All SALF Plans, No National Guard Training Funds, Complete Local Media Disinterest

U.S. House candidate Tim Bagwell, PhD (D-Olney), sent Rita Mullins, the former mayor of Palatine IL, and the president of a New Hampshire military subcontractor a letter requesting details regarding an alleged nationwide first aid training partnership between the controversial nonprofit Save-A-Life Foundation (SALF) and the U.S. National Guard.

The National Guard has no records for any training associated with SALF. No surprises there. Their reports to the Internal Revenue Service state the following:

$590,000 to train 170 emergency medical service providers as instructors at 33 military bases in 27 states AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, FL, GA, HI, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MI, MS, MO, NJ, NM, NC, OK, OR, PR, SC, TX, WV, WI, WY to teach their 7,000 at-risk high school age students life supporting first aid training and provide all training equipment, materials, (and) testing supplies.

[. . .]

Save-A-Life identified Dare Mighty Things Inc., a Portsmouth, New Hampshire consulting firm, as the source of the funding and claims to have provided the training in partnership with the National Guard’s Youth ChalleNGe, a program intended to benefit young people at-risk. In 2007 Dare Mighty Things was awarded a 10-year, $50 million National Guard contract to oversee Youth ChalleNGe training programs.

John Shimkus (R-Collinsville) has already washed his hands of the matter with deafening silence. The oversight of federal funds in excess of $3 million is not his concern. He has decided that he needs to question implementation data on the health care law of Texas. Although he represents IL-19, it is obviously less important than other states.

With the exception of an article in the State Journal-Register in Springfield, IL, editors from the local news media refuse to print the story. Apparently they agree with the inconsequential Mr. Shimkus and have also decided that government oversight is a non-issue.