Landrieu to Republicans: Shut up about my Louisiana Purchase
posted at 1:36 pm on February 5, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
Senator Mary Landrieu wants critics of her Louisiana Purchase to “keep their mouths shut.” Why? Landrieu explains that because she and some of her delegation sent a letter demanding more money from Congress to defray Medicaid costs back in May, and then claimed that the decision to cut a $300 million subsidy later in the process had no bearing on her final vote. ABC News reports and clips her floor speech:
The Democratic Senator from Louisiana has had about enough of people criticizing the clause she helped put into the Senate version of health care reform and she took to the Senate floor today, giving a fiery defense of special funding for Louisiana that Republicans have derisively nicknamed “the Louisiana Purchase” – implying the language was put in to buy Landrieu’s vote.
Today on the Senate floor, Landrieu her naysayers to “keep their mouth shut.”
She pointed out that Republicans in Louisiana, including Governor Bobby Jindal and a good number of Republican Congressmen, have all asked publicly for Louisiana to be given the extra money to meet its Medicaid commitments.
Landrieu gives a meandering tirade about how she won’t throw her constituents under the bus regardless of criticisms from her Louisiana colleague David Vitter or John McCain, but Daniel Foster retorts that Landrieu obviously has some comprehension issues:
McCain and others have derided the deal precisely because it benefits the people of Louisiana (and several other states whose Democratic Senators secured similar deals) at the expense of the republic at-large.
Landrieu may wave her letter all she wants, but she refused to publicly commit to supporting the ObamaCare bill until just before the key cloture votes in late December. By some strange coincidence, that’s exactly when Harry Reid inserted the Louisiana Purchase, which had not appeared in previous versions of the bill. Landrieu may argue that the two are not connected, but her constituents and the public at large aren’t so obtuse as to miss a pork payoff when they see it.
Maybe Landrieu should take her own advice and keep quiet. Until now, Nelson’s Cornhusker Kickback has gotten most of the bad press, but it costs only a third of what Landrieu won with her payoff.
Blowback
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Hey, hey!
Heaux, heaux!
Mary and Mitch
Have gots to GEAUX!
Long past time for the Landrieu dynasty to retire.
Christien on February 5, 2010 at 2:27 PM
Landrieu: “You can’t fire me, I quit!
“Hasta la vista, Mrs. Ippi Piggy.
EMD on February 5, 2010 at 2:28 PM
So, Sen. Landrieu, you say that you are only AS corrupt as Republicans in your State but LESS corrupt than the average Democrat? You are certainly less corrupt than, say, ‘Cold Cash’ Jefferson… you would never take a pay off in cash to yourself…just to win favor in your State to get re-elected.
LA can certainly find a better class of politician than this. I would start in the Bayous looking for various large mouth reptiles: they have a thick skin, they don’t eat that often, and the only bribes they take are in red meat.
ajacksonian on February 5, 2010 at 2:31 PM
I never thought I would ever witness a political party implode much like the Democratic party is doing now.
They are imploding because their flawed liberal domestic and foriegn policies are being rejected by the very same Americans that voted for them.
What I fear the most, is that some Dems who sense the coming implosion, will continue to walk the plank, and will vote for the entire liberal agenda because they know there is nothing to loose, if not to be vindictive.
Scared and out of touch politician are very volatile and unpredictable. Landrieu’s speach makes this very evident.
We should all be very very worried for the next 10 months.
Rndguy on February 5, 2010 at 2:33 PM
How shameful this is. Where do these morons think this money comes from? GOD, I fear for my grandchildren, for I live in Louisiana.
Support the cause and MoveOn Mary
Can’t resist…GO SAINTS…WHO DAT!
lukespapa on February 5, 2010 at 2:33 PM
Landrieu, pray to Mao or Stalin or whomever you admire that you are not up for election this year because Louisianians are sick of you.
Ricohoc on February 5, 2010 at 2:35 PM
NOO! NOO! NOO! It is they who need to be worried! They need to know they answer to US and we know where they live, where they eat, and what there other jobs are!
We need to take caravans past their house when they are home and throw them out of resturants as NE did to traitor Ben.
If the left and Unions can do it to AIG execs who had bonuses in their contracts we must make the pandering, socialist, asses fear US!
dhunter on February 5, 2010 at 2:38 PM
Imagine that, a whore telling me to shut up.
rjoco1 on February 5, 2010 at 2:41 PM
Let me try to answer this – I’m a Louisiana resident (Republican) …
After Katrina – BILLIONS of dollars flowed into the state. This money went to Louisiana residents who either lost their homes or suffered some kind of home damage. The money also went to other things – like flood mitigation, but that was a small percentage compared to what was dished out to people to repair their homes – or to compensate them for their losses.
Here’s an example …
My neighbor makes about $150K per year with his wife. His $200K house was flooded (just the downstairs). He had NO flood insurance (because he didn’t technically live in a flood zone). He received around $90K from the federal government in 2006 (the same one that suposedly “botched” the hurricane response).
Soooo … for 2006 … his INCOME was not $150K … but it was almost $240K. This was the same for a lot of folks in Louisiana. They had to pay income taxes on that money – so, although they were happy to receive the $90K from the government – they weren’t too happy when they had to pay income tax on it in a $240K income tax bracket.
I say … “Oh Well” … we don’t have enough money to insulate everyone from loss – even unfortunate and unfair losses. It’s this artificially inflated income that drove Jindal’s letter.
But ONLY Louisiana got a “bailout” on this in the ObamaCare bill passed by the Senate. Mississippi and Alabama were LEFT OUT of the equation even though they suffered the same kind of losses and artificial income explosion. If you were to ask Jindal – he would have said he wanted a solution to fix MS and AL also.
Mary Landrieu didn’t feel that way. No matter what she says – her vote for O’Care was BOUGHT. Otherwise – she would have insisted that MS and AL be included also. They were NOT – and the reason they weren’t – is because they have Republican Senators who wouldn’t have voted for this bill no matter what payoff they were given by this administration. Mary Landrieu is a victim of her own selfishness … such are the wages of prostitution.
HondaV65 on February 5, 2010 at 2:43 PM
We don’t care if you threw the people of your state under a bus.
But you sure as heck threw the people of this country under a bus.
blink on February 5, 2010 at 2:43 PM
If we can’t speak the truth here, where?
I said she was a Bourbon Street Whore.
HornetSting on February 5, 2010 at 2:46 PM
I don’t think it’s wise for anyone as closely connected to the state of Louisiana’s non-response to Katrina as she was to say anything about buses.
James on February 5, 2010 at 2:47 PM
Hmmm. Bourbon.
Who gives a damn about Whores? Nobody’s forcing them to be one.
Especially Mary Landrieu. Whore.
portlandon on February 5, 2010 at 2:49 PM
Or, to paraphrase Bill Murray from Ghostbusters, a person of her qualifications should have no problem at all finding a top-flight job in either the foodservice or housekeeping industries.
UltimateBob on February 5, 2010 at 2:51 PM
You don’t have to be a doctor to look at this woman’s dissheveled appearance and know something’s up in her mind. She wasn’t always fat and frumpy. In fact, perky is what got her where she is.
Marcus on February 5, 2010 at 2:53 PM
Time for this pork(er) to be cut out of the Senate’s budget. Oops, I think the PC police will come after me now.
immigrantchick on February 5, 2010 at 2:53 PM
HornetSting on February 5, 2010 at 2:46 PM
I think Dead was responding to me.
I called Mary a CHEAP WHORE because compared to what Ben Nelson got,
she is a CHEAP WHORE,
Ben is relatively, a more expensive WHORE though not necesarily a better one!
And I agree with you that I will call those who would steal from me and my children and their children what I want.
CHEAP WHORE is tame compared to what I really think of them. What I really think would get me banned!
dhunter on February 5, 2010 at 2:54 PM
I think all these politicians should be barred from printing up those huge poster boards just for effect during their floor time. That probably cost about $100 to get printed up, and is an entirely useless visual aid.
aic4ever on February 5, 2010 at 2:54 PM
I lived in LA for two years when I was in the service and loved it. The people, the culture, the food, and great hunting and fishing: what’s not to love? Unfortunately, it also has this seedy reputation as being about the most corrupt state in the Union. Louisiana politicians like Mary Landrieu work in corruption the way other artists work in oils or clay, it’s their true medium (with apologies to Jean Shepherd). It’s a shame really.
WarEagle01 on February 5, 2010 at 2:57 PM
It’s a matter of holding ourselves to a higher standard than, say, dailyKOZ or HuffPo. Or Alan Grayson.
You know the lefties are reading these comments, and will try to publicize the fact that us “right wing nuts” are calling a US Senator a whore. That will only reflect badly on the owners of this site (Ed, Allah, and Michelle Malkin), who are kind enough to let us hang out here and vent some “Hot Air” every day.
So, for their sake, let’s try to keep it clean, shall we?
UltimateBob on February 5, 2010 at 2:58 PM
Shut up and sit down? Speak the truth, shame the democrat.
HornetSting on February 5, 2010 at 2:59 PM
Me thinks she doth protest too much.
scalleywag on February 5, 2010 at 3:02 PM
John? John McCain is that you?
dhunter on February 5, 2010 at 3:03 PM
For all of you calling the esteemed Senator from L.A. a cheap whore perhaps, in the interest of clarity you may want to rethink your terminology.
I believe that in the personal service industry 300 million puts one in the High Class Escort category.
Lily on February 5, 2010 at 3:04 PM
Mary is a fatty!
MCGIRV on February 5, 2010 at 3:06 PM
NOT when you compare it to what Ben Nelson Traitor D NE got.
Landrieu got chump change. Thats’ my point!
dhunter on February 5, 2010 at 3:07 PM
LOL, wah, cry more, newb.
Midas on February 5, 2010 at 3:08 PM
Whore.
Maquis on February 5, 2010 at 3:10 PM
It’s all that Baby Phat!
Seven Percent Solution on February 5, 2010 at 3:11 PM
No one has ever accused Landrieu of being smart.
GarandFan on February 5, 2010 at 3:12 PM
We’ve already established what she is, now we’re just haggling over price.
mchristian on February 5, 2010 at 3:17 PM
Pork for NOLA?
Like McDonalds asks
“Wanna supersize it?”
seven on February 5, 2010 at 3:20 PM
Maybe if Landrieu had rubbed some Tony Sachery’s in her eyes before her 3rd grade performance on the Senate floor, she would have been able to conjure up some real tears.
madmonkphotog on February 5, 2010 at 3:21 PM
Thank you. So that “insurance pay-off” drove the state wide income up for 1 year, 2006, thus driving down the projected FMAP for 2011 (ironic). Since those were not payroll driven no payments went into State Medicaid funding – right?
But look at this chart that track pre & post hurricane FMAP funding. (2009 is inflated with “stimulus” funding – aka a pay-off) the decrease post-evacuation is negligible, and the fact is evacuees have permanently relocated elsewhere.
The discrepancy between the projected 2008 & the actual is +5 to LA’s favor. Someone needs to ask Crying Mary & Jindal why their State’s FMAP wouldn’t be adjusted to the actual expenses if they refiled with the feds, or how the difference was made up in 2008.
I appreciate your insight into this Honda.
batterup on February 5, 2010 at 3:23 PM
Let’s turn this around: A man gets caught cheating on his wife, by the wife herslef, and he says, “Shut your mouth!”
That’s probably the perfect analogy…Landrieu wants to screw everyone else so she can tell her constituents that she ain’t screwing them.
Wyznowski on February 5, 2010 at 2:06 PM
————————————————————
She just doesn’t (can’t) understand why her constituents wouldn’t want the “Death Panels” near them.
.
ms on February 5, 2010 at 3:28 PM
Why am I hearing “Sister Mary Elephant”?
mrt721 on February 5, 2010 at 3:30 PM
No, Landrieu, I don’t think we are going to shut up about this.
As a matter of fact, I think we will make it a point to bring this up every chance we get, for quite some time to come.
pilamaye on February 5, 2010 at 3:31 PM
Aww, c’mon. I’ve seen better looking women on Bourbon Street charging five dollars for what Devine Brown did to Hugh Grant.
Mary and Ben Nelson should get a room with their bestest buddy, Dingy Harry. Or is he their pimp? I lose track of these things.
Wanderlust on February 5, 2010 at 3:35 PM
I’d like to see you make them. Whatcha gonna do, Landrieu? Stick pins into dolls labeled “evil white men”?
At least the Rethuglicans in office have some semblance of a spine.
Dark-Star on February 5, 2010 at 3:40 PM
REAP it Mary. REAP IT.
RealMc on February 5, 2010 at 3:40 PM
I sent Senator Landrieu the folloowing letter on the 21st of January.
Guest1.1 on February 5, 2010 at 3:40 PM
Tricky Dick Nixon: I am not a crook.
Scary Mary Landrieu: I am not a whore.
RandyChandler on February 5, 2010 at 3:41 PM
She’s technically right… a whore actually gets paid, not stiffed by the john.
teke184 on February 5, 2010 at 3:45 PM
Mary, we’re more than happy to give your legislative practices and ethics as much attention as the Benji the Man Whore has received. You’ve certainly earned it, so please be more gracious about it.
ya2daup on February 5, 2010 at 3:48 PM
“Hey you stupid Americans! Shut up. Just shut up about my $300,000,000 earmark for Louisiana. You’re a bunch of dumb asses.”
That’s what she wanted to say.
stefano1 on February 5, 2010 at 3:51 PM
She is a cry baby…go home.
RobCon on February 5, 2010 at 4:20 PM
Nice outfit…she looks like the gum chewing girl in
Willy Wonka.
RobCon on February 5, 2010 at 4:21 PM
Violet Beauregard, Blueberry Girl. I have some choice words for Ms. Blueberry Mary.
Philly on February 5, 2010 at 4:29 PM
Mary is giving Maobama a run for his money at being an elitist, condescending jerk.
Philly on February 5, 2010 at 4:31 PM
Correction: Violet Beauregarde. Spelling corrected.
Philly on February 5, 2010 at 4:35 PM
Argh! This woman is a disgrace to the name of “Mary”.
Mary in LA on February 5, 2010 at 5:09 PM
Not all Katrina survivors left the state – most of them moved back – so they do have artificially high income averages for the last three years.
But … who cares? I don’t understand Jindal’s letter to Landrieu. I mean – he’s trying to do the best for those of us in Louisiana – but it’s time to think beyond that. Jindal got caught in a very old “mode” of thinking … basically, grab the federal money because if you don’t – someone else will.
We need to get away from that thinking.
Even so – Jindal would not have found acceptable any deal that left Mississippi and Alabama out of the repair. Mary Landrieu – was perfectly willing to sell her vote on health care to get this money for Louisiana even though Mississippi and Alabama deserved just as much. Let’s not foget here – Katrina actually HIT Mississippi and I had relatives in Bay St. Louis and Waveland living in car washes, happy to be alive, and rebuilding their homes using whatever means they could cobble together – while the national media was focused on New Orleans and a lot of people demanding hand outs from Uncle Sugar.
It’s time to put Katrina behind us and – besides – the formula for the Medicare compensation runs on a three-year average. In two years all of the “artificially inflatable” income average will be factored out anyway.
HondaV65 on February 5, 2010 at 5:16 PM
And here’s another story – doubtful anyone will look into it since they’re all busy with the really HEAVY stories like Todd Palin’s emails …
But, as I said earlier – the Federal assistance money given to homeowners to repair their homes was counted as INCOME – and taxed. Most of the people who accepted that money – didn’t think about that fact when they took it. However – if you accepted $100K for repairs – then that’s what? About $20K in taxes that people had to pay??
NOW THIS IS IMPORTANT – SO LISTEN UP!! It’s your money afterall.
QUESTION: HOW MANY PEOPLE ACTUALLY PAID TAXES ON THESE FUNDS?
My assertion – or sincere belief – is that only the people who were relatively “well off” paid the taxes. Those who are “poor”, or belong to certain voting blocs – never paid it and this has become a form of “wealth redistribution” for democratic constituencies.
It’s patently unfair to insist that some who got the relief pay taxes on it – while turning a blind eye to others who didn’t pay their taxes on it.
HondaV65 on February 5, 2010 at 5:21 PM
Her rearks are somewhere between a strawman & a non sequitur. No one has accused her of “throwing the people of LA under the bus.” The claim has been that she sold her vote, purchased with money from the other 50 states (57?).
dts-01 on February 5, 2010 at 5:22 PM
I love that line. It’s like a 1000-word critique done in 4. It’s perfect.
Coronagold on February 5, 2010 at 5:35 PM
Exactly. That was for the idiots who voted her in who aren’t following any of this. Now that army of fools is walking around saying, “She didn’t throw us under no bus”. She’s just not a very good speaker, debater or politician. The last thing you say to get your opposition to back off is “SHUT UP”. That translates into, “I did it, I suck… leave me alone!”
ronnyraygun on February 5, 2010 at 6:00 PM
Maybe ACORN can get her a set-up loan for her new business.
bluegrass on February 5, 2010 at 6:09 PM
Think she smokes Fatty’s
Wade on February 5, 2010 at 6:13 PM
Shut up! That’s why!!
I think Mary is cute, but stupid. A winning combination if you want something other than good legislation.
BoomJunkie on February 5, 2010 at 6:19 PM
We are stuck with her for five more years. I doubt she will run again. If only a recall were possible. Not the first time she has shamed our state.
LSUMama on February 5, 2010 at 6:29 PM
Katrina.Katrina.Katrina.Katrina.Victims one and all.
So tired of hearing about it.
Give us money…oh darn too much income…let me keep it but forget that it raised our incomes…we can’t afford to lose that medicare funding, give us more money.
Sadly, these same idiots claim that the only way out of this recession is to create temporary jobs. But once those jobs are finished the people are still poor, then it starts over again…give us money. She is lucky she is only being called a whore
JohnD9207 on February 5, 2010 at 7:35 PM
I don’t know what the numbers are but I know all the medicaid recipients have not returned. As of March
2007, the city had approximately 62 percent of
its pre-Katrina population level. Do you think it’s even 80% return now? That link has some interesting information on the additional health care funding the city received. I recall the concerns expressed about “losing” the medicaid patients to cities like Houston.
batterup on February 5, 2010 at 7:40 PM
Ha ha Louisiana purchase. Catchy isn’t it?
scotash on February 5, 2010 at 9:37 PM
Repeal the 16th Amendment.
Jvette on February 5, 2010 at 9:38 PM
The only purchase I’d like to see is LSU’s Mike grabbing Landrieu by the shoulders and inviting her in for a midnight snack.
MaiDee on February 5, 2010 at 11:33 PM
Mary,
STFU and sit down. It’s time for you to retire. Don’t bring up that PIG Kathleen Sebelius! She is one of Hussein’s Clowns and anything thing that woman has to say We the People do not want to hear except for her resignation.
I would like to ask you for your resignation.
Remember to Vote in Nov. 2010 and 2012
BigMike252 on February 5, 2010 at 11:54 PM
Calling Mary Landrieu a Bourbon Street Whore is a slur on and disservice to Bourbon Street Whores.
Bourbon Street Whores are much prettier and far less expensive than Sen. Mary “Louisiana Purchase” Landrieu.
GEAUX SAINTS !!
CatchAll on February 6, 2010 at 4:17 PM
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