Miriam,
Yes and No.
We both now have decent social security and retirement pensions. But
remember, Cathy is 17 years my junior, so initially we received only
my SSDI and State Pension...and the contract dollars.
If I recall 25 years back, we began working in 5 counties. That meant
driving many miles each month, covering all of the Olympic Peninsula
and Kitsap county.
We traded in our 1994 Ford 150, in 2002, and bought the Ford Sport
Trak. We now use it as our farm truck, having retired it in 2017 with
over 304 thousand miles on it.
We would have gone with another Ford Sport Trak, but they stopped
making them around 2015. The closest to it was the Toyota Tacoma.
I'm not as comfortable, even though it is very nearly the same space
as the Sports Trak. These are four doors with full size rear seats,
and a short truck bed with a Tonto top, a solid locking bed cover.
But back to the money. The state offered "contracts" to qualified
Rehab Teachers. I put "contracts" in parenthesis because my idea of a
contract is a document that has been agreed upon by both parties. In
the case of our Independent Living contracts, it was offered, and if
you had questions or concerns you were told, "It's the best we can
offer. Take it or leave it." Every contract I go over the content and
write "suggestions" that should be included in future
contracts...which never ever happens.
But the money is one lump sum. Initially I believe we were offered
$50 thousand, but with the addition of Grays Harbor county it ended up
at $60 thousand. Everything comes out of that money. Travel expenses
and vehicle repairs, office and business expenses and taxes, and any
medical and vacation funds. The Program set an amount that we could
spend on each client. Initially it was $300 per client. Later the
funding dropped and the client equipment money was lowered to $200 per
client. But this was not reimbursement money. It came out of the
same pot. Even tougher for those just starting up a business, we
spent our money up front and sent in our billing. Our first billing
went in on the last day of January 1995, and by the end of February,
as we were preparing our second billing, we still had not been paid.
Since I had been assistant director for the agency, I called up the
director and told her that I felt it was demeaning to expect rehab
teachers to put in the hours and the service, and not receive prompt
reimbursement.
Our check came 2 days later.
It was fine once we built up a slush fund. But initially we were
living on my SSDI and state pension, and whatever was left from our
contract, minus expenses.
We had never believed we would make much from the business. The plan
had always been that our business, along with our SS and retirement
pensions would allow us to live in the Olympic foothills and to build
an off-grid home. And in that sense, it has been a success. But
despite working under contracts for 25 years, I am dead opposed to it.
The contractor is always in control of the terms and conditions of the
contract.
It sounds great, "Be your own boss!" but just check in with other
folks doing business under contract. Uber and Lift drivers are
finding that they are only told that they are self employed. They are
under contract that spells out their every minute and movement.
Logging companies out here in the Northwest used to own their
equipment, like the huge logging trucks. But they lept at the idea of
contracting with "independent" drivers, and sold their expensive
trucks to the independent drivers. Cab companies are doing the same
thing. Drivers are beginning to realize that they are slaves to their
vehicles.
There's a reason workers organize unions.
Oh yes, I almost forgot one other thing. When we first began our
service, we sent all our information to our Spokane Office, where the
Program records were kept. We did none of the entries, and the agency
provided all forms and office supplies. Over the years the burden and
the costs have been shifted to the rehab teachers. The half time
office staff has grown to need two full time office employees...who do
no reviews of our work, fill out no forms, provide only Independent
Living brochures, and none of the many forms that we must download and
fill out in hard copy, and keep hard copies of all client records for
7 years.
But our last two full time contracts, each being two years in length,
covered only three counties, but paid the same as the contracts for
the five counties. In that sense it was a pay raise.
Anyway, before I go off on another tangent, I'd better sign off.
Carl Jarvis
On 1/7/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I assume that you are reimbursed for your business expenses and that the
ones for which you're not reimursed are tax deductible. I also assume that
you have a pension and social security benefits. Just clarifying so people
don't think that you're poverty stricken.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Tuesday, January 07, 2020 2:02 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: TV Pundits Praising Suleimani Assassination
Neglect to Disclose Ties to Arms Industry
This failure to declare sources of funding reminds me that I've never
declared my source. I now will do so, just to enable any critics to check
out whether or not my contractual agreements have led to biases in how I
respond to the American Empire's behavior.
Since 1995, my wife and I have contracted with the Washington State
Department of Services for the Blind...and later, with both the Department
and with the University of Washington. Our first 24 years were full time
contracts. Our last full time contract was in the annual amount of $60
thousand, out of which we paid all expenses. Our last contract is a part
time agreement for $25 thousand each year.
And, just to make the point, you might want to compare those figures to the
contracts let out to some of the people contracting in the
Industrial/Military Field.
I'd say that your tax dollars bought you more benefits from our services
than for the very expensive contracts let out by the Arms Industry.
Carl Jarvis
On 1/7/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
TV Pundits Praising Suleimani Assassination Neglect to Disclose Ties
to Arms Industry By Lee Fang, The Intercept
07 January 20
Since Friday, a loud chorus of voices has appeared in the media to
celebrate President Donald Trump's decision to assassinate Iranian
Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, a move that has sparked renewed tension in
the Middle East, a new deployment of U.S. forces, and predictions of
increased military spending.
Many of the pundits who appeared on national television or were quoted
in major publications to praise the president's actions have
undisclosed ties to the defense industry - the only domestic industry
that stands to gain from increased violence.
Jack Keane, a retired Army general, appeared on Fox News and NPR over
the last three days to praise Trump for the strike on Suleimani. "The
president acted responsibly," Keane said during an appearance with Fox
News host Lou Dobbs. "It should have happened a long time ago." Keane
has worked for military companies, including General Dynamics and
Blackwater, and currently serves as a partner at SCP Partners, a
venture capital firm that invests in defense contractors.
Van Hipp, chair of the lobbying firm American Defense International,
which represents more than two dozen defense contractors - including
Raytheon, Palantir, and General Atomics, the manufacturer of the MQ-9
Reaper drone used in the Suleimani slaying - published an opinion
column on Fox News's website praising Trump and suggesting increased
pressure on the Iranian government.
David Petraeus, the retired general who once commanded U.S. forces in
Iraq and Afghanistan, was quoted by multiple outlets in support of the
slaying.
"This is a very significant effort to reestablish deterrence," he told
Foreign Policy. On Public Radio International, Petraeus declared that
"this particular episode has been fairly impressively handled," and
praised the Trump administration for moving "to shore up our defenses
and our offensive capabilities." He also appeared on CBS's "Face the
Nation."
Petraeus, notably, works for Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Co., the
investment firm with holdings in several major defense contractors
that is reportedly moving to "build up its defense portfolio at a time
when military budgets are skyrocketing."
John Negroponte, a former State Department official who now serves as
vice chair of the defense and aerospace lobbying firm McLarty
Associates, appeared on Fox News to dispute the claim by Sen. Bernie
Sanders, I-Vt., that the strike represented a threat of war. "I think
it's an act of self-defense," countered Negroponte.
Jeh Johnson, former Homeland Security secretary in the Obama
administration, appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" to offer measured
support, countering progressive critics who have claimed that the
strikes lacked legal and congressional authorization.
"General Suleimani," Johnson said, "was a lawful military objective
and the president, under his constitutional authority as commander in
chief, had ample domestic legal authority to take him out without an
additional congressional authorization."
Johnson joined the board of director of Lockheed Martin, one of the
largest defense contractors in the world, in 2017. The part-time
position pays him
$310,000 a year in cash and stock awards, according to disclosures.
None of the defense contracting ties were disclosed on air for Keane,
Hipp, Negroponte, Petraeus, or Johnson.
"It is imperative that viewers are aware when their news commentary is
coming from someone with a financial incentive tied to the topic
they're commenting on, especially when so many lives hang in the
balance," says Gin Armstrong, a senior researcher with the Public
Accountability Initiative, which tracks conflicts of interest. "The
key question is why media outlets allow anyone with a financial
interest in war - regardless of their previous military or government
experience - to have access to their platforms at a critical time like
this."
In the immediate aftermath of the assassination, stock prices for
major defense contractors soared on the expectation of further
conflict. The Trump administration has won more than $130 billion in
additional Pentagon spending, but analysts expect a renewed push for
even greater levels of weapons spending.
One key area for military growth in government defense spending could
be the Overseas Contingency Operations fund, a special account used to
fund wartime operations. The OCO had been largely frozen in place and
expected to flatline in the 2021 budget. The escalation in response to
the Suleimani killing could change that, according to the Cowen Group,
an investment bank that specializes in servicing defense contractors.
The OCO account "was likely on a lower trajectory over the next
several years. We doubt that's the case now," the Cowen Group's Roman
Schweizer wrote in a memo to investors on Friday. "The U.S. will
likely increase deployments of forces to the region in coming weeks
and could make additional strikes depending on Iran's response."
It's not the first time defense contractor pundits have failed to
disclose their vested stake in the military policies they advocate.
The Boston Globe reported on how defense contractors routinely retain
former high-level officers to serve as lobbyists, even though few
bother registering or complying with ethics disclosures. Keane, for
instance, was tapped by the contractor AM General to pressure
lawmakers to support a plan to purchase new Humvee vehicles from the
company rather than refurbish older models.
Former military leaders play a decisive role in shaping public opinion
around military escalation. In the buildup to the Iraq War, the
Pentagon maintained a secret effort to deploy former generals and
other high-ranking officials on television news programs to drum up
support for the invasion.
The New York Times, which reported on the communications campaign,
noted that the military pundits maintained financial ties to defense
contractors, a financial stake in the war policies they sought to
promote.
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