Day: August 7, 2007

Iraqi Muslim Refugees–go home (Part 2)

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Not too long ago we mentioned that Lincoln, Nebraska was bracing for a surge of Iraqi refugees, but it appears the surge is not materializing according to this article last Saturday in the Lincoln Journal Star.   Contractor Church World Services through its subcontractor  Luthern Refugee Services  indicated that Lincoln is one of 10 areas of the US set up as receiving areas for Iraqis.  

The contractors sound downright despondent to hear that the process is not moving along.     Afterall, 7000 refugees by September 30th is only a drop in the bucket compared to benevolent Sweden’s contribution.   We feel sorry for people too, right?  We like collecting the downtrodden.

But what if these 7000 Iraqis, and the hundreds of thousands of others who have run and hidden, were brave people?   What if they had the spirit that created America in 1776?   What if they were as determined as both the North and South were in our Civil War?  What if they were as brave as the Brits were facing Hitler?  Or, as daring as the Israelis were in the Six-Day War? 

What if……..they all went home to Iraq and told the foreign fighters [no, not fighters, Muslim cowards who deliberately kill children] to take their terrorism and leave.    We, Americans, have rid Iraq of the tyrant Saddam Hussein and given them an elected government.  It is now up to the Iraqis scattered across the globe to go home, take responsibility and make something of their country.   

The choice is theirs.  They can continue to suffer from the whining syndrome that seems to have gripped the whole world.  They can play the pathetic victim card like their Muslim compatriots at the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) or they can buck up.   A few years ago I gave a speech at Valley Forge Military Academy in which I told the cadets that what they become in life is up to them, not their parents, their teachers or circumstances in their lives.    The same is true here,  Iraq could be a beacon in the desert.

Or, the Muslim Iraqi refugees can hide out around the world living like parasites on the benevolence of  Christian and Jewish do-gooders.  Now wouldn’t that be a fitting end for the followers of Mohammed?

Americans for Tax Reform group supported amnesty bill?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

In light of our story last week about so-called conservative groups pushing for opening the floodgates to Iraqi Muslim refugees, I just checked out the website of Americans for Tax Reform and discovered not only was there absolutely no mention of the costly Refugee Resettlement program to be found, but that this group which purports to work for reform of our tax policy supported the recent Comprehensive Immigration legislation that the people of America killed.  See all of their glowing statements about this amnesty bill here.

What is going on?   In light of my previous post, it looks like we need a blog to inform us of the activities of so-called conservative Republicans!   Anyone interested?

Thoughts on blogging

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Friends who know me well will groan when they hear I have some ideas after working out on the farm, driving the tractor, whatever.    It must be something about the combination of fresh air and mindless work, but I do my thinking then and its gotten me into many a project I wish I could get out of….

Anyway,  I thought about blogging this morning and my comments now result from my vast experience after 5 weeks of doing it.  (I had to be dragged kicking and screaming into it!)   It strikes me that it’s time for blogging to enter a new phase.   From my limited view it seems that many of the blogs I read and enjoy and learn from take news stories and evaluate them with new twists,  often adding much more information so the reader understands the full context.  People who comment are amusing, controversial, and insightful.  And, that is good and should continue.

However, I’m thinking this morning as I killed weeds,  there needs to be a new generation.  If we are to advance our conservative concerns about Islam and immigration for example, we need experts in every aspect of the work.   For literally generations we have relied on the mainstream media to do this work, but as we all know they have failed miserably.  Investigative journalism is virtually dead.

I can think of six focused areas right off the top of my head that someone could blog on, become an expert, and help advance our political concerns by encouraging citizen involvement based on knowledge of the issue.

Here is just one of those areas:  leftwing foundations.  Years ago I ran into the power brokers behind the environmental movement:  the likes of the Rockefeller Bros. Fund, Pew Charitable Trust, MacArthur Foundation, etc. on the subject of property rights (they were working against landowners).   They are responsible for the ‘greening of the churches’ too.   You know they are likely deeply involved in the immigration issue as well,  and not from our perspective.  Just yesterday the Washington Post ran a story,  “A Mexican Towns Clay Residents”, about an artist who is re-populating his town with clay figures to make a point about how many townspeople have left for the US.  The project is funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and you can bet it isn’t to prod the Mexican government into doing something!

I’ve digressed, my point is, we need people to develop focused blogs where one does original research and makes the results known to us all, and guides us to the action that needs to be taken.  This is the goal I’m aiming for at Refugee Resettlement Watch.  I hope by bringing the facts to you, as I see them, that the Refugee Resettlement program of the US government will be reformed.    I know it sounds trite, but knowledge is power! 

Companies hiring refugees get tax credits

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Your tax dollars:

I promise to do Part 2 of the “Muslims go home” later today, but for a change of pace this morning and for our readers who are interesed in Refugee Resettlement as a financial concern, I’m writing about another federal (your tax dollars) program.

As the controversy continued in Hagerstown, MD over refugee resettlement, one of the many things citizens are interested in (besides the welfare benefits afforded to refugees) is what is the incentive for businesses to hire refugees.   Of course, the obvious answer is that grateful refugees will accept low wages.

There is more, however.  Turns out there is a tax credit, a substantial one, offered to businesses that hire people who are on, or have received, various forms of welfare.  (Refugees are immediately eligible for all forms of welfare and that is one reason that a person would much rather enter the US designated a refugee than just as a regular immigrant.)  It’s called the Work Opportunity Tax Credit which gives up to a $2400 tax credit to a business that hires a refugee and the person stays on the job for a minimum of 400 hours (10 weeks for a 40 hour work week).   

Read more about the Work Opportunity Tax Credit here.