The problem is that many are NOT US citizens and (hopefully!) are NOT voting!
However, if it were up to the Colorado African Organization(CAO) they would all be signed up! Before I get to the story in The World from yesterday, keep in mind that the CAO is a mini-ACORN, sometimes called an Ethnic Community Based Organization (ECBO)***. The basic idea is that they help immigrants of their chosen ethnic group get signed-up for their welfare and at the same time become political ADVOCATES for the “community.” And, here is the kicker—-YOU are paying for it with your tax dollars!
Here is the story from swing-state Colorado (emphasis mine). It begins as they all do with a representative sob story:
Doh-Taka (open the link to read her story, if she had her fibroids removed, there should be no limitation on her returning to work—ed) is in a bind many refugees and asylees face – living in a new country without health insurance. [What! She had health insurance in her old country?—ed] That is slated to change soon. Refugees, as legal immigrants, are eligible for the same protections and benefits as US citizens under the Affordable Care Act. Many of the provisions of the Act take effect in 2014, including a rule that insurance companies cannot deny or charge higher premiums based on pre-existing conditions.
Doh-Taka’s story isn’t unique, nor is it special to immigrants, refugees, or asylees. But navigating the healthcare system is especially difficult for refugees, who often have a superficial understanding of American culture, institutions, and English.
“The Affordable Care Act is going to really help people understand and utilize the healthcare system that’s available for them,” said Kit Taintor, the executive director at the Colorado African Organization, a group that helps African immigrants build new lives. [Here the reader is led to believe that the CAO is just a friendly struggling non-profit out to help the poor and downtrodden—ed]
Obamacare will streamline their health care (don’t believe it for a minute!).
Right now, Taintor said healthcare for refugees is a “cumbersome” process.
“For the first 90 days they get refugee medical assistance, and then they switch over to Medicaid, which requires recertification of forms and filling out all of these things. So they tend to let Medicaid lapse, even if they’re eligible for it. So I think that what this (The Affordable Care Act) is going to allow is for people to really extend what they think healthcare is and how it can support them and their families.”
We want Obama because we want our health care (which we just learned that they already have through Medicaid):
The African refugees I met in Denver didn’t have the greatest understanding of the nuances of healthcare reform, but all strongly support it. And from my totally unscientific polling, nearly all support President Obama. In Colorado, there are an estimated 35,000 African immigrants and refugees; precise data aren’t available. In a tightly contested election, could this small group like this give the president enough votes to take the state?
“I doubt that’s a large enough community to make a really substantial impact on the election,” said Seth Masket, an associate professor of political science at the University of Denver. “But given how close this election is likely to be, almost any constituency of any size could end up being pivotal.”
One problem for the president: Those still legally classified as refugees, by definition, can’t vote.
The ones I met were all striving to improve their English and study for the citizenship exam so they could become citizens. I asked Ismail Ahmed, a refugee from Sudan, why he wants to vote. His English was pretty basic: “Healthcare, I like that.”
So, now what do we know about the Colorado African Organization?
In a free country there is no problem with non-profits forming to help “their people.” However, you need to know that taxpayers are the majority contributors to this organization and that “advocacy” is a large part of what they do—including getting Africans registered to vote!
So, now have a look at their most recent IRS Form 990. Page 9 is the important page where we can see their revenue for that year. Note that they took in $607,125. And, of that $497,205 comes from you as government grants! They couldn’t exist without 82% of their funds coming from taxpayers!
Another $22,252 was service revenue which probably included government contracts. That leaves a paltry $87,668 that came from private donations from places probably like the Tides Foundation and other left-leaning foundations and companies (which are looking for cheap labor!).
So, just like the now discredited giant, ACORN, they use taxpayer money and advocate for leftwing issues and politicians (and register voters in election year!). It is “community organizing” with an ethnic twist!
*** We have a category on ECBOs . I haven’t written many posts there recently, but it’s worth having a look at.
New readers might also want to visit our “health issues” category to see the many health problems associated with refugees entering the US from third world countries. Be sure to see the post from September about the cases of TB we are admitting to the US. A little surgery for fibroids is nothing compared to what that TB treatment is going to cost our healthcare system!