Barbara Bush: It's Good Enough for the Poor

Everyday people lose those homes, husbands, wifes, jobs, etc, and I do not see the Federal government stepping in to give out 2000 debit cards.

Everyday people have no way out
Everday people sleep in the street
Everyday people go hungry
Everyday elderly go without medicine.

Most of you could have given a rats ass about the poor of New Orleans until it fits an agenda that is right for you to complain about and try to bash the government.


Does anyone have the rest of the audio, or a transcript of the entire interview? For some, this is a godsend, here is 2000 dollars, go start a new life. They cannot go back, they were living in poverty, why can we not look at this a sa fresh start for these people for no onther reason than they were displaced from thier homes after a storm.


Why can't anoyoner look for something positive

[edit on 8-9-2005 by esdad71]

$2000 to 'start a new life'? Who are you kidding? That money won't buy the gas to get you there these days. These people have lost everything, so let's just give them a couple grand and send them on their way?

Its a band-aid on an arterial bleed, hush money, a joke!

Originally posted by esdad71


Most of you could have given a rats ass about the poor of New Orleans until it fits an agenda that is right for you to complain about and try to bash the government.


Does anyone have the rest of the audio, or a transcript of the entire interview? For some, this is a godsend, here is 2000 dollars, go start a new life. They cannot go back, they were living in poverty, why can we not look at this a sa fresh start for these people for no onther reason than they were displaced from thier homes after a storm.


Why can't anoyoner look for something positive

[edit on 8-9-2005 by esdad71]

There is soooo much here that rubs me the wrong way!!!! Where to start??

Poor people DO manage to have SOME things that mean a lot to them! Will that measely $2000 bring back the pictures of their babies, grandbabies or grand parents that are deceased ?? NO those are gone forever.....maybe you don't think poor people have those......When my kids were babies, I spent the last $25 I had in order to get just the proofs of one of those "free" sittings that portrait studios offer....I gave the free 8X10 to their grandmother.

If my house flooded, even with some warning, I would not be able to save my Grandmother's dining room table, or the hosier cabinet I got from my deceased aunt.....they probably would be "worthless" to you and Babs.....they weren't a "nice" pieces when they were purchased.....the table is a bit warped from sitting in Granny's log house for 50 years, there are stains on the hosier's enamel work top from years of use and abuse.....but they are the family heirlooms that I inherited!!! And would like the chance to pass on to my children.

You'd be all for protecting my inheritance or taxes on it, if it was in the millions, but if it's just a bunch of " junk".....pffft, just be glad it's gone!!!!

And, DON"T presume to tell me what I think or feel......you DON'T know anything about me, and I don't get the impression that you would care anyway!



[edit on 8-9-2005 by frayed1]

A measely 2000 dollars, listen to yourselves??? I think maybe you took me the wrong way and are attacking me because I was defending a woman in her 70's who truly has no concpet of the words broke and hungry. You are reaching by blaming hte mother of the president now...

Many of these people were living in low income housing to start from what we have read. Have you ever seen low inmcome housing??? No, because you would probably never venture into that neighborhood. How can giving money to people be construed as not enough???


Many did not lose entire homes, and if they did, they have insurance. The renters out there with nothing to live with, are bieng given a chance at a new start. It is not a solution, it is a start. They can get a new job, or apply for assitance in a new city, with some cash in pocket. These people are lucky that the are getting something, rather than nothing, and have a chance to make it right. A chance, which is more than alot of people have.

Ask female abuse victims if the would like a federally subsidized program that gave them 2000 dollars to start a new life. THey would jump at it. If it is such a small sum, Why not give it to every homeless person in America???


That is more money than the victims of Andrew got. This is not to fill up your tank, and go on vacation, 2000 is to put a deposit on a apartment, elec, etc live for a month and find a job. They were getting less than half of that if they were on state assitance, so what is the differnece exceot no maybe they will not have to return to the slum they lived in in New Orleans.

and again i point out, if someone lost their home, they should have insurnace. If they didn't, that is their own ignorance.

and frayed1 , I do care, I know what it is to lose everything, lose a parent, a sibling, a letter or a book a grandparent gave you. but in the end, it is not the material things that were lost, and you can only learn that when you have lost it all, so I can empathize with the people who lost loved ones in this terrible storm.

When I got divorced, I had to sell me home, and when I moved into a new house, I had a bed, a handme down couch, and a 10 year old Aiwa radio. in 2 bedroom, 1 bath house. It was embarrassing if people came over, but along the way I got ahead again and accepted donations from friends. That was it. I lost it all, and I had to start over. God I wish I could have had a boost like 2000 dollars.


[edit on 8-9-2005 by esdad71]

Originally posted by Icarus Rising
$2000 to 'start a new life'? Who are you kidding? That money won't buy the gas to get you there these days. These people have lost everything, so let's just give them a couple grand and send them on their way?

Damn right, the government isn't an insurance agency.

[edit on 8-9-2005 by rogue1]

No it is not an insurance company. But it is "For the people, by the people"
Get it, guess not.

No, the government is not an insurance agency, but it isn't supposed to be run like a heartless corporation either. It is a nice gesture that survivors of Katrina are being given $2000 to get by for now, nothing more.

In America, government is supposed to be by the people for the people, not bought by the rich for the rich. I'm not sure what you have going over there, but it looks extremely racist to me.

I've met a few of you tough-talking boys from OZ over here, and I'm not impressed. You talk a good game alright, but when push comes to shove, you either back down and out, or you get your butt kicked. You seem proud of that for some reason, like your silly Aussie rules football (look ma, no teeth! no brains either!).

I'd like to see how you'd react if, God forbid, those massive wildfires you have every summer came raging through your town and wiped it out completely. What would you expect in the form of evacuation and relocation assistance from your government? How would you feel and what would you do if you lost everything, bigmouth?

Originally posted by esdad71

and again i point out, if someone lost their home, they should have insurnace. If they didn't, that is their own ignorance.

There you go again!! Maybe you're tooo far above poverty level to realize another small detail: Insurance Companies will REFUSE to sell insurance on some homes......don't belive it? Buy you an old house, put on some old clothes, and go see the Insurance agent.....tell them the house is paid for, but your income is below the poverty line.

(Our insurance was cancelled shortly after we paid the house off, sure they made up some excuse about a cluttered yard...we had torn out the bathroom for a re-do, maybe they came by the week that the old cabinets and fixtures were waiting for removal. But when it happens both times we paid off a mortgage, I begin to think when the 'loss payee' is no longer the bank, but a homeowner with a low income....they begin to think we'll burn it down to get the insurance money, so they cancel......I know people in the insurance biz, and have heard the comment " Oh the insurance wires got crossed" tooo many times. )

Sure $2000 is a windfall for them.....it still won't go that far, not when there's everything to replace, even the cheapest furnishings.....and a deposit on an apartment must be accompanied by a co-signer if the signer doesnn't have a job yet, not to mention first and last mo. and security depo....I just hope they will still get housing help and clothing and food donations to boot.

And you know, if this had been the first time Babs had said something that careless, it would be forgivable.....but this is a pattern with her, so.......no, just because she has no idea how much it costs to be poor, she don't get a by from me.

And if I had millions, you bet I'd be handing out additional cash cards....I dug every nickle out of my pocket and dropped into a jar yesterday....when the old man's next disability ( spinal cord injury, incomeplete quadraplegia) check comes, we'll give some more.

And I wasn't "attacking" you per se.....I was fighting back, sorry if you were hurt.

Yeah, the two thousand bucks in a drop of water in a flood---literally. these people need a lot more help than that, no matter how good barbara Bush thinks they have it these days. They are literally all starting over with nothing. I dunno, maybe the best way to shut Babs up would be to take all the money the Bush family has made from oil, drug running, and covert intelligence---not to mention the banking money Grandpa Prescott made in the early days funding the Nazis---and see if she, and the rest of the Bush klan (that seems to look more appropriate spelled with a "k" when talking about the Bushes, doesn't it?) can make it one day in the conditions that these people have had to endure for over a week now. Just a thought.
---Ryan

Insurance is a requirement in owning a house in my state, and if you paid off your house , and them decided to skimp by without getting insurance, then you were trying to save money, not ignorant, so I apologize. I am making genearlized statements. Insurance is for incidents just like this.

Sure $2000 is a windfall for them.....it still won't go that far, not when there's everything to replace, even the cheapest furnishings.....and a deposit on an apartment must be accompanied by a co-signer if the signer doesnn't have a job yet, not to mention first and last mo. and security depo....I just hope they will still get housing help and clothing and food donations to boot.

There is no hope about it, most of the states in the US are housing evacuee's, and I have heard there are more donations than needed. I wish I could give you a hug, because it sounds like you need it. I am no where close to well off, and I give the change in my pocket to the homeless on a weekly basis, so I know where my heart is.

I cannot imagine what I would do if I lost my home, but 2000 dollars and some new clothes is a start....

So none of you think Barbara could have sympathy??

Maybe she was thinking of how the children and infirm were in a safer place than being flooded, or getting better health care there than they did while living at home under normal conditions. Or that it was air-conditioned, they were getting decent food. If you think she was so clueless, you can't even imagine where she may have been coming from, knowing the true conditions that alot of them came from..If that makes you angry that I said that so be it. We all hate each others opposing views, right???

Originally posted by mercury19
So none of you think Barbara could have sympathy??

Maybe she was thinking of how the children and infirm were in a safer place than being flooded, or getting better health care there than they did while living at home under normal conditions. Or that it was air-conditioned, they were getting decent food. If you think she was so clueless, you can't even imagine where she may have been coming from, knowing the true conditions that alot of them came from.

That's called patronization.

We all hate each others opposing views, right???

Most of us don't hate - and certainly don't hate views. Except one time, my living room window looked over a parking lot. I really hated that view. So you're probably right, the Astrodome probably would have been better.

[edit on 8-9-2005 by soficrow]

Originally posted by BaastetNoir

Barbara probably suffers form the same "mental" desease as Pat Roberston...LOL... these people crack me up ...

And come one... lets get serious here, I dont know what the heck she meant with that, but the point is people are beeing helped and taken very well cared off, regardless what Barbara says or not...its age ... and I'm not making up excuses, I'm simply saying she made anasty comment, but whatever she was tryingt o acomplished with it...didnt work.

its age well if that is the case dubya must will become the most retarded man ever

Was making Barbara Bush think she was smart and good looking and that she would live forever. Thank God neither are real or true.

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson...

Johnny is wearing his orange onion and cape. He holds an envelope to his head and tells us what is inside.

Johnny: "An ancient myth."

Johnny tears the envelope open and reads its contents aloud.

Johnny: "A government for the people, of the people and by the people."


edit: sp

[edit on 8-9-2005 by HowlrunnerIV]

Originally posted by esdad71
A measely 2000 dollars, listen to yourselves??? I think maybe you took me the wrong way and are attacking me because I was defending a woman in her 70's who truly has no concpet of the words broke and hungry. You are reaching by blaming hte mother of the president now...

That's an acceptable way of explaining the language used by late 19th century colonists in places like Africa and India. "You have to understand the times, they thought differently then."

It is not acceptable to excuse the language of a person in the 21st century. Before the law (and society) ignorance is no excuse. The comments are indefensible and inexcusable.

An Australian politician just resigned and attempted suicide over comments of a similar level of stupidity and insensitivity.

Thanks to Daniel Kurtzman of About.com for compiling Babs' and other "compassionate conservatives'" quotes. Sources for each quotation is listed with the article linked here.

Americans actually elected these elitist power-mongers?

1) "What I'm hearing which is sort of scary is that they all want to stay in Texas. Everybody is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway so this (chuckle) – this is working very well for them." –Former First Lady Barbara Bush, on the Hurricane flood evacuees in the Houston Astrodome, Sept. 5, 2005 (Source)

2) "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." –President Bush, on "Good Morning America," Sept. 1, 2005, six days after repeated warnings from experts about the scope of damage expected from Hurricane Katrina (Source)

3) "It makes no sense to spend billions of dollars to rebuild a city that's seven feet under sea level....It looks like a lot of that place could be bulldozed." –House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), Aug. 31, 2005 (Source)

4) "We've got a lot of rebuilding to do ... The good news is — and it's hard for some to see it now — that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house — he's lost his entire house — there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch." (Laughter) —President Bush, touring hurricane damage, Mobile, Ala., Sept. 2, 2005 (Source)

5) "Considering the dire circumstances that we have in New Orleans, virtually a city that has been destroyed, things are going relatively well." –FEMA Director Michael Brown, Sept. 1, 2005 (Source)

6) "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." –President Bush, to FEMA director Michael Brown, while touring Hurricane-ravaged Mississippi, Sept. 2, 2005 (Source)

7) "I have not heard a report of thousands of people in the convention center who don't have food and water." –Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, on NPR's "All Things Considered," Sept. 1, 2005 (Source)

8) "Well, I think if you look at what actually happened, I remember on Tuesday morning picking up newspapers and I saw headlines, 'New Orleans Dodged the Bullet.' Because if you recall, the storm moved to the east and then continued on and appeared to pass with considerable damage but nothing worse." –Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, blaming media coverage for his failings, "Meet the Press," Sept. 4, 2005 (Source)

9) "I mean, you have people who don't heed those warnings and then put people at risk as a result of not heeding those warnings. There may be a need to look at tougher penalties on those who decide to ride it out and understand that there are consequences to not leaving.” –Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), Sept. 6, 2005 (Source)

10) "You simply get chills every time you see these poor individuals...many of these people, almost all of them that we see are so poor and they are so black, and this is going to raise lots of questions for people who are watching this story unfold." –CNN's Wolf Blitzer, on New Orleans' hurricane evacuees, Sept. 1, 2005 (Source)

11) "What didn't go right?'" –President Bush, as quoted by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), after she urged him to fire FEMA Director Michael Brown "because of all that went wrong, of all that didn't go right" in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort (Source)

12) "Now tell me the truth boys, is this kind of fun?" –House Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-TX), to three young hurricane evacuees from New Orleans at the Astrodome in Houston (Source)

13) "We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did." –Rep. Richard Baker (R-LA) to lobbyists, as quoted in the Wall Street Journal (Source)

14) "Louisiana is a city that is largely under water." –Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, news conference, Sept. 3, 2005 (Source)

15) "I also want to encourage anybody who was affected by Hurricane Corina to make sure their children are in school." –First Lady Laura Bush, twice referring to a "Hurricane Corina" while speaking to children and parents in South Haven, Mississippi, Sept. 8, 2005 (Source)

16) "It's totally wiped out. ... It's devastating, it's got to be doubly devastating on the ground." –President Bush, turning to his aides while surveying Hurricane Katrina flood damage from Air Force One, Aug. 31, 2005 (Source)

17) "I believe the town where I used to come – from Houston, Texas, to enjoy myself, occasionally too much – will be that very same town, that it will be a better place to come to." –President Bush, on the tarmac at the New Orleans airport, Sept. 2, 2005 (Source)

18) "Last night, we showed you the full force of a superpower government going to the rescue." –MSNBC's Chris Matthews, Sept. 1, 2005 (Source)

19) "You know I talked to Haley Barbour, the governor of Mississippi yesterday because some people were saying, 'Well, if you hadn't sent your National Guard to Iraq, we here in Mississippi would be better off.' He told me 'I've been out in the field every single day, hour, for four days and no one, not one single mention of the word Iraq.' Now where does that come from? Where does that story come from if the governor is not picking up one word about it? I don't know. I can use my imagination." –Former President George Bush, who can give his imagination a rest, interview with CNN’s Larry King, Sept. 5, 2005 (Source)

20) "We just learned of the convention center – we being the federal government – today." –FEMA Director Michael Brown, to ABC's Ted Koppel, Sept. 1, 2005, to which Koppel responded " Don't you guys watch television? Don't you guys listen to the radio? Our reporters have been reporting on it for more than just today." (Source)

21) "I don't want to alarm everybody that, you know, New Orleans is filling up like a bowl. That's just not happening." -Bill Lokey, FEMA's New Orleans coordinator, in a press briefing from Baton Rouge, Aug. 30, 2005 (Source)

22) "FEMA is not going to hesitate at all in this storm. We are not going to sit back and make this a bureaucratic process. We are going to move fast, we are going to move quick, and we are going to do whatever it takes to help disaster victims." --FEMA Director Michael Brown, Aug. 28, 2005 (Source)

23) "I don't make judgments about why people chose not to leave but, you know, there was a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans." –FEMA Director Michael Brown, arguing that the victims bear some responsibility, CNN interview, Sept. 1, 2005 (Source)

24) "I understand there are 10,000 people dead. It's terrible. It's tragic. But in a democracy of 300 million people, over years and years and years, these things happen." --GOP strategist Jack Burkman, on MSNBC's "Connected," Sept. 7, 2005 (Source)

The woman is in her late 80s. How is her statement important? Gimmie a break.



Just an excuse to bash President Bush.

I think its quite interesting that all of a sudden old people with power such as Barbara Bush, and Pat Robertson for example, can say the most shallow or evil of things and its ok because they're just old and senile?
It wouldnt be because they are evil, rich and have their agendas, would it?

Everybody 's lost their minds.

Thanks Aeon. That was an amazing read.

I am amazed at how some people just don't know when to shut up. It frightens me to think that these are our leaders.