Welfare (in USofA) - opinion

[Sibling Chatty]

http://www.ssireview.org/pdf/2005WI_Feature_Reich.pdf

http://philanthropy.com/free/articles/v18/i14/14005301.htm

Projections that trillions of dollars will flow to nonprofit groups over the coming decades as the World War II generation dies have also buttressed the notion that charities can afford to do more than in the past. Yet in truth this bias toward charity is a befogging illusion created more in service to ideology than to society.

While Americans are a very generous and caring people, the combined yearly contributions of individuals, philanthropic foundations, and corporations to all causes except religion are considerably less than the annual allocations the federal government makes to deal with social services, the arts, education, the environment, and other causes where nonprofit groups work — and that is not counting medical payments, tuition assistance, welfare, and other money that goes to any American who is poor enough to qualify for aid.

Charitable contributions would have to grow more than 30 times faster than usual to make up the difference if government spending on social causes were eliminated. And that assumes that all increased spending by nonprofit groups and foundations to offset government cuts would go to help the neediest — not spread thinly among the wide range of causes where charitable organizations focus their attention.

Strikingly, even if foundations gave away every last dollar in all of their endowments, it would do little more than cover this year's federal deficit with a fraction left toward the next one. And that is just the operating deficit, not the national budget or the debt. Furthermore, the projections for a transfer of wealth have been so slow to materialize it is increasingly doubtful that trillions of dollars will be bequeathed to nonprofit groups.

The last time political leaders tried to severely cut the federal government's role in caring for the needy (remember Ronald Reagan), cash-strapped governments abandoned mentally ill people to the streets — and the homeless began sleeping on America's sidewalks.

The calculus does not work today either, and nonprofit organizations need to understand that fully and to find better ways to educate their constituencies and the public about fiscal realities.

The entire 'charity -funded' canard is being fueled by support from the Faith Basd Initiatives crowd. They're encouraging it as a way to set Faith Based Funding as the "middle road" alternative.

http://www.theocracywatch.org/faith_base.htm

This is the text of an executive order signed by Bush on June 1.

On September 22, 2003, the White House announced new rules making $28 billion available to religious charities that proselytize and discriminate in hiring. Susan Jacoby, director of the Center for Inquiry in Metro New York claims "The White House has taken what may be its boldest step yet to blur the constitutional separation of church and state." While the White House announced these controversial new rules, the media hardly paid attention.

While religious charities receive billions of dollars, federal programs are experiencing funding cuts. The largest federally funded after-school program, the $1 billion-a-year 21st Century Community Learning Centers program is threatened with a budget reduction of $400 million for the Fiscal Year 2004. The resulting cuts in Washington D.C. alone could eliminate after-school services for 2,902 District children.

As reported in the Washington Post, Congress has ordered more than $3 million in grants since 2001 earmarked for respected former Redskins cornerback Darrell Green's Youth Life Foundation, with the goal in part of opening more Green learning centers here and in other cities. But his center is directly serving only 38 kids, in a city where 35,000 live in poverty.
From Church and State editorial, March 9, 2004:

    The Corporation for National and Community Service has allocated $324,000 in Americorps funding for staffing at four daycare centers run by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence.

    But The Children's Crusade, a mentoring program that has won national honors, lost all its budget of half a million dollars. The group had hoped to partner 35 young adults with poor minority children. That won't be happening now.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State has been following Bush's Faith-Based Initiative since he assumed the office of President. They have filed lawsuits, and their magazine, Church and State, has many important, in-depth articles.

From Americans United, August 17, 2004:

    A new study of the "faith-based" initiative raises troubling questions about the Bush administration's disregard for constitutional and civil rights protections, according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

    The report issued today by the Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy lists the many executive actions President George W. Bush has taken to fund a wide range of religion-based social services. The sweeping changes in federal policy, the report indicates, have come without congressional authorization.

Philadelphia Church That Endorsed Bush Gets $1 Million 'Faith-Based' Grant
Wednesday June 23, 2004

    "The Rev. Lusk endorsed candidate Bush, and wound up getting a $1-million faith-based grant from the Bush administration," [Barry] Lynn said. "Now there's a heavenly payoff."

"Faith-Based Fiat," January, 2003, Church and State:

    "On Dec. 12, speaking to over 1,000 religious and charitable leaders gathered at the Downtown Marriott Hotel in Philadelphia, George W. Bush launched another major offensive in his drive to implement his controversial "faith-based" initiative. Circumventing a reluctant Congress, which has refused to enact the administration's scheme, Bush announced a sweeping package of executive actions to encourage churches and other religious groups to apply for billions in government contracts to help the disadvantaged."

"Faith-Based Foray," From Church and State, October, 2002,

    "Not willing to let a skeptical Congress delay its plan for government-funded religion, the Bush administration is moving ahead with the faith-based initiative anyway."

"Faith-Based Victory," Church and State, May, 2003, brings good news! A powerful coalition formed in the U.S. Senate to derail President Bush and U.S. Senator Rick Santorum's efforts to pass legislation making it legal to discriminate in employment. As a result, the final legislation is nothing like the Bush/Santorum plan. This 'good news' article affirms the power of coalition building in the Senate.

"Faith-Based Failure," Church and State, November, 2002, highlights a report documenting major problems with the Faith Based program that has been implemented in Texas for the past five year

"The Bush 'Faith-Based' Orders: Dangerous Decrees, Church and State. On Dec. 12, 2002, President George W. Bush issued two executive orders putting into place his controversial "faith-based" initiative, February, 2003. (So far, I haven't been able to find this article on AU's newly reformatted web site -jb) more

Faith-Based Sex-Education

Sierra magazine, January-February, 2004, has a feature article on abstinence-only education in the public schools. Federally funded programs are based on fear and end up proselytizing. A Louisianna state judge has ruled that the proselytizing must stop or the programs risk defunding.

    "For Louisianna seventh graders, abstinence-only education appears first and foremost to be about terrifying diseases: suppurating boils, endless rashes, sterility, cancers, and the physical and psychic morbidity with which they are to be punished for having sex before marriage."

    "Hundreds of federally funded abstinence-only programs are run by faith-based groups. The Louisianna American Civil Liberties Union found that ... thousands of dollars went to programs that included prayers as well as continuous referrences to God, Jesus Christ, and the spiritual repercussions of sex before marriage."

Faith Base Lock Up
In Lawtey, Florida, Gov. Jeb Bush dedicated what is being called the nation's first religion-based prison.

    A North Florida prison will be converted into the nation's first faith-based lockup. Critics say public money shouldn't be spent on religious programs.

"This is a clearly unconstitutional scheme," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. "A state can no more create a faith-based prison than it could set up faith-based public schools or faith-based police departments."

Americans United filed a lawsuit to block a similar state-sponsored fundamentalist Christian project operating with public funds at a prison in Iowa. That case, which challenges state support of Charles Colson's InnerChange program, is pending in federal court.

How the the InnerChange Prison Fellowship program cooked the books so that the program's failure looks like a success. To read about Americans United current litigation, click here.

Faith-Based Parks

    Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a non-profit group that represents park workers and public employees, charged in a release last week that the National Park Service is hell-bent on removing images of anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, pro-choice marches and gay rights marches from an eight-minute video tape located at the Lincoln Memorial covering historic gatherings that have taken place there and on the Washington Mall.

    "The park service leadership now caters exclusively to conservative Christian fundamentalist groups," stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch in his group's release. "The Bush Administration appears to be sponsoring a program of Faith-Based Parks."

"... morality conservative groups have a special entree with decision makers at the Park Service and the White House."

The federal government lost a lawsuit when a federal court ruled that a program crossed the line between church and state. From the Washington Post July 6, 2004: "America Corps Loses Suit on Religion:"

    The federal agency that oversees AmeriCorps must stop financing programs that place volunteers in Catholic schools, a judge has ruled, saying it unconstitutionally crosses the line between church and state.

Faith-Based Coercion

    Increasingly--and more often than not, with the explicit cheerleading and support of dominionist groups--there is an emphasis for reliance on "faith based" initiatives, such as "faith based" rehab programs, "faith based" disaster aid charities, etc. Unfortunately, this is often turning into a chance for faith-based coercion--often on what is, quite literally, a captive audience. more

Compassionate Conservatism
Marvin Olasky, a Reconstructionist influenced professor of Journalism, has served as a close advisor to Bush. Olasky's book, Compassionate Conservatism, creates a justification for Bush's policies on faith based giving. Bush wrote the forward to the book published in 2000. Olasky is a compelling writer who shares his philosophical ideas through heart-wrenching and inspiring human interest stories. He makes a strong case for faith based giving. Evangelical Christian charities succeed, according to Olasky, where government fails. Olasky sees no problem with government funds going to missions that proselytize. The fact that someone who is hungry and vulnerable might have to undergo a religious conversion to get food and shelter doesn't bother him.
The Problem with Proselytizing

Bill Moyers program, NOW, (the first of a two-part series) aired on PBS September 26, 2003, makes clear the problem with proselytizing. The TV show focuses on one program that trains church volunteers to help lift people out of poverty. At first, the whole concept looked truly wonderful. A volunteer family infuses a young, struggling mother of three with love and a sense of caring -- which is very moving.

Then the pressure begins to join their church. This "loving" family is all the support this young mother has in the world, and she feels deeply conflicted about joining their church. When she was asked by the interviewer about joining the church, her face froze in what looked like silent terror. She hadn't wanted to join, but appeared to be terrified of losing the love and support of her sponsoring family. The sponsoring family told the interviewer that they're taught not to invite the family to their church for the first month, and that they never told the woman that she had to join. But it's clear that the invitations to go to church would not let up.

That look of frozen terror on the young woman's face illustrated dramatically the dangers of government funding for church sponsored charities. Millions of young, vulnerable mothers and struggling families will feel coerced to join the "correct" evangelical churches.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

One quick note: why is it that the budget of defense is several times bigger than welfare?

Because you know that building Tomahawks (currently @$1.3M) makes more sense than paying for foodstamps...

[Sibling Chatty]

I know we're certainly more secure here, knowing that all those missiles are out there, enough to destroy the planet thousands of times over, while we keep the house at 62 degrees so that the elecric bill isn't so high we can't afford food again.

[Scriblerus the Philosophe]

I never really liked the faith-based initative thing.
Anyway, I still think there would be more money to give IF taxes were lower. I didn't see where those excepts address that, do show me if I missed them, though.
Didn't Regan totally shut down those horrors where they were keeping the mentally ill? My father said he'd never understand why Regan did that.
And I never really included the mentally ill in my opinon. They're much harder to care for, and the ones I know constantly need to be reminded to take their meds. Hmmm...food for thought, I suppose.

[Sibling Chatty]

Reagan shut down almost ALL care for the mentally ill. He started the 'mainstreaming' thing on the premise that it would be "better" for the clients and the community to have the mentally ill/mentally retarded/choose a name in "the community". Not HIS community, certainly, but someone's.

Problem is, he shut down what WAS working as well as what wasn't. And, funny thing, the institutions that were closed down and emptied first always happened to be sitting on what had become VERY valuable real estate. Oh, sure, in 1937, when in was first opened as The State Hospital for the More than Slightly Barmy, it was out in the middle of nowhere, but by 1981, there was a HUGE need for that area, and ESPECIALLY those grounds to become Westwood WoodTerrace Part III, and the new 18 hole golf course that the WoodWood Corp put in ALL their Lovely Masterplanned Communities, adjacent to the freeways...

This, unfortunately, is STILL going on. Richmond State School, in growing (sprawling) Fort Bend County sits on about 250 acres that are beautifully wooded, right in the bend of the Brazos River. The developers are drooling over it. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/RR/sbr1.html
There used to be photographs on line of the campus, and the Christmas Display that the volunteers do (or did) every year. When the parent of so many of the residents got older and unable to keep up the physical labor of putting up the cartoon character cut-outs and lights and such, the volunteers from Jade Buddha Temple took to helping. They, in association with the Parents and Guardians Group, have fought to keep the school open. http://www.jadebuddha.org/English/charity.htm

Across the entire country, the same thing happened. This was disguised as a humanitarian effort, but what it was...was a land grab of enormous scope.

The (my age) daughter of a friend is in Richmond State School. She was one of the earliest residents. When Gladys was barely pregnant with Linda, both of her sons had measles. (Rubella) That means

An unborn baby of less than eight weeks' gestation can experience a combination of multiple abnormalities if exposed to the rubella virus. The effects normally relate to the developmental stage the baby is at during the time of the infection and can include:


Being mentally handicapped
Being deaf
Being blind, or severely vision-impaired
Experiencing heart abnormalities
Having inflammation of the brain, liver, lungs and bone marrow

For Linda, all of the above.

So, when her husband left and Gladys was trying to raise this child and her two other ones...you can imagine how welcome the State School was. Gladys (and a lot of other people) have put in countless hours trying to keep these places open, because "mainstreaming" someone in Linda's condition doesn't work. Gladys has also assumed guardianship for a number of other people at the State school. A place with someone that can help dress, feed and care for these people on a one-to-one basis, with secure buildings, etc. is needed. No matter WHAT the 'government' thinks.

Linda is mostly blind, mostly deaf, extremely severely retarded, has seizures, sensory issues...and her family was involved enough to prevent them 'mainstreaming' her out. The problem with mainstreamed MR clients is often abuse. That over 60% of the female clients that were 'sent to their communities' to be mainstreamed were sexually abused either in the group homes or on the streets if they wandered away (no close supervision, no secured facility, remember?) wasn't the problem of those that set up the concept. They GOT what they wanted...real estate.

Some places were horrors. Some were the best way to keep the mentally retarded (choose your terminology, but that's the medically appropriate term), especially the profoundly MR, safe. The mentally ill are a whole 'nother facet, as well.

Rubella's not much of a problem in the US anymore. Some of Gladys' other 'kids' at the State School are "thalidomide babies", unfortunately, not as lucky as some of the ones pictured here. http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/thalidomide/first.html
One of them, mentally within the normal range, was placed there because his stepfather was selling him to abusers for as little as a couple of beers when he was 5 years old.

Unfortunately, in order to "punish" the parents for refusing to allow the state to sell their area schools and put these people in unsecured group homes, they've taken to not taking any more medically sent clients, just criminally convicted druggie burn-out types (often abusive ones), and the general population suffers for it.

One of my VERY least favorite topics.

(Since Gladys' husband died a few monts ago, and her oldest son died about 3 years ago, Gladys can't take Linda out by herself anymore. Now, Gladys is a Christian woman, but not a Religious Right type. Her new help, that comes with her every other Saturday to take Linda out for a ride in the car, and then to her assisted living apartment, to eat Spaghettios--Linda's favorite food--is a family from the Jade Temple. When she was in China on one of her trips over, she met a young man that was trying to get into a US university. She helped him get here, through school, and into medical school. He, or one of his sons/daughters/inlaws and now grandkids, has been helping her since she and Ben couldn't do it alone. They're Buddhist, she's Baptist, and they're all involved together.)

Yes, you need a community to care, but no, the institutions do not have to be horrors. One way to make sure they aren't is to fund them properly. Stop and consider the strain on any family if all care for a severely retarded person was left to strictly the family. 24 hour supervision, physical therapy to prevent spinal curvature, respiratory therapy, proper bathing facilities...

Individual care for someone in Linda's condition, not in a facility, but in a home or grouphome situation, was estimated (1998 costs) at $83,000 a year, prorating the needed construction and equipment over a 10 year period. That's prohibitive. In the State school situation, bathing and therapy spaces are shared among 12-16 clients, dining facilities among 60-90. The facilities are upgraded as needed, but it's still MUCH less expensive to house and care for those of similar problems together.

Before the welfare and "social spending" programs that so many Libertarians want to stop NOW, these people were kept like animals, and 'encouraged' to die young.

Ach, all this reminds me, I need to get the next legislative calendar from Gladys. Even though I don't live in that district (i'm now closer to Brenham State School, which isn't under as much pressure as Richmond) i'll still need to be ready to go testify to the legislature again. there are some things you don't stop doing, ya know?