Talk is Cheap - Bush is Dangerous

Earthside Comments: So little George says he takes responsibility "to the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right ..." in response to Hurricane Katrina. Oh, boy. Wow. Is he going to resign? Is he going to fire anybody? Is he going to do any knd of penance? Hey, talk is cheap ... and furthermore he qualifies his 'responsibility' only in so far as anything might have gone wrong. And if there are not any consequences for the failures, then taking 'responsibility' means absolutely nothing. This belated 'admission' is clearly nothing more than another typical manipulative political stunt meant to set the stage for Bush's blather to the nation Thursday evening. In reality, what the Bushites and radical Republicans are going to try to do is use this crisis as a reason seize more power for the executive branch ... and to loot more money from the government and the working American people -- as the suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act reveals.

Link: A Fatal Incuriosity | Maureen Dowd

I hate spending time in hospitals and nursing homes. I find them to be some of the most depressing places on earth. Maybe that's why the stories of the sick and elderly who died, 45 in a New Orleans hospital and 34 in St. Rita's nursing home in the devastated St. Bernard Parish outside New Orleans, haunt me so. You're already vulnerable and alone when suddenly you're beset by nature and betrayed by your government. ... As Louisiana's death toll spiked to 423 yesterday, the state charged St. Rita's owners with multiple counts of negligent homicide, accusing them of not responding to warnings about the hurricane. "In effect," State Attorney General Charles Foti Jr. said, "I think that their inactions resulted in the death of these people." President Bush continued to try to spin his own inaction yesterday, but he may finally have reached a patch of reality beyond spin. Now he's the one drowning, unable to rescue himself by patting small black children on the head during photo-ops and making scripted attempts to appear engaged. He can keep going back down there, as he will again on Thursday when he gives a televised speech to the nation, but he can never compensate for his tragic inattention during days when so many lives could have been saved. He made the ultimate sacrifice and admitted his administration had messed up, something he'd refused to do through all of the other screw-ups, from phantom W.M.D. and the torture at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo to the miscalculations on the Iraq occupation and the insurgency, which will soon claim 2,000 young Americans.

Link: Bush Says He May Need More Power in Disasters | The State

President Bush on Monday urged Congress to examine whether the White House needs stronger powers to deal with catastrophes like Hurricane Katrina. ... Asked whether the federal government needed broader authority to “come in earlier or even in advance of a storm that (is) threatening?” Bush replied: “I think that’s one of the interesting issues that Congress needs to take a look at.” ...

Link: Bring Home The Davis-Bacon | Beth Shulman/TomPaine.com

Have you no shame? By suspending the Davis-Bacon laws in the areas devastated by the hurricane you are taking advantage of those already suffering. Davis-Bacon laws require federal contractors to pay laborers and mechanics at least the prevailing-wage rates (and fringe benefits) that other similar workers in the area receive. Once again, wealthy contractors, who are being awarded contracts without competitive bidding that guarantee them a certain profit regardless of how much they spend, will reap millions from this disaster. At the same time, the Americans doing the hard work of restoring these ravaged cities are forced to live without even a basic living wage.

Comments

[Ole Blue]

I am a current Hurricane Katrina victim and all i have to say is i am tired of you ignorant black people thinking that all the devastation is on you. The government did not tell your ignorant asses to stay or anyone else to. I agree they could have done something like provide charter service before the hurricane hit but even still you had ignorant, stubborn people that refused to leave. All I am saying is that you black people, yes i know it sounds harsh but i am no way at all a racist, living in a predominantly black neighborhood, but you black people are not the only ones who got damage so get off your high horses of racism and quit attacking the government because they did not tell any of your ignorant asses to stay... Ole Blue