HARDIN, Mont. (CBS/AP) This is the strange story of how American Police Force, a little known company which claims to specialize in training military and security forces overseas, has seemingly taken control of a $27 million, never-used jail, and a rural Montana town's nonexistent police force.
After arriving in this tiny city with three Mercedes SUVs marked with the logo of a police department that has never existed, representatives of the obscure California security company said preparations were under way to take over Hardin's jail, which has no prisoners.
Significant obstacles remain - including a lack of any contracts to acquire prisoners from other jails or other states.
And on Friday came the revelation the company's operating agreement for the facility has yet to be validated - two weeks after city leaders first unveiled what they said was a signed agreement.
Still, some Hardin leaders said the deal to turn over the 464-bed jail remained on track.
The agreement with American Police Force has been heavily promoted by members of the city's economic development branch, the Two Rivers Authority. Authority Vice President Albert Peterson on Friday repeated his claim to be “100 percent” confident in the company.
The lead public figure for American Police Force, Michael Hilton, said more than 200 employees would be sought for the jail and a proposed military and law enforcement training center.
That would be a significant boost to Hardin, a struggling town of 3,500 located about 45 miles east of Billings. An earlier announcement that a job fair would be held during the last week never came to fruition.
The bonds used to pay for the jail have been in default since May, 2008.
Hilton also said he planned a helicopter tour of the region in coming days to look at real estate for a planned tactical military training ground. He said 5,000 to 10,000 acres were needed to complement the training center, a $17 million project.
But the company's flashy arrival this week stirred new questions. The logo on the black Mercedes SUVs said “City of Hardin Police Department.”
Yet the city has not had a police force of its own for 30 years.
“Pretty looking police car, ain't it?” Hardin resident Leroy Frickle, 67, said as he eyed one of the vehicles parked in front of a bed and breakfast where Hilton and other company representatives were staying. “The things you hear about this American Police, I don't know what to think.”
Hilton said the vehicles would be handed over to the city if it forms a police force of its own. The city is now under the jurisdiction of the Big Horn County Sheriff's Office.
After meeting briefly with Hilton on Friday, Mayor Ron Adams said he wanted the police logos removed.
“This helps, but it doesn't answer everything until the contract is signed,” Adams said. “Talk is cheap.”
Hilton said the company's arrival in Hardin would help allay such concerns. And he promised that on Feb. 1, 2010, Hardin would receive its first check under a deal said to be worth more than $2.6 million annually.
Little has been revealed to date about American Police Force. The company was incorporated in California in March, soon after Hardin's empty jail gained notoriety after city leaders suggested it could be used for the Guantanamo Bay terrorism detainees.
Members of Montana's congressional delegation say they have been closely monitoring the events in Hardin, but the city has largely been going it alone.
In the two years since the jail was built, city leaders have clashed repeatedly with the administration of Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who opposed efforts to bring in out-of-state prisoners.
After then-Attorney General Mike McGrath issued a 2007 opinion saying prisoners from other states were prohibited, Hardin successfully sued the state.
Despite the city's contention that the state has continued to foil its efforts to find prisoners, Montana Department of Corrections spokesman Bob Anez said his agency is no longer involved. “That's water under the bridge,” Anez said.
On Friday, American Police Force announced its first local hire: a reporter for the Billings Gazette, Becky Shay, who has covered events surrounding the jail since its construction. She will be the company's spokeswoman for $60,000 a year.
Shay said she intended to bring new transparency to the process, but declined to directly answer the first question posed to her: Where is American Police Force getting the money to operate the jail and build the training center?
“I know enough about where the money is coming from to be confident signing on with them,” she said.
Gazette Editor Steve Prosinski said he was first informed about Shay's decision to leave the paper on Friday. “We weren't aware that she was talking with them about employment,” he said.
Hilton said he also had a job discussion with Kerri Smith, wife of Two Rivers Authority Executive Director Greg Smith, who helped craft the deal to bring American Police Force to Hardin. Greg Smith was placed on unpaid leave two weeks ago for reasons that have not been explained.
Kerri Smith is one of two finalists in the city's mayoral race. Hilton said he asked her to call him about possible employment if she did not win the race.
Kerri Smith could not be reached immediately for comment. A message was left by The Associated Press at a theater owned by the Smith family. Her home number is unlisted.
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Last edited by vector7; October 2nd, 2009 at 02:09.
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"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
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" An attorney for American Police Force, Maziar Mafi, describes the Santa Ana, Calif., company as a fledgling spin-off of a major security firm founded in 1984. But Mafi declined to name the parent firm or provide details on how the company will finance its jail operations. "
Maziar Mafi, the California lawyer who had been variously identified as American Private Police Force's legal affairs director, president, and a "major" in the company, on Friday severed his ties to the Hardin, MT, jail project until he sees "more concrete action."
Mafi's practice, like APPF, is based in Santa Ana, California. As a specialist in personal injury, immigration, and business law, he had seemed an odd choice of counsel for a firm that claims to play a critical role in filling the United States government's "homeland security needs."
Mafi told the AP: "For the time, I'm pulling out. I need to see more concrete action before I can be involved."
And the AP observes that APPF official 'Captain' Michael Hilton misrepresented Mafi's role in the organization:
Hilton, who claims an extensive military background and uses the title "captain," initially described Mafi as a "major" in American Police Force. He later said Mafi was the company's president--although Mafi denied the role and said he had no military or security background.
The AP quoted Mafi in the middle of September describing the company was a "as a fledgling spin-off of a major security firm founded in 1984." Declining to name the firm in question, he said at the time: "It will gradually be more clear as things go along."
Clearly, that did not happen to Mafi's satisfaction.
Contacted by TPMmuckraker today, Mafi declined to comment about his relationship with APPF or about whether he's still confident in his description of APPF's parent company. APPF spokeswoman Becky Shay has not returned calls for comment.
The APPF project may have done more than damage merely Mafi's reputation: he also "guaranteed the Sept. 10 purchase of two Mercedes SUVs by Hilton," the AP reports. Those would be the SUVs that drove into town late last month bearing "City Of Hardin Police Department" decals.
Last edited by vector7; October 5th, 2009 at 22:21.
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"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
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We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
Last edited by vector7; October 6th, 2009 at 02:15.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
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On September 20th, this is what Becky Shay reported on September 20th for the Billings Gazette.
"APF officials will say only that their parent corporation is a private security company that has been operating detention centers internationally since being incorporated in 1984."
According to this article, there was a private detention contractor incorporated in 1984. It was called Wackenhut Corrections.
On November 18, 2003, at a special meeting, WCC's shareholders approved a change in the corporate name of WCC from "Wackenhut Corrections Corporation" to "The GEO Group, Inc." Then in 2006,
"Wackenhut is a joint venture partner along with MPRI, Kellogg Brown and Root and AGS in the civilian police training company Civilian Police International, LLC which is under a State Department contract for $1.6 billion to work with the Civilian Police and Rule of Law office in coordination with the United Nations training emerging police forces around the world."
-
-
- Busted!
Remember folks you saw it here first at the Chris Killz Blog.
Then again the Wackenhut angle is also interesting: They run a Migrant Operations Center (MOC) at Guantanamo. Thats a link to the Freedom of Information Act file on one of their contracts.
I didn't know Gitmo held migrants.
From OMB: almost $500M in government contracts per year. This is from the 1st and 2nd quarter of 2008:
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No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
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We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
The Wackenhut Corporation provides security services to commercial and government organizations. It is a subsidiary of U.K. based G4S, which is one of the largest security corporations in the world. [1]
"It is known throughout the industry that if you want a dirty job done, call Wackenhut." -retired FBI agent, William Hinshaw in a September 1992 SPY Magazine article by John Connolly
Wackenhut's surveillance services were fined in 1999 by a federal district court in Alabama for illegal wire tapping, theft of business documents and corporate sabotage. This should come as no surprise as Mr. Wackenhut, a fervent right-winger, made his money in the 1950s creating dossiers on suspected communists, achieving by 1966 over four million files, or one for every 46 adults in the country
Wackenhut is known for providing muscle and force against organized labor and protesters. They provided strike breakers at the Pittston mine in Kentucky. Their armed guards have beaten protesters at nuclear sites for the Department of Energy. [9]
Among nuclear weapons lab employees, Wackenhut was better known for “wacking” radiation whistleblowers like Karen Silkwood and attempting to run Dr. Rosalie Bertell off the road.
Kabul U.S. Embassy Guard: Sexual Deviancy Required for Promotion
Whistleblower Says Bosses Required Sex Acts for Guards Seeking Best shift, PromotionBy BRIAN ROSS, RHONDA SCHWARTZ and KIRIT RADIA
Sept. 2, 2009
Last edited by vector7; October 5th, 2009 at 16:00.
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The Gallatin County jail is overcrowded and Sheriff Jim Cashell says it s a problem that needs fixing.
But, he adds that he's hesitant to put extra inmates in the Two Rivers Detention Center in Hardin. The comments came in a June 9th letter from Sheriff Cashell to Governor Brian Schweitzer.
"I replied to that and gave him two reasons as to why I have concerns about that particular facility, and we're happy with the service we're getting from the facility that we are using, and I don't see any need to change that" said Cashell.
The Governor had invited law enforcement officials to consider housing prisoners in the jail at Hardin, which has never opened due to a legal battle.
Last month the facility defaulted on the $27 million in bonds sold to build it.
Sheriff Cashell says he expressed to the Governor why he felt uncomfortable putting inmates in the Hardin facility, citing worries about who's accountable for maintaining the jail.
Gallatin County will try for a third time to get voters to approve building a new Gallatin County Jail, with Sheriff Cashell saying, "the community is in desperate need of a new facility...and we need to get it taken care of".
(from June 18, 2008)
Backers of the Hardin Detention Center are criticizing remarks made by the Gallatin County Sheriff as quote "unprofessional and unfair."
This after Sheriff Jim Cashell criticized the jail in a June 9th letter to the Governor where he told Schweitzer that he will not house inmates in the Hardin Detention Center.
Cashell says he won't put inmates into the jail because he considers the 24-inmate rooms more like a warehouse.
Greg Smith with Two Rivers Economic Development Authority in Hardin responded to the media reports saying it has always been well known that Cashell never intended to consider the Hardin jail for a contract. "It was well known to us that he never intended to consider us for a contract," said Smith. "Any of the issues he is raising can be resolved.
That's why I believe it was unprofessional."
The Gallatin County jail is currently overcrowded and proposed for expansion.
Some inmates are shipped as far away as Fort Benton.
Nonetheless, Cashell says his jail is not in competition with anybody when it comes to housing future inmates. "We do have inmates in Broadwater County and in Fort Benton, but they're facilities that we know who operates them and what standards they stand up to. We're not in competition with anybody; we're gonna be building a jail here sometime anyway."
-Aaron Flint reporting from KTVQ in Billings
The Gallatin County sheriff is renting space in other jails because his own is overcrowded, but he says he won't put inmates in the Two Rivers Detention Center in Hardin because it is "basically a warehouse."
The comments came in a June 9 letter from Sheriff Jim Cashell to Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who invited law enforcement officials to consider housing prisoners in the jail at Hardin.
The jail has never opened due to a legal battle. Last month it defaulted on the $27 million in bonds sold to build it.
Cashell said most of the jail consists of large, 24-inmate rooms, which he compared to classrooms without teachers.
Greg Smith heads the Hardin economic authority that built the unopened jail. He called the sheriff's assessment "unprofessional and unfair."
Smith said he felt Cashell should have called him up to talk about his concerns, not written them in a letter to the governor.
Cashell said he wrote the letter to the governor because it was Schweitzer, not Smith, who asked him to consider housing inmates at Two Rivers.
The 464-bed jail was built with no contracts in place, but Smith and other jail backers have said they believed the state and federal agencies would contract with them once the jail was completed. That never happened and Two Rivers began looking to out-of-state inmates to fill the lockdown.
Attorney General Mike McGrath determined that was illegal, which led to a lawsuit. A Helena judge ruled earlier this month that Two Rivers can take out-of-state inmates.
The state of Wyoming has already said it would not house inmates in Two Rivers because of the design of the building. Wyoming has inmates housed in out-of-state prisons as it builds a new prison of its own.
Gallatin County sends up to 32 inmates a day to other Montana jails because its own 45-person lockdown can't manage the more than 80 inmates the county is typically responsible for, Cashell said.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
(From the Archives)
A major victory for backers of the Hardin Detention Center.
A Helena District Judge Thursday rules the new facility can house out of state inmates.
Backers of the $27 million Hardin jail say they're not surprised by the ruling. Nonetheless they're hailing today's ruling as a major victory.
The 464 bed facility has been sitting empty since it was first built last year Hardin's Two Rivers Development Authority.
Just last month it was forced to default on its construction bonds due to a lack of prisoners.
The ruling by District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock...overturns an opinion by Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath barring the facility from housing out of state inmates.
In his ruling Sherlock said the Hardin Detention Center is not a private jail since it was built by the City of Hardin and therefore is allowed house out of state inmates.
Hardin's Two Rivers Authority says the city can now move forward with hiring staff and getting the jail opened.
A spokeswoman for Governor Schweitzer's office says the Governor is still reviewing the decision; adding quote, "In anticipation of the possibility of this decision we have taken the initiative and have been contacting Governors of neighboring states, including Wyoming, Washington, Oregon and Colorado that may have a need to house prisoners."
Meanwhile, Attorney General McGrath currently a candidate for Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court is not commenting on the decision.
His spokeswoman Lynn Solomon told us quote, "Two Rivers asked us for an opinion and we gave it to them. They appealed and now they have another opinion."
(From the Archives)
Wyoming officials say they will not house felons at the privately run jail near Hardin.
Steve Lindly deputy director of Wyoming's Department of Corrections says they prefer non-dorm cell housing for its medium-security inmates and parts of the lockdown aren't set up to safely hold their inmates.
Two Rivers jail near Hardin can hold 288 inmates housed in 12 large cells, each containing 24 beds.
Hardin issued $27 million in revenue bonds to build the jail, which is now in default after missing its May 1 bond payment.
Last year the state attorney general issued a ruling that stated Two Rivers cannot take out-of-state inmates.
The city appealed the decision, which is now in the hands of a Helena judge.
(From the Archives)
CROW AGENCY, Mont. (AP) - Crow Chairman Carl Venne said Monday that the tribe had looked to acquire or arrange a federal takeover of an empty $27 million jail in Hardin, but is no longer interested after the city rebuffed the proposal.
Venne said the tribe was trying to find a use for the 464-bed jail, vacant since it was completed last year. The tribe abandoned the effort after Hardin officials told Venne in a letter last week that the city "would fight to maintain control of the facility."
The privately operated jail - overseen by the city and its Two Rivers Authority - defaulted on its bond earlier this month because it is bringing in no money. State and local governments have no use for additional jail space, and an attorney general's opinion last year blocked the jail from contracting for out-of-state inmates.
Venne and other Crow officials said they began their efforts with the intention of helping the city find a way out of its predicament. But the result was a sharp rebuke from city officials, who now contend the Crow wanted to annex the 40-acre jail site as part of their reservation.
"We feel like the tribe got caught with their hand in the cookie jar and is now backing off," said Hardin City Attorney Rebecca Convery.
Venne said Monday that the city had approached the tribe earlier this year, asking if there was any way to arrange for prisoners through the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs.
"I wanted to see if we could find a way to get them out of this problem," he said. "It's apparent to me that they don't want our help. What it comes down to is, they don't need us and we don't need them."
-Matthew Brown reporting
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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Michael Hilton with American Police Force, a private California security company seeking to take over a $27 million jail in Hardin, stands outside the city offices after meeting with Hardin officials on Friday. Associated Press photo.AKA Midrag Ilia Dokovitch, Midrag Ilia Dokovich and Michael Miodrag.
By MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press – Posted: Sunday, September 27, 2009 6:45 am
HARDIN – After arriving in this rural city with three Mercedes SUVs marked with the logo of a nonexistent police department, representatives of an obscure California security company said preparations were under way to take over Hardin’s never-used, $27 million jail.
Significant obstacles remain – including a lack of any prisoner contracts on the part of the company that wants to run the jail, American Police Force.
And on Friday came the revelation the company’s operating agreement for the facility has yet to be validated – two weeks after city leaders first unveiled what they said was a signed agreement.
Still, some Hardin leaders said the deal to turn over the 464-bed jail remained on track.
The agreement with American Police Force has been heavily promoted by members of the city’s economic development branch, the Two Rivers Authority. Authority vice president Albert Peterson on Friday repeated his claim to be “100 percent” confident in the company.
The lead public figure for American Police Force, Michael Hilton, said more than 200 employees would be sought for the jail and a proposed military and law enforcement training center.
That would be a significant boost to Hardin, a struggling town of 3,500 located about 45 miles east of Billings. An earlier announcement that a job fair would be held during the last week never came to fruition.
The bonds used to pay for the jail have been in default since May 2008.
Hilton also said he planned a helicopter tour of the region in coming days to look at real estate for a planned tactical military training ground. He said 5,000 to 10,000 acres were needed to complement the training center, a $17 million project.
But the company’s flashy arrival stirred new questions. The logo on the black Mercedes SUVs said “City of Hardin Police Department.”
Yet the city has not had a police force of its own for 30 years.
“Pretty looking police car, ain’t it?” Hardin resident Leroy Frickle, 67, said as he eyed one of the vehicles parked in front of a bed and breakfast where Hilton and other company representatives were staying. “The things you hear about this American Police, I don’t know what to think.”
Hilton said the vehicles would be handed over to the city if it forms a police force of its own. The city is now under the jurisdiction of the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office.
After meeting briefly with Hilton on Friday, Mayor Ron Adams said he wanted the police logos removed.
“This helps, but it doesn’t answer everything until the contract is signed,” Adams said. “Talk is cheap.”
Hilton said the company’s arrival in Hardin would help allay such concerns. And he promised that on Feb. 1, 2010, Hardin would receive its first check under a deal said to be worth more than $2.6 million annually.
Little has been revealed to date about American Police Force. The company was incorporated in California in March, soon after Hardin’s empty jail gained notoriety after city leaders suggested it could be used for the Guantanamo Bay terrorism detainees.
Members of Montana’s congressional delegation say they have been closely monitoring the events in Hardin, but the city has largely been going it alone.
In the two years since the jail was built, city leaders have clashed repeatedly with the administration of Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who opposed efforts to bring in out-of-state prisoners.
After then-Attorney General Mike McGrath issued a 2007 opinion saying prisoners from other states were prohibited, Hardin successfully sued the state.
Despite the city’s contention that the state has continued to foil its efforts to find prisoners, Montana Department of Corrections spokesman Bob Anez said his agency is no longer involved. “That’s water under the bridge,” Anez said.
On Friday, American Police Force announced its first local hire: a reporter for the Billings Gazette, Becky Shay, who has covered events surrounding the jail since its construction. She will be the company’s spokeswoman for $60,000 a year.
Shay said she intended to bring new transparency to the process, but declined to directly answer the first question posed to her: Where is American Police Force getting the money to operate the jail and build the training center?
“I know enough about where the money is coming from to be confident signing on with them,” she said.
Gazette editor Steve Prosinski said he was first informed about Shay’s decision to leave the paper on Friday. “We weren’t aware that she was talking with them about employment,” he said.
Hilton said he also had a job discussion with Kerri Smith, wife of Two Rivers Authority executive director Greg Smith, who helped craft the deal to bring American Police Force to Hardin. Greg Smith was placed on unpaid leave two weeks ago for reasons that have not been explained.
Kerri Smith is one of two finalists in the city’s mayoral race. Hilton said he asked her to call him about possible employment if she did not win the race. Smith could not be reached immediately for comment. A message was left by the Associated Press at a theater owned by the Smith family.
Her home number is unlisted.
—End Update—
defenseproductsolutions.com is hosted on the same IP (97.74.186.121) as americanpolicegroup.com. Both sites feature the same logo. Click on the Catalog link on defenseproductsolutions.com and say ‘hello’ to Edward Angelino.
Other business names associated with him: Allied Defense Systems, Inc. (allieddefensesystems.com) and Defense Consulting Group, Inc. There are almost certainly many more. I only spent ten minutes on this.
I looked through a couple of the sites that use the same template and noticed this:
allieddefensesystems.com/aboutus.htm:
Founded in 1990, ADS and its veteran team have serviced a variety of contracts under extreme conditions in the Middle East. Our projects have ranged from base camp construction operations to supplying world-class military vehicles. In the midst of international tensions, ADS will perform.
defenseproductsolutions.com/aboutus.htm:
Founded in 2004, DPS and its veteran team have serviced a variety of contracts under extreme conditions in the Middle East. Our projects have ranged from base camp construction operations to supplying world-class military vehicles. In the midst of international tensions, DPS will perform.
HAHA.
Searching eangelino@aol.com will bring up more links for anyone who’s interested in unraveling these antics. Oh yeah! Do you have a, “2002 Lamborghini Murcielago tail winng or spoliler”[sic]? You might have a buyer. Guess who? Yep, that’s right.
There are many addresses, phone and fax numbers associated with all of this. I’m not sure why the Associated Press and others haven’t made these connections, but it’s all available on Google.
Via: AP:
The Two Rivers Detention Center was promoted as the largest economic development project in decades in the small town of Hardin when the jail was built two years ago. But it has been vacant ever since.
City officials have searched from Vermont to Alaska for inmate contracts to fill the jail, only to be turned down at every turn and see the bonds that financed its construction fall into default. They even floated the idea of housing prisoners from Guantanamo Bay at the jail.
So when Hardin officials announced this week that they had signed a deal with a California company to fill the empty jail, it was naturally a cause for celebration. Town officials talked about throwing a party to mark the occasion, their dreams of economic salvation a step closer to being
realized.
But questions are emerging over the legitimacy of the company, American Police Force.
Government contract databases show no record of the company. Security industry representatives and federal officials said they had never heard of it. On its Web site, the company lists as its headquarters a building in Washington near the White House that holds “virtual offices.” A spokeswoman for the building said American Police Force never completed its application to use the address.
And it’s unclear where the company will get the inmates for the jail. Montana says it’s not sending inmates to the jail, and neither are federal officials in the state.
An attorney for American Police Force, Maziar Mafi, describes the Santa Ana, Calif., company as a fledgling spin-off of a major security firm founded in 1984. But Mafi declined to name the parent firm or provide details on how the company will finance its jail operations.
“It will gradually be more clear as things go along,” said Mafi, a personal injury and medical malpractice lawyer in Santa Ana who was only hired by American Police Force a month ago. “The nature of this entity is private security and for security purposes, as well as for the interest of their clientele, that’s why they prefer not to be upfront.”
On its elaborate Web site and in interviews with company representatives, American Police Force claims to sell assault rifles and other weapons in Afghanistan on behalf of the U.S. military while providing security, investigative work and other services to clients “in all 50 states and most countries.”
The company also boasts to have “rapid response units awaiting our orders worldwide” and that it can field a battalion-sized team of special forces soldiers “within 72 hours.”
Representatives of American Police Force said the company presently employs at least 16 and as many as 28 people in the United States and 1,600 contractors worldwide.
“APF plays a critical role in helping the U.S. government meet vital homeland security and national defense needs,” the company says on its Web site. “Within the last 5 years the United States has been far and away our” number 1 client.
However, an Associated Press search of two comprehensive federal government contractor databases turned up no record of American Police Force.
Representatives of security trade groups said they had never heard of American Police Force, although they added secrecy was prevalent in the industry and it was possible the company had avoided the public limelight.
“They’re really invisible,” said Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president and counsel for the Professional Services Council. The group’s members include major security contractors Triple Canopy, DynCorp and Xe Services, formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide.
“Even a single unclassified contract in the last couple of years should show up” in the federal database, Chvotkin added.
Spokesmen for the State Department and Defense Department said they could not immediately find any records of contracts with the company.
The city has not released a copy of its agreement with American Police Force. But the deal as announced would be a sweet one for Hardin, a depressed rural town of 3,500 about 45 miles east of Billings.
The company is pledging to fill the 464-bed facility by early next year.
Hardin officials say the first payment on the contract is due Feb. 1 — regardless of whether any prisoners are in place. The city’s economic development authority would get enough money to pay off the bondholders and receive $5 per prison a day.
American Police Force also is promising to invest $30 million in new projects for the city, including a military and law enforcement training center with a 250-bed dormitory and an expansion of the jail to 2,000 beds. The company says it will build a homeless shelter, offer free health care for city residents and even deliver meals to the needy.
Where the prisoners would come from is unclear. City officials said California was the most likely possibility, but a spokesman for that state’s corrections system said there was no truth to the claim.
Federal prisoners also were mentioned by both American Police Force and the city. U.S. Marshal Dwight MacKay in Billings said he would have been notified if such a plan was pending.
“There’s skepticism over whether this is a real thing,” MacKay said.
Hardin officials said they were approached by American Police Force about six months ago, soon after the city made international news in its quest to become “America’s Gitmo.” American Police Force incorporated around the same time.
Albert Peterson, the city’s school superintendent and vice president of the authority that built the jail, said the city was “guaranteed” the contract would be upheld.
“There’s never a question in my mind after I’ve done my homework. It’s legit,” Peterson said of American Police Force. “We believe in each other.”
The contract was still being reviewed by the city attorney, he said.
Peterson refused to answer when asked if he knew the name of American Police Force’s parent firm. He said news coverage of the city’s political tussles with the administration of Gov. Brian Schweitzer had left him suspicious of the press. The administration brought a court challenge over whether Hardin could take out-of-state inmates at the jail.
“If you’re looking for the source of the money, you’re not going to find it from me,” Peterson said.
A member of the Texas consortium that developed the jail, Mike Harling, said he had “every reason to believe they’ll be successful.”
Mafi, the American Police Force attorney, said his company intends to reverse Hardin’s recent problems with the jail and give the town an economic boost.
In Santa Ana, American Police Force occupies a single suite on the second floor of a two-story office building. During a visit to the location Thursday, a reporter for The Associated Press encountered a uniformed man behind a desk who would identify himself only as “Captain Michael.”
The man declined to discuss basic details about the company and referred the reporter to the company’s Web site. In a subsequent phone interview, he provided his surname but insisted it not be used because of security concerns. The man said he was a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Montenegro with decades of experience in military and law enforcement operations.
The man said his boss is a retired U.S. Army colonel named Richard Culver who is currently overseas. Culver’s role with the company could not be immediately verified.
The company claim of a headquarters address is just up the street from the White House.
The K Street building houses “virtual offices,” where clients pay to use the prestigious Pennsylvania Avenue address and gain access to onsite conference rooms but have no permanent presence.
“It lets small businesses get started up and have a professional front and not have a lot of a cash to do it,” said Ashley Korner with Preferred Offices, which leases the location.
She said American Police Force’s application to use the address was pending, but incomplete.
Last edited by vector7; October 5th, 2009 at 16:05.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ."
We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
A secretive California outfit called the American Police Force is taking over the 2-year-old, never-used prison in Hardin, Mont., that was briefly considered a possible spot for Guantanamo prisoners.
The story has many twists and turns. We recommend you read The Billings Gazette article for a primer on the story. KULR TV, of Billings, Mont., The Missoulian, and Talking Points Memo are also on the case.APF's website, which has been periodically unavailable (click here for a recent cache of their site), says it "leverages the talent and expertise of their extensive global network to provide local, regional, and national security solutions to the United States Government and other clients who are in need of customized private investigative services."
Here's its website pitch:
Whether you are suspicious about a cheating spouse or concerned about a personal threat, APF's team will employ their experience to fulfill your domestic investigation needs.
In one odd twist, Becky Shay, a reporter for the Billings Gazette who has reported extensively on the Hardin Prison, quit her job and is now a spokeswoman for the group in Hardin. Except that she now mainly has "no comment" when pressed about what is going on.
Some other unusual wrinkles:
-- Mercedes SUVs belonging to APF began showing up recently in town with magnetic decals that said "City of Hardin Police Department," but later removed them.
-- APF, which has mentioned using the facility for military training, refuses to offer any specifics until after a contract to take over the prison is signed.
-- Albert Peterson, vice-president of Hardin's tax-supported economic development arm that built the prison two years ago says people will be "shocked" when they learn the high-quality of the person who will be running the operation, The Gazettereports. "I did my background checks and my homework, and they're legit," he said, but won't reveal the name.
--Peterson says APF hopes to begin filling the prisoner with inmates early next year, but neither he nor APF will say where the prisoners are coming from.
-- The Gazette quotes local officials as saying "they have reason to believe" that APF is a spinoff of a "much larger security company that has contracts around the world."
-- Montana Rep. Bob Ebinger has joined other lawmakers in seeking questions from Hardin officials about the unusual deal. "Always when things are secretive, you end up getting everybody — on both the right and the left — making suppositions about what's going on," Ebinger, a Democrat, tells the Great Falls Tribune.
--- But KULR says APF's founder, Michael Hilton, has a extensive criminal record and has "spent six years in a California prison." The Missoulian says court records show he also uses the aliases Midrag Ilia Dokovitch, Midrag Ilia Dokovich and Michael Miodrag.
-- And, for what it's worth, the APF logo is almost identical to the symbol on the state flag of Serbia.
Last edited by vector7; October 5th, 2009 at 16:02.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ."
We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
Wackenhut is known for providing muscle and force against organized labor and protesters. They provided strike breakers at the Pittston mine in Kentucky. Their armed guards have beaten protesters at nuclear sites for the Department of Energy. [9]
Cant be all bad, can they???
Libertatem Prius!
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Last edited by vector7; October 5th, 2009 at 22:15.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ."
We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
On September 10th of this year the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) posted a press release informing the world that “from October 19-25, more than 60 network TV shows [will] spotlight the power and personal benefits of service,” and that this “unprecedented block of TV programming is the first wave of a multi-year ‘I Participate’ campaign.”
On its face this all sounds rather benign in that silly, liberal do-gooder kind of way. The networks have launched these kinds of campaigns before and other than some clunky exposition awkwardly inserted into your favorite show to meet the mandate — no harm, no foul.
But this year there are a couple new strangers in town: “Volunteerism” and “Service.” You’ve heard of them. Their names have been bandied everywhere since President Obama took office, and this internal memo from the EIF to network showrunners obtained by Big Hollywood shows that the entertainment industry is well acquainted and eager to introduce both to as vast an audience as possible: eif-doc –
–
Like the NEA story, once again we see the same buzzwords pop up; suggested topics pitched to an overwhelmingly left-of-center group: Education, health, environment, the economy and lastly — almost as an afterthought as some kind of “bi-partisan” cover – support for military families.
We’ll have to wait until next week to see what effect this initiative will have on the 60 television (and news) programs in question, but thanks to the intrepid Patrick Courrielche and Stage Right, today we can answer the simple question of…
“What’s wrong with this?”
Doing the work the Kamikaze Media (many of whom are participating in this event rather than digging for the story) refuses, and with the help of Big Government’s Dana Loesch, Patrick and Stage Right have discovered that when it comes to this White House – whether it’s the NEA conference calls or EIF’s iParticipate programming — all roads funnel into one place: online volunteer portals, including Serve.gov, where if you plug in “health care” all kinds of Planned Parenthood openings pop up along with a video dispelling those ugly “myths” knocking ObamaCare.
There’s scarier stuff, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise.
*cough*Trutherism*cough*
We’ll start with Stage Right. Next week, tens, if not hundreds of millions of Americans, will be urged through the (ab)use of public airwaves to log on to the EIF iParticipate site and volunteer. Stage Right will give you a preview of what the unsuspecting and well-intentioned, including your children, will find.
If you’re thinking it’s all about “Meals on Wheels,” think again.
From there, Patrick Courrielche will describe how this EIF initiative fits into a broader White House plan, including the push to politicize the NEA, to redefine “art” as “service” and engage an all too compliant news, entertainment, and artistic community to start a volunteer army through these online portals.
First the NEA, now the EIF…
Starting to notice a pattern?
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ."
We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
by Stage Right
My ten-year-old daughter loves “So You Think You Can Dance.” I suspect most eight to eighteen-year-old girls do. So, my question to the producers of this hit show is: “Why are you pointing my daughter to a web page asking her to work at Planned Parenthood?”
Next week the networks will coordinate their shows’ story-lines to promote volunteerism. At the September 10 press conference in New York announcing this unprecedented message coordination, Ashton Kutcher got his famous Twitter feed displayed on the Times Square jumbo screen. It said: “2Day, I activate my citizenship by participating. I Participate! Do u? www.iparticipate.org.” (Damn he’s good at this whole “Under 14o characters” thing.)
In the press release announcing the initiative, all four network execs were positively boastful about their ability to inspire their viewers to ask “How high” when told to jump:
“The ability to both entertain and inform is one of the hallmarks of a broadcast network,” says Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment. ”Integrating messages of volunteerism and service into America’s favorite television shows can have a powerful and lasting impact that benefits both the audience and the country at large.”
NBC president Angela Bromstad agrees. ”The week of volunteer-themed programming in October provides an opportunity for the networks to tap the power of television,” she says.
The ultimate goal, says Stephen McPherson, president of ABC Entertainment is “to get people thinking about what they can do in terms of volunteering, and then to act on that.”
“The most satisfying result for us is when our programs entertain viewers as well as inform them—and maybe even call them to action,” FOX Entertainment president Kevin Reilly points out.
You know how folks always say: “If you don’t like what you see, just change the channel.” Well, clearly next week that won’t be an option. It’s going to be a full-court press… nowhere to hide.
The plan is to weave volunteerism and service into the plots of their shows and then, ultimately, encourage viewers to get up off their sofas and go to a handful of web pages that are meant to provide opportunities for service.
As we saw in the previous stories at Big Hollywood and Big Government, these seemingly benign volunteer search engines often seem to be Trojan Horses for controversial, left-wing causes.
The October 19-25 “I Participate” campaign broadcast on all four major television networks for a full week of programming will point viewers to www.iparticipate.org (as mentioned in Ashton’s tweet) and the AARP’s www.createthegood.com web sites.
If your 12 year-old hears about this volunteer initiative and follows the lead of her favorite TV star, she will go to www.createthegood.com and type in her favorite cause. If she’s been paying attention to the news these days (or listening to the lectures from most public school teachers) she will know that “Health Care” is a big deal these days. All she has to do is type “Health Care” into the search engine with her zip code (let’s say 90210 cause we love those adorable Beverly Hills high school kids) and she’ll get a whole host of opportunities to serve.
Go ahead… open that link and you’ll see twelve opportunities to serve. Look at items “H”, “I” and “L.” All are from Planned Parenthood:
“With President Obama’s focus on health-care reform, now is an exciting and crucial time for us to broaden our support and make sure that the new health-care plan includes women’s health. We’re holding a series of phone banks to identify new people who share our commitment to reproductive freedom.”
When I clicked for more info I found out that the phone bank listing was a month old, but there was a handy link for other opportunities to serve Planned Parenthood, like this one:
“Planned Parenthood Los Angeles is currently seeking adults to volunteer as our High School Speakers.”
(Make this reason #724 why I home school my kids).
While we’re looking at all those volunteer options on www.createthegood.org, we should also take a look at that really nifty video listed second from the top. No matter where you are in the country, if you type “health care” as the subject you want to volunteer for, this video called: “How To Spread The Truth About Health Care Reform” pops up for your viewing pleasure:
–
This nifty bit of propaganda encourages you to troll on blogs and leave comments, call in to talk radio shows and generally be annoying when people discuss ObamaCare by injecting Administration talking points found on AARP’s web page under the Orwellian header ”Myths vs. Facts.” A sample of the health care “facts”:
“Health reform isn’t about rationing; it’s about giving people the peace of mind of knowing that they will be able to keep their doctors and that they will always have a choice of affordable health plans.”
Uh, huh, that doesn’t sound like a partisan talking point or anything.
Back over at www.iparticpate.org (that’s the one our pal Ashton tweeted about), if you are in, say, Virginia and want to volunteer on an environmental project, the very first opportunity you get is to volunteer as a Global Warming Ambassador.
“As an Ambassador, you will introduce NWF and global warming concepts, how it affects wildlife habitat our country as well as your state, and what persons can do on an individual level …”
And who or what is “NWF”? NWF is National Wildlife Federation and they have a lot to say about the President’s Cap and Trade proposals.
If you are in, say, Massachusetts and are interested in Iraq, The top response you get is an opportunity to volunteer for “The Crane Project.” What is “The Crane Project?” It seems to be a pacifist-Christo-wannabe trying to get people to fold origami cranes to represent the casualties of the Iraq War. They are claiming deaths of over 100,000 so far.
But these two search engines are the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s and the AARP’s websites. Surely our government search engine will be less partisan, less controversial. Surely we will only see genuine service and volunteer opportunities over at www.serve.gov.
Here is the top result I got using a Kansas zip code as my location and “Iraq” as my search word:
“Explain to the President, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, National Security Advisor, Special Envoy, CENTCOM Commander and Ambassador the foundations of Arab society, the values of Arab people, how and why the current approach is injuring US national security, and what should be done instead. Most of the effort of this project will be aimed at getting face time with the identified individuals. Only about 45 minutes per briefing will be required to conduct actual explanations. Assume 15 hours of prep for each briefing.”
“This is an opportunity for all to learn the truth about what happened on that unfortunate day and the truth behind who is responsible. I Charlie Sheen have taken it upon myself to interview the president and this is what I have asked. I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with our 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Hussein Obama, while he was out promoting his health care reform initiative. I requested 30 minutes given the scope and detail of my inquiry; they said I could have 20. Twenty minutes, 1200 seconds, not a lot of time to question the President about one of the most important events in our nation’s history. The following is a transcript of our remarkable discussion.”
That’s right… It’s a TRUTHER campaign message starring Charlie Sheen! Found via a government website!
And, my personal favorite (remember, you are paying for this):
“Secular Student Alliance is an educational nonprofit for students across the nation who identify as atheist, agnostic, humanist, skeptical, and nonreligious. Our mission is to organize, unite, educate, and serve students and student communities that promote the ideals of scientific and critical inquiry, democracy, secularism, and human based ethics. We’re looking for volunteers to create videos that will bring this message to non-theistic students, and let them know that they are not alone!…. Will YOU help us mobilize, unite, and organize freethinking students for the new Enlightenment?”
It’s a support group for atheist kids! I’m so proud to be an American.
When the NEA conference call story first broke here at Big Hollywood, the left-leaning theatre blogs were all teaming with rationalizations and sarcastic attacks claiming that the calls were innocent and benign, merely a way to encourage artists to support the www.serve.gov websites and work with the Administration in encouraging service and volunteerism.
Ashton Kutcher and his enthusiastic embrace of this week of coordinated messaging on network shows is claiming the same altruistic intent, and I have no doubt that he and most of the folks rallying behind this seemingly innocuous concept have good and even non-partisan intentions. But as we can see, they are being lazy at best and disingenuous at worst by not seeing that these volunteer search engines they point people to are teeming with pro-Obama propaganda. And in the case of the Planned Parenthood “volunteer opportunities,” viewers are being recruited to advocate for the left-wing side of our country’s most controversial issue.
Let me be clear: I am not claiming that this is the ONLY kind of content you will find on these sites. This is obvious, but I feel compelled to blunt the inevitable attacks from the left who will insist on mis-characterizing this post as claiming something to the contrary. Here is the plain truth: I sat for all of fifteen minutes entering search phrases having to do with health care, the environment, and the war and I chose zip codes from the West, East and Midwest. The results above were ALL either the first result, or found on the first page of results. No cherry-picking and no hunting expedition.
As I said, my nine-year-old daughter loves “So You Think You Can Dance.” My wife and I are very careful. We watch the show first and record it via DVR. Then, the next day, if any of the dances are a bit risqué’ we skip through them. Of course we skip through the commercials because they are often too adult for her. I suppose the week of October 19th we’re going to have to skip most of the shows lest she be encouraged to go to a website promoting an abortion clinic.
Thanks a lot, Ashton.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ."
We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
by Patrick Courrielche
National service and volunteerism is a top priority of both the President and the First Lady. A broad effort has been launched to promote this priority.
We’ve seen this in the May 12th White House briefing, the August 10th and 27th art community conference calls, and now in a new effort by the Entertainment Industry Foundation, entitled iParticipate, that is encouraging broadcast media to infuse national service stories into their show plots. The First Lady has even created a video expressing the importance of national service.
All of these efforts are driving would-be volunteers to Serve.gov. The question is, for what purpose?
Buffy Wicks
Encouraging volunteerism is a noble effort undertaken by every US President. However, this Administration’s national service outreach has led on multiple occasions to outright policy advocacy. I’ve shown this throughout my writing on the subject, with a primary focus on the National Endowment for the Arts. However, the Corporation for National and Community Service is playing an even bigger role in this White House effort, and I don’t think general volunteerism is the only goal in mind.
The national service initiative is being led by The Corporation for National and Community Service (The Corporation) and the White House Office of Public Engagement. On the now infamous August 10th conference call, Nell Abernathy of The Corporation introduced Buffy Wicks as the person who championed the art community’s involvement in the Obama election campaign as well as the person spearheading this national service initiative.
Wicks, the Deputy Director of the Office of Public Engagement, explained the White House’s rationale for selecting service by stating, “part of my role [at the White House] is working on service, and so when we were thinking about how do we take a lot of this energy that’s out there, how do we translate folks who have just been engaged in electoral politics and engage them in really the process of governing, of being part of this administration in a little bit of a different way because politics is one thing and governing is something totally separate, we really saw service as the platform by which we can do that.”
The White House views service as a good way for those that have just been involved in electoral politics to stay active, and is driving them to Serve.gov to organize and manage them. Buffy Wicks didn’t state that national recovery was the rationale for encouraging partisans to serve. She conveyed that the White House was interested in transitioning partisans from the election cycle into the administration, and using “service” as the mechanism for this transition.
What made candidate Obama’s campaign so successful, in simplistic terms, was his grassroots volunteers and his brand messaging. Of course there was the mainstream media favoritism, the unpopularity of President Bush, his fundraising, and the 2008 Democratic Primary schedule that also played a role. However, these areas were either out of his control or fed by his volunteers and branding.
So it is safe to say that to stay in power, it is vital for his organization to keep these resources organized and active so that the machine retains its potency. There is no better federal agency than The Corporation to serve this purpose. The Corporation’s entire existence is to encourage volunteerism. It is also the nation’s largest grant provider supporting volunteering. And starting sometime this month, Congress will reconcile two bills that fund the Corporation’s expanded role, which includes tripling the number of volunteers to 250,000 and the creation of an ArtistCorps and MusicianCorps.
Volunteers were the backbone of Obama’s grassroots organization and artists were the ones that led his unofficial campaign branding. These two groups were both massive tools used by the Obama campaign. And a pivotal developer of that tool was Buffy Wicks, the same person “spearheading” the White House volunteerism initiative.
Wicks, a former labor movement and anti-Iraq war organizer, helped develop the Obama campaign’s national grassroots field strategy. Her goal was to have as many organizing teams on the ground as possible and to have an infrastructure to support the addition of new volunteers. She expressed this goal in a Camp Obama training session during the election when she stated, “If we had an organizing team in every precinct, we win this campaign. Like that’s it, end of story, we win this campaign.”
You get a feel for her national volunteer strategy through this Camp Obama video. Her grassroots and infrastructure goal is in the 36:45-40:10 segment.
The NEA and White House conference calls and The Corporation’s new iParticipate effort all drive traffic to Serve.gov – a website that provides the infrastructure and mechanism for growth of volunteerism that looks a lot like what Wicks was advocating on the campaign trail. And Wicks, a political activist with a history of organizing people to take political action, is working with The Corporation on this effort.
By itself though, there is nothing nefarious about pushing volunteerism.
However, there have been many warning signs that the White House is attempting to politicize national service.
The August 10th conference call is an obvious example. The call was partisan in nature, it led to policy advocacy, the Communications Director of the NEA resigned, the NEA issued a statement acknowledging inappropriate language, and the White House issued conduct guidelines to address the partisan “appearance” issues. The cover-ups and historical revisionism displayed by the White House, The Corporation, the NEA, and the moderator were troubling indicators of the calls intentions. Another example is the May 12th White House briefing, which also led to extreme policy advocating – but that meeting has yet to be fully vetted.
These partisan volunteer efforts along with the expansion of The Corporation are alarming signs. Through expanding the size and power of The Corporation, the Administration is in essence organizing and increasing the pool of resources that helped it acquire power.
But another event, on further review, adds to concern about the use of The Corporation.
On June 11th, President Obama controversially fired Gerald Walpin, Inspector General of the Corporation for National and Community Service.
The termination, possibly violating a watchdog protection law, was thought to be due in part to Walpin’s dogged persistence in pursuing the misuse of The Corporation’s funds by grant recipients, one of which was a big supporter of Obama, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson. After a brief period, Johnson’s funding suspension by The Corporation was lifted, triggering Walpin to scold the agency’s board of directors for that decision. Walpin was later fired by the President with little explanation.
If Walpin’s funding misuse investigation showed the White House anything, it was that he was actually going to be a watchdog – a good quality in an Inspector General unless you don’t want the dog watching.
It is my hope that the mainstream media, along with Congress, begins to look into these White House volunteerism efforts with a bit more of a critical eye.
This new iParticipate initiative by the Entertainment Industry Foundation and The Corporation appears tame on review of the press release and website. But a memo uncovered by Big Hollywood shows that the TV networks are being encouraged by this initiative to infuse the issues of health, the environment, and energy into their storylines.
Such a close relationship between the government and the networks should leave many to wonder whether the networks are too close to the White House to be critical. And recent comments by Anita Dunn, White House Communications Director, attacking a legitimate news network seem designed as a preemptive strike to marginalize critical inquiry.
The free press needs to keep a critical eye, regardless of whether the White House likes a watchdog or not.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ."
We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
President Obama has called for a new era of responsibility. … We can turn up the volume for service and volunteerism, engage more people and make it part of who we are and what we do to bring the country together. … Campaign Elements: …
“To ‘organically’ create and produce as many shows as possible about service and volunteerism[.] …
Ideally storylines will touch on one or more of the key issues that have outlined as the country’s top priorities for services:
Education and children
Health and well being
Environmental conservation and reduced energy consumption
Below are some of the shows taking part in EIF’s iParticipate campaign, and what they plan to do. (A “tag” means an in show announcement or promotion.)
Show……………………………………..Pa rticipation
ABC
America’s Funniest Home Videos…………Segment
Brothers and Sisters…………………………Script, tag
Castle…………………………………… ……Tag
Cougar Town…………………………………..Tag
Dancing With the Stars……………………..Segment, tag
Desperate Housewives………………………Script, tag
Eastwick…………………………………… …..Tag
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition………..Story line, tag
Grey’s Anatomy……………………………….Script , tag
Hank……………………………………… …..Tag
Modern Family…………………………………Tag
Private Practice………………………………..Scri pt, tag
Scrubs…………………………………… ……Tag
The Forgotten………………………………….. Script, tag
Ugly Betty……………………………………… .Script, tag
All My Children………………………………….Sc ript, tag
General Hospital………………………………..Scri pt, tag
One Life to Live…………………………………Script, tag
The View……………………………………… .Segment, tag
Jimmy Kimmel Live!…………………………..Segment, tag NBC
30 Rock……………………………………… ..Script, tag
Access Hollywood………………………………Segme nt, tag
Community………………………………… …Script, tag
Heroes…………………………………… …….Script, tag
Parks and Recreation………………………….Script, tag
The Biggest Loser………………………………Segment, tag
The Jay Leno Show……………………………Segment, tag
The Office…………………………………… ..Script, tag
Today……………………………………… ……..Segment, tag CBS
Accidentally on Purpose………………………Tag
Cold Case………………………………………. .Script, tag
Criminal Minds…………………………………..Scri pt, tag
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation…………….Script, tag
CSI: Miami……………………………………… .Script, tag
CSI: NY………………………………………… ..Script, tag
Gary Unmarried…………………………………Sc ript, tag
Ghost Whisperer………………………………..Scr ipt, tag
How I Met Your Mother……………………….Script, tag
NCIS……………………………………… ……Script, tag
NCIS: Los Angeles…………………………….Tag
The New Adventures of Old Christine……..Tag
Numb3rs…………………………………… …Script, tag
Rules of Engagement…………………………Script, tag
The Big Bang Theory………………………….Tag
The Mentalist………………………………… Tag
Two and a Half Men……………………………Tag
Late Show With David Letterman…………..Segment, tag FOX
America’s Most Wanted………………………Segment, tag
Bones……………………………………… ……..Tag
Brothers…………………………………… …….Script, tag
COPS……………………………………… …..Segment, tag
Lie to Me………………………………………… .Script, tag
Major League Baseball………………………..Script,tag
So You Think You Can Dance?……………..Segment, tag
’Til Death……………………………………… …Script, tag
The Wanda Sykes Show……………………..Future segment, tag The CW
I Pledge…………………………………… …..Committed Nickelodeon
TeenNick HALO Awards………………………Segment, tag WeTV
The Locator……………………………………. .Tag
My Fair Wedding……………………………….Tag Lifetime
Army Wives……………………………………..F uture story line
Project Runway…………………………………Tag
Rita Rocks……………………………………… .Tag
Sherri…………………………………… ……..Tag BET
The Mo’Nique Show…………………………..Tag Disney Channel
Wizards of Waverly Place……………………Script
Sonny With a Chance…………………………Script
Hannah Montana……………………………….Script
The Suite Life on Deck………………………..Script CNN
American Morning……………………………..Segment
Showbiz Tonight: HLN………………………..Segment CMT
CMT Top 20 Countdown………………………Segment
CMT Insider…………………………………… Segment Syndicated Shows
The Dr. Oz Show……………………………….Tag
Dr. Phil……………………………………… …Segment(s), public service announcement
Entertainment Tonight / The Insider……….Segment, tag
Extra: The Entertainment Magazine……….Tag
Jerry Springer…………………………………..T ag
Judge Jeanine Pirro……………………………Tag
Judge Mathis…………………………………….T ag
Maury……………………………………… ……..Tag
***
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
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We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
UNPRECEDENTED BLOCK OF TV PROGRAMMING
IS FIRST WAVE OF MULTI-YEAR "iPARTICIPATE" CAMPAIGN
From October 19-25, More Than 60 Network TV Shows To Spotlight
The Power and Personal Benefits of Service
Celebrities, “Cities of Service” Founding Mayors, Volunteer Groups and Major League Baseball Players Gather in Times Square to Launch
September 10, 2009 (New York, NY). Today in the heart of Times Square, actors and executives representing the Entertainment Industry Foundation (or EIF, the entertainment community's collective charitable organization) joined New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and 15 mayors from around the country, numerous celebrities, and key service groups to launch two new initiatives aimed at fostering a new era of volunteerism: EIF's iPARTICIPATE and the mayors' Cities of Service coalition.
EIF is mobilizing the entire entertainment community around the ground-breaking, multi-year
iPARTICIPATE, which will promote a new way of thinking about service and seek to persuade millions more Americans to volunteer regularly. To jumpstart the campaign, Entertainment Industry President and CEO Lisa Paulsen, Tyler Perry and Ashton Kutcher announced its 2009 centerpiece: a week-long television event running from October 19th to the 25th, when America’s most-loved TV shows on ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC and other broadcast networks will spotlight service through scripted programming, segments and PSAs with inspirational messages and storylines about volunteerism. Randy Jackson (FOX), Christine Baranski (CBS), Tim Daly (ABC) and Michelle Trachtenberg (NBC) also participated in the announcement.
"Most people know that volunteering can have an enormous, positive impact on their communities, but they often don’t realize how much volunteering benefits the person who does it," said Lisa Paulsen, president and CEO of EIF. “We're trying to broaden the collective national conversation about service; volunteering is rewarding, but it's also energizing and fun. It can even be a great way to meet people.”
“We think hearing that from the cast members and characters on shows like Mercy, American Idol, Private Practice, Ugly Betty and The Good Wife will help millions of viewers consider volunteerism,” said Tony Award Winner Bernadette Peters. “I think it’s important to help people and causes that need our help. The iParticipate campaign will ultimately involve all segments of the entertainment community including film studios, the recording industry, Broadway and others.”
Emceeing the event in Times Square was New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who earlier in the day convened a meeting of his counterparts from around the country, including Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, Dublin, OH Mayor Marilee Chinnici-Zuercher, Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, Providence Mayor David Cicilline, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer, Vicksburg, MS Mayor Paul Winfield, Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, and West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel, to launch a volunteerism initiative called “Cities of Service.”
"Today is an exciting day for service in America," said Mayor Bloomberg.
"These two distinct initiatives - bound by their common commitment to increase community service and volunteerism in America - represent a significant step in realizing the goals of the bipartisan Edward M Kennedy Serve America Act. The Entertainment Industry Foundation's iParticipate Campaign will animate the public to find more ways to give back. And the Cities of Service coalition will harness that newfound energy and put it to good use.”
"These two efforts complement each other superbly,” said Paulsen. “Through IiPARTICIPATE, the entertainment community will generate new enthusiasm about volunteering, and when people look for ways to do that in their own communities, the Cities of Service coalition will provide them.”
Demonstrating the power of social media activism, Ashton Kutcher joined Mayor Bloomberg and those gathered at Times Square, sending a message to his 3.5 million Twitter followers, urging them to volunteer on September 11th as a way to honor the memory of the victims of the terrorist attacks.
A giant screen in the Square projected Kutcher's request, “2Day, I activate my citizenship by participating. iParticipate! Do u? www.iparticipate.org", and some of the instantaneous replies to it as they began to pour in.
Other elements of the EIF iPARTICIPATE initiative include:
1 a dedicated website IParticipate.org, designed to make it easier than ever before for millions of Americans to find volunteer opportunities in their local communities across five key areas of service: Wellness, Community Health, Financial Security, Environmental Conservation, and Support for Military Families. The website features calendars of events, maps, digital tool kits and uses the power of social networking vehicles like Facebook, making it simple for individuals not only to volunteer, but to recruit friends to join them;
2 a series of celebrity-driven public service announcements that will reinforce the importance of volunteerism and supporting causes like Welcome Back Veterans. Blythe Danner, Gwyneth Paltrow, Matthew McConaughey, are among the performers featured in the PSAs, which filmmaker Jesse Dylan with his agency FreeForm is directing and producing. Dylan works with Bono’s “Red” and “One” campaigns and also directed will.i.am's iconic “Yes, We Can” video; and
3 grants from the Entertainment Industry Foundation to key volunteers organizations to help build capacity to accept, train and deploy volunteers.
“The ability to both entertain and inform is one of the hallmarks of a broadcast network,” says Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment.
“Integrating messages of volunteerism and service into America’s favorite television shows can have a powerful and lasting impact that benefits both the audience and the country at large.” NBC president Angela Bromstad agrees. “The week of volunteer-themed programming in October provides an opportunity for the networks to tap the power of television,” she says.
The ultimate goal, says Stephen McPherson, president of ABC Entertainment is “to get people thinking about what they can do in terms of volunteering, and then to act on that.” “The most satisfying result for us is when our programs entertain viewers as well as inform them—and maybe even call them to action,” FOX Entertainment president Kevin Reilly points out. “And that’s what we’re looking to do by supporting EIF’s initiative. We are calling on our talent pool—in front and behind the camera—to get involved.” The day began with ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC morning shows all broadcasting interviews from Gracie Mansion during the Cities of Service Summit.
Leading companies and organizations that have joined EIF in supporting iPARTICIPATE include AARP’s Create The Good volunteer network (www.CreateTheGood.org), Medco Health Solutions and its “Give Health a Hand” program (www.GiveHealthAHand.org), Major League Baseball and its “Welcome Back Veterans” initiative (www.WelcomeBackVeterans.org), and UnitedHealthcare (www.UnitedHealthGroup.com). These organizations will engage their employees all over the country in grassroots service efforts.
The rate at which Americans volunteer regularly has not increased in 40 years and has generally remained around 26%, according to a survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nearly half of all people who currently volunteer started because they were asked by someone they know.
Celebrities who participated in the Times Square event include: Ashton Kutcher, Tyler Perry, Randy Jackson, Christine Baranski, Fran Drescher, Sway Calloway, Kenneth Cole, Rocco DiSpirito, Kelley Menighan Hensley, Bernadette Peters, Cameron Mathison, Tim Daly, Lee Ann Womack, Constantine Maroulis, Jeff Francoeur, Al Leiter.
Service organizations who participated in the Times Square event include: HandsOn Network, NYC Civic Corps, and Service Nation.
Network shows that will feature volunteerism in some way during the week of Oct 19th include:
ABC
All My Children, America's Funniest Home Videos, Brothers and Sisters, Castle, Cougar Town, Dancing With The Stars, Desperate Housewives, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Flash Forward, General Hospital, Good Morning America, Grey's Anatomy, Hank, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Modern Family, One Life To Live, Private Practice, The Forgotten, The Middle, The View, Ugly Betty
CBS
Cold Case, Criminal Minds, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Gary Unmarried, Ghost Whisperer, NCIS, Numb3rs
FOX
America's Most Wanted, Bones, Brothers, COPS, So You Think You Can Dance, Til Death
NBC
30 Rock, Access Hollywood, Community, Days of Our Lives, Heroes, Parks and Recreation, The Biggest Loser, The Office, Today Show
# # #
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ."
We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
Aired Live 11.11.09- Part 4 of 7 (Full Show in HD)-
"Something Isn't Right- Just Trust Your Gut."
Glenn talks about New York just changed their Constitution to allow convicts to work outside of the prison walls and on the streets for non-profit organizations, such as- say, maybe Acorn?
All in the wonderful spirit of volunteerism, right? Uh, something isn't right here? This doesn't make any sense...
Van Jones was a huge part of this movement before he was outed.
Last edited by vector7; January 25th, 2010 at 21:58.
Reason: Repaired Video Link
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ."
We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
“This is what happens in third world kleptocracies and totalitarian regimes.”
Remember how the Democrats reacted when the Bush Administration started replacing U.S. Attorneys? At least they were actually political appointees employed at the will and whim of the President.
Posted by Erick Erickson (Profile)
Thursday, November 12th at 11:42AM EST
44 Comments
“This is what happens in third world kleptocracies and totalitarian regimes.”
Via Instapundit comes word that the federal government’s Office of Personnel Management (OPM) intends to purge the federal government of Republican civil servants all in the name of purify the federal bureaucracy.
You can read the OPM memo here.
It is a typical Washington process that many political appointees are able to take jobs within the civil service once their political appointment expires — usually at the conclusion of one administration. What often happens as well is Congressional staffers, before an election or shortly thereafter, will move over to the Executive Branch placed into the civil service, in effect, by appointment.
So, for example, when George Bush became President in 2001, a number of Clinton political appointees became civil service employees.
As a result, they became subject to civil service hiring and firing rules, which meant they could no longer be replaced simply for having been a Democratic appointee.
Barack Obama is changing that. He intends to purge all Republicans from the federal bureaucracy retroactive to five years ago.
Under his new rules, made retroactive for five years, the Office of Personnel Management will examine civil service employees who got their start as political appointees in the Bush administration and terminate those employees. The order is retroactive to 2004, that moment when a number of Republican congressional staffers and others sought to embed into the second Bush administration right after the election.
According to John Berry, the Director of OPM:
Beginning January 1, 2010, agencies must seek prior approval from OPM before they can appoint a current or recent political appointee to a competitive or non-political excepted service position at any level under the provisions of title 5, United States Code. OPM will review these proposed appointments to ensure they comply with merit system principles and applicable civil service laws. I have delegated decisionmaking authority over these matters to career Senior Executives at OPM to avoid any hint of political influence.
The memorandum goes on to apply this change to civil servants who were political appointees in the last five years, in effect freezing these employees out of other positions, denying them promotions, and forcing them out of their jobs.
No one is allowed to stand in the way of Barack Obama’s agenda, including his own bureaucracy. This is what happens in third world kleptocracies and totalitarian regimes.
This is scary stuff.
Just for perspective: remember the Democrats threatened to throw Bush administration people in jail for firing United States Attorneys who happened to be Democrats. In that case, it was clear as crystal that U.S. Attorneys serve at the pleasure of the President and he can fire them whenever he wants. In this case, these people are now civil service employees who do not serve at the pleasure of the President and cannot be fired just because they are Republicans. in fact, the law is very clear on that point.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ."
We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
(CNSNews.com) – A bill currently before the Senate would empower the Obama administration to nationalize the student lending industry, eliminating the federally subsidized private loans millions of university students rely on to finance their educations.
The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act – currently being considered by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee – would eliminate the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program. FFEL loans are federally subsidized and make up approximately 80 percent of the student lending industry.
According to the Department of Education, 14.3 million of the 17.5 million student loans were federally subsidized for the 2009-2010 fiscal year. Under Obama’s plan, the government would consume the entirety of this industry – a total of $103 billion in 2009-2010.
Under the current system, the federal government subsidizes private financial institutions in order to entice those institutions to provide low-interest loans to students.
Under this arrangement the government sets the interest rates lenders may charge students. In return, the government reimburses lenders if market interest rates rise above the interest rates on the loans – in essence, the government reimburses private lenders if they begin losing money on the loans.
In return, the lenders agree to return any windfall profits made from the loans to the government. In other words, if market interest rates fall below the interest rates of the loans, the lenders pay the government the difference.
The government also agrees to reimburse the lenders should a student default.
Under the system proposed by Obama, the government would cut private lenders out of the picture entirely, setting the interest rates and collecting payments directly for all student lending.
Whether or not the government saw a profit or a loss from the new, federal loans would depend on the rate at which the government borrows money. For instance, the law currently sets the interest rate for direct loans at a maximum of 6.8 percent.
Under Obama’s proposal, if the government can borrow money at a rate lower than 6.8 percent, it would realize the difference as profit. If the government’s borrowing rate were to fall in the future, its profit on student loans would grow.
The idea to nationalize student lending was first put forth in President Obama’s fiscal-year 2010 budget and marketed as a way to save the government billions of dollars. According to a CBO estimate, the proposal would save the government $87 billion over 10 years.
The savings estimate results from the fact that the government believes it will collect more in interest payments from students than it would otherwise have to pay in fees to lenders.
The plan has met Republican opposition, passing the House on a party-line vote in September – 253-171 – and has stalled in the Senate, where HELP Chairman Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has said he plans to pass the measure using budget reconciliation.
“We've already been instructed by the Budget Committee to do this, so we're going to do it,” Harkin told The Hill Oct. 19 when asked about using the controversial budget maneuver. Reconciliation allows budget-related items to be passed with a 51-vote majority, eliminating the threat of a filibuster.
The government’s savings estimates have also come into question. In a July 27 letter to Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), the Congressional Budget Office admitted that its original figure of $87 billion in savings over 10 years did not include an estimate of losses the government would incur from defaults. When that risk was added in, the estimated savings dropped to $47 billion.
The original estimate “does not include the cost to the government stemming from the risk that cash flows may be less than the amount projected (that is, that defaults could be higher than projected).
CBO found that after accounting for the cost of such risk, as discussed below, the proposal to replace new guaranteed [subsidized] loans with direct loans would lead to estimated savings of about $47 billion over the 2010-2019 period,” CBO reported.
The plan’s fate, however, is determined largely by Obama’s other major initiative – health care reform. Because reconciliation may only be used on one bill per year, Democrats must wait to see if it is needed to pass health care reform. If it is, they will have to combine both the student loan and health care proposals into one bill before using reconciliation to bypass an inevitable Republican filibuster.
Last edited by vector7; January 21st, 2010 at 18:00.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ."
We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
An Atlas reader, Chuck, has a student in the eleventh grade in an Ohio High School. Her government class passed out this propaganda recruiting paper so students could sign up as interns for Obama's Organizing for America (OFA is the former mybarackobama.com site.)
Obama is using our public school system to recruit for his Alinsky-inspired private army. Organizing for America is (and I quote) recruiting in our high schools to "build on the movement that elected President Obama by empowering students across the country to help us bring about our agenda" ............of national socialism.
The Ohio High School is Perry Local in Massillon, Ohio.
This is incredible. And evil. Suffer the little children -- enlisted like SS youth. This is no accident. Obama is poisoning our public school system. He acts as if it's his own private breeding farm. Once again academic learning and achievement is hopelessly abandoned, and supplanted by radical leftist activism from the leftwing Alinsky indoctrinators in the perverse public school system.
Children must be advised to expose this ugly propaganda. Children must tell their parents how they are being used and manipulated. Parents, warn your kids. Better yet, home school.
Check out the recommended reading list page 4:
Rules for Radicals, Saul Alinsky
The New Organizers, Zack Exley
Stir It Up: Lessons from Community Organizing and Advocacy, Rinku Sen
Obama Field Organizers Plot a Miracle, Zack Exley, Huffington Post
Dreams of My FatherChicago Chapters, Barack Hussein Obama
This internship program is geared towards the 2010 elections. Using our kids as their goons. Can you imagine if the Republicans attempted such a fascist stunt?
And what will these "interns" be force fed? The mother's milk of the left -- anti-war agitation, anti-capitalism, Marx, Lenin, Ayers, Ellie Light activism, LGBT agenda promotion, global warming, pro-jihad, and illegal immigration. For starters.
He is using the public school system to to get kids "on the ground - working to make the change we worked so hard for 2008".
Obama is using high school children to goose step on the healthcare socialism program. "How do you plan to continue working for Obama in the future?" "What can we do to stay connected?" "What did you learn about organizing?"
CAMPAIGN FLASHBACK: He pulled this corrupting garbage when he was running:
Any use of this report must cite and link Atlas Shrugs.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ."
We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
Re: Obama's 'Civilian National Security Force'
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Originally Posted by Rick Donaldson
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