Is The Justice Department Over Reaching On Fraud Enforcement in An Election Year?

It seems whenever there is a tough economy, there are more shysters who come out of the woodwork. This makes sense of course because if money is tight, and fewer people to get a job, it's more difficult for these culprits to get a real job to use their cunning and intellectual abilities for positive purposes such as making a profit in their own small businesses. Okay so, I'd like to talk about this for a moment if I might.

You see, I've also noticed another trend. Whenever there is a major election going on, candidates claim that when they get into office they will stop the crime, scams, and fraud. It's hard to say why they do this - perhaps they are redirecting attention away from themselves and their own political shenanigans. But I would suspect that's not the only reason. It's because negative events make better headlines, and if a politician can point at some negative event, and then claim they will fix it, all the suddenly more voters take interest.

In fact, I think a little bit of that is going on right now. There was an interesting piece recently on the FBI website which was of value to discuss, the title of the government press release was; "Attorney General Eric Holder Launches Consumer Protection Working Group to Combat Consumer Fraud Working Group Created Under President Obama's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force Brings Together Federal, State, and Local Partners," and it appeared on their site on February 13, 2011.

The reality is - we already have the government bureaucracy to take care of some of these problems, not to mention lots of law enforcement agencies. So why is it now that the Obama Administration wants to jump on this right away, during an election year. How come they didn't work on this problem in the last couple of years? It is not as if there was ever a shortage of dishonest people in the world, so why now?

Another comment that I would like to make, perhaps tongue-in-cheek, is that I guess my biggest question is; when will the FBI investigate the Obama Administration for abuse of law, violating the constitution, and other fraudulent activity (in my opinion)? Seriously, let's talk about that and not just because it's an election year, we can wait until after the election to seek justice and return things back to the rule of law.

If the Obama Administration is merely trying to secure their proposed budget by showing that they need more money to do the job, then the DOJ should have been doing it all along. As we look for things such as corporate malfeasance, how about government administrative and executive leadership malfeasance? Well, I dare to ask the question, yes even in an election year. Please consider all this and think on it.

Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on Online Crimes. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net/

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Fire Department Equipment - The Wise Choice of Obtaining Hydraulic Rescue Tools Part I

Is your fire department active in vehicle and accident rescue? If so, you might consider requesting rescue tools from the Assistance to Firefighters Grant in 2012.

An excellent set of equipment in this category should consist of all hydraulic rescue tools. Be sure to include at least a 28" spreader with no less than 57,000 pounds of spread force. A good set should also include a very large cutter with 121,000 pounds of force. Additionally, it should have a mini-cutter with at least a 1.5" opening, a ram set, a pulling and lifting accessory kit, and multiple sections of color coded extension hose. Do not forget to request all mounting brackets so that your department can properly affix the equipment inside of your vehicles. You will also need to purchase a power unit or generator.

Your department should budget about $32,000 for the equipment and about $11,000 for the power unit or generator.

Why would you consider purchasing this equipment? There are many possible reasons for the request, but first and foremost would be the improved safety offered to entrapped victims. The second reason would be for the safety of firefighters responsible for freeing victims at accident scenes.

Let's start with the tools' ability to free victims. If your department has no such tools and uses sledge hammers and crow bars, then these may have worked for you in the past. Certainly they did not make rescues easy, but they sufficed if that is all you had. Today this is not a possibility. Why? The high grade steel used for automobile manufacturing today is not able to be plied open with crow bars. The cage construction will not allow such tools to effectively get to a victim for medical care. They are not easily extricated from vehicles. Within an entrapment a victim cannot be properly treated, and there is always the potential for fire. The longer the victim remains untreated or only with partial medical care, then the greater the chance for complication.

Now for firefighter safety. Every minute that a firefighter spends on a roadway, there is danger of being hit by a passing car or truck. Every time a firefighter operates equipment, there is strain on muscle and back; this can lead to injury. So herein lies the argument for good equipment. It is lightweight and easy to operate. Many older hydraulic tools require two firefighters to operate. These two firefighters must attend to the victim. If the space is confined no one can help the victim while the entrapment is being resolved. Treatment time is lost.

Most older units weigh well over 100 lbs. Injury to rescuers is always a concern and we will have firefighters end up with major back injuries. Certainly, many have already had minor ones on many occasions and this could lead to greater issues.

The bottom line is - get the new equipment as soon as you can. It will help both rescuers and victims.

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