The Truth About Government Grants

Contrary to what books and TV ads say, the U.S. government is not giving away free grant money. A government grant is not a Christmas present. According to the book American Government Politics, by Jay M. Shafritz, a grant is, A form of gift that entails certain obligations on the part of the grantee and expectations on the part of the grantor. The key word there is obligations. Getting a government grant will get you lot of obligations and not fulfilling them will grant you a lot of legal troubles. In fact, the tantalizing but false lure of â€Å"free† money from the government has spawned some potentially disastrous government grant scams. Few Grants for Individuals Most federal grants are awarded to organizations, institutions, and state and local governments planning major projects that will benefit specific sectors of the population or the community as a whole, for example:   A neighborhood street paving projectA state-wide program to re-train displaced workersA project to attract new businesses to a depressed downtown areaA regional water conservation programA state or county-wide flood control project   Organizations that get government grants are subject to strict government oversight and must meet detailed government performance standards during the duration of the project and funding period of the grant. All project expenditures must be strictly accounted for and detailed audits are conducted by the government at least annually. All granted funds must be spent. Any money not spent goes back to the Treasury. Detailed program goals must be developed, approved and carried out exactly as specified in the grant application. Any project changes must be approved by the government. All project phases must be completed on time. And, of course, the project must be completed with demonstrable success. Failure on the part of the grant recipient to perform under the requirements of the grant can result in penalties ranging from economic sanctions to prison in cases of improper use or theft of public funds. By far, most government grants are applied for and awarded to other government agencies, states, cities, colleges and universities, and research organizations. Few individuals have the money or expertise necessary to prepare adequate applications for federal grants. Most active grant-seekers, in fact, employ full time staffs to do nothing but apply for and administer federal grants. The plain truth is that with federal funding cutbacks and competition for grants becoming more intense, seeking a federal grant always requires a lot of time and potentially a lot of money up front with no guarantee of success. Program or Project Budget Approval Through the annual federal budget process, Congress passes laws making money -- lots of it -- available to the various government agencies for doing major projects designed to assist some sector of the public. The projects may be suggested by the agencies, members of Congress, the president, states, cities, or members of the public. But, in the end, Congress decides which programs get how much money for how long. Finding and Applying for Grants Once the federal budget is approved, funds for the grant projects start to become available and are announced in the Federal Register throughout the year. The official access point for information on all federal grants is the Grants.gov website. Who is Eligible to Apply for Grants? The grant’s entry on the Grants.gov website will list which organizations or individuals are eligible to apply for the grants. The entry for all grants will also explain: How  the grant money can be used;How to apply including detailed contact information;How applications will be reviewed, judged and awarded; andWhat is expected of successful grantees including reports, audits, and performance standards Other Types of Federal Government Benefits While grants are clearly off the table, there are several other federal government benefit and assistance programs that can and do help individuals with many needs and life situations Beware the ‘Free’ Government Grant Scams The illusion that government grants are somehow â€Å"owed† to taxpayers and are thus available for â€Å"free† has inevitably led to numerous dangerous grant-getting scams. Consider the following offer. â€Å"Because you pay your income taxes on time, you have been awarded a free $12,500 government grant! To get your grant, simply give us your checking account information, and we will direct-deposit the grant into your bank account!† So compelling! But as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency warns, such money for nothing† grant offers are almost always scams. Some ads will claim that just about anybody will qualify to get â€Å"free grants† to pay for education, home improvements, business expenses, even credit card balances. Along with email ads, grants scammers often make telephone calls claiming they work for a â€Å"government agency† that has â€Å"discovered† you qualify for a grant. In either case, the claim is the same: your application for a grant is guaranteed to be accepted, and you’ll never have to pay the money back. No matter what the offer’s bait is, the hook is always the same. After congratulating them on their eligibility, the scammer asks their victim for their checking account information so the grant money can be â€Å"deposited directly† into their account or to cover a â€Å"one-time processing fee.† The scammer may even reassure the victims that they will get a full refund if they are not satisfied. Of course, the reality is that while the victims never see any grant money, they do see money disappear from the bank accounts. As the FTC advises, consumers should never give out their bank account information to anyone they don’t know. â€Å"Always keep your bank account information confidential. Don’t share it unless you are familiar with the company and know why the information is necessary,† warns the FTC. Persons who suspect they have been a victim of a government grant scam should file a complaint with the FTC online, or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

The Andre Yates Case Crime And Delinquency - 1602 Words

Beatrice Benjamin Crime and Delinquency SO209 12/03/14 The Andre Yates Case On June 20th 2001, Andrea Yates drowned her five children in the bathtub of her small suburban home in Clear Lake Texas. The subsequent trial and conviction caused a gargantuan amount of controversy. Jurors found Andrea guilty and sentenced her to life in prison despite the fact that there was an abundance of evidence to suggest that Andrea was legally insane at the time of the killings. In fact, 63% of the American public wanted her to receive the death penalty (). Although she was eventually acquitted by reason of insanity, both the judicial system and the American public should take a more mental-health-aware approach to the individuals they commit to prison. Andrea Yates, then Andrea Kennedy, was born July 2nd 1964 to a middle class family in Houston, Texas. From the start she was an overachiever and goal oriented. She maintained high marks in school, graduated valedictorian and had been captain of the swim team. Forensic psychiatrist _____________, an expert witness for t he defendant in the trial, would later comment on her constant desire and need to be perfect in everything she did. She attended University of Texas Health and Science Center’s nursing program and had a successful career as a nurse, a job that she later resigned from after conceiving her first child. Andrea was 25 when she met her husband Russell â€Å"Rusty† Yates, after dating for three years theyShow MoreRelatedEbooks Solution Manuals and Test Banks for Text Books19223 Words   |  77 PagesHealth by Rebecca J. Donatelle, Emeritus,Patricia Ketcham 12 Instructor’s Manual Access to Health by Rebecca J. Donatelle, Emeritus,Patricia Ketcham 12 Test Bank Accounting and Auditing Research Tools and Strategies by Weirich, Pearson, Churyk 7 Cases Solutions Accounting and Auditing Research Tools and Strategies by Weirich, Pearson, Churyk 7 Solution Manual Accounting by Carl S. Warren, James M. Reeve 24 Instructor’s Manual Accounting by Carl S. Warren, James M. Reeve 24 Test Bank Accounting

Learning to Read and Write free essay sample

â€Å"Learning to Read and Write† by Fredrick Douglas is a story about a slave breaking the bondage of ignorance by learning to read and write. During the course of 7 years Douglas discreetly teaches himself to read and write by means of stealing newspapers, trading food with poor white boys for knowledge and books, as well as copying his master’s handwriting. Douglas learning to read gave him extreme awareness of his condition as he says â€Å"†¦I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing. It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy† (Page 168-169). With his new consciousness he suffered with depression envying his fellow slaves for their â€Å"stupidity. † But, like a true underdog, Douglas perseveres and through hope he escapes to the freedom of the North. There’s a quote by Harriet Tubman â€Å"I freed a thousand slaves, and could have freed a thousand more if they had known they were slaves. † Throughout the essay Douglas evaluates his slave master’s ignorance, his fellow slaves ignorance, and most importantly his own. The definition of a slave is â€Å"a person legally owned by another and having no freedom of action or right to property†. Another definition says slave means â€Å"a person under the domination of another person or some habit or influence. † Douglas finds proof of the flawed ideology that is slavery through the book â€Å"The Colombian Orator. † The book validates Douglas’s belief of human rights and gave him ammo to use against slaveholders who thought otherwise. The dilemma in him learning this illuminating information is his inability to figure a way out of slavery. Douglas writes â€Å"It was this everlasting thinking of my condition that tormented me†¦I saw nothing without seeing it, I heard nothing without hearing it† (Page 169). White slave owners made it unlawful for slaves to read and write, this ignorance kept them in a state of limbo which stopped their evolution. Without the capacity to examine their situation, they did not change their situation and stayed in this wheel of oppression and exploitation. Ignorance also befalls on the oppressors. Douglas sheds light on how slave owners prayed to Christ, went to church every Sunday and yet mistreated people to the upmost degree and punished them for reading. Southerners often justified slavery by saying they were bringing Christianity to slaves. Christianity is a religion based on love and compassion for your fellow man. Since the Europeans did not believe the Africans were worthy to be in the same human category as them they dehumanized them relating them to animals. Although the bible says â€Å"we must never treat any part of Gods creation with contempt. When we do, we are indirectly treating our Creator with contempt. † If they did not believe slaves were worthy to be treated as God’s creation then why did they push their religion on them? The answer is to keep them controlled and confused. Europeans stripped Africans of their traditions starting with their name, this in some degree made Africans like blank canvases ready to be painted anew. Christianity gave slaves hope that one day their situation will change if they prayed hard enough and abide by Christ words. It also gave them a brand new vision of what God should look like. White is good, Black is bad. In the Christian bible they saw Jesus as a white man so in turn they could have related the goodness of Christ to the â€Å"goodness† of their masters. Some slaves even argued about whose master was more kind. I guess this is what Douglas was referring to when he called his fellow slaves â€Å"stupid†. I relate the South hypocritical belief system to that of the Catholic Church during Medieval Times. The church dominated everyone’s lives using fear as a means of getting whatever they wanted from its believers. From a very early age, the people were taught that the only way they could get to Heaven was if the Roman Catholic Church approved them. Just like slaves of America many people could not read or write which kept the priests in power. Peasants worked for free on the church land to pay their tithe or to not have the burden of total damnation. The hypocrisy of Christians of the South exemplifies his mistress who he described before as â€Å"Having bread for the hungry, clothes for the naked, and comfort for every mourner that came within her reach† (Page 167). Under the influence of slavery the angelical woman he knew turned into that of a demon in her conquest to prove her superiority over him. With praying to white Jesus not working, Douglas expresses a vulnerable side when talking about contemplating suicide. â€Å"I often found myself regretting my own existence, and wishing myself dead; and but for hope of being free, I have no doubt but that I should have killed myself†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Page 169). To counter this feeling of hopelessness he birthed a new objective, find the meaning of the word abolition and how it related to himself. Douglas speaks on his ignorance as he writes â€Å" It was always used in such connections as to make it an interesting word to me†¦I found it was â€Å"the act of abolishing†; but then I did not know what was to be abolished. Here I was perplexed. † I find it humorously ironic that he is a prime example of what a abolitionist is and going to become but there was a point in time were he didn’t recognize what the word meant. Using context clues Douglas unmask the true meaning of abolition when reading an article on abolishment of slavery in the District of Columbia. In conclusion Fredrick Douglas’s â€Å"Learning to Read and Write† maturely examines the world in which he lived in. Though Douglas was a slave physically he was never a slave mentally. He analyzes and challenges the norm in his quest for freedom; and because of Douglas’s thirst for knowledge he escapes the bondage of ignorance. Douglas also points out that learning doesn’t make the man free but it is how you use this knowledge to obtain freedom. In our day and age we take for granted things like owning a book, going to school, even the simple principle of being who we want to be. Douglas is a hero to Black Americans as well as people who believe knowledge is power. Work Cited Learning to Read and Write by Fredrick Douglas The Brief McGraw-Hill Reader http://www. sparknotes. com/lit/narrative/themes. html Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass http://www. historylearningsite. co. uk/medieval_church. htm The Medieval Church http://www. goodreads. com/author/quotes/18943. Frederick_Douglass Fredrick Douglas Quotes http://www. billygraham. org/articlepage. asp? articleid=6217 Christian view on treatment of animals http://www. cliffsnotes. com/study_guide/literature/life-of-frederick-douglass/critical-essays/douglass-canonical-status-heroic-tale. html