US Conference of Catholic Bishops not happy with the President

So what else is new.

The USCCB, as readers know, is one of the nine major federal resettlement contractors*** that is being financially hurt by the slowdown in the refugee flow to Your Town, USA.

But, they never tell the public that piece of important information when they wail about federal refugee policy changes. I recently joked that until one of their news items tells the public the whole truth, I would keep writing about their taxpayer-supplied millions of dollars!

Of course they are not happy with President Trump now because he removed the US from that ‘nothing burger’ UN compact I told you about here.

When that compact was formed in September of 2016, on the margins of the UN General Assembly at an Obama-organized show, organizers were disappointed at a toothless and wishy-washy response by western countries. That is not to say it wouldn’t have turned in to something after follow-up meetings, but was in truth nothing more than symbolic.

But, you see it gives the Religious Left, like the Bishops, a reason to bash Trump now.

From Crux:

NEW YORK – Following the announcement last Saturday by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that the United States would no longer participate in the development of a Global Compact on Migration, U.S. Catholic bishops and migration experts denounced the decision and urged the Trump administration to reconsider its position.

Catholic lobbyist O’Keefe. Do taxpayers ‘contribute’ to his salary?

The Compact was an outcome goal of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, which the U.S. participated in during a United Nations summit in September 2016.

“We simply cannot in good faith support a process that could undermine the sovereign right of the United States to enforce our immigration laws and secure our borders,” said Tillerson.

In response, the U.S. bishops said the decision is counterproductive to the country’s safety efforts and violates key tenets of Catholic social teaching.

Bishop Joe E. Vásquez, chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Migration, said that while the Church teaches that every country has a right to secure its own borders, “the Church has long articulated that it is the obligation of nations to assure human rights for all migrants and special protections for vulnerable migrants, such as refugees, forced migrants, victims of human trafficking, and women and children at risk.”

The Bishops and O’Keefe have every right to lobby on everything under the sun (including global warming). They can bash the Prez all they want, but if I were the President I would be cutting off their federal funding! Separation of church and state after all! Let them do their lobbying and their “good works” with private funding!

How many of your tax dollars help pay this Catholic lobbyist’s salary?

In an interview with Crux, Bill O’Keefe, vice president for government relations and advocacy for Catholic Relief Services, said Catholics of all political persuasions should support the effort of the Global Compact.

If you are a Catholic of a different “political persuasion” speak up in your local parish!

And, now for new readers (longtime readers can stop here!) because I am going to post this every time I see them whining and moaning about refugee policy, but never mentioning their pecuniary interest.

From my post last July…

The Bishops Migration Fund was 97% taxpayer-funded according to a 2014 annual report for their Migration Fund and I doubt the percentage has changed much in recent years.

The Bishops don’t file a Form 990 and their operations are so vast, I could spend the whole day and still not sort it out. Also, maybe you can find one, but I have not found an annual report for their refugee program since I found this one for 2014.

So we will have to rely on it (again). Keep in mind these funds for their refugee resettlement program do not include millions that go directly from the feds to some individual Catholic Charities and Dioceses around the US. (If you are researching your local CC or Dioceses, you can often find good numbers at USASpending.gov)

US Treasury dollars circled in red. Travel loan collection fees is your money too! Do you see what a tiny bit of money is privately given which says to me that the average practicing Catholic is not supporting their migration program.

***These are the nine federal resettlement contractors paid by you to place refugees in your towns and cities. The USCCB places the largest number so they are really feeling the financial pinch as the President has reduced the flow of paying clients (aka refugees). These middlemen, get paid by the head for their ‘charitable good works,’ so they have no incentive to ever see a reduction in numbers.