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Subscribe to RSSUpdated 3:15 pm: Twitter has a way of really highlighting the comity in Washington.
Louisiana Sen. David Vitter (R), upset with Harry Reid saying Hurricane Katrina was "nothing in comparison" to Hurricane Sandy and the devastation caused to the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut area, lashed out on the social network calling the Senate majority leader an "idiot."
"Sadly, Harry Reid has again revealed himself to be an idiot, this time gravely insulting Gulf Coast residents," Vitter Tweeted, linking to a story in the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Vitter later also released a statement with the same language and adding, "Both Katrina and Sandy were horribly destructive storms that caused real human misery. And by most any measure, Katrina was our worst natural disaster in history. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused 1,833 deaths and over $108 billion in damage. Hurricane Sandy has caused 131 deaths and $65 billion in damage."
On Friday, Reid said the following on the floor, urging passage of Sandy funding:
"I really do believe it is important that I have the record reflect the reason we have gotten as far as we have on Sandy is because of the senior Senator from New York. It is too bad that it has taken so long. When we had that devastation from Katrina, we were there within days taking care of Mississippi, Alabama, and especially Louisiana--within days. We are now past 2 months with the people of New York and New Jersey.
"The people of New Orleans and that area, they were hurt but nothing in comparison to what happened to the people in New York and New Jersey. Almost 1 million people have lost their homes; 1 million people lost their homes. That is homes, that is not people in those homes. So I think it is just unfortunate that we do not have the relief for New York and New Jersey and the rest already. It has to be done. We have to meet the needs of the American people when an act of God occurs."
The Times-Pic writes:
"Sandy devastated some of the nation's most populated areas, but it didn't come close to Katrina. Hurricane Katrina, and the flooding that followed when federally built levees failed, killing 1,833 and causing more than $145 billion in damage. Sandy has been blamed for 120 deaths and over $80 billion in damage."
Monday afternoon, Reid released a statement saying he "misspoke" on Friday:
"In my recent comments criticizing House Republicans for threatening to betray Congress' tradition of providing aid to disaster victims in a timely fashion regardless of region, I simply misspoke. I am proud to have been an advocate for disaster victims in the face of Republican foot-dragging, from Hurricane Katrina to Hurricane Sandy, from fires in the west to tornadoes in the Midwest. I have worked hard with Senator Landrieu to ensure that the people of the Gulf Coast have the resources they need to fully recover, and I will continue to advocate on their behalf until the region is fully recovered."
The House passed a $9.7 billion Sandy recovery aid package Friday, which the Senate took up and passed by unanimous consent. The House is expected to take up another $51 billion aid package as a result of Sandy Jan. 15th, after it returns from recess.
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Harry Reid may have misspoke, but it is SEN. VITTER WHO IS THE IDIOT. Where is he on letting the Governor of that State DENY HEALTH CARE to the people of Lousiana, saying they cannot afford the Exchanges, and changing the Educational Process in the State for the Worst with the Dumbing Down of the Students in terms of Science, etc and probably the History Books as well.
I ask who is MORE DETRIMENTAL TO THE STATE ALL THE TIME, an Ideology Driven Governor and U. S. Senator who frequents Prostitutes. Give me a Break.
I think when people cannot get Health Care, AND EDUCATION, that is a Problem.
TalkingPoints! Unless you live in LOuisiana,it really none of your business.Your business is to stand out by your mail facility on mothers' day and wait for your welfare chech.Your responsibilities include making sure you get every single penny that is owed to you for food,shelter and utilities.I know this won't or didn't effect you but how about those tax increases you Obamites thought were going just to the 1%pers.Come to find out it anyone who works pays more.Don't worry,your working friends down at the bar will get most of these increases back with the income tax rebate they get every year.Tell your mom I said hi and thank her for coming over last night.Seems you won't leave the house anymore,just sit around texting all day!
What would the Dems know about education since they are nothing more than pimps for the teachers union. They spend more on education in DC than any other area, yet they have a complete failed system.
masosh!t.........
you have shown everyone you have perfected the human talking azzhole. great job. and by the way..........senator vitter thought your mom was pretty good in the sack. he just wished she would of taken out her teeth before she gave him that blow job.
Talking points--do you even know what the exchanges do? They obligate the state to provide a big chunk of the funding to PAY for Obama Care, regardless of whether that state has the money to do so or not.
Do you REMEMBER No Child Left Behind? It was mandated by the Feds (and yep, UNDER BUSH) with NO money to pay for its requirements on PAPERWORK, let alone implementation, and it has BADLY hurt many school districts who had to choose from personel for the compliance reporting or personel to TEACH.
HALF of the 'trick accounting' that said that Obama Care would be revenue neutral was that it dumped much of the costs off onto the STATEs. And sorry, but the poorest states are ALSO the ones with the largest percentage of their populations are A)poor, B) MINORITY, and C) unable or unwilling to do anything to get themSELVES out of that situation by generationally gettting a good education. And yes, you CAN get a good education from a poor school district. But you cannot get a good education if YOU yourself (encouraged in ALL ways by the parents) do not WORK for it.
And PS--the old "it was good enough in the past (Katrina Aid) so lets repeat the SAME old mistakes does NOT work anymore. Do you NOT remember all the ABUSES and incompetence, and plain lack of recovery from all the aid poured into THAT so called recovery? All the many political buddies that benefited from the PORK on the Katrina Relief?
SHAME on you, Senator Reid, on wanting to RE-DO a POOR effort to 'fix New Orleans/Katrina Hurricane damage area by submitting a pork filled bill.
I've been calling Reid,"Harry the Brain Reid for years.I'm glad others are begining to concur.I would suggest he retire but that is not a possibility since he still has a pulse.The number one and first requirement for retiring from Congress is to be room temperature!I guess The Brains' body temp is still around 98 degrees.Too bad,Hell needs Harry the Brain, more than we do!
I dont care if your right or left, when old Harry speaks it makes your skin crawl.
masosh!t..........
love the avatar of your mom.
This is the political "game" that is being played in government. More than likely it was a way to justify a large bill or to hide parts of a bill stuffed with pork given to "friends" in the north east political scene so no one will question how large it is or what is in it. "Follow the money and the answer will come out". Although minor in comparison look at the tornadoes that went through Oklahoma in '99 and '02. Look at the major flooding in Tennessee a couple of years ago. These people pulled up their boots, put on their gloves, and went to work with only a token of help from the government. These 2 events weren't the catastrophe of Katrina and Sandy but because the political impact was so small there was almost no help if any at all. Kind of points to where the political power sits geographically. With the drought hitting the southwest so hard why isn't there more help there? The powers that be are betting that there will be a good rain one year and the drought clock can be reset. Just like the "fiscal cliff', just wait till the very last second before something can be done and no one will question anything that is passed because "at least something was done". As far as the citizens in the path of Katrina and Sandy, no disrespect for your losses. Those of us in Oklahoma feel your pain too. We have been hit with weather related catastrophes too. We also opened our homes when those that needed a place to live when New Orleans couldn't support you and we also sent utility crews to the victims of Sandy to help restore the power as fast as we could. The citizens seem to be at their best when things are at their worst. Too bad the same can't be said for all politicians.
Robotman--AMEN. I'm from MO, and Joplin (just a hop skip and jump from you) was 50% destroyed, and they got VERY little federal aid. Ditto, those farmers in the SE part of MO who the Corps of Engineers decided during the last flood stage of the Mississippi River, that the farmers were not as important as New Orleans, so the Corps DELIBERATELY BLASTED out a perfectly good Levee and inundated those wealthy farm lands not JUST with flood waters, but with the 'detritus' that it is always overvlowing with (including some nasty 'bugs') AND with SAND from the levee itself. It will be years, if ever, before that famland is again farmable.
And not a lot of aid coming for THAT either.
And yeah--we took in Katrina Victims, and we too sent utility crews to NYC. after Sandy. My small home town of 20K citizens loaded up a tractor trailor (donated by a local trucking company) full of food, clothing, water and other survival stuff, ALL donated by individuals, within 12 hours of Katrina hitting, and ended up sending another 4 plus crews to set up and man food kitchens, to a little town in South Central Mississippi, called McCombs, MS, and kept a team of volunteers down there for nearly 5 months helping with the clearing of the detritus. 2 years later, our town was hit by a bad tornado, and GUESS who sent us aid?
You got it--McCombs MS. And McCombs is STILL waiting for any FEDERAL Aid, because hey, a small town in MS, mostly Black, that is not right on the beach, doesn't GET much aid.
As you said, the citizens to be at their best when things are at their worst.
Until the government gets involved!
No one should be surprised by Reid's comments. He lives in a glass bubble and has no idea what is going on in this country. He gets his news from the paper, radio, and television. He is just one of hundreds in Washington that are clueless and could not care less. We need leadership that has a heart. Leadership that understands pain and suffering. Leadership that will fight for the working class and tax payers. We are still rebuilding the Gulf Coast and will continue to do so. I pray the East Coast also rebuilds and comes back better than it was.
Harry Reid an idiot, how surprising (rolling eyes)....
An Idiot by any other name would be Pelosi.
"Idiot" a compliment to that old skinbag....Pelosi....she's a runaway from the local demented colony...why the hell she's still "hangin' " around Washington...'tis a mystery.
Vitter is absolutely right. Everyone who is not an idiot already knew Reid is an idiot. However, what bothers me more is that he is a conniving, dishonest idiot who plays on the ignorance of his sheeple.
All these ancient politicians have reached their expiration date and are stinking up the joint. We need serious term limits and these old farts need to be put out to pasture where they can spread their manure in an environment that will reap some benefit from it (if there is one).
They talk too much and act too little. Shut up and get to work. Enough of your platitudes we are sick of it!
macgillaebay--absolutely. But the problem is the ONLY way to institute term limits would be to convince Pols to vote to cut off their OWN gravy train. AINT happenin!
Or, to try to do it through a STATE proposed constitutional ammendment, and since we couldn't even get an amendment granting equal rights to women, I doubt THAT would happen either.
And like Mitt Romney or not, he was absolutely right about the 47%--if you are ON the Dole already, you are not going to vote for anything that might dry up that gravy ladle.
All of you that are bashing repubs or democrats are doing exactly what Obama wants. His aim is to create division among all Americans and create a world of chaos. Can't you see what is happening, everytime an issue comes up it becomes more about bashing the party than addressing the issue. Why do you think he is promoting Hagle for Sec of Defense? Because this promotion will create the most animosity among parties and will especially stir up emotions with the anti-Semitic slant. Open your eyes, his decisions are not based on anything other than creating chaos.
Get a grip. This is the most corrupt admin in history. The first thing the Dems do is stand up and say the Repubs did it when in all reality the Dems are at fault, but they just point the finger first to coverup their own inadequacies and hope the American people think they are telling the truth which they do since they don't look beyond their noses.
i guess that makes vitter an even bigger idiot since he is one of those repulsificant's that waited over 2 months to provide aid to the northeast .
My catastrophe is worse than your castastrophe rates right up there with my god is stronger than your god. How about any of the idiots in DC try to get along and do something, ANYTHING positive for the American people!
Liberals = Promise more and deliver less! Then blame the tea party!
Please do us a favor and mute yourself. thanks.
Okay Vitter, did you write that with your big boy pants on or the diapers you wore when you were with that hooker who mysteriously died a year after your name came out on her call list. If Vitter was a Democrat he would have stepped down. But I guess paying for hookers is lesser than texting a picture of your bulge. Vitter needs to just shut up.
I dont know about calling him an idiot, Weasel would have been a better comparison.
No doubt Harry Reid is an idiot and a moron.
Nothing I haven't said myself about reid and pelosi...
HARRY REID
And MOST..of His Democratic COMRADES..
Have Been Suffering For Last four Years ..FROM > E.D <
REID And Demos..Can't ..REFUSE...to GET IT UP....The Economy
E.D.> ECONOMIC DYSFUNCTION..
funny how all the people on here questioning the values of Vitter. i bet these are the same people who voted for Clinton twice and treated him like a god what what he did and said at the dem convention......
It is so interesting that smallest dumb comment by a republican will be criticized to pieces by this board, but a truly stupid remarks from Reid are minimized and brushed aside.
Each weather event was unto itself and created its own brand of devastation....Reid is a moron...no doubt in my mind..."Just an old gasbag"...lol...that he is......a high colonic enema...? I think so.
What the media has not been clarifying is why the Republicans delayed a vote - because Harry Reid's senate attached a bunch of unrelated spending to the bill - aka Pork. The Republicans were right to put it on hold in order to clean it up and hopefully send it back to the senate. Harry Reid is nothing more than a corrupt baffoon. He has yet to work on passing a budget - real dereliction of duty - but not surprising as the Democrats are loathe to clarify what they are spending and what they want to spend which is the makeup of a budget - they fear the public would then be able to get a closer look at the appalling lack of spending restraint by this far left leaning 'progressive' democrat administraton. Be great to see old Harry croak!
Not true. The bill was not just for Sandy relief. The Sandy relief was tacked on to an already existing funding bill for other disasters and infrastructure repairs. That bill was not full of pork. It was full of funding for thing both the house and the senate had already agreed to fund. So this was just a jerk reaction by Boehner who couldn't control his own caucus long enough to get them to vote.
They are all damn idiots as is anyone who would vote for any one of them as their incumbent. Vote the damn fools out.
Once again Harry Reid shows us he suffers from a lack of any semblance of common sense! This is the same MORON who in a TV interview tried to convince the audience that "Americans aren't forced to pay taxes, we have the right of choice! We pay taxes because we want to!" REALLY? Try telling that to the people in federal penitentiaries who chose to NOT pay taxes you idiot!
Please Nevada...if you like this mental midget so much, keep him IN Nevada. Put him in your state legislature or a city council...but don't send this mental desert back to Washington D.C. anymore. He is an embarrassment to the rest of the country!
BOTH of them are idiots.
La was not ground zero for Katrina.
MS from Waveland to Ocean Springs was.
We were on the East side of the storm.
There, the damage was greater.
I approve this message.
I am a retired USAFR Hurricane Hunter.
WHO LIVED IN PASS CHRISTIAN MS.