'Care'less charity By ISABEL VINCENT and MELISSA KLEIN Last Updated: 3:36 AM, December 26, 2010 Posted: 12:08 AM, December 26, 2010
State Sen. Eric Adams funneled $30,000 in taxpayer money to a nonprofit he founded, 100 Blacks Who Care, but doesn't know how, or if, the money was spent.
The Brooklyn group, which got $15,000 in 2008, didn't record the money, as required on its federal tax returns, or document any expenses.
"Once the money is turned over to an organization, we, as elected officials, can't get involved in how they use it. I don't know how it's used," Adams told The Post last week.
Major religions, as well as Founding Fathers, supported aid for poor
Reading the Gazette letters over the past several days has been a special delight. In the generous spirit of the holiday season, writers Michael Foster, Cynthia Zielaskowski, Mary Ann Bruno, and Arnold Seiken extolled the tradition of giving succor to the poor. Three of the writers rightly underlined that Jesus’ preaching about charitable giving came to be cherished in Christianity. The fourth writer rightly discerned in the U.S. Constitution a modernist legal basis for continuing to live out that tradition. The Founding Fathers who framed a Constitution for the new American republic in 1787 were deeply imbued with the ancients’ injunction to meliorate the plight of society’s poor. They married that precept to the finest teachings of the 18th century enlightenment in which they themselves were participants. At their inception, the three great monotheistic religions addressed the issue of the poor and society’s obligation to help lift their spirit and increase their lot. Chronologically, first there was Judaism, which commanded its adherents to heed the principle of tzedakah [charity], to give aid to the poor. Next there was Jesus, who preached in the spirit of tzedakah, establishing a great legacy for Christianity. Finally, there was the Koranic principle of zakah, one of the five pillars of Islam: It commanded the faithful to never cease aiding the poor. The words tzedakah and zakah have a common root in the family of Semitic languages, which includes, among others, the Hebrew and Aramaic of Judaism and Christianity and the Arabic of Islam. Thus, the three great monotheistic religions evidenced a profound unity around the core value of aiding the poor. Among America’s literati in the late 18th century were the Founding Fathers. They could not have been unaware of that ancient unity and unaffected by it when, centuries later, they took up the task of Constitution making.
I think it was an assumption that human beings were/are esentially good....hence no government involvement and each person would take their personal part and help as they could.....no "love legislating"......FISHING POLES NOT FISH
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Helping them get out of poverty rather than keeping them enslaved to it would be a good change. Democrap liberals feel differently.
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
Gotta get something off my chest I have a cousin who is in his late 40's, been a drug addict and alcoholic for years. He is on SSI and welfare. All of his bills are paid, rent, heat, he gets food stamps. He and his partner have been kicked out of so many apartments due to fighting and wrecking things, but welfare helps them move. He has been arrested numerous times, stealing beer, threatening lives........ Right now he is on probation. I did talk to his public defender to ask that they put him in a long term rehab but the court must order that and they don't.
He is on so many prescription meds, he doctor shops, and he sells certain meds that WE pay for on the street.
He was stealing from my aunt for years, I didn't know this until after she died last year. He told me that he would rather steal from her than a stranger because she would forgive him. May my dear sweet aunt RIP : (
He sold everything my aunt bought for him, computer, TV etc.
His partner is now going to get welfare also, he is also awaiting SSI. They do not work, just do their drugs and drink.
Some people really do need assistance at times. But my cousin has been on welfare etc for most of his life, and that is an abuse.
You would think medicaid would see all the presciptions they are paying for for him, many which are NOT supposed to be prescribed together due to bad reactions, but he gets his high off of them along with the other bums that "visit" his apartment.
His former doctor had him on the highest dose of a benzo, when heroin addicts are not to be prescibed this certain benzo. I called the Center the dr works out of and let them know I was on to them and they stopped prescribing it, but now he has a new counselor through probation.
There are many people who do the same thing as you pointed out rpforpres and people wonder why health-care is so expensive and why welfare is so out of control. People need to be taken off welfare after a period of time and I for one think that anyone who collects a welfare check should have to pass a drug test periodically in order to be eligible to collect.
Failure to thrive is exactly that.....and so is survival of the fittest.......so when we feed/drug/house those with failure to thrive they cease to have the survival instincts to live......how is that our problem?....they are going to do what they are going to do and yet we continue to fluff their pillows....
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
rpf.....your cousin is not an isolated case. There are many! But I guess the question is..........what does a community do with this section of their population? Does schenectady county reduce their welfare benefits so they can move elsewhere? Do they incarcerate them? What?
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Failure to thrive is exactly that.....and so is survival of the fittest.......so when we feed/drug/house those with failure to thrive they cease to have the survival instincts to live......how is that our problem?....they are going to do what they are going to do and yet we continue to fluff their pillows....
You are right it is not our problem but those we elect make it our problem when they campaign on government hand outs. America has generations who do not know anything else other than they feel entitled to others money. Some of the best proof of this was seen during the presidential elections, people really believed they wouldn't have to work any more or not have to pay their bills if Obama was elected.
One report states 1 in 6 Americans receive some form of government assistance, America can't sustain that forever without something giving. If taxes and prices keep going up that will just further push people away from trying to make it on their own. It makes me sick how me and my family barely make it through a week on what we can afford on groceries only to see the person in front of us with 2 shopping carts full to the brim pay with food stamps. The temptation to get assistance is there and that is why the problem is continuing to spread.
What should be discussed here is how to fix this problem of government assistance. Dropping assistance overnight would be a mess but a transition would work. 1st thing should be anyone who is able bodied must do some form of community service to get welfare. Since the tax payers are paying for it we should receive some service in return. Make them clean the parks and do the grimy work, that alone might give them enough motivation to say "the hell with this it isn't worth it".
"In the beginning of a change, the Patriot is a scarce man, brave, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a Patriot."
At the local level, there are two tasks that I have advocated in the past. First, there should be a thorough and formal audit of the Schenectady County Department of Social Services performed by the NYS Comptrollers Office to identify waste, fraud, and abuse and to cite areas for increased efficiency. When I campaigned for elected office two years ago, I spoke with several individuals who work at the county DSS. They told me that there are many known cases of fraud but that no one is willing to pursue. I also heard that there are many areas in which the work could be made more efficient. Those recipients of public assistance who are found guilty of submitting fraudulent claims should be prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law (including repayment of the funds received fraudulently). The DSS employees with who I spoke were willing to meet with me, if elected, to begin the process.
Secondly, a task force needs to be created to identify those programs that are not achieving their intended results. Public revenues should be invested only where the desired results of aiding those with need are being achieved. The task force should include elected officials, not-for-profit agencies, neighborhood groups, religious leaders, law enforcement, business leaders, and two groups from the general public; one comprised of those who are currently receiving some form of assitance and the other consisting of taxpayers. The underlying premise of this meeting must be that there is no more money available, that taxes cannot be increased. The objective should be to change the system so that it prevents those without need from obtaining it but furnishes the proper type and level of assistance to those with verifiable need to help them achieve self-sufficiency and (hopefully) prosperity. Findings and recommendations would then be discussed with our representatives in state government.
This requires leadership, conviction and compassion for others. It is hard work. IMHO, most of those presently in county elected office are there only for self-promotion and enrichment of themselves and their friends. Having a seat on the County Legislature is about more than attending monthly meetings, ribbon cuttings and media coverage. It is about serving those who elected you by doing what is permissible within the confines of the law and the rightful role of government.
Mr. Magid in his LTE is incorrect regarding the position of our founding fathers. While they espoused assisting those in need, our founding fathers believed that this aid should come from family, friends, churches, and the local community. They stated that the responsibility for providing for the "welfare" of the people rests with the state and local government, and is not the role of the federal government. The Founders defined limited powers of the federal government and, as stated in the 10th Amendment, all other powers are reserved for the state and local governments and the people. They believed that those closest to the people can best assess, address and administer to their needs.
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