An exchange with a reader …
TPM Reader JS: “Conservative colleague of mine chortling this morning: said he heard on Imus this AM that the reason the poor didn’t evacuate from New Orleans before the storm is because they were waiting for their welfare checks. If true, about on par with Barbara Bush. Can it be confirmed?”
TPM: “I think this may be an extremely disfigured version of some factual information. the storm hit on the 29th. people on public assistance get their checks on the first of the month. so there is a lot of anecdotal information that quite a few people who live from check to check had no cash on hand by the end of the month and thus had no money to leave town. so, i guess one could say they “were waitng for their welfare checks” but [that] leaves a rather misleading impression.”
