Day: September 16, 2005

Bush announced today that there will be no increase in taxes to pay for gulf coast region restoration.

“You bet it will cost money, but I’m confident we can handle it,” he said.

“It’s going to cost whatever it’s going to cost, and we’re going to be wise about the money we spend,” Bush said a day after laying out an expensive plan for rebuilding New Orleans and the Gulf Coast without spelling out how he would pay for it.

George, remember what your Dad did? One word. Don’t.

Let’s have a budget cuttin party instead! Over five years, we can cut our way to affording the costs of Katrina. Hey, if you had to trim your own personal costs and that of your family, what would you do? Increase spending? No way. You’d cut the extras! No more Showtime. No more HBO. Stop drinking $4 lattes…etc., etc., etc. It’s what practical minded people do.

So, let’s get practical. There’s lots of programs where funding can be decreased dramatically or cut altogether.

— Cut funding for public broadcasting. I guarantee that if the decision was to close down or go private, PBS and NPR would go private and survive on corporate sponsorships. National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities – gone. With that we’ve saved nearly $6 billion dollars over 5 years.

— How about we stop contributing to the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the African Development Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development? There’s almost $7 billion over 5 years.

— Return to the Treasury any foreign economic assistance funds not expended within three years of obligation. Bang – $5 billion savings over 5 years.

— Repeal the provision of the 2002 Farm Bill that pays farmers to grow more corn for subsidized ethanol production. Whoosh – $20 billion saved over 5 years.

— Eliminating the peanut and sugar subsidy – $1.5 billion over 5 years.

— End federal unemployment subsidies for individuals with taxable incomes over $120,000. $1.6 billion over 5 years.

— Reduce federal aid for mass transit. We can save $49 billion dollars over 5 years.

Kill Superfund. $3.2 billion dollars over 5 years.

— Limit the amounts obligated or expended for travel expenses for officers and employees of the federal government. $2.8 billion over 5 years.

— Cut overhead costs in the executive branch. $5.2 billion over 5 years.

— Stop hiring consultants and the tax payers can save $24.5 billion over 5 years!

— AND ELIMINATE PORK-BARREL SPENDING – THAT’S $136 BILLION DOLLARS over 5 years.

And there’s even more that can be reduced or cut. Let the liberals choose between helping rebuild New Orleans and cutting government waste. Who’s got the guts? Who’s going to put political ambitions aside to help rebuild the gulf coast?

Who?

OK, here’s the quote:

“George Bush needs to stop talking, admit the mistakes of his all around failed administration, pull our troops out of occupied New Orleans and Iraq, and excuse his self from power. The only way America will become more secure is if we have a new administration that cares about Americans even if they don’t fall into the top two percent of the wealthiest.”

(Yep, you read that right. “Pull our troops out of occupied New Orleans…” heh)

Who’s the lefty? Give up?

Cindy Sheehan

While I was caught up in the words and meaning of Bush’s speech last night, others were more focused on the ‘set’. Apparently, a lot went into the stage setup for the president’s presentation. Lighting, color coordination, etc. Here’s what some had to say:

Dan Froomkin, WaPo columnist –

From Bush’s lonely walk to the podium, to the cathedral over his shoulder lit up like Disneyland, to his wooden delivery before an audience of none, there was something particularly off key about all the White House stagecraft imported into the ghostly center of a still half-drowned town.

The New York Times’s Elisabeth Bumiller, acting as pool reporter, informed colleagues yesterday that all the lights and generators needed to create the desired effect were flown in by the White House.

Reporters were not allowed out of their vans while the president spoke, but they demanded a quick tour of the area beforehand.

“Bobby DeServi and Scott Sforza were on hand as we drove up about 8 p.m. or so EDT handling last-minute details of the stagecraft,” Bumiller wrote. DeServi is the White House’s chief lighting designer; Sforza is in charge of visuals.

“Bush will be lit with warm tungsten lighting, but the statue [of Andrew Jackson] and cathedral will be illuminated with much brighter, brighter lights . . . like the candlepower that DeServi and Sforza used on Sept. 11, 2002, to light up the Statue of Liberty for Bush’s speech in New York Harbor,” she wrote.

“Here’s a quote from DeServi on the lit up cathedral: ‘Oh, it’s heated up. It’s going to print loud.’ “

Overheard – Karl Rove on a cell phone…

“Hi, This is Karl Rove calling for Harry and Linda Bloodworth Thomasson.”