Constitutional Heroes and Foe

Howard Phillips writes: Eleven members of the U.S. House of Representatives courageously voted against President Bush’s $52 billion plus supplementary appropriation to deal with the problems arising from Hurricane Katrina.

The eleven Constitutional heroes were: Joe Barton (Texas), Jeff Flake (Arizona), Virginia Foxx (North Carolina), Scott Garrett (New Jersey), John Hostettler (Indiana), Steve King (Iowa), C. L. Otter (Idaho), Ron Paul (Texas), James Sensenbrenner (Wisconsin), Thomas Tancredo (Colorado), and Lynn Westmoreland (Georgia).

I sent each of them the following letter:

Dear Congressman: On behalf of The Conservative Caucus, please accept my congratulations and appreciation for your courageous vote against the $52 billion New Orleans funding package proposed by President Bush. You did what was right, and that you did so reflects credit on your discernment and integrity.

Bill Bonner observes:

We will spend “whatever it takes,” said George W. Bush of the New Orleans dry-out campaign. But where would ‘whatever it takes’ come from? The federal deficit hit a record of $412 billion last year. Republicanoes were delighted to report that the deficit was to fall this year to $331 billion, but along comes a rainy day and the nation is now spending another $2 billion per day it doesn’t have to help clean up the mess.It is an ill wind that blows no one good. There is no doubt that the storm was bad for the citizens of the Big Easy and American households generally; as well as the federal budget, the U.S. dollar and the American economy. But it is good for the empire. Now we have another ‘front’ at home, and another reason to spend money.