Day: March 6, 2016

NY Times editorial board screams "xenophobe" in editorial against concerned governors

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

B is for bigot! R is for racist! X is for xenophobe! (S is for silly!)
We are all xenophobes now—any governors with concerns about a state’s right to control the resettlement of expensive (and potentially dangerous) refugees to their states, you, me, and of course Donald Trump.

bishop_11
So, when did the Founding Fathers approve of Bishop Eusebio Elizondo (as chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration) receiving millions of your tax dollars to make decisions about which third world migrants are placed in your states? Bio and photo: http://www.seattlearchdiocese.org/archdiocese/auxiliaries.aspx

You can read the whole thing yourself, that is not why I’m posting it—the No Borders Left, including the NYT editorial board, continues their tired old name calling, ho hum (not worth mentioning).
But there is one little line in the editorial that I found interesting, but apparently the great minds at the NYT have no concern for the FACT that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops is deciding which refugees go where.

Who ELECTED the Bishops?

Obviously the Times doesn’t give a flying c*** about States’ Rights or what governors think, but how can they justify the fact that NO elected official or legislative body is making a decision to foist expenses on state and local taxpayers, change the cultural make-up of American towns and possibly endanger people.
Here is the line I found so troubling, but apparently the NYT does not:

….in fact resettlement decisions are made by mainstream social agencies like the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops and its subsidiaries (Catholic Charities) are federal contractors paid millions upon millions every year by YOU to resettle refugees in your communities with no opportunity for you to question those decisions.
The Founding Fathers could not have imagined such a thing when crafting our Constitution.
Have a look at a 2014 Annual Report for the USCCB Migration Fund.  Citizen taxpayers are paying the majority of the Bishops’ budget. And note that, in addition to the $79.5 million in federal grants and contracts, that the over $3 million in ‘travel loan collection fees’ is also your money (in a budget of $85.9 million).
They could not exist without their hands in your wallets!
 
 
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By the way, if the lawsuit against the governor in Indiana (which the NYT crows about) is dead, there is a potentially very successful States’ Rights lawsuit that will soon (we hope) come out of Tennessee.  More here.
There is no way that the US Supreme Court could ever find this arrangement ‘Constitutional’ if a case could get there.  In fact, I wonder if there is any case challenging the power of federal contractors generally on Constitutional grounds?
If this whole federal contracting business was blown to bits, we would all be a lot better off!

Lutheran agency is a federal refugee resettlement "contractor" bringing diversity to South Dakota

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

So why am I mentioning the obvious—that the Lutheran Social Services Center for New Americans in Sioux Falls is a federal “contractor?”  Because we have heard over and over again in angry tones that the contractors are not contractors using your money, your tax dollars, to do work for their clients (all the while pretending to be private ‘religious’ charities).
Into the weeds we go (but this is important!)….

Tim Jurgens
Tim Jurgens, Director of LSS in South Dakota: “We are a contracted provider on behalf of the federal government.”

Not that long ago Asst. Secretary of State Anne Richard went to South Carolina and said critics must stop using the word “contractor” in reference to the agencies resettling refugees across 48 states (no refugees are resettled in Wyoming and Montana, yet).
But, here, in a gushy announcement of a ‘feel good’ propaganda event in Sioux Falls, refugee sub-contractor Lutheran Social Service of SD (sub-contractor to federal contractor Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service in Baltimore, MD) says they are, wait for it, a “contracted provider on behalf of the federal government.” (That is a federal contractor ‘for those in Rio Linda!’)
From KSFY (ABC):

The 21st annual ‘Taste of Cultures’ event benefiting Lutheran Social Services, Saturday, will help to celebrate cultural diversity and raise funds helping newcomers re-settle.  [What! No poor, elderly or homeless Americans left in South Dakota for the good Lutherans to help?—ed]

While the event is sold out, the awareness of a diverse community is key as hundreds of refugees continue to make Sioux Falls their home.

The Lutheran Social Services Center for New Americans is the only agency of its kind in the area.

“We are a contracted provider on behalf of the federal government. We provide initial resettlement for refugees that the president allows in each year. We resettle up to 420 each year. What we do is provide immediate assistance upon their arrival,” Program Director Tim Jurgens said. “The refugee resettlement program is an early self-sufficiency model. The expectation upon us is to have individuals employed within six months.”   [Yeh, good luck with that self-sufficiency lie!—ed]

By the way, the contractors (colonizing your towns and cities) really prefer to call themselves VOLAGs, that is short for Voluntary Agencies (see all nine here), but that is such a misnomer as most are largely federally funded.  $296 million went to LIRS alone since Obama took office.
Even as Anne Richard objects, you have my (and Tim’s!) permission to call federal refugee contractors—contractors!