Eye Recommend --- Christian-Based Tampa Homeless Program Forces Destitute to Work for Free

Tom Atchison, CEO of New Beginnings

CHRISTIAN-BASED TAMPA HOMELESS PROGRAM FORCES DESTITUTE TO WORK FOR FREE, by Tom Boggioni --
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/11/christian-based-tampa-homeless-program-forces-destitute-to-work-for-free/

The investigation is not over, but it looks like another Christian-in-name-only has been found. (Any underlines are mine.)

"Christian-based Florida homeless program catering to recovering alcoholics and drug addicts has been accused of providing work crews to businesses and local events, then keeping their pay without them ever seeing it in exchange for room and board.

In an investigation conducted by the Tampa Bay Times, New Beginnings CEO Tom Atchison is accused of exploiting residents staying in his residences by farming them out as unpaid labor, including working concessions at Tampa Bay Rays, Lighting, and Bucs games, the Daytona 500 and the Florida State Fair.

Workers who put in a day of work are unaware of how much they are being paid for their labor since their paychecks go straight to Atchison and the shelter.

Atchison...claims to have a doctorate in theology he earned from a now defunct online school...

...For residents who are able to pay, New Beginnings charges $150 a week, or $600 a month, which covers rent and three meals per day.

The program's CEO calls the labor "work therapy," but advocates for the homeless and labor lawyers say it is exploitative, calling it "indentured servitude."...

...Former employees and residents of New Beginnings (say Atchison) is more concerned with the financial future of his program than with providing genuine help...

...Labor lawyers say companies may compensate employees with shelter and food but need to document hours worked and the value of the housing and meals provided in order to ensure workers earn at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.

According to Atchison, New Beginnings does not keep track of hours worked...

...According to former residents and staff, Atchison also takes residents' Social Security checks and food stamps, even if they amount to more than residents owe in program costs.

'He would say, "They're drug addicts, they're alcoholics, they're just going to spend it on cigarettes and booze,", said (former resident) Hoffman. "The only way they get any of it is if they complain hard enough."

Former employee Victoria Denton said, 'If a check comes in, it doesn't matter if it's your name...it's going in his (Atchison's) name.'"

In what book of the Bible did Mr. Atchison's "now defunct on-line school" find the verse that said exploiting the desperate is a virtue?

Quick Note: John Boehner Raises the Bar on GOP Hypocrisy

I read an article in this morning's New York Times about the latest jobs report and how the improving economy offers better "prospects of bipartisan cooperation" in Congress next year.  

"Republicans and Democrats can seize on easing fiscal pressures to give both sides some of their wish lists."

Enter Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) who, when asked to comment on the latest positive jobs report, offered this: "Millions still remain out of work, and middle-class families across the country, including my home state of Ohio, are struggling to get by on wages that haven't kept pace with rising costs."

And nothing shows you care like the GOP's refusal to raise the minimum wage, does it Mr. Speaker?

Just Spending Today Thinking About Congress.

Quick Note: GOP Writing the Official Handbook of Bad Governing

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is trying to rally his troops to pass a spending bill before next Thursday in order to avoid another government shutdown. 

In a re-run of the last shutdown, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is rallying his sycophants to vote against the spending bill.  This week, he even went so far as to travel across the Capitol building to cajole his House GOP buddies into voting against the plan hammered out between more moderate House Republicans and party leadership.

John Boehner has admitted that, in order for the plan to pass the House, he will need the support of some House Democrats.  So, the plan is not a sure fire winner even without Mr. Cruz' interference.

Put together the "iffiness" of the Boehner plan and the fact that Ted Cruz wasn't simply chased back to his own chamber with his tail between his legs, and you have further evidence of John Boehner's inability to lead.  With that in mind, I found a comment made by a man who calls himself a close friend of the Speaker and quoted in the New York Times a few days ago interesting.   Representative Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma): "(John Boehner) never wanted to just be Speaker.  He's wanted to be a historically significant Speaker."

Well, if being the weakest Speaker in modern memory, the man who presided over the most unproductive and ineffective House in U.S. history, can be considered "significant," then he has fulfilled his dream.

While the Ted Cruz vs. Speaker-in-Name-Only Boehner drama is playing out in the House, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) is pushing the Senate to pass a series of short-term spending bills, "perhaps month to month." This would give Republicans the opportunity to wax grandiloquent on their anti-Obama sentiments every 30 days, thus ensuring that government gridlock is rewarded a permanent starring role in Washington while at the same time granting GOP members multiple opportunities to parade their anti-Obama creds to the little people back home. A real win-win for the GOP and a raspberry to America.

If this is how Republicans are planning to demonstrate their ability to "govern responsibly," we are looking two years of ugly in the face.

No Money for Boehner in Immigration Reform?

Think about this:
On June 27, 2013, the Senate passed a bi-partisan immigration bill and sent it to the House. Despite evidence that it would pass, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has refused--for 523 days--to allow the House to vote on the bill.

In 2009 and 2010, Speaker Boehner purchased stock in Chevron, Devon and ConocoPhillips, three of the main companies currently working in Canada's oil/tar sands.  Prior to 2008, Mr. Boehner had zero investments in these companies.

In 2011, Mr. Boehner and the GOP began really pushing the Keystone XL pipeline.  Despite environmentalists objections, despite objections from the states that would be impacted by the pipeline, despite objections from Democrats, Mr. Boehner never hesitated to allow the House to vote on Keystone, the completion of which is sure to provide a financial bonanza for stockholders like the Speaker John Boehner.

----> RANDOM THOUGHT: If only there was money to be made in immigration reform.

Tea Party Signs - The Joke's On Them

Installment #10 of:

Dictionaries are a Liberal Plot

(and Grammar is Not My Cup of Tea Either)

Because no one in America should grow up un-fromed.

December 1 - Monday Quote

I came across this quote from 1945 when Clement Atlee was challenging Winston Churchill for Prime Minister of England, (Atlee won in a landslide); and I thought, he could be talking about John Boehner, the weakest Speaker in modern memory.

monday quote:   An empty taxi arrived at 10 Downing Street, and when the door opened, Atlee got out. (Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of England during World War II,  1874-1965)