It's all about priorities or "Values Republican style"

Last week Mr. Bush vetoed the SCHIP bill and the Republicans in the House blocked the Democratic over-ride. This week he begins the attack on the rest of the poor and the elderly.

Heating oil is expected to cost 30% more this year than last which was much than the year before. For us in the (mostly) sunny South that isn’t such a big deal but for those in the frozen North it is the difference between buying food and heating the house. Many low-income families will be forced to make food or fuel decisions to keep from freezing. Not stay warm mind you, just keep from freezing.

Why is oil so expensive? Mostly speculation about supply. With Turkey planning an attack on Northern Iraq and Bush/Cheney rattling sabers about Iran the oil traders have pushed crude oil over $100/barrel. We’re seeing it at the gas pump now and it’s going to get worse. I predicted that Turkey would invade N. Iraq in January of 2003 to prevent the development of an independent Kurdistan cutting oil distribution pipelines in the process but I didn’t have Bush’s ear. Cheney did.

Don’t worry though, there’s a government fund to help the poor: LIHEAP, or the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Unfortunately, because of the huge increase in poverty and the equally huge increase in energy costs since Bush took office, only 16% of those qualifying for assistance can get it. That and the fact that the Bush budget for this year cuts LIHEAP funding by 44% from $2.1 Billion to $1.4 Billion.

Bush will ask Congress for another $43 Billion to fund the Iraq war this week. That will bring the total spending on Iraq to about $200 Billion for 2007 and $700 Billion total. By the time Bush leaves office January 20, 2009 the Iraq war will have cost over a Trillion dollars (and we’ve still got to get out!) Did I mention that the LIHEAP program only costs $2.1 Billion?

Meanwhile in Mississippi 15,000 Katrina families still live in FEMA trailers, New Orleans still has hurricane debris on the streets of the 9th Ward and Louisiana has decided to accept aid from France because there seems to be very little coming from the US. Oh, I misspeak! There is funding going to re-build Mississippi. It’s going to rebuild Gulfport’s facilities. The port was originally worth $127 Million and sustained $50 Million in damages. There is $108 million in insurance coverage and $54 Million in FEMA funds. Not enough! Mississippi must have business development so $600 Million in HUD funds are being diverted from rebuilding homes into the project. $750 Million to re-build a $130 Million port? "We can give someone a little money for new shingles or we can give them a job for the rest of their life," said Gulfport Mayor Brent Warr. Estimates are that the new port would create, get this, 538 new jobs. Hmmm, 15,000 homeless families or 538 new jobs? The math doesn’t look all that damn hard to me.

Leaving sick kids without health care, freezing poor people and giving HUD money to big business, what are these people thinking? I’m not saying that the Republican party is evil (well, maybe just a little) and I know a lot of nice, caring folks that say they’re Republicans (not near as many as many as before Bush got into office – a little buyer’s remorse there). It just seems that the ones in office have completely different priorities than damn near everybody I know.

Oh well, at least the media is keeping us informed on the important issues facing us today. Watch this two minute commentary about the up-coming election to see what’s really important: (it has sound, so you cube-rats beware) http://www.theonion.com/content/video/poll_bullshit_is_most_important?utm_source=embedded_video


http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/10/21/the_heat_or_eat_dilemma/ Affects of energy cost on poor & children.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071019/pl_nm/poor_usa_winter_dc_1 LIHEAP funding

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071022/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_war_spending $46 B more for Iraq

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gulfport22oct22,1,5850307.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=2&cset=true HUD funds diverted from Katrina victims