Quotes of the Morning: Rove Where You Want To

“Remember how this went out a few weeks ago?”
-Skippy

“Will you help bring tax relief to more hard-working Americans? Call Senator George V. Voinovich at 202-224-3353 today and ask them to eliminate the death tax.
Our party's opportunity agenda means allowing families to keep more of the money they earn. The historic tax relief in the President's first term was only the beginning. Americans deserve a tax code that is simple and fair. The Senate needs to do its part by making tax relief permanent and burying the death tax forever.
Call Senator George V. Voinovich at 202-224-3353 today and ask them to vote to eliminate the death tax!
Make your voice heard on this important issue. Call Senator George V. Voinovich. Express your support for tax relief and economic opportunity.”
-Email from Ken Mehlman, RNC Chairman, sent September 1, 2005

“Remember how it seemed a little tacky, coming as it did in the aftermath of a devastating hurricane that left hundreds of thousands people homeless? Well, now they’re going to try to show that some of those homeless need help (if they can just find a good example).”
-Skippy

“Federal troops aren't the only ones looking for bodies on the Gulf Coast. On Sept. 9, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions called his old law professor Harold Apolinsky, co-author of Sessions' legislation repealing the federal estate tax, which was encountering sudden resistance on the Hill. Sessions had an idea to revitalize their cause, which he left on Apolinsky's voice mail: ‘[Arizona Sen.] Jon Kyl and I were talking about the estate tax. If we knew anybody that owned a business that lost life in the storm, that would be something we could push back with.’
[...]
For now, getting repeal back on the agenda may depend on Apolinsky and his team of estate-sniffing sleuths, who are searching Internet obituaries among other places. Has he found any victims of both the hurricane and the estate tax? ‘Not yet,’ Apolinsky says. ‘But I'm still looking.’"
-Time Magazine, September 17, 2005

“Shameless politicizing of a disaster. What they should be focusing on is the aid, which is having some snafus of its own.”
-Skippy

“Nearly three weeks after Hurricane Katrina cut its devastating path, FEMA - the same federal agency that botched the rescue mission - is faltering in its effort to aid hundreds of thousands of storm victims, local officials, evacuees and top federal relief officials say. The federal aid hot line mentioned by President Bush in his address to the nation on Thursday cannot handle the flood of calls, leaving thousands of people unable to get through for help, day after day.
Federal officials are often unable to give local governments permission to proceed with fundamental tasks to get their towns running again. Most areas in the region still lack federal help centers, the one-stop shopping sites for residents in need of aid for their homes or families. Officials say that they are uncertain whether they can meet the president's goal of providing housing for 100,000 people who are now in shelters by the middle of next month.”
-New York Times, September 17, 2005

“Wow.. Things still seem critical down south. We need someone in charge of reconstruction who knows how to get work done. Someone with enough experience in this kind of thing to understand how to get resources and labor in place to handle the devastation in a timely manner. Someone who can focus on the rebuilding without worrying about the politics. If the people get what they need as quickly as possible, then there shouldn’t be a political concern. We just need a hands-on, get it done kind of guy.”
-Skippy

“Republicans said Karl Rove, the White House deputy chief of staff and Mr. Bush's chief political adviser, was in charge of the reconstruction effort, which reaches across many agencies of government and includes the direct involvement of Alphonso R. Jackson, secretary of housing and urban development.”
-New York Times, September 15, 2005

“Please tell me you speak English. I'm Detective Carter. Do you speaka any English? DO-YOU-UNDERSTAND-THE-WORDS-THAT-ARE-COMING-OUT-OF-MY-MOUTH?”
-Detective James Carter, Rush Hour

“And now, for the final word today on the devastation in the south, I give you my third favorite idiot to quote (Dubya and Robertson still are in the lead), Senator Tom ‘I like them implants’ Coburn, and his convenient memory when it comes to the amount of state and local aid already provided.”
-Skippy

“I don't believe that everything that should happen in Louisiana should be paid for by the rest of the country. I believe there are certain responsibilities that are due the people of Louisiana."
-Senator Tom Coburn, September 15, 2005

“Love, Republican Style”
-Skippy