that immigrants provide the U.S. economy, the “free market” has produced a huge detention and imprisonment industry, turning immigrant and citizen parents alike from human beings into dollar signs.
According to Wall Street analysts, the prison industry has become one of the few “reliable American growth industries” despite and even because of the recession.
According to the report by the Applied Research Center, if rates of parental deportation remain steady, the country will remove about as many parents in just two years as it did in the 10-year period Immigration and Customs Enforcement tracked previously. Each deportation represents a tragedy to those of us who fight for justice, but to Wall Street and the growing network of private prisons, this rapid rise in deportations represents more profits for their shareholders.
The New York Times estimates that deportation costs taxpayers “at least $12,500 per person.” (Oct. 2, 2011) Between October 2008 and July 2011, “Immigration and Customs Enforcement spent $2.25 billion sending back 180,229 people who had been deported before and came back anyway.” Private prison companies like the Corrections Corporation of America and the GEO Group have made their shareholders and CEOs millions of dollars on the backs of innocent workers, and ultimately the U.S. taxpayer as well.
In the U.S., the right of a child to his or her parents is being systematically violated. The need to radically change the prison and detention system and to pass just immigration reform becomes more pressing every day.
The PSL will bring our presidential campaign to immigrant communities around the country and state unequivocally our support for full rights for all immigrants. Our 10-Point Program calls for abolishing all anti-immigrant laws, an immediate end to the raids and deportations, and a dismantling of the border wall. This year, immigrants and their allies across the country do not have to stand on the sidelines in the 2012 elections or vote for who they think is the “lesser of two evils.” This year, our immigrant brothers and sisters will be able to join our candidates on the streets, where we always are, fighting for the rights of all working people!
Thursday, February 23, 2012
67 % of Detroit Kids Live In High Poverty Because Of System Sucks
Great work, Maura Corrigan!!! The other 33% of kids live in medium to low poverty areas of Detroit or are they in foster care?
Before people get on their economic and racist soap box and start proselytizing child abuse propaganda, let me get one thing straight. You created this.
The period between 2000 and 2008 was a very dark period in Detroit. It was during this time the groundwork for the state harvesting of children took place, right here in Wayne County. Child Protective Services had nothing to do with protecting children. It was all about money.
Child welfare funding is not monitored so people were creating fake reasons to put children in care with fake services. There was so much fraud, from the administrative realm, in community, educational and social programs that the city began to crumble. Everyone in Metropolitan Detroit was using the picture of a "poor, abused child" to ask for money. Lincoln Hall of Justice Judges and Referees. Detroit Police Officers. Wayne County Commissioners. Clergy. Educators. A Mayor and his wife. An Assistant Attorney General who would later on become Governor of Michigan.
The State of Michigan covered it up the billions of dollars of fraud being sucked out of the system of Detroit.
This was the era of fraud. Everyone was doing it and everyone knew about it. It created jobs and stimulated the economy. There was banking fraud, campaign fraud, election fraud, federal fraud, tax fraud...foster care and adoption fraud. The who's who of Detroit had their hand in the cookie jar, from churches to courtrooms, from schools to hospitals, all at the expense of children.
Parents were financially extorted for money to release their child from foster care while they were collecting reimbursements through Medicaid and other Social Security programming to have the kid in foster care in the first place.
Children were being shipped out of state and warehoused in overcrowded cells, not fit for human existence, in an abandoned prison in Texas, courtesy of these political leaders.
Children were being drugged for profit, a Medicaid reimbursed cost.
Children were tortured for the sadistic pleasure called therapy, a Medicaid reimbursed cost.
With the blessing of Michigan Department of Human Services under Marianne Udow and then State Supreme Court Justice Marua Corrigan, everyone covered it up because the institution of poverty was too powerful with too much potential to maximize the revenue of the state to advance their political aspirations.
Maura was once "blue slipped" and thought she was going to sit on SCOTUS. Udow thought she could make a lateral shift from EDS to state government. They ran public image campaigns.
In honor of the products of the "King Maker" I will be nominating Detroit community leaders and political figures who are System Sucks.
A System Suck is an individual or organization that profits from the malevolent use of children in poverty.
If you know someone you would like to nominate for this award, please submit to me or Legally Kidnapped with your reasons why the award should be given. I will be personally delivering my awards and encourage you to do so, also.
Detroit— More children live in high-poverty neighborhoods in Detroit than in any of the nation's 50 largest cities, according to a new report.
Roughly 67 percent of Detroit children live in a neighborhood with concentrated poverty, according to the "Data Snapshot on High-Poverty Communities" from Kids Count. That's 10 percentage points more than the next worst city, Cleveland, where 57 percent of children live in high-poverty areas.
Michigan ranked 44th among the states for the number of children living in neighborhoods where 30 percent or more of the population is in poverty, defined as about $22,000 per year or less for a family of four.
Kids Count in Michigan Project Director Jane Zehnder-Merrell said children who live in neighborhoods with high concentrations of poverty "struggle more with behavior and emotional problems, they are less likely to graduate and they have reduced potential to be economically successful as adults."
There were 341,000 Michigan children in high-poverty communities in 2010, about 124,000 more than at the start of the decade, or a 57 percent increase.
The report, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, found the number of children living in high-poverty neighborhoods nationwide increased from 9 percent to 11 percent over the past decade. About 8 million children across the country live in areas with a high concentration of poverty.
The number of children living in such neighborhoods increased at a faster rate in Michigan than nationwide. Statewide, Michigan's share of children living in high-poverty neighborhoods climbed from 8 percent in 2000 to 14 percent between 2006 and 2010.
Before people get on their economic and racist soap box and start proselytizing child abuse propaganda, let me get one thing straight. You created this.
 |
| Maura Corrigan and her alter ego, "The Queen of Child Welfare Fraud" |
Child welfare funding is not monitored so people were creating fake reasons to put children in care with fake services. There was so much fraud, from the administrative realm, in community, educational and social programs that the city began to crumble. Everyone in Metropolitan Detroit was using the picture of a "poor, abused child" to ask for money. Lincoln Hall of Justice Judges and Referees. Detroit Police Officers. Wayne County Commissioners. Clergy. Educators. A Mayor and his wife. An Assistant Attorney General who would later on become Governor of Michigan.
The State of Michigan covered it up the billions of dollars of fraud being sucked out of the system of Detroit.
This was the era of fraud. Everyone was doing it and everyone knew about it. It created jobs and stimulated the economy. There was banking fraud, campaign fraud, election fraud, federal fraud, tax fraud...foster care and adoption fraud. The who's who of Detroit had their hand in the cookie jar, from churches to courtrooms, from schools to hospitals, all at the expense of children.
Parents were financially extorted for money to release their child from foster care while they were collecting reimbursements through Medicaid and other Social Security programming to have the kid in foster care in the first place.
Children were being shipped out of state and warehoused in overcrowded cells, not fit for human existence, in an abandoned prison in Texas, courtesy of these political leaders.
Children were being drugged for profit, a Medicaid reimbursed cost.
Children were tortured for the sadistic pleasure called therapy, a Medicaid reimbursed cost.
With the blessing of Michigan Department of Human Services under Marianne Udow and then State Supreme Court Justice Marua Corrigan, everyone covered it up because the institution of poverty was too powerful with too much potential to maximize the revenue of the state to advance their political aspirations.
Maura was once "blue slipped" and thought she was going to sit on SCOTUS. Udow thought she could make a lateral shift from EDS to state government. They ran public image campaigns.
In honor of the products of the "King Maker" I will be nominating Detroit community leaders and political figures who are System Sucks.
A System Suck is an individual or organization that profits from the malevolent use of children in poverty.
If you know someone you would like to nominate for this award, please submit to me or Legally Kidnapped with your reasons why the award should be given. I will be personally delivering my awards and encourage you to do so, also.
Report: 67% of Detroit kids live in high-poverty areas"
Detroit— More children live in high-poverty neighborhoods in Detroit than in any of the nation's 50 largest cities, according to a new report.
Roughly 67 percent of Detroit children live in a neighborhood with concentrated poverty, according to the "Data Snapshot on High-Poverty Communities" from Kids Count. That's 10 percentage points more than the next worst city, Cleveland, where 57 percent of children live in high-poverty areas.
Michigan ranked 44th among the states for the number of children living in neighborhoods where 30 percent or more of the population is in poverty, defined as about $22,000 per year or less for a family of four.
Kids Count in Michigan Project Director Jane Zehnder-Merrell said children who live in neighborhoods with high concentrations of poverty "struggle more with behavior and emotional problems, they are less likely to graduate and they have reduced potential to be economically successful as adults."
There were 341,000 Michigan children in high-poverty communities in 2010, about 124,000 more than at the start of the decade, or a 57 percent increase.
The report, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, found the number of children living in high-poverty neighborhoods nationwide increased from 9 percent to 11 percent over the past decade. About 8 million children across the country live in areas with a high concentration of poverty.
The number of children living in such neighborhoods increased at a faster rate in Michigan than nationwide. Statewide, Michigan's share of children living in high-poverty neighborhoods climbed from 8 percent in 2000 to 14 percent between 2006 and 2010.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Michigan Ignores The Foster Care Rape Epidemic
Here is an excerpt of Michigan Senate Bill 924, to to expand foster care sex crimes. I believe this is a response to the letter I sent Attorney General Bill Schuette.
(vi) THE ACTOR IS AN EMPLOYEE, CONTRACTUAL SERVICE PROVIDER, OR
VOLUNTEER OF A CHILD CARE ORGANIZATION, OR A PERSON LICENSED TO
OPERATE A FOSTER FAMILY HOME OR A FOSTER FAMILY GROUP HOME IN WHICH
THAT OTHER PERSON IS A RESIDENT AND THE SEXUAL CONTACT OCCURS
DURING THE PERIOD OF THAT OTHER PERSON'S RESIDENCY. THE CONSENT OF
THE VICTIM IS NOT A DEFENSE TO A PROSECUTION UNDER THIS
SUBPARAGRAPH. AS USED IN THIS SUBDIVISION, "CHILD CARE
ORGANIZATION", "FOSTER FAMILY HOME", AND "FOSTER FAMILY GROUP HOME"
MEAN THOSE TERMS AS DEFINED IN SECTION 1 OF 1973 PA 116, MCL
722.111.
Here is my response posted on Michigan Votes:
Didn't Eric Cantor pull the same faux pas with the STOCK Act?
Here you have a bill that means well but has no clue on execution. For example, where is the reporting mechanism???? Seriously, is anyone even aware of the reporting protocol in child welfare? Allow me to explain.
The foster child or juvenile delinquent can file a complaint to the authority figure in charge of their well being. These complaints are then handled internally and wiped under the rug with heavy doses of psychotropic medication. If a child is lucky, a complaint can actually make it through the community mental health route, but because there is confidentiality in child welfare, the referral would go to BCAL or OCO. Since the Child Welfare Training Institute omits mandatory reporting of Medicaid fraud, the likelihood of a child complaint making it to the Bureau of Children and Adult Licensing is slim to none.
Then you have Office of Children's Ombudsman where a complaint is screened in an initial call. If someone is lucky enough to get past the weed-out screening, there is a secondary level of screening. This is called the "Valid-Not-Open" determination which means there is a violation but the Office will not take it or refer it to law enforcement.
I shall presume there are the naysayers who will challenge me with the guardian ad litum or CASA. Seriously, these entities will only engage with the child as only they see fit. These persons do not advocate for the child to go back home or with relatives. They do not even support contact with family and friends.
Since this concept of children being brutally beaten, raped, murdered, drugged and tortured in foster care has just now come to light, will the state finally keep tally of the incidents? Will the state file public reports? Will the state contractually debar, license revocation or engage in recovery of funds that allowed for these aforementioned transgressions to occur? I will take it one better, will the state report federally? Is the Attorney General to prosecute or represent the transgressors as they do have immunity in child welfare and are contracted state agents. Will the child have access to legal representation to file suit against those liable for their pain and suffering? Did you even know that the Attorney General, Counties Prosecutors, guardians ad litum, and judges are not mandatory reporters? If family members of children Legally Kidnapped do not even have a forum to file grievance when their child is being tortured in foster care, what makes any of you lawmakers think any action will be taken with the passage of this bill in this form.
An original guardian of the child stands chance of being found non-compliant which are grounds for termination of parental rights if they file complaints that their child is being raped, tortured and drugged. The entire system needs to be reformed but it must begin with the philosophy of the state: Poverty is not a crime and children are not usufruct. How about creating a complaint system with mandatory reporting of Medicaid fraud to the Attorney General. This bill will die in committee, but it is a start.
(vi) THE ACTOR IS AN EMPLOYEE, CONTRACTUAL SERVICE PROVIDER, OR
VOLUNTEER OF A CHILD CARE ORGANIZATION, OR A PERSON LICENSED TO
OPERATE A FOSTER FAMILY HOME OR A FOSTER FAMILY GROUP HOME IN WHICH
THAT OTHER PERSON IS A RESIDENT AND THE SEXUAL CONTACT OCCURS
DURING THE PERIOD OF THAT OTHER PERSON'S RESIDENCY. THE CONSENT OF
THE VICTIM IS NOT A DEFENSE TO A PROSECUTION UNDER THIS
SUBPARAGRAPH. AS USED IN THIS SUBDIVISION, "CHILD CARE
ORGANIZATION", "FOSTER FAMILY HOME", AND "FOSTER FAMILY GROUP HOME"
MEAN THOSE TERMS AS DEFINED IN SECTION 1 OF 1973 PA 116, MCL
722.111.
Here is my response posted on Michigan Votes:
Didn't Eric Cantor pull the same faux pas with the STOCK Act?
Here you have a bill that means well but has no clue on execution. For example, where is the reporting mechanism???? Seriously, is anyone even aware of the reporting protocol in child welfare? Allow me to explain.
The foster child or juvenile delinquent can file a complaint to the authority figure in charge of their well being. These complaints are then handled internally and wiped under the rug with heavy doses of psychotropic medication. If a child is lucky, a complaint can actually make it through the community mental health route, but because there is confidentiality in child welfare, the referral would go to BCAL or OCO. Since the Child Welfare Training Institute omits mandatory reporting of Medicaid fraud, the likelihood of a child complaint making it to the Bureau of Children and Adult Licensing is slim to none.
Then you have Office of Children's Ombudsman where a complaint is screened in an initial call. If someone is lucky enough to get past the weed-out screening, there is a secondary level of screening. This is called the "Valid-Not-Open" determination which means there is a violation but the Office will not take it or refer it to law enforcement.
I shall presume there are the naysayers who will challenge me with the guardian ad litum or CASA. Seriously, these entities will only engage with the child as only they see fit. These persons do not advocate for the child to go back home or with relatives. They do not even support contact with family and friends.
Since this concept of children being brutally beaten, raped, murdered, drugged and tortured in foster care has just now come to light, will the state finally keep tally of the incidents? Will the state file public reports? Will the state contractually debar, license revocation or engage in recovery of funds that allowed for these aforementioned transgressions to occur? I will take it one better, will the state report federally? Is the Attorney General to prosecute or represent the transgressors as they do have immunity in child welfare and are contracted state agents. Will the child have access to legal representation to file suit against those liable for their pain and suffering? Did you even know that the Attorney General, Counties Prosecutors, guardians ad litum, and judges are not mandatory reporters? If family members of children Legally Kidnapped do not even have a forum to file grievance when their child is being tortured in foster care, what makes any of you lawmakers think any action will be taken with the passage of this bill in this form.
An original guardian of the child stands chance of being found non-compliant which are grounds for termination of parental rights if they file complaints that their child is being raped, tortured and drugged. The entire system needs to be reformed but it must begin with the philosophy of the state: Poverty is not a crime and children are not usufruct. How about creating a complaint system with mandatory reporting of Medicaid fraud to the Attorney General. This bill will die in committee, but it is a start.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Chairman John Conyers,Jr. U.S. Judiciary Report on Michigan's Emergency Manager Law
 |
| U.S. Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, Jr. |
Democracy For Sale: Subverting Voting Rights, Collective Bargaining and Accountability Under Michigan's Eme...
Highland Park Public Hearing On Emergency Manager And Alternative Solutions
Public Hearing on EMs, Proposing Policy, and Achieving Results!
Greetings friends, neighbors and activists,
Greetings friends, neighbors and activists,
The time for town hall meetings and vent sessions has come and gone!
As yet another undemocratic emergency manager was appointed in Michigan - this time to run the Highland Park Community School District - concerned citizens, parents, educators, faith-based and civic leaders from across our community formed the Financial and Academic Reinvestment Commission to oppose Public Act 4, reject the concept of state-appointed czars (emergency managers), fight against the secretive Educational Achievement Authority (EAA) and, uniquely, propose real policies to reinvest in our struggling cities and school districts.
We recognize that the fiscal problems we face are not solely due to mismanagement. We contend that disinvestment has led to large budget deficits in cities and school districts, particularly in urban areas. We intend to work together at all levels (local, state and federal) to create real policies that will keep our communities strong and our neighborhoods vibrant.
So, if you are ready to move past the speeches, rhetoric and meetings thrown together where the same folks tell you what you already know... if you are ready to share your expertise, your thoughts, your concerns and your ideas... if you are ready to work toward accomplishing our shared goals of creating stronger communities and better educational systems for our children... then you are invited!
Our first public hearing is this Thursday, February 23rd, at 6 p.m. at the Ernest T. Ford Recreation Center located at 10 Pitkin, Highland Park, MI 48203.
This hearing will feature:
- Brief presentations from our five subcommittees: Financial, Academic, Reinvestment, EAA/Charters, and Community/Civic Engagement
- Testimony from leaders currently under the oppression of an EM, from: Pontiac, Flint, Benton Harbor, Ecorse
- Public Comment and Q&A
- Laying the foundation for the real work ahead
Commissioners:
- Bert Johnson, State Senator- District 2- Rev. D. Alexander Bullock, Greater St. Mattew Baptist Church & Rainbow Michigan
- Stephanie Vaught, Sugar Law Center
- Glenda McDonald, Highland Park educator, parent and activist
- Kenneth Reed, Institute for Public Policy and Educational Affairs
- Victor Bonds, Highland Park NAACP
- Rodney Patrick, Highland Park City Council
- Earl Wheeler, community resident and activist
- Walter Rushing, CPA & M.Ed
Thank you! We hope to see you on Thursday!
- The Financial and Academic Reinvestment Commission
SystemSuckology: Foster Care Fairy Tales
LK posts another Legally Kidnapped Systemsuckology Report.
Earlier today I posted a link to a blog calledFoster-2-Forever. Now before some system suck gets their panties in a bunch, (Oh my God how can I pick on such a sweetie) I gotta say that I do not believe that this person is bad or evil. In fact just the opposite. Although she is certainly on the old Imperialistic Morality Parade, I'm sure she is taking very good care of the kids who come into her home, and I'm sure she really wants to do what is best for the kids. She just doesn't understand what that is.
I also gotta say that I do enjoy reading this particular blog, but not because I see it as having any educational value whatsoever. I read it more for entertainment. Why? Because it is one of the best examples of the Fairy Tale view of foster care and adoption that I have ever seen.
So what do I mean by the Fairy Tale view? Well... Mostly that her writings do not reflect the reality that most people experience, but instead preaches a much happier scenario. If this is her reality then great. In the case where the child really needs to be protected, I wish it could be like that for all of them. I would hope that every kid in the world would have a good home. I would hope that they would all grow up loved and nurtured. I would also hope that if they were in foster care that there really were no other options such as a grandparent or loving family member who should always come first.
Unfortunately many kids in this system do not find this kind of happily ever after scenario. It is difficult to find a "Forever Home" for a teenager for example. I've come across multiple news stories that claim that it's hard to find adoptive placements for special needs kids or sibling groups. This is not stating that I agree with most of these kids even being adopted when there are so many loving family members out there fighting for so many of them. It simply means that one persons reality may not reflect the reality of the norm, and this is an exceptionally "Happily Ever After" sort of a scenario.
What makes it even more of a fairy tale view is the fact that those who preach this kind of view do not acknowledge the very real problems within the system. For example, only abused and neglected kids are in the system. Workers never steal children and are always the heroes. Real parents are always hideous villains.
Never do they talk about the kids who are abused in foster care or the kids who are bounced around from home to home. Theirs will has a happy ending.They never bring up the systematic failures, you'll never see talk about the kids in group homes, abuse in care or the over-drugging of the foster kids. Nope, they're gonna love them, and hold them, and kiss away all of their troubles and give them some cute nickname on their blogs.
I do bring up these problems because I sometimes feel like they're preaching the wrong message as if this is the reality that all potential adoptive parents will experience, while many kids and parents suffer in secret. This view being preached so often ultimately leads to failed adoptions when the new adoptive parent looking for their happily ever after suddenly comes to understand of what they really got themselves into and the state still gets the money for the successful outcome anyway, and they may even get the kid back a year or so later. It leads to an undeserved positive public perception of the Child Protective Industry. That undeserved positive perception enables them to get away with fraud, corruption, child trafficking, etc. in secret, while the public believes the system to be the perfect little world like that which is preached in Foster 2 Forever.
When I do try to call them on their bullshit, I'm automatically accused of being the bad guy. I'm told to stop bashing foster parents. They always come back at me with a horror story of a kid who was really abused so severely, for example the worst of the worst of the worst as if they think that I believe in a parents right to abuse a child. I don't want to see kids get hurt either. They will all do this. Not only the foster parents but any system suck. They act as if calling them on their bullshit is the same as being pro-child abuse.
What do you not see the failure to protect cases that I post? You know the cases where the kid really did need to be protected, but the workers were too busy chasing shadows and harassing innocent parents who are having a hard time? Come on! The last thing I want to see is a kid get hurt. These people are so full of shit it's pathetic. Look for example at the comments that were posted after mine on the following post. I am trying to be polite here and start a serious discussion. And I have. But their responses are almost always the same. It's always the same argument. "But what about the kids who really are abused or neglected?"
http://foster2forever.com/2012/02/love-from-a-birthmother.html
The simple reason that so many of these kids do fall through the cracks is because there are too many false accusations and report without merit. It's because the sheep are so caught up in the Penn State Sex Abuse Scandal or the Casey Anthony trial that they will report anybody who doesn't parent to their standards in their opinion. It could also be argued that the workers are incompetent and couldn't tell the difference between an abused or neglected child and a hole in the wall and spend more time tearing apart impoverished or innocent families than they do protecting abused or neglected kids. But this is beside the point.
The reason that the Fairy Tale view is so dangerous is the fact that it's the preaching of the wrong message to the gullible from the gullible who live in their perfect little worlds. It's the case of the blind leading the blind, where the cute little babies who become available are snatched up long before they're damaged like the older kids who are bounced around and end up on an edition of Wednesday's Child.
Wednesday's Child is another example of the Fairy Tale view.
Well, notice in the video that I just shared, the kid is dressed up nicely and taken to a fun place where he'll be having a blast. That way he's all happy and bubbly for the camera. When he gets back to the foster home, all hell will break loose. The rages will begin. He'll be given his meds and spend the rest of the day walking around aimlessly like a good little zombie.
But what a happy scenario the media presents to you, wouldn't you think? Do you think this kid would be a good edition to your family? Do you think this kid would be a challenge? Would his problems all be solved if he could just find his forever home? Did you notice they have him convinced of this? Why wouldn't the current foster parents adopt him? Is it possible that somebody loves and misses him? Or are all these kids really unwanted and unloved?
So this is what we'll call the "Dreams of Forever Homes" scenario. This is where they convince the kids that everything will be all better if they can only find them a family. They will live happily ever after. If they can't find them that forever home, then it's out on your ass at age 18. Sorry! See Ya!
LK: http://legallykidnapped.blogspot.com/2012/02/systemsuckology-foster-care-fairy-tales.html#ixzz1n2hkTp9r
SystemSuckology: Foster Care Fairy Tales
Earlier today I posted a link to a blog calledFoster-2-Forever. Now before some system suck gets their panties in a bunch, (Oh my God how can I pick on such a sweetie) I gotta say that I do not believe that this person is bad or evil. In fact just the opposite. Although she is certainly on the old Imperialistic Morality Parade, I'm sure she is taking very good care of the kids who come into her home, and I'm sure she really wants to do what is best for the kids. She just doesn't understand what that is.
I also gotta say that I do enjoy reading this particular blog, but not because I see it as having any educational value whatsoever. I read it more for entertainment. Why? Because it is one of the best examples of the Fairy Tale view of foster care and adoption that I have ever seen.
So what do I mean by the Fairy Tale view? Well... Mostly that her writings do not reflect the reality that most people experience, but instead preaches a much happier scenario. If this is her reality then great. In the case where the child really needs to be protected, I wish it could be like that for all of them. I would hope that every kid in the world would have a good home. I would hope that they would all grow up loved and nurtured. I would also hope that if they were in foster care that there really were no other options such as a grandparent or loving family member who should always come first.
Unfortunately many kids in this system do not find this kind of happily ever after scenario. It is difficult to find a "Forever Home" for a teenager for example. I've come across multiple news stories that claim that it's hard to find adoptive placements for special needs kids or sibling groups. This is not stating that I agree with most of these kids even being adopted when there are so many loving family members out there fighting for so many of them. It simply means that one persons reality may not reflect the reality of the norm, and this is an exceptionally "Happily Ever After" sort of a scenario.
What makes it even more of a fairy tale view is the fact that those who preach this kind of view do not acknowledge the very real problems within the system. For example, only abused and neglected kids are in the system. Workers never steal children and are always the heroes. Real parents are always hideous villains.
Never do they talk about the kids who are abused in foster care or the kids who are bounced around from home to home. Theirs will has a happy ending.They never bring up the systematic failures, you'll never see talk about the kids in group homes, abuse in care or the over-drugging of the foster kids. Nope, they're gonna love them, and hold them, and kiss away all of their troubles and give them some cute nickname on their blogs.
I do bring up these problems because I sometimes feel like they're preaching the wrong message as if this is the reality that all potential adoptive parents will experience, while many kids and parents suffer in secret. This view being preached so often ultimately leads to failed adoptions when the new adoptive parent looking for their happily ever after suddenly comes to understand of what they really got themselves into and the state still gets the money for the successful outcome anyway, and they may even get the kid back a year or so later. It leads to an undeserved positive public perception of the Child Protective Industry. That undeserved positive perception enables them to get away with fraud, corruption, child trafficking, etc. in secret, while the public believes the system to be the perfect little world like that which is preached in Foster 2 Forever.
When I do try to call them on their bullshit, I'm automatically accused of being the bad guy. I'm told to stop bashing foster parents. They always come back at me with a horror story of a kid who was really abused so severely, for example the worst of the worst of the worst as if they think that I believe in a parents right to abuse a child. I don't want to see kids get hurt either. They will all do this. Not only the foster parents but any system suck. They act as if calling them on their bullshit is the same as being pro-child abuse.
What do you not see the failure to protect cases that I post? You know the cases where the kid really did need to be protected, but the workers were too busy chasing shadows and harassing innocent parents who are having a hard time? Come on! The last thing I want to see is a kid get hurt. These people are so full of shit it's pathetic. Look for example at the comments that were posted after mine on the following post. I am trying to be polite here and start a serious discussion. And I have. But their responses are almost always the same. It's always the same argument. "But what about the kids who really are abused or neglected?"
http://foster2forever.com/2012/02/love-from-a-birthmother.html
The simple reason that so many of these kids do fall through the cracks is because there are too many false accusations and report without merit. It's because the sheep are so caught up in the Penn State Sex Abuse Scandal or the Casey Anthony trial that they will report anybody who doesn't parent to their standards in their opinion. It could also be argued that the workers are incompetent and couldn't tell the difference between an abused or neglected child and a hole in the wall and spend more time tearing apart impoverished or innocent families than they do protecting abused or neglected kids. But this is beside the point.
The reason that the Fairy Tale view is so dangerous is the fact that it's the preaching of the wrong message to the gullible from the gullible who live in their perfect little worlds. It's the case of the blind leading the blind, where the cute little babies who become available are snatched up long before they're damaged like the older kids who are bounced around and end up on an edition of Wednesday's Child.
Wednesday's Child is another example of the Fairy Tale view.
Well, notice in the video that I just shared, the kid is dressed up nicely and taken to a fun place where he'll be having a blast. That way he's all happy and bubbly for the camera. When he gets back to the foster home, all hell will break loose. The rages will begin. He'll be given his meds and spend the rest of the day walking around aimlessly like a good little zombie.
But what a happy scenario the media presents to you, wouldn't you think? Do you think this kid would be a good edition to your family? Do you think this kid would be a challenge? Would his problems all be solved if he could just find his forever home? Did you notice they have him convinced of this? Why wouldn't the current foster parents adopt him? Is it possible that somebody loves and misses him? Or are all these kids really unwanted and unloved?
So this is what we'll call the "Dreams of Forever Homes" scenario. This is where they convince the kids that everything will be all better if they can only find them a family. They will live happily ever after. If they can't find them that forever home, then it's out on your ass at age 18. Sorry! See Ya!
LK: http://legallykidnapped.blogspot.com/2012/02/systemsuckology-foster-care-fairy-tales.html#ixzz1n2hkTp9r
New Tools to Fight Fraud Child Welfare Programs
Once again, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice plum forgot to address the multi-billion dollar industry of child welfare fraud.
If you are in child welfare, you are exempt from any licensure checks and excluded from site visits to confirm legitimacy and location. The chances of having license revocation, contractual debarment or any prosecution when found to have participated in filing false claims are slim to none. If you do get caught by the state, just rename your company.
[sic] "We heard about it but we just don't know what to do."
Seriously. Out of the mouth of a U.S. HHS Inspector in a room filled with U.S. Attorneys.
Why, you ask?
Because there are not enough Inspector Generals and Attorney Generals reading my posts.
The Affordable Care Act takes historic steps toward combating health care fraud, waste and abuse by providing critical new tools to crack down on entities and individuals attempting to defraud Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and private insurance plans....except child welfare.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is using state-of-the-art technology review claims before they are paid to track fraud trends and flag suspect activity. Everyone knows an individual is guilty until proven innocent in child abuse and neglect proceedings which means it is impossible to review a damn claim, no matter how fancy the computers. SACWIS is not state of the art because the states will report what they want, when they want where details on legitimacy of the claims are kept a secret. New power to fight fraud, granted in the health reform law, will also help achieve the 2012 goal of cutting the rate of improper payment claims in the traditional Medicare program by half. Child welfare is a traditional Medicaid program.
Summary of Fraud Prevention Accomplishments Under the Affordable Care Act
Tough New Rules and Sentences for Criminals: The Affordable Care Act increases the federal sentencing guidelines for health care fraud offenses by 20-50 percent for crimes that involve more than $1 million in losses. In child welfare, you get to keep the money and immunity if busted. The law establishes penalties for obstructing a fraud investigation or audit and makes it easier for the government to recapture any funds acquired through fraudulent practices. If you are found obstructing a Medicaid fraud investigation in child welfare, you can easily file a reimbursable claim to Medicaid for your inconvenience. The law also makes it easier for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate potential fraud or wrongdoing at facilities like nursing homes. Juvenile detention centers, temporary shelters and foster homes are untouchable so you will never have to worry about the Department of Justice ever walking through your front door. If they do, remember, bill Medicaid for your troubles. Convictions under the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program increased by over 27 percent (583 to 743) between 2009 and 2011, and the number of defendants facing criminal charges filed by federal prosecutors in 2011 increased by 74 percent compared with 2008 (1430 vs. 821). Child welfare false claims convictions: 0, an increase of 0 from the previous decade.
Enhanced Screening and Other Enrollment Requirements: Last year CMS published rules to enforce some of the Affordable Care Act’s most powerful new fraud prevention tools. New requirements for providers and suppliers wishing to participate in Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP who may pose a higher risk of fraud or abuse are now required to undergo a higher level of scrutiny. This scrutiny includes licensure checks and site visits to confirm legitimacy and location.
To support the Affordable Care Act’s new requirements for risk-based provider enrollment CMS implemented a new Automated Provider Screening (APS) system in December 2011. The APS uses existing information from public and private sources to automatically and continuously verify information submitted on a provider’s Medicare enrollment application including licensure status. The new system replaces the time- and resource-intensive process of manual review of the enrollment application. Anything in child welfare is a secret. You try getting a copy of a former foster child's medical records. Better yet, I double dare the U.S. Attorney General to go examine any foster care medical records. Impossible to do because they will shred them before the AG walks through the door.
In addition to the enhanced enrollment and screening requirements, the Affordable Care Act also allows the Secretary to impose a temporary moratorium on newly enrolling providers or suppliers of a particular type or in certain geographic areas if necessary to prevent or combat fraud, waste, and abuse. Could you even imagine a moratorium on child placing agencies? The child abuse propaganda machine will rev up and kick into high gear making it a moral imperative to keep these human harvesting factories open at all costs. Society would shut down is a foster care system was penalized for filing false claims to Medicaid. Please. CMS will publish a Federal Register notice to announce any enrollment moratorium and to explain the agency’s rationale for its action.
Increased Coordination of Fraud Prevention Efforts: Many of the Affordable Care Act antifraud provisions increase coordination among states, CMS, and its law enforcement partners at the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and DOJ. For instance, the law expressly authorizes CMS, in consultation with OIG, to suspend Medicare payments to providers or suppliers during the investigation of a credible allegation of fraud. What about Medicaid? Does anyone remember the GAO cohort study of the top 5 states improperly and unnecessarily drugging foster kids with psychotropic cocktails at an alarming rate or is it just me? This initiative reverses a long-standing Medicare practice of paying claims then attempting to recoup funds if the claim is found to be an error or fraudulent. States must also withhold payments to Medicaid providers where there is a pending investigation of a credible allegation of fraud unless the State Medicaid agency has good cause not to do so. If there is a pending investigation in child welfare, the state attorney general will never prosecute as it will be too busy advocating for the filing of false claims. The Affordable Care Act also ensures that fraudulent providers and suppliers cannot move easily from state to state or between Medicare and Medicaid by requiring all states to terminate anyone whose billing privileges have been revoked by Medicare or who has been terminated by another state Medicaid program for cause. There is no enforcement of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children. Why would a state give away its cash cow of a child. The more children are placed in foster care, the more revenue a state generates. The longer a child is in foster care, the more revenue a state generates. The more psychotropic drugs a child is prescribed in foster care, the more revenue a state generates.
Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT): One of the most visible examples of increased collaboration is the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), a joint effort between HHS and DOJ to fight health care fraud. It has engaged law enforcement and professional staff at the highest levels of HHS and DOJ to increase coordination, intelligence sharing, and training among investigators, agents, prosecutors, analysts, and policymakers. A key component of HEAT is the Medicare Strike Force: interagency teams of analysts, investigators, and prosecutors who can target emerging or migrating fraud schemes, including fraud by criminals masquerading as health care providers or suppliers. Little known fact: a foster care case worker, who does not have to hold a college degree, can do Axis III diagnosis. There is no such thing as intelligence in foster care. Any semblance of logic are grounds for termination of parental rights and immediate adoption proceedings. Why? Because once a child is adopted, all files are hermetically sealed for all eternity. Try analyzing that.
In 2011, HEAT coordinated the largest-ever federal health care fraud takedown. Nothing was done in child welfare. In one action, Strike Force teams charged 115 defendants in nine cities, including doctors, nurses, health care company owners and executives, for their alleged participation in Medicare fraud schemes involving more than $240 million in false billing. In another takedown, Strike Force prosecution teams charged 91 defendants in eight cities for their alleged participation in a Medicare fraud scheme involving more than $290 million in false billings. I have personally uncovered larger schemes and have reported to the U.S. HHS OIG and U.S. DOJ AG. Want to know their response when I walked in with boxes of original files?
Seriously. Out of the mouth of a U.S. HHS Inspector in a room filled with U.S. Attorneys.
Use of State-of-the-Art Fraud Detection Technology: To target resources to highly suspect behaviors, CMS has implemented the new Fraud Prevention System, which uses advanced predictive modeling technology to fight fraud. The system has been screening all Medicare fee-for-service claims before payment is made since June 30, 2011. Targeted Case Management is a Medicaid fee-for-service claim which can only be forensically reviewed. The only robust analysis that can be executed is if an actual federal law enforcement entity physically comes down and talks to the parties involved and seizes all case files. Much like the predictive technologies used in the credit card industry, the Fraud Prevention System uses advanced technology to identify suspicious behavior and billing irregularities. This targets investigative resources on areas of vulnerability that demand immediate attention and response. By streaming claims on a prepayment basis, CMS and its investigative partners are able to more efficiently identify fraudulent claims and respond quickly to emerging trends.
I constructed an algorithm which can detect child welfare fraud, not just Medicaid fraud. My R was .9238 when analyzing my two variables. I could predict actual months where there would be spikes of Child Protective Services actions. Anyone want to guess which months? Allow me to assist you. April: Child Abuse Prevention Month which also happens to be midpoint of a fiscal year and November: National Adoption Month, the beginning of a new fiscal year.
I constructed an algorithm which can detect child welfare fraud, not just Medicaid fraud. My R was .9238 when analyzing my two variables. I could predict actual months where there would be spikes of Child Protective Services actions. Anyone want to guess which months? Allow me to assist you. April: Child Abuse Prevention Month which also happens to be midpoint of a fiscal year and November: National Adoption Month, the beginning of a new fiscal year.
New Focus on Compliance and Prevention: Under the new law, some preventive measures focus on certain categories of providers and suppliers that historically have presented concerns, including Home Health agencies, and Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) suppliers. Child Placing Agencies and Child Community Mental Health are excluded, of course.
On November 17, 2010, CMS published final regulations authorized under the Affordable Care Act requiring physician certification of a patient’s “face-to-face” visit with an appropriate health care professional to ensure Medicare only pays for necessary and covered Medicare home health and hospice services. In child welfare, there is a method called "flip signing". This is when a physician is signing medical procedures such as annual check ups or prescribing psychotropics to foster children in massive stacks because they have never seen the child. This practice is so blatant that if one took the time to look at the files, it will be found that there were medical examinations of little girls who were actually boys because of the name. On July 12, 2011, CMS proposed “face-to-face” encounter requirements for Medicaid home health including medical supplies, equipment and appliances. Additional face-to-face requirements to combat fraud among Medicare DME suppliers will be proposed later this year.
Expanded Overpayment Recovery Efforts: The Affordable Care Act expands the Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program to Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, and Medicare Part D programs. The Medicaid RAC program became effective on January 1, 2012 and is projected to save $2.1 billion over the next five years, of which $900 million will be returned to states. These efforts build on the success of the Medicare fee-for-service RAC program which in fiscal year 2011 recouped nearly $800 million in overpayments. The reason the RAC will never work in child welfare is because of confidentiality laws. It just would not be in the best interest of the child to allow anyone to look at the case files because fraudulent billing and fraudulent generation of documents would be found. A pattern would be detected of racketeering of a child welfare organization, in collaboration with state officials and the court.
A portion of these overpayments are used to support political campaigns of judges who adjudicate child welfare proceedings.
A portion of these overpayments are used to support political campaigns of judges who adjudicate child welfare proceedings.
New Durable Medical Equipment (DME) Requirements: Under a new risk-based approach to fighting fraud, CMS has focused its efforts on combating fraud among DME suppliers by instituting enhanced enrollment standards and screening requirements. On August 27, 2010, CMS issued final rules enhancing Medicare enrollment standards for DME suppliers such as more stringent operations and facilities requirements to ensure only legitimate suppliers can participate in Medicare. Additionally, the competitive bidding program is expected to save the Medicare program and its beneficiaries $28 billion over 10 years. The second phase of the program will be expanded from 9 to 100 metropolitan areas across the country. Competitive bidding in child welfare does not exist. There are no rate comparisons with other counties or states, there is no continuous quality control of the delivery and efficacy of services. Hell. most of the time the services only exist in a pretty shiny brochure allowing for arbitrary price setting.
New Resources to Fight Fraud: The Affordable Care Act provides an additional $350 million over 10 years to ramp up anti-fraud efforts, including increasing scrutiny of claims before they’ve been paid, investments in sophisticated data analytics, and an increased number of law enforcement agents and others to fight fraud in the health care system. Give me a million of that and watch me generate a billion in recovery. Seriously, I am going to submit a proposal.
Greater Oversight of Private Insurance Abuses: The new law also provides enhanced tools and authorities to address abuses of multiple employer welfare arrangements and protect employers and employees from insurance scams. It also gives new powers to the Secretary and Inspector General to investigate and audit the health insurance exchanges. This, plus the new rules to ensure accountability in the insurance industry, will protect consumers and increase the affordability of health care. If you can afford private insurance, there is a strong likelihood that you will not cross paths with child welfare because it is just that, social assistance. Remember, child protection is an entitlement program. This is why poverty is codified as abuse and neglect. Every time a social program funding is cut, a call is made to CPS.
Senior Medicare Patrols: As a part of the new resources dedicated to fighting fraud, the Obama Administration has significantly expanded funding for Senior Medicare Patrols – groups of senior citizen volunteers to educate and empower their peers to identify, prevent and report health care fraud. The 75 percent increased funding from FY2008 to FY 2011 has helped thousands of Medicare beneficiaries host thousands of community meetings and educational events to increase awareness of fraud among people with Medicare and to solicit their help in preventing fraud.
Child Welfare Fraud Patrols: If you suspect Medicaid fraud in child welfare, report it to me and I will post it up and forward to the U.S. HHS OIG and U.S. DOJ AG.
Child Welfare Fraud Patrols: If you suspect Medicaid fraud in child welfare, report it to me and I will post it up and forward to the U.S. HHS OIG and U.S. DOJ AG.
Child Welfare Fraud Is Above The Law
When reporting child welfare fraud, mainly Medicaid fraud, go to a brick wall and scream until you are blue in the face then pour yourself a stiff drink because that is just about all that will happen when you report Medicaid fraud in child welfare to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General Health Care Fraud Enforcement Task Force.
Why?
Because the Secretary, Daniel Levinson is the one who authorizes the States Medicaid Fraud Control Units which will not do shit about Medicaid fraud in child welfare because it protects its contractual fraudfeasors.
So, as you watch this federal compliance training video, sit back and get ready for a comedy of frauds because child welfare fraud is above the law.
Simply put, even if you are caught, nothing will ever happen to you. No prison. No payback. Alll at taxpayer expense.
Why?
Because the Secretary, Daniel Levinson is the one who authorizes the States Medicaid Fraud Control Units which will not do shit about Medicaid fraud in child welfare because it protects its contractual fraudfeasors.
So, as you watch this federal compliance training video, sit back and get ready for a comedy of frauds because child welfare fraud is above the law.
Simply put, even if you are caught, nothing will ever happen to you. No prison. No payback. Alll at taxpayer expense.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Love From a Birthmother
Legally Kidnapped responds to a foster parent's disgruntled position of original guardians' love of their children.
I love this blog. I really do. This person cracks me up.
Love From a Birthmother
I left a comment on this post. In this comment I explained to her why people are coming at her with what she refers to as "hate mail" which in her naivety she just can't understand. So I explain to her that it's not hate mail. It's justifiable anger directed at those who stole their children. I will share my comment with you now because I doubt it will stay there once she reads it.
Here it is...
Penelope Darling
I will explain this to you once.
First of all, terms like birth-family and bio-parents are offensive. We are the parents. You are not. So please stop labeling us as if we came out of a test tube. That would be greatly appreciated.
Second: Not all children in foster care are abused or neglected, so lets dispel that myth right there, as you're great at preaching that which you learned about in foster parent training but are clueless as to the reality of the pain and suffering that innocent families who are victimized by child welfare are dealing with. And parents who are fighting for the return of their stolen children, don't need some clueless self-righteous hypocrite on an imperialistic morality trip and who believes every lie that the nice social worker tells them, judging them with comments like "In my naivety, I didn’t think that raising abused and neglected children would be something anyone could hate." Because it's not hate, it's justifiable anger pointing at those who are guilty of destroying families and warehousing kids, and the only one preaching any hate here is you. In your naivety, you are preaching hate against real parents, perhaps because you're jealous because of fertility issues or something? Or perhaps you're trying to justify your part in the injustice committed against families by child welfare so that you can sleep at night? I don't know. Comments and posts like this are simply your way of demonizing real parents and justifying your part in a very real injustice that you, in your naivety, refuse to acknowledge or even consider as a viable possibility.
Perhaps you don't realize that poor people are targeted because they can't afford the thousands of dollars for a good lawyer? Perhaps you haven't been paying attention to the immigration issue, which has now resulted in thousands of kids being thrown into foster care while their parents are deported? Perhaps you don't understand that in order to get their adoption numbers up, (keeping up appearances) they need to provide a steady stream of cute little blond haired/blue eyed babies? Perhaps you don't understand that most of the news on the issue comes straight from the agencies public relations departments? Perhaps you should read my blog and see how many pedophiles are caught every week for molesting the foster kids in their care, or how many foster kids are murdered at the hands of foster parents.
Did I ever tell you how my step-son was molested by a foster parent when he was 4 years old? Well he screamed and threatened to tell, so the foster parent then bashed his head off the refrigerator causing permanent brain damage. I had to console my wife through the whole entire thing after she found out about it. I watched a sadistic social worker, who BTW totally got off on the power trip, rip her heart out of her chest with a big smile on her face then try to use me to justify terminating her rights, even though I came along two years after the accused parent was long gone from the picture, and the only thing on my criminal record was a speeding ticket that I got when I was 18. Then she wanted to take my daughter right from the hospital at birth. It costed me $12,000 in legal fees, and a few thousand more to shrinks, parenting classes etc just so that we could bring her home. So go ahead and ask me, in your naivety, why anybody could hate a foster parent or a social worker. I could easily hook you up with lots of people who could explain it to you.
Third: Workers lie. Get it through your gullible head and educate yourself before you speak. Either that or keep on preaching your fairy tales about how wonderful foster parents are, and you will continue to be targeted by real parents who are fighting for the rights to THEIR kids.
Now perhaps I left something out? If so, please feel free to comment here and there.
LK: http://legallykidnapped.blogspot.com/2012/02/love-from-birthmother.html#ixzz1mxO1i6lL
Love From a Birthmother
Why is it that the clueless are the most likely to speak?I love this blog. I really do. This person cracks me up.
Love From a Birthmother
I left a comment on this post. In this comment I explained to her why people are coming at her with what she refers to as "hate mail" which in her naivety she just can't understand. So I explain to her that it's not hate mail. It's justifiable anger directed at those who stole their children. I will share my comment with you now because I doubt it will stay there once she reads it.
Here it is...
Penelope Darling
I will explain this to you once.
First of all, terms like birth-family and bio-parents are offensive. We are the parents. You are not. So please stop labeling us as if we came out of a test tube. That would be greatly appreciated.
Second: Not all children in foster care are abused or neglected, so lets dispel that myth right there, as you're great at preaching that which you learned about in foster parent training but are clueless as to the reality of the pain and suffering that innocent families who are victimized by child welfare are dealing with. And parents who are fighting for the return of their stolen children, don't need some clueless self-righteous hypocrite on an imperialistic morality trip and who believes every lie that the nice social worker tells them, judging them with comments like "In my naivety, I didn’t think that raising abused and neglected children would be something anyone could hate." Because it's not hate, it's justifiable anger pointing at those who are guilty of destroying families and warehousing kids, and the only one preaching any hate here is you. In your naivety, you are preaching hate against real parents, perhaps because you're jealous because of fertility issues or something? Or perhaps you're trying to justify your part in the injustice committed against families by child welfare so that you can sleep at night? I don't know. Comments and posts like this are simply your way of demonizing real parents and justifying your part in a very real injustice that you, in your naivety, refuse to acknowledge or even consider as a viable possibility.
Perhaps you don't realize that poor people are targeted because they can't afford the thousands of dollars for a good lawyer? Perhaps you haven't been paying attention to the immigration issue, which has now resulted in thousands of kids being thrown into foster care while their parents are deported? Perhaps you don't understand that in order to get their adoption numbers up, (keeping up appearances) they need to provide a steady stream of cute little blond haired/blue eyed babies? Perhaps you don't understand that most of the news on the issue comes straight from the agencies public relations departments? Perhaps you should read my blog and see how many pedophiles are caught every week for molesting the foster kids in their care, or how many foster kids are murdered at the hands of foster parents.
Did I ever tell you how my step-son was molested by a foster parent when he was 4 years old? Well he screamed and threatened to tell, so the foster parent then bashed his head off the refrigerator causing permanent brain damage. I had to console my wife through the whole entire thing after she found out about it. I watched a sadistic social worker, who BTW totally got off on the power trip, rip her heart out of her chest with a big smile on her face then try to use me to justify terminating her rights, even though I came along two years after the accused parent was long gone from the picture, and the only thing on my criminal record was a speeding ticket that I got when I was 18. Then she wanted to take my daughter right from the hospital at birth. It costed me $12,000 in legal fees, and a few thousand more to shrinks, parenting classes etc just so that we could bring her home. So go ahead and ask me, in your naivety, why anybody could hate a foster parent or a social worker. I could easily hook you up with lots of people who could explain it to you.
Third: Workers lie. Get it through your gullible head and educate yourself before you speak. Either that or keep on preaching your fairy tales about how wonderful foster parents are, and you will continue to be targeted by real parents who are fighting for the rights to THEIR kids.
Now perhaps I left something out? If so, please feel free to comment here and there.
LK: http://legallykidnapped.blogspot.com/2012/02/love-from-birthmother.html#ixzz1mxO1i6lL
U.S. Representative John Conyers Jr, 1967 Press Release on Job Creation
October 1, 1967 Press Release of U.S. Representative John Conyers, Jr. asking support of the "Full Opportunity Act" taken from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Archives.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Stolen Children Worth A $13,000 Tax Credit - Baby LK Report For February 19th 2012
Baby LK recaps the week in news for the child protection industry.
For America's new poor, help can be hard to find
Why is it so hard to find help for the new poor? It is because they have yet to be honored to view the child welfare roadmap to recovery. That is correct. Child Protective Services will swoop in because "failure to provide for the necessary needs of the child" is child abuse and neglect.
What you have here is this story is a family who may soon find out how to navigate the system of poverty through court ordered services which will be absolutely useless.
When your stomach and wallet are equally empty. When your three children sleep next to your wife in a shelter. When you play piano for pennies on a downtown sidewalk. That’s when you know you are poor.
It’s a twisted realization for a family that once earned $100,000 a year, owned a BMW and never gave a second thought to a Starbucks stop or Cheesecake Factory lunches.
“Life on life’s terms,” Seth Mayer says. “It will shake you down sometimes.”
During one of the worst economic periods in U.S. history, many Americans have experienced financial destruction and the stress of making ends meet. More than one out of every six Tennesseans (1.1 million) lived in poverty in 2010 — a 2.3 percent increase from 2008 — and those getting by with the help of government assistance, social services and nonprofit support continues to rise.
After years of financial security, many have to learn how to be poor.
But who teaches them about food stamps, local soup kitchens, filing for unemployment, seeking government assistance? The answer is, people in this community teach one another.
The day Seth Mayer arrived in Nashville from Arizona, with nothing but his keyboard under his arm and a bag on his back, he turned to a homeless man on the street and asked where he could get a hot meal. The people who fed him told him where to find shelter. Those who housed him suggested other resources for social service support.
For every successful lead, he also encountered challenges and dead ends. Services were scattered across the city. He and his family, who soon joined him, had no transportation and little money for food, much less money for the bus.
Government and nonprofit leaders who work with the city’s poor admit there’s room for improvement in how organizations communicate with those newly in need, but once initiated into the city’s systems, the Mayers, and others like them, discovered Middle Tennessee has a wealth of resources and a generosity of spirit.
And, as the Mayers learned how to be poor, their lives became richer.
What you have here is this story is a family who may soon find out how to navigate the system of poverty through court ordered services which will be absolutely useless.
For America's new poor, help can be hard to find
Mayer Family No Longer Homeless: SETH AND RONICA MAYER SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCES OF BEING HOMELESS
When your stomach and wallet are equally empty. When your three children sleep next to your wife in a shelter. When you play piano for pennies on a downtown sidewalk. That’s when you know you are poor.
It’s a twisted realization for a family that once earned $100,000 a year, owned a BMW and never gave a second thought to a Starbucks stop or Cheesecake Factory lunches.
“Life on life’s terms,” Seth Mayer says. “It will shake you down sometimes.”
During one of the worst economic periods in U.S. history, many Americans have experienced financial destruction and the stress of making ends meet. More than one out of every six Tennesseans (1.1 million) lived in poverty in 2010 — a 2.3 percent increase from 2008 — and those getting by with the help of government assistance, social services and nonprofit support continues to rise.
After years of financial security, many have to learn how to be poor.
But who teaches them about food stamps, local soup kitchens, filing for unemployment, seeking government assistance? The answer is, people in this community teach one another.
The day Seth Mayer arrived in Nashville from Arizona, with nothing but his keyboard under his arm and a bag on his back, he turned to a homeless man on the street and asked where he could get a hot meal. The people who fed him told him where to find shelter. Those who housed him suggested other resources for social service support.
For every successful lead, he also encountered challenges and dead ends. Services were scattered across the city. He and his family, who soon joined him, had no transportation and little money for food, much less money for the bus.
Government and nonprofit leaders who work with the city’s poor admit there’s room for improvement in how organizations communicate with those newly in need, but once initiated into the city’s systems, the Mayers, and others like them, discovered Middle Tennessee has a wealth of resources and a generosity of spirit.
And, as the Mayers learned how to be poor, their lives became richer.
Inside Look Into Michigan Child Protective Services
Maryanne Godboldo tells her story of her child being Legally Kidnapped by Michigan Child Protective Services.
Settlement paid in lawsuit over baby's death
Settlement paid in lawsuit over baby's death
The parents of an infant who suffocated in an Indianapolis foster home in which she was placed by the Indiana Department of Child Services recently collected a $210,000 settlement from the state.
The money was paid to Michael Carter Love and Randi Linden of Indianapolis a little more than a month ago, according to a settlement agreement obtained this week by The Indianapolis Star through a public records request.
The agreement resolved a lawsuit filed in connection with the 2008 death of Destiny Linden. The suit alleged negligence in the child's care by DCS, including Destiny's placement in a foster home that had been the subject of ongoing complaints from a child advocate.
A clause in the agreement notes the settlement is not an admission of liability or wrongdoing "and is solely for the purpose of avoiding the expense and time involved in defending (a) lawsuit." It also bars all parties from speaking about the settlement.
Hush money.
Destiny died just days after she was removed from her mother following an alleged domestic incident involving Linden and Love, who were not in a relationship at the time. The state issued separate checks for $105,000 each to attorneys for Love and Linden.
For more information, including settlement documents, see: blogs.indystar.com/starwatch.
Friday, February 17, 2012
George Clinton's Indiegogo Fundraiser For Mothership
George Clinton's Indiegogo Fundraiser For Mothership
For more information check out funkprobosci.com
For more information check out funkprobosci.com
Conyers to Hold Forum on Michigan’s Emergency Manager Law: UPDATE
For Immediate Release
Date: Friday, February 17, 2012
Contact: Matthew Morgan – 202-226-5543
DaVonne Darby – 313-961-5670
Conyers to Hold Forum on Michigan’s Emergency Manager Law
(DETROIT) – House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-M14) will host a Democratic Judiciary forum concerning the legal implications of the Emergency Manager Law. The forum will start at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February, 21, 2012 and will be held at Soul Harvest Ministries in Highland Park.
Currently, there are six emergency managers appointed under the Michigan Emergency Law (Benton Harbor, Ecorse, Flint, Pontiac, Detroit Public Schools, Highland Park School District) and a review for an appointment is ongoing with respect to the cities of Detroit and Muskegon Heights. Several lawsuits have been brought challenging the law and its implementation, and a petition drive is pending which would suspend the law subject to a statewide referendum in November. At the same time, other states such as Indiana are considering adopting emergency manager laws similar to Michigan’s statute. This forum will consider a range of issues, including the EM law’s possible impact on voting rights, representative form of government, collective bargaining rights; the legality and appropriateness of effort in Lansing to reinstate the law notwithstanding the referendum process; the law’s consistence with the Open Meetings Act, and the state’s compliance with its revenue sharing obligations. Witnesses will include the Emergency Manager for Benton Harbor, preeminent constitutional, voting rights, and bankruptcy legal experts as well as representatives of impacted communities, safety officials, and unions.
In December, Representative Conyers wrote the U.S. Department of Justice to ask the Attorney General to review the law’s constitutionality. That same month, Representative Conyers along with Representatives Clarke and Peters, 55 State Legislators (9 State Senators and 46 State Representatives) and 8 Detroit City Council Members, wrote a letter requesting a meeting with Governor Snyder to discuss the Emergency Manager Law.
WHAT: Forum to Discuss the Legal Implications of Michigan’s Emergency Manager Law
WHERE: Soul Harvest Ministries
16300 Woodward Avenue
Highland Park, MI, 48203
WHEN: Tuesday, February 21, 2012. 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
WHO:
Participants
The Honorable John Conyers, Jr.
Michigan’s 14th Congressional District and Ranking Member House Judiciary Committee
The Honorable Hansen Clarke
Michigan’s 13th Congressional District
The Honorable Gary Peters
Michigan’s 9th Congressional District
The Honorable Bert Johnson
Michigan’s 2nd Senate District
The Honorable John Olumba
Michigan’s 5th House District
The Honorable JoAnn Watson
Detroit City Council
Panelists
Joe Harris
Emergency Manager, Benton Harbor
Reverend David Alexander Bullock
Rainbow PUSH Coalition Detroit
The Honorable Fred Durhal, Jr.
Michigan’s 6th House District and Chairperson Michigan Legislative Black Caucus
The Honorable Thomas Stallworth
Michigan’s 8th House District
The Honorable DeAndre Windom
Mayor, Highland Park, Michigan
The Honorable Marcus Muhammad
Benton Harbor City Council
Professor Kenneth N. Klee
UCLA School of Law
Professor Jocelyn Benson
Wayne State University Law School
Al Garrett
President, Council 25, AFSCME
Chris Michalakis
Secretary-Treasurer, Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO
Officer Joe Duncan
President, Detroit Police Officers Association
Kenneth Cole
Representative for the City of Detroit to Michigan State Government
Brandon Jessup
Chairman, Michigan Forward
John Philo
Legal Director, Sugar Law Center
###
Conyers Applauds Passage of Payroll Tax Compromise; Calls on Michigan Legislature to Restore State Unemployment Benefits
For Immediate Release
Date: Friday, February 17, 2012
Contact: Matthew Morgan – 202-226-5543
Conyers Applauds Passage of Payroll Tax Compromise; Calls on Michigan Legislature to Restore State Unemployment Benefits
(WASHINGTON) – Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) issued the following statement today in response to the passage of the conference report for H.R. 3630 – Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011.
“Today’s passage of the payroll tax conference report will ensure that jobless Americans retain access to needed unemployment benefits, America’s seniors are able to see the doctor of their choice, and American families will avoid a $1,000 tax increase,” said Conyers. “While not perfect, I supported this compromise legislation because it will stabilize the current economic recovery and help keep economic relief flowing to families in Southeast Michigan.
“I do want to express my disappointment that other provisions in the compromise which cut benefits for federal workers and place burdensome requirements on welfare recipients will force low-income and middle-class Americans to make additional sacrifices, while, yet again, nothing is asked of the wealthiest 1 percent. Helping the richest Americans avoid paying their fair share makes for bad policy and exacerbates already unacceptably high levels of income inequality in our country.
“Although it was critical that Congress act to partially extend federal emergency unemployment benefits, I am deeply disappointed that the conference committee was unable to fully extend current benefit levels through the end of the year. We risk inflicting unnecessary harm to Michigan families and our state’s economy by arbitrarily and abruptly cutting off access to unemployment benefits at various points in the upcoming year.
“In light of these cutbacks at the federal level, it is now more important than ever for the Michigan Legislature to move quickly to reinstate a law that provided jobless Michiganders with 26 weeks of unemployment benefits. Reinstating these benefits would be a particularly appropriate use for the $400 million budget surplus recently announced by Governor Snyder.”
###
The reporter did not watch the debate.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Sec. Napolitano Testifies on New Cybersecurity Bill
A day late, a dollar short. These people do not engage us who know what is going on.
Sec. Napolitano Testifies on New Cybersecurity Bill
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano urged lawmakers to quickly pass cybersecurity legislation designed to strengthen both government and private computer defenses from attacks. She testified before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on the Cybersecurity Act of 2012, bipartisan legislation that would give the Homeland Security Department power to identify vulnerabilities and set regulations requiring operators of critical networks to improve security or face penalties. Former Homeland Security Secretary & now head of the Chamber of Commerce National Security Task Force expressed reservations on the legislation and warned against over regulating business.
The bipartisan Cybersecurity Act, introduced this week by Senators Lieberman (I-CT), Rockefeller (D-WV), Feinstein (D-CA) and Collins (R-ME), requires DHS to identify critical infrastructure and forces private companies to protect sensitive networks vulnerable to cyber attacks.
The bill does not contain a "kill switch" that Republican senators objected to. That measure would have given the President emergency powers to seize private online networks.
The bill also requires the State Department to identify cyber threats and reward foreign aid to cooperative governments while issuing sanctions against those governments that do nothing to stop cyber attacks.
In the first panel Sen. Rockefeller and Sen. Feinstein, co-sponsors of the Cybersecurity Act of 2012, expressed sincere concern that critical U.S. systems are in eminent danger from cyber threats. Sen. Rockefeller compared this to the time before 9-11 when various U.S. governmental organizations knew that there was a problem, but didn't connect the dots until it was too late.
Secretary Napolitano testified in the second panel and said that this legislation would improve DHS's ability to address the threats of cybersecurity. She said that the current threat outpaces the authority of the DHS.
During a Q&A with Secretary Napolitano, Sen. John McCain criticized the process for not being open and said that the legislation didn't have a single markup. He also expressed concerns with the cost of the bill.
In the third panel Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, who is now with the Chamber of Commerce, said that he thought the legislation may overregulate business. He also praised changes made to the legislation based on concerns stemming from the cyber attack on the Chamber of Commerce by Chinese hackers.
Stewart Baker, partner at Steptoe & johnson, said that he supports the bill because it will make us more secure. He compared the day after a cyber attack to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
James A. Lewis, director and senior fellow, Technology and Public Policy Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies, warned that people are trying to create loopholes and weaken legislation. He warned against setting the threshold to high because it will simply let cyber attackers know who and what they should target.
Scott Charney, corporate vice president of Trustworthy Computing Group, Microsoft Corp, expressed his support of the bill.
Rogers proves he doesn't mind lying to the 8th Congressional District
For Immediate Release:
16 February 2012
Contact: Lance Enderle
517 285-3376
Rogers proves he doesn't mind lying to the 8th Congressional District
Rogers votes with other House Republicans to allow oil drilling in the Great Lakes, after saying he was "firmly opposed" to such in October, 2010
 |
| Lance Enderle U.S. Congressional Candidate for Michigan, District 8 |
LANSING -- Democratic candidate nominee for the 8th Congressional District Lance Enderle slammed Republican Mike Rogers (R-Brighton) Wednesday for joining with other Michigan Congressional Republicans and approving a measure to allow drilling for oil in the Great Lakes.
"I've said it from the beginning, Mike is a liar. He has no problem telling the people of the district one thing, but then voting to help his corporate cronies," Enderle said. "Here we have a clear, blatant example of Mike's lies. In October of 2010 he told the Argus Press that he was 'firmly opposed' to drilling in the lakes, and touted his alleged legislation to prevent such drilling. Today shows Mike is not 'firmly opposed,' only that he hadn't met the right corporate crony with the offer to soften his resolve."
Roger's own website re-published the entire article written by Christopher Behnan. The relevant part of the article follows:
"Enderle said Rogers was the only U.S. House or Senate member from Michigan who voted in favor of a measure to engage in oil-and-gas exploration in the United States.
He said Rogers has been lax on protection of the Great Lakes.
Rogers said he firmly opposes oil drilling in the Great Lakes and has voted in Congress to ban all drilling in the five lakes. He said he's sponsored legislation to ban new drilling permits and led bipartisan efforts to clean up toxic pollutants and fight invasive species in the lakes."
Adding to the insult, Enderle said, another Michigan community was struggling to identify and address a new pipeline oil spill. This spill occurred in Sterling, Michigan and resulted in a shut down of Enbridge Energy Partners Pipeline 5, which traverses much of the state's northern tier, as well as the upper peninsula, crossing into the lower peninsula under the straits of Mackinac. Enbridge owns Lakehead Pipeline 6B which had a catastrophic failure in July of 2010, spewing an estimated 1.1 million gallons of toxic tar sands oil into the Talmadge Creek and the Kalamazoo River. Up to 35 miles of the river and pristine natural areas were contaminated, and the company continues to work on cleaning up the spill.
The Great Lakes are not just a beautiful and important tourism attraction for Michigan.
30 Million People Depend on the Great Lakes. “More than 30 million people depend on the Great Lakes for their drinking water, and millions more benefit from the commerce and business that depends on the waters of the Great Lakes.” [Healthy Lakes, Accessed 2/15/12]
1.5 Million Jobs from the Great Lakes. “The Great Lakes provide 1.5 million jobs in the U.S., and $62 billion in wages every year, according to a study by Michigan Sea Grant at the University of Michigan. The study said Michigan has the most jobs related to the Great Lakes, with 525,886. Others are Illinois (380,786), Ohio (178,621), Wisconsin (173,969), New York (157,547), Indiana (54,397), Pennsylvania (25,479) and Minnesota (11,877).” [The Grand Rapids Press, 2/24/11]
"Mike is appalling. He needs to return what ever blood money he received for this vote, and apologizes to the state and his constituents." says Enderle. "Mike has shown today that he is nothing more than a bought and paid for crony of corporate interests and the Republican party. He has neither the interest or the desire to solve Michigan's problems. It is time for Mike to go -- voluntarily with a resignation today, or in November with an election ouster."
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