Blanco: "I should have switched to Republican"

[RB TexLa]

By John Hill
Louisiana Gannett News

BATON ROUGE – Gov. Kathleen Blanco, relaxed a day after dropping out of the governor’s race, said today her greatest failure as governor was not switching to the Republican Party in the days after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

“When I look back at the storms, if I had had the knowledge that I would be treated as a pariah by the national Republicans in office, I would have joined the Republican Party to save my state,” Blanco said.


“Then I would have been hugged and kissed and lifted, and I would have been declared the best governor in this whole country,” the governor said. “I wish I had realized that earlier. I think that was the fatal error.”

The governor has long maintained that Washington Republicans and the White House in particular sought to shift blame to her from President Bush for the federal government’s slow response following Hurricane Katrina.

http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070321/NEWS01/70321015

[enid602]

1. Blanco

You mean she's not? I thought she was, judging by her actions.

[Selatius]

2. It seems the only true mark of a Democrat nowadays is...

party registration papers. Everything else is "for sale."

[merh]

8. She is being honest and sadly, there is truth to what she has said.

Mississippi has received better treatment because our gov is Barbour. Now mind you, the citizens are still getting screwed and the rebuild efforts and red tape are exhausting, partly because of the inept handling of the grant monies (handled by the state). What is the worst repercussion of having a repub gov is that everyone in the nation thinks we are doing great, that Mississippi is back to normal. Hell, even folks in the northern part of the state think that due to the press that our repub gov gets for his great job.

Had she chosen to switch to repub over dem after the storm it would have helped her state, her citizens, that is the nasty truth of this admin and the partisan divide and inequities.

I can only imagine the stress and heart ache she lives with daily, to be stymied, her hands tied and blamed for the failings of the worst administration our nation has ever known.

[Selatius]

16. Barbour is a shitlead.

He deserves as much blame for all the dead people on the Mississippi coast. If he and dumbfucks like Bush want to say that disaster preparation is primarily a "state issue," then that means all those dead people on the Mississippi coast are Barbour's damn fault because by his own standards, he had no fucking plan to evacuate the poor and the elderly from the three coastal counties.

Nevermind the fact that FEMA was established precisely to handle these disasters. Nevermind the fact that Brown was in charge of horse shows before going to FEMA. Nevermind the fact that it was Bush Co. that put Brown there.

[Cha]

3. This says more about the national

goddamn republicons than it does about Blanco. I hope there's justice for the dead fish who abandoned New Orleans after Katrina..some day.

[shance]

4. Seems to me Blanco's point is to reveal what a double standard exists

when governing as a Democrat versus a Republican.

In that respect, I think she has a very valid point.

[gatorboy]

7. She has a very good point because Arkansas is going through the exact same thing

with Dumas not being declared a disaster area (denying us FEMA help) simply because Arkansas went blue.

[robinlynne]

11. sure you want fema around?

[gimama]

18. Ark. STILL waiting for disaster relief?

2 wks ago, fema was "rushing" 30 (!!!) "slightly used trailers from HOPE"..for the 300 or so HOMEless in Dumas..
Are Ya'll still doing without? I've wondered,haven't heard..what is going on over there?
I'm sorry, every day there is another disaster or crisis,that keeps US, the PEOPLE, upset,dazed & confused,juggling awful stuff. Tell us what the need is.. as long as WE are ALL writing & calling DC,anyWay, WE can mention the needs of OUR PEOPLE in Dumas,AND the GulfCoast,hmmm?

[Horse with no Name]

21. Why were they rushing "slightly used" trailers?

Those trailers should still be new? They were never delivered to Louisiana and were SUPPOSED to be on lots.:mad:
Who has been using them as rentals?

[gatorboy]

25. There were a few trailers that were sent to several areas.

For whatever reason, they were sent back to Hope after use (These are the trailers they are auctioning off for a quarter their worth).

Out of the thousands of new trailers that still sit there, FEMA decided to send the 30 used (very used some) trailers to Dumas for the 300+ individuals that lost homes. Nice, eh? Bush was in other states a day after storms hit. He nor FEMA ever set foot in Dumas for the simple reason that we kicked a bulk of the Repugs out of office.

[Horse with no Name]

26. Of COURSE they are 1/4 of their worth

I believe they were sold for 3X the market value to the government.
Every single day 10-15 trailers went in front of house...this continued for months.
NONE of them were used and were sitting on a lot in New Boston.
I will find the article that talks about it. I know I posted it here awhile back.
It was a HUGE waste of taxpayer money.

[gatorboy]

28. Still a huge waste.

We went through Hope not long ago and I couldn't believe a far the trailers went, thousands of them.

And now they're selling them off...For profit? I'm not sure how this works. WE payed for these trailers and now they're auctioning them off. Who gets that money?

[Horse with no Name]

31. The government will get a fraction of what they paid for

But the REAL profits will go to those who purchase them at auction. They will purchase them for pennies on the dollar. THAT is where the boondoggle will be.
The trailers that passed by here were all nice homes and a friend that works for Clayton Homes that made a lot of them said that they were all upgraded. That set off bells when I heard that because the cosmetic upgrades weren't necessary. Just functional housing.
I bet there are some Republican supporters lined up to make some money off of renting them out to the same people that were SUPPOSED to receive them. That OUR tax dollars went to FOR THEM.
I ALWAYS knew it would work out that way. Goddamned these parasitic whores.:mad:

[Horse with no Name]

29. They were in Hope

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1764669&mesg_id=1764669

[gimama]

34. Let's call congress-critters & msm

I'm calling dc anyWay! Every DAY, another mess to call about.
Here are some #'s for Cap.Hill switchboard:
1-800-828-0498 and 202-224-3121
email,fax,even hand-deliver(small fee)
YOUR messages, individual contact info,etc :
www.congress.org

I suggest calls to neighbors in Miss. elected employees, apparently guv.barber gits reeeelll gooood ree-sponses 'n' reee-sults. And contracts.

I have some info from the NOLA ReBuild Efforts:
ck out ~ Dearfema.com & Acorn.org
Get ready for a little Light,on this,
& tell Folks to Hang in there, THEY are not forgotten.
What about immediate needs,clothing,etc? Red Cross on site?
God Bless Arkansas~===]

[Duer 157099]

5. She's just now getting the memo?

Although... she should talk to some of those fired USAttys ... who *were* repubs ... didn't save them now did it?

[Fran Kubelik]

6. That has to hurt.

I feel for that woman. What a massive cluster fuck. :grr:

[John Q. Citizen]

9. I feel a lot more for this man. Blanco could right this terrible wrong, and I hope

she does before she leaves office.

http://www.freegarytyler.com/

[partylessinOhio]

10. I don't feel for her. She laid down with dogs, like a puppy with * riding

around in the back of a dump truck. She licked his u-know-what instead of standing up to him like a woMAN. She is no better than Landrieu.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

12. Sad. Shows how the R-wing has f'd our people and democracy.

:puke:

[WorldResident]

13. Very valid point

In fact, I think the reason that Florida had fared so well with the federal government was because the President's brother was the governor.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

17. Oh, you mean for the first 24 hours when they all show up for the photo op

with cases of water and phoney construction vehicles in the background that are taken away as soon as the politicians leave?

Just ask the Floridians living in Port Charlotte and the west coast how long it took to get the place together after Hurricane Charlie. Having Jeb here as governor didn't get us any perks; just publicity.

[deminks]

14. Now, maybe, she can tell the truth.

What are they going to do to her, destroy her political career? Not send relief funds to LA? Blame her for everything they didn't do? She's been there, done that, got the T-shirt.

[ElboRuum]

15. She's right.

And that sucks.

[RB TexLa]

20. I'd really love to see an elected Democrat actually do it after a disaster

Have the press follow her or him to the courthouse fill out the form, change to the Republican party and say "Mr. Bush here is my new voter registration card, so my (insert state, city, parish) can now get the Mississippi treatment and not the Louisiana treatment."



{actually I don't want to see anyone suffer through natural disasters, but know they are going to happen}

[Firespirit]

23. I wouldn't wish the MS treatment on anyone

The "recovery" there is nothing more than a free-for-all for the disaster profiteers. Homeowners and local small business owners got screwed. Thank gods for Jim Hood, the state attorney general (Democratic) who led the lawsuit against the home insurance companies.

It's less known, but the states affected by the 2004 hurricanes were also used for photo-ops and then ignored. In 2003, the East Coast was hit by Hurricane Isabel and the insurance lobby pulled its same s**t on the homeowners, with minimal coverage of it.

The last time that a hurricane recovery went well was during the Clinton administration. Imagine that.

[RB TexLa]

27. Well, you have to remember America doesn't even care about Louisiana

I understood what Blanco was saying but I don't think it would have mattered. They don't care for us or about us.

[Firespirit]

32. They only care about you if you're rich and right-wing

The coast of MS was majority Republican, but it didn't matter -- they got shafted, just in a different way.

The lack of coverage of the "recovery" on the Gulf Coast is an absolute disgrace. I subscribe to alerts about it, and they only come from local sources. Shame on our national media.

[Old and In the Way]

19. For Republicans, disasters are simply an opportunity to exploit.

No bid contracts for friends and withholding resources to the "enemy". It's downright dangerous to have a Democratic governor with this administration in office.

[madokie]

22. it was bush* at fault with the hurricanes not her

but what she is saying is true though or I would bet on it anyway

[Arugula Latte]

24. She should have screamed from the rooftops rather than kissing their asses.

Good riddance to Blanco. She was terrible.

[RB TexLa]

30. What she should have done was

Hold up the leases, order lengthy safety inspections of all refineries, pipelines, and petrochemical operations in the state and told America that "if you aren't going to help us, we will show you what $100 or even $150 a barrel oil feels like." And then actually do it, nothing gets moved, nothing gets processed.

[Horse with no Name]

33. She couldn't have done that

She would have been Wellstoned.
WITHOUT a doubt. You don't fuck with mafia money and live to talk about it.