Is White House “refugee czar” lying low to avoid scrutiny over Benghazi disaster and cover-up

Are they keeping Samantha Power under wraps now so she won’t be tainted by the Libya scandal washing over Washington?  And, why would they do that?

Ever since the Benghazi disaster on September 11th, I’ve wondered where the third member of the “humanitarian vulcans” could be.  And, especially now as it appears increasingly likely that Benghazi could end the political career of US Ambassador Susan Rice and if all goes as it should, Hillary should be out too, I am puzzled by the complete silence on Samantha—the third member of the troika that pushed Obama into his Libyan adventure.

First, who is Samantha Power?

*  Power was born in Ireland and is a protege of George SorosUpdate:  Here is a better link connecting Soros and Power.

*  She is credited with being the brains behind something called R2P (shorthand for the Responsibility to Protect) a doctrine which says a country can (and must) go to war to avert a humanitarian disaster.

* She is married to Cass Sunstein, former “regulatory czar” in the Obama White House and author of a book Glenn Beck highlighted at length entitled “Nudge” and I think its self-evident where he wants to nudge us to!

* Power called Hillary Clinton a “monster” during the 2008 Presidential campaign.

* After Obama was elected he placed Power in the White House National Security Council.

* Interesting to me at the time was that she was tasked with reforming the Refugee Resettlement Program which is really the purview of the State Department.  (Incidentally, she and her task force did nothing other than get more money allocated to refugee contractors).  She was also crowned ‘Iraqi refugee czar’ in the White House.

* In Edward Klein’s book, “The Amateur”, she was quoted as saying she was sick of doing “rinkey-dink do-gooder stuff” like refugee issues.  Here is the quote as reported by Klein:

Among Obama’s foreign policy advisers, Samantha Power, the far-out leftist firebrand, complained that the administration’s cautious, first-dono-harm, approach to the Arab Spring had effectively sidelined her in White House Councils.  She said she’d been relegated to “doing rinky-dink do-gooder stuff,” such as advocating on behalf of beleaguered Christians in Iraq, and no longer had as much access to the President.  She was itching to get back in the fray, and she saw an opportunity in Libya.

* So, she got herself in the catbird seat on Libya and became the architect for our involvement in Libya!  (and what do you know—they produced more refugees!)

Here is a very telling piece posted at Irish Central on March 30th, 2011 entitled:  Samantha Power credits President Obama with Libya uprising.

We helped the rebels in Benghazi!  (Power)

Irish born White House foreign policy specialist Samantha Power said this week she believes President Obama’s two-year international campaign to promote human rights helped trigger the uprising in Libya against Moammar Gadhafi’s rule.

In a speech she gave on Monday at Columbia University Power, currently the director of multilateral affairs at the National Security Council, defended her strong support for the military operation against Gadhafi’s forces.

[…..]

Power claimed that the president, through a series of speeches he gave in various foreign capitals, had made it easier for other nations to stand with the United States against home grown tyrants.

Power responded to a question on the military operation to impose a no-fly zone, saying that “force can be justified on humanitarian grounds”

To underline her point Power added that the international coalition had acted to protect the rebel-stronghold city of Benghazi because of Gadhafi’s ruthless attacks. [gee, maybe Gadhafi knew something we didn’t know.–ed]

[…..]

Last week The New York Times revealed that Power, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had countered reluctant military leaders to persuade president Obama to launch military operations against Gadhafi’s forces, under the guise of protecting civilians.

So, back to my curiosity about where Power is hiding out these days.  She and Sunstein recently had another child so I figured perhaps she was home being mommy.  But, no, here she is with Valerie Jarrett just last week helping to empower women and girls.  What?  Sounds like ‘rinkey-dink’ to me.  I had to laugh when I saw the photo of Power hunched over the computer answering questions from girls, it’s as if she is saying it’s just little ol’ good person me, move along, no Vulcan here.

Why is she lying low on Libya?

Maybe, just maybe, because her fortunes have risen as Hillary’s and Rice’s are declining, and the White House wants to keep her out of the scandal so she is available…...for what?

Power is being mentioned as the next Secretary of State—-ahhhhhhh!

Here is one story, again at Irish Central.

And, check out this list of five potential Secretaries of State in a second Obama Administration!

1) Senator John Kerry

2) Ambassador Susan Rice

3) National Security Adviser Thomas Donilon

4) NSC Official Samantha Power

she is considered a key architect of Obama’s Libya intervention. But remember, some conservatives and Israel proponents don’t like Power because they consider her pro-Palestinian.

5) Rep. Keith Ellison  (the new leader in Congress on all things refugee, here)

OMG!

Obama and his ruthless “humanitarian” women—Clinton, Rice and Power—must go!

Endnote:  A version of this post was published today at Potomac Tea Party Report.

Feds give $$$ to some counties for refugee “services”

Less now due to the large number of illegal alien homeless kids the Office of Refugee Resettlement is responsible for.

Some counties get money from the Office of Refugee Resettlement for “services” so that jobless refugees can survive and find jobs.  By far the largest recipient of federal cash is Miami-Dade County in Florida due to the large number of Cuban “entrants.”

Here is another one of those boring stories about how the program works (see my previous boring story earlier this week, here)One good thing about this “Targeted Assistance” program is that one can readily see the overloaded counties and can better understand why some local governments keep quiet about overload—they are getting carrots ($$$) to keep quiet!

Attached is a Federal Register Notice, published on Tuesday, September 4, 2012, that announces the FY 2012 Targeted Assistance formula awards.  As described in ORR State Letter #12-10 and in the Federal Register Notice published on Thursday, August 23, 2012, ORR is now providing notice of formula grant awards through publication in the Federal Register.  Final formula allocations will no longer be available under the Funding Opportunities section of the ORR website.

The total amount of FY 2012 funds being allocated is $25,265,582.  This amount is 58 percent of the amount originally available for FY 2012 Targeted Assistance formula allocations ($43,561,348).  The unprecedented and significant increase in the number of unaccompanied alien children entering ORR care that began in FY 2012 and has continued throughout the fiscal year has necessitated the reallocation of funds from Targeted Assistance formula grants (as well as Targeted Assistance discretionary and Social Services discretionary grants).  As a result, the FY 2012 Targeted Assistance formula grants are being incrementally funded and supported with both FY 2012 and FY 2013 funding.  Subject to funds availability, the remaining 42 percent of the total amount will be funded with FY 2013 Targeted Assistance funds and will be allocated to States in accordance with the FY 2012 population distribution.

Purpose:  Get refugees employed and off welfare (never mind that they compete with unemployed Americans for jobs)

The purpose of Targeted Assistance formula grants is to provide, through a process of local planning and implementation, direct services intended to result in the economic self-sufficiency and reduced welfare dependency of refugees through job placements.  Section 412(c)(2)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides that Targeted Assistance grants shall be made available “(i) primarily for the purpose of facilitating refugee employment and achievement of self-sufficiency, (ii) in a manner that does not supplant other refugee program funds and that assures that not less than 95 percent of the amount of the grant award be made available to the county or other local entity.”

Which refugees get additional help ($$$)?

In accordance with 45 C.F.R. 400.314, States are required to provide Targeted Assistance services to refugees in the following order of priority, except in certain individual extreme circumstances: (a) refugees who are cash assistance recipients; (b) unemployed refugees who are not receiving cash assistance; and (c) employed refugees in need of services to retain employment or to attain economic independence.

Which counties get the $$$?

State County/Targeted Assistance Area Refugees/1 Entrants2 Asylees SIVs Total Allocation
Arizona Maricopa County 4,175 252 97 116 4,670 $776,160
Pima County 1,377 0 7 39 1,423 236,504
California Alameda County 420 4 249 167 840 139,609
Los Angeles County 3,477 22 1,663 79 5,241 871,061
Orange County 538 11 110 73 732 121,659
Sacramento County 1,192 0 39 75 1,306 217,059
San Diego County 5,784 51 408 178 6,421 1,067,178
Santa Clara County 772 1 334 53 1,160 192,793
Colorado/3 Denver 2,913 3 65 48 3,029 503,424
Florida Broward County 220 1,145 411 2 1,778 295,506
Duval County 1,648 232 39 31 1,950 324,092
Hillsborough County 1,073 2,240 61 29 3,403 565,583
Miami-Dade County 2,954 32,025 805 2 35,786 5,947,680
Orange County 397 700 366 30 1,493 248,138
Palm Beach County 245 1,488 217 5 1,955 324,923
Georgia DeKalb County 4,176 75 26 47 4,324 718,654
Fulton County 1,378 16 7 15 1,416 235,341
Idaho/3 Ada County 1,192 0 4 9 1,205 200,273
Illinois Cook, DuPage and Kane Counties 3,527 53 199 109 3,888 646,190
Indiana Marion County 2,041 0 0 26 2,067 343,538
Iowa Polk County 646 0 5 6 657 109,194
Kentucky/3 Jefferson County 1,823 775 0 23 2,621 435,613
Warren County 843 0 0 7 850 141,271
Maryland Baltimore 1,171 5 175 13 1,364 226,699
Montgomery/Prince George’s Counties 947 0 458 69 1,474 244,981
Massachusetts/3 Hampden County 1,174 0 6 1 1,181 196,284
Suffolk County 735 44 214 10 1,003 166,700
Worcester County 847 6 38 14 905 150,412
Michigan Eaton and Ingham County 1,140 7 0 15 1,162 193,126
Kent County 1,075 11 0 4 1,090 181,159
Macomb, Oakland and Wayne Counties 3,057 0 0 259 3,316 551,123
Minnesota Ramsey and Hennepin Counties 3,368 0 56 16 3,440 571,732
Missouri St. Louis 1,090 5 15 19 1,129 187,641
Nebraska Douglas County 1,161 0 0 4 1,165 193,624
Nevada/3 Clark County 883 308 72 24 1,287 213,901
New York Erie County 2,402 1 6 11 2,420 402,207
Monroe County 1,340 90 2 5 1,437 238,831
New York City/4 705 18 862 33 1,617 268,747
Oneida County 938 0 0 0 938 155,897
Onondaga County 1,845 134 0 0 1,988 330,408
North Carolina Guilford County 1,235 1 4 3 1,243 206,588
Mecklenberg County 1,244 66 39 7 1,356 225,369
Ohio Franklin County 1,471 11 118 25 1,625 270,077
Oregon Multnomah and Clackamas Counties/5 2,038 194 51 42 2,325 386,418
Pennsylvania City of Philadelphia 1,370 10 7 34 1,421 236,172
Erie County 1,449 0 0 4 1,453 241,490
Lancaster County 982 133 1 1 1,117 185,647
South Dakota/3 Minnehaha County 829 5 5 10 849 141,105
Tennessee/3 Davidson County 1,880 24 68 100 2,072 344,369
Texas Bexar County 1,247 32 18 69 1,366 227,031
Dallas and Tarrant Counties 4,935 69 203 184 5,391 895,991
Harris County 3,826 557 262 257 4,902 814,719
Potter County 1,208 5 3 19 1,235 205,259
Travis County 1,256 234 56 97 1,643 273,069
Utah Davis, Salt Lake, and Utah Counties 1,916 3 20 29 1,968 327,084
Virginia Arlington and Fairfax Counties/6 439 11 103 101 654 108,696
Washington King and Snohomish Counties 3,470 5 498 98 4,071 676,605
Spokane County 873 1 7 6 887 147,421
Wisconsin Milwaukee County 1,283 10 9 7 1,309 217,557
Total 99,639 41,123 8,488 2,768 152,018 $25,265,582