New Orleans

20080831
John McCain - Joe Biden - Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - Hurricane Katrina - Weather - Emergency - Investigation - Legislation - Politics - History - Federal - NY - New Orleans - Louisiana - Communications - Funds - Children - Transportation - 2008 Election
"McCain To Katrina Victims In 2005: You're On Your Own." ... "It doesn’t really come as a surprise to those of us who have watched [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain over the years that he's about to make a campaign stop in New Orleans [Louisiana] after Hurricane Gustav hits this week. After all, he's been exploiting the troops for years, what's a few hurricane victims after that?" ... "What does seem odd is that McCain thinks Gulf Coast residents will forget how he, [Republican President] George W. Bush and the then-Republican Congress turned their backs on them so many times in the months after Katrina thundered ashore in 2005." ... "Too bad he spent the months to follow leading the Republican charge against every Senate bill that would have actually helped Katrina victims or mandated investigations on how the Bush administration could have blown disaster response so thoroughly." ... "[2008 Election] Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Joe Biden jumped immediately to the aid of hurricane victims in the week after the 2005 disaster, authoring S.Amdt. 1661 "…to provide emergency funding for victims of Hurricane Katrina."" ... "Biden's legislation would have provided many things including money to purchase interoperable communications equipment to help first-responders dealing with the disaster, $10 million "to find, unite, and transport children impacted by Hurricane Katrina to their parents, legal guardian, or next of kin" and funding to assist victims of domestic violence in affected areas." ... "But with John McCain's help, the Republican-led Senate shot down the funding on a 41-56 vote with McCain voting against, while Biden and Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama voted for the funding." ... "When [New York Democratic] Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY[ Democratic-New York]) proposed the creation of a Congressional Commission to "examine the Federal, State, and local response to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.. and make immediate corrective measures to improve such responses in the future," John McCain was once again exactly where [Republican President] George W. Bush wanted him to be: On the "nay" side of a straight party-line vote (44-54) that killed that legislation." ... "And lest you think it was McCain taking a stand against what might become a Democratic witch hunt on the failures of his bosses in the White House, the bill called for a wholly bipartisan panel, stating specifically of the 10-member group that "not more than 5 members of the Commission shall be from the same political party."" ... "Unlike McCain, Barack Obama was one of the cosponsors of that bill and both he and Biden voted for immediate oversight on the bungled Katrina response." ... "But that's not all." -By Bob Geiger

---

20080518
• WATCH - John McCain - Iraq - Military - Disaster - Hurricane Katrina - New Orleans - Louisiana - US - Economy - Politics - Author -  - Media - 2008 Election - "McCain's YouTube Problem Just Became a Nightmare." [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain]
[John McCain]

[YouTube Video] "According to Cliff Schecter, author of The Real McCain: Why Conservatives Don't Trust Him And Why Independents Shouldn't: "It is dangerous for a democracy when a presidential candidate can lie with impunity, change positions on a whim, and physically and verbally threaten others and virtually none of it is reported by a besotted media eagerly awaiting the next moment when he might slap their backs in friendship." -TheRealMcCain.com -BraveNewFilms.org

---

20080423
• John McCain - Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - Working - Women - Families - Poverty - Homes - Gasoline - Groceries - Corporate - Politics - Arizona - Nev - Illinois - New York - New Orleans - Louisiana - 2008 Election - "McCain opposes equal pay bill in Senate." ... "Republican [2008 Election Presidential Candidate and Arizona] Sen. John McCain, campaigning through poverty-stricken cities and towns, said Wednesday he opposes a Senate bill that seeks equal pay for women because it would lead to more lawsuits." ... "Senate Republicans killed the bill Wednesday night on a 56-42 vote that denied the measure the 60 votes needed to advance it to full debate and a vote. [Nevada Democratic Representative and] Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.[Democratic-Nevada], had delayed the vote to give McCain's Democratic rivals, [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Senators of New York and Illinois] Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, time to return to Washington to support the measure, which would make it easier for women to sue their employers for pay discrimination." ... "McCain skipped the vote to campaign in New Orleans [Louisiana]." ... ""Senator McCain has yet again fallen in line with President Bush while middle-class families are falling by the wayside," Clinton said in a statement following the vote. "Women are earning less, but Senator McCain is offering more of the same."" ... "Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Karen Finney said: "At a time when American families are struggling to keep their homes and jobs while paying more for everything from gasoline to groceries, how on Earth would anyone who thinks they can lead our country also think it's acceptable to oppose equal pay for America's mothers, wives and daughters?"" -By Libby Quaid -AP via -SeattlePI 

  ---

20080413
• Alphonso Jackson - Money - Politics - Government - Law - Enforcement - New Orleans - Louisiana - Virgin Islands - "Housing chief ignored looming crisis." ... "In late 2006, as economists warned of an imminent housing-market collapse, [Republican President Bush's] housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson repeatedly insisted that the mounting wave of mortgage failures was a short-term "correction."" ... "He pushed for legislation that would make it easier for federally backed lenders to make loans to risky borrowers. He issued a rule that was criticized by law enforcement because it could increase the difficulty of detecting and proving mortgage fraud." ... "As Jackson leaves office this week, much of the attention on his tenure has been focused on investigations into whether his agency directed housing contracts to friends and political allies. But critics say an equally significant legacy of his four years as the top housing officer was gross inattention to the looming housing crisis." ... "They contend that Jackson ignored warnings from within his agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, whose inspector general told Congress that some of the secretary's efforts were "ill-advised policy" and likely to put more families at risk." ... "During Jackson's tenure, foreclosures for loans insured by HUD's Federal Housing Administration (FHA) have risen and default rates have hit a record high." ... "A federal grand jury is investigating whether he lied to Congress about his involvement in contracts and whether he steered millions of dollars in government work at the Virgin Islands and New Orleans [Louisiana] housing authorities to friends." -By Carol D. Leonnig contributed to by Julie Tate -WashingtonPost via -SeattleTimes

  ---

20080401
• Alphonso Jackson - Criminal - Federal - Housing - Construction - Money - Politics - New Orleans - Louisiana - Hurricane Katrina - Pennsylvania - "HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson steps down: The [Republican President] Bush appointee's decision comes amid an investigation for cronyism in awarding federal housing contracts. His resignation takes effect April 18." ... "Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson resigned today amid a criminal investigation into favoritism in awarding HUD [Housing and Urban Development] contracts that critics said was blunting the agency's effectiveness in dealing with the subprime mortgage mess." ... "The investigation into Jackson began in 2006, after he publicly disclosed that he had revoked a contract because the vendor told him he did not like President Bush. Amid an inspector general inquiry, Jackson told investigators that he had misspoken." ... "The FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] is looking into ties between Jackson and a friend who was paid $392,000 by HUD for work as a construction manager in New Orleans [Louisiana] after Hurricane Katrina. In addition, Jackson is also being sued for allegedly trying to punish the Philadelphia [Pennsylvania] Housing Agency for nixing a deal with his friend, music producer and developer Kenny Gamble." -By Johanna Neuman -LAtimes 

  ---

20080317
• John McCain - John Hagee - Rod Parsley - Rudy Giuliani - Pat Robertson - Terrorism - Politics - Military - Religion - Race - Obama - 2008 Election - Hurricane Katrina - New Orleans - Louisiana - Oklahoma - US - Israel - "The difference between Jeremiah Wright and radical, white evangelical ministers." ... "Ross Douthat and Ezra Klein are arguing about whether Jeremiah Wright's statements are comparable to those of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and John Hagee's." ... "The statement of Wright's which seems to be causing the most upset -- and it's one of two singled out by Douthat -- is his suggestion that there is a causal link between (a) America's constant bombings of and other interference with Middle Eastern countries and (b) the willingness of some Middle Eastern fanatics to attack the U.S. [United States] Ever since the 9/11 attacks, we've been told that positing any such causal connection is a sign of vicious anti-Americanism and that all decent people find such questions despicable. This week we learned that no respectable person would subject his children to a pastor who espouses such hateful ideas." ... "But the idea that America deserves terrorist attacks and other horrendous disasters has long been a frequently expressed view among the faction of white evangelical ministers to whom the Republican Party is most inextricably linked. Neither Jerry Falwell nor Pat Robertson ever retracted or denounced their view that America provoked the 9/11 attacks by doing things to anger God. John Hagee continues to believe that the City of New Orleans [Louisiana] got what it deserved when Katrina drowned its residents and devastated the lives of thousands of Americans. And [Oklahoma Republican Senator] James Inhofe -- who happens to still be a Republican U.S. Senator -- blamed America for the 9/11 attacks by arguing in a 2002 Senate floor speech that "the spiritual door was opened for an attack against the United States of America" because we pressured Israel to give away parts of the West Bank." ... "John Hagee privately visits with the highest level Middle East officials in the [Republican President Bush] White House and afterwards pronounces that they're in agreement. [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain shares a stage with Hagee and lavishes him with praise, as Rudy Giuliani did with Pat Robertson. James Inhofe remains a member in good standing in the GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] Senate Caucus. The Republican Party has tied itself at the hip to a whole slew of "anti-American extremists" -- people who believe that the U.S. provoked the 9/11 attacks because God wants to punish us for the evil, wicked nation we've become -- and yet there is virtual silence about these associations." ... "Nor have the views of televangelist Rod Parsley, one of McCain's self-proclaimed "spiritual advisers," received a fraction of the attention generated by Wright. As both David Corn and Alan Colmes, among others, have documented, Parsley espouses views at least as extreme and radical as Wright, including his proclamation that "America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion [Islam] destroyed." Unlike Wright and Obama -- for whom the former's controversial views are found nowhere near the latter's public or private conduct -- both George Bush and John McCain's Middle Eastern militarism are perfectly consonant with the most maniacal and crazed views of Christian Rapture enthusiasts such as Hagee, Parsley, Inhofe, and Robertson. Yet the controversy created over their close ties is virtually non-existent." ... "The Republican Party long ago adopted as a central strategy aligning itself with, and granting great influence to, the most radical, "America-hating" white evangelical Christian ministers in the country." -By Glenn Greenwald -Salon

  ---

20080228
• Barack Obama - Tim Russert - John McCain - John C Hagee - Religious - Racist - Political - Journalist - 2008 Election - Hurricane Katrina - Homosexual - New Orleans - Louisiana - Texas - "Some hateful, radical ministers -- white evangelicals -- are acceptable." ... "One of this week's hysterical press scandals was that Minister Louis Farrakhan praised [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama's candidacy even though Obama had previously denounced numerous Farrakhan remarks and the Obama campaign did nothing to seek out the Farrakhan praise. Nonetheless, [MSNBC TV political journalist] Tim Russert demanded that Obama jump through multiple hoops to prove that he has no connection to -- and, in fact, "rejects" -- the ideas espoused by Farrakhan deemed to be radical and hateful." ... "Yesterday, though, the equally fringe, radical and hateful (at least) [Reverend] Rev. John Hagee -- a white evangelical who is the pastor of a sprawling "mega-church" in Texas -- enthusiastically endorsed [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate]] John McCain. Did McCain have to jump through the same hoops which Russert and others set up for Obama and "denounce" Hagee's extremism and "reject" his support? No; quite the opposite. McCain said he was "very honored" to receive this endorsement and, when asked about some of Hagee's more twisted views, responded: "all I can tell you is that I am very proud to have Pastor John Hagee's support."" ... "McCain's sainted supporter, [Connecticut Independent Democrat Senator] Joe Lieberman, last year spoke to Hagee's group and lavished him with such obsequious praise that Lieberman actually compared Hagee, favorably, to Moses. Why is Louis Farrakhan deemed by our political establishment to be so radioactive as to not be fit for good company -- black candidates are required to repudiate his support even when they haven't sought it and denounce his views even when they've never advocated anything close to those views -- but John Hagee is a perfectly acceptable figure whom mainstream GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] politicians are free to court without any consequences or media objections?" ... "From an NPR interview Hagee gave to Terry Gross in 2006:"
"TG [Terry Gross]: If you use the Bible as the basis for policy, is there any room for compromise? And if you use the bible as the basis for policy, should Muslims use the Koran as the basis for their policy, and then again, what possible basis is there for compromise at that point?" ... "JH [John Hagee]: There is really no room for compromise between radical Islam --" ... "TG [Terry Gross]: I'm not talking about radical Islam. I'm just talking about Islam in general." ... "JH [John Hagee]: Well Islam in general -- those who live by the Koran have a scriptural mandate to kill Christians and Jews."
...
"JH [John Hagee]: All hurricanes are acts of God, because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans [Louisiana] had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that." ... "The newspaper carried the story in our local area, that was not carried nationally, that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was that it would was going to reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other gay pride parades." ... "So I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing. I know there are people who demur from that, but I believe that the Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the Day of Judgment, and I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans."
"In the framework of the Russert-led establishment press, white evangelical Christians are, by definition, entitled to great respect no matter how radical, extreme and hateful their professed views are." ... "The entire GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] establishment is permitted actively to lavish them with praise and court their support without the slightest backlash or controversy." ... "By contrast, black Muslim ministers like Farrakhan, or even black Christian ministers like [Reverend] Rev. Jeremiah Wright, are held with deep suspicion, even contempt." -By Glenn Greenwald -Salon

---

20080219
• Corporate - Government - Politics - Hurricane Katrina - Flood - Disaster - New Orleans - Louisiana - University - Homes - "Supreme Court rejects Katrina victims' flood insurance case." ... "The Supreme Court refused Tuesday to offer help to Hurricane Katrina victims who want their insurance companies to pay for flood damage to their homes and businesses." ... "The justices rejected appeals from Xavier University [in New Orleans, Louisiana] and 68 other individuals and businesses seeking to allow their lawsuits against the insurers to go forward." -AssociatedPress 

  ---