WHO'S IN CHARGE HERE?
Magpie is a former journalist, attempted historian [No, you can't ask how her thesis is going], and full-time corvid of the lesbian persuasion. She keeps herself in birdseed by writing those bad computer manuals that you toss out without bothering to read them. She also blogs too much when she's not on deadline, both here and at Pacific Views.
Magpie roosts in Portland, Oregon, where she annoys her housemates (as well as her cats Medea, Whiskers, and Jane Doe) by attempting to play Irish music on the fiddle and concertina.
The Hill reports that Tancredo has called for an end to federal aid to the Gulf Coast areas hit by Hurricane Katrina, and that the hurricane's survivors need to realize that ' the taxpayer gravy train [has] left the New Orleans station.'
"The amount of money that has been wasted on these so-called 'recovery' efforts has been mind-boggling," said Tancredo, who is running a long-shot presidential campaign. "Enough is enough...."
"At some point, state and local officials and individuals have got to step up to the plate and take some initiative.... 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."
The lawmaker criticized in particular the amount that has been wasted through fraud and abuse, estimated at $1 billion.
"This whole fiasco has been a perfect storm of corruption and incompetence at all levels," he added.
This magpie is tempted to agree with Tancredo on that last point, except that I'm certain the gentleman from Colorado doesn't think (as I definitely do) that the 'corruption and incompetence' emanates directly from the White House.
