Celebrate today, but tomorrow the real work begins!

 

Celebrate today, but tomorrow the real work begins!

Posted by Ann Corcoran on November 9, 2016

“It does you no good to have local grassroots action in a vacuum that never gets to the ears of your Washington reps!”

Get some sleep and then celebrate.
It’s a wonderful day here on the farm because it’s raining (we’ve had a drought!) and of course because the country class has risen up and soundly defeated the elite establishment ruling class all across America.

Ryan test! Will Speaker Paul Ryan block any effort to defund the Refugee Program in upcoming lame duck session? If he does, it may be one of the first tests of whether Ryan will work with Trump, or whether his political career is over.

Since Donald Trump, President-elect of the United States, has succeeded in maintaining the Republican majority (coattails!) in both houses of Congress, it will soon be very clear whether the Republicans will work to scrap/reform the  the UN/US State Department Refugee Admissions Program (RAP) or let it move full steam ahead.

If you think that you can relax, that Trump will take care of this problem for you—forget it!  The work has just begun!

Heretofore, the open borders Republicans could point to an Obama with a veto pen as their excuse not to undertake any scaling back or reform of the RAP.  They can no longer shirk their duty!
Congress returns with Republican majorities pretty much intact for the lame duck session next week, and we will have the first test of Paul Ryan’s speakership as it relates to the budget and this program.

It is about the POWER OF THE PURSE!

Will Ryan bow to what he knows Trump wants—a scaling back of the RAP especially as it relates to refugees from countries which hate us—or will he agree to fully fund the RAP at the high level Obama wants for FY2017?
Until January 20th, Obama would likely veto a budget that defunds the RAP, but that is no excuse not to force his hand.

This is going to be the ultimate and clear test for us!

And Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will be showing his colors too on the budget.  By the way, they could continue the present FY2016 level (not enough money for 110,000 refugees) into say March giving a Trump Administration time to weigh in on the final 6 months of the year.
You must get to work tomorrow, especially in Republican House Districts to tell your member of Congress to DEFUND the program! (We expect to see a repeat effort by Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX), and hopefully Dave Brat (R-VA) to attach an amendment to the Appropriations bill that must be passed, or kicked down the road, by December 9th).

If Paul Ryan blocks such an effort, we will then clearly know whether he will work with a Trump Administration or not!

You can see all of my posts on the budget process by visiting the tag ‘Where is Congress.’
So many of you are working in your towns and cities to investigate the RAP, to pressure local elected officials, to look for ways to sue the federal government, to pressure your state legislators and governors to say no to more refugees, which is all good and necessary work.
However, in the next few weeks all of that effort should be directed at one outcome—DEFUNDING the program.  So, every grassroots effort must be directed at your House member and Senators.
Do not assume that if you hold a rally or other public meeting, or call upon the governor to sue the feds to oppose resettlement where you live, that your Congressman and Senators will hear about it—they are some of the least informed people you know—they live in a beltway bubble!

It does you no good to have local grassroots action in a vacuum that never gets to the ears of your Washington reps!

What must Trump do on January 21st?

First, if they haven’t resigned already, he must demand the resignations of the political appointees running the RAP.
They include Anne Richard, Asst. Secretary of State for Population Refugees and Migration and Robert Cary, Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement and any of their underlings who are there in politically appointed jobs. There is nothing to be done right now about career federal employees, let’s just hope that a recent poll that said a quarter of federal employees in DC would quit if Trump was elected follow through.
Of course, much of what happens with this program going forward depends on who Trump will place in his cabinet as Secretary of State, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Homeland Security.  Will they be people willing to slow or stop some immigration programs?
As we discussed above, Trump must work with Congress to cut the budget—appropriations are policy!
As for Obama’s ‘determination’ submitted to Congress this past September where Obama said he wanted 110,000 refugees placed in America by September 30th 2017, Trump has the power to stop that flow on January 21st.
Obama’s proposal is a ceiling only, it is not a legally mandated goal! Of course those Obama appointees and the federal contractors are already working day and night to get as many refugees, especially from Syria, in to your towns and cities by January 20th.  They are also getting as many placed in a pipeline as well so they can scream and shout about how mean Trump is to close the spigot with people in the pipeline.
And, that is why curtailing the budget NOW, in the lame duck, is so important.  It sends the signal that the spigot is closing!
One final thing! This Trump landslide victory sends a message to our friends in Europe that they can resist the Islamification by migration of Europe!

https://refugeeresettlementwatch.wordpress.com/2016/11/09/celebrate-today-but-tomorrow-the-real-work-begins/