Block Offset Agenda

You'd think the recent disasters would be a lesson in how important government funding can be for frivolous little things like flood control and emergency relief.

But, no. Apparently it's just another opportunity for the Republican conservatives in Congress to push their agenda to diminish government (as conservative leader Grover Norquist famously phrased it) "down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub."

In the face of looming costs to rebuild flood-devastated regions, a pack of congressional Republicans have launched "Operation Offset" -- a sprawling proposal to gut vital national services, like health care for the poor and elderly, student loans, Amtrak...as well as that perennial target, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. (See entire proposal here)

This might be spun as fiscal responsibility -- after all, someone, somehow, has to pay the price for disasters like floods (and Iraq).

But, conspicuously absent from the list of ways to save money are those budget-busting tax cuts that benefit the wealthiest 1% of Americans.

The price tag for post-Katrina recovery is estimated at around $200 billion. Rolling back Bush's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts to the wealthiest 1% of Americans would save us over $300 billion.

Funny how whenever belt-tightening is called for, tax breaks for the richest folks always seem to be exempt from the calculations of the Republican bean counters.

Callous, greedy, and shortsighted.

Stop them before they gain momentum.
Sign the MoveOn petition and let your representative in Congress know -- you're mad as hell and you're not going to take it anymore!

Hurricane Blows Blowhard's Cover

Or, as Frank Rich so eloquently puts it:

The worst storm in our history proved perfect for exposing this president
because in one big blast it illuminated all his failings: the rampant cronyism,
the empty sloganeering of "compassionate conservatism," the lack of concern for the "underprivileged" his mother condescended to at the Astrodome, the reckless lack of planning for all government operations except tax cuts, the use of spin and photo-ops to camouflage failure and to substitute for action.

Tell it, Frank! (read Rich's sweeping and accurate condemnation of Bush in the full column.)

Old news

....but dang, it's one of those pictures that's worth thousands of words, and as true now as it was last week (or last year) , so it's going to the top of the page every week.

Tragic Advantage?

From the New York Times:

Mr. Bush's response to the storm came under withering attack Monday from the Democratic ticket he defeated last November - Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts and John Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina.
In a speech at Brown University, Mr. Kerry referred to the White House as the "Katrina administration." Asserting that the storm "stripped away any image of competence and exposed to all the true heart and nature of this administration," he said, "The truth is that for four and a half years, real life choices have been replaced by ideological agenda, substance replaced by spin, governance second place always to politics."

Republican officials accused Democrats of trying to take political advantage of a tragedy.

Yeah well we wouldn't want that! That kind of political advantage is reserved for the Republicans and their President, who since the tragedy of 9/11 have fanned flames of fear, incited jingoism, perverted patriotism, and used the excuse of worldwide terrorism to promote a conservative idealogical agenda.

Stoking the desperation of citizens longing for leadership, Bush in the aftermath of 9/11 has invoked the 'war on terrorism' to justify pay-offs to the wealthy, cut-backs to the rest of us, and as a blind for every dangerous failure and misguided program of this disastrous administration.

Taking political advantage of the 9/11 tragedy is why Bush is still president. We're stuck with him and the enormous cost, in lives and dollars, that his agenda has incurred. We get to complain about it, loudly. Maybe now more people will listen.

A bad joke?

It must be a bad joke. It can't possibly be true....that Bush is appointing his chief political advisor, hatchet-man, and spin-meister KARL ROVE to head up post-Katrina reconstruction?!

"Republicans said Karl Rove, the White House deputy chief of staff and Mr.
Bush's chief political adviser, was in charge of the reconstruction effort,
which reaches across many agencies of government ..." (NYT, 9/15/05)

Based on what, exactly? Rove's vast experience in disaster management, emergency relief, urban planning...oh, wait, he's got NONE of that.

Maybe it's because of Karl's diplomacy, his warmth, his ability to reach out to people across class and racial and economic divides....? No, wait, that would be the Karl Rove in an alternate universe

How about Rove's image of integrity, honesty, decency? Hmm, no, that can't be it, because he's made a career based on lies, distortion, manipulation, and back-stabbing. Plus there was involvement (oh, all right, alleged involvement) in leaking an undercover CIA agent's name to the press, as political payback when the agent's spouse had the audacity to publicly say the Administration was wrong about its WMD claims. Rumors of his indictment persist (some of us have our fingers crossed).

Once again Bush names a political crony to a vital position where he has no experience -- at least, no experience in handling the purported task he's been assigned, the reconstruction of the devastated Gulf region.

On the other hand, Karl Rove does have plenty of experience in other areas, particularly in spinning the news. By placing Rove in charge, Bush signals that this reconstruction is going to be all about repairing Bush's damaged image, never mind people's damaged lives.

Why am I not surprised?

Another News Flash!

On page 2....Pigs Fly; Cheyney Locates Long-Lost Integrity; Blue Moon Forecast

(thanks to billmon at The Whiskey Bar)

Define "responsibility"

So Bush finally decided to "take responsibility" for the Katrina Disaster(hurricane) Disaster (relief efforts). As John Kerry said, "The President has done the obvious, only after it was clear he couldn't get away with the inexcusable."

(see the Talking Points report by the indefatigable Josh Marshall)

Clearly this was intended as a demonstration of forceful leadership, but it was an empty gesture. In the same breath that Bush purported to accept "responsibility," he offered qualifiers, excuses, evasions, implicit blame, and obfuscation.

Bush said that he took responsibility, "to the extent the federal government didn't fully do its job right." Why the qualifier? The extent to which the federal government, starting at the top, failed in its duties, is exactly what he is responsible for.

Then he says he wants to find out what went wrong -- as if he didn't know? Again, trying to position himself as an innocent bystander in this whole disaster, rather than admitting that he himself did anything wrong (let's check our list, shall we? diverting billions away from flood control, appointing unqualified cronies to jobs with real consequences, delaying the relief efforts with his demonstrable lack of urgency.....)

He slides in a reference to "all levels of government," maintaining the steady drumbeat from this administration that the state and local governments were at fault -- playing the blame game while denouncing it with typical sanctimonious hypocricy.

All the usual spin from the White House flaks. But what is particularly galling is Bush's attempt to link his administration with the rescue, relief, and recovery workers on the ground, who are the ones actually dealing with the mess. After his manful offer to "take responsibility,' (hedged by qualifiers and gutted by blame-shifting), Bush then tried to score points with a gratuitous "defense" of the relief workers, saying

"....I'm not going to defend the process going in, but I am going to defend
the people who are on the front line of saving lives."

Well, gosh, Dubya, that's real courageous of you -- leaping to the "defense" of the Coast Guard, emergency worker volunteers, local police, and all those others who have been highlighted and praised throughout the media as doing a good job (once they got there) under ghastly conditions.
They're not the ones who need any defense, you are -- but I guess you knew that, otherwise you wouldn't have been so eager to shine the spotlight on their indisputably vital efforts and then sidle into that spotlight yourself.

"Taking responsibility" means saying "I did something wrong, I'm sorry, this is what I'll do to make sure it doesn't happen again."
It doesn't mean saying "It's not my fault, I'm not to blame, and hey, instead of talking about what you think I did wrong, let's give a round of applause to those guys, who are doing something right."

Bush was striving for a Harry Truman "the buck stops here" moment, but instead he just passed the buck.

The whole "responsibility" speech was a charade, an empty gesture -- let's hope it wasn't a successful spin. The mainstream media is just starting to remember it's a watchdog, not a craven cur begging for bones from the White House. Hopefully the media will keep yapping at Bush's heels and force some real answers -- and maybe even some genuine accountability?

Don't just roll over and play dead

It's disheartening to see how many true-blue, die-hard progressives are so willing to give up the fight on Roberts.

"He's going to be confirmed anyway," they shrug. "It could be worse," they theorize. "Maybe he'll move to the center when on the court," they hope, wistfully.

Here's the thing about Roberts -- we could do worse, but we could do better.

OK, fine, he's not a raving theocrat, and he is at least brighter than, say, Clarence Thomas (the guy who keeps deferring to What The Framers Intended, forgetting or ignoring that The Framers intended that guys like Clarence Thomas be counted as only three-fifths of a man)

But Roberts is staunchly right-wing and anti-choice. He's relatively young and apparently healthy. He'll have a long tenure on the Supremes, and a enormous impact on life in this country.

Why should he coast into such a powerful, influential job? Why not evaluate --publicly -- his background, his legal opinions, his personal beliefs, his loyalties, his aversions?

Because all of those elements will be part of every decision he makes on the Supreme Court. And every decision he makes on the Supreme Court will have an effect, one way or another, on our lives.

For the past 6 years the Democrats have been trained to roll over and play dead. And sometimes to beg.

But politically Bush right now is weaker than he's ever been. Why prop him up with the victory of a rubber-stamp confirmation on Roberts? That would just allow Bush to say "Hey, that was easy, now let's appoint a REAL conservative". And believe me, he's got some judges on his short-list who make Roberts look like a....a....moderate! (see, e.g. Washington Post list)

I'm not saying Roberts won't be confirmed. I'm just saying, there is strategic value to opposing his confirmation. Fight the good fight -- instead of just rolling over and playing dead.

Milking Memories

Check the date -- yes, it's the anniversary of 9/11 on Sunday.

And, right on schedule, Bush is invoking the memories of that horror, which unified a country in shock to create an aura of leadership around a president with no mandate and tepid support at the time.

"Buffeted by criticism, President Bush stirred memories of the 2001 terror
attacks as he hailed the "acts of great compassion and extraordinary bravery
from America's first responders," then as now

A population desperate for a leader -- any leader! -- caused Bush's poll numbers to soar after the 2001 terror attacks, and he's been milking that occasion ever since.

With the current disaster highlighting the flaws in Bush's administration -- the incompetence,t he cronyism, the callous disregard for the 99% of the citizens in this country who are not in his tax bracket, Bush is naturally eager to wrap himself in the mantle of patriotic mourning and the sacrifices of others.

Bush's public support rose dramatically in the days following the attacks of
2001. He linked that time with the present at a ceremony Friday awarding medals
to family members of fire, police and other first responders killed by
terrorists four years ago.
"When America has been challenged, there have always been citizens willing to step forward and risk their lives for the rest of us," the president said. "Over the last 11 days in Louisiana and Mississippi and Alabama, we have again seen acts of great compassion and extraordinary bravery from America's first responders."

Compassion? bravery? it's high time Bush followed the example set by ordinary American citizens, instead of the other way around.

(see full AP report)

Hasta la bye-bye, Mike Brown

So Dubya has finally caved in to the pressure from everyone including his own inner circle, and removed his incompetent, resume-padding, crony Mike Brown from the disaster zone, recalling him to D.C. -- an entirely different kind of disaster zone, where disasters are made (from political manipulation) not born (of natural causes).

Not that he's been fired, mind you. He's still got his job as director of FEMA, where he pulls down a hefty taxpayer-funded income in exchange for making terrible decisions with tragic consequences.

His reaction? Glad to be getting home "for a good Mexican meal and a stiff margarita."

AP report

Chug-a-lug, Mike.

News Flash

Not really a news flash for many of us, but maybe it's finally dawning on some folks....?

Business as usual...

So, with damage to New Orleans and surrounding areas becoming daily more obvious, and with relief efforts running hundreds of millions per day; and the total federal cost expected to be $100 - 200 billion ---- what do Republican lawmakers do?

Why, continue with their plan to abolish the estate tax, which will cost the country $70 billion while providing tax relief to those who apparently need it most -- the wealthiest 1% of the nation's households.

But the Republicans do recognize that sacrifices must be made, when the huge federal deficit (ovre $400 billion last year) is worsened by a huge national disaster.S

So they still want to cut funding....for Louisiana flood control! (Really! I couldn't make this up)Republicans insist it is vital to stay "within their budget."
Wash.Post Sept. 7

Apparently flood control isn't a vital priority in that budget, not compared to ensuring that the heirs of millionaires avoid any estate tax.

And, in the spirit of belt-tightening, Republican lawmakers are moving forward on the Bush administration's plan for spending cuts -- in Medicaid payments, student loan programs, farm programs, food stamps, housing and cash assistance to poor families.

Heck, the poor are used to being poor, they probably won't even notice tightening the belt another notch. If they still have belts.


(The Prairie Angel has posted an article which should be required reading by the Republican lawmakers who are so sanctimonious about cutting "entitlements" to the poor. Maybe Bar could read it to her sons. They all might learn something about Being Poor )

Speaking of spin...

At the height of the hurricane disaster, over 1,000 trained firefighters from Texas, Utah, and around the nation showed up to do urgent search and rescue work in Louisiana -- and were sidelined into an Atlanta conference room to get sexual harassment training and learn how to hand out fliers with FEMA's 800 number (1-800-SCREWUP)
(whoops, no, wait -- that's 1-800-621-FEMA).

The FEMA run by Bush's hand-picked incompetent cronies insisted to the frustrated emergency workers that community relations was a priority.

Meanwhile desperate people were still trapped in flooded attics.

As one Texas firefighter noted, "It's a misallocation of resources. Completely."

A perfect epitaph for the Bush administration, but carved on the tombstones of those who died because of its negligence and incompetence.

On Monday morning, a team of 50 firefighters was finally deployed for action, and quickly "ushered onto a flight headed for Louisiana. The crew's first assignment: to stand beside President Bush as he tours devastated areas."

The Master of Diaster, spinning misallocation of resources into a photo op to show how many resources were on hand.

The victims must be spinning in their graves -- or will be once their bodies are found and buried.

(Read the full article in the Salt Lake Tribune)

The Master of Disaster

So the Shrub says he's going to launch an investigation into the failures of the Katrina disaster response.

By which he means, the failures of OTHER people (especially those state-and-local officials, especially if they are Democrats). He still hasn't acknowledged, much less accepted, any of the responsibility for his own (in)actions, despite the fact that his greasy little fingerprints are all over the smoking gun.

He gutted the budget for flood control in Louisiana. He sent vital resources (billions, troops, and equipment) overseas to pour into a war based on a lie and continued on wishful thinking in a state of denial.

He folded FEMA into the burgeoning Department of Homeland Security, where it lost focus and authority and got bogged down in even more bureaucracy.

He rewarded his untalented, inexperienced cronies with powerful jobs they don't know how to handle -- like, allocating and managing manpower and resources in emergencies.

He stayed on vacation while the disaster loomed (4-1/2 weeks wasn't enough already), entertaining himself with light reading on the short-list of right-wing judges to appoint to the Supreme Court, while ducking Cindy Sheehan's anti-war protest.

When the news of the diaster was old news to everyone else, he made the supreme sacrifice, cut short his vacation by two whole days, and flew back to D.C. -- making an extra effort to have the pilot of Air Force One fly below the clouds so he could catch a gander at the devastation.

Once he got back to the Oval Office, Bush leaped into action -- spin control. Posing before the TV cameras, declaring everything was under control (when the American people could see it wasn't) and that help was on the way (days late and still waiting) and besides it wasn't his fault.

Bush promptly unleashed his senior henchmen (Karl Rove, chief political advisor and Dan Bartlett, communications director) to come up with a plan to contain the political damage his administration was incurring. Never mind the damage to peoples' lives, homes, jobs, cities. Let's focus on political damage.

It must be nice for Karl Rove to have something to do other than deal with the lurking questions about blowing a CIA agent's cover as an act of petty political retribution (remember the Plame case? hasn't been in the news much lately, has it?)

And how hard is it for these guys to come up with a political damage-control plan? After all, they've had years of experience.

Lies, denial, and blame the other guy. The usual routine from this White House.

Bush is a master of disaster, when the disaster involved is covering his own ass.

Like mother like son

For anyone who still thinks of Barb as a sweet ol' granny, check out her comments made upon visiting refugees evacuated to the Houston Astrodome:

"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this (she chuckled slightly) -- this is working very well for them."

http://www.reasongonemad.com/blog/

Unbeliveable? Listen to it: http://www.phxnews.com/fullstory.php?article=25048

Insensitive, arrogant, dismissive, callous, and clueless. Who does that sound like? (I mean, aside from Marie Antoinette) The apple sure didn't fall far from the tree.

Who ya gonna blame....?

So the Shrub has girded his twiggy loins and responded to the disaster crisis with resolve....the resolve to blame everyone but himself and his incompetent cronies.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9189916/

You can't blame Bush for the lack of preparation and sluggish response to the Katrina disaster. See, it's not HIS fault he diverted billions from the budget in tax cuts for his wealthy pals.
It's not HIS fault he has continued to send vital resources like money and troops and equipment overseas to fight a badly-defined "war" that is sinking into the quicksand.
It's not HIS fault he slashed funding for levee repair and rebuilding, which could have prevented the massive flooding of New Orleans.
It's not HIS fault he folded FEMA into the Department of Homeland Security where it lost its focus and authority.
It's not HIS fault he appointed untalented cronies to head a vital department where experience counts so urgently.
It's not HIS fault he was still on vacation when Hurricane Katrina hit.

No, none of this is Bush's fault. It's all the fault of "state and local government" -- of course! They're Democrats!!!

So far Bush has not blamed Bill Clinton for these problems (maybe it would look a tad inconsistent, considering he just milked a photo op, touting Bill and Pop as fundraisers for disaster relief). But give it time....

My what a big elephant!

The mainstream media in the US is finally, tentatively (always waiting to see which way the wind will blow!) announcing what everyone has noticed -- that big elephant in the kitchen which everyone had been trying to ignore earlier in the week: what a coincidence that the majority of the desperate, dying victims trapped in squalid, rotting New Orleans were black. I'll bet the government response would have been a hell of a lot more organized and faster if the TV images had been of pathetic blond folk in Charleston suburbs.....

Relay Distress Calls

US Coast Guard officials are urging that anyone who receives cell phone calls from friends or relatives trapped in the New Orleans area to immediately relay the information to search-and-rescue center in Baton Rouge:
(225) 925-7708, - 7709
(225) 925-3511
(225) 925-7412

NOTE: These numbers are to help the Coast Guard locate and rescue people in distress;
DO NOT use to try and locate family members orfriends who have not been heard from.

Is Hell freezing over?

I can't recall ever having a thought in common with the generally reprehensible Newt Gingrich. But wonders will never cease:

Even Republicans were criticizing Bush and his administration for the sluggish relief effort. "I think it puts into question all of the Homeland Security and Northern Command planning for the last four years, because if we can't respond faster than this to an event we saw coming across the Gulf for days, then why do we think we're prepared to respond to a nuclear or biological attack?" said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/sns-ap-bush-katrina,1,4602683.story

(Gotta go -- I think I just saw some pigs fly past my window....!)

If you want to help....

The victims of Hurricane Katrina are in dire straits. If you want to help, you can support the relief and recovery efforts of the Red Cross or one of a host of other volunteer relief agencies doing essentiallife-saving work in this emergency. FEMA (the Federal EmergencyManagement Agency) has posted a list of recommended groups.