Bob Carrillo::VA Press Release
From R-KIDS of MN and GPF
Press Release
Minnesota DHS Undermines War Effort While Wellstone Hides Safely In Political Foxhole
A large % of the 52,000 military reservists and an undisclosed number of national guard personnel called up recently to active duty status will be subjected to financial domestic combat upon returning to civilian life from post overseas military combat.
Possible warrants for their arrest and jail time, loss of occupational licenses, loss of drivers licenses, seizure of personal and financial property, and long term financial disaster could be the outcome for thousands of military combat personnel returning home in a year or two, after risking life and limb defending our nation [minimum / 1 year --- more likely / 2 years]
Why??? Based upon massive so-called “child support arrearages” created by an embarrassing mishandling of the political “hot potato” of simply a justifiable downward modification of child support court orders to reflect actual duty pay (i.e. $30,000 to $32,000) as opposed to civilian income of perhaps $50,000 to $80,000. Result: $5,000 to $20,000 arrearage and irreversible debt created from thin air, and not actual pay.
No system is in place as an “ounce of prevention vs. a pound of cure” public policy appropriate for these people we depend upon so critically during this time of war. No forms to be filled out prior to shipping out. No courage on the part of those who could prevent this potential disaster for so many, and have the moral obligation to do so. The lights are on, but no one in authority appears to be home.
Please read the attached … This is a major SNAFU
Press Release/ 11/27/01
On November 14, 2001 a round table conference was held @ the Mpls./St. Paul VA Medical Center/ 4:00 PM. In attendance were representatives and combat veterans; men and women, from WWII, Korea, Viet Nam, Desert Storm, and battles in between. Also in attendance were keynote speakers and US Senators Paul Wellstone, Tom Daschle, and Mark Dayton, as part of a one stop “pump-priming” political barnstorming tour relative to a serious military veteran group hug.
Veteran service officers from around the state, VA Hospital administration personnel, representatives from VFW, American Legion Posts, VVA, and others were decked out for some lighthearted storytelling and serious sessions of Q&A about veteran’s medical issues and concerns. They were met by very little substance, political fluff, and canned rhetoric by our aforementioned national leaders.
Afterwards the local press corps gathered down the hall in a prearranged room for the on camera press conference which had little to do with actual veterans affairs, and an exchange which eventually meandered toward questions about a new baseball stadium for Minnesota. Senator Daschle shared fond and heartfelt recollections of his childhood visits from South Dakota to Minnesota to watch the Twins play ball on a sun-drenched day, and a baseball diamond carved out of a cornfield somewhere between OZ and Edina. The entire affair was a living, breathing testament to the old adage that “there are no atheists in foxholes”…or even a shortage of “grandstanding political opportunists in baseball dugouts”.
Determined to ask at least one relevant question of this austere political tag-team, I approached our own Senator Wellstone with what turned out to be an apparent neutron bomb of questions which was to be avoided at all cost by the less than fleet footed “left of left” third term political candidate.
The Question
There are roughly 52,000 military reservists who have recently been called into active duty, and the thousands of national guard personnel now “standing post” at airports throughout the country and points of entry throughout the United States. Given the demographic makeup of this personnel, approximately 20% to 30% of these individuals are now paying “court ordered child support” based upon their civilian income of perhaps $50,000 / $60,000 / or $80,000 or more of now [phantom income], versus their actual $30,000 to $32,000 active duty military pay for the next year at a minimum, and perhaps two years as a practical reality.
According to various local Command personnel with each of the branches of our local military units, without appropriate preventive measures put in place now, through the Minnesota Department of Human Services/ Child Support Division or… County Child Support Collection Offices, or…the United States Department of Health and Human Services, or…US Department of Defense (DOD), or… The Judge Advocate Generals Office (JAG), these combat veterans will be returning to financial and legal disaster. Preferably, prior to shipping out and being placed in harms way to risk life and limb for God and country, this group of returning military personnel need serious attention to this matter now, or could face financial ruin upon returning home. Assuming they survive overseas combat on some sand dune or mountainside, these hero’s could return to economic domestic combat, massive so-called “child support arrearages” to the tune of $15,000 to $ 20,000 or more all based upon income they never received. The resulting consequence could be loss of occupational licenses, and driver’s licenses, seizure of personal or financial property, and the probability of arrest and jail time due to “contempt of court for non-support”, all based upon which never existed. All of the above is absolutely verifiable and is a “catch 22” for the thousands of active duty service presently in harms way. (See attached information memorandum/ OCSE-IM-01-09 / Date: 11/13/01// Assistant Secretary of the Administration for Children and Families/ Washington, DC : Subject: Mobilization of Reservists for Military Operation Enduring Freedom—[child support] Review and Adjustment) //// References: 45 CFR 308.8, OCSE Information Memorandum (IM) 96-02
In terms of practical solution all roads point to the US Congress, and therefore right into the faces of Senators Wellstone, Daschle, Dayton and company. The question presented to Mr. Wellstone directly on the afternoon of November 14, 2001 was… “What is Congress doing about this problem, and what is your office in particular doing to address this issue with dispatch, given the immediate need to do so for so many of our bravest and finest, defending our country at this time???
The Answer
Senator Wellstone: “Well, The Soldiers and Sailors Act protects them, doesn’t it?”
My Response: “No Senator… The Soldiers and Sailors Act only guarantees the reservists only their jobs back upon their return after active duty service, in addition to some potential relief applicable to interest on certain loans”. “In fact”, I said, “National Guard personnel do not enjoy even this modicum of job protection, compounded by the phantom income based, so-called child support arrearage time bomb, upon their return to civilian life”.
Senator Wellstone: “I thought you were going to ask me something else”.
My Response: “No Sir…I would like to have the answer to my question please.
Senator Wellstone: “I really have to go…I don’t know about that…we’re very late”…As he and the other of our “national leaders” hopped into their limousines and sped off.
Surrounded quickly by concerned veterans service organization personnel who remained behind to discuss the issue in greater depth, it became apparent to me that the only real hope for an appropriate resolution to this matter would be due to a grass roots effort by veteran activist organizations throughout the state, and perhaps the country as a whole.
Media Grandstanding and the Political Stump
Recent press coverage of Senator Wellstone’s woefully and intentionally incomplete focus upon the various core issues I raised in the aforementioned press conference is a clear indication that we are in desperate need of much more integrous and stronger leadership representing all of the people of Minnesota, and in this country as well. Political expediency as the clear foundation for the response, Mr. Wellstone has obviously made a conscious decision to completely ignore the seriousness of the core issues raised. For obvious political reasons, Mr. Wellstone has chosen to address only the employment guarantee issue relating to the Soldiers and Sailors Act protection, and expansion of this protection for National Guard personnel. Deliberately and with disgrace to his oath of office, Senator Wellstone is turning his back on the much larger core problem negatively affecting so many nationally, and Minnesota’s military personnel, and while at the same time so many patriotic and brave Americans demonstrate their willingness to put their lives on the line for the preservation of this nation. The headline ought to read...
Minnesota DHS Undermines War Effort While Wellstone Hides Safely in Political Foxhole.
From the local newspapers to local television broadcasting, the bait cleverly attached to the liberal fishing pole by the Wellstone campaign gurus was cast, the hook was set, and they ran with the fluff like lemmings on a tare. On November 26, 2001 the Wellstone campaign was successful in the creation of political posturing, empty and intentionally evasive sound bites, and photo opportunities throughout Minnesota with regard to the Wellstone “lets play it safe” version of the “military personnel issue”. Curiously he has remained unchallenged by people in local mainstream media who should be in the business to ask more questions in order to serve Minnesotans effectively, and who certainly ought to know better.
The Ultimate Result
For those active duty combat and support personnel serving our nation in harms way in Afghanistan and surrounding areas of conflict, they will come back to the disgraceful and tragic reality as outlined above. In addition to which, federal law does prohibit the retroactive modification of child support orders regardless of how justified the complaint might be once that uniform is replaced with civilian garb, at which point, no one will care. The economic domino effect which will follow is all too familiar to those who truly understand the present Minnesota Child / Lifestyle Support System and its interconnected agencies and underpinnings.
Understanding the infrastructure relating to the Minnesota “Child/Lifestyle Support System” is critical toward addressing this problem. The Minnesota Child Support and Collection System, and the interconnected nature of the MFIP program(s) [formerly AFDC/ now: Minnesota Family Investment Program] are the “crown jewels” of, and inextricably connected key components of the vast network and an (annual) billion dollar Minnesota’s Welfare delivery system, this problem obviously compounded by similar systems in the other 49 states. Stated more directly, the multi-layered and extremely rich network of the Minnesota Welfare Delivery System, and [child support] Lifestyle Support Business is the ultimate stumbling block relating to any change or alteration of this system, regardless of how rational, logical or moral is to be made on behalf of thousands of military personnel. For the Wellstones of the world these political, economic, and moral hurdles are apparently insurmountable when weighed against the backdrop of their own personal or political considerations and objectives. As a matter of fact, it is also the Wellstones of the world who created the systems as described in the text presented above.
The bottom line and particularly sad reality, given the state of our world since September 11, 2001, is that from the perspective of far too many currently in positions of power, the thousands of combat veterans who survive this war and eventually coming home to face this problem are obviously acceptable casualties to the Senator Wellstones, Dayton’s, Daschle’s and their ilk, as per their clear need to protect their social and public policy at all cost. Said differently, we appear to be willing to sacrifice the future of combat veterans who risk their lives to protect us all, for the sake of preserving the “sacred cow” of the so-called “child support system” as an integral component of our welfare delivery system, and the elaborate welfare business developed over the last twenty-five years. This is simply…
…Moral Indifference
My bottom line: If these combat veterans are good enough to represent our country and protect us in this time of war, they are certainly important enough for us to protect them by whatever means necessary while they are away… and when they return home again.
