While there are many serious issues surrounding the foster care problem, it is still a viable solution for the over 500,000 children in foster care homes. Yet one of the major challenges is the insufficiency of qualified homes for children to be placed in.

The experts discuss the three biggest issues impacting the foster care problem: as mentioned, lack of good homes, limited budgets the system works with, which in turn does not pay a care giver very much, and government ineffectiveness.

[flashvideo file=wp-content/uploads/1600/fostercare1624-FosterCare1624.flv /]

Joining Dennis McCuistion to discuss the complexity of this issue and potential solutions are:

• E. Scott McCowan, JD: Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Priorities
• Evy Kaye Ritzen: Program Director, TRAC
• Jan Tennyson: Founder, Dare to Dream Foundation

Children placed in homes often exhibit antisocial behaviors, low self-esteem, post traumatic stress disorders and depression.

Jan Tennyson helps young people build their self-esteem and provides quality life experiences to children and young people who have been victimized. She is a product of foster care. She believes that with the right care a child can flourish, and sometimes foster care may be the only solution.

Scott McCowan and Evy Ritzen discuss the need for strengthening foster care programs, and the best of all solutions, keeping a child in their own homes or placed with a relative in a nurturing family environment.  They address the need for more caring, committed people becoming foster care givers and the necessity for the community to provide help for families, especially in challenging times. A key issue is the case worker, often an area of need as time and funds are issues. The team addresses adoption and its challenges, especially as it relates to older children and the need for encouraging education.

Join in for more information on the foster care problem, what is needed and how an individual can be a part of the solution.

And as always, thanks for watching as we talk about things that matter with people who care.

Niki Nicastro McCuistion
Executive producer/ producer

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Michael Shermer is the Executive Director of the Skeptics Society, founder of Skeptics Magazine, and columnist for Scientific American was at Freedom Fest as a speaker.  He was joined by Terry Brock and Dennis for a brief visit.

Dr. Shermer expressed his views on Darwin and The Origin of Species, celebrating its 150th year anniversary.

Dr. Shermer stated,

“Evolution is in the half dozen of the most interesting and impactful ideas of all time. Yet there are several myths surrounding it: The myth that evolution is competitive and makes us greedy and selfish. It also is what makes us pro-social, cooperative and reciprocal. We have a myth that believing in evolution theory leads to atheism, and a myth of progress and evolution, among others.”

[flashvideo file=wp-content/uploads/Freedom%20Fest/SANY0026.flv /]

Dr. Shermer, who retraced Darwin’s journey through the Galapagos said, “contrary to popular belief, Darwin did not discover evolution in the Galapagos… At the end of the day you’re so tired, collecting, and cataloguing, and the sun goes down at 6PM, there’s just no time for thoughtful reflection…”

Join us for Shermer’s views on Intelligent design, and other theories.

And as always, thanks for watching as we talk about things that matter with people who care…

Niki Nicastro McCuistion
Executive Producer/ Producer

Michael Tanner, Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute joins Dennis McCuistion and marketing consultant, Terry Brock, at Freedom Fest.  Michael Tanner presents his perspectives on the Obama health care plan.

Michael Tanner presently heads research into a variety of domestic policies with a particular emphasis on health care reform, social welfare policy, and Social Security. His most recent book, Leviathan on the Right: How Big-Government Conservatism Brought Down the Republican Revolution (2007), chronicles the demise of the Republican Party as it has shifted away from its limited government roots and warns that reform is necessary.

[flashvideo file=wp-content/uploads/Freedom%20Fest/SANY0019.flv /]

Under his direction, Cato launched the Project on Social Security Choice, widely considered the leading impetus for transforming the soon-to-be-bankrupt system into a private savings program. Time Magazine calls Tanner, “one of the architects of the private accounts movement,” and Congressional Quarterly named him one of the nation’s five most influential experts on Social Security.

According to Michael, the Obama health care plan is,

“essentially government taking over 1/6 of the US economy. Government would then control some of the most personal and private information. Government would tell us what type of insurance to buy, the benefits we would have, how doctors have to practice medicine, and what employees have to carry. It’s top down command and control economics. The Government plan is subsidized by the taxpayer so it can always have lower premiums and higher benefits… You can’t compete against an entity backed by government. That’s like competing against the Mafia.”

Join in for more of Mr. Tanner’s outspoken and cutting edge views on the Obama health care plan. And as always thanks for watching as we talk about things that matter with people who care.

Niki Nicastro McCuistion
Executive Producer/ Producer

Lawrence Reed is the President of the Foundation for Economic Education. The foundation was founded in 1946, which makes it the oldest free market think tank in the country.

Lawrence Reed joins Dennis and Terry Brock at Freedom Fest, Las Vegas for a conversation on freedom and responsibility, the influence of think tanks, and the role they play in influencing public policy.

Mr. Reed, a speaker at the conference, said,

“We need to learn from history… It has lessons to teach us if only well heeded. I drew from the experience with ancient Rome. If we abandon the principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility, expecting the state to keep the peace and leave you alone, we’ve started down the path to massive expenditures and burdens. And an ultimate loss of liberty. That’s a path we’ve gone down in this country quite some distance and we need to turn that around.”

Join Dennis as he interviews Lawrence Reed, who tells us more about the Foundation for Economic Education, the influence of think tanks overall, and the role they play in influencing public policy.

[flashvideo file=wp-content/uploads/Freedom%20Fest/SANY0020.flv /]

As always, thank you for joining us as we talk about things that matter with people who care. Follow us on Twitter@mccuistiontv and give us your feedback and comments. We’d very much like to hear from you…

Niki Nicastro McCuistion
Executive Producer/ Producer

Joining Terry Brock and Dennis from Freedom Fest, Las Vegas, is Alex Green who talks about spiritual wealth, your health, family, friends, community, fly fishing (for some) and sunsets, among the things that money can’t buy.

Alex Green, who spent 16 years on Wall Street, says,

“You can’t put a price on freedom. Especially personal freedom…  It may mean you have to change your lifestyle, a smaller house, one car instead of two, or public transportation.”

Alex Green asks,

“If it doesn’t involve doing work you enjoy, or you bid out to the highest bidder, what is it costing you to work this job? You have the option to experiment with your life and take risks.”

Tune in for more of Alex’s philosophy on spiritual wealth, money and the meaning of life.  Follow us on Twitter and we welcome your comments.

[flashvideo file=wp-content/uploads/Freedom%20Fest/SANY0021.flv /]

And as always thank you for joining us as we talk about things that matter with people who care.

Niki Nicastro McCuistion
Executive Producer / Producer

In the United States overall there are approximately 500,000 children in foster care. There are many serious issues surrounding foster care, not the least of which is there are not nearly enough potential foster care homes for the numbers of children who need this shelter and care.

Joining Dennis McCuistion to discuss the complexity of this issue is:

• E. Scott McCowan, JD: Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Priorities
• Evy Kaye Ritzen: Program Director, TRAC
• Jan Tennyson: Founder, Dare to Dream Foundation

Jan Tennyson, who along with her three other sisters and brothers was in foster care for most of her childhood, talks about the issues of self-esteem, how not feeling wanted took most of her life to overcome, and led to her spending her adult life working with young people to help them with these same issues. She believes quality care and being encouraged by your foster parents to get an education, to finish high school and get a college education is critical.

Unfortunately, as the statistics show this is not always the case. In fact, studies cite that 40% of the homeless people in the United States were once in foster care and they comprise the fastest growing segment of the homeless population. Yet as Scott McCowan summarizes, it does not necessarily mean that if you are in foster care one becomes part of that statistic, but there are often serious attachment disorders as a child may be moved from home to home. He says, “sometimes there are too many children in one home. This is a vulnerable population and they need extra care.”

A Baltimore study Evy Kaye Ritzen discussed, tracked foster care children for 12-18 months after they aged out of foster care and found:

• 27% of the males and 10% of the females were incarcerated
• 33% required public assistance
• 37% had not finished high school.

Yet, foster care solves a problem and our society needs more volunteers and parents willing to take care of children in a loving, nurturing home. Join in for more information on what is needed and how an individual can be a part of the solution.

And as always, thanks for watching as we talk about things that matter with people who care.

Niki Nicastro McCuistion
Executive producer/ producer

***

1623

In 1996 Don Tapscott, co-author of the Paradigm Shift, wrote, The Digital Economy, alerting us of the information highway that would shortly revolutionize how we communicate in every facet of our lives. He spoke of the fundamentally new digital economy, “where the paper trail ends and essential information is instead sent racing at the speed of light across networks.” Tapscott may have been using a crystal ball as we have certainly seen the evidence of this just recently with the Iran elections, and almost everywhere else we turn.

[flashvideo file=wp-content/uploads/1600/large-Tapscottflv.flv /]

In the Digital Economy, Tapscott answered the burning top of mind question every forward-looking manager and business person or business owner asks when the fabric of how business as usual changes to business as unusual… “What does the new technology (or other) mean to me and my business?”

We had the unique pleasure of meeting and interviewing Mr. Tapscott just prior to several TV tapings, several years ago. What he had to say then is still relevant today. In his interview Tapscott predicted the future of technology and how it would impact every area of business… from merchandise tracking systems, to how personal data is logged.

He spoke to the newness of technology,

“What’s so new about this economy is the actual heart of everything. The newness of it. There’s a convergence of communication technologies and content and broad public interest databases. These are crashing together and creating new digital media, changing forever how we do business and create wealth and social development. It’s creating a new economic sector that will be the basis for all other sectors. The new information superhighway is a powerhouse…”

Join Dennis McCuistion as he and Don talk about the future…

And as always thank you for joining us as we talk about things that matter with people who care…

Niki Nicastro McCuistion
Executive Producer/producer

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Given the fact of our present high unemployment and an unstable economy, according to some people, the increases in minimum wage will only increase unemployment. Conversely, others believe that those who work for minimum wage are past due from being given a raise- because of the increased costs of living.

Minimum wage came into existence just after World War II, then at 40 Cents an hour. Minimum wage is essentially a law that makes it illegal for firms over a certain revenue point/size to hire anyone at a wage level below the official minimum.

[flashvideo file=wp-content/uploads/1600/minimuwage1617-MinimumWage1617.flv /]

Joining host, Dennis McCuistion, to discuss the pros and cons of proposed increases are:

• Liana Fox: Economic Analyst with Washington based, Economic Policy Institute
• John P. Greenan: Executive Director of the Central Dallas Community Development Corporation
• Robert Smith: Host of the Acorn Hour Radio Program on KNOW 89.3 FM (Association of the Community Organizations for Reform Now)
• Bob McTeer, PhD – Economist and distinguished Fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis and former President of the Dallas Federal Reserve

Bob McTeer believes that raising the minimum wage may sound good in theory, but in fact some are not employed as a result of it, because firms may not be able to afford hiring them.

John Greenan believes that the minimum wage is low enough that increasing it will not decrease jobs. From his organization’s perspective,

“It’s a moral issue as well. It’s not right [for people] to work full time and not be able to support themselves.”

Join in for a lively discussion that hasn’t changed over the years as to the practicality and morality of minimum wage. Let us know what you think by posting a comment on our website or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/McCuistiontv.

As always thanks for joining us as we talk about things that matter with people who care.

Niki Nicastro McCuistion
Executive Producer/Producer

***

1617

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The McCuistion programs will be featured at 10PM CST Sundays and Monday mornings at 2AM, on 112 Cox Digital cable, Oklahoma City and Tulsa- OETAokla 13.2 and in Tulsa 11.2.

This fall, our TV season will feature several TV programs taped at KLVX, the Las Vegas PBS station studios. Join us for up to date comments on the economy from:

• David Boaz, CATO
• Doug Casey, Casey Research;
• Daniel Mitchell,CATO
• Steve Moore, Wall Street Journal
• Richard Rahn, CATO
• Steve Forbes, Forbes Magazine
• Thomas Woods, author of the controversial best seller, MELTDOWN

We look forward to hearing your comments on our blog or through Twitter.