Sunday, December 11, 2005
Katrina, Revisited
There are several stories that have appeared in the various news sites these past few days that are quite telling, taken all in all, of the state of America with respect to the past 5 years of the Bush Administration’s management.
Drowned city cuts its poor adrift
More bad news at a bad time - Subprime lenders are getting nasty
FEMA reimbursements mainly benefit higher income groups
Finally, there is this for statement from ‘White House Strategists’ to Time magazine, (this article, 2nd page):
Off the radar screen? Here is a helpful piece of input for those ‘White House Strategists’ in the crowd:
Katrina went off the radar screen as it passed up through the north east and dissipated into the Atlantic Ocean, but the people of the regions affected by that storm still need actual help. Its not enough to gather yet not distribute trailer homes with federal money, nor is it enough to give people ‘relief’ funds for things they do not need. We have a new refugee class of citizens in America, scattered to the four corners, and they still need help.
Kids displaced by Katrina are having trouble in with their temporary school districts, survivors are facing housing, employment and financial problems that can affected them their entire lives, and you want a ‘comeback’ story for George Bush??? Why? So you can get back to ensuring that people who make 10k a year have to pay 12.9 percent of their income and folks who make millions only have to pay .2 percent of theirs? So you can give more money to Haliburton (et al) for reconstructions projects in Iraq, while claiming that the deficit is so bad you have to cut spending on welfare, food stamps and financial aide for the under-privileged kids? Has it been just too long since you have gotten an angry rebuttal that you can’t refute for your plans for Social Security?
These guys continue to display a serious disconnect with reality. Check out the run down in this weekends Newsweek, and you can see the full extent of the problem. Bush is in the bubble that is his life, and I know folks like this, I have worked for them for sometime. Just because you don’t like a FACT, does not mean that you get to ignore it. This applies to issues accross the board from foriegn relation to domestic issues, from the evironment to the economy.
So, if you, these afore mentioned ‘White House Stratigists’, are tired of negative talk about the war in Iraq (from the Houses of Congress as well as the people in the street) if you want to see his precious poll numbers improve, if you want to keep George from being subject to criticisms, than stop talking to reporters about what story you would like them to talk about (*cough* Jeff Gannon *cough*), and actually address the problems that they are highlighting with their stories. If you hear a story that is unfavorable to your adopted position, you will have a better result in the court of public opinion if you actually do something about it rather than just sticking your fingers in your ears and chanting “Liberal Media, Don’t listen” over and over again.
Now, I’m going to do more than whine in this post. I’m actually going to make a suggestion. We have to get someone onboard with making sure that all of these far flung folks get their absentee ballots for the 2006 elections. If we can manage to remind those in power that these disaffect people can still vote, and I’m betting en masse if given the chance, then maybe that would put the victims of Katrina ‘back on their radar screen’ long enough to do something to help these folks. If they had that threat of a large block of voters going blue from this far off, they might actually do something to minimize the possible impact on their ability to govern (or more realistically, receive more money from lobbyists.). oh, who am I kidding… they either wouldn’t count the ballots, or redistrict them out (if they haven’t already).
Have a good weekend all
Tomkitty
Drowned city cuts its poor adrift
More bad news at a bad time - Subprime lenders are getting nasty
FEMA reimbursements mainly benefit higher income groups
Finally, there is this for statement from ‘White House Strategists’ to Time magazine, (this article, 2nd page):
White House strategists believe they have ended the slide in Bush's approval ratings, which lately have been topping 40% again. "It's time for the Bush comeback story!" one coached TIME for this article. "The perfect storm has receded. We have better news in Iraq, oil prices are down, and Katrina has kind of fallen off the radar screen in terms of public concern."
Off the radar screen? Here is a helpful piece of input for those ‘White House Strategists’ in the crowd:
Katrina went off the radar screen as it passed up through the north east and dissipated into the Atlantic Ocean, but the people of the regions affected by that storm still need actual help. Its not enough to gather yet not distribute trailer homes with federal money, nor is it enough to give people ‘relief’ funds for things they do not need. We have a new refugee class of citizens in America, scattered to the four corners, and they still need help.
Kids displaced by Katrina are having trouble in with their temporary school districts, survivors are facing housing, employment and financial problems that can affected them their entire lives, and you want a ‘comeback’ story for George Bush??? Why? So you can get back to ensuring that people who make 10k a year have to pay 12.9 percent of their income and folks who make millions only have to pay .2 percent of theirs? So you can give more money to Haliburton (et al) for reconstructions projects in Iraq, while claiming that the deficit is so bad you have to cut spending on welfare, food stamps and financial aide for the under-privileged kids? Has it been just too long since you have gotten an angry rebuttal that you can’t refute for your plans for Social Security?
These guys continue to display a serious disconnect with reality. Check out the run down in this weekends Newsweek, and you can see the full extent of the problem. Bush is in the bubble that is his life, and I know folks like this, I have worked for them for sometime. Just because you don’t like a FACT, does not mean that you get to ignore it. This applies to issues accross the board from foriegn relation to domestic issues, from the evironment to the economy.
So, if you, these afore mentioned ‘White House Stratigists’, are tired of negative talk about the war in Iraq (from the Houses of Congress as well as the people in the street) if you want to see his precious poll numbers improve, if you want to keep George from being subject to criticisms, than stop talking to reporters about what story you would like them to talk about (*cough* Jeff Gannon *cough*), and actually address the problems that they are highlighting with their stories. If you hear a story that is unfavorable to your adopted position, you will have a better result in the court of public opinion if you actually do something about it rather than just sticking your fingers in your ears and chanting “Liberal Media, Don’t listen” over and over again.
Now, I’m going to do more than whine in this post. I’m actually going to make a suggestion. We have to get someone onboard with making sure that all of these far flung folks get their absentee ballots for the 2006 elections. If we can manage to remind those in power that these disaffect people can still vote, and I’m betting en masse if given the chance, then maybe that would put the victims of Katrina ‘back on their radar screen’ long enough to do something to help these folks. If they had that threat of a large block of voters going blue from this far off, they might actually do something to minimize the possible impact on their ability to govern (or more realistically, receive more money from lobbyists.). oh, who am I kidding… they either wouldn’t count the ballots, or redistrict them out (if they haven’t already).
Have a good weekend all
Tomkitty
