Beware Of Grant Scams…
Here is a copy of an article from the September 20, 2004 edition of the “Commercial Appeal” in Memphis, TN:

The "Federal Government Grant Information Center" or "Consumer Grants USA" or "U.S. Federal Grant Information Central" of St. Petersburg or Clearwater, Fla., are calling to offer government grants of $8,000 for a processing fee ranging from $200 to $249. The callers claim to be with the government and that, "It's been in all of the newspapers." Well, now it has. The caller offers to deposit $8,000 into the recipient's checking account if the checking account number is revealed.

Working and Still Struggling Financially?…
… You can be making up to $35,000 to $40,000 a year and still be eligible for government benefit programs. Like money for food bills, day care, health insurance for you or your children, fuel and utility bills, phone bills, and more. A non-profit organization called SEEDO is developing a web site so people can learn how to take advantage of these programs. See http://www.earnbenefits.org.

The Best Place For Free Or Discount Medicines…
... If you are having trouble trying to decide if it’s best for you to take advantage of the new Medicare prescription drug program or the traditional free drug program offered by the pharmaceutical companies, try a free computer search from a non-profit organization called Access To Benefits Organization. They are a legit non-profit trying to help people identify the best way to get free prescription drugs. For information on this program see http://www.accesstobenefits.org/.

Laws Let You See Successful Grant Applications…
… . Even at the state level there are laws that let you demand your rights to see copies of successful applications from people who already got the money. They may be called different laws in different states. In Ohio they’re called “Sunshine Laws” and they are published for everyone in a publication called the Yellow Book. See http://www.ag.state.oh.us/online_publications/2004_yellow_book.pdf. They’re enforced by the state attorney general’s office. Check your state’s attorney general’s office if a state official ever tells you that you are not allowed to see an application. Remember, it’s your money the government is handing out in grants.

It Takes A Government Grant To Raise A Billionaire…
… According to a group called Responsible Wealth, everyone on the Forbes 400 richest Americans list owes their wealth partly to taxpayer-financed inheritance, public research and contracts, public schools and universities, communications, transportation and other critical infrastructure, and a bunch of other government institutions from the Federal Reserve, courts, Treasury, Defense and Commerce Departments.

Warren Buffett, No. 2 on the Forbes 400, attended a publicly-supported state school, the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, and is quite clear that his investment wealth depends on America's social and economic infrastructure. "I personally think that society is responsible for a very significant percentage of what I've earned," said Buffett. "I happen to work in a market system that happens to reward what I do very well -- disproportionately well."

Larry Page, No. 43 on the Forbes 400, co-founded Google, which went public this year. Page graduated from a state school, the University of Michigan, and then attended Stanford University for graduate work, where Google was born. Government grants underpin the lucrative research in Silicon Valley and at Stanford University. The Internet platform, without which Google would not exist, is built on a foundation of taxpayer-funded research and development.

H. Ross Perot, Jr, No. 40 on the Forbes 400, grew his company Electronic Data Systems (later sold to General Motors) by focusing on computer systems and services for Medicare, a government program. The company's growth -- and windfall profits -- really took off when it began reselling the Medicare claims processing system it had developed for Texas Blue Cross under a research and development contract paid for by federal funds.

Yet while the Forbes 400 richest Americans are doing better this year -- their collective wealth rose $45 billion since 2003 -- the average taxpayer is not. Median household income fell for the fourth year in a row last year

See http://www.responsiblewealth.org/notalone.

How Popular Is Your Name?...
...The Social Security Administration keeps track of popular baby names for every year going back to 1990. My name was the 4th most popular name last year. Don’t know if that is good or bad… See http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/babynames/.

Phone Best For Getting Grants…
...A telephone-based study conducted by Pew Internet and American Life Project of 2,925 adult Americans showed that 53% preferred to contact the government by phone or in person and only 35% prefer either Web or email. 10% cited a letter as their top choice. Even Internet users are more likely to use the telephone or in-person visits instead of Web or email. See http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/128/report_display.asp.

900 Grants Programs Online FOR FREE…
...Go to www.grants.gov and you can apply directly to government grants on-line. This website is a collaborative effort of 26 government agencies to put their grant information on the web. It’s certainly is not everything but it’s a good start.

Seminar Is As Good As Personal Consulting…
…to answer all your grant questions. Don’t spend thousands that personal grant consultants will charge you when you can spend 3 hours with Lesko in a small group of people and get all your questions answered. He is the undisputed Guru of Government Giveaways. The only grant consultant that has helped Fortune 500 companies, has 2 New York Times Best Selling Books on the subject and has written syndicated columns on the topic for The New York Times and Good Housekeeping Magazine. Don’t miss this opportunity for personal grant information. Reserve your seat now at http://howtogetagrant.com/grseminar1.