Shortly after Hurricane Katrina roared through South Mississippi knocking out electricity and communication systems, the White House ordered power restored to a pipeline that sends fuel to the Northeast.
That order - to restart two power substations in Collins that serve Colonial Pipeline Co. - delayed efforts by at least 24 hours to restore power to two rural hospitals and a number of water systems in the Pine Belt.
"I considered it a presidential directive to get those pipelines operating," said Jim Compton, general manager of the South Mississippi Electric Power Association - which distributes power that rural electric cooperatives sell to consumers and businesses.
"I reluctantly agreed to pull half our transmission line crews off other projects and made getting the transmission lines to the Collins substations a priority," Compton said. "Our people were told to work until it was done.
Dan Jordan, manager of Southern Pines Electric Power Association, said Vice President Dick Cheney's office called and left voice mails twice shortly after the storm struck, saying the Collins substations needed power restored immediately.
Jordan dated the first call the night of Aug. 30 and the second call the morning of Aug. 31. Southern Pines supplies electricity to the substation that powers the Colonial pipeline.
Compton said workers who were trying to restore substations that power two rural hospitals - Stone County Hospital in Wiggins and George County Hospital in Lucedale - worked instead on the Colonial Pipeline project.
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050911/NEWS05/509110304
The move caused power to be restored at least 24 hours later than planned.
9.14.2005
Altercation gets better reader mail than I do..
..so I am posting his (they get the point right):
Name: Bill
Hometown: White Plains
Dr. Alterman,
Folks should take a close look at what is going on in New Orleans, because they are looking into the future. Armed mercenaries are now roaming the streets of N.O., hired by the government. Blackwater Security is roaming the streets of N.O., as though it is downtown Bagdad. Freedom of the press is being curtailed. The press is being stopped from video taping the removal of bodies that have been laying and rotting for two weeks, so their families won't be traumatized. The truth is being suppressed. Does anyone really expect a true count of the dead? The former head of FEMA was in the south hired as a consultant to arrange for FEMA funding of the rebuilding efforts, 5 days before the Hurricane struck. Contracts have been awarded without bidding to Flour Daniels and, yes you guessed it, Halliburton. Due process requirements for fair bidding have been excused due to the scope of the disaster the south is facing. 160,000 homes in the worst flooded areas, and yes the poorest, may not be habitable and will be destroyed. Mercenaries, censorship, cronyism, displacement of the impoverished from prime real estate. We need to do more than rebuild New Orleans. We need to rebuild this Country.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9312146/#050914
Name: Bill
Hometown: White Plains
Dr. Alterman,
Folks should take a close look at what is going on in New Orleans, because they are looking into the future. Armed mercenaries are now roaming the streets of N.O., hired by the government. Blackwater Security is roaming the streets of N.O., as though it is downtown Bagdad. Freedom of the press is being curtailed. The press is being stopped from video taping the removal of bodies that have been laying and rotting for two weeks, so their families won't be traumatized. The truth is being suppressed. Does anyone really expect a true count of the dead? The former head of FEMA was in the south hired as a consultant to arrange for FEMA funding of the rebuilding efforts, 5 days before the Hurricane struck. Contracts have been awarded without bidding to Flour Daniels and, yes you guessed it, Halliburton. Due process requirements for fair bidding have been excused due to the scope of the disaster the south is facing. 160,000 homes in the worst flooded areas, and yes the poorest, may not be habitable and will be destroyed. Mercenaries, censorship, cronyism, displacement of the impoverished from prime real estate. We need to do more than rebuild New Orleans. We need to rebuild this Country.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9312146/#050914
Conservatives fail to take in the whole story once again....
Many Conservatives are reccomending 'March of the Penguins' as a parable for thier views:
March of the Conservatives: Penguin Film as Political Fodder
To Andrew Coffin, writing in the widely circulated Christian publication World Magazine, that is a winning argument for the theory that life is too complex to have arisen through random selection.
"That any one of these eggs survives is a remarkable feat - and, some might suppose, a strong case for intelligent design," he wrote. "It's sad that acknowledgment of a creator is absent in the examination of such strange and wonderful animals. But it's also a gap easily filled by family discussion after the film."
Rich Lowry, the editor of National Review, told the young conservatives' gathering last month: "You have to check out 'March of the Penguins.' It is an amazing movie. And I have to say, penguins are the really ideal example of monogamy. These things - the dedication of these birds is just amazing."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/13/science/13peng.html?adxnnl=1&incamp=article_popular&adxnnlx=1126724847-/Or8nq5Yyw+qrO2166Qj1w
But, did they forget about this:
Central Park Zoo's gay penguins ignite debate
New York -- Roy and Silo, two chinstrap penguins at the Central Park Zoo in Manhattan, are completely devoted to each other. For nearly six years now, they have been inseparable. They exhibit what in penguin parlance is called "ecstatic behavior": That is, they entwine their necks, they vocalize to each other, they have sex. Silo and Roy are, to anthropomorphize a bit, gay penguins.
When offered female companionship, they have adamantly refused it. And the females aren't interested in them, either.
At one time, the two seemed so desperate to incubate an egg together that they put a rock in their nest and sat on it, keeping it warm in the folds of their abdomens, said their chief keeper, Rob Gramzay. Finally, he gave them a fertile egg that needed care to hatch. Things went perfectly, and a chick, Tango, was born.
For the next 2 1/2 months they raised Tango, keeping her warm and feeding her food from their beaks until she could go out into the world on her own. Gramzay is full of praise. "They did a great job," he said.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/02/07/MNG3N4RAV41.DTL
March of the Conservatives: Penguin Film as Political Fodder
To Andrew Coffin, writing in the widely circulated Christian publication World Magazine, that is a winning argument for the theory that life is too complex to have arisen through random selection.
"That any one of these eggs survives is a remarkable feat - and, some might suppose, a strong case for intelligent design," he wrote. "It's sad that acknowledgment of a creator is absent in the examination of such strange and wonderful animals. But it's also a gap easily filled by family discussion after the film."
Rich Lowry, the editor of National Review, told the young conservatives' gathering last month: "You have to check out 'March of the Penguins.' It is an amazing movie. And I have to say, penguins are the really ideal example of monogamy. These things - the dedication of these birds is just amazing."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/13/science/13peng.html?adxnnl=1&incamp=article_popular&adxnnlx=1126724847-/Or8nq5Yyw+qrO2166Qj1w
But, did they forget about this:
Central Park Zoo's gay penguins ignite debate
New York -- Roy and Silo, two chinstrap penguins at the Central Park Zoo in Manhattan, are completely devoted to each other. For nearly six years now, they have been inseparable. They exhibit what in penguin parlance is called "ecstatic behavior": That is, they entwine their necks, they vocalize to each other, they have sex. Silo and Roy are, to anthropomorphize a bit, gay penguins.
When offered female companionship, they have adamantly refused it. And the females aren't interested in them, either.
At one time, the two seemed so desperate to incubate an egg together that they put a rock in their nest and sat on it, keeping it warm in the folds of their abdomens, said their chief keeper, Rob Gramzay. Finally, he gave them a fertile egg that needed care to hatch. Things went perfectly, and a chick, Tango, was born.
For the next 2 1/2 months they raised Tango, keeping her warm and feeding her food from their beaks until she could go out into the world on her own. Gramzay is full of praise. "They did a great job," he said.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/02/07/MNG3N4RAV41.DTL
9.12.2005
Georgia's 'Poll Tax' Same as Wisconsin's
Georgia's New Poll Tax
In 1966, the Supreme Court held that the poll tax was unconstitutional. Nearly 40 years later, Georgia is still charging people to vote, this time with a new voter ID law that requires many people without driver's licenses - a group that is disproportionately poor, black and elderly - to pay $20 or more for a state ID card. Georgia went ahead with this even though there is not a single place in the entire city of Atlanta where the cards are sold. The law is a national disgrace.
Until recently, Georgia, like most states, accepted many forms of identification at the polls. But starting this month, it is accepting only government-issued photo ID's. People with driver's licenses are fine. But many people without them have to buy a state ID card to vote, at a cost of $20 for a five-year card or $35 for 10 years. The cards are sold in 58 locations, in a state with 159 counties. It is outrageous that Atlanta does not have a single location. (The state says it plans to open one soon.) But the burden is also great on people in rural parts of the state.
The Republicans who pushed the law through, and Gov. Sonny Perdue, also a Republican, who signed it, say that it is intended to prevent fraud. But it seems clear that it is about keeping certain people away from the polls, for political advantage. The vast majority of fraud complaints in Georgia, according to its secretary of state, Cathy Cox, involve absentee ballots, which are unaffected by the new law. Ms. Cox says she is unaware of a single documented case in recent years of fraud through impersonation of a voter at the polls.
Citizens who swear they are indigent are exempt from the fee. But since the law does not define who is indigent, many people may be reluctant to swear and risk a criminal penalty. More important, the 24th Amendment, which outlawed poll taxes in federal elections, and the Supreme Court's decision striking down state poll taxes applied to all Americans, not just to the indigent. A Georgian who votes only in presidential elections, and buys a five-year card to do so, would be paying $10 per election. That is no doubt more than many people on fixed incomes, who struggle to get by but are not legally indigent, are willing to pay to vote.
If Georgia's law remains in place, other states are likely to follow. There is also growing concern among voting-rights advocates that a self-appointed election reform commission, led by James Baker, the former secretary of state who played a troubling role in the disputed 2000 election, and former President Jimmy Carter, may be about to propose national voter ID standards that would similarly make it harder for poor people and blacks to vote.
The American Civil Liberties Union is planning to challenge Georgia's law. It will have several strong legal claims, starting with the 24th Amendment. The Supreme Court said in 1966, in striking down the poll tax, that "the right to vote is too precious, too fundamental to be so burdened." It still is.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/12/opinion/12mon1.html?th&emc=th
In 1966, the Supreme Court held that the poll tax was unconstitutional. Nearly 40 years later, Georgia is still charging people to vote, this time with a new voter ID law that requires many people without driver's licenses - a group that is disproportionately poor, black and elderly - to pay $20 or more for a state ID card. Georgia went ahead with this even though there is not a single place in the entire city of Atlanta where the cards are sold. The law is a national disgrace.
Until recently, Georgia, like most states, accepted many forms of identification at the polls. But starting this month, it is accepting only government-issued photo ID's. People with driver's licenses are fine. But many people without them have to buy a state ID card to vote, at a cost of $20 for a five-year card or $35 for 10 years. The cards are sold in 58 locations, in a state with 159 counties. It is outrageous that Atlanta does not have a single location. (The state says it plans to open one soon.) But the burden is also great on people in rural parts of the state.
The Republicans who pushed the law through, and Gov. Sonny Perdue, also a Republican, who signed it, say that it is intended to prevent fraud. But it seems clear that it is about keeping certain people away from the polls, for political advantage. The vast majority of fraud complaints in Georgia, according to its secretary of state, Cathy Cox, involve absentee ballots, which are unaffected by the new law. Ms. Cox says she is unaware of a single documented case in recent years of fraud through impersonation of a voter at the polls.
Citizens who swear they are indigent are exempt from the fee. But since the law does not define who is indigent, many people may be reluctant to swear and risk a criminal penalty. More important, the 24th Amendment, which outlawed poll taxes in federal elections, and the Supreme Court's decision striking down state poll taxes applied to all Americans, not just to the indigent. A Georgian who votes only in presidential elections, and buys a five-year card to do so, would be paying $10 per election. That is no doubt more than many people on fixed incomes, who struggle to get by but are not legally indigent, are willing to pay to vote.
If Georgia's law remains in place, other states are likely to follow. There is also growing concern among voting-rights advocates that a self-appointed election reform commission, led by James Baker, the former secretary of state who played a troubling role in the disputed 2000 election, and former President Jimmy Carter, may be about to propose national voter ID standards that would similarly make it harder for poor people and blacks to vote.
The American Civil Liberties Union is planning to challenge Georgia's law. It will have several strong legal claims, starting with the 24th Amendment. The Supreme Court said in 1966, in striking down the poll tax, that "the right to vote is too precious, too fundamental to be so burdened." It still is.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/12/opinion/12mon1.html?th&emc=th
Newsweek headline get's it right:
Harry Truman: "The buck stops here." The Bushies say, "Let's not play the blame game."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9288171/site/newsweek/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9288171/site/newsweek/
Al Gore: When there is No Vision, the People Perish
Gore's theme was based upon the quote from Proverbs, "When there is no vision, the people perish." He dwelt at length on the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina observing, "It is important that we learn the right lessons from what happened, or else we will repeat the mistakes that were made." Gore identified three basic lessons that the American people must grasp: the first is deceptively simple - Presidents should be expected to pay attention. The former Vice President recalled that on August 6, 2001, President Bush received an intelligence briefing, "Bin Laden determined to strike in U.S.," but took no action as, "it was vacation time." Four years later, the Bush Administration received dire warnings of the damage that would be done to New Orleans, and the Gulf Coast, if Hurricane Katrina kept to its projected course; nothing was done, "It was, once again, vacation time."
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0911-26.htm
I have always liked that guy....
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0911-26.htm
I have always liked that guy....
Nichols on Barbara Bush & Family
On the tape of the interview, Mrs. Bush chuckles audibly as she observes just how great things are going for families that are separated from loved ones, people who have been forced to abandon their homes and the only community where they have ever lived, and parents who are explaining to children that their pets, their toys and in some cases their friends may be lost forever. Perhaps the former first lady was amusing herself with the notion that evacuees without bread could eat cake.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20050906/cm_thenation/120080;_ylt=Ap7lOX.DLF6ltBEsLvoNvHms0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3ODdxdHBhBHNlYwM5NjQ-
http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20050906/cm_thenation/120080;_ylt=Ap7lOX.DLF6ltBEsLvoNvHms0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3ODdxdHBhBHNlYwM5NjQ-
Feingold tries to save flood victims from crushing debt - Sensenbrenner tries to make it easier to kick them when they are down
Feingold to seek bankruptcy protections for Katrina victims
By Frederic J. Frommer
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Sen. Russ Feingold plans to seek legislation aimed at softening the effects of a new, tougher bankruptcy law on victims of Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters.
Feingold, D-Wis., said he wanted to make sure the new law "does not compound the hardship for thousands of hardworking Americans who simply will not be able to make ends meet as a result of this disaster."
The law, which makes it harder for debt-ridden Americans to wipe out their obligations, takes effect Oct. 17.
Feingold said he hoped to introduce a bill and have it included in disaster relief legislation Congress is expected to pass.
The current outline of Feingold's bill calls for people who lived in the hurricane's disaster zone as of Aug. 28 to be treated under the old bankruptcy law for a year after the new law kicks in.
The bill also would make the following changes for victims of all natural disasters, not just Katrina:
-Exempt payments from the Federal Emergency Management Agency or relief agencies from the definition of income for purpose of bankruptcy eligibility;
-Exempt natural disaster victims from the provisions of the new law that make it easier for landlords to evict tenants who are in bankruptcy than the current law allows;
-Exempt natural disaster victims from the new law's stricter paperwork and documentation requirements."
The bankruptcy system is a safety net that can provide a fresh start," said Feingold, an outspoken critic of the new law.
President Bush signed the law in April, after Congress passed it following eight years of lobbying by banks and credit card companies.
Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, does not support changes to the bankruptcy law, said his spokesman, Jeff Lungren.
"The chairman is interested in helping and protecting the Hurricane Katrina victims - they would qualify under the special circumstances exceptions under the bill," Lungren said.
Meanwhile, the House Wednesday passed Sensenbrenner's bill that would allow circuit, district and bankruptcy courts to conduct special sessions outside their geographic boundaries when they cannot meet because of emergency conditions.
And Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., said last week he plans to reintroduce legislation that would establish an insurance fund that states can buy insurance coverage from to help cope with future disasters.
http://www.gazetteextra.com/katrina_bankruptcy090805.asp
By Frederic J. Frommer
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Sen. Russ Feingold plans to seek legislation aimed at softening the effects of a new, tougher bankruptcy law on victims of Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters.
Feingold, D-Wis., said he wanted to make sure the new law "does not compound the hardship for thousands of hardworking Americans who simply will not be able to make ends meet as a result of this disaster."
The law, which makes it harder for debt-ridden Americans to wipe out their obligations, takes effect Oct. 17.
Feingold said he hoped to introduce a bill and have it included in disaster relief legislation Congress is expected to pass.
The current outline of Feingold's bill calls for people who lived in the hurricane's disaster zone as of Aug. 28 to be treated under the old bankruptcy law for a year after the new law kicks in.
The bill also would make the following changes for victims of all natural disasters, not just Katrina:
-Exempt payments from the Federal Emergency Management Agency or relief agencies from the definition of income for purpose of bankruptcy eligibility;
-Exempt natural disaster victims from the provisions of the new law that make it easier for landlords to evict tenants who are in bankruptcy than the current law allows;
-Exempt natural disaster victims from the new law's stricter paperwork and documentation requirements."
The bankruptcy system is a safety net that can provide a fresh start," said Feingold, an outspoken critic of the new law.
President Bush signed the law in April, after Congress passed it following eight years of lobbying by banks and credit card companies.
Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, does not support changes to the bankruptcy law, said his spokesman, Jeff Lungren.
"The chairman is interested in helping and protecting the Hurricane Katrina victims - they would qualify under the special circumstances exceptions under the bill," Lungren said.
Meanwhile, the House Wednesday passed Sensenbrenner's bill that would allow circuit, district and bankruptcy courts to conduct special sessions outside their geographic boundaries when they cannot meet because of emergency conditions.
And Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., said last week he plans to reintroduce legislation that would establish an insurance fund that states can buy insurance coverage from to help cope with future disasters.
http://www.gazetteextra.com/katrina_bankruptcy090805.asp
9.11.2005
From This Month's Newsletter...
Message from the Chair
We Should Support the County Sales Tax to Protect the Most Vulnerable in Winnebago County
"Declining support from the US government and the State of Wisconsin, a 1.5 million structural deficit left by the prior executive, very generous three year labor contracts that run through 2006, rapidly rising fuel and utility costs, and a levy freeze that deprives the county of the additional revenue from appreciating property. The county is left with only two real choices; lay off 100 to 130 employees and allow many services to the poor the elderly and the community at large to suffer, or adopt a 1/2% sales tax."
This was County Executive Mark Harris’ statement regarding the proposed 0.5% sales tax. The sales tax will bring in $9 million in 2006. $3 million will go to fill the budget holes, $4 million will go to property tax relief, and $2 million would go into the reserve fund.
What does this mean? Many people are not talking about the property tax relief portion. It creates a $.50 per $1,000 reduction in the property tax rate. These numbers matter, because they help show who is gaining and losing in this equation.
We know who loses if this tax does not go through, the poor, the elderly, the developmentally disabled, children and crime victims. Without the funds generated by this tax, the DA will not re- fill a domestic violence advocate; the sheriff office will reduce patrol in rural areas, lowering response times. Social workers will be downsized, removing 70 indigent elderly from service and reducing response to child abuse claims.
But, independent fixed income elderly, and working poor homeowners also loose if the sales tax is not passed. Combining the property tax relief with the sales tax, you see a reduction to the tax burden of these groups. An elderly couple owning a $100,000 house, on a fixed income of $20,000 per year, the will save $50 on property tax, and according to Sate of Wisconsin estimates, $40 more in sales tax for $10 in tax relief.
Also, this tax does not fall on purchases of food or medicine; therefore much more of the elderly couple’s spending would be tax- free.
An average couple making $45,000 in household income would see a small increase in net taxes of $40 for the year. The sales tax collected then goes up with the level of disposable income. Also this would enable the county to collect this sales tax on the tourists who enjoy our county services through EAA, Country USA & the like, yet pay no local tax.
It seems obvious to me. It is the poorest, the most vulnerable and the elderly; as well as those dedicated county workers that care and provide services for them that are being asked to shoulder the cuts of the county budget. Why? So those with a large amount of expendable income will not have to see a marginal increase in the yearly amount of taxes that are collected by the county. If there is any lesson to be learned from the experience in New Orleans, it is that starving and gutting government affects those who need the service the most.
We must never forget that compassion does not end at the curb of your street. We as a society have a responsibility to care for those defenseless among us down the street, across town and throughout the county.
The sales tax is not a course that should be taken lightly; it is the better of two bad choices that have been handed to the county government. We should be proud to have a County Executive like Mark Harris who sees that the necessary course is not always the politically expedient one. By supporting his efforts, we will be supporting those in Winnebago County who most need our help.
I urge you to call your county supervisor ant urge them to vote in favor of the county sales tax to support those most needy among us.
The ‘Message from the Chair’ is Jef Hall’s opinion only.
Added:
Please go to my website: www.jef4wi.com for a calculator of how the tax effects you.
We Should Support the County Sales Tax to Protect the Most Vulnerable in Winnebago County
"Declining support from the US government and the State of Wisconsin, a 1.5 million structural deficit left by the prior executive, very generous three year labor contracts that run through 2006, rapidly rising fuel and utility costs, and a levy freeze that deprives the county of the additional revenue from appreciating property. The county is left with only two real choices; lay off 100 to 130 employees and allow many services to the poor the elderly and the community at large to suffer, or adopt a 1/2% sales tax."
This was County Executive Mark Harris’ statement regarding the proposed 0.5% sales tax. The sales tax will bring in $9 million in 2006. $3 million will go to fill the budget holes, $4 million will go to property tax relief, and $2 million would go into the reserve fund.
What does this mean? Many people are not talking about the property tax relief portion. It creates a $.50 per $1,000 reduction in the property tax rate. These numbers matter, because they help show who is gaining and losing in this equation.
We know who loses if this tax does not go through, the poor, the elderly, the developmentally disabled, children and crime victims. Without the funds generated by this tax, the DA will not re- fill a domestic violence advocate; the sheriff office will reduce patrol in rural areas, lowering response times. Social workers will be downsized, removing 70 indigent elderly from service and reducing response to child abuse claims.
But, independent fixed income elderly, and working poor homeowners also loose if the sales tax is not passed. Combining the property tax relief with the sales tax, you see a reduction to the tax burden of these groups. An elderly couple owning a $100,000 house, on a fixed income of $20,000 per year, the will save $50 on property tax, and according to Sate of Wisconsin estimates, $40 more in sales tax for $10 in tax relief.
Also, this tax does not fall on purchases of food or medicine; therefore much more of the elderly couple’s spending would be tax- free.
An average couple making $45,000 in household income would see a small increase in net taxes of $40 for the year. The sales tax collected then goes up with the level of disposable income. Also this would enable the county to collect this sales tax on the tourists who enjoy our county services through EAA, Country USA & the like, yet pay no local tax.
It seems obvious to me. It is the poorest, the most vulnerable and the elderly; as well as those dedicated county workers that care and provide services for them that are being asked to shoulder the cuts of the county budget. Why? So those with a large amount of expendable income will not have to see a marginal increase in the yearly amount of taxes that are collected by the county. If there is any lesson to be learned from the experience in New Orleans, it is that starving and gutting government affects those who need the service the most.
We must never forget that compassion does not end at the curb of your street. We as a society have a responsibility to care for those defenseless among us down the street, across town and throughout the county.
The sales tax is not a course that should be taken lightly; it is the better of two bad choices that have been handed to the county government. We should be proud to have a County Executive like Mark Harris who sees that the necessary course is not always the politically expedient one. By supporting his efforts, we will be supporting those in Winnebago County who most need our help.
I urge you to call your county supervisor ant urge them to vote in favor of the county sales tax to support those most needy among us.
The ‘Message from the Chair’ is Jef Hall’s opinion only.
Added:
Please go to my website: www.jef4wi.com for a calculator of how the tax effects you.
Department of Homeland Security Posts Mercenaries in New Orleans
Will they outsource anything?
Heavily armed paramilitary mercenaries from the Blackwater private security firm, infamous for their work in Iraq, are openly patrolling the streets of New Orleans. Some of the mercenaries say they have been "deputized" by the Louisiana governor; indeed some are wearing gold Louisiana state law enforcement badges on their chests and Blackwater photo identification cards on their arms. They say they are on contract with the Department of Homeland Security and have been given the authority to use lethal force.
Blackwater mercenaries are some of the most feared professional killers in the world and they are accustomed to operating without worry of legal consequences. Their presence on the streets of New Orleans should be a cause for serious concern for the remaining residents of the city and raises alarming questions about why the government would allow men trained to kill with impunity in places like Iraq and Afghanistan to operate here.
As the threat of forced evictions now looms in New Orleans and the city confiscates even legally registered weapons from civilians, the private mercenaries of Blackwater patrol the streets openly wielding M-16s and other assault weapons.
But in an hour-long conversation with several Blackwater mercenaries, we heard a different story. The men we spoke with said they are indeed on contract with the Department of Homeland Security and the Louisiana governor's office and that some of them are sleeping in camps organized by Homeland Security in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. One of them wore a gold Louisiana state law enforcement badge and said he had been "deputized" by the governor. They told us they not only had authority to make arrests but also to use lethal force.
Two men we spoke with said they plan on returning to Iraq in October. But, as one mercenary said, they've been told they could be in New Orleans for up to 6 months. "This is a trend," he told us. "You're going to see a lot more guys like us in these situations."
http://www.democracynow.org/static/Overkill.shtml
The government should not deputize mercenaries for service in America.
Heavily armed paramilitary mercenaries from the Blackwater private security firm, infamous for their work in Iraq, are openly patrolling the streets of New Orleans. Some of the mercenaries say they have been "deputized" by the Louisiana governor; indeed some are wearing gold Louisiana state law enforcement badges on their chests and Blackwater photo identification cards on their arms. They say they are on contract with the Department of Homeland Security and have been given the authority to use lethal force.
Blackwater mercenaries are some of the most feared professional killers in the world and they are accustomed to operating without worry of legal consequences. Their presence on the streets of New Orleans should be a cause for serious concern for the remaining residents of the city and raises alarming questions about why the government would allow men trained to kill with impunity in places like Iraq and Afghanistan to operate here.
As the threat of forced evictions now looms in New Orleans and the city confiscates even legally registered weapons from civilians, the private mercenaries of Blackwater patrol the streets openly wielding M-16s and other assault weapons.
But in an hour-long conversation with several Blackwater mercenaries, we heard a different story. The men we spoke with said they are indeed on contract with the Department of Homeland Security and the Louisiana governor's office and that some of them are sleeping in camps organized by Homeland Security in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. One of them wore a gold Louisiana state law enforcement badge and said he had been "deputized" by the governor. They told us they not only had authority to make arrests but also to use lethal force.
Two men we spoke with said they plan on returning to Iraq in October. But, as one mercenary said, they've been told they could be in New Orleans for up to 6 months. "This is a trend," he told us. "You're going to see a lot more guys like us in these situations."
http://www.democracynow.org/static/Overkill.shtml
The government should not deputize mercenaries for service in America.
Bush in free-fall
Only 38 percent of Americans approve of the way Bush is doing his job overall, a record-low for this president in the NEWSWEEK poll. (Fifty-five percent of Americans disapprove of his overall job performance.) And only 28 percent of Americans say they are “satisfied with the way things are going” in the country, down from 36 percent in August and 46 percent in December, after the president’s re-election.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9280375/site/newsweek/site/newsweek/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9280375/site/newsweek/site/newsweek/
9.09.2005
A good comment on Sensebrenner...
This was emailed to me by a fellow Dem - great message:
A half-dozen constituents of Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner, in the 5th Congressional District from Milwaukee County, Waukesha County and Ozaukee County, visited Congressman Sensenbrenner's office at 120 Bishops Way, Room 154 in Brookfield, WI 53005 to personally deliver a message to him.
With cameras from Fox 6 and WISN 12 rolling, we walked in to Congressman Sensenbrenner's office to tell him how appalled we were that he would choose this time to claim to be fiscally responsible. He didn't do it during the Bush tax cuts, and he didn't do it when he voted for Bush's Energy Bill with its over 6,000 cases of "pork" projects, but he did stand against providing immediate and significant help to hundreds of thousands of Gulf Coast Survivors who've already suffered because of the Federal Government's incompetence.
This was our statement to him:
In the light of the poor Federal response in assisting the Gulf Coast Survivors, which has clearly delayed medical assistance and vitally needed food and water, causing additional unnecessary deaths, Congress stepped in to legislate assistance where Bush, Homeland Security and FEMA utterly failed.
The Katrina Relief Bill passed in the Senate 97-0, and in the House 410-11. You, Congressman Sensenbrenner were one of the 11 who voted against the bill.
You have been cited as claiming that the reason for your opposition was because there wasn't enough oversight of the money being spent. While that, on the surface, may be a concern, considering FEMA has been so incompetent in its handling of this National Emergency so far, and is being given the responsibility for the distribution of these funds, isn't it the responsibility of Congress to oversee the distribution of these funds? Why is it that you would block this aid to the survivors, and turn your back on them at this critical time when this funding is so desperately needed? This is unconscionable.
We are constituents of the 5th Congressional District, which you are supposed to represent, and we are appalled and ashamed that you would vote in our name, to hold back such critical funding to Americans, who are survivors of a government failure, in their time of need, when hundreds are dying and many more may very well end up with chronic diseases or death because of the widespread exposure to biological toxins on American soil. This is a National Disgrace of a Federal Responsibility, and Americans shouldn't have to hold out a tin-cup and beg to Congressional Representatives that are supposed to represent them.
While the cameras taped the exchange, neither Channel 6 (FOX), nor WISN Channel 12 ran the footage during their 6:00 evening news.
If you believe that Congressman Sensenbrenner should be more representative of his constituents in making sure that PEOPLE come ahead of "Pork" projects, please take this around to anyone in your community and get them to sign it and send it on to Congressman Sensenbrenner. Please send us a copy so that we can keep track of who you are, where you are and how many of you don't care for Sensenbrenner's priorities.
A half-dozen constituents of Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner, in the 5th Congressional District from Milwaukee County, Waukesha County and Ozaukee County, visited Congressman Sensenbrenner's office at 120 Bishops Way, Room 154 in Brookfield, WI 53005 to personally deliver a message to him.
With cameras from Fox 6 and WISN 12 rolling, we walked in to Congressman Sensenbrenner's office to tell him how appalled we were that he would choose this time to claim to be fiscally responsible. He didn't do it during the Bush tax cuts, and he didn't do it when he voted for Bush's Energy Bill with its over 6,000 cases of "pork" projects, but he did stand against providing immediate and significant help to hundreds of thousands of Gulf Coast Survivors who've already suffered because of the Federal Government's incompetence.
This was our statement to him:
In the light of the poor Federal response in assisting the Gulf Coast Survivors, which has clearly delayed medical assistance and vitally needed food and water, causing additional unnecessary deaths, Congress stepped in to legislate assistance where Bush, Homeland Security and FEMA utterly failed.
The Katrina Relief Bill passed in the Senate 97-0, and in the House 410-11. You, Congressman Sensenbrenner were one of the 11 who voted against the bill.
You have been cited as claiming that the reason for your opposition was because there wasn't enough oversight of the money being spent. While that, on the surface, may be a concern, considering FEMA has been so incompetent in its handling of this National Emergency so far, and is being given the responsibility for the distribution of these funds, isn't it the responsibility of Congress to oversee the distribution of these funds? Why is it that you would block this aid to the survivors, and turn your back on them at this critical time when this funding is so desperately needed? This is unconscionable.
We are constituents of the 5th Congressional District, which you are supposed to represent, and we are appalled and ashamed that you would vote in our name, to hold back such critical funding to Americans, who are survivors of a government failure, in their time of need, when hundreds are dying and many more may very well end up with chronic diseases or death because of the widespread exposure to biological toxins on American soil. This is a National Disgrace of a Federal Responsibility, and Americans shouldn't have to hold out a tin-cup and beg to Congressional Representatives that are supposed to represent them.
While the cameras taped the exchange, neither Channel 6 (FOX), nor WISN Channel 12 ran the footage during their 6:00 evening news.
If you believe that Congressman Sensenbrenner should be more representative of his constituents in making sure that PEOPLE come ahead of "Pork" projects, please take this around to anyone in your community and get them to sign it and send it on to Congressman Sensenbrenner. Please send us a copy so that we can keep track of who you are, where you are and how many of you don't care for Sensenbrenner's priorities.
Update - FEMA leaders lack disaster experience
FEMA leaders lack disaster experience
Agency has suffered ‘brain drain’ since 2001
Five of eight top Federal Emergency Management Agency officials came to their posts with virtually no experience in handling disasters and now lead an agency whose ranks of seasoned crisis managers have thinned dramatically since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
FEMA's top three leaders -- Director Michael D. Brown, Chief of Staff Patrick J. Rhode and Deputy Chief of Staff Brooks D. Altshuler -- arrived with ties to President Bush's 2000 campaign or to the White House advance operation, according to the agency. Two other senior operational jobs are filled by a former Republican lieutenant governor of Nebraska and a U.S. Chamber of Commerce official who was once a political operative.
"FEMA requires strong leadership and experience because state and local governments rely on them," said Trina Sheets, executive director of the National Emergency Management Association. "When you don't have trained, qualified people in those positions, the program suffers as a whole."
But scorching criticism has been aimed at FEMA, and it starts at the top with Brown, who has admitted to errors in responding to Hurricane Katrina and the flooding in New Orleans. The Oklahoma native, 50, was hired to the agency after a rocky tenure as commissioner of a horse sporting group by former FEMA director Joe M. Allbaugh, the 2000 Bush campaign manager and a college friend of Brown's.
Rhode, Brown's chief of staff, is a former television reporter who came to Washington as advance deputy director for Bush's Austin-based 2000 campaign and then the White House. He joined FEMA in April 2003 after stints at the Commerce Department and the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Altshuler is a former presidential advance man. His predecessor, Scott Morris, was a media strategist for Bush with the Austin firm Maverick Media.
David I. Maurstad, who stepped down as Nebraska lieutenant governor in 2001 to join FEMA, has served as acting director for risk reduction and federal insurance administrator since June 2004. Daniel Craig, a one-time political fundraiser and campaign advisor, came to FEMA in 2001 from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he directed the eastern regional office, after working as a lobbyist for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9261552/
Funny how everyone with experience left after 2001 - what happened then?
Agency has suffered ‘brain drain’ since 2001
Five of eight top Federal Emergency Management Agency officials came to their posts with virtually no experience in handling disasters and now lead an agency whose ranks of seasoned crisis managers have thinned dramatically since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
FEMA's top three leaders -- Director Michael D. Brown, Chief of Staff Patrick J. Rhode and Deputy Chief of Staff Brooks D. Altshuler -- arrived with ties to President Bush's 2000 campaign or to the White House advance operation, according to the agency. Two other senior operational jobs are filled by a former Republican lieutenant governor of Nebraska and a U.S. Chamber of Commerce official who was once a political operative.
"FEMA requires strong leadership and experience because state and local governments rely on them," said Trina Sheets, executive director of the National Emergency Management Association. "When you don't have trained, qualified people in those positions, the program suffers as a whole."
But scorching criticism has been aimed at FEMA, and it starts at the top with Brown, who has admitted to errors in responding to Hurricane Katrina and the flooding in New Orleans. The Oklahoma native, 50, was hired to the agency after a rocky tenure as commissioner of a horse sporting group by former FEMA director Joe M. Allbaugh, the 2000 Bush campaign manager and a college friend of Brown's.
Rhode, Brown's chief of staff, is a former television reporter who came to Washington as advance deputy director for Bush's Austin-based 2000 campaign and then the White House. He joined FEMA in April 2003 after stints at the Commerce Department and the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Altshuler is a former presidential advance man. His predecessor, Scott Morris, was a media strategist for Bush with the Austin firm Maverick Media.
David I. Maurstad, who stepped down as Nebraska lieutenant governor in 2001 to join FEMA, has served as acting director for risk reduction and federal insurance administrator since June 2004. Daniel Craig, a one-time political fundraiser and campaign advisor, came to FEMA in 2001 from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he directed the eastern regional office, after working as a lobbyist for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9261552/
Funny how everyone with experience left after 2001 - what happened then?
Gimme a Break...
First off, they lie in "Brownie's" biography saying he has experience:
Brown's biography on the Federal Emergency Management Agency Web site says he had once served as an "assistant city manager with emergency services oversight," and a White House news release in 2001 said Brown had worked for the city of Edmond, Okla., in the 1970s "overseeing the emergency-services division."
"The assistant is more like an intern," Claudia Deakins (city spokeswoman) told the magazine. "Department heads did not report to him." Time posted the article on its Web site late on Thursday.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9266986/
Then they say this:
Brown "remains focused on helping Americans through the worst natural disaster in history," FEMA said.
Don't get me wrong - Katrina is bad, real bad. But we do not yet know the scope of the devastation (much do to the incompetence of the reaction by FEMA & the Bush Administration).
But, let's compare:
Pompeii - 20,000 dead - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii
Galveston Hurricane - 8,000 dead - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galveston_Hurricane
Indian Ocean Tsunami - 150,000 dead - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_tsunami
Krakatoa - 36,000 dead - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krakatoa
San Francisco Earthquake - 6,000 dead - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1906_San_Francisco_earthquake
Mexico City Earthquake - 5-20,000 dead - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_Mexico_City_earthquake
Or, here's a big list of a lot of them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_disasters
The point is, before we inflate a bad situation by engaging in hyperbole to save someone's butt, let's rationally look at the situation.
If we let politics drive response instead of common sense, well, I guess we already see what happens. Let's stop it now.
But, hey:
Bush last week gave Brown a word of support, saying "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."
Brown's biography on the Federal Emergency Management Agency Web site says he had once served as an "assistant city manager with emergency services oversight," and a White House news release in 2001 said Brown had worked for the city of Edmond, Okla., in the 1970s "overseeing the emergency-services division."
"The assistant is more like an intern," Claudia Deakins (city spokeswoman) told the magazine. "Department heads did not report to him." Time posted the article on its Web site late on Thursday.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9266986/
Then they say this:
Brown "remains focused on helping Americans through the worst natural disaster in history," FEMA said.
Don't get me wrong - Katrina is bad, real bad. But we do not yet know the scope of the devastation (much do to the incompetence of the reaction by FEMA & the Bush Administration).
But, let's compare:
Pompeii - 20,000 dead - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii
Galveston Hurricane - 8,000 dead - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galveston_Hurricane
Indian Ocean Tsunami - 150,000 dead - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_tsunami
Krakatoa - 36,000 dead - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krakatoa
San Francisco Earthquake - 6,000 dead - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1906_San_Francisco_earthquake
Mexico City Earthquake - 5-20,000 dead - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_Mexico_City_earthquake
Or, here's a big list of a lot of them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_disasters
The point is, before we inflate a bad situation by engaging in hyperbole to save someone's butt, let's rationally look at the situation.
If we let politics drive response instead of common sense, well, I guess we already see what happens. Let's stop it now.
But, hey:
Bush last week gave Brown a word of support, saying "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."
9.08.2005
The Onion, as always, has it perfect...
White Foragers Report Threat Of Black Looters
NEW ORLEANS—Throughout the Gulf Coast, Caucasian suburbanites attempting to gather food and drink in the shattered wreckage of shopping districts have reported seeing AfricanAmericans "looting snacks and beer from damaged businesses." "I was in the abandoned Wal-Mart gathering an air mattress so I could float out the potato chips, beef jerky, and Budweiser I'd managed to find," said white survivor Lars Wrightson, who had carefully selected foodstuffs whose salt and alcohol content provide protection against contamination. "Then I look up, and I see a whole family of [African-Americans] going straight for the booze. Hell, you could see they had already looted a fortune in diapers." Radio stations still in operation are advising store owners and white people in the affected areas to locate firearms in sporting-goods stores in order to protect themselves against marauding blacks looting gun shops.
NEW ORLEANS—Throughout the Gulf Coast, Caucasian suburbanites attempting to gather food and drink in the shattered wreckage of shopping districts have reported seeing AfricanAmericans "looting snacks and beer from damaged businesses." "I was in the abandoned Wal-Mart gathering an air mattress so I could float out the potato chips, beef jerky, and Budweiser I'd managed to find," said white survivor Lars Wrightson, who had carefully selected foodstuffs whose salt and alcohol content provide protection against contamination. "Then I look up, and I see a whole family of [African-Americans] going straight for the booze. Hell, you could see they had already looted a fortune in diapers." Radio stations still in operation are advising store owners and white people in the affected areas to locate firearms in sporting-goods stores in order to protect themselves against marauding blacks looting gun shops.
9.07.2005
Barbara Bush's Compasionate Conservatism...
"What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality," she said during a radio interview with the American Public Media program "Marketplace."
"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/06/katrina.presidents.ap/
Who knew I was so right when I said that the Bush administration (and family, it seems) feels the poor are no better than animals?
"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/06/katrina.presidents.ap/
Who knew I was so right when I said that the Bush administration (and family, it seems) feels the poor are no better than animals?
FEMA Failures (From the Center for American Progress)
FEMA's Failures
The more you know about the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina, the worse it gets. Last night, the Associated Press reported that FEMA Director Michael Brown "waited hours after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast before he proposed to his boss sending at least 1,000 Homeland Security workers into the region to support rescuers." According to internal documents obtained by the AP, Brown specified that part of the workers mission would be to "'convey a positive image' about the government's response for victims" to the public. While it was sent five hours after the storm hit, Brown's letter lacked any sense of urgency -- he requested the workers arrive within two days. The letter politely ended, "Thank you for your consideration in helping us to meet our responsibilities." Last week, President Bush praised Brown's efforts, telling him "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job."
TOP FEMA DEPUTIES MAKE BROWN LOOK QUALIFIED: Before joining FEMA, Brown "spent 11 years as the commissioner of judges and stewards for the International Arabian Horse Association, a breeders' and horse-show organization based in Colorado." (Brown was forced out "after a spate of lawsuits over alleged supervision failures.") Brown's top deputies, however, make him look qualified. The number two at FEMA, Chief of Staff Patrick Rhode, was an event planner ("advance man") for Bush's presidential campaign. He had absolutely no emergency management experience before joining FEMA. The number three at FEMA, Deputy Chief of Staff Scott Morris, was a press flak at the Bush campaign. He previously worked for Maverick Media, the firm that produced TV spots for Bush's campaigns. Morris also has no emergency management experience. In contrast, the top deputies of Clinton-era FEMA Director James Lee Witt ran regional FEMA offices for at least three years before assuming senior positions in Washington."
FEMA DIVERTS VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS TO SERVE AS BACKDROP FOR BUSH: Responding to an urgent plea from New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, more than a thousand firefighters volunteered to travel to Louisiana to help out. The firefighters thought they were "going to be deployed as emergency workers," but FEMA decided to use them as "community-relations officers." Many of them spent their time passing out fliers with the FEMA phone number. (Shelly Miller, a Mississippi resident whose trailer was severely damaged in the storm, said, "We tried calling FEMA. You can’t get through on the phone lines.") For 50 of the firefighters, their first assignment was "to stand beside President Bush as he tours devastated areas." Many firefighters expressed their disappointment with their role. FEMA spokeswoman Mary Hudak said any firefighter that criticized the agency should "revisit his commitment to FEMA, to firefighting and to the citizens of this country."
FEMA COVERS ITS TRACKS: FEMA's slow and incompetent response to Hurricane Katrina put thousands of people in danger. The agency doesn't want the public to see the human devastation. An agency spokeswoman said, "We have requested that no photographs of the deceased be made by the media." FEMA also rejected "journalists' requests to accompany rescue boats searching for storm victims."
The more you know about the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina, the worse it gets. Last night, the Associated Press reported that FEMA Director Michael Brown "waited hours after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast before he proposed to his boss sending at least 1,000 Homeland Security workers into the region to support rescuers." According to internal documents obtained by the AP, Brown specified that part of the workers mission would be to "'convey a positive image' about the government's response for victims" to the public. While it was sent five hours after the storm hit, Brown's letter lacked any sense of urgency -- he requested the workers arrive within two days. The letter politely ended, "Thank you for your consideration in helping us to meet our responsibilities." Last week, President Bush praised Brown's efforts, telling him "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job."
TOP FEMA DEPUTIES MAKE BROWN LOOK QUALIFIED: Before joining FEMA, Brown "spent 11 years as the commissioner of judges and stewards for the International Arabian Horse Association, a breeders' and horse-show organization based in Colorado." (Brown was forced out "after a spate of lawsuits over alleged supervision failures.") Brown's top deputies, however, make him look qualified. The number two at FEMA, Chief of Staff Patrick Rhode, was an event planner ("advance man") for Bush's presidential campaign. He had absolutely no emergency management experience before joining FEMA. The number three at FEMA, Deputy Chief of Staff Scott Morris, was a press flak at the Bush campaign. He previously worked for Maverick Media, the firm that produced TV spots for Bush's campaigns. Morris also has no emergency management experience. In contrast, the top deputies of Clinton-era FEMA Director James Lee Witt ran regional FEMA offices for at least three years before assuming senior positions in Washington."
FEMA DIVERTS VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS TO SERVE AS BACKDROP FOR BUSH: Responding to an urgent plea from New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, more than a thousand firefighters volunteered to travel to Louisiana to help out. The firefighters thought they were "going to be deployed as emergency workers," but FEMA decided to use them as "community-relations officers." Many of them spent their time passing out fliers with the FEMA phone number. (Shelly Miller, a Mississippi resident whose trailer was severely damaged in the storm, said, "We tried calling FEMA. You can’t get through on the phone lines.") For 50 of the firefighters, their first assignment was "to stand beside President Bush as he tours devastated areas." Many firefighters expressed their disappointment with their role. FEMA spokeswoman Mary Hudak said any firefighter that criticized the agency should "revisit his commitment to FEMA, to firefighting and to the citizens of this country."
FEMA COVERS ITS TRACKS: FEMA's slow and incompetent response to Hurricane Katrina put thousands of people in danger. The agency doesn't want the public to see the human devastation. An agency spokeswoman said, "We have requested that no photographs of the deceased be made by the media." FEMA also rejected "journalists' requests to accompany rescue boats searching for storm victims."
Friedman: (Bush/Cheney) are people so much better at inflicting pain than feeling it, so much better at taking things apart than putting them together
And then there are the president's standard lines: "It's not the government's money; it's your money," and, "One of the last things that we need to do to this economy is to take money out of your pocket and fuel government." Maybe Mr. Bush will now also tell us: "It's not the government's hurricane - it's your hurricane."
Besides ripping away the roofs of New Orleans, Katrina ripped away the argument that we can cut taxes, properly educate our kids, compete with India and China, succeed in Iraq, keep improving the U.S. infrastructure, and take care of a catastrophic emergency - without putting ourselves totally into the debt of Beijing.
So many of the things the Bush team has ignored or distorted under the guise of fighting Osama were exposed by Katrina: its refusal to impose a gasoline tax after 9/11, which would have begun to shift our economy much sooner to more fuel-efficient cars, helped raise money for a rainy day and eased our dependence on the world's worst regimes for energy; its refusal to develop some form of national health care to cover the 40 million uninsured; and its insistence on cutting more taxes, even when that has contributed to incomplete levees and too small an Army to deal with Katrina, Osama and Saddam at the same time.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/07/opinion/07friedman.html?th&emc=th
Besides ripping away the roofs of New Orleans, Katrina ripped away the argument that we can cut taxes, properly educate our kids, compete with India and China, succeed in Iraq, keep improving the U.S. infrastructure, and take care of a catastrophic emergency - without putting ourselves totally into the debt of Beijing.
So many of the things the Bush team has ignored or distorted under the guise of fighting Osama were exposed by Katrina: its refusal to impose a gasoline tax after 9/11, which would have begun to shift our economy much sooner to more fuel-efficient cars, helped raise money for a rainy day and eased our dependence on the world's worst regimes for energy; its refusal to develop some form of national health care to cover the 40 million uninsured; and its insistence on cutting more taxes, even when that has contributed to incomplete levees and too small an Army to deal with Katrina, Osama and Saddam at the same time.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/07/opinion/07friedman.html?th&emc=th
Dowd: "And when you combine limited government with incompetent government, lethal stuff happens."
Why does this self-styled "can do" president always lapse into such lame "who could have known?" excuses.
Who on earth could have known that Osama bin Laden wanted to attack us by flying planes into buildings? Any official who bothered to read the trellis of pre-9/11 intelligence briefs.
Who on earth could have known that an American invasion of Iraq would spawn a brutal insurgency, terrorist recruiting boom and possible civil war? Any official who bothered to read the C.I.A.'s prewar reports.
Who on earth could have known that New Orleans's sinking levees were at risk from a strong hurricane? Anybody who bothered to read the endless warnings over the years about the Big Easy's uneasy fishbowl.
In June 2004, Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, fretted to The Times-Picayune in New Orleans: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can't be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us."
Not only was the money depleted by the Bush folly in Iraq; 30 percent of the National Guard and about half its equipment are in Iraq.
Ron Fournier of The Associated Press reported that the Army Corps of Engineers asked for $105 million for hurricane and flood programs in New Orleans last year. The White House carved it to about $40 million. But President Bush and Congress agreed to a $286.4 billion pork-filled highway bill with 6,000 pet projects, including a $231 million bridge for a small, uninhabited Alaskan island.
Michael Brown, the blithering idiot in charge of FEMA - a job he trained for by running something called the International Arabian Horse Association - admitted he didn't know until Thursday that there were 15,000 desperate, dehydrated, hungry, angry, dying victims of Katrina in the New Orleans Convention Center.
Was he sacked instantly? No, our tone-deaf president hailed him in Mobile, Ala., yesterday: "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."
When they were deaf for so long to the horrific misery and cries for help of the victims in New Orleans - most of them poor and black, like those stuck at the back of the evacuation line yesterday while 700 guests and employees of the Hyatt Hotel were bused out first - they shook the faith of all Americans in American ideals. And made us ashamed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/03/opinion/03dowd.html?th&emc=th
Who on earth could have known that Osama bin Laden wanted to attack us by flying planes into buildings? Any official who bothered to read the trellis of pre-9/11 intelligence briefs.
Who on earth could have known that an American invasion of Iraq would spawn a brutal insurgency, terrorist recruiting boom and possible civil war? Any official who bothered to read the C.I.A.'s prewar reports.
Who on earth could have known that New Orleans's sinking levees were at risk from a strong hurricane? Anybody who bothered to read the endless warnings over the years about the Big Easy's uneasy fishbowl.
In June 2004, Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, fretted to The Times-Picayune in New Orleans: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can't be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us."
Not only was the money depleted by the Bush folly in Iraq; 30 percent of the National Guard and about half its equipment are in Iraq.
Ron Fournier of The Associated Press reported that the Army Corps of Engineers asked for $105 million for hurricane and flood programs in New Orleans last year. The White House carved it to about $40 million. But President Bush and Congress agreed to a $286.4 billion pork-filled highway bill with 6,000 pet projects, including a $231 million bridge for a small, uninhabited Alaskan island.
Michael Brown, the blithering idiot in charge of FEMA - a job he trained for by running something called the International Arabian Horse Association - admitted he didn't know until Thursday that there were 15,000 desperate, dehydrated, hungry, angry, dying victims of Katrina in the New Orleans Convention Center.
Was he sacked instantly? No, our tone-deaf president hailed him in Mobile, Ala., yesterday: "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."
When they were deaf for so long to the horrific misery and cries for help of the victims in New Orleans - most of them poor and black, like those stuck at the back of the evacuation line yesterday while 700 guests and employees of the Hyatt Hotel were bused out first - they shook the faith of all Americans in American ideals. And made us ashamed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/03/opinion/03dowd.html?th&emc=th
9.06.2005
Go Sen. Hansen! - Employee Free Choice Act
Sen. Hansen: Announces Introduction of Employee Free Choice Act
9/6/2005
Contact: Sen. Hansen
608-266-5670
(Green Bay)—Today Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) announced the introduction of the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation that will allow certain employees not covered by the National Labor Relations Act to choose to join a union if a majority of their workforce signs authorization cards. Similar legislation already exists in California, New York, Illinois and New Jersey.
“As a former union member, I know firsthand the impact that unions have had on improving the standard of living for working families and retirees,” said Hansen. “I am introducing this legislation, because unions are good for families and good for our economy, and I believe more Wisconsin workers should be given the opportunity to join them if they want to.”
According to recent research, over 57 million Americans would like to join a union and would do so if given the opportunity. Research has also shown the benefits of union membership to be substantial in terms of the better wages, health insurance, pensions and vacation offered to union members. Organized labor is responsible for among other things the forty-hour work week, child labor laws and improving wages and the health and safety of all workers.
“This past weekend, many of us took some time to celebrate the achievements of organized labor,” said Hansen. “I am hopeful that this legislation will help strengthen the voice of Wisconsin’s workers. There are many future battles to fight for working people, and I believe this bill will help to ensure that organized labor will continue to play the leading role in this fight.”
http://wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=43773
9/6/2005
Contact: Sen. Hansen
608-266-5670
(Green Bay)—Today Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) announced the introduction of the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation that will allow certain employees not covered by the National Labor Relations Act to choose to join a union if a majority of their workforce signs authorization cards. Similar legislation already exists in California, New York, Illinois and New Jersey.
“As a former union member, I know firsthand the impact that unions have had on improving the standard of living for working families and retirees,” said Hansen. “I am introducing this legislation, because unions are good for families and good for our economy, and I believe more Wisconsin workers should be given the opportunity to join them if they want to.”
According to recent research, over 57 million Americans would like to join a union and would do so if given the opportunity. Research has also shown the benefits of union membership to be substantial in terms of the better wages, health insurance, pensions and vacation offered to union members. Organized labor is responsible for among other things the forty-hour work week, child labor laws and improving wages and the health and safety of all workers.
“This past weekend, many of us took some time to celebrate the achievements of organized labor,” said Hansen. “I am hopeful that this legislation will help strengthen the voice of Wisconsin’s workers. There are many future battles to fight for working people, and I believe this bill will help to ensure that organized labor will continue to play the leading role in this fight.”
http://wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=43773
Halliburton all tangled up in it again...
Halliburton's KBR to do Katrina cleanup
11:06 AM on September 3, 2005.
And you won't believe who's lobbying for them.
Thanks, Halliburton!For its ineptitude and dishonest business practices, Halliburton's contracts ought to have been cancelled not extended, as they were in 2004. And although it falls under a contract already in place, it's nonetheless disturbing that administration cronies will profit from this catastrophe in any way -- direct or indirect. On your dime no less.
"The US Navy asked Halliburton to repair naval facilities damaged by Hurricane Katrina, the Houston Chronicle reported today. The work was assigned to Halliburton's KBR subsidiary under the Navy's $500 million CONCAP contract awarded to KBR in 2001 and renewed in 2004. The repairs will take place in Louisiana and Mississippi."
Here's the kicker:
"In March, the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is tasked with responding to hurricane disasters, became a lobbyist for KBR. Joe Allbaugh was director of FEMA during the first two years of the Bush administration."
Allbaugh also happens to be a former Bush campaign manager and chief of staff.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/25017/
11:06 AM on September 3, 2005.
And you won't believe who's lobbying for them.
Thanks, Halliburton!For its ineptitude and dishonest business practices, Halliburton's contracts ought to have been cancelled not extended, as they were in 2004. And although it falls under a contract already in place, it's nonetheless disturbing that administration cronies will profit from this catastrophe in any way -- direct or indirect. On your dime no less.
"The US Navy asked Halliburton to repair naval facilities damaged by Hurricane Katrina, the Houston Chronicle reported today. The work was assigned to Halliburton's KBR subsidiary under the Navy's $500 million CONCAP contract awarded to KBR in 2001 and renewed in 2004. The repairs will take place in Louisiana and Mississippi."
Here's the kicker:
"In March, the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is tasked with responding to hurricane disasters, became a lobbyist for KBR. Joe Allbaugh was director of FEMA during the first two years of the Bush administration."
Allbaugh also happens to be a former Bush campaign manager and chief of staff.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/25017/
9.05.2005
We are making an impact in Winnebago County...
Fron the July Winnebago GOP Newsletter:
The democrats had their state convention in Oshkosh last month just to make their point known. They want the 54th Assembly district, and they want Winnebago County. Our area is not the bastion of Republican voters it once was. President Bush won our county with 52% of the vote, those are not strong numbers. We must do more to make our presence known in the community, work, churches, schools, and everywhere.
http://www.winnebagogop.org/newsletter/2005JULY.pdf
The democrats had their state convention in Oshkosh last month just to make their point known. They want the 54th Assembly district, and they want Winnebago County. Our area is not the bastion of Republican voters it once was. President Bush won our county with 52% of the vote, those are not strong numbers. We must do more to make our presence known in the community, work, churches, schools, and everywhere.
http://www.winnebagogop.org/newsletter/2005JULY.pdf
9.04.2005
I don't think we can imagine what they are going through in New Orleans...
In addition to civilian deaths, New Orleans’ police department has had to deal with suicides in its ranks. Two officers took their lives, including the department spokesman, Paul Accardo, who died Saturday, according to Riley. Both shot themselves in the head, he said.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9156612/page/2/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9156612/page/2/
Click here for the MSNBC video Meet the Press with Aaron Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish
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Why do people forget that we are a community?
This is a good example of what i was talking about - compassion ending at the end of your driveway:
Richard Gibbs was disgusted by reports of looting in New Orleans and upset at the lack of attention hurricane victims in his state were getting.
“I say burn the bridges and let ’em all rot there,” he said. “We’re suffering over here too, but we’re not killing each other. We’ve got to help each other. We need gas and food and water and medical supplies.”
Gibbs and his wife, Holly, have been stuck at their flooded home in Gulfport just off the Biloxi River. Water comes up to the second floor, they are out of gasoline, and food supplies are running perilously low.
Until recently, they also had Holly’s 75-year-old father, who has a pacemaker and severe diabetes, with them. Finally they got an ambulance to take him to the airport so he could be airlifted to Lafayette, La., for medical help.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9190498/
So, he says that because he needs something, they should let everyone in Louisianna rot? Yet, louisianna is caring for his father!
This is crazy. We should not let arbitrary political borders interfere with out goodwill.
What are we coming to?
Richard Gibbs was disgusted by reports of looting in New Orleans and upset at the lack of attention hurricane victims in his state were getting.
“I say burn the bridges and let ’em all rot there,” he said. “We’re suffering over here too, but we’re not killing each other. We’ve got to help each other. We need gas and food and water and medical supplies.”
Gibbs and his wife, Holly, have been stuck at their flooded home in Gulfport just off the Biloxi River. Water comes up to the second floor, they are out of gasoline, and food supplies are running perilously low.
Until recently, they also had Holly’s 75-year-old father, who has a pacemaker and severe diabetes, with them. Finally they got an ambulance to take him to the airport so he could be airlifted to Lafayette, La., for medical help.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9190498/
So, he says that because he needs something, they should let everyone in Louisianna rot? Yet, louisianna is caring for his father!
This is crazy. We should not let arbitrary political borders interfere with out goodwill.
What are we coming to?
Watch the re-broadacst of Meet the Press
Tonight at 9:00 pm on MSNBC - channel 46 in the Oshkosh area on Time-Warner cable.
"We have been abandoned by our own country."
Here is a link to the Meet the Press transcipt:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9179790/
MR. BROUSSARD: I'm telling you most importantly I want to thank my public employees...
MR. RUSSERT: All right.
MR. BROUSSARD: ...that have worked 24/7. They're burned out, the doctors, the nurses. And I want to give you one last story and I'll shut up and let you tell me whatever you want to tell me. The guy who runs this building I'm in, emergency management, he's responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in St. Bernard nursing home and every day she called him and said, "Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?" And he said, "Yeah, Mama, somebody's coming to get you. Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Thursday. Somebody's coming to get you on Friday." And she drowned Friday night. She drowned Friday night.
MR. RUSSERT: Mr. President...
MR. BROUSSARD: Nobody's coming to get us. Nobody's coming to get us. The secretary has promised. Everybody's promised. They've had press conferences. I'm sick of the press conferences. For God sakes, shut up and send us somebody.
After this moment of true feeling, Gov Barbour followed with this:
GOV. HALEY BARBOUR, (R-MS): But my experience is very different from Louisiana, apparently. I don't know anything about Louisiana. Over here, we had the Coast Guard in Monday night. They took 1,700 people off the roofs of houses with guys hanging off of helicopters to get them. They sent us a million meals last night because we'd eaten everything through. Everything hasn't been perfect here, by any stretch of the imagination, Tim. But the federal government has been good partners to us. They've tried hard. Our people have tried hard. Firemen and policemen and emergency medical people, National Guard, highway patrolmen working virtually around the clock, sleeping in their cars when they could sleep. And we've made progress every day.
They then went into a discussion of how the casino boats would be rebuilt.
Sickening.
I imagine they will have the video online tomorrow - I will link to it.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9179790/
MR. BROUSSARD: I'm telling you most importantly I want to thank my public employees...
MR. RUSSERT: All right.
MR. BROUSSARD: ...that have worked 24/7. They're burned out, the doctors, the nurses. And I want to give you one last story and I'll shut up and let you tell me whatever you want to tell me. The guy who runs this building I'm in, emergency management, he's responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in St. Bernard nursing home and every day she called him and said, "Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?" And he said, "Yeah, Mama, somebody's coming to get you. Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Thursday. Somebody's coming to get you on Friday." And she drowned Friday night. She drowned Friday night.
MR. RUSSERT: Mr. President...
MR. BROUSSARD: Nobody's coming to get us. Nobody's coming to get us. The secretary has promised. Everybody's promised. They've had press conferences. I'm sick of the press conferences. For God sakes, shut up and send us somebody.
After this moment of true feeling, Gov Barbour followed with this:
GOV. HALEY BARBOUR, (R-MS): But my experience is very different from Louisiana, apparently. I don't know anything about Louisiana. Over here, we had the Coast Guard in Monday night. They took 1,700 people off the roofs of houses with guys hanging off of helicopters to get them. They sent us a million meals last night because we'd eaten everything through. Everything hasn't been perfect here, by any stretch of the imagination, Tim. But the federal government has been good partners to us. They've tried hard. Our people have tried hard. Firemen and policemen and emergency medical people, National Guard, highway patrolmen working virtually around the clock, sleeping in their cars when they could sleep. And we've made progress every day.
They then went into a discussion of how the casino boats would be rebuilt.
Sickening.
I imagine they will have the video online tomorrow - I will link to it.
I just had my heart broken by Meet the Press...
The president of Jefferson Parish was being interviewed by Russert. After he answered the questions, he said that he had one more thing to say. He then told the story of a colleague who's mother was in a nursing home in the disaster area.
As he began crying, he said that the mother would call every day and ask when she was going the be evacuated. He told her that she would be out Tuesday, he told there she would be out Wednesday, he told her they would have her out Thursday, he told her that they would have her out Friday.
She drowned in her nursing home on Friday.
This is what those that want to cut government to the bone do not understand. One of government's major responsibility is to protect the people when they cannot protect themselves.
When government is cut in the way we have seen in the past years, we are unable to protect our citizens. As we have seen, when we cannot protect and support our citizens, people die.
But who dies? Is it the comfortable few who call for these tax cuts? Are the confortable the stranded, the miserable or the dead? No, those greed filled Americans with an inability to extend compassion past their own driveway were safe and evacuated. They loaded up their cars and left the poor the infirm and the indigent behind.
Those with out resources and transportation were herded into inadequate shelter and treated like the animals those in the upper class think they are. Where is the compassionate conservatism now?
If you are not now angry, you are truly part of the problem, not part of the solution.
This was apparent within 10 seconds of the gentleman finishing his statements. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour started statements to the effect of "Hey, we are just fine here in Mississippi."
Barbour said that he could only control Mississippi, and they were getting enough food, the Coast Guard was saving people, and in essence they were just fine.
It made me sick. The whole "me and mine are fine, that's all I care about" it exactly what is wrong with America now. I hope Americans are watching, and learning from this. We are a society, and until we recognize all of our rights to be members of this society, we are lost as a society.
As quoted by Theodore Roosevelt: "This country will not be a permanently good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a reasonably good place for all of us to live in."
I will link to the MSNBC video of the Meet the Press episode when it is available online.
As he began crying, he said that the mother would call every day and ask when she was going the be evacuated. He told her that she would be out Tuesday, he told there she would be out Wednesday, he told her they would have her out Thursday, he told her that they would have her out Friday.
She drowned in her nursing home on Friday.
This is what those that want to cut government to the bone do not understand. One of government's major responsibility is to protect the people when they cannot protect themselves.
When government is cut in the way we have seen in the past years, we are unable to protect our citizens. As we have seen, when we cannot protect and support our citizens, people die.
But who dies? Is it the comfortable few who call for these tax cuts? Are the confortable the stranded, the miserable or the dead? No, those greed filled Americans with an inability to extend compassion past their own driveway were safe and evacuated. They loaded up their cars and left the poor the infirm and the indigent behind.
Those with out resources and transportation were herded into inadequate shelter and treated like the animals those in the upper class think they are. Where is the compassionate conservatism now?
If you are not now angry, you are truly part of the problem, not part of the solution.
This was apparent within 10 seconds of the gentleman finishing his statements. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour started statements to the effect of "Hey, we are just fine here in Mississippi."
Barbour said that he could only control Mississippi, and they were getting enough food, the Coast Guard was saving people, and in essence they were just fine.
It made me sick. The whole "me and mine are fine, that's all I care about" it exactly what is wrong with America now. I hope Americans are watching, and learning from this. We are a society, and until we recognize all of our rights to be members of this society, we are lost as a society.
As quoted by Theodore Roosevelt: "This country will not be a permanently good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a reasonably good place for all of us to live in."
I will link to the MSNBC video of the Meet the Press episode when it is available online.
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