More Unbelievable Propaganda in Katrina's Wake

More unbelievable propaganda in the wake of Katrina: that is the subject of this evening's "Talking Points Memo".

You know, I'm in a rather uncomfortable position of having to defend President Bush, who's being battered by partisan propaganda over Katrina. As we've stated, the president was late reacting to the storm and his hand-picked leaders did not do the job in FEMA and Homeland Security.

But, I just can't sit here and let rank propaganda go unchallenged as most of the elite media does all day long. Now yesterday, President Bill Clinton appeared with George Stephanopoulos on ABC and said this about the poor and Katrina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: This is a matter of public policy. And whether it's race based or not, if you give your tax cuts to the rich and hope everything works out all right and poverty goes up, and it disproportionately affects black and brown people, that's a consequence of the action made.

That's what they did in the '80's. That's what they've done in this decade. In the middle, we had a different policy. We concentrated tax cuts on lower income working people, and benefits to low income people to help them move from welfare to work. And we moved 100 times as many people out of poverty. We know what works. And we had a program that was drastically reducing poverty. And they got rid of it. So -- and they don't believe in it...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Believe in what?! What is Mr. Clinton talking about? What program did Mr. Bush get rid of?

We called Mr. Clinton's office all day, looking for an answer to that very simple question. We didn't get one. Stephanopoulos sat there like a mummy, challenging nothing. The whole thing's absurd.

Again, here are the facts. Black homeownership is up 2 percent under President Bush. Poverty spending is significantly higher under Bush than it was under Clinton. Educational spending for poor school districts is higher under Bush. And the poverty rate stood at 13.7 percent halfway through Clinton's tenure. It is 12.7 percent halfway through Bush's two terms.

This "tax cuts for the rich" business is also blatantly dishonest. It's a ruse for the secular left to institute their income redistribution scheme. Under President Clinton, the tax rate climbed higher than at any time in history except in World War II. President Bush then came in and cut taxes for everyone. And guess what? Federal tax revenues will be more this year than at any time during the Clinton administration!

Why? Because business is booming. That's why. Capitalism is working. And the more money corporations and workers make, the more taxes roll in, even at the reduced rate.

So let's recap. Black homeownership up under Bush. Poverty entitlements up under Bush. Educational spending for the poor, up under Bush. Federal tax revenues, up under Bush. Are you taking this down, George Stephanopoulos?

As for President Bush, he owes me big. I want a pen.

And that's "The Memo."

The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

Writing in The Los Angeles Times, Tim Ruttan, a far left fanatic masquerading as a TV critic, says Geraldo Rivera deserved to be slimed by The New York Times' Alexandra Stanley, even though Geraldo did not nudge any relief worker as Ms. Stanley has asserted.

Ruttan writes, "When we consider Rupert Murdoch's ceaseless schemes for global domination and the venal blood lust that pulses through FOX News, Geraldo is easy to explain, which makes him simply inexcusable."

What's inexcusable is the L.A. Times allowing a nutty ideologue like Ruttan to write incomprehensible stuff like that in the news pages. This misguided individual belongs on the op-ed page with all the other misguided individuals. -- One of the reasons the L.A. Times circulation have plummeted is because of this kind of ridiculous stuff.