Some random polygamy commune talk
And further discussion on why the state of Utah will not go after these law breakers, and bad, irresponsible journalism.
Unfortunately, the title of the article in the Salt Lake Trib yesterday is rather ironic. Not to mention that she seems unable to do some basic math, too. Some of the "facts" that Adams is using are irrelevant, and I'll tell you why.
(Side note before we dive in: anyone else find it incredibly bizarre that Utah has a hired staff who's only job is to report on polygamy in the state? Not, you know, trying to end an illegal practice? Brooke Adams has been a specific beat writer for years. She usually gives them a soft treatment, too. )
1. Most of the polygamists that have been abusing the welfare system (to the point of fraud) have disbanded , a result of their leader (Warren Jeffs) being imprisoned and the second in command (Merril Jessop) running the big show in Texas. A more accurate report would include data from the 2000-2004 era, when Jeffs was at his height of control over the followers.
In 2001 the LA Times had a report showing that over half of the residents of Colorado City were on public assistance, to the tune of 61% listed as "single families." (The women of the community claim to be single mothers with no idea of the location of their children's father. Hence the fraud. A man with 6 wives, say, has one legal wife. The remaining 5 wives are "single families.")
In paragraphs 11 and 15, the tally for resident people is 8289. Paragraph 16 says 3416 people were on Medicaid. That's over 40% of a small community on welfare, and that's not significant? It was reported that over 70% of residents were on the dole, so that 40+ isn't a big deal. Again, I point you to the data being from this recent fiscal year when the group has dispersed. I'm fairly certain the 2003 data would be closer to 70%. Also, the state of Utah found the following statistic, which was conveniently left out of the article: in 2002, 66% of the residents of the polygamist community were on gov't assistance, whereas only 6% of Utahns were. That is a significant amount! Why was this left out?
Note that for 2006-2007, Arizona paid 1.5 million dollars in food stamps to this community. Also remember that this community is in Utah, as well, although they've not released how much they've spent on them. Probably about the same. 3 million dollars in food to people that grow their own. 3 million dollars in free food to a community that has HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS in their UEP Trust. Doesn't that sound like fraud to you, because it sure does to me.
2. Without proper supervision, the folks of Colorado City/Hilldale don't have the church's thumb on them, forcing them to make routine tithing payments. (Tithing isn't the correct word, since tithing means "tenth." They pay far more of their wages to the church than a tenth.) As a result of them not surrendering their paychecks to Jeffs and the UEP, they have money to actually feed themselves.
3. The majority of the YFZ folks are most likely not on the dole. But here's the thing: they were set up by the UEP, which has a portion of its coffers from welfare fraud and community fraud. (I consider it that since the people are required to surrender their money to the church.) The YFZ folks are the "elite" and they were the pretty children being dressed up for the prince, so to speak, while the Colorado City folks remained behind to sweep cinders and refill the coal buckets. And lets not forget that the polygamists themselves say there is welfare fraud. "Bleeding the beast." The phrase exists for a reason. However, I found these stats from Schliecher County, where the Ranch is:
Food Stamps: 122 in 2005, 203 in 2008; Children's Health Insurance Program: 11 in 2003, 63 in 2008; Medicaid: 262 (including 160 children in 2006 and 283 (including 182 children) in 2008. So are they still holding to the story that NO ONE at the YFZ compound received government assistance?
4. The loss in property taxes isn't even listed in this article, and that's a big chunk of change the state is missing out on. (In a nutshell: if they don't have their houses completely built out, they don't pay property taxes. So 20 year old houses still have tar paper on the south-side wall, or something to that effect.) Thousands of dollars per year, per household adds up to a lot of lost revenue.
The school district of Colorado City had been falsely claiming a level of need and financing that was later busted by an audit. In a nutshell, the leaders of the "church" ran the school, and took the government funding as their own pay and didn't funnel the money into the school for books and supplies as they were supposed to. They had their own bank accounts, funded by the Board of Education, essentially. You'll note that this information was also left out of the article.
The article uses the lack of prosecutions of fraud as evidence that there is no fraud. Let's ask OJ about lack of prosecution as evidence that there was no crime. This is asinine. I read a great comment that mentioned that while it may not be 78% of households getting assistance (they claim 41%) it's most likely that it's 78% of the POPULATION on the dole. Keep in mind that a "household" has more than 20 kids on average.
Once again we have Utah weirdly defending the people they claim to hate. Every time I post about the FLDS, I get members of the mainstream Mormon church that jump down my throat claiming they are NOT the FLDS, they hate them, blah blah blah. Okay, fine. But why does the state (which, let's face it, is run by the LDS church) consistently defend these people instead of putting them on the chopping block and ridding themselves of their taint once and for all?
Money. How will the state relocate thousands of children into an already over-burdened foster-care system? How will the state provide alternate housing facilities for the busted-up families? They don't want the expense, the headache, the hassle. The state should take over the UEP and it's resources, and use that money to re-educate (or in many cases, finally educate) the populace of this outfit, feed and clothe them, and send them on their way to make it on their own. There needs to be a federal audit ROUTINELY performed to see that fraud isn't occurring. Agents that will visit homes, witness lifestyles-living arrangements, check to insure that food is in the house's pantry, and not the Bishop's Storehouse.* And hey - that'll create jobs, which will stimulate the economy. Or, you know, existing laws could just be enforced, but that's crazy talk.
Millions of dollars are fed into this group to allow them to continue their "religious" beliefs, money that could be better served elsewhere. I'm not holding my breath, though.
*A Bishop's Storehouse is essentially a mini-welfare outfit for individual "parishes" or ward within the church. A part of the tithing paid by members, as well as food and clothing donations, go here to be doled out at the leadership's discretion. This is from the mainstream LDS church and goes back to the days of communism with Joseph Smith. (Didn't know they were communist, did you?)
[ETA] A link to a trailer, Banking on Heaven, with first-hand accounts from people who've escaped, including Carolyn Jessop before she came forward with her "Escaped" book. *cough* Note the distinctive Utah accent. I can't read a single book written by a Mormon or Ex-Mo without hearing that particular cadence...
Unfortunately, the title of the article in the Salt Lake Trib yesterday is rather ironic. Not to mention that she seems unable to do some basic math, too. Some of the "facts" that Adams is using are irrelevant, and I'll tell you why.
(Side note before we dive in: anyone else find it incredibly bizarre that Utah has a hired staff who's only job is to report on polygamy in the state? Not, you know, trying to end an illegal practice? Brooke Adams has been a specific beat writer for years. She usually gives them a soft treatment, too. )
1. Most of the polygamists that have been abusing the welfare system (to the point of fraud) have disbanded , a result of their leader (Warren Jeffs) being imprisoned and the second in command (Merril Jessop) running the big show in Texas. A more accurate report would include data from the 2000-2004 era, when Jeffs was at his height of control over the followers.
In 2001 the LA Times had a report showing that over half of the residents of Colorado City were on public assistance, to the tune of 61% listed as "single families." (The women of the community claim to be single mothers with no idea of the location of their children's father. Hence the fraud. A man with 6 wives, say, has one legal wife. The remaining 5 wives are "single families.")
In paragraphs 11 and 15, the tally for resident people is 8289. Paragraph 16 says 3416 people were on Medicaid. That's over 40% of a small community on welfare, and that's not significant? It was reported that over 70% of residents were on the dole, so that 40+ isn't a big deal. Again, I point you to the data being from this recent fiscal year when the group has dispersed. I'm fairly certain the 2003 data would be closer to 70%. Also, the state of Utah found the following statistic, which was conveniently left out of the article: in 2002, 66% of the residents of the polygamist community were on gov't assistance, whereas only 6% of Utahns were. That is a significant amount! Why was this left out?
Note that for 2006-2007, Arizona paid 1.5 million dollars in food stamps to this community. Also remember that this community is in Utah, as well, although they've not released how much they've spent on them. Probably about the same. 3 million dollars in food to people that grow their own. 3 million dollars in free food to a community that has HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS in their UEP Trust. Doesn't that sound like fraud to you, because it sure does to me.
2. Without proper supervision, the folks of Colorado City/Hilldale don't have the church's thumb on them, forcing them to make routine tithing payments. (Tithing isn't the correct word, since tithing means "tenth." They pay far more of their wages to the church than a tenth.) As a result of them not surrendering their paychecks to Jeffs and the UEP, they have money to actually feed themselves.
3. The majority of the YFZ folks are most likely not on the dole. But here's the thing: they were set up by the UEP, which has a portion of its coffers from welfare fraud and community fraud. (I consider it that since the people are required to surrender their money to the church.) The YFZ folks are the "elite" and they were the pretty children being dressed up for the prince, so to speak, while the Colorado City folks remained behind to sweep cinders and refill the coal buckets. And lets not forget that the polygamists themselves say there is welfare fraud. "Bleeding the beast." The phrase exists for a reason. However, I found these stats from Schliecher County, where the Ranch is:
Food Stamps: 122 in 2005, 203 in 2008; Children's Health Insurance Program: 11 in 2003, 63 in 2008; Medicaid: 262 (including 160 children in 2006 and 283 (including 182 children) in 2008. So are they still holding to the story that NO ONE at the YFZ compound received government assistance?
4. The loss in property taxes isn't even listed in this article, and that's a big chunk of change the state is missing out on. (In a nutshell: if they don't have their houses completely built out, they don't pay property taxes. So 20 year old houses still have tar paper on the south-side wall, or something to that effect.) Thousands of dollars per year, per household adds up to a lot of lost revenue.
The school district of Colorado City had been falsely claiming a level of need and financing that was later busted by an audit. In a nutshell, the leaders of the "church" ran the school, and took the government funding as their own pay and didn't funnel the money into the school for books and supplies as they were supposed to. They had their own bank accounts, funded by the Board of Education, essentially. You'll note that this information was also left out of the article.
The article uses the lack of prosecutions of fraud as evidence that there is no fraud. Let's ask OJ about lack of prosecution as evidence that there was no crime. This is asinine. I read a great comment that mentioned that while it may not be 78% of households getting assistance (they claim 41%) it's most likely that it's 78% of the POPULATION on the dole. Keep in mind that a "household" has more than 20 kids on average.
Once again we have Utah weirdly defending the people they claim to hate. Every time I post about the FLDS, I get members of the mainstream Mormon church that jump down my throat claiming they are NOT the FLDS, they hate them, blah blah blah. Okay, fine. But why does the state (which, let's face it, is run by the LDS church) consistently defend these people instead of putting them on the chopping block and ridding themselves of their taint once and for all?
Money. How will the state relocate thousands of children into an already over-burdened foster-care system? How will the state provide alternate housing facilities for the busted-up families? They don't want the expense, the headache, the hassle. The state should take over the UEP and it's resources, and use that money to re-educate (or in many cases, finally educate) the populace of this outfit, feed and clothe them, and send them on their way to make it on their own. There needs to be a federal audit ROUTINELY performed to see that fraud isn't occurring. Agents that will visit homes, witness lifestyles-living arrangements, check to insure that food is in the house's pantry, and not the Bishop's Storehouse.* And hey - that'll create jobs, which will stimulate the economy. Or, you know, existing laws could just be enforced, but that's crazy talk.
Millions of dollars are fed into this group to allow them to continue their "religious" beliefs, money that could be better served elsewhere. I'm not holding my breath, though.
*A Bishop's Storehouse is essentially a mini-welfare outfit for individual "parishes" or ward within the church. A part of the tithing paid by members, as well as food and clothing donations, go here to be doled out at the leadership's discretion. This is from the mainstream LDS church and goes back to the days of communism with Joseph Smith. (Didn't know they were communist, did you?)
[ETA] A link to a trailer, Banking on Heaven, with first-hand accounts from people who've escaped, including Carolyn Jessop before she came forward with her "Escaped" book. *cough* Note the distinctive Utah accent. I can't read a single book written by a Mormon or Ex-Mo without hearing that particular cadence...