Friday, November 11, 2005 They Don't Know Any Better
I don't know about you, but when I screw something up in a big way I don't expect to be handed the opportunity to screw up on an even greater scale. And I certainly would have the decency not to demand this opportunity, publicly and without shame, from those who bailed my worthless ass out of my grand screw-up. Because I maintain some level of contact with reality. It is for this reason that I will never have "D-LA" follow my name or "Louisiana Democrat" precede it.
JACKSON - Gov. Haley Barbour on Tuesday said Louisiana's talk of needing $250 billion in federal relief for Hurricane Katrina has spooked Congress, and he wishes Mississippi's requests for much less help could be dealt with separately. "When Louisiana asked for $250 billion, overnight there was a sea of change in Congress' attitude," Barbour told the state Joint Legislative Budget Committee, responding to questions. "People thought that was well beyond the pale. It was very harmful to the disaster appropriations process." Barbour has asked Congress for about $33.5 billion, and much of that federal spending, he said, could be spread over 10 years. He said Congress has already approved $62.3 billion in Katrina spending, and with $40 billion of that unspent, "they could be done with us." "The case we’ve made is that we're ready. We know what we need and we know what we’re doing with it," Barbour said. "Go ahead and finish with us, and then when Louisiana gets ready, deal with them." But Barbour said he knows it would be "unprecedented for a multi-state issue to be dealt with state by state." Barbour said that Mississippi's "conservative" requests have probably garnered some respect in Congress. "People in Washington recognize that we have made a very responsible request, that we are not trying to milk the system," Barbour said.
Seeing as Mississippi's entire request is less than what Louisiana had unabashedly requested for blatant pork, I don't feel the need to discuss whether or not MS really needs every dollar being asked for. Haley Barbour's actions both before and after the storm put him in a far better position to ask for some money than Kathleen Blanco. The tasteful decision by Mississippi's Congressional delegation to refrain from having a disgusting, hysterical meltdown a la Mary Landrieu is another consideration. But perhaps I'm being a bit mean. We need to attempt be understanding of the delicate condition of these women, since their intellectual abilities barely exceed that of a moldy block of mild cheddar. And that's on a good day - on a typical day the cheddar could easily beat of them at a game of chess. But nonetheless, Kathleen Blanco has proven that she is not only worthless as governor of Louisiana, but also dangerous. If she had half a brain she'd resign, but she's working on far less than that and appears to have whatever brain she has saturated with tranquilizers and other assorted psychoactive drugs. Mary Landrieu has proven she's a stupid bimbo and poster child for denying women the right to hold office. The New Orleans Levee Board has a well-established track record of wasting whatever money it doesn't steal, and brazenly attempting to silence critics who point this out. So when asked to hand more money to these moronic assholes, it's reasonable for even the most dimwitted members of Congress to raise their eyebrows. For the moment, lets ignore the fact that Katrina hit south Mississippi much harder than she hit New Orleans, which is easily overlooked due to south Mississippi's failure to descend into total mayhem. Thanks to the efforts of New Orleans' "poor" acting like they always do, only this time in front of millions of TV viewers, many people think that Katrina's wrath did not reach beyond the boundaries of Orleans Parish, that Mississippi didn't see so much as a few drops of stray rain, that Dauphin island wasn't decimated, and that downtown Mobile didn't flood. Louisiana is asking for a big steaming pile of money with no more than a weak token effort to justify the request and they're making it in the name of "hurricane relief." So it only makes sense that when another state asks for money for the same purpose, the eyebrows will again be raised. As eyebrows very well should, for there are certain to be some questionable items in any grab for stolen funds. But Mississippi's request deserves some raised eyebrows and a skeptical look. Louisiana's request deserves to be stared at in disbelief for a second, then laughed at, refused under no uncertain terms, shredded, and replaced with something within reason. Blanco and Landrieu deserve the same treatment.
6:03 AM
