There is no reason that banks and corporations asking for bail out money not expected to jump through the same hoops we had to when we were asking for federal educational dollars. As a former educational grant writer I was required to have goals, objectives, procedures to meeting those goals and objectives, and evaluation procedures for all projects I presented for federal and state funding. The budget request required specifics where every cent was spent. That included salaries, equipment, materials and supplies, and contract services. I also had to identify and provide the names and qualifications of those managing and working with grant money. There was always an evaluation process, often requiring and third party outside of my district. I do not recall any grant being approved without this information documented and presented to the feds for review.. Any change made to the grants after approval had to be approved by the agency providing the funding. Federal auditors did come and review where we spent those federal dollars and I had to have documentation showing were every penny was spent. The final evaluation procedures were also very demanding and could and did result in loss of dollars when the procedures were not followed.

My political leaders are suppose to be somewhat smarter then many we common folk. At least that has been made clear to many of us when we attempt to respond to some of the actions you take and send us form letter saying you will take into consideration my concerns. This actually means you never read my letter. I am sure that you can obtain a copy of the procedures required to file for a federal grant. In the State of Washington a course was offered at Western Washington University that was excellent. I am sure most states had similar classes. That same procedure could be used for any company asking for bail out money. If I was able to successfully write a number of those grants for thousands of dollars I am sure those CEO’s that have your ear should be expected and able to do likewise. Your job is to write out the specific goals you want that money to accomplish.

Last night on Larry King live there were a number of very interesting comments made about one of the major problems that resulted in mortgage failures. Our schools no longer teach finance, accounting, and other common sense classes that prepare our students to enter into a very confusing world. There continues to be this big push for math and science in our schools even though there has been no documentation and research to prove we need thousands of mathematicians and scientists. Classes such as business and accounting and civics have been cut from our curriculum. It was wonderful finally hearing some of our nations leaders mentioning the need for these classes.

Every day we read how the banks have ripped off the taxpayers Now another problem has been added with the report on banks that were bailed out hiring foreign workers into high paying jobs with estimated average salaries of $90.721, twice the median income for all American households. (See associated press release by Frank Bass and Rita Beamish / Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa) This included positions as senior vice presidents, corporate lawyers, junior investment analysts, human resource specialist, etc. 21,800 requests for visas by those banks and none of you seemed concerned. The comment is made that foreigner workers are more attractive as they can be paid less them American workers. The comment,” they can use the lower end of the gov. wage scales for highly skilled workers; hire younger foreigners with lower salary demands and higher levels of education or advanced degrees for jobs which similarly educated American workers would be overqualified”, shows the greed on the part of those firms that use this system of hiring workers. I personally know a number of persons with advanced degrees in business that would love to have known these jobs were available. At $90 thousand they would have jumped at the chance to be employed and would have done a great job. There continues to be a push for all students to attend higher education yet how many of those students can actually obtain a job in the field they were trained when they graduate. Many of those graduates are being forced into joining the military so they can feed their families.

Austin Shotwell, 15802 SE 35th, Vancouver Wa 98370 Mickeyshotwell@juno.com 360 904 3761

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