Thread: “Advancing Healthy Housing: A Strategy for Action.”

Obama administration gears up for new ‘healthy housing’ initiative
By Doug Powers • February 9, 2013 01:38 PM

The Obama administration is starting a new push that will no doubt make housing “healthy” the same way they’re making health care “affordable.” http://michellemalkin.com/2013/02/01/obamacare-savings/

From CNS News: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/mold...ealthy-housing

This week, the Obama administration released a “bold new vision for addressing the nation’s health and economic burdens caused by preventable hazards associated with the home.”

The project has a name: “Advancing Healthy Housing: A Strategy for Action.”

“People in the United States spend about 70% of their time in a home,” the announcement said. http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?...3/HUDNo.13-011

“Currently, millions of U.S. homes have moderate to severe physical housing problems, including dilapidated structure; roofing problems; heating, plumbing, and electrical deficiencies; water leaks and intrusion; pests; damaged paint; and high radon gas levels. These conditions are associated with a wide range of health issues, including unintentional injuries, respiratory illnesses like asthma and radon-induced lung cancer, lead poisoning, result in lost school days for children, as well as lost productivity in the labor force.”

According to the Obama administration, the health and economic burdens from preventable hazards associated with both subsidized and privately owned homes cost billions of dollars.

The new strategy “unifies” federal efforts to advance healthy housing — “demonstrating the connection between housing conditions and residents’ health.”
[...]
HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan says the federal government must do “everything we can to ensure that individuals and families have a healthy place to call home.” He said the strategy “will help the federal government unify action (on) controlling and preventing major housing-related exposures and hazards.”

What if you don’t think your home is a potential health hazard? “Denial!” : http://cnsnews.com/news/article/mold...ealthy-housing

The report also says many home-based hazards are preventable — “and opportunities exist for intervention programs that would not only reduce health impacts on occupants, but the economic burden as well, resulting in a positive return on investment.”

The program has five stated goals: http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?...hy_homes/advhh

Goals One and Two: Establish and Encourage Adoption of Federally-Recognized Criteria for Healthy Homes. The Strategy for Action calls upon federal agencies to develop consensus on the basic concept of a healthy home – building off eight characteristics, including dry, clean, pest free, safe, contaminant free, well ventilated, and well maintained and thermally controlled – and encourage adoption of this consensus across federal agencies, tribal governments, state and local governments, and non-governmental organizations.

Heaven forbid the homeowner decide the criteria for what constitutes a healthy home.

Goal Three: Create and Support Training and Workforce Development to Address Health Hazards in Housing. Building a cadre of trained experts that deliver healthy homes services, including weatherization and retrofitting in neighborhood homes is at the core of the Strategy. The plan includes leveraging existing workforce development efforts, such as Department of Labor’s efforts in training workers for, and connecting workers to, jobs in a clean energy economy and green construction.

Hasn’t that been tried? As I recall the “green jobs” programs are very green for unions/administration cronies and light on the jobs end of things : http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...83C08D20120413

Goal Four: Educate the Public about Healthy Homes. The Strategy promotes adoption of a public communications campaign to help people connect the dots between their health and their home.

Speaking of connecting dots, the government’s always quick to make it clear they think most of us are irresponsible idiots but never go on to point out that the government educated 90 percent of us. http://infousa.state.gov/education/overview/ch6.html And they wonder why I don’t want them tinkering with my hot water heater?

More good news… the government considers itself a “stakeholder” in our lives and homes:

Goal Five: Support Research that Informs and Advances Healthy Housing in a Cost-Effective Manner. The Strategy identifies areas in which rigorous healthy homes research is needed to help federal, state, and local stakeholders enhance their decision-making in a cost-effective manner and reduce actions that have unintended consequences.

For examples of actions that have unintended consequences, see almost every other government program.

Where is this headed? I’m envisioning eventual door-to-door “home health inspections” conducted by teams of three government workers trained at the soon to be announced “Joseph R. Biden School of Healthy Housing Green Jobs Training and Taco Bell.” One inspector will check your appliances and ventilation, another will set up a series of web cameras along with a tiny drone to fly around the house so your safety can be remotely monitored at all times, and the other will conduct a comprehensive asbestos check in your underwear drawer (don’t question the motives of the experts).

**Written by Doug Powers http://michellemalkin.com/2013/02/09...althy-housing/

comments

I guess they can start by demolishing all the public housing in the ghettos of Chicago and other big cities …

Then they can do the same to all the run down houses in the gang infested slum neighborhoods in those same cities …

That alone should keep them busy long enough for the rest of us to have an opportunity to get these nanny-state morons out of office and get all of this rescinded …

I can imagine the response from all the criminals when they come to throw them out on the street and tear down their rat infested houses and apartments …

Should be quite a show …

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Seems like every day the liberals come up with something even more ridiculous, wasteful and intrusive than yesterday. This program will produce nothing besides empty slogans and more govt. jobs and regulation while doing nothing to alleviate the imaginary crisis of dangerous homes. Really, at a time when we are on the brink of national bankrupt, millions without jobs or hope of finding one, govt. dependency at record levels and yet there is time and money to worry about pollen levels or drafty living rooms by the people leading this country? Even worse is the millions of idiots that will applaud this and are convinced the govt. has the right and responsibility to get involved in the details of their living arrangements and has the ability to improve it. And they will soon find a way to denigrate and accuse those that disagree as racist, hateful, don’t care about the children etc…

Sometimes I feel like I’ve passed through the looking glass. Thirty years ago something like this would have been mocked relentlessly by the press and would have been the end of the career of any politician that made such an idiotic proposal. Now it is the people like us that will be mocked. It really makes me think the majority in this country no longer want or even care about freedom, just free stuff.

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It occurred to me the other day that when I lived in South America empty slogans that were meant as some type of inspiration were very common everywhere, much like what we’ll see from this program. For example something like

Clean water is life!

would be posted in schools, hospitals, govt offices … yet the water in most places was most definitely not clean or safe for drinking. Now we have things like

Drug Free School Zone

Every Child Has A Right To An Education
In A Safe, Non-Threatening Environment

posted in drug-infested, low performing schools with high dropout rates and low standards that were unaccountable before all these slogans became common place.

Liberals and 3rd world government are both great generating slogans completely unrelated to reality or results. (Maybe this is why so many liberals are enamored of third world countries?) From this point of view this program will be an overwhelming success.

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Instead of a Healthy Housing initiative, how about a Healthy Government initiative? The federal government is fat and bloated from engorging itself on stimulus. A restrictive diet would definitely improve its health. But the hypocrites in charge want to put tight restrictions on everyone except Washington.

Thank you to the Mod who deleted the double post ! :

Obama Wants To Be Inside Your Home
Posted on February 14 2013 by Conservative Daily

Just when you thought you had heard everything from President Obama, there comes the most egregious government over-reach to date! And this one really is unbelievable!

Mr. Barack Obama and his administration want the tentacles of the federal government to control INSIDE of YOUR home!

That’s right: INSIDE YOUR HOME! We must put all of Congress “on notice” to make sure this bold project does not even get off the ground—but it already has; and it is very possible that you’re not aware of it until now!

Earlier in February, several of the Obama administration agencies “put their heads together” and released an embolden plan to clean up your home…inside!

Under the disguise of supposedly caring about your personal health, the Obama administration is not only telling Americans what they can eat, how large their cups of soda pop must be, but now President Obama wants to tell YOU how to make your home much safer and healthy!

Here is the official name of this disastrous project: “ADVANCING HEALTHY HOUSING: A STRATEGY FOR ACTION!”

If you’re like most Americans, you spend about 70 percent of your time in your home. It is your private domain. As long as you are not placing anyone else’s life in danger, you have the right and freedom to do (within reason) what you wish to and in your own home. Goodness!

Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Department of Health and Human Services, said: “I urge all Americans to embrace the holistic approach to creating healthy homes described in the Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Promote Healthy Homes.”

This outrageous Obama initiative is a new strategy for seriously looking into the country’s economic and health burdens caused by avoidable dangers related with the home. YOUR home! The “Strategy for Action” emboldens federal agencies to take preventative actions that will help lessen the number of U.S. homes with health and safety hazards.

The unveiling of this plan has “Big Brother” written all over it! It must be stopped! What business is it of the federal government to take actions and measures to make sure your home is “healthy?”

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson tells: “Thanks to unprecedented collaboration across the FEDERAL FAMILY and among our many partners, we now have a specific plan for action to address radon and other preventable hazards found in homes across the country. This is a critical step toward ensuring that Americans in all communities have healthy places to live, work and play.” That’s right; YOU are a part of the “federal family!”

We appreciate the government looking out for our welfare, BUT, if this doesn’t smack of communism, what does??

The new report says: “Currently, millions of U.S. homes have moderate to severe physical housing problems, including dilapidated structure; roofing problems; heating, plumbing, and electrical deficiencies; water leaks and intrusion; pests; damaged paint; and high radon gas levels. These conditions are associated with a wide range of health issues, including unintentional injuries, respiratory illnesses like asthma and radon-induced lung cancer, lead poisoning, result in lost school days for children, as well as lost productivity in the labor force.”

According to 2013: A Report from the Federal Healthy Homes Work Group: “This Strategy provides an initial framework to coordinate federal action for advancing healthy housing through a comprehensive approach. With additional research, the goal is to craft a “healthy homes model” that aims to implement the United States Housing Act.”

Here is the federal government agencies involved in this new “federal family” who appeared together at the kickoff of this intrusion into your very own home: the White House Council on Environmental Quality, HUD, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Surgeon General and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, among others.

They are plotting and researching ways to get inside your home and “clean it up.”

The vision of the federal agencies that developed the STRATEGY is to reduce the number of American homes with residential health and safety hazards through achievement of five goals and priority actions:

1. Establish healthy home recommendations

2. Encourage adoption of healthy home recommendations

3. Create and support training and workforce development to address health hazards in housing

4. Educate the public about healthy homes

5. Support research that informs and advances healthy housing in a cost-effective manner

The Strategy Report actually states: “The primary goal of the HHWG (Healthy Homes Work Group) is to promote nationwide access to safe and healthy homes.” Access? Yes, Mr. Obama wants to snoop around your home, under the disguise of making it healthy. Keep the federal government out of your business. Be sure to fax the United States Congress and tell them to stay out of your private home!!

http://www.conservative-daily.com/20...ide-your-home/

Wonder if "Healthy Homes" are also "Gun Free Zones" ?

Make no mistake, this is what they want nationally but have to take it one step at a time: CONFISCATION

February 14, 2013

Missouri Democrats Introduce Legislation to Confiscate Firearms - Gives Gun Owners 90 Days to Turn in Weapons

Missouri Democrats introduced an anti-gun bill which would turn law-abiding firearm owners into criminals. They will have 90 days to turn in their guns if the legislation is passed.

Here’s part of the Democratic proposal in Missouri:

4. Any person who, prior to the effective date of this law, was legally in possession of an assault weapon or large capacity magazine shall have ninety days from such effective date to do any of the following without being subject to prosecution:

(1) Remove the assault weapon or large capacity magazine from the state of Missouri;

(2) Render the assault weapon permanently inoperable; or

(3) Surrender the assault weapon or large capacity magazine to the appropriate law enforcement agency for destruction, subject to specific agency regulations.

5. Unlawful manufacture, import, possession, purchase, sale, or transfer of an assault weapon or a large capacity magazine is a class C felony.

: http://nation.foxnews.com/gun-contro...#ixzz2KzZpy1pz

“Forced Home Inspections” Included In Obamacare
Warner Todd Huston ~ August 15, 2013 11:14pm

New reports are finding that President Obama’s take over of our healthcare system with his Obamacare law will give the government the right to force “inspections” on millions of American homes and your guns may be one of the factors causing a “forced” inspection.

Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) website details the “Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program” which give the government the right to invade any home of families Obama deems is a “high-risk” home. https://grants3.hrsa.gov/2010/Web2Ex...e&pageNumber=1

One of the criteria of an “high-risk” home is the presence of firearms, according to a manual published by HHS in 2006.


According to Freedom Outpost other markers of a “high-risk” home are: http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/08/ob...e-inspections/

◦Families where mom is not yet 21.

Families where someone is a tobacco user.

◦Families where children have low student achievement, developmental delays, or disabilities.

◦Families with individuals who are serving or formerly served in the armed forces, including such families that have members of the armed forces who have had multiple deployments outside the United States.

Constitutional attorney and author Kent Masterson Brown has said:

“This is not a “voluntary” program. The eligible entity receiving the grant for performing the home visits is to identify the individuals to be visited and intervene so as to meet the improvement benchmarks. A homeschooling family, for instance, may be subject to “intervention” in “school readiness” and “social-emotional developmental indicators.” A farm family may be subject to “intervention” in order to “prevent child injuries.” The sky is the limit.

Although the Obama administration would claim the provision applies only to Medicaid families, the new statute, by its own definition, has no such limitation. Intervention may be with any family for any reason. It may also result in the child or children being required to go to certain schools or taking certain medications and vaccines and even having more limited – or no – interaction with parents. The federal government will now set the standards for raising children and will enforce them by home visits.”

Of course, part of Obamacare will require massive data collection of all Americans giving Obama more power over our lives than any President has ever had.

Recently Rep. Bill Chumley (R, SC) introduced H.3101, a bill that would nullify parts of Obamacare. Freedom Outpost notes that, “The bill would give the state attorney general the authority to authorize law enforcement to arrest federal agents for trespassing. It would make forced home inspections under Obamacare illegal in South Carolina. It passed in the House but died in the senate.”


http://www.mrconservative.com/2013/0...-in-obamacare/

Obamacare provision will allow 'forced' home inspections by gov't agents
August 15, 2013

Citing the Heath and Human Services website, a report posted Wednesday at the Freedom Outpost says that under Obamacare, government agents can engage in "home health visits" for those in certain “high-risk” categories.

Those categories include:

• Families where mom is not yet 21;
• Families where someone is a tobacco user;
• Families where children have low student achievement, developmental delays, or disabilities, and
• Families with individuals who are serving or formerly served in the armed forces, including such families that have members of the armed forces who have had multiple deployments outside the United States.

According to HHS, the visits fall under what is called the "Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program" allegedly designed to “help parents and children,” and could impact millions of Americans.

Constitutional attorney and author Kent Masterson Brown said that despite what HHS says, the program is not “voluntary."

"The eligible entity receiving the grant for performing the home visits is to identify the individuals to be visited and intervene so as to meet the improvement benchmarks," he said. "A homeschooling family, for instance, may be subject to 'intervention' in 'school readiness' and 'social-emotional developmental indicators.' A farm family may be subject to 'intervention' in order to 'prevent child injuries.' The sky is the limit."

Joshua Cook said that while the administration would claim the program only applies to those on Medicaid, the new law, by its own definition, has no such limitation.

"Intervention," he added, quoting Brown, "may be with any family for any reason. It may also result in the child or children being required to go to certain schools or taking certain medications and vaccines and even having more limited – or no – interaction with parents. The federal government will now set the standards for raising children and will enforce them by home visits.”

According to Cook, the program will require collection of a massive amount of private information including all sources of income and the amount gathered from each source.

One of the areas of emphasis mentioned by HHS is the "development of comprehensive early childhood systems that span the prenatal-through-age-eight continuum."

Last session, Cook added, South Carolina State Rep. Bill Chumley introduced a measure that would make the forced home visitations illegal in his state. The measure passed in the House but died in the Senate.

In 2011, he noted, HHS said $224 million would be allocated to support these home visiting programs.

http://www.examiner.com/article/repo...y-gov-t-agents

See https://www.socialsecurity.gov/OP_Ho...tle05/0511.htm

comments

"Grants" often provide a financial incentive that pushes government entities towards "growth", which often tends to be inextricably linked to abuse of authority at the same time.

You can also run into the trap of, "well, why would you refuse 'services'"? Such that, by refusing free health care/mental health, you are, in essence, neglecting your kids and, thus, "abusive". Obviously, the "state" will have a financial incentive to get as many people in the program as possible (more grant money = higher budget = more secure job and more jobs in general), so it's conceivable that the state would also begin to punish those, indirectly, who do not comply with said services.

Slippery slope, my friend....

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Absolutely! When we had a swine flu scare in the outer boroughs of NYC. I refused to let my son get a vaccine for swine flu. Nobody knew much about the vaccine, or it's side effects. I do let my son get the mandatory vaccinations, by the way. Of course, I was given a call by my ACS (childern's services) antagonizer . He questioned my decision. I told him that I am not letting my child get a potentially dangerous vaccine.

Additionally, I agreed to let him go for the counseling, after being intimidated by ACS, and the school. What a mistake! There was nothing wrong, as far as I could see. Just a normal child, being a kid. I had to take them to court finally. I got to read the reports from the counselor. I was horrified by the downright lies, and accusations about me! By the way, this same counselor was so friendly to me, with a big false smile. I wrote a letter to the school chancellor. One has to be pretty aggressive to get them out of your family's lives for good !

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As I noted above, licensure is a major stumbling block for me, as would be separating the program completely from the CPS system. If they can't guarantee privacy and they pressure you into "services", I can certainly see this turning ugly.

Also, I don't think this is a state/federal issue; it's merely a social dynamic issue, such that government systems have a tendency towards growth and confirmation bias and it's difficult to correct systems that are cloaked in an aura of "good deeds".

BTW, I think the whole "we need someone looking out for the kids" line of reasoning is the same one used to whittle away our basic rights in the name of "keeping us safe from terrorists". There is a point of diminishing returns and our species has a history of voting away our rights in the name of "safety" (See: WW2 Germany).

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