As the Mississippi Legislature convenes a special session to consider $20 million for tornado recovery efforts, it is worth reexamining the records of the two men in the race for U.S. Senate:
Thad Cochran wrote the bill that was essential to Mississippi recovering from Hurricane Katrina.
As one Gulf Coast resident said: “.”
Chris McDaniel said if he had been in the U.S. Senate, voting for Katrina relief would have been, “.” Amazingly, to this day he will not say if he would have voted for Senator Cochran’s bill.
Geoff Pender of the Clarion Ledger said anybody who questioned Senator Cochran doing all he could to help Mississippi in its hour of need, “.”
Will Chris McDaniel finally do the right thing?
A roundup of the coverage of and response to State Senator Chris McDaniel’s remarks on Hurricane Katrina relief:
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“The future of the state of Mississippi hung in the balance. Nearly a third of its economy was shut down. Whole cities had been obliterated. Without federal aid, the state would face an instant depression and recovery would take a generation … All other issues and politics aside, any Mississippian that faults Cochran for doing all he could do to help his state in its hour of need needs to have their head examined.” – Geoff Pender, Clarion Ledger, 2-23-14
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“That’s not an easy vote to cast” – Chris McDaniel, POLITICO, 2-19-14
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“Voting for aid for your own people after one of the worst disasters in U.S. history would be a tough decision? Really?” – Times Picayune Editorial, 2-21-14
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“I would have to see details of it. I really would,” McDaniel said. – Chris McDaniel, POLITICO, 2-19-14
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“In the days following the Burns article, newspaper editorials and numerous Republican leaders blasted McDaniel for his weak statement of support for Katrina relief.” – Bill Crawford, Daily Journal, 2-24-14
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“I don’t think any person from Mississippi would dream somebody running for senator in our state would not have enthusiastically supported that,” Barbour said. “Our delegation worked their fingers to the bone and I think this is the most important legislative achievement of Sen. Cochran’s career. I mean, the idea that anybody from Mississippi would find it a hard vote?” – Haley Barbour, POLITICO, 2-21-14
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“McDaniel added that, ‘some of the money [in the Katrina bill] was misspent,’ arguing that when it comes to government spending: ‘It’s one thing to provide immediate storm relief and to protect people’s lives and property, it’s quite another to benefit campaign supporters.” The state legislator declined to back up the implication that storm money was used in a corrupt fashion. Asked whether there was a specific instance of government abuse he had in mind, McDaniel responded:“Not that I can say.” POLITICO, 2-19-14
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The rest of McDaniel’s post is absolutely ludicrous. First of all, the state senator from Jones County is essentially insinuating that Cochran — and, by extension, every other lawmaker who supported the bill — was somehow responsible for the $2 billion in wasteful spending on “guns, strippers and tattoos.”
“Really? McDaniel is going to tell the electorate that Cochran supported a bill that provided prostitutes and tattoos for people on the coast? That’s bunk!”Sam Hall, Clarion Ledger, 2-21-14
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“As best I can tell, he’s never directly answered whether he would have voted for the $29 billion in Katrina relief Cochran secured for the Gulf Coast.” -Geoff Pender, Clarion Ledger, 2-23-14
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“I’m not going to do anything for you.” – Chris McDaniel, POLITICO, 2-19-14
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“When an Ole Miss student challenged McDaniel’s past description of Mississippi as a “welfare state,” McDaniel stood by that characterization.” – POLITICO, 2-19-14