Apparently, on the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina ravaging the Gulf Coast, conservatives have decided they’ve grown tired of the topic.
GOP presidential hopeful Rep. Tom Tancredo (Colo.) said Friday it is “time the taxpayer gravy train left the New Orleans station” and urged an end to the federal aid to the region that was devastated by Hurricane Katrina two years ago. […]
“The mentality that people can wait around indefinitely for the federal taxpayer to solve all their worldly problems has got to come to an end,” said Tancredo.
That would be the same federal government, of course, that neglected the victims before the storm hit, as the storm hit, after the storm hit, and for the two subsequent years that followed. Indeed, for all the rhetoric we’ve heard, as of this week, “none of the 115 ‘critical priority projects’ identified by city officials” for publicly funded rebuilding efforts “has been completed.” Of the $34 billion “earmarked for long-term rebuilding,” less than half “has made its way through federal checks and balances to reach municipal projects.”
What’s more, it’s not just Tancredo. Over at Townhall, John Hawkins offered this jaw-dropper.
Two years after Katrina, everywhere you turn, there are people carping, whining, and kvetching. Just why hasn’t the pity party for the citizens of New Orleans run out of booze and chips yet? […]
Let me tell all the citizens of New Orleans something that should have been told to them 18 months ago: it’s time to stop playing the sympathy card and get over it.
Nobody is owed a living for the rest of his life because he had a bad break two years ago. Yet, we still have people affected by Katrina who have FEMA paying their rent. How sad and pathetic is it that these shiftless people are still leaching off their fellow citizens? Since when is being in the path of a hurricane supposed to give you a permanent “Get Out of Work Free” card?
If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t believe it.
