RUSH: “Louisiana’s lawmakers submitted a $250 billion wish list to Congress yesterday, asking the federal government to cover everything from rebuilding communities to killing mosquitoes and paying homeowners’ mortgages in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.” Louisiana Senator Mary “Cute Baby Fat” Landrieu, a Democrat, and a Republican David Vitter — the Republicans are in on this, too ? “presented the $250 billion package. ‘It’s $180 billion in spending and the rest in tax breaks and other revenue reductions just for Louisiana,’ said Mary [Cute Little Baby Fat] Landrieu. ‘This is an unprecedented national disaster and tragedy and it’s going to take an unprecedented response.'” Well, you know, Mary, I must tell you, I had, when I saw this last night, I had an immediate, angry gut reaction to this — and I’ll tell you why. I think that some of these politicians, the state, city, and the governor’s office, the homeland security office there, we know so many examples of where these police stations misdirected money they were given in the first place and they’ve got nothing but a ration of competent leaders and people running that whole state. Now I see that they want us, not to try to get these people off the mat but they want to stick us with the bill for everything possible. You know, it’s one thing to get a leg up and to start rebuilding, but to do everything: $250 billion? They’re requesting more for their state alone than has even talked about being authorized, and this is going to backfire on these people. Their timing couldn’t be worse. Here they are on the verge of another hurricane about to wipe out Texas, which bailed New Orleans out big time. Texas took those evacuees, the Texas government.
The people of Texas opened their arms, opened their homes, opened their wallets, did all kinds of things as have a number of people. One billion so far in private-sector donations, and on the verge — a day, two or three days before another hurricane wrecks Texas — these people get their request in. These people had to get this request in before this next hurricane hits so they’re first in the queue. I mean, it’s one thing to offer help but it’s offensive to demand it. We’ve been doing fine. The American people are willing to bend over backwards. Now here come these people demanding all of it. That grates, and they’re acting like it’s owed to them. This Landrieu comment. “This is unprecedented. A national tragedy. It’s going to take an unprecedented response.” The entitlement mentality lives and thrives in Louisiana now. We’ve had three weeks here of wringing or hands and, “Oh, woe is them,” and, “We feel bad for them,” and we all do, but now here comes the greed and now here come the demands, and now here come the expectations. I wonder how much has been spent already, not just by the feds and charity but the billions in contributions of food, clothing, medicine, time, and other resources, volunteer hours, how much has already been spent? $250 billion. That’s close to 10% of the entire federal budget, I think. The military has spend a fortune, too. Paula Zahn’s show last night on CNN had a story where the New Orleans cops are running around looting recently abandoned apartment houses!
The police department down there at that time, last night, when I heard the story had not reacted or responded other than to say there’s two sides to every story, but has anybody asked…? I’ll ask. I’m good at asking. Has anybody asked how much the state of Louisiana is going to pay? Anybody asked how much state taxes might be increased to pay for this? Why doesn’t we just nationalize the state? We may as well just nationalize Louisiana. That’s what we’re being asked to do, just nationalize it, and call it Washington Gulf Shores, instead of Washington, DC. Washington Gulf Shores. Just nationalize the whole state. I mean to propose this hours before the next hurricane, they want to get in the queue, but it doesn’t show much compassion, does it? I mean the very state and city that helped them is now about to get slammed, maybe even worse, and they introduce this bill while people literally are running for their survival? This is Mary Landrieu, folks. This is the Cute Little Baby Fat Mary Landrieu doing this, leading the charge here. She’s out there. If Bush doesn’t do it she’ll probably threaten to punch him out again. We’ve poured billions into their levee system and they already showed how they screwed that up by not appropriating or spending the money correctly. It’s been appropriated, not spending it. Now that levee in the Ninth Ward is breached again. I think some others have as well. People are down there who haven’t been home in three weeks trying to fix all this stuff, and it’s all, “Okay, what needs to happen, what do you owe us now?” So, at any rate, folks, I had to get this off my chest because I saw this last night and I said, “This sounds like a demand.” This sounds like a demand. It’s one thing, you know, in the middle of a whole bunch of compassion and already talk of $200 billion for all this — and we’re not even talking about Mississippi ye! We’re not even talking Mississippi.
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RUSH: Pat in Ft. Lauderdale, you’re next on the EIB Network’s Open Line Friday. Hello.
CALLER: Hey, Rush, how’s it going?
RUSH: Fine, thank you, sir.
CALLER: Two-hundred-and-fifty billion dittos. The question I have is if the flood insurance is already being paid for by the federal government, why aren’t… You know, it sounds to me like they’re double dipping in Louisiana.
RUSH: Double dipping? Quadruple dipping! Quintuple dipping! The money that they’ve been given over the years to fix these problems never get spent on that. Flood insurance? Let me tell you what’s going to happen with flood insurance! Have you ever…? (Calm down, Rush, it’s just a radio program.) Let me tell you what’s going to happen. We’ve all seen in Mississippi and Louisiana. We’ve seen homes destroyed by water. Now, the insurance companies? People think they had flood insurance but wait ’til the insurance companies get there.
“Well, you gotta prove that that water came down the wall and not through the door. If that water came through the door, that’s not the flood insurance you’ve got. If that water came down the ceiling, it could have been a pipe and we didn’t insure that.”
Ha-ha, flood insurance, my…! Don’t make me laugh.
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