Senators: Hurricane Aid Is Being Blocked by White House

[WestHoustonDem]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050928/ap_on_go_co/katrina_congress_hk4;_ylt=AmhuFW2OHXo2DTCtn0gxYvGs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--

<snip>
WASHINGTON - With Gulf Coast governors pressing for action,
Senate Finance Committee members complained Wednesday that the Bush administration is blocking a bipartisan $9 billion health care package for hundreds of thousands of evacuees from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
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"We've got people with needs today," Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said. She was joined by Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, who testified via a teleconference hookup, in urging quick action on the legislation.

Sen. Charles Grassley (news, bio, voting record), R-Iowa, chairman of the committee, said four or five senators have been blocking action on the bill after the Bush administration raised objections to provisions that would extend Medicaid coverage to thousands upon thousands of adults who otherwise would be uninsured, including those whose applications have been rejected in Louisiana.

"We can work with everybody, including the administration, or against them, and I'm prepared to go either way," said Sen. Trent Lott (news, bio, voting record), R-Miss. "But I'm going to look after our people first."

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[Moderator]

1. WestHoustonDem

Please snip your article to no more than four paragraphs to conform with our coypyright rules. Thanks!

[WestHoustonDem]

8. Done. Sorry about that n/t

[Judi Lynn]

2. Senators: Hurricane Aid Is Being Blocked

Senators: Hurricane Aid Is Being Blocked
Senators Say $9B Health Package for Hurricane Victims Is Being Blocked at Administration's Behest

By HOPE YEN Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON Sep 28, 2005 — With Gulf Coast governors pressing for action, Senate Finance Committee members complained Wednesday that the Bush administration is blocking a bipartisan $9 billion health care package for hundreds of thousands of evacuees from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

"We've got people with needs today," Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said. She was joined by Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, who testified via a teleconference hookup, in urging quick action on the legislation.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the committee, said four or five senators have been blocking action on the bill after the Bush administration raised objections to provisions that would extend Medicaid coverage to thousands upon thousands of adults who otherwise would be uninsured, including those whose applications have been rejected in Louisiana.

"We can work with everybody, including the administration, or against them, and I'm prepared to go either way," said Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss. "But I'm going to look after our people first."
(snip/...)

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1166745

[Beetwasher]

3. WTF??? Are They Nuts???

Holy shit!

[atommom]

5. You know they are! Evil, too.

[Megahurtz]

13. They're fucking sick!

It seems like they just want people to die. It's all about their precious money!

[area51]

23. "It seems like they just want people to die."

Nazis get a woody everytime someone dies. I think this is their culling of the population of what they see as "undesirables".

[ninkasi]

20. Well, it's not important...

I mean, it's not helping big business, or the corporations who have a stranglehold on all of the Republicans, and too many of the Democrats. Helping the ones who pay their salaries? How quaint! Chimp doesn't have to worry about being reelected, so why should he give a rat's ass?

[crowshadow]

4. Cheney can't move that fast since the operation.

You must allow Cheney to position himslef at the head of the trough, don't worry as soon as he gets his snout in everything will be fine.

[ugarte]

6. I love it when Trent Lott goes populist.

Losing your beach house will do that to you.

[FVZA_Colonel]

7. I would love to know who those five senators are.

It is absolutely attrocious that they would do this when it is so clear that so many American citizens are in need. Also, on a piece about Brownie from the article:

Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., said Wednesday that while Brown made mistakes, so did others. "He can't be the scapegoat. First responders are local and state, and the governor and mayor did a pathetic job of preparing their people for this horrific storm," Shays said on NBC's "Today" show.

No one is making him into the scape goat. But considering what they had to work with, Nagin and Blanco did pretty good, but were by no means perfect.

[Dulcinea]

22. Who are they and why are they doing this?

How can I find out?

[DrZeeLit]

9. What happened to "we're gonna do anything, pay anything" yada yada...??

Didn't * stand up in the glaring spotlight on Jackson Square and promise the moon, stars, and twelve vestal virgins that he'd fix all of it?

Wha the ??????

Blocking... Isn't that the way? They make a BIG announcment, get MEGA press, then QUIETLY... stop the money and support.

Didn't he do the same thing for AIDS in Africa, Third World debt, and a bunch of social programs (like retraining and college) that he CUT?

Full of himself...which makes him Full of Shit.

[grytpype]

10. It's becoming Bush Against the World.

Everyone hates him now.

[Dogmudgeon]

11. Let me try my Psychic Powers on this one

Bush, who has been increasingly frustrated by the lack of worship shown by his thralls, has become bitter and angry. So, when he was needed to help out with disaster relief, he threw a tantrum: "Louisiana wants more aid? Fuck 'em! Fuck 'em all! I don't care if I get impeached or not. If they can't respect the fact that God and Jaysus annointed me on September 11th, then they can kiss my skinny, unwiped ass!"

I have a confession to make. I'm not psychic at all. I don't even think psychic powers really exist. All I have done is to realize that Bush flies off the handle and does incredibly petty things when he doesn't get his way -- and recent political "anomalies" fit this pattern with jigsaw-puzzle perfection.

Now that consumer confidence has nosedived (down 19 points in one month) and an honest-to-goodness energy crisis is upon us, Bush will have to face even more insubordination from the ungrateful masses. I predict -- without any clairvoyance whatsoever -- that Bush will soon make a public gaffe so outrageous that it will effectively destroy his presidency and sour the 2006 mid-term election for the Republicans. The rats will flee the sinnking ship.

Can you hear Jack calling out for Rose yet?

--p!

[Barrett808]

27. From your lips to Goddess's ears n/t

[central scrutinizer]

12. slippery slope

Repukes don't dare provide health care for anybody, except for Iraqis, lest other Americans say, "Hey, what about me? Where's my health care?"

[stickdog]

14. Say one thing, do another.

That's just SOP for BushCo's gang of political thugs.

[Benhurst]

15. Hey, come on there. The White House is right on this one. Extending

health care for thousands of adults who are uninsured -- how absurd. This is BushAmerica. These people are poor-- they're used to no medical care. We don't want to spoil them just because of a little wind. The next thing you'll know, they'll be wanting it all the time.

[bobbieinok]

16. Grassley....when he gets mad, he gets MAD

I lived in IA when Grassley was first elected (1980)......his thing was DOD paying 1000s of $$ for items you could get much cheaper on the open market

he ran against the dem John Culver....2 things I remember about that race

....in a grocery store cafe I overheard some retired farmers talking....they said Culver's hair looked blow-dried; they wouldn't vote for someone who spent so much time on his hair

....I was watching a TV debate between Culver and Grassley; later my now ex who heard parts of the debate from another room said Grassley would win b/c 'he sounds like Will Rogers'

maybe no dem could win in IA in 1980.....Reagan swamped the state; the legislature had previously passed an ERA amendment, adding to the numbers needed for an amendment to the constitution......between that time and the 1980 vote the RW organized a massive antiERA movement.....in our town the anti-group was the front for a massive antiERA Mormon assault

the 1980 election was sickening...I walked the precinct to get out the democratic vote KNOWING that most of my democratic neighbors were voting against the ERA and for Reagan

[springhill]

17. If you ask me.........

it's all part of the grand plan. They don't think government should help the average citizen (or low income citizen) in any way. Just listen to what Brown had to say yesterday at his hearing. He was flip in his responses concerning the help and assistance that was needed and that he was responsible for. He doesn't believe it is their job to see that people have what they need in emergencies. He basically said that yesterday.

They don't believe in government period, except for war and profit.

[Benhurst]

18. ...

:thumbsup:

[mom cat]

19. Here is the kicker:

In the weeks after the Aug. 29 storm, more than 80 percent of the $1.5 billion in contracts awarded by FEMA for Katrina work were handed out with little or no competition or had open-ended or vague terms that previous audits have cited as being highly prone to abuse.

[ladylibertee]

21. That's okay, Theres about to be a BIG change at the White House

[Rose Siding]

24. Senators Fume at White House Disdain for Katrina Healthcare Plan

WASHINGTON — Senate Finance Committee members accused the White House on Wednesday of blocking a bipartisan $9-billion healthcare package for Hurricane Katrina victims.
...
"I would suggest that people at the White House need to know that the chances of our getting a reconciliation bill moving out of my committee are very difficult if we don't get this behind us," Grassley said, referring to a key spending measure for the 2006 budget that his panel is supposed to finish by Oct. 19.

The threat elicited gasps from the packed hearing room. Grassley is usually one of the administration's staunchest supporters, and he had previously urged senators to quickly move the spending bill, which includes a recommended $10 billion in cuts to Medicaid over five years.

The power of his threat lies in his committee's key role in the budget process. Congress is struggling, for the first time in eight years, to slow the growth of such entitlement programs as Medicaid and student loans. The budget passed in April called for $35 billion in spending reductions over five years to such programs, a plan attacked by Democrats and moderate Republicans even before Hurricane Katrina hit.

If Grassley chooses not to let his portion of the spending bill out of committee, the entire effort is likely to collapse, Senate aides said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-hearing29sep29,1,2160741.story?coll=la-news-politics-national

[rodeodance]

25. past time they started to get fisty!

[marmar]

26. What's wrong with those senators?

Don't they know that we need to help the corporations first?

:sarcasm: