Moveon.org to use refugees in White House protest
Tags: moveonReceived from MoveOn via email:
…Sign our petition demanding that the Bush administration stop blaming victims, including state and local officials, and focus on helping them.
We'll begin to deliver the earliest signatures to the White House tomorrow, Thursday, when a delegation of MoveOn members from New Orleans, who are now homeless and will come to Washington and join other MoveOn members outside the White House at a petition delivery and protest. The petition is one important way to demonstrate that the public wants more action to help hurricane victims and is getting angry about this blame-shifting game the Bush administration is playing.
UPDATE: Here's the MoveOn press release. Except for the bolding that I added, this is a verbatim copy. You will see why it's important to note that when you get to the end. And, yes, you are correct: they have absolutely no shame.
To: Assignment Desk, Daybook Editor
Contact: Trevor Fitzgibbon, Kawana Lloyd or Alex Howe, 202-822-5200, all for Moveon.Org Political Action
News Advisory:
– Katrina Evacuees to Tell President Bush His Administration Let Them Down
– Request Meeting with President to Demand Accountability
– Why Was Federal Funding Cut For Levee Maintenance?
Hurricane Katrina evacuees flew into the nation's capital to tell President Bush to stop blaming local officials for his mistakes and acknowledge that budget cuts and indifference by his administration led to the disaster in New Orleans and along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
They intend to ask him why he diverted over 40 percent of federal funding between 2001-2005 away from New Orleans. Hundreds are expected to rally in front of the White House at 1 p.m. EDT on Thursday.
"The President of the United States and his appointees let us down," said Christine Mayfield, a New Orleans public school teacher and mother of three who was dislocated and now is staying in North Carolina.
The evacuees are also seeking a meeting with Rep. Henry Waxman, the ranking Democrat on the Government Oversight Committee.
According to Rep. Waxman, "the budget of the Corps of Engineers for construction projects in New Orleans district was cut by over 40 percent between 2001 and 2005, apparently to free up funds for the war in Iraq and homeland security projects. In 2004, for the first time in 37 years, the Corps halted all work on the New Orleans levee system."
New Orleans native Michelle Augillard, one of the evacuees, was working toward her Masters degree at the University of New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina hit. Now, she is staying with a friend in Houston, trying to pick up the pieces of her life, along with her family. Both Michelle and Christine will appear at the rally.
"It is inhumane to have treated citizens of the United States like we were treated," she said. "
Members of MoveOn.org Political Action are scheduled to hand- deliver thousands of petition signatures to the White House after the rally. The petition says, "President Bush should stop blaming the victims of Hurricane Katrina and get to work helping them."
WHO: Katrina Evacuees and MoveOn members
WHAT: Protest outside the White House in support of Hurricane Victims
WHEN: Thursday, September 8th at 1 p.m.
WHERE: Pennsylvania Avenue NW. In front of the White House. (Metro: Red Line: Farragut North. Blue-Orange Line: Farragut West or McPherson Square)
EDITOR'S NOTE: Excellent Visuals — Signs reading "Shame" and "Help Hurricane Victims"
All of those who are using HurricaneHousing.org (sponsored by MoveOn) should watch their backs, lest they become props in yet another stunt by the lunatic left.
