I was away for a few days so am coming in on the middle of a public discussion apparently on-going in Concord, NH about refugees. Things must not be going smoothly.
Look at this defense of refugee resettlement from a volunteer (Deb Baker) of Lutheran Social Services—it’s all the usual boilerplate stuff I’ve seen everywhere. I wonder if there are talking points written up by each volag so that their people can dash off opinion pieces to newspapers like Deb’s? (Remember what I said about puff-pieces in my discussion with reader Jim at the Ft. Wayne post).
It appears her fellow citizens are having none of it. Here is one comment I liked:
Deb is wrong by saying taxpayers are not footing the bill for this handout. The last I knew American private citizens pay federal taxes too. To say that they don’t receive money from “local’ taxes is a normal liberal slant on the truth. We don’t need to import people from all over the world because you suffer from some form of American guilt. One of these days you do gooders are going to import somebody with a disease that will spread like wildfire and do irreversible harm to Americans. If we had strong leadership in Washington and New Hampshire (there’s very little anywhere) they would put a stop to this practice.
And here is another:
I commend Deb Baker’s commitment as a volunteer at Lutheran Social Services Refugee Resettlement Program. I offer another opinion about the contributions of those with refugee status and the “money that supports their resettlement”. Ms. Baker states that refugees are not a financial drain but actually contribute to the local economy. She supports this argument by stating that, “If Concord stopped resettling refugees, the money would follow the refugees elsewhere.” The resettlement benefits are primarily federal funds, from We The People. This program would be better received if funded 100% privately. Federal funds are desperately needed to rebuild America’s infrastructure before our beloved country is sold to the highest bidder because we cannot meet our obligations. We were taught that charity begins in the home. I urge those who want to sponsor refugees to assume the burdens and reap the rewards of this noble endeavor from their own pockets. Let’s refocus our national expenditures on strengthening our infrastructure that benefits ALL of America.
If anyone knows what prompted Deb’s defense in the first place let me know!