Vitter: Harry Reid "an idiot" for Katrina comments
Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) (R) speaks while flanked bySen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) (L) during a news conference on Capitol Hill on October 7, 2009 in Washington DC. /Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Updated 3:05 pm E.T.
Sen. David Vitter, R-La, took to Twitter to slam Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., for comments he made comparing Hurricane Katrina victims to superstorm Sandy victims.
"Sadly, Harry Reid has again revealed himself to be an idiot, this time gravely insulting Gulf Coast residents," Vitter wrote today.
He's referring to comments Reid made on the floor of the Senate Friday where expressed disbelief for how long it took for Congress to approve federal disaster relief for New York and New Jersey. He said the people affected by Katrina in 2005 were impacted, "but nothing in comparison" to those impacted by Sandy. Katrina killed over 1,800 people and caused $145 billion in damage; 120 died after Sandy hit and the storm caused an estimated $80 billion in damage.
"The people of New Orleans and that part, they were hurt, but nothing in comparison to what's happened to the people in [New York and New Jersey]. Almost a million people lost their homes. That's homes, not people in their homes," Reid said.
After Vitter's rebuke of Reid on social media, Reid put out a statement saying he "misspoke."
"I simply misspoke," he said. "I have worked hard with Senator [Mary] Landrieu [D-La.] to ensure that the people of the Gulf Coast have the resources they need to fully recover, and I will continue to advocate on their behalf until the region is fully recovered."
Affected states have been pleading for federal assistance for more than two months, but the federal government has been slow to act because of opposition in the House over the high price tag. Reid noted that the federal government responded "within days" with federal aid for Katrina-disaster areas.
Congress did pass $9.7 billion in Sandy aid Friday as its last action before leaving town for more than a week, and one of the first actions of the new 113th Congress. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, promised an additional $50 billion in aid once the House returns next week.
On his Facebook page, Vitter reiterated his sentiment, but added, "And by most any measure, Katrina was our worst natural disaster in history."
No matter what Reid said, at least he voted FOR Katrina aid. Vitter voted AGAINST Sandy aid. The former was an idiotic misstatement, the latter a despicable act of vile petty politics.
This man is clearly an example of all that is wrong with the political leadership in WDC. Starting minimally with his unfounded but bleating mantra that Romney didn't pay taxes to this ignorant comment. We in NV seriously apologize for sending him to you, and hopefully in the next "election" we can remedy the problem
Harry Reid should have apologized more convincingly and contritely, but at least he didn't "double down" on his idiotic statements.
Both Katrina and Sandy were horrific natural disasters; we shouldn't denigrate the suffering of the Americans who endured either one of them by talking about "which one was worse."
I'm sure that Discovery channel is the expert on this sort of thing but just to put my thoughts in...most people only really talk about damage to the New Orleans area in respect to Katrina. Damage from the initial landfall of the storm stretched the entire gulf from Texas to Florida. That was just the beginning though. As the storm traveled inward it was slow to lose strength so there were a reported 62 tornadoes spanning 8 states. Tropical storm force winds were reported as far north as Kentucky at which point the storm began to weaken to severe thunderstorms. Even with its weakened state though the thunderstorms continued northward clear across our country and into Canada. Over 1800 lives were lost to Katrina and seven years later the recovery effort to the gulf region still continues. We will never know the true amount of property damage caused by Katrina because there are so many people that offered time and money to repair homes and businesses out of there own pockets. There were also homes and buildings that were bulldozed instead of being rebuilt. Many people who left after Katrina never returned having a dramatic impact on the local economy of the entire gulf region. Although Discovery channel may be a useful form of entertainment for some, I find it hard to believe that they could definitely state after a few months that Sandy was more devastating in any aspect that Katrina. I also KNOW for a fact that the true economic impact and dollar amount of property damage of Sandy will not be truely known for years. I believe that the estimated property damage of Sandy has been grossly exagerated so far...not that this is uncommon after a natural disaster. In the immediate aftermath of a storm most information is strictly an estimation. Although I disagree with many things that the government does these days, one thing that I am in complete agreement with is that they should send out the relief money in smaller increments instead of just sending out 100 million up front without specific knowledge of how that money is being spent. Unfortunately we do live in a world where people will do anything to make a buck and that includes taking advantage of money meant for disaster relief. The government should do away with the age old "send money now, ask questions later" policy that got them in trouble with the bank bailouts. Lastly, I must say that I find it very sad that we that people like Harry Reid hold positions in which they decide the fate our money when they can't even take the time to do the smallest amount of research before making a speach on a topic. Then we are suppose to just accept it because "he misspoke"? I find that unacceptable. Being voted into an office is a resposibility and Mr. Reid should think about that before he decides to make any more speaches.
ANY human being, politicians included, who cannot act civil are hopelessly ego heads..concerned with themselves only. A politician who pops-off without knowing and understanding the situation is not intelligent enough to represent his voters. He looks to the whole world as "useless"
I thought the Sandy storm was by far larger and slower. The storm covered thousand miles while it went across several states.
----------------
In reality, either storms' surges were paced- from one end of the pattern to the other, at more or less equal rates. The key difference was with the tightness of their respective pressure gradients at the center.
Katrina was a Category 5, meaning it amassed maximum rotational wind speed at the system's core. Atypically cold, low altitude air, mixed with unusually warm sea water at the surface of the Caribbean, churning up a violent vortex of sorts, one FAR more unstable than what was observed in Sandy.
Sandy was a Category 1, with low spinning wind speeds and a much more disrupted and disorganized core (and path of destruction). In Katrina, the core appeared on satellite as a tightly spun knot, like the point at the bottom of a whirling dreidel. Spinning so fast, you can't see that it has multiple sides. Picture it like a square-tipped router bit spinning at 30,000 rpm, versus in Sandy, which was more like a wobbling oval, spinning much at a much slower rpm, as like an oscillating sander's disc on low speed.
That's the difference. Either storm was very powerful, but the core surge from Katrina was far more fierce and overwhelming than in Sandy. Hence, the reason why more people, in the end, died as a result.
Sandy was tragic in its own right and any loss of life, property, security is horrific and becomes a time when our Country should stand together. But to discount Katrina or to say "more property" was lost during Sandy only emphasizes Senator Reid's ignorance. As sad as that is, a property can be replaced, whereas a life cannot. Senator Reid needs to go to New Orleans, and meet with the families of the nursing home patients that drowned in their beds, or the families that had dead loved ones floating through the streets as they helplessly watched, or those that had to bring in the DNA for testing to find out IF their loved ones were dead. Katrina damage was completely unexpected, a horrible nightmare of which there is no comparison in the US. Again, doesn't mean Sandy or any other Hurricane that kills even one person isn't tragic. Infact, as far as I'm concerned, the most horrible thing to happen in my lifetime is some deinstitutionalized mentally ill person was able to get guns, then walk into a elementary school and kill children, WHY? No one saw any indication that he was harmful to self or others??? Come on now - or was it the system made it too hard to get him in a hopsital and when they did, didn't keep him but a week, if that, which seems to be the practice now adays! Senator Reid: Be concerned about funneling dollars to provide mental health services, school security, education in general, healthcare, supporting the efforts of the middle class to work, etc. and less time dissing Louisiana Residents and/or comparing tragedies. You are old enough to be responsible for what comes out of your mouth!!
The posting of advertisements, profanity, or personal attacks is prohibited. By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.
Reply to Comment The posting of advertisements, profanity, or personal attacks is prohibited. By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.
Start by shutting down Murtha Airport. See <www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvzNj0Vobss>.
Both Katrina and Sandy were horrific natural disasters; we shouldn't denigrate the suffering of the Americans who endured either one of them by talking about "which one was worse."
Typical Southern Redneck Talking there !
Although Discovery channel may be a useful form of entertainment for some, I find it hard to believe that they could definitely state after a few months that Sandy was more devastating in any aspect that Katrina. I also KNOW for a fact that the true economic impact and dollar amount of property damage of Sandy will not be truely known for years.
I believe that the estimated property damage of Sandy has been grossly exagerated so far...not that this is uncommon after a natural disaster. In the immediate aftermath of a storm most information is strictly an estimation. Although I disagree with many things that the government does these days, one thing that I am in complete agreement with is that they should send out the relief money in smaller increments instead of just sending out 100 million up front without specific knowledge of how that money is being spent. Unfortunately we do live in a world where people will do anything to make a buck and that includes taking advantage of money meant for disaster relief. The government should do away with the age old "send money now, ask questions later" policy that got them in trouble with the bank bailouts.
Lastly, I must say that I find it very sad that we that people like Harry Reid hold positions in which they decide the fate our money when they can't even take the time to do the smallest amount of research before making a speach on a topic. Then we are suppose to just accept it because "he misspoke"? I find that unacceptable. Being voted into an office is a resposibility and Mr. Reid should think about that before he decides to make any more speaches.
A politician who pops-off without knowing and understanding the situation is not intelligent enough to represent his voters.
He looks to the whole world as "useless"
I thought the Sandy storm was by far larger and slower. The storm covered thousand miles while it went across several states.
----------------
In reality, either storms' surges were paced- from one end of the pattern to the other, at more or less equal rates. The key difference was with the tightness of their respective pressure gradients at the center.
Katrina was a Category 5, meaning it amassed maximum rotational wind speed at the system's core. Atypically cold, low altitude air, mixed with unusually warm sea water at the surface of the Caribbean, churning up a violent vortex of sorts, one FAR more unstable than what was observed in Sandy.
Sandy was a Category 1, with low spinning wind speeds and a much more disrupted and disorganized core (and path of destruction). In Katrina, the core appeared on satellite as a tightly spun knot, like the point at the bottom of a whirling dreidel. Spinning so fast, you can't see that it has multiple sides. Picture it like a square-tipped router bit spinning at 30,000 rpm, versus in Sandy, which was more like a wobbling oval, spinning much at a much slower rpm, as like an oscillating sander's disc on low speed.
That's the difference. Either storm was very powerful, but the core surge from Katrina was far more fierce and overwhelming than in Sandy. Hence, the reason why more people, in the end, died as a result.