Congrssman Mike Pence - Regulatory Reform Bill

“It is a fundamental departure from the American ideals of personal responsibility and limited government.”

Washington, DC - U.S. Congressman Mike Pence, Chairman of the House Republican Conference, released the following statement today after the U.S. Senate passed the Democrats’ financial regulatory reform bill:

“This so-called financial reform bill will kill jobs, raise taxes, restrict the flow of credit, make bailouts permanent, and turn the Democrats’ disastrous too-big-to-fail approach into federal law. It is a fundamental departure from the American ideals of personal responsibility and limited government, and it does nothing to make Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac compete fairly in the marketplace.
 
“This bill can be summed up in two words: ‘government control,’ and it will serve as the latest piece of the president’s job-killing agenda.  This represents another defeat for American families, small businesses and family farms, who continue to wonder when Washington Democrats will set aside their big government programs and work with Republicans on ideas that can actually put Americans back to work."

Suffolk Students To Graduate From Police Youth Academy

Suffolk Students to Graduate from Police Youth Academy Forty six teens learn about police work during weeklong training

The Suffolk County Police Department’s Youth Academy will hold its graduation ceremony on Friday, July 16, at 3 p.m. at the Lecture Hall on the Brentwood campus of Suffolk County Community College.

Prior to the graduation ceremony, students will put skills they learned during the academy to the test during a timed Police Challenge Obstacle Course, beginning at 10:30 a.m. The physical fitness test is a culmination of what students have learned during their youth academy training. The test will be a simulated police call during which students will run, climb a wall, drag a mannequin and handcuff a suspect.

The Youth Academy is an educational program that offers specialized training to familiarize the youth of Suffolk County with the role of a police officer; provide them with the opportunity to learn respect for the law; instill in them personal responsibility and the importance of teamwork by providing positive interaction with police officers; and by educating young people about the challenges and responsibilities of police work. Forty six students from Suffolk County high schools participated in this year’s academy.

Graduates completed five days of training in police operations and procedures including crime scene investigation, laws of arrest, patrol tactics, traffic enforcement and police pursuits.

AG Andrew Cuomo - Announces Sentencing of LI Mother & Daughter

Family billed Medicaid while vacationing in Paris, Puerto Rico, and Miami Beach

MINEOLA, NEW YORK (July 15, 2010) - Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the sentencing of a Long Island mother and her daughter for stealing more than $105,000 in a scheme to bill Medicaid for care they never provided to critically ill family members.

From 2004 to 2008, Georgette Nashed, 48, of Port Washington, served as a guardian to her ill parents under Medicaid’s Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP). She admitted to signing time sheets for care that was to be provided by her daughters Christine Nashed, 25, and Darlene Nashed, 23, as well as by her late husband, Raafat Nashed.

The Nasheds billed Medicaid for services supposedly provided in Port Washington while they traveled to Paris, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Miami Beach, and Atlantic City. They also billed Medicaid for times when Christine was attending Rutgers University in New Jersey and the New York College of Podiatric Medicine in Manhattan. Darlene and Christine billed Medicaid for times when they were working in Manhattan and out of state.

“This scheme was a family affair, with the mother and her daughters working in tandem to bilk the system and pocket taxpayer money,” said Attorney General Cuomo. “What’s worse is that they abused a program that allows family members to care for their own, and used their gravely ill family members as a means to steal public dollars.”

Today, Georgette was sentenced to one year in jail on the charge of Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony. Darlene was sentenced in June and received 10 days in jail and three years probation. The family paid restitution of $105,768 to the Medicaid program. Christine Nashed pleaded guilty to misdemeanor petit larceny charges on April 7 and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 29.

CDPAP permits disabled Medicaid recipients to hire and train their own personal care assistants. Under this program, the assistants may be family members, such as grandchildren, or family friends. While the benefit of CDPAP is that it allows the disabled to be more directly involved in their care, the possibility for abuse is high as is evident in home health where multiple family members conspire to commit the fraud and bill Medicaid for services not actually rendered to the Medicaid recipient.

This case was prosecuted by Special Attorney Assistant Attorney General Karen G. Leslie, under the supervision of Hauppauge Regional Director Alan Buonpastore, with the assistance of Special Auditor Investigator Phyllis Lombardi, Supervising Special Auditor Investigator John Grunenberg, Associate Auditor Investigator Joanna Joy Volo, and Special Investigator Robert Addolorato.

Due April 1- 105 Days Late -NYS Incapable of Creating a Budget

Incapable - Lacking the necessary ability, capacity, or power.  105 days late and our elected officials in New York State Government have been incapable of reaching an agreement on a state budget.  For 105 days we have been hearing rhetoric as to who is at fault.  For 105 days we have listened to “not my fault” blame the Governor, blame the Senate blame the Assembly, blame the Democrats or blame the Republicans blame the schools, the unions, business, blame the public for expecting too much or blame the system…. Don’t the people of New York deserve better?  111 days until election 2010 how will you voice your displeasure? 

 Patricia Biancaniello

About Gary Berntsen

Gary Berntsen, a retired decorated CIA Officer, is a candidate for the U.S. Senate in New York. He was born in Bethpage and raised in Smithtown, New York.

Gary is married to Estela and the father of three. His son is an Army Officer serving in an Airborne Unit in Afghanistan. His oldest daughter served as a Naval Intelligence Officer in the Pacific and Persian Gulf.

Gary is a life-long Republican, committed to: reigning in the out-of-control spending habits of Washington; implementing national security and foreign policy approaches that are in the best interest of America, rather than the current approach of apology and appeasement; and preserving small business and the jobs they provide. In 2008, Gary served as the New York Veterans Coalition Chairman for the Presidential Campaign of Senator John McCain. He has committed his life to public service.

Gary served four years in the United States Air Force as a Crash Firefighter and achieved the rank of Sergeant. He then served 23 years in the Central Intelligence Agency 's Clandestine Service, and served on three separate occasions as a CIA Station Chief.

He is best known for having led the CIA 's paramilitary forces in eastern Afghanistan against Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda in response to the September 11, 2001 attack.  In Afghanistan he led the capture of Kabul and was the architect of the battle of Tora Bora. Gary led CIA teams in East Africa after the August 1998 bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar 'es Salaam, Tanzania. In the late 1990 's he was the Chief of Hezbollah Operations in CIA 's Counterterrorism Center.  From 2002 to 2005 he managed major Counternarcotics Programs in Latin America. Gary is one of CIA 's most highly decorated officers having received CIA 's Distinguished Intelligence Medal and CIA 's Intelligence Star. He retired from CIA in 2005.

Gary is the author of the New York Times bestseller Jawbreaker: the Attack on Bin Laden and al Qaeda; a novel, The Walk-In, and a policy book entitled Human Intelligence Counterterrorism and National Leadership. He is a renowned expert on national security and counterterrorism, having done over 200 television and radio interviews.  He frequently appears as a national security expert on Fox News and CNN.  In 2007-2008, Gary returned to Afghanistan for a year as civilian advisor to the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team (ABCT) and worked against militant Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Networks.  Since 2008, Gary has worked as both a lecturer and a defense consultant.

Gary serves as president of The Berntsen Group which offers timely, accurate and reliable investigative and security services to clients across the globe. The firm 's U.S. staff consists of highly trained former senior American intelligence and federal law enforcement personnel. Former foreign law enforcement, military officers and justice ministry personnel augment their services in offshore operations.

In his private life, Gary has served as a school board member and a Boy Scout leader. He is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Gary is a graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.S. in Political Science and a minor in Russian Studies. He speaks Farsi and Spanish.