American taxpayers have unwittingly helped finance a polygamist sect that is now the focus of a massive child abuse investigation in West Texas, with a business tied to the group receiving a nearly $1 million loan from the federal government and $1.2 million in military contracts. More here.
Meanwhile, my husband and I are running a minority-owned small business and so far all we’ve gotten from the Small Business Administration is spam.
I saw those articles. It’s bad journalism. There is a company that makes aircraft parts, which the federal government buys. The owner is a polygamist. So this becomes “Polygamist sect gets millions from U.S. government”. Damn if that isn’t incredibly misleading and deliberately so. Yellow journalism at its finest. The reporters writing these articles should be ashamed of themselves.
I don’t know Deborah. While I am not particularly bothered by the polygamy aspect or ties to Jeffs, I do find this portion of the story a bit problematic:
I think there have been enough claims/complaints filed against both companies regarding labor practices, inequitable pay and discrimination (refusal to hire non-church members) to justify an investigation – and if they are not adhering to federal law: no, I do not think they should be eligible for SBA assistance or listing in the Central Contractors Registry.
I agree with you completely about that, and that would have made a fine and fair headline: “Slave Labor at Defense Contractor Owned by Polygamist”.
What I object to is the way the story is being paraded around in such a way to suggest the federal government is giving millions to the sect, as opposed to the reality of buying parts from a company run by a influential member of the sect.