Posted on 02/25/2011 12:33:20 PM PST by freespirited
WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration is offering more than $1.3 billion to settle complaints from female and Hispanic farmers who say they faced discrimination from the Agriculture Department.
The Agriculture and Justice departments announced Friday that farmers who could prove discrimination could receive up to $50,000. The proposal comes after the government settled with American Indians over similar discrimination issues last fall and Congress provided money for the second round of a black farmers settlement.
The government first announced its intent to settle the complaints in May. The more detailed offer announced Friday does not cap the amount of money that can be awarded and waives some application fees.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Wealth redistribution, and the long-awaited follow-up to Public Enemy’s ‘Fear of a Black Planet’: ‘Hatred of a White Male’.
The claims process offers a streamlined alternative to litigation and provides at least $1.33 billion in compensation, plus up to $160 million in farm debt relief, to eligible Hispanic and women farmers and ranchers. This announcement follows the Obama Administration’s settlement of longstanding litigation brought by African American farmers and Native American farmers.
The program announced today provides up to $50,000 for each Hispanic or woman farmer who can show that USDA denied them a loan or loan servicing for discriminatory reasons for certain time periods between 1981 and 2000. Hispanic or female farmers who provide additional proof and meet other requirements can receive a $50,000 reward. Successful claimants are also eligible for funds to pay the taxes on their awards and for forgiveness of certain existing USDA loans. There are no filing fees or other costs to claimants to participate in the program. Participation is voluntary, and individuals who opt not to participate are not precluded by the program from filing a complaint in court.
In conjunction with this announcement, USDA is launching an outreach effort to potential claimants that will include a call center for farmers and ranchers, a website, public service announcements, and in-person meetings around the country. Individuals interested in participating in the claims process may register to receive a claims package, or may obtain more information, by visiting www.farmerclaims.gov. Beginning February 25, 2011, individuals can register to receive a claims package by calling the Farmer and Rancher Call Center at 1-888-508-4429. USDA cannot provide legal advice to potential claimants. Persons seeking legal advice may contact a lawyer or other legal services provider.
Under Secretary Vilsack’s leadership, USDA is addressing civil rights complaints that go back decades, and today’s announcement is another major step towards achieving that goal. USDA is committed to resolving allegations of past discrimination and ushering in “a new era of civil rights” for the Department. In February 2010, the Secretary announced the Pigford II settlement with African American farmers, and in October 2010, he announced the Keepseagle settlement with Native American farmers. Meanwhile, Secretary Vilsack continues to advocate for resolution of all remaining claims of past discrimination against USDA.
(I know, I know - it’s a huge link)
Whitehouse Blog:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/02/25/usda-announces-claims-process-hispanic-and-women-farmers
Civil-rights activists see in such words a cry for justice. A more accurate description would be a shakedown.
As could have been predicted, other aggrieved classes of “farmers,” inspired by the original Pigford settlement, have brought forward civil suits of their own. In 2000, a group of Hispanic farmers (Garcia v. Vilsack) went to federal court to get their piece of the pie. The lead plaintiff, Lupe Garcia, a spokesperson for Justice for Hispanic Farmers, last year stated, “Tim Pigford knows exactly how much we have suffered from USDA’s decades of discrimination - because the same thing happened to him and his fellow African-American plaintiffs.” That same year, a group of women likewise filed suit in Love v. Vilsack. The plaintiffs are demanding compensation for USDA loan denials to women who farmed or “attempted to farm” during January 1, 1981-December 31, 1996 and during October 19, 1998-present. http://www.nlpc.org/stories/2010/03/08/lawyers-black-farmers-shake-down-taxpayers-agriculture-department-capitulates
What’s a “hispanic” and how does one prove that they are such.
President Obama vigorously supports the plaintiffs’ claims, despite at best spotty evidence of discrimination or negligence. “While these legislative achievements reflect important progress, they also serve to remind us that much work remains to be done,” said Obama. “That is why my administration also continues to work to resolve claims of past discrimination made by women and Hispanic farmers [i.e., the Love and Garcia cases] against the USDA.” In a similar spirit, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, the nominal defendant in the black farmers case, termed the Senate approval “a major milestone in USDA’s efforts to turn the page on a sad chapter in our history...President Obama and I pledged not only to treat all farmers fairly and equally, but to right the wrongs of the past for farmers who faced discrimination.” But the devil, as always, is in the details. And the details suggest that these two lawsuits and their outcome - the new law is called the Claims Settlement (or Resolution) Act (P.L. 111-291) - far from being “legislative achievements,” amount to successful shakedowns by plaintiffs and fee-hungry litigators skilled in the art of employing the language of civil rights for personal gain. Of course, these settlements will add to the deficit - about $4.55 billion worth. But it’s important to understand the groveling by Congress and administration officials in the context of the political culture of the shakedown.
http://www.nlpc.org/stories/2010/12/01/congress-approves-455-billion-settle-pigford-indian-land-trust-suits National Legal and Policy Center more than once has called it a shakedown. Now three members of Congress are suggesting as much. Yesterday Reps. Steve King, R-Iowa, Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., and Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., held a press conference to call for a Justice Department probe of an out-of-court class-action settlement against the U.S. Department of Agriculture initiated by black farmers during the late Nineties.
VIDEO Congressmen Charge Black Farmer Settlement Rife With Fraud
http://www.nlpc.org/category/people/paul-friedman
DOJ: $223M Legal Fee Request ‘Excessive’ in Class Action
The plaintiffs’ lawyers demand for at least $223 million in compensation for their work on a landmark Native American class action is excessive and goes against promises the attorneys made in a settlement contract, the U.S. Justice Department said in court papers filed late Thursday.
The government is opposing the attorneys’ demand for $223 million in fees in Cobell v. Salazar, saying that amount is inconsistent with controlling law. Under the terms of the $3.4 billion settlement, resolving claims of mismanagement of individual Indian trust accounts, the plaintiffs’ lawyers agreed to assert a fee range of between $50 million and $99.9 million, DOJ attorneys said. http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2011/02/doj-223m-legal-fee-request-excessive-in-class-action.html
Invoke the 14th Amendment here, if you're on the potential recieving end of the handout of taxpayer money: Pigford claimants weren't required to prove ANYTHING, except that they were black.
Next on the agenda, faggots, dykes, and cross-dressers will be handed $50,000 checks for discrimination by the Ag Dept., and then we'll have convicted felons, drug dealers, and pimps.....that way, we'll cover the ENTIRE DEMOCRAT VOTERBASE with these handouts.
Hispanic Pigford.
I know, I know. My wife is defined as a minority. Although white, she is female. (That shouldn't be a necessary detail, but with the political "new normal", I thought I'd throw it in for clarity.)
http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/post?id=2680154,22The list, ping
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http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/post?id=2680154,22The list, ping
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The Obama administration for 2 years has denied full border security and other assistance that routinely goes to illegals who may cross at will, Obama sues taxpayers for illegals in AZ.Every American should sue, The Obama administration, $50,000 failure to secure the border & for not firing the system worked big sis.
According to the feds, hispanics are those descended from Spanish-speaking people. So under this definition, a European in Spain is hispanic. We have a blond, green-eyed friend whose father is from Spain. She has learned to check the hispanic box to advance her career.
I've never heard of the govt asking for proof of claimed grievance group. It prefers instead to rely on "self-identification." That's how Ward Churchill gets to claim he is Native American.
USDA - Unbelievable Supercilious Democrat Avarice
Does it not matter at all that the Hispanics and women LOST THEIR CASE IN COURT and were REFUSED CERTIFICATION as a class action? Why, then, should taxpayers be paying them ANYTHING? In Obama’s world, the only real losers are the people who actually pay for these settlements to groups targeted to ensure his re-election . . . .
What’s this one called, chicford or spicford?
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