Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England presents radio personality Laura Schlessinger with the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service. Schlessinger was recognized for her efforts to raise public awareness of and funding for ASY homefront group Operation Family Fund.
here's some details and links: on the day Dr. Laura ends her News-Press column, Travis writes a dirty Sunday editorial with lies trying to link local SEIU 620 union to Illinois corruption..this was a lame attempt to deflect attention away from Operation Family Fund and America Supports You, Dr. Laura's "charities" now under investigation for fraud... Operation Family Fund held a "charity" event in Carp a few years back. Harley Davidson (at the time owned by Jesus lovin' right wingers) hosted it and Dr. Laura was "special guest"...it was poorly attended and nothing more than a war rally...the charges against ASY are Allison Barber, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Liaison and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Internal Communications, was funneling money where it should not have gone while the troops and their families were getting screwed.... ....she recently resigned from the DOD while the investigation continues...
highlights:
Meanwhile, ASY began to spend millions — not to help the troops, the Inspector General says, but to help itself. "Instead of focusing on its primary mission of showcasing and communicating support to the troops and their families, the ASY program focus [turned to] building or soliciting support from the public," the Inspector General's report notes. In 2006 and 2007, for instance, more than $600,000 was spent ginning up support for America Supports You among schoolchildren. Another $165,000 went to a pro-ASY concert aboard the USS Intrepid, docked on Manhattan's west side. And $15,000 went to actor and musician Gary Sinise's "Lt. Dan Band" to play a separate show. The report calls all of these "questionable and unregulated actions."By mid-2007, allegations began to surface that the Pentagon official in charge of the program, Armed Forces Information Service chief Alison Barber (pictured, left with Rumsfeld and Dr. Laura's good buddy), was improperly redirecting millions of dollars in public funds.
Noah Shachtman has a great article at Wired, looking at how a Pentagon program designed to help "support the troops" mismanaged millions of dollars:A Defense Department project, supposedly designed to support U.S. troops, was used instead to channel millions of dollars to personal friends and allies of its chief. The "America Supports You," or ASY, program was led in a "questionable and unregulated manner," according to a Department of Defense Inspector General report, obtained by Danger Room. At least $9.2 million was "inappropriately transferred" by the project's managers. Much of that money served only to further promote ASY, instead of assisting servicemembers.
one down..three to go
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