Comment worth noting: maybe agencies have different pots of money

This is a comment from ‘Iamevolved’ to the post I did yesterday about the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI)* lobbying on the Amnesty issue.  I really wanted to know how giving 12 million illegal aliens amnesty would help refugees.  Needless to say, no one answered that and I won’t hold my breath.    But, ‘Iamevolved’ said this (below) which sent me off to do research (till my eyes were falling out of my head, but more on what I learned in upcoming posts.)

It is possible that volags have different pots of money they use to fund positions so that employees are able to conduct different forms of advocacy for the people who they serve. I fail to see how it takes away jobs from refugees. Help me understand how you see that.

I went to the most recent Form 990 that USCRI filed with the IRS.  It covers the tax year Oct. 1, 2007 to Sept. 30th 2008.   Total income for the year was $23,138,072.  Of that amount $22,136,680 comes from you, the taxpayer.   96% of their entire income is from the government yet as a non-profit group they are unaccountable to you who pay for this.

So our commenter must be on to something, different pots of money?  Only $1,001,392 comes from “direct public support” and they spent $1,000,000 lobbying.  Humm!  Now the question is, who funded the lobbying?  Is it Soros money too? Certainly not the taxpayer, I think that is illegal.    I don’t know who gave that $1 million to USCRI.  Later I will tell you who did give a cool $3.5 million to the International Rescue Committee.

CEO Lavinia Limon had a salary and benefits package worth $198,466 in the tax year I looked at.  And, then, keeping it in the family?  Peter Limon, Director of Field Operations, took in $105,026 from you the taxpayer.  What is that expression, doing well by doing good?

In the meantime, USCRI came under scrutiny in several of its affiliate offices.  I’ve told you about this before here, but it bears repeating.

We have reported problems USCRI has had with other subcontractors in Albany, NY, Erie, PA, Waterbury, CT, Manchester, NH and Akron, OH.    These were problems related to those subcontractors either having too many refugees and some not adequately caring for them, or in the case of Erie there was some funny-money business going on.

So here is what I was thinking:  How about if USCRI uses its $1 million lobbying pot of money each year to help refugees it resettles—to keep them in better housing, feed them, clothe them, help them find jobs, and help the struggling affiliate staffs who are overloaded.

As for the jobs portion of ‘Iamevolved’s’ comment, I answered that at the post.

* USCRI is one of the top ten federal contractors resettling refugees but is by no means the largest.

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