REFORM SOCIAL SERVICES
IN ALBANY COUNTY

A weak resolution aimed at curbing welfare
fraud has been introduced in the Albany
County Legislature by a Republican
Member from the Town of Colonie.

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/6-1M-scam-case-drives-call-for-reform-in-Albany-1400475.php

 

This scam is just the tip of the iceberg

and, yet, accounts for nearly a third of

the 18 million dollar county budget

deficit, according to a source cited

in the Times Union story.

 

Nothing less than a comprehensive

assessment and reform of social services

spending  in Albany County will do.

Social services, medicaid and jails comprise
the major spending elements of the Albany
County budget.

All three are interrelated, reflecting the
growth of a dependent population, largely
concentrated in the cities of Albany, Cohoes
and Watervliet.

This growing dependant population can
not pay for the services that it requires.

This means rising property taxes to pay
for schools,  libraries, fire, EMT, and
police services and more. An aging
population of homeowners, living on
fixed incomes is forced to pay the freight.

The Section 8 housing program is
destroying city neighborhoods, eroding
city  property tax bases and diminishing
the residential integrity , and quality of
life, in ,once nice, neighborhoods.

The continued growth of a dependent
population is not sustainable.

 County social services spending and
related state and federal programs
like SSI (Crazy Money), The Section
8 Housing Program,  teen age pregnancy
and foster care programs reward
behaviors that are contributing to the
rapid increase of  a dependent population
and increases untold opportunities for
fraud and abuses of the social services
system.

Albany County must conduct a
comprehensive assessment of all  forms
of social services spending and assistance
this year, followed by specific legislative
actions and reforms next year.

                                          Joe Sullivan

SPENDING BINGE



President Obama and the Democratically
controlled Congress are spending the Nation
into oblivion.



New York's Democratically controlled state
government has done the same.



Read:



http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/paul-ryan-newsmax-democrats/2010/06/24/id/363018





Solution? Re-elect Democratic incumbents
to Congress, the Assembly and State Senate?



Think carefully when, and , if, you vote in
the September 14 party primaries and
November 2 General Election.



Vote to restore Constitutional government
in America and New York State.



Vote as if your future, and the futures of
your loved ones, depend on how you vote.



They do!



Joe Sullivan

WELFARE SPENDING
UNSUSTAINABLE

Confronting the Unsustainable Growth of Welfare Entitlements: Principles of Reform and the Next StepsPublished on June 24, 2010 by Kiki Bradley and Robert Rector

Abstract: The growth of welfare spending is unsustainable and will drive the United States into bankruptcy if allowed to continue. President Barack Obama’s fiscal year 2011 budget request would increase total welfare spending to $953 billion—a 42 percent increase over welfare spending in FY 2008, the last full year of the Bush Administration. To bring welfare spending under control, Congress should reduce welfare spending to pre-recession levels after the recession ends and then limit future growth to the rate of inflation. Congress should also restore work requirements in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and apply them to other federal welfare programs.

Read full report from Heritage Foundation:

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2010/06/confronting%20the%20unsustainable%20growth%20of%20welfare%20entitlements%20principles%20of%20reform%20and%20the%20next%20steps


Albany County is facing an estimated 35 Million
dollar budget shortfall. County officials warn
that a 50 percent property tax hike might be
necessary to address this problem.

A better alternative would be for the County
of Albany to trim welfare spending. Albany
has a reputation as being a welfare place to
be.

In the City of Albany only about 1/3rd of
housing is owner-occupied, largely by an
aging population on fixed incomes. These
homeowners pay the property taxes that
support city government services and city
schools.

The Section 8 housing program is destroying
one city neighborhood after another.

Most of the city school population comes
from homes that pay no property taxes
to support those schools. Schools have
become expensive daycare centers . After
school programs are being expanded and
schools have become feeding stations.

Students spend more time in school, at
a higher cost to property taxpayers, and
learn less. The high school drop out rate
exceeds 50 percent. Disruptive students
diminish the learning environment for
those students who value education and
desire to learn.

The dysfunctional Albany school system
is a major factor spurring flight of nuclear
families, with children, to the suburbs.

Albany is not only losing population, it
is losing the people who pay property taxes
to sustain city services and city schools.

This can not continue!

Joe Sullivan