"We help replace, we help relieve disaster," Hastert said. "But I think federal insurance and everything that goes along with it...we ought to take a second look at that."
The Republican attack on the American people has given us a lot of despicable policies; tax cuts for the rich, the disastrous Iraq war policy, the repeal of the "Death Tax" under the guise of lies and attempts to undermine and dismantle Social Security. But even I thought these people had limits.
My mistake. House Speaker Dennis Hastert has now come out to undermine and question the use of federal aid for disaster relief.
see the article here:
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_09.html#
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In an article by Bill Walsh linked on nolo.com, Hastart suggests that it isn't sensible to rebuild New Orleans:
"It doesn't make sense to me," Hastert told the Daily Herald in suburban Chicago in editions published today. "And it's a question that certainly we should ask."
Fine, there are legitimate problems with building in flood, fire, earthquake and hurricane prone areas. We can debate those. But to question federal insurance and "everything that goes along with it..." is an entirely different discussion. One that we have, in fact, heard many times from Republicans; screw the little guy, forget government helping the down and out, where is MY money? Republicans insist on letting the least able reap the consequences of their "own actions," or any act of misfortune or even corporate abuse that comes along, unless of course it happens to them.
The article goes on to reference an editorial in a Republican newspaper entitled, "Is New Orleans worth reclaiming?"
"Americans' hearts go out to the people in Katrina's path," it said. "But if the people of New Orleans and other low-lying areas insist on living in harm's way, they ought to accept responsibility for what happens to them and their property."
Even as thousands are still trapped in the hell that is New Orleans, Republicans want to question the federal government's involvement in helping these people. It's not enough for these people to have cut welfare, slashed social programs to the bone, turned the mentally ill out into the streets, under-funded or cut care for veterans. They will use every opportunity to whittle away at what little remains of the social safety net.
While Hastert's comments are not consistent with the pittance that has come out of President Bush's mouth, it's telling that they were made at all. I can't imagine that gutting hurricane aid would be very popular going into the 2006 midterms, but it goes to show you how much hubris Republicans have from their five years of feeding at the trough and shitting on the American people while the democrats tepidly test the waters with their toe. There is no appeasing these people. Nothing is EVER enough; they will continue to chip away at this country and its values until all that left is a rotten core.