Yesterday I heard of pending legislation in the U.S. Senate, Senate Bill S3726, sponsored by Democrats Landrieu, Klobuchar, Brownback and Johnson. It was read twice in the Senate and sent to the Finance Committee where it is currently. It is cited as the "Supporting Adoptive Families Act" and is a measure designed to appease the Russian government. They want to restart the flow of adoptees coming after they stopped all adoptions following the unaccompanied return to Russia of 8 year old Artyom Savelyev by his Tennessee "Forever Family" . This was the final straw for the Russians who were already rightfully upset due to the numerous deaths and abuse of Russian children adopted by American parents that Bastardette has chronicled in her blog, Nobody is Forgotten.
The bill will further increase Adoption Welfare, both before and after adoptions of children from foster care, but for the first time will include adoptees who are adopted from foreign countries, including Russia. And, while the fact that the adoption welfare already in place will be extended to those who adopt internationally, once again, there is NOTHING to support the natural families, to support keeping them together, or to support them when there is a loss...and certainly no mental health care.
One thing that is disturbing is the funding source, our Social Security. It is the funding source for this, as well as the money to support foster care and all adoption welfare. The entire proposal, in fact, is an "Amendment to Ensuring Well-Being of Adopted Children and Adoptive Families-Section 421 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.621)."
There is discussion in the Legislature (isn't there always!) that to be a good and patriotic American, we should forgo our Social Security benefits until we are 70 or so, and to do less is somehow subversive and greedy. Pshaw! I don't see the Leggies lining up to donate their salaries and pensions, by the way. Social Security is a form of insurance, guaranteeing an income in our old age. We pay into it for our entire working lives and expect to receive what we have been promised and paid for. However, Legislators have seen it as a bottomless money pot from which they can dip endlessly, for funding. It simply isn't so!
To suggest that people who have worked their entire lives, served their nation in war, and earned a peaceful and comfortable retirement should either stay in their jobs or seek employment is disingenuous and dangerous, especially when one of the reasons, besides supporting wars that no one wants, is to fund "services", ONLY for children who are adopted, either from foster care or internationally! That creates yet another special class of citizens who demand services not available to others.
These would be both Pre and Post Adoption Services for both adopters and the children they adopt to overcome the damage done that allowed them to be adopted and the adoption itself, but not one cent would be allocated to support families in crisis, or mothers in distress. In fact, the services currently available to families is shrinking due to the worst economic condition since the Great Depression, while the services for adoption are being expanded? I don't think so!
I was incarcerated in a Salvation Army Home for Unwed Mothers. Every year at Christmas time when I see the Red Kettle and am approached by a Salvation Army person, I tell them, "I already GAVE." I gave my son to adoption. I feel the same way about the money from my Social Security Tax being used to support, encourage and expand adoptions.
I wish I knew a mathematician or tax accountant who would be able to tell me what portion of every tax dollar went for this. And, if this expansion of services goes in to effect, how will that increase it? Then, I would like to subtract that portion from the taxes I pay and donate it to services that support natural families in crisis, something that this economy will only see more of!!
7 comments:
Wow, we really have to watch our representatives every second, lest they spend our social security before we even get there. And why on earth should we subsidize people who choose to adopt children from Russia?
Since at least 1959 (that was also the year the Disability Act was passed with SS)the Social Security Trust Fund has been raided by any number of politicians on the left and right sides of the aisle. They have used the SS as their politico gift horse to groups of their constituents and special interests to insure their own re-elections. SS has been chopped, diced, sliced, julienned as a give-away to more and more groups of 'select' groups of peoples and their singular interests/funding.
Is really nuts for these legislators to even THINK of giving away more of SS...when exactly on the other hand they say SS is no longer solvent!! Once upon a time there was an excess of funds in SS...but over time with the constant raiding by Congress and their specialized interests...they transferred those funds to General Revenue and left a ton of IOUs, that are virtually worthless today.
And yes, most certainly let's give more money to those who wish to adopt (mostly younger people) and then demand that 65 yr old people work until they are 70 (the work ethic of cradle to grave)!!!
O! Yeah, that makes all the sense in the world..but then we are talking about adoption...where up is down and down is up...tis' The MadHatter of Adoption Land!! Nothing makes sense in this country anymore.....
You can read the entire bill here..
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:s3726is.txt.pdf
Yes, Liz, we absolutely must! Like Chris said, they have seen SS as an unguarded pot of gold to use as they deem fit.
Chris, that cradle to grave thing seems to be the aim! Forget that we have paid for it. Forget that we earned it. Forget that we have been paying into it for 60 years. Adopters want it, so they must have it.
They need to stop this now. Keep their hands off the only income my husband and I have. This is so wrong on so many levels and it is not helping anyone but those who line their pockets with baby-trade money.
I just went to the White House site and sent a message that I hope will reach the President. It probably won't change anything, but at least they will know that there are people who oppose this farce of a bill.
kitta here:
a few years ago, I mentioned that I was working with some foster parents in the state legislature. My mother said, "oh, those foster parents are so generous. I wish I could do that, but it costs those foster parents so much!"
I replied," Mom, foster parents are paid by the state, and also by the federal gov't. The money is paid by us...the taxpayers. Foster parents are not volunteers. Foster care is not a charity anymore than adoption is."
My mother is educated and aware, but like most people, she is ignorant of most child welfare funding.
This is why...I think..we have such a hard time convincing the public that natural biological family preservation is worthy and needed. The general public does not realize that our gov't is using our tax money to fund the break-up of millions of natural families, right under our noses.
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