To the ire of me, Senator Mary Landrieu and the wonderful, hardworking people of Louisiana, Larry Craig, a Republican US Senator from Idaho, stated the following:
"Louisiana and New Orleans are the most corrupt governments in our country and they always have been."
Here is another gem that fell from the Senator's acerbic tongue:
"A rookie cop on the ground in New Orleans, they pay him or her $17,000 starting pay and then wink and say you better make the rest of it on the street."
This diary continues in the extended body.
This last quotation, which recalls House Speaker Dennis Hastert's (R-IL) plan to bulldoze the entire Gulf Coast region, is even more egregious:
"I'm not humorous when I suggest we should turn it back to what it was, a wetland."
Landrieu, of course, confronted Craig, voicing her disappointment. But according to his Press Secretary, "Larry stands behind his comments....He certainly wants to help the folks in the Gulf Coast, but he wants accountability to make sure where the money's spent."
These quotations are gleaned from the article posted at this URL:
http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051015/NEWS01/510150322/1001/NEWS
I believe each of us needs to contact Sen. Craig either by mail or by telephone and ask him to recant these statements. If he desires to discuss government corruption, we should remind him he is beholden to the NRA, willing to disrupt a Senate Defense Authorization Bill in order to lower restrictions for gun manufacturers and distributors. This, I believe, is emblematic of corrupt governmental behaviour. We should also exhort him to direct his energies toward his own party. After all, the Republican Majority Leader of the Senate and the Republican Speaker of the House are both embroiled in scandals revolving around their questionable financial transactions. "Where is the real corruption, Larry?," we should quizzically ask.
If he desires accountability in government, we should direct him to FEMA, to Bush's lack of response to Katrina, to the Bush administration's willingness to release confidential information about a CIA operative, and to Craig's votes against funding body armour for troops. We should also ask if he feels the following Senators should be held accountable for voting against the Domenici amendment to the Energy Bill, which provides millions of dollars to Louisiana for the restoration of their wetlands and coasts:
Allard (R-CO)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burns (R-MT)
Byrd (D-WV)
Chafee (R-RI)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Collins (R-ME)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Enzi (R-WY)
Feingold (D-WI)
Gregg (R-NH)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Lugar (R-IN)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Santorum (R-PA)
Specter (R-PA)
Sununu (R-NH)
Thomas (R-WY)
Wyden (D-OR)
The vote on the Domenici amendment can be viewed here:
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&sessio
n=1&vote=00153
And if he is concerned about fiscal accountability, we should ask Senator Craig if he is willing to compose a bill that holds George W. Bush accountable for his profligate spending and fiscal wrecklessness.
And lastly, if he is concerned about the salaris of our first responders, why did he vote against the Dodd amendment, which would have funded first responders' immediate needs by closing tax loopholes that benefit those earning incomes over $1 million per annum? Are he and the 59 other Senators who voted against this amendment to be held accountable if what he states about New Orleans police officers in any way approximates the truth?
The vote on the Dodd amendment to the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Bill can be found here:
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&sessio
n=1&vote=00177
Larry Craig must be harrassed until he apologies for his utterly inexcusable and execrable statements. Here is his contact information:
520 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2752
Web Form: craig.senate.gov/email/
If you desire to send him an electronic message, visit his website:
http://www.craig.senate.gov/
And please, bloggers from Idaho, write your local newspapers and ask the Senator to repudiate his statements.