The Pelosi Plan

Democrat Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California has a plan to rebuild New Orleans to the splendor it once was. Irregardless of the fact that New Orleans was considered by some who live there a national homicide capital; irregardless of the fact that New Orleans was considered by some awash with political cronyism; regardless of the fact New Orleans was considered by some a place of poverty and gloom, Nancy Pelosi wants the new New Orleans to return to it's good ol’ glory days.

Author's Note: I will jump around a bit... because I can.

Now while President Bush issued a brief outline of his vision to rebuild the Crescent City, including his desire to pass three initiatives: a Gulf Opportunity Zone to spur investment and job creation, Worker Recovery Accounts to aid evacuees with job training and child care expenses, and an Urban Homesteading Act to encourage home ownership, that vision is at odds with those of Pelosi.

She's concerned that hidden details of Bush's plan will waive wage protections, environmental safeguards, and protections for veterans, minorities, women, and the disabled.

"The Gulf Coast region does not deserve to be treated as a laboratory for political opportunism or ideological experimentation. Now is the time for unity."
– Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (CA), Democrat Minority Leader

So if I may be so bold as to analyze Pelosi's position, as she's essentially saying that things should remain as they were in The Big Easy.

She's essentially saying that people, black people, should want to live in a system (controlled by Democrats for decades) of government dependence that led to and perpetuated abject poverty. Black people should want to return to the liberal laboratory that placed them in housing (projects) they could never own, rampant with gang violence and drug-running. Black people should continue to condone destructive out-of-wedlock birth, shamelessly excused by Democrats and their appointed activists and apologists.

After all, black people should get down on their knees and appreciate a liberal government that gives them everything they need, right?

Black people should want to send their kids to the same gang-infested public schools where disruptive students can’t be expelled until they shoot another student. Of course, black people would reject vouchers; heaven forbid they can opt their kids into empty seats in private schools where a better education can be obtained. You know, the same private schools politicians send their kids for top-notch schooling.

Black people should demand the political corruption that led to the abuse of federal funds to modify and fortify the Louisiana levee system that eventually failed and partially caused the destruction in New Orleans.

“WASHINGTON — Senior officials in Louisiana's emergency planning agency already were awaiting trial over allegations stemming from a federal investigation into waste, mismanagement and missing funds when Hurricane Katrina struck. And federal auditors are still trying to track as much as $60 million in unaccounted for funds that were funneled to the state from the Federal Emergency Management Agency dating back to 1998. In March, FEMA demanded that Louisiana repay $30.4 million to the federal government.”
– Ken Silverstein and Josh Meyer, NY Times, September 17, 2005

Give Louisiana cash as they best know where to direct it. Now that’s what I call “unity.”

You see, only liberals know what’s best for black people....

"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."
– Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan

As public policy experts like Sheehan and rapper Kanye West seemingly agree that “George Bush doesn't care about black people”, that sentiment has not been challenged by the Democrat leadership, thus one can only assume that the liberal leadership agrees, and caring about black people means returning them to the system they know and love so well.

Fortunately, black people cannot be conned into the fool's paradise described by the President on September 15th in Houston.

“I also offer this pledge of the American people: Throughout the area hit by the hurricane, we will do what it takes. We will stay as long as it takes to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives. And all who question the future of the Crescent City need to know: There is no way to imagine America without New Orleans, and this great city will rise again.”

ABC News sought out black people from the Houston Astrodome to offer their impression of what had to be lies issued by the President. Reporter Dean Reynolds essentially asked evacuee Connie London if she believed President Bush?

Connie – Yeah, I believe him because here in Texas they have truly been good to us.

Reynolds – Did you get a sense of hope that you could return to your home one day in New Orleans?

Connie – Yes, I did. I did.

Reynolds – Did you harbor any anger toward the president because of the slow federal response?

Connie – No. None whatsoever, because I feel like our city and our state government should have been there before the federal government was called in. They should have been on their jobs.

Reynolds – And they weren't?

Connie – No. No, no, no. Lord, they wasn't. I mean, they had RTA buses, Greyhound buses, school buses, that was just sitting there going underwater when they could have been evacuating people.

Whoops.

So Connie London felt the city and state government was more at fault than President Bush and FEMA. Has she been reading my columns? Is she a dupe? Incidentally, Ms. London had no comment on The Pelosi Plan.

Funny, while Louisiana Democrat Senator Mary Landrieu threatened to punch out the President for not deploying those buses to get her constituents out of town before the storm, an editorial within her state smacked her hard...

"If Sen. Mary Landrieu were as good at busing black people to safety as she was at busing them to the polls to vote, none of them would have died."

Obviously Connie London didn't catch that bus.

Seeing how London didn't “get it”, ABC News Reporter Dean Reynolds moved on to another evacuee....

Reynolds – Now, Mary, you were rescued from your house, which was basically submerged in your neighborhood. Did you hear something in the president's words that you can glean some hope from?

Mary – Yes. He said we're coming back and I believe we're coming back. We're going to build the city up. I believe that.

Reynolds – Do you believe you'll be able to return to your home?

Mary – Yes, I do.

Reynolds – Why?

Mary – Because I really believe what he say. I believe, I've got faith.

Again, there was no acknowledgment of The Pelosi Plan.

Now, please remember what I was told in 1998 by my first editor: “It's the job of the news media to report the news; not incite it.”

Since there had to be a sensible black person retrieved from the Astrodome that could provide “balance” to the opinions offered about the President's speech, Reynolds asked a third evacuee, Brenda Marshall....

Reynolds – Well, what did you think of what the president told you tonight?"

Brenda – I think the speech was wonderful. You know, him specifying that we will return back and that we will have like mobile homes or, you know, whatever. But I think it was a well-defined speech.

Reynolds – Was there anything that you found hard to believe? That he said that you thought, "Well, that's nice rhetoric, but, you know, the proof is in the pudding?"

Brenda – No, I didn't.

Reynolds – Good. Well, very little skepticism here.

And no mention of The Pelosi Plan to bring back the days of hope that was the everyday lives of black people in New Orleans.

I know Kanye West was speaking for all black people. Surely the same ABC News that could find Osama bin Laden for an interview, could find some black people that were convinced the President was just stringing them along. So Dean Reynolds went to evacuee number four and back to one....

Reynolds – And Cecilia, did you feel that the president was sincere tonight?

Cecilia – Yes, he was.

Connie – And really, it wasn't Hurricane Katrina that really tore up the city. It was when they opened the floodgates.

Reynolds – Right.

Connie – It was not the hurricane itself. It was the floodgates. When they opened the floodgates, that's where all the water came.

Reynolds – Do you blame anybody for this?

Connie – Oh, yes. I mean they've been allocating federal funds to fix the levee system, and it never got done. I fault the mayor of our city personally. I really do.

And again, no mention of The Pelosi Plan to give the New Orleans mayor and other elected officials like Democrat Congressman William “galoshes” Jefferson who asked the National Guard to take him on a tour of the affected areas, just to redirect their truck to his home to retrieve personal items. The truck subsequently got stuck in the mud when it took Jefferson close enough to his house so he wouldn't get his feet wet. A Coast Guard helicopter that was rescuing people from rooftops lost valuable time attempting to rescue the reluctant Jefferson (probably because he'd have to leave his stuff behind in the truck). Another National Guard truck was deployed to rescue the National Guard personnel in the stuck truck, the congressman, and his personal belongings.

Black people should wholeheartedly reject the Bush experiment. The Pelosi Plan should be the cornerstone of the rebuilding of New Orleans. After all, only black people can understand what New Orleans was, and can be....

“New Orleans is my hometown. It is the place where I grew up, where my family still lives. For me, it is a place of comfort and memories. It is home.

On Thursday night President Bush spoke to the nation from my city. I am not a Republican. I did not vote for George W. Bush -- in fact, I worked pretty hard against him in 2000 and 2004. But on Thursday night, after watching him speak from the heart, I could not have been prouder of the president and the plan he outlined to empower those who lost everything and to rebuild the Gulf Coast.”
– Donna Brazile, Saturday, September 17, 2005

So all the black people ABC News found to bash George Bush expressed confidence in his words and plan. And for President Bush to get an endorsement of his plan by Donna Brazille, Al Gore's presidential campaign manager is huge.

The Democrat leadership has a long way to go. They'll have to get around more black stupidity and find new ways for Kanye West to hone their message. They'll need to better vet black opinion, as random opinion seems to be misguided and supportive of Bush.

President Bush wants to create a Gulf region where all people can achieve their goals. The Bush Plan seeks to tear down the plantations of the past and put in their place homes and businesses all people can own.

While President Bush seeks to create black self-reliance, The Pelosi Plan is reflective of how Democrats believe America should go to achieve equality: by keeping blacks where they belong.

The Pelosi Plan: the liberal house of dependence.

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