FEMA Fake News Conference
The idiots at FEMA stagged a fake news conference to highlight their efforts in California wildfire relief. The White House scolded the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Friday for staging a phony news conference about assistance to victims of wildfires in southern California. The agency — much maligned for its sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina over two years ago — arranged to ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on October 27, 2007 08:07
Bobby Jindal Wins Louisiana Governor’s Race
Bobby Jindal has been elected governor of Louisiana. U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal became the nation's youngest governor and the first nonwhite to hold post in Louisiana since Reconstruction when he carried more than half the vote to defeat 11 opponents. Jindal, the Republican 36-year-old son of Indian immigrants, had 53 percent with 625,036 votes with about 92 percent of ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on October 21, 2007 08:07
Sanchez Lambasts Handling of War (Updated)
The general who presided over the Abu Ghraib scandal gave a speech yesterday railing against the incompetent administration of the Iraq War. David Cloud summarizes for the NYT: In one of his first major public speeches since leaving the Army in late 2006, retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez blamed the administration for a “catastrophically flawed, unrealistically optimistic war plan” ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on October 13, 2007 07:33
OTB Radio - Tonight at 7
The next episode of OTB Radio, our BlogTalkRadio program, will record and air live tonight from 7-8 Eastern. The show will return to Wednesdays next week. I'll be joined tonight by my co-blogger Dave Schuler as well as special guest Jim Henley from the excellent blog Unqualified Offerings. We'll be discussing Senator Craig's trials and tribulations; animal ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on August 30, 2007 10:45
John Edwards Accidentally Made Millions from Katrina Victim Abusing Subprime Lenders
WSJ's Christopher Cooper reports on what appears to be serious hypocrisy on John Edwards' part: As a presidential candidate, Democrat John Edwards has regularly attacked subprime lenders, particularly those that have filed foreclosure suits against victims of Hurricane Katrina. But as an investor, Mr. Edwards has ties to lenders foreclosing on Katrina victims. The Wall Street Journal has identified 34 New ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on August 17, 2007 09:18
Nagin Considers Gubernatorial Bid
Political Wire passes on a CNN report that New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin (D) "is seriously considering a Louisiana gubernatorial bid" and has raised half a million dollars towards that end. Those of us still mystified that he was re-elected as mayor after the fiasco that was his handling of the Katrina aftermath can take some small comfort that ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on June 1, 2007 01:06
Blanco Abandons Re-Election Effort, Blames GOP
Famously incompetent Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco will not be seeking reelection after seeing poll numbers that would even make President Bush blanch: Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, politically battered by a shaky post-Hurricane Katrina performance, announced Tuesday that she would not seek election to a second term this fall. The Democratic governor’s announcement ends months of speculation in Louisiana political circles, fueled ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on March 21, 2007 22:20
Prof. Hamilton on Industrial Production
James Hamilton has an interesting post on industrial production. [T]he Federal Reserve Board's index of industrial production fell one-half percent in January. That by itself is not that unusual. What makes it noteworthy is that this Fed index has been languishing for a while, and is now below its value of six months ago. That, too, can sometimes be benign. ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on February 23, 2007 09:47
Auctioned Blanco Dinner Nets $1 Bid
A group of Monroe, Louisiana business leaders auctioned off a dinner with Governor Kathleen Blanco. Bidding ended at one dollar. It's a good thing they didn't throw in New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, too--they'd have wound up owing money. If they really want to raise money, the should auction off dinner with Saints QB Drew Brees.Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on December 14, 2006 09:38
U.S. Government Defrauded of Over $1 Billion in Hurricane Aid
The General Accounting Office is reporting that the Federal Government was defrauded of well over $1 billion of money intended to assist the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.Fraud involving payments supposed to help victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita likely exceeds earlier estimates of $1 billion and only a tiny fraction of the money has been recovered, according to ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on December 7, 2006 00:41
