Stimulus money is beginning to arrive in Prince William County thanks to the efforts of Congressman Gerald Connolly. So far, $1.1 million dollars has been secured for the Greater Prince William Community Health center. $19.1 million has also been designated for Prince William County Schools. $530,000 in additional law enforcement funding is also slated to come our way.
Supervisor Frank Principi elaborated that the center treated 4,000 patients in 2008, 75% of whom were uninsured. This year, if trends continue, the clinic will see 7,000 patients. Principi is executive director of the clinic.
Officials in Prince William County have a long laundry list of needs drawn up to help offset the economic crunch which threatens to cripple the county. County legislative affairs director Dana Fenton indicated that his office has a list of priorities totaling $371 million. This wish list contains requests for money for law enforcement, roads, and neighborhoods impacted by foreclosure issues, to name a few projects that will go unfunded without stimulus money.
Chairman of the BOS, Corey Steward, has dismissed the incoming money according to the Washington Post:
But Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey A. Stewart (R-At Large) said he wasn’t impressed, dismissing the stimulus money allocated so far as “a drop in the bucket.” Residents will be shortchanged if Connolly, who entered Congress two months ago, doesn’t secure at least $50 million for county schools, he said.
“Our county is the ninth wealthiest in the country and pays a lot of income tax,” Stewart said. “This is going to be a test as to how much pull Gerry Connolly has inside his own party.”
Stewart didn’t spare Connolly criticism for the allocation to Principi’s health center, either. “It looks suspicious that his friend and ally has been given $1.1 million in federal money to help pay his salary,” he said.
But Connolly said Stewart “can’t have it both ways.” His office provided a copy of a Feb. 9 letter from Stewart thanking Connolly for working to relieve traffic congestion through stimulus funding.
“I think Mr. Stewart’s time would be better spent writing my Republican colleagues and urging them to vote for a stimulus bill he now wants me to bring home the bacon from,” Connolly said. The former Fairfax County chairman was the only Prince William representative to vote for the stimulus, as Reps. Frank R. Wolf, Robert J. Wittman and every other House Republican opposed it.
A “drop in the bucket?” Is Stewart serious? Stewart has always shown himself to be the quintessential opportunistic politician but this is a bit much. That cool $19.1 million to the schools will provide just under 300 new teachers, just as an example of what Stewart thinks is a drop in the bucket is.
He also implies that Frank Principi is profiting from the federal money. This is the first time I have ever heard of obtaining what is the equivalent of grant money being a bad thing. Perhaps Corey Stewart should consider that every penny that comes into the country from the state of federal level pays HIS salary. Wasn’t he looking for grant money this time last year? Let’s see…something about dashboard cameras?
Prince William County needs to grab up every penny of federal stimulus money it possibly can. Corey Stewart needs to stop with the political shenanigans and just act like an adult without political motive every time a microphone is shoved in his face. He appears to be rude and ungrateful. Congressman Connolly needs to be thanked both in writing and in general conversation. He is dismissing this money much the same way he dismissed the millions he planned to spend on the Immigration Resolution.
Rick,
I chose to speak to one family. I felt they would understand, and it saved wasting the money for Neighborhood Services. I could see the house from mine. I explained to the family that we have laws against chickens living a neighborhood. I asked them if they saw anyone else with chickens? I told them chickens were dirty and belonged on a farm. Guess what, Ricky…they were gone witin HOURS. I didn’t need a translator believe or not.
Did you happen to see the story of the house fire near Lake Jackson, and a goat was rescued from the house?!! They weren’t immigrants either. I’ve not seen with my own two eyes any livestock moving into the houses around here. Here’s the article in case you missed it. Please, check out this headline!!
Dog killed in house fire; goat lives
http://www.insidenova.com/isn/news/crime/article/one_hurt_in_house_fire/30766/
Do you have the benefit of an HOA? We don’t here in WG. If I had an HOA (more than likely do over by Mullen) that’s where I’d been voicing my concerns for starters. HOA’s have a lot more power in some ways than the county, due to the Covenants & Restrictions. The unfortunate thing is not all HOA’s exercise their full rights.
I have an HOA; they are useless in matters of noise or parking. They are as corrupt as most of the government and business institutions around here. Perhaps they actually would do something if someone was raising chickens around here.
I spoke to my worst neighbors back in 2005 and while some were interested in peaceful coexistence, some were outright hostile.
If I remember correctly, the neighbor who was tired of seeing the chickens run through his yard as well as his neighbor’s, whose pics were featured on bvbl.net, did try to speak to his neighbors.
Communication and good will may or may not solve the problems of chickens and roosters but what of the idea that PWC was turning into a ghetto where people crammed into houses, paid less property tax per capita, and consumed much more services per capita, while the original taxpayer base fled the area? It’ll take more than friendly conversation to keep PWC a suburb, a place where Americans want to live.
Bentley, you got schooled by Mr. Gray, which proves that Steve Martin was right, “Never criticize things you don’t know about.”
Corey Stewart is the embarrassment that keeps on embarrassing himself, and this county.
And Slow, how dumb are you? Corey Stewart made up his own idiotic complaint about the stimulus money. It was the opposite of the one you already memorized from Fox News. I’m proud of you for memorizing it, but the newspaper quoted Corey Stewart as saying there WASN’T ENOUGH MONEY in the stimulus we got in Prince William County. Did you read the article?
There may be caveats to accepting the money. For instance,there were provisions in one part of the Porkulous package that stipulated permanent changes to unemployment benefits that would require states to foot the bill for part-time workers long after the pork feast. Read the fine print and be careful what you want our local government to sign up for.
PW Conservative: I link your stance. You stand by your values and will never sell out.
Re: Typo__I like your stance.
M-H, I’m glad that Rick Bentley came here to regurgitate Greg Greg and Gospel Corey’s non-informational libel against Supervisor Principi. Most of the intelligent and free-thinking residents of the county don’t even look at the Letiecq Circus, so we assumed that any adult could see right through the hateful and stupid tactic of politics via lying, and wouldn’t have given Stewart’s shameless and baseless attack on Principi a second thought.
This set the stage for John Gray to come on here and completely decimate the misinformation clowns from the Letiecq Circus with actual information.
This is a very important service. And I thank you and everyone who contributes to this blog for providing it.
Including Mr. Bentley although I’m sure it was not his intent! (=
I guess I just imagined the chicken coops in Principi’s district
And the nightmare in my own neighborhood
And the anger residents felt
I guess it wasn’t real and we can all sit and sing songs together and be happy to pay Frank Principi his commission for exerting political influence
Building a better community through payola and politically correct sloganeering
This is what you get with Corey Stewart. Yesterday’s unprovoked political publicity campaign included an unfair and unfounded swipe at Supervisor Principi, and a crafty if transparent dig at Gerry Connolly.
Is it lost on anyone reading this that BOTH of these men are potential opponents for Corey Stewart in future elections?
Rancor over the stimulus money is national news. How could our attention-addicted Chairman resist the opportunity to leap into the spotlight? As anyone who even casually follows our county government will attest, Corey Stewart is utterly obsessed with electioneering, and utterly bored with governing. That’s why he’s a roaring success when it comes to the former, and an abysmal failure when it comes to the the latter. Leading Prince William County is giving him a headache, so why not reward himself by starting with the electioneering a few years early?
In 2007, when Corey Stewart believed the “illegal immigration” scare tactic was an unbeatable election strategy. His not-so-secret plan was to run for Tom Davis’ seat in Congress. But, when his ship sank with the triumph of John McCain in the Republican primary, Corey Stewart watched helplessly as the higher office he so coveted was snatched up by his arch-rival Gerry Connolly. This burned him for reasons too numerous to list, but one of them was the fact that Connolly had seen through his cynical and disingenuous “Fighting Illegal Immigration” campaign slogan, and said so publicly to Stewart’s repeated and ignominious chagrin … causing the majority of voters in the 11th Congressional District to write Corey Stewart off forever.
So, instead of destroying Prince William County and then bolting off for Capitol Hill, Corey Stewart was left holding the politically humiliating bag of his own failed leadership.
And, blocked in his ambition to run for Lieutenant Governor as well, Corey Stewart found himself deprived of that which he most craves, POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS, until 2011, when he will be forced to settle for a fight for the Chairmanship of our Board of County Supervisors for another four years.
However, a challenge in the Republican primary … a real possibility … could well foil his plans of basking in the glow of a highly publicized electoral contest. (This insecurity, I believe, was the motivation for his woefully transparent e-mail 10 days ago regarding the advertised tax rate. And, oh, how I enjoyed seeing him outmaneuvered on Tuesday last, but that is another matter.)
Now, if extremists in the Republican party once again stonewall the primary nomination process in 2011, Corey Stewart will probably get his electioneering fix, and, an up-and-coming challenger from the Democratic side stands poised to take advantage of the party’s most glaring weakness (ideological myopia that favors political extremism over effective leadership). Frank Principi … who in his brief tenure has shown both courage and restraint in helping his Republican colleagues on the Board minimize the damage of extremist Republicans like Stewart and John Stirrup … is the last man on earth Corey Stewart wants to lose to.
And THIS insecurity … need I say? … is his motivation for the inanely slanderous insinuation Stewart aimed yesterday at Principi, only to see it so deftly tossed aside by John Gray above.
This is politics at its worst, and no one should be surprised. It’s what you get when you elect a showman instead of a leader as County Chairman.
The political career of Frank Principi is still a judgment call for me. I live in his District. When he was running for the seat, I e-mailed him several questions regarding his positions on a variety of topics – as I did with his opponent. After a few weeks of not getting a response, I called his office and he did return my call.
One of the questions I had for him was his position on the resolution that had been passed in October of 2007. His reply to me was that he supported the resolution “as it was written” – his exact words. While that was not the only standard I used to decide my vote, his sudden change bothered me, not because I did or did not support it, but the fact that he held a complete oppposite view just prior to the election and changed it immediately after being elected. So before we annoint him (or anyone else) as the 2nd coming to the BOCS, I would want to see Mr. Principi’s actions over the full term. Fool me once…
The political reality of this is that neither the Republicans nor the Democrats are acknowledging which “individual” people will get the BULK of this economic stimulus money.
It can only help about 4.5 million Americans, and most of them will be in the lowest 10% ecomomic income levels. How does that create internationally competitive jobs?
I pointed out previously that Chris, D. Bornstein and Conservadore are all right to point out the economic impact that blending of “prejudices”, race and bigotry with the “legal” and “illegal” issues of immigration and the detrimental effects of such will have an enourmous impact on our economy and on who gets the bulk of the stimulus money.
It seems when these concepts are blended (legal and illegal), people think of them as the same issue, and take either one side exclusively or the other, with NO middle ground thinking at all. You are either for “illegal” immigrants or you are against them however, and there is no middle ground.
The truth is you can be able to NOT be prejudiced or preferrential toward “legal” citizens, legal visa holders and “legal” immigrants, and be VERY JUSTIFIED in demanding law enforcement toward “illegal” immigrants and be VERY AWARE of the NEGATIVE IMPACT on economics, crime, social services, and LAW that “illegal” immigration into the US over the past 25-30 years has caused.
The root cause of ALL of these BAD things that happen are a result of “illegal” immigration and are not a result of “LEGAL” immigration. The bailout money will help the upper 1% of elite get richer than the 28% richer it has already become, and the rest of the “job safety net” and infrastructure infusions will help only the segments of the population involved with low income labor that make typically $20,000-30,000 per year.
To believe this stimulus money will help the upper middle income population create “new” industries and new competive jobs is what I define as “STUPID”.
It will actually just increase the number of labor jobs available to “illegal” immigrants (all 12 million of them), by providing “life support” to only 4.5 million people (the number who have lost jobs in the last 2 months). This does not help us with long term growth, and DOES NOT create conditions for “legal” and “illegal” immigrants to be held up to the SAME LAW and to create ONLY LEGAL JOBS.
If a person is “illegal” then the economic bailout and stimulus “RECIPIENT” problem is far more complex, far more devastating to our economic recovery and far more long term detrimental in its eventual poverty prolonging effects. The worst effect of “illegal” immigration is overcrowding, over-population, a decrease in median family income, document fraud, mortgage fraud, an increase in poverty, illegal driving, illegal tax evasion and a general attitude of ignoring and evading community law and law enforcement. The ecomomic stimulus helps NONE of this to get any better after two years of low income life support to the lower 10% income population.
Justifying such “helping of the “illegal” immigrant community” by money infusion targeted at specific HUD 8a ethnoic groups activity as “wealth building” and the ignorance of linking “ecomonic growth” as “a common trait” of all immigrant communities in the past historically is not true” and then falsely defending such flawed logic is stupid. Even in the great depression economic recovery did not happen because of “illegal” immigrant job incresases. It happened because “upper” middle income “legal” Americans were able to take “new deal” money and create new Industries with it by employing the middle income population, and the “statistically” more innovative capable middle income population in America made NEW COMPETITIVE WORLD-WIDE products. Giving out social benefit money, just because you think stopping “illegal” immigration is prejudicial, or an action of bigotry or you see SOME people actually act like bigots by directing their anger at specific ethnicities that represent the greatest number of “illegal people” is not going to improve the ecomomy. Nor will it decrease foreclosures by people who have already overestimated their income and already committed mortgage document fraud and other “illegal” fraud activities but just have not been caught yet. They will commit fraud with this stimulus money too, because they lack the ethics to do anything else but lie, cheat and steal their way into the US. People’s inability to STOP this is ALSO why I get frustrated at people’s apparent stupidity of belief and social concepts.
Because they themselves can only think of this issue in terms of ethnicity (ON BOTH ENDS OF THE DEBATE ALL THE TIME AS EVIDENCED BY MANY OF THE ABOVE DISCUSSIONS), They cannot and will not take the proper actions to enforce the law. These people will remain MYOPIC to the truth of the eventual destruction to the community standard of living, continued loss of jobs in two years, and the decline in ethics and safety of the neighboorhood that exists in all neighborhoods where “illegal” immigrants are present in overwhelming numbers as a result of lack of law enforcement to prevent it.
I consider such “behaviors and beliefs” (not the persons themselves) self-inflicted with insane stupidity and naive ignorance of the eventual detrimental outcome that comes from supporting “illegal” immigration rather than stopping it. The most devasting result of supporting it will be future globally devastating mortgage debaucles or worse economic consequences (like stagnant/declining GDP/GNP)caused by continuing 25 years of “illegal” immigration and illegal over-population and the resulting continuing of WORLD-wide economic collapse of a global economy and continued loss of 4.5 million jobs per year. I think that is just one of several devastating problems with allowing “illegal” immigrants to remain in the US (all 12 million of them), because they cannot and will not be able as “illegal” immigrants to create the necessary “legal” jobs to increase our GDP/GNP using innovative science and internationally competitive small business advanced world product production. They will only undermine US labor rates, and increase social services and benefits dependency that lowers GDP/GNP.
The sad thing is the stimulus packages of the TARP and ARRA acts (see recovery.com) WILL NOT preserve or increase jobs that create “new wealth” and new competitive products, but will only benefit SOME 4.5 MILLION poor PEOPLE (MOST OF WHICH ARE ALREADY part of 12 MILLION illegals), AND WILL NOT HELP sustain ECONOMIC GROWTH, BUT ONLY PROVIDE TEMPORARY RELIEF TO TARGETED and “Preferred & PRIVILIGED” MINORITIES IDENTIFIED BY HUD 8A, that will economically vaporize in two years. Like Venezuela, who’s socialites and elites squandered oil profits we will squander economic bailouts that benefit only the upper 1% and the lowest 10% poverty levels using ethnicially targeted 8A programs. That WILL NOT provide innovation money to the “smartest” of Americans usually in the upper middle income levels to create “new industries”, but will only provide “life support” to 12 million “illegal” immigrants who make up the bulk of the nation’s impoverished and who WILL NOT create new high tech industries. This is a sad reality that “illegal” immigration support has created for the entire nation by allowing 45 million people into our borders in the lowest income levels over the past 25 years, because SOME people (specifically people of bigoted ethnicity preferences) or individual ethnicity bigoted family members felt sorry for only their ethnicity, former countrymen, or same race.
We will suffer terribly for this lack of wisdom and pervasiveness of ignorance.
Lucky Duck, have you never changed your mind on things after a certain point, especially after finding out more information. I think several of our supervisors saw some things that were not quite apparent when this resolution thing first got started. One of those things that sounds great on paper and then when you look at it closer and whirl it around in your mind a bit, perhaps it isn’t so great?
Frank Principi also lacked the opportunity to sit in with the good old boys and bat this thing around. (and 2 ladies) He hadn’t been elected yet.
I don’t think anyone here is annointing him, I think we are just defending him from untruths and character assassination that are founded on bullcrap and lies, served up by Mr. Bentley.
The man just helped bring over a million dollars into the county to take care of sick people. Many of these sick people would otherwise be bottlenecking our ERs and increasing the cost of our health care premiums because thats what happens when uninsured people need medical care. I say thank you to him. I don’t want to beatify him.
The problem with helth care costs is the RISING problems and costs caused by supporting people (like 12 million “illegal” immigrants) with public heealth care facilities and emergcy rooms for FREE, and supporting for FREE those who have no insurance, and forcing everyone who is “legal” and who has insurance to cover them too by paying higher costs for the same or less medical care. By forcing everyone to cover everyone who has no insureance the COST of insurance and healthcare goes up.
You STOP this by denying free health care to “illegal” people by DEPORTING THEM, and by requiring everyone who is “legal” to carry safety net health programs, just like car collision safety nets (an uninsured motorists fee paid when you get a driver’s license). You do this most competitively, by having a two-tiered system, private for those who make more income and who can afford more expensive “ELECTIVE procedures” to save their own life, and a basic life care safety net of reasonable cost and reasonable life expectancy (that may not save everyone with the most expensive technology because the nation cannot afforded the most costly procedures and technology enough to cover 306 million people), then you have to have a mix of private and public health care (offered by the government as a safety net) AND YOU MUST REMOVE INSURANCE COMPANY INVOLVEMENT AND INSURANCE COMPLETELY. ONLY THE PATIENT, THE FAMILY AND
THE DOCTOR SHOULD DETERMINE WHO LIVES AND WHO DIES BECAUSE THE PROCEDURE IS TOO EXPENSIVE FOR THE FAMILY TO AFFORD. THAT IS A REALITY IN EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.
I thought EVERYONE would be pleased with less crowds in the ER. Well, I guess that’s true until ther are more alternatives for the uninsured. However, not really heard the ones that were the loudest about over crowded ER’s say thank you for the money to help relieve our local ER’s. It really makes me think…there are simply some that will NEVER be happy.
I don’t care about either Frank or Stewart, I only care that the nation does the right thing about health care for all (paid by ALL legally) and we stop “illegal” immigration from destroying our entire economy.
MH, I am happy with the money that was obtained, we need it. But to go as far as WHWN and place Principi as the next challenger for Chair is a bit of a stretch (“Frank Principi … who in his brief tenure has shown both courage and restraint in helping his Republican colleagues on the Board minimize the damage of extremist Republicans like Stewart and John Stirrup … is the last man on earth Corey Stewart wants to lose to”).
Mr. Prinicipi was well aware of what the resolution contained when he was running for office, we discussed it deeply enough that it was apparent he knew all the points. And yes, I can respect someone who re-evaluates and changes their mind. But I just need for him to demonstrate that was his reasoning as opposed to being a wolf in sheeps clothing and saying anything to get elected. I am not yet convinced.
Lucky Duck, I’m just reading the tea leaves in Corey Stewart’s beer, which he is drinking too often, and crying into at the same time. I’d much rather see a Republican defeat Stewart in the primary.
Micheal,
I agree with you that one is either for or against illegal immigration. It’s no secrect I’m against illegal immigration. With that being said I do feel there is some common ground with regards to reform. I’m speaking with regards to the approximate 70% of citizens that don’t subscribe to the rigid party lines of either the Dems. or the Repubs.
It’s a crying shame that the two parties only have 15% each that follow the “creed” of their party. Leaving the the reamining 70% of citizens being somewhere in the middle. That 70% is the clear majority, but that 30% is loud. The two parties collide like a tsunami, and drown the vast majority out. This really needs to turn around. The percentages listed above are my guesstimate.
Lucky,
I believe all viable candidates in 2007 for the BOS had to support the resolution in fear of not being re-elected or getting elected in the case of Principi. I agree re-elvauation is one thing, but to sing a much different tune is quite another. I would certainly have the same type of reservations you’ve expressed above if lived in Prinipi’s district.
corr: I would certainly have the same type of reservations you’ve expressed above if *I* lived in Prinipi’s district.
WHWN, my BOCS representative, Supervisor Nohe, would be a good Republican challenger for Corey Stewart in my opinion. He answers his emails and returns phone calls. He appears to consider the ramifications of many issues. Though I’m a liberal Independent, I’m not upset with having Nohe as my representative on the Board. The more qualified challengers in the race, the merrier. Corey Stewart has never given me the impression that he has PWC uppermost in his mind – only the election/promotion of Corey Stewart.
I agree Censored, the more qualified candidates, the better we’ll all be.
Chris, I’d rather see someone stand on principle and lose than sell it all out to win. I must admit, that was my first impression of Mr. Principi after his flip. I am not sure about Mr. Principi just yet. Like I wrote earlier, re-evaluation, yes, capitulation, no. Time will tell which action it was.
“I say thank you to him.”
He doesn’t need your thanks. There is already a direct flow of money from your pocket to his for the “service” he has provided. I still invite John Gray or anyone else in the know to tell us exactly how much.
Censored, I am with you on that, but it is early in the game to talk about particular candidates on the Republican side. To be fair to Principi, he hasn’t thrown his hat into the ring either.
Cory Stewart has been playing political games with his fellow Board members in the past two weeks, and now he has attacked Principi and Connolly. The post above was my analysis as to why.
I bring up Principi as a possible opponent for Stewart in 2011 for two reasons. (1) To expose the insecurity and paranoia behind Corey Stewart’s aggressive and slanderous attack and (2) to express my view as a Republican that there is danger in nominating extremists at conventions, rather than letting the voters choose which candidate has the best chance to win in the general. For instance, Tom Davis might have defeated Mark Warner for the U.S. Senate, but party insiders saw him as too much of a centrist, and an extremist was nominated instead. The result: a landslide.
I consider Corey Stewart an extremist, and, because of his own penchant for media exposure, he is one of the most notorious extremists in Virginia. With a political landscape that is shifting beneath our feet, it is my hope that the Virginia GOP will do away with the convention nominating process and instead leave the choice up to the voters.
You may well have identified the best candidate from either party. If the voters choose the Republican nominee for Chairman in 2011, the Republican nominee for BOCS Chairman would most likely be victorious.
We are still a Republican county. But not all Republicans are extremists, and if we were to nominate a polarizing figure like Corey Stewart in 2011, it would be just the opening the Democrats would need. I feel very strongly that a we need consensus-builder as Chairman instead of a media-crazed ideologue. And, party affiliation is less import.
Yes, Chris, the majority needs to speak, and MORE loudly about what really destroys our economy and our community. The extremist 30 percent of the right and left have left the country in shambles and will continue to do so if left unchallenged by the majority voice (middle income America). In the bottom line analysis I have done, economies are destroyed by people who cannot contribute to the community, cause GDP/GNP to decline, can’t live without requiring free support from the government, and who believe that all that matters is their right to evade the law when it benefits their specific ethnicity, because they only think about their own ethnicities AS A “PRIVILIGED CLASS”. It is time the majority stood up for the law, AND created a safe community with “no illegal people in it” with a financial system that does not tolerate corruption, or give ethnic privilege to ANY ethnicity and which arrests, deports and jails “illegal” people who pursue “illegal” behavior and “lawlessness” for personal gain. The economy collapsed because of fraud and corruption at all levels of the mortgage banking process, from the “illegals” and former “illegals” who have been here for 25 years, who secured fradulant loans, to the brokers who ethnically targeted preferred “ethnic classes” of HUD 8A social support money, to the mortgage insurers who submitted fraudulent insurance under-writing of AAA rated securities, knowing these “ethnicities” could not pay what they promised to pay because they were “sanctioned by class warfare” HIGH RISK LOANS, to the mortage CDs traders and bankers who leveraged thier assets to make un-realistic (and therefore speculative and often illegally engineered contract voodo) while pretending on the books (through creative shells and false credit security categories and CDs ratings) to report more capital than they actually had, and to reserve less capital than they really needed).
BAILING ALL OFF THESE PEOPLE OUT RATHER THAN HOLDING ALL OF THEM ACCOUNTABLE AND LETTING THEM FAIL in a FREE MARKET, is the crime of the CENTURY, WHILE the government is Preventing THE REST OF US UPPER MIDDLE INCOME people from CREATING NEW BUSINESSES and BANKS that will LEND to all (because we are new and have no debt) THAT ARE LEGAL and WITHOUT previous corruption and debt, because they (politicians who support illegal immigration) want to help only the upper 1% of the elite and the lower 10% of the most impoverished “illegal” population.
I believe that Frank Principi has an “illegal” conflict of interest (COI) in the Community Health Center that does provide FREE aid to the primarily lower 10% income level and the bulk of which are un-identified illegal” immigrant populations, funded at taxpayer expense, and does increase health care costs and insurance premiums to the rest of us (although he won’t admit that, or his salary, and stock benefit perks). and John Grey is naively defending him, because he is benefiting as well from the stimulus package.
Michael, this is not election season. A healthy skepticism is not only allowable, it is preferable.
Don’t let Greg and Corey rent space in your head. You can do better than that.
Rick, you’ve gone off the deep end here. Why cling to Corey Stewart’s position? Is he really that dear to you? This slander has has absolutely no merit beyond the cynical and insultingly base political hatchet job for which it was designed. Only fools were intended to believe it.
WHWN, I don’t let anyone rent my head, these are my own independent conclusions after studying the problem very widely and carefully as I can. I could care less about Corey or Greg’s comments, some of what they say is right, some is wrong, some of what people say and do here is right and some of it is wrong. I have been very clear in my position and I believe it is predominantly right.
They are both right to try to politically stop “illegal” immigration. They are wrong if they ever make it an ethnic class issue as are their opponents who make it an ethnic class issue also (like many who comment here), by protecting only their own ethnicity and asking for privilige to be treated differently under the law, and by framing the arguments for “illegal” immigration as benefits for specific classes of people.
“illegal” immigration is bad, especially for our economy in every metric I look at.
Legal immigration has no impact on our economy one way or the other, it simply employ’s people of talent, except when “diversity” quotas are used to hire ethnically targeted talent, then it is illegal and very harmful to the economy (by undermining and controlling the free market of labor) and by disadvantaging illegally all people who are not identified as “equally numerically balanced minority or majority classes). Numerical balancing of all types and concepts is illegal, diversity is fundamentally illegal becuase it is a racially numerical balancing scheme.
Financial corruption is at the heart of the latest economic collapse and global meltdown. Prove to me otherwise and I will then agree with you. My research into documentation of mortgage applications indicate that a significant number of them were targeted “ethnicities” of current illegal and formerly illegal new population first home-owner buyers (by a large percentage) and who learned about ethnically targeted HUD 8A minority target loans given out to families who were in “class protected” 8A categories, with ethnically backed, ethnically preferrential mortgage brokers and mortgage insurers, many of which were owned or operated by the same ethnicities and that knowingly falsified and allowed under-reported income to loan rations to be approved as acceptable risk loans or later as AAA rated mortgages Credit Default swapped (CDs) securities (which collapsed under the false rating). These mortgage brokers in colusion with the borrowers submitted fraudulent applications, without regard to the economic risk or their increased likelihood to default. The FBI is currently investigating these frauds. Prove this to me otherwise and I will agree with you. I seriously doubt you can find proof that the bulk of these defaulted loans were made to middle income, “legal” families who continue to pay their mortgages.
WHWN if Frank is a personal benefactor of funds brought to him in a business he has a personal interest in (makes money on) by a political relationship he also benefits from and is in a political relationship with, then he has an “illegal” COI that he must declare and get rid of by law, or eventually he will be investigated and possibly subjected to criminal penalty for “collusion and even racketeering”. There are many laws that are designed to prevent this form of political corruption. Most of them were started in the 1920’s and 1930’s to prevent mobs from benefiting from hiring their own into politics and making money off of it at the same time. It is my belief he is walking the line and fallen on the wrong side (I don’t care if it is not an election year).
I went to recovery.com. I looked at who gets those stimulus funds. I’m upper middle income. I want to start a new business and to hire new employees to grow new jobs in new technologies to benefit my community. I have notified many of this intent. Because of the HUD, health care, and 8A small business provisions that “set aside” these funds for specific targets, I cannot qualify for them.
Tell me how that is going to help create new competitive jobs by only helping specific income levels or special interest groups that will execute these priviliges illegally according to the Constitution and Supreme Court using HUD and 8A government policy? If I can’t get any of those funds as a regular citizen regardless of my “class” status, my only recourse is to later make a supreme court challenge as to why I am illegally excluded from using them as much as any American if the exclusion is not entirely by income level rather than “classes”?
To “Michael” re your post @16:37, #75 supra: Like Bentley, you imply and insinuate falsehoods. How can you possibly state “the CHC provides free services and to the primarily 10% lower income levels and the bulk of which are illegal immigrants”? I am wondering when you examined the detailed demographics we very diligently and carefully track, so as to dispell exactly the kind of CRAP you spew? Some FACTS for you to ponder: As of 1/31/09 38.76% of our patients were covered by commercial insurance companies, 23.26% by Champus/TriCare (thats retired military) and 11% by Anthem BC/BS. Thats 73% of our patients. Somehow you have inforamtion that most of those individuals are clearly in the 10% lowest income bracket, which means they make less then $16,000 a year. As a CPA with 33 years experience, thats just a wild guess on my part, you know better of course. And accordingly, based on those facts, I must now agree with your premise: all these payors are known havens for illegal immigrants. Oh, please know 9.3% were covered by MediCARE – thats senior citizens (another haven for illegals) and the remaining 17% by MediCAID – thats the poor folk without insurance – but certainly all illegals. You changed my mind there, pal! Way to go. Good work on your part. Your diligent detective work really showed me these retired military and senior citzens are in fact ILLEGALS! Another FACT to ponder: Patient Revenues, which means patients paying co-pays, are now routinely exceeding $30,000 per month. In Janaury, 2008, our net operating loss for that month was $ (90,834). In January, 2009, our net “income” (revenues over expense) was $ 31,334. And another point you are completely ignorant of: The Health Center is a 501(c)(3). That means it is a public charity, recognized as such by the IRS, just like Potomac and Pr.Wm Hospitals, United Way, The Red Cross, etc, etc, etc (Help Save Manassas didn’t bother to get IRS recognition until April of 2008. It was operated illegally since its “inception” and through 2007. How ironic is THAT!). We even file real tax returns (unlike HSM) and are audited by real CPA’s! And neither Frank Principi nor anyone else have “stock benefit perks”. That statement alone illustrates how pathetically ignorant you are of business operations. And your last sentence? Laughable. You can’t even read. My name is spelled G-R-A-Y, not E-Y. Finally, neither the CHC, Frank Principi nor I need “defending”, especially to the likes of you. We don’t need, want or seek your approval. I just want to publicly correct factless and baseless accusations. Somehow I don’t think you care anyway becuase you will say what you will, but I want everyone else who reads this thread to know the truth.
John S Gray CPA PC
John what percentage of your patients are “illegal” immigrants? Can you answer that, if you can I will believe your other figures.
I said “free aid” to the lower 10%, not the percentage of your clients that are covered by insurance. My issue with your discourse is you are evasive about the numbers of “illegals” that you give free care to funded by others, and that “others” is people like me that pay taxes and health care costs to make up for the people who get free care. Your attempt to dispute that concept that you DO SERVE ILLEGALS for free, and at taxpayers expense (my expense). (as a 501(3)(c) you get no public money right John?). Your tirade and personal character assult at me does not cover up the evasiveness of not answering the question truthfully.
Also, before you get so self-rightous, I specifically said that the bulk of the lower 10% of income in this country are “illegals” making less that “your estimate” 16,000 per year. My community and I are funding that economic burden if you take any government tax money at ALL.
This is why our health care costs are so high and out of control even though we spend more money than almost any other nation on the problem. We have to cover those who are not covered, plain and simple, even though you don’t think that is an issue we are justified in being angry about. You can talk all around the problem but you can’t honestly answer the direct question, how many “illegals” or percent of your patients are “illegal” immigrants?
Also I’m not impressed by your argument regarding the original criticism, it was a question about “illegals” getting free health care and how much that costs us, the people who pay higher health insurance premiums, to run community health centers like yours that take in FREE “illegal” immigrants for care (and yes I know the law requires it, but I as a citizen don’t want to pay higher health cares costs because of it, which I am by every metric on the street looking at the cost regarding health care. Just ask the president of the AMA, or anyone who attended Obama’s health care conference recently waht the primary heath care cost was from.) The INSURANCE COMPANIES and COSTS of FREE HEALTH CARE of the uncovered is what drives up insurance premiums and costs to the rest of us. Tirade that into submission if you still think I am lying.
Hey, Michael…
I’m “upper middle class” too if you want to review my financials. My husband and I started a business with…gasp…no funds from any kind of SBA or government affiliated anything. Stop looking for handouts and just start the business and take a risk if you want to create jobs and do some good in society. Thing is, I’m a woman…I probably would qualify for some start up business funding. Didn’t ask for it…just got busy and got the business going. Stop making excuses and just do it. What a pathetic excuse for not starting a business…there are no stimulus funds for me! Whine, whine, whine. Why don’t you let people who really need it have it?
Oh, and my “illegal” husband has insurance so stop perpetuating the notion that all “illegals” are uninsured. It’s a pile of poo.
John, thanks for providing more information. (rolling my eyes) I am just dumbfounded that this thread turned into one about immigration.
I am curious how anyone would know the status of anyone coming to the clinic? Is that part of routine exams?
Michael, sick people are sick people. In a civilized society we treat all who are ill. The idea that any medical facility would not treat another human being is repugnant to me.
All of you are adding to my comments concepts that I did not say. That is the problem with your responses, you need to read and understand what people say before you emotionally respond.
My comment AND FOCUS (not your focus however) is about the cost of the FREE health care given to “illegal” immigrants in clinics like the above and the impact of that practice on the health care costs and insurance premiums we all pay to cover people who are NOT covered, the BULK of which are “illegals” and the evasiveness to coverup and HIDE that fact with “diversion speak”. The number of FREE health care costs is high enough and the number of uninsured “illegals” is huge enough as to make the cost of health care and health care premiums much higher for the rest of us than it would be if 12 million “illegals” were not in this country “illegally”. Why do all of you keep trying to defend the concept that “illegals” are good for America? You even make self-rightous tirades to defend it without taking the time to closely read what I said is the ROOT problem you are all ignoring.
Class priviliges IS a problem in this country and it DOES economically hurt unfairly ANY human being (like myself) that does NOT BELONG to an 8A “protected class”. That concept is also “illegal” in this country according to the supreme court ruling regarding racial balancing quotas and other attempts to racially balance numbers and income levels by “CLASS” and by harming “individuals”. That is my point Twinad, you don’t have to extend it to your personal issue with it to disprove it, but you and others seem to always attempt to do so. As a woman you are a member of a protected class, I am not, you have an unfair illegal advantage that harms me as an individual and discrimminates against me as an individual. THAT is a FACT in 8A set-aside contracts.
Moonhowler I am not advocating for not treating human beings, I am advocating that it NOT BE FOR FREE and not be paid for by others in higher insurance premiums and higher health care costs that IT CAUSES. I am advocating that we DEPORT “illegals” who are not legal in our country and by doing so we will reduce the COST and economic impacts that have destroyed our economy as a result of 25 YEARS of “ILLEGAL” immigration, that was NOT LEGAL IMMIGRATION. Don’t twist what I said.
And what I’m saying is, as a member of a “protected” class, not everyone in a “protected” class feels they need to take advantage of any possible break available to them. How is it an unfair “illegal” advantage…as obviously it is not illegal? I am a woman; I did not seek a break because of that. Why do you feel you are entitled to a break? If you are financially able to start a business as an “upper middle class” person, why on earth would you want to seek a break? Why should you get one? Why shouldn’t the lower middle class white guy get the break instead of you? Doesn’t he need it more?
For all of his facts Moonhowler, John has still not answered the original question, original criticism, and the question of ROOT cause, what percentage of his patients are “illegal” immigrants getting FREE health care paid for by the rest of us with higher insurance premiums and higher health care costs? I could care less about the other numbers of “insured legal people”.
Twinad, I don’t care about whether you use the advantage or not, I only care about the fact that it is an “illegal” policy, that discrimminates.
The policy prevents me a Non-protected class member from competing is a fair and equitable free market, it discrimminates by race, ethnicity and GENDER.
It discrimminates against me, an individual, and gives you “an individual” an illegal unfair advantage solely based on your race, ethnicity and GENDER. I guess if its not coming out of Martin Luther Kings mouth, its NOT CLASS DISCRIMMINTION HUH….
Michael: With all due seriousness, why are you so vehement the CHC serves only illegals? What information do you think you have other than misinformed opinion? I just gave you truthful statistics on insured patients, which added up to 100% of the patients. Of course we have some uninsured patients. I am not dumb enough to think there aren’t a few illegals who gamed the system to get insurance coverage. But why are you so insistent that all patients are illegals or do you just want to think that? I think the latter and I won’t try to convince you otherwise. You’ve made up your mind. Illegals run “under the radar screen”. They don’t want to prove who they are. The “Free Clinic” doesn’t ask questions. We do. We have to. We have to comply with state insurance laws. We have to comply with federal Medicare/Medicaid law. Sometime this year we will become a “Federally Qualified Health Care” facility which requires strict compliance with federal and state laws in many areas. Uninsured patients at the CHC have to prove they are uninsured. We just don’t “accept” their word they are uninsured. Look at the statistics Michael. Most patients have major insurance carriers, many are retired military and senior citizens. These are people with illnesses who are in fact coming to the CHC instead of going to the emergency room BUT THEY HAVE TO PROVIDE PROOF OF THEIR “STATUS” VIA SOME SORT OF EMPLOYMENT OR GOVERNMENT RECORD. What part of that do you not understand or want NOT to understand? Contrary to Stewarts ignorant statements, the two County hospitals are greatly appreciative of the burden the CHC has taken off their emergency rooms. Insurance companies fully support CHC’s across the Country as they do reduce the cost of coverage. Insurance comapnies have given us grants. Our per patient costs are lower. we track that. If you are in the health care industry, then you know what I iwrite is true and correct. If you are not, then prove where your “statistics” come from other than your misinformed or rather UNinformed opinions. Add to the public debate with facts not allegations.
CHC stands for Community Health CENTER, not Health CLINIC. I don’t know if there is a difference semantically but for us, the word “Clinic” refers to the “Free Clinic” which serves a much different medical patient and purpose. The Health Center serves a far different market and medical patient.
M-H, sadly, EVERY-thing in this County is attached to immigration. It is all pervasive. If there is a problem, it is caused by “THEM”. Think you’re being denied something you think you are entitiled to? Blame THEM! Something bugging you at work? Blame THEM. Doesn’t matter who “THEM” are, they are responsible for your problems in life. As I tend to say: “Welcome to PWC. Set you clocks back 25 years”.
John S Gray CPA PC
John I am not vehement about anything. I said the CHC serves illegals. and that drives up health care costs, and the FACTS ARE THAT IF illegals were not in this country illegally, it would NOT impact the rest of us. It is not about your Community Health Care Center, it is about the COST of free health care you give out to illegals that is passed on to the rest of us that is the ROOT problem. I advocate it should not be FREE (they have money, and they usually have jobs, although they are ILLEGAL jobs) I am telling you and others that the number of “illegals” who enter your clinic and exit without coverage, or don’t pay for the care they receive, costs the rest of us because you as a clinic still have to pay for it, and THAT COST gets passed on to the rest of us as higher insurance premiums (which many of us cannot afford), and higher health care costs that will bankrupt many of us if we have a serious illness (possibly causing many of us to lose our homes.) WE DO NOT GET FREE HEALTH CARE. If you are illegal in this country you get free health care if you refuse to pay, refuse to obtain insurance, or cannot afford to pay. BECAUSE people made a decision to enter our country illegally and caused this condition the rest of us have to pay for, we are the AGGREIVED PARTY…hurt by this economic policy and “illegal unlawful” practice.
My issue is about following the law, and removing “illegals”.
My issue with you is you are refusing to answer the very direct question that you know is the root issue in this thread, What percentage of your patients are “illegals” who get free health care?
You are naive if you believe the “uninsured in your clinic are “just a few illegals”. That is a fact buried in your coveted highly accurate data, that has NO category for “illegal” and therefore in your mind only does not exist.
It is NOT about legal immigration so don’t use the term “immigration”. It is a citizen issue about the economic cost (like the mortgage meltdown, and other highly destructive effects) cause by “illegal” immigration.
I am stating that their is a root cause and their is a ROOT solution. Stop “illegal” immigration, deport illegal immigrants and follow the law. I have no issue with legal people, which is what you are selectively NOT HEARING and making assumptions about my personal character that are not true or founded in fact in any of my comments, they are delusions and distortions in your own emotional commentary and beliefs about “immigration” that you can’t or won’t provide factual data for.
What percentage of illegals get FREE health care in your community health center? It’s a simple question, that reveals a LOT about our health care costs to the rest of us.
My concern is with equity and EQUALITY for “individuals”, not FREE BENEFITS for classes, races, ethnicities, genders and “illegal” immigrants that the rest of us are not entitled to and are discrimminated against by everyone’s ethnic sense of “entitlement by CLASS” and “illegality status”. Such concepts are illegal and highly unfair to everyone else not a member of those priviliged “classes”.
Again READ MY LIPS John, I did not say all your patients are illegals. That is your concept, not mine. I asked you how many “illegals” get free health care at your community health center? You refuse to answer that question, and prefer instead to character assassinate me (poor form in a debate).
Michael, you do recall that up until the past 30 year or so, and that is being very generous, women really didn’t have a level playing field. Right here in Prince William County there are private clubs where women are not permitted to go. I often feel that men who complain so much along those lines overlook the fact that they owned the whole enchallada for so many years(decades, centuries.
John, I am afraid you are right. US and THEM does seem to prevail. Anything that goes wrong has to be a result of illegal immigration. Probably including the weather.