Catherine Austin Fitts: The Looting of America
Saturday, November 6, 2010
9 Reasons Why Quantitative Easing Is Bad For The U.S. Economy
theeconomiccollapseblog.com
Buckle up and hold on - a new round of quantitative easing is here and things could start getting very ugly in the financial world over the coming months. The truth is that many economists fear that an out of control Federal Reserve is "crossing the Rubicon" by announcing another wave of quantitative easing. Have we now reached a point where the Federal Reserve is simply going to fire up the printing presses and shower massive wads of cash into the financial system whenever the U.S. economy is not growing fast enough? If so, what does the mean for inflation, the stability of the world financial system and the future of the U.S. dollar? The Fed says that the plan is to purchase $600 billion of U.S. Treasury securities by the middle of 2011. In addition, the Federal Reserve has announced that it will be "reinvesting" an additional $250 billion to $300 billion from the proceeds of its mortgage portfolio in U.S. Treasury securities over the same time period. So that is a total injection of about $900 billion. Perhaps the Fed thought that number would sound a little less ominous than $1 trillion. In any event, the Federal Reserve seems convinced that quantitative easing is going to work this time. So should we believe the Federal Reserve?
The truth is that the Federal Reserve has tried this before. In November 2008, the Federal Reserve announced a $600 billion quantitative easing program. Four months later the Fed felt that even more cash was necessary, so they upped the total to $1.8 trillion.
So did quantitative easing work then?
No, not really. It may have helped stabilize the economy in the short-term, but unemployment is still staggeringly high. Monthly U.S. home sales continue to come in at close to record low levels. Businesses are borrowing less money. Individuals are borrowing less money. Stores are closing left and right.
The Fed is desperate to crank the debt spiral that our economic system is now based upon back up again. The Fed thinks that somehow if it can just pump enough nearly free liquidity into the banking system, the banks will turn around and lend it out at a markup and that this will get the debt spiral cranking again.
The sad truth is that the Federal Reserve is not trying to build an economic recovery on solid financial principles. Rather, what the Federal Reserve envisions is an "economic recovery" based on new debt creation.
So will $900 billion be enough to get the debt spiral cranked up again?
No.
If 1.8 trillion dollars didn't work before, why does the Federal Reserve think that 900 billion dollars is going to work now? This new round of quantitative easing will create more inflation and will cause speculative asset bubbles, but it is not going to fix what is wrong with the economy. The damage is just too vast as Charles Hugh Smith recently explained....
Anyone who believes a meager one or two trillion dollars in pump-priming can overcome $15-$20 trillion in overpriced assets and $10 trillion in uncollectible debt may well be disappointed.
In fact, economists over at Goldman Sachs estimate that it would take a staggering $4 trillion in quantitative easing to get the economy rolling again.
Of course that may eventually be what happens. The Fed may be starting at $900 billion just to get the door open. With these kinds of bureaucrats, once you give them an inch they usually end up taking a mile.
So why should we be concerned about quantitative easing? The following are 9 reasons why quantitative easing is bad for the U.S. economy....
#1 Quantitative Easing Will Damage The Value Of The U.S. Dollar
Each time you add a new dollar to the system, it decreases the value of each existing dollar by just a little bit. Now the Federal Reserve is pumping 900 billion dollars into the system and that is going to have a significant impact. Bill Gross, the manager of the largest mutual fund in the entire world, said on Monday that he believes that more quantitative easing could result in a decline of the U.S. dollar of up to 20 percent....
"I think a 20 percent decline in the dollar is possible."
#2 Inflation Is Going To Hit Already Struggling U.S. Consumers Really Hard
Already, investors have been fleeing from the U.S. dollar and other paper currencies and have been flocking to commodities, precious metals and oil. That means that the price of food is going to go up. The price of gasoline is also going to go up. American families are going to find their budgets stretched even more in the months ahead.
#3 Once An Inflationary Spiral Gets Going It Is Really Hard To Stop
The Federal Reserve is playing a very dangerous game by flirting with inflation. Once an inflationary spiral gets going, it is really difficult to stop. Just ask anyone who lived through the Weimar Republic or anyone who lives in Zimbabwe today. If the Federal Reserve is now going to be dumping hundreds of billions of fresh dollars into the system whenever the economy gets into trouble it is inevitable that we will see rampant inflation at some point.
#4 Inflation Is A Hidden Tax On Every American
Tens of millions of Americans have worked incredibly hard to save up a little bit of money. These Americans are counting on that money to pay for a home, or to pay for retirement or to pay for the education of their children. Well, inflation is like a hidden tax on all of those savings. In fact, inflation is a hidden tax on every single dollar that all of us own. We have been taxed more than enough - we certainly don't need the Federal Reserve imposing another hidden tax on all of us.
#5 The Solution To The Housing Bubble Is Not Another Housing Bubble
Today, approximately a third of all U.S. real estate is estimated to have negative equity. The Federal Reserve apparently believes that by flooding the system with gigantic sacks of cash banks will start making home loans like crazy again and home prices will rise substantially once again - thus wiping out most of that negative equity.
But the solution to the housing bubble is not another housing bubble. The kinds of crazy home loans that were made back in the middle of the decade should never be made again. Market forces should be allowed to bring the housing market to a new equilibrium where ordinary Americans can actually afford to purchase homes. But that is not how our system works anymore. Today, everything has to be manipulated.
#6 More Quantitative Easing Threatens To Destabilize The Global Financial System
We have already entered a time of increasing global financial instability, and the Federal Reserve is not going to help things by introducing hundreds of billions of new dollars into the game. Over the past two decades, bubble after bubble has caused tremendous economic problems, and now all of this new money could give rise to new bubbles. Already, we see financial institutions and investors pumping up carry trade bubbles, engaging in currency speculation and driving up commodity prices to ridiculous levels.
#7 Quantitative Easing Is An Aggressive Move In A World Already On The Verge Of A Currency War
Quantitative easing will likely help U.S. exporters by causing the value of the U.S. dollar to sink. However, this gain by U.S. exporters will come at the expense of foreigners. It is essentially a "zero sum" game. So all of those exporting countries that are already upset with us will become even more furious as the U.S. dollar declines. Could we witness the first all-out "global currency war" in 2011?
#8 Quantitative Easing Threatens The Status Of The Dollar As The World Reserve Currency
As the Federal Reserve continues to play games with the U.S. dollar, quite a few nations around the globe will start evaluating whether or not they want to continue to trade with the U.S. dollar and use it as a reserve currency.
In fact, a recent article on The Market Oracle website explained how this is already happening....
In September, China supported a Russian proposal to start direct trading using the yuan and the ruble rather than pricing their trade or taking payment in U.S. dollars or other foreign currencies. China then negotiated a similar deal with Brazil. And on the eve of the IMF meetings in Washington on Friday, Premier Wen stopped off in Istanbul to reach agreement with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan to use their own currencies in a planned tripling Turkish-Chinese trade to $50 billion over the next five years, effectively excluding the dollar.
#9 It Is Going To Become More Expensive For The U.S. Government To Borrow Money
Right now, the U.S. government has been able to borrow money at ridiculously low interest rates. But as the Federal Reserve keeps buying up hundreds of billions in U.S. Treasuries, the rest of the world is going to start refusing to participate in the ongoing Ponzi scheme.
Peter Schiff, the CEO of Euro Pacific Capital, says that one of the big reasons for more quantitative easing is because the U.S. government is already starting to have difficulty finding enough people to borrow from....
At the end of the day, all this deflation talk is a red herring. The true purpose of QE 2 is to disguise the decreasing ability of the Treasury to finance its debts. As global demand for dollar-denominated debt falls, the Fed is looking for an excuse to pick up the slack. By announcing QE 2, it can monetize government debt without the markets perceiving a funding problem.
But the truth is that foreigners are not stupid. They can see the shell game that is being played. As Bill Gross noted on Monday, U.S. government debt will soon become a lot less attractive to foreign investors....
QEII not only produces more dollars but it also lowers the yield that investors earn on them and makes foreigners, which is the key link to the currencies, it makes foreigners less willing to hold dollars in current form or at current prices.
As foreigners begin to balk at all of this nonsense, the U.S. government will either have to start paying higher interest rates on government debt in order to attract enough investors, or the Federal Reserve will just have to drop all pretense and permanently start buying up most of the debt. Either way, once faith has been lost in U.S. Treasuries the financial world will never, ever be the same.
Most Americans have absolutely no idea how fragile the world financial system is right now. Once the rest of the world loses faith in the U.S. dollar and in U.S. Treasuries this entire thing could completely unravel very quickly.
The Federal Reserve is playing a very dangerous game. They are openly threatening the delicate balance of the world financial system.
Once the toothpaste is out of the tube, it is really hard to put it back in again. Cross your fingers and hold on tight, because things are going to get really bumpy ahead.
View Original Article HERE
Buckle up and hold on - a new round of quantitative easing is here and things could start getting very ugly in the financial world over the coming months. The truth is that many economists fear that an out of control Federal Reserve is "crossing the Rubicon" by announcing another wave of quantitative easing. Have we now reached a point where the Federal Reserve is simply going to fire up the printing presses and shower massive wads of cash into the financial system whenever the U.S. economy is not growing fast enough? If so, what does the mean for inflation, the stability of the world financial system and the future of the U.S. dollar? The Fed says that the plan is to purchase $600 billion of U.S. Treasury securities by the middle of 2011. In addition, the Federal Reserve has announced that it will be "reinvesting" an additional $250 billion to $300 billion from the proceeds of its mortgage portfolio in U.S. Treasury securities over the same time period. So that is a total injection of about $900 billion. Perhaps the Fed thought that number would sound a little less ominous than $1 trillion. In any event, the Federal Reserve seems convinced that quantitative easing is going to work this time. So should we believe the Federal Reserve?
The truth is that the Federal Reserve has tried this before. In November 2008, the Federal Reserve announced a $600 billion quantitative easing program. Four months later the Fed felt that even more cash was necessary, so they upped the total to $1.8 trillion.
So did quantitative easing work then?
No, not really. It may have helped stabilize the economy in the short-term, but unemployment is still staggeringly high. Monthly U.S. home sales continue to come in at close to record low levels. Businesses are borrowing less money. Individuals are borrowing less money. Stores are closing left and right.
The Fed is desperate to crank the debt spiral that our economic system is now based upon back up again. The Fed thinks that somehow if it can just pump enough nearly free liquidity into the banking system, the banks will turn around and lend it out at a markup and that this will get the debt spiral cranking again.
The sad truth is that the Federal Reserve is not trying to build an economic recovery on solid financial principles. Rather, what the Federal Reserve envisions is an "economic recovery" based on new debt creation.
So will $900 billion be enough to get the debt spiral cranked up again?
No.
If 1.8 trillion dollars didn't work before, why does the Federal Reserve think that 900 billion dollars is going to work now? This new round of quantitative easing will create more inflation and will cause speculative asset bubbles, but it is not going to fix what is wrong with the economy. The damage is just too vast as Charles Hugh Smith recently explained....
Anyone who believes a meager one or two trillion dollars in pump-priming can overcome $15-$20 trillion in overpriced assets and $10 trillion in uncollectible debt may well be disappointed.
In fact, economists over at Goldman Sachs estimate that it would take a staggering $4 trillion in quantitative easing to get the economy rolling again.
Of course that may eventually be what happens. The Fed may be starting at $900 billion just to get the door open. With these kinds of bureaucrats, once you give them an inch they usually end up taking a mile.
So why should we be concerned about quantitative easing? The following are 9 reasons why quantitative easing is bad for the U.S. economy....
#1 Quantitative Easing Will Damage The Value Of The U.S. Dollar
Each time you add a new dollar to the system, it decreases the value of each existing dollar by just a little bit. Now the Federal Reserve is pumping 900 billion dollars into the system and that is going to have a significant impact. Bill Gross, the manager of the largest mutual fund in the entire world, said on Monday that he believes that more quantitative easing could result in a decline of the U.S. dollar of up to 20 percent....
"I think a 20 percent decline in the dollar is possible."
#2 Inflation Is Going To Hit Already Struggling U.S. Consumers Really Hard
Already, investors have been fleeing from the U.S. dollar and other paper currencies and have been flocking to commodities, precious metals and oil. That means that the price of food is going to go up. The price of gasoline is also going to go up. American families are going to find their budgets stretched even more in the months ahead.
#3 Once An Inflationary Spiral Gets Going It Is Really Hard To Stop
The Federal Reserve is playing a very dangerous game by flirting with inflation. Once an inflationary spiral gets going, it is really difficult to stop. Just ask anyone who lived through the Weimar Republic or anyone who lives in Zimbabwe today. If the Federal Reserve is now going to be dumping hundreds of billions of fresh dollars into the system whenever the economy gets into trouble it is inevitable that we will see rampant inflation at some point.
#4 Inflation Is A Hidden Tax On Every American
Tens of millions of Americans have worked incredibly hard to save up a little bit of money. These Americans are counting on that money to pay for a home, or to pay for retirement or to pay for the education of their children. Well, inflation is like a hidden tax on all of those savings. In fact, inflation is a hidden tax on every single dollar that all of us own. We have been taxed more than enough - we certainly don't need the Federal Reserve imposing another hidden tax on all of us.
#5 The Solution To The Housing Bubble Is Not Another Housing Bubble
Today, approximately a third of all U.S. real estate is estimated to have negative equity. The Federal Reserve apparently believes that by flooding the system with gigantic sacks of cash banks will start making home loans like crazy again and home prices will rise substantially once again - thus wiping out most of that negative equity.
But the solution to the housing bubble is not another housing bubble. The kinds of crazy home loans that were made back in the middle of the decade should never be made again. Market forces should be allowed to bring the housing market to a new equilibrium where ordinary Americans can actually afford to purchase homes. But that is not how our system works anymore. Today, everything has to be manipulated.
#6 More Quantitative Easing Threatens To Destabilize The Global Financial System
We have already entered a time of increasing global financial instability, and the Federal Reserve is not going to help things by introducing hundreds of billions of new dollars into the game. Over the past two decades, bubble after bubble has caused tremendous economic problems, and now all of this new money could give rise to new bubbles. Already, we see financial institutions and investors pumping up carry trade bubbles, engaging in currency speculation and driving up commodity prices to ridiculous levels.
#7 Quantitative Easing Is An Aggressive Move In A World Already On The Verge Of A Currency War
Quantitative easing will likely help U.S. exporters by causing the value of the U.S. dollar to sink. However, this gain by U.S. exporters will come at the expense of foreigners. It is essentially a "zero sum" game. So all of those exporting countries that are already upset with us will become even more furious as the U.S. dollar declines. Could we witness the first all-out "global currency war" in 2011?
#8 Quantitative Easing Threatens The Status Of The Dollar As The World Reserve Currency
As the Federal Reserve continues to play games with the U.S. dollar, quite a few nations around the globe will start evaluating whether or not they want to continue to trade with the U.S. dollar and use it as a reserve currency.
In fact, a recent article on The Market Oracle website explained how this is already happening....
In September, China supported a Russian proposal to start direct trading using the yuan and the ruble rather than pricing their trade or taking payment in U.S. dollars or other foreign currencies. China then negotiated a similar deal with Brazil. And on the eve of the IMF meetings in Washington on Friday, Premier Wen stopped off in Istanbul to reach agreement with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan to use their own currencies in a planned tripling Turkish-Chinese trade to $50 billion over the next five years, effectively excluding the dollar.
#9 It Is Going To Become More Expensive For The U.S. Government To Borrow Money
Right now, the U.S. government has been able to borrow money at ridiculously low interest rates. But as the Federal Reserve keeps buying up hundreds of billions in U.S. Treasuries, the rest of the world is going to start refusing to participate in the ongoing Ponzi scheme.
Peter Schiff, the CEO of Euro Pacific Capital, says that one of the big reasons for more quantitative easing is because the U.S. government is already starting to have difficulty finding enough people to borrow from....
At the end of the day, all this deflation talk is a red herring. The true purpose of QE 2 is to disguise the decreasing ability of the Treasury to finance its debts. As global demand for dollar-denominated debt falls, the Fed is looking for an excuse to pick up the slack. By announcing QE 2, it can monetize government debt without the markets perceiving a funding problem.
But the truth is that foreigners are not stupid. They can see the shell game that is being played. As Bill Gross noted on Monday, U.S. government debt will soon become a lot less attractive to foreign investors....
QEII not only produces more dollars but it also lowers the yield that investors earn on them and makes foreigners, which is the key link to the currencies, it makes foreigners less willing to hold dollars in current form or at current prices.
As foreigners begin to balk at all of this nonsense, the U.S. government will either have to start paying higher interest rates on government debt in order to attract enough investors, or the Federal Reserve will just have to drop all pretense and permanently start buying up most of the debt. Either way, once faith has been lost in U.S. Treasuries the financial world will never, ever be the same.
Most Americans have absolutely no idea how fragile the world financial system is right now. Once the rest of the world loses faith in the U.S. dollar and in U.S. Treasuries this entire thing could completely unravel very quickly.
The Federal Reserve is playing a very dangerous game. They are openly threatening the delicate balance of the world financial system.
Once the toothpaste is out of the tube, it is really hard to put it back in again. Cross your fingers and hold on tight, because things are going to get really bumpy ahead.
View Original Article HERE
Ominous WARNING SIGNALS for this FALL/WINTER From ALL OVER
AMERICAN HOLOCAUST
I can no longer ignore the numerous warning signals I have been steadily receiving this fall from numerous sources, including from Russia and Europe as well. One of the most blatant signs that something of a MAJOR CATASTROPHE LEADING TO MARTIAL LAW BEING DECLARED AND ENFORCED, is the strange departure of Obama and some 3000 comrades, military warships, and much more.
READ this article from another website:
Obama leaving US on 11/5 with family & 3k others...Is something up?
Submitted by Steve MT on Tue, 11/02/2010 - 17:54
in Current Events
Obama is leaving the country just after the election. He is taking his wife and kids as well as 3,000 other people for this India trip. They are taking 40 planes, armored cars, helicopters, security forces, a blank check book, and now 34 warships and a 1 km long air-conditioned bomb-proof tunnel to be assembled in one hour. They are planning on spending $200 million per day. At least that is what they are admitting to.
Tunnel for Obama near Mani Bhavan
Published: Thursday, Nov 4, 2010, 1:59 IST
By Pandurang Mhaske Place: Mumbai Agency: DNA
http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_tunnel-for-obama-near-...
34 warships sent from US for Obama visit
November 04, 2010 22:42 IST
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/34-warships-sent-from-us-f...
Are you suspicious that something is about to happen? "What" is the question. Is Obama preparing to outsource the Presidency?! Will there be a bank holiday or martial law declared?
Click on this link to read the entire article and it's links.
http://www.dailypaul.com/node/148244
End of article
The following is another excellent article written about Obama's strange actions.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/danger-zone-34-warships-will-accompany-obama-to-india/
The question must be asked: Is this then the CONTINGENCY GOVERNMENT seeking safety before all hell is destined (by human planning) to break forth on America???
For example, Is America about to strike Iran in earnest, undoubtedly triggering nuclear retaliatory strikes from Iran's allies (Russia, etc.)on American soil?
A RUSSIAN PASTOR recently submitted a strong WORD OF PROPHECY FOR AMERICA, revealing that THIS FALL/WINTER, America was going to suffer terrible devastation in the fall of this year, and NEW YORK CITY would also be effected terribly by what is to come.
I received this warning through an email forwarded to me recently.
For those of you informed readers,who are intelligent enough to have followed the ongoing information trail about COMING MARTIAL LAW and the NWO TAKEOVER OF AMERICA, none of this sounds too strange to believe at this point.
Well, spoiled, pampered and coddled Church in North America, are YOU finally ready to face the coming persecution I have outlined is to come to our nation???
It is easy to "praise the Lord" when fullness and plenty remains in our land, and while religious freedom continues.But will you be able to praise God with all your heart, as our nation crumbles and falls, and as persecution rises, or as churches are seized by FEMA forces from hell, and Christians are arrested and hauled off to FEMA/HOMELAND SECURITY CAMPS for sorting out and ultimately....termination for their faith???
Think about it: ARE YOU READY, SHOULD THESE EVENTS FINALLY COME TO OUR NATION...oh often slumbering and complacent church in North America?
America, your time is short.Christian, use this grace time for HIS GLORY AND PURPOSES alone. The darkness is soon coming when "no man can work..."
-Pamela Rae Schuffert reporting from NC
View Original Article HERE
I can no longer ignore the numerous warning signals I have been steadily receiving this fall from numerous sources, including from Russia and Europe as well. One of the most blatant signs that something of a MAJOR CATASTROPHE LEADING TO MARTIAL LAW BEING DECLARED AND ENFORCED, is the strange departure of Obama and some 3000 comrades, military warships, and much more.
READ this article from another website:
Obama leaving US on 11/5 with family & 3k others...Is something up?
Submitted by Steve MT on Tue, 11/02/2010 - 17:54
in Current Events
Obama is leaving the country just after the election. He is taking his wife and kids as well as 3,000 other people for this India trip. They are taking 40 planes, armored cars, helicopters, security forces, a blank check book, and now 34 warships and a 1 km long air-conditioned bomb-proof tunnel to be assembled in one hour. They are planning on spending $200 million per day. At least that is what they are admitting to.
Tunnel for Obama near Mani Bhavan
Published: Thursday, Nov 4, 2010, 1:59 IST
By Pandurang Mhaske Place: Mumbai Agency: DNA
http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_tunnel-for-obama-near-...
34 warships sent from US for Obama visit
November 04, 2010 22:42 IST
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/34-warships-sent-from-us-f...
Are you suspicious that something is about to happen? "What" is the question. Is Obama preparing to outsource the Presidency?! Will there be a bank holiday or martial law declared?
Click on this link to read the entire article and it's links.
http://www.dailypaul.com/node/148244
End of article
The following is another excellent article written about Obama's strange actions.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/danger-zone-34-warships-will-accompany-obama-to-india/
The question must be asked: Is this then the CONTINGENCY GOVERNMENT seeking safety before all hell is destined (by human planning) to break forth on America???
For example, Is America about to strike Iran in earnest, undoubtedly triggering nuclear retaliatory strikes from Iran's allies (Russia, etc.)on American soil?
A RUSSIAN PASTOR recently submitted a strong WORD OF PROPHECY FOR AMERICA, revealing that THIS FALL/WINTER, America was going to suffer terrible devastation in the fall of this year, and NEW YORK CITY would also be effected terribly by what is to come.
I received this warning through an email forwarded to me recently.
For those of you informed readers,who are intelligent enough to have followed the ongoing information trail about COMING MARTIAL LAW and the NWO TAKEOVER OF AMERICA, none of this sounds too strange to believe at this point.
Well, spoiled, pampered and coddled Church in North America, are YOU finally ready to face the coming persecution I have outlined is to come to our nation???
It is easy to "praise the Lord" when fullness and plenty remains in our land, and while religious freedom continues.But will you be able to praise God with all your heart, as our nation crumbles and falls, and as persecution rises, or as churches are seized by FEMA forces from hell, and Christians are arrested and hauled off to FEMA/HOMELAND SECURITY CAMPS for sorting out and ultimately....termination for their faith???
Think about it: ARE YOU READY, SHOULD THESE EVENTS FINALLY COME TO OUR NATION...oh often slumbering and complacent church in North America?
America, your time is short.Christian, use this grace time for HIS GLORY AND PURPOSES alone. The darkness is soon coming when "no man can work..."
-Pamela Rae Schuffert reporting from NC
View Original Article HERE
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Indiana Parents Told Drop Disabled Kids at Shelters
By KEN KUSMER Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana's budget crunch has become so severe that some state workers have suggested leaving severely disabled people at homeless shelters if they can't be cared for at home, parents and advocates said.
They said workers at Indiana's Bureau of Developmental Disabilities Services have told parents that's one option they have when families can no longer care for children at home and haven't received Medicaid waivers that pay for services that support disabled people living independently.
Marcus Barlow, a spokesman for the Family and Social Services Administration, the umbrella agency that includes the bureau, said suggesting homeless shelters is not the agency's policy and workers who did so would be disciplined.
However, Becky Holladay of Battle Ground, Ind., said that's exactly what happened to her when she called to ask about the waiver she's seeking for her 22-year-old son, Cameron Dunn, who has epilepsy, autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Holladay, a school nurse, said she and her husband would go bankrupt trying to pay for services themselves, so Cameron spends most days sitting in his stepfather's truck while he works as a municipal employee.
"It's heart-wrenching as a parent to watch it. We are people and they are people," Holladay said, referring to her son and others with disabilities. "They have lives that are worth something."
There have been no confirmed cases of families dumping severely disabled people at homeless shelters because Indiana wouldn't provide the care needed.
But some families have been on waiting lists for waivers for 10 years. The lists contained more than 20,000 names last month, and one advocacy group predicted they will only grow longer because Gov. Mitch Daniels ordered budget cuts that have eliminated 2,000 waiver slots since July.
Budget cuts also have resulted in the state moving foster children with disabilities to a lower cost program that doesn't provide services for special needs and eliminating a grocery benefit for hundreds of developmentally disabled adults.
Kim Dodson, associate executive director of The Arc of Indiana, said her group has received reports of state workers in several of BDDS's eight regional offices telling families to take disabled adults to homeless shelters. She speculated that the suggestion resulted from frustration among BDDS staff as families become more outspoken about the effects of state cuts.
"It is something we are hearing from all over the state, that families are being told this is an alternative for them," Dodson said. "A homeless shelter would never be able to serve these people."
State lawmakers said they also have received reports from several people who were told they could always abandon their adult children at homeless shelters.
Rep. Suzanne Crouch, R-Evansville, said she found it "deplorable that people are being told to go to a homeless shelter."
Leaders of several agencies serving homeless people across Indiana could not be reached for comment after business hours Wednesday.
Some parents said homeless shelters have also been suggested — or threatened — as an option by private care providers.
Daunna Minnich of Bloomington said Indiana Department of Education funding for residential treatment for her 18-year-old daughter, Sabrina, is due to run out Sunday. She said officials at Damar Services Inc. of Indianapolis told her during a meeting that unless she took Sabrina home with her, the agency would drop the teen off at a homeless shelter.
Sabrina, who's bipolar and has anxiety attacks, has attempted suicide, run away during home visits and threatened her older sister, Minnich said. Bringing Sabrina home isn't a viable option, but the two group home placements BDDS offered weren't appropriate, she said.
"I don't want to see the state of Indiana hasten her demise by putting her in a one-size-fits-all solution that will drive her to desperate acts," Minnich said.
Jim Dalton, Damar's chief operating officer, said he could not comment directly on any specific case but his nonprofit would never leave a client at a homeless shelter — even though it is caring for some for free after they got too old for school-funded services and haven't yet been granted Medicaid waivers.
"We're talking about youth that absolutely require services, and no one is willing to fund them anymore," Dalton said.
View Original Article HERE
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana's budget crunch has become so severe that some state workers have suggested leaving severely disabled people at homeless shelters if they can't be cared for at home, parents and advocates said.
They said workers at Indiana's Bureau of Developmental Disabilities Services have told parents that's one option they have when families can no longer care for children at home and haven't received Medicaid waivers that pay for services that support disabled people living independently.
Marcus Barlow, a spokesman for the Family and Social Services Administration, the umbrella agency that includes the bureau, said suggesting homeless shelters is not the agency's policy and workers who did so would be disciplined.
However, Becky Holladay of Battle Ground, Ind., said that's exactly what happened to her when she called to ask about the waiver she's seeking for her 22-year-old son, Cameron Dunn, who has epilepsy, autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Holladay, a school nurse, said she and her husband would go bankrupt trying to pay for services themselves, so Cameron spends most days sitting in his stepfather's truck while he works as a municipal employee.
"It's heart-wrenching as a parent to watch it. We are people and they are people," Holladay said, referring to her son and others with disabilities. "They have lives that are worth something."
There have been no confirmed cases of families dumping severely disabled people at homeless shelters because Indiana wouldn't provide the care needed.
But some families have been on waiting lists for waivers for 10 years. The lists contained more than 20,000 names last month, and one advocacy group predicted they will only grow longer because Gov. Mitch Daniels ordered budget cuts that have eliminated 2,000 waiver slots since July.
Budget cuts also have resulted in the state moving foster children with disabilities to a lower cost program that doesn't provide services for special needs and eliminating a grocery benefit for hundreds of developmentally disabled adults.
Kim Dodson, associate executive director of The Arc of Indiana, said her group has received reports of state workers in several of BDDS's eight regional offices telling families to take disabled adults to homeless shelters. She speculated that the suggestion resulted from frustration among BDDS staff as families become more outspoken about the effects of state cuts.
"It is something we are hearing from all over the state, that families are being told this is an alternative for them," Dodson said. "A homeless shelter would never be able to serve these people."
State lawmakers said they also have received reports from several people who were told they could always abandon their adult children at homeless shelters.
Rep. Suzanne Crouch, R-Evansville, said she found it "deplorable that people are being told to go to a homeless shelter."
Leaders of several agencies serving homeless people across Indiana could not be reached for comment after business hours Wednesday.
Some parents said homeless shelters have also been suggested — or threatened — as an option by private care providers.
Daunna Minnich of Bloomington said Indiana Department of Education funding for residential treatment for her 18-year-old daughter, Sabrina, is due to run out Sunday. She said officials at Damar Services Inc. of Indianapolis told her during a meeting that unless she took Sabrina home with her, the agency would drop the teen off at a homeless shelter.
Sabrina, who's bipolar and has anxiety attacks, has attempted suicide, run away during home visits and threatened her older sister, Minnich said. Bringing Sabrina home isn't a viable option, but the two group home placements BDDS offered weren't appropriate, she said.
"I don't want to see the state of Indiana hasten her demise by putting her in a one-size-fits-all solution that will drive her to desperate acts," Minnich said.
Jim Dalton, Damar's chief operating officer, said he could not comment directly on any specific case but his nonprofit would never leave a client at a homeless shelter — even though it is caring for some for free after they got too old for school-funded services and haven't yet been granted Medicaid waivers.
"We're talking about youth that absolutely require services, and no one is willing to fund them anymore," Dalton said.
View Original Article HERE
If You Want To Board An Airplane In America You Now Have Two Options: Let Airport Security Gawk At Your Exposed Body Or Let Airport Security Feel You Up
theendoftheamericandream.com
In America today, we have become so spooked by "terror threats" that now we will submit to just about anything in the name of security. At this point, we are allowing ourselves to be treated as little more than cattle. Procedures that would once be considered an affront to human dignity are now accepted as "the new normal". If you want to get on an airplane in America today, you must either go through one of the incredibly intrusive full body scanners that are going into all U.S. airports and let airport security gawk at your exposed body, or you must allow airport security to feel you up using the new "enhanced pat-down" techniques they are being instructed to employ. As you will see below, these new pat-down procedures are incredibly intrusive. If anyone tried to touch us like that out on the street they would be put in prison. But this is the new America where all of us must give up all of our privacy and all of our dignity just so that everyone can feel a little bit safer.
Up until this week, many Americans were not that concerned about the new full body security scanners going into airports across the nation because they still had the alternative of opting for a minimally intrusive pat-down. But now that has all changed. It turns out that too many Americans were opting for the pat-down, so now the TSA is rolling out their new "enhanced pat-down" procedures.
Previously, airport security officials used the backs of their hands to pat down passengers, but now they are being required to use the fronts of their hands. This includes directly touching some body parts that would just receive only a quick brush over with the back of the hand before.
A recent story by ABC News featured an expert explaining what these changes will mean for a female passenger....
"You go down the body and up to the breast portion," said Charles Slepian of the Foreseeable Risk Analysis Center. "If it's a female passenger, you're going to see if there's anything in the bra."
These new procedures are so highly intrusive that even those who work for the mainstream media are starting to seriously complain.
For example, CNN employee Rosemary Fitzpatrick was absolutely horrified when she was recently patted-down by airport security. According to her, the airport security official ran her hands around her breasts, over her stomach, buttocks and her inner thighs, and even touched her most private areas. The following is how Fitzpatrick described how she felt about the experience to CNN....
"As an experienced traveler for work who was in tears for most of the search process, I have never experienced a more traumatic and invasive travel event!"
But if you want to get on a plane in America today, this is the kind of thing you are going to have to go through. Nobody is exempt.
For example, an airline pilot based in Memphis who recently refused both the enhanced pat-down and the full body scan was barred from flying.
Things are getting completely and totally ridiculous. The following is an ABC video news report about these new enhanced pat-downs....
Many Americans will avoid these enhanced pat-downs by going through the new full body security scanners that are going into all U.S. airports. In fact, millions of Americans will soon regard walking through these new scanners to be just as "normal" as going through metal detectors. But what many Americans will not realize is that they are being absolutely blasted by dangerous levels of radiation and that these scanners create "photo-realistic" pictures of the exposed bodies of the people who pass through them.
These scanners even reveal intimate medical details such as colostomy bags and mastectomy scars.
Do you really want gawking security guards to have the exposed images of your wife and children permanently embedded into their memories as they walk through these scanners?
I apologize for being so graphic, but it is important for everyone to know exactly what is at stake here.
According to a BBC report, this kind of thing is already going on. Security workers are mostly young adults, and when they see exposed bodies they are going to be tempted to stare.
Not only that, but do you really want millions of pregnant women to have their babies absolutely showered with high levels of radiation as they pass through these machines?
In addition, it has come out that these new full body scanners have the capability to store and transmit images. You never know, one day a picture of you might end up on the Internet.
What is at stake in all of this is our very way of life. When we allow threats, whether "real" or "imaginary", to alter our lives so much that we are willing to give up all dignity and all privacy, then we have lost. In a previous article entitled "The Open Society Is Dying" I commented on this creeping loss of our freedoms and what it means for our future....
Once upon a time, the United States was a place where you felt like you had almost unlimited freedom. You could get in your car and travel from coast to coast without anyone hassling you. You could do any type of work you wanted - or even not work at all if that is what suited you. You could say whatever you wanted to say and associate with whoever you wanted to associate with. You could write mail without fearing that the government would read it and you could make phone calls without fearing that the government was listening in. It was a place where freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion and freedom of movement were respected and protected. But over the past couple of decades (and especially since 9/11), things have been fundamentally changing in America. The American Dream used to be about liberty and freedom, but now it seems to be all about giving up our liberty and freedom for safety and security. Today, tens of millions of frightened Americans are cheering as the U.S. government implements Big Brother security measures that are so extreme that they would have made even Stalin, Hitler and Mao cringe. But it is not just in America where the open society is dying. It is literally happening all over the globe. In a world where real and imagined terrorism is perceived to be the greatest threat, governments are increasingly feeling the need to watch, track, trace and control everyone and everything.
The America that we all used to know and love is dying. The sad truth is that America is no longer the home of the free. The mainstream media tells us that security is preferable to freedom and we believe them.
Yes, there are always going to be very serious dangers out there in the world, but if we constantly cower before these dangers we will forget what it is to really live.
Privacy and freedom are not easy to get back once they have been totally stripped away. It is absolutely imperative that we all remember that.
View Article With Links HERE
In America today, we have become so spooked by "terror threats" that now we will submit to just about anything in the name of security. At this point, we are allowing ourselves to be treated as little more than cattle. Procedures that would once be considered an affront to human dignity are now accepted as "the new normal". If you want to get on an airplane in America today, you must either go through one of the incredibly intrusive full body scanners that are going into all U.S. airports and let airport security gawk at your exposed body, or you must allow airport security to feel you up using the new "enhanced pat-down" techniques they are being instructed to employ. As you will see below, these new pat-down procedures are incredibly intrusive. If anyone tried to touch us like that out on the street they would be put in prison. But this is the new America where all of us must give up all of our privacy and all of our dignity just so that everyone can feel a little bit safer.
Up until this week, many Americans were not that concerned about the new full body security scanners going into airports across the nation because they still had the alternative of opting for a minimally intrusive pat-down. But now that has all changed. It turns out that too many Americans were opting for the pat-down, so now the TSA is rolling out their new "enhanced pat-down" procedures.
Previously, airport security officials used the backs of their hands to pat down passengers, but now they are being required to use the fronts of their hands. This includes directly touching some body parts that would just receive only a quick brush over with the back of the hand before.
A recent story by ABC News featured an expert explaining what these changes will mean for a female passenger....
"You go down the body and up to the breast portion," said Charles Slepian of the Foreseeable Risk Analysis Center. "If it's a female passenger, you're going to see if there's anything in the bra."
These new procedures are so highly intrusive that even those who work for the mainstream media are starting to seriously complain.
For example, CNN employee Rosemary Fitzpatrick was absolutely horrified when she was recently patted-down by airport security. According to her, the airport security official ran her hands around her breasts, over her stomach, buttocks and her inner thighs, and even touched her most private areas. The following is how Fitzpatrick described how she felt about the experience to CNN....
"As an experienced traveler for work who was in tears for most of the search process, I have never experienced a more traumatic and invasive travel event!"
But if you want to get on a plane in America today, this is the kind of thing you are going to have to go through. Nobody is exempt.
For example, an airline pilot based in Memphis who recently refused both the enhanced pat-down and the full body scan was barred from flying.
Things are getting completely and totally ridiculous. The following is an ABC video news report about these new enhanced pat-downs....
Many Americans will avoid these enhanced pat-downs by going through the new full body security scanners that are going into all U.S. airports. In fact, millions of Americans will soon regard walking through these new scanners to be just as "normal" as going through metal detectors. But what many Americans will not realize is that they are being absolutely blasted by dangerous levels of radiation and that these scanners create "photo-realistic" pictures of the exposed bodies of the people who pass through them.
These scanners even reveal intimate medical details such as colostomy bags and mastectomy scars.
Do you really want gawking security guards to have the exposed images of your wife and children permanently embedded into their memories as they walk through these scanners?
I apologize for being so graphic, but it is important for everyone to know exactly what is at stake here.
According to a BBC report, this kind of thing is already going on. Security workers are mostly young adults, and when they see exposed bodies they are going to be tempted to stare.
Not only that, but do you really want millions of pregnant women to have their babies absolutely showered with high levels of radiation as they pass through these machines?
In addition, it has come out that these new full body scanners have the capability to store and transmit images. You never know, one day a picture of you might end up on the Internet.
What is at stake in all of this is our very way of life. When we allow threats, whether "real" or "imaginary", to alter our lives so much that we are willing to give up all dignity and all privacy, then we have lost. In a previous article entitled "The Open Society Is Dying" I commented on this creeping loss of our freedoms and what it means for our future....
Once upon a time, the United States was a place where you felt like you had almost unlimited freedom. You could get in your car and travel from coast to coast without anyone hassling you. You could do any type of work you wanted - or even not work at all if that is what suited you. You could say whatever you wanted to say and associate with whoever you wanted to associate with. You could write mail without fearing that the government would read it and you could make phone calls without fearing that the government was listening in. It was a place where freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion and freedom of movement were respected and protected. But over the past couple of decades (and especially since 9/11), things have been fundamentally changing in America. The American Dream used to be about liberty and freedom, but now it seems to be all about giving up our liberty and freedom for safety and security. Today, tens of millions of frightened Americans are cheering as the U.S. government implements Big Brother security measures that are so extreme that they would have made even Stalin, Hitler and Mao cringe. But it is not just in America where the open society is dying. It is literally happening all over the globe. In a world where real and imagined terrorism is perceived to be the greatest threat, governments are increasingly feeling the need to watch, track, trace and control everyone and everything.
The America that we all used to know and love is dying. The sad truth is that America is no longer the home of the free. The mainstream media tells us that security is preferable to freedom and we believe them.
Yes, there are always going to be very serious dangers out there in the world, but if we constantly cower before these dangers we will forget what it is to really live.
Privacy and freedom are not easy to get back once they have been totally stripped away. It is absolutely imperative that we all remember that.
View Article With Links HERE
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